AFRICA

Tripoli, Libya | AFP |  Mahmud Jibril, the former head of the Libyan rebel government that overthrew dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, died Sunday of the coronavirus, his party said. Jibril, 68, died in Cairo where he had been hospitalised for two weeks, said Khaled al-Mrimi, secretary of the Alliance of …

Luanda, Angola | AFP |  It is a cry from the heart and the stomach that is reverberating across African towns and cities reeling under lockdowns and curfews to contain the spread of the coronavirus. “How can anyone stay home without anything to eat?” asked Garcia Landu, a motorcycle taxi driver …

Algiers, Algeria | AFP |  As adversity strikes in the form of the coronavirus pandemic, Algeria has found a helping hand in China, an old friend and the top exporter to Africa’s largest country. An Air Algerie plane arrived in the capital Algiers from Beijing on March 27 carrying a 13-member …

Algiers, Algeria | AFP | As adversity strikes in the form of the coronavirus pandemic, Algeria has found a helping hand in China, an old friend and the top exporter to Africa’s largest country. An Air Algerie plane arrived in the capital Algiers from Beijing on March 27 carrying a 13-member …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  South African public healthcare workers dispersed into the buzzing streets of Johannesburg’s Yeoville neighbourhood on Friday as Africa’s worst virus-hit country rolled out mass door-to-door testing for COVID-19. Armed with screening questionnaires and testing kits, medics and volunteers set up their testing station on the front …

Maiduguri, Nigeria | AFP |  Men and women cluster around plastic wash basins hastily set up outside one of northeast Nigeria’s sprawling displaced persons’ camps, lathering their hands with soap under the gaze of security personnel. The makeshift hygiene facilities are among urgent efforts aimed at warding off the spread of …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Lack of resources, a muddle over confinement and incipient panic are hobbling the response to coronavirus in DR Congo, fuelling fears especially for Kinshasa, one of Africa’s largest and most chaotic cities. Almost all of the infections in the vast central African nation have occurred …

Dakar, Senegal | AFP | Senegal is set to continue administering hydroxychloroquine to coronavirus patients, a senior health official said Thursday, after encouraging results for those treated with the venerable anti-malarial drug. Both chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are drugs ordinarily used to treat malaria, but early small-scale studies suggest they reduce virus levels among people badly …

Casablanca, Morocco | AFP |  “Give us our money!”, demands a group of home buyers, standing on land that should by now be finished condos — one of many fictitious projects that together comprise what is described as Morocco’s biggest-ever property scam. Adverts on state television had promised dream homes at …

Tripoli, Libya | AFP |  A year ago, Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar began his offensive to seize the capital Tripoli from the UN-recognised government, a conflict which has left hundreds dead and over 150,000 displaced. Here is a recap. – Haftar orders advance – On April 4, 2019, Haftar orders his …