AFRICA

Tripoli, Libya | AFP |  While the world is gripped by the coronavirus pandemic, war-shattered Libya marks one year Saturday of its latest bloody conflict that is plunging it ever deeper into chaos. Russia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and others have fuelled the fighting in the oil-rich but poverty-stricken North …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya’s president on Wednesday apologised for violence meted out by police following the declaration of a nationwide curfew last week to curb the spread of coronavirus. “I want to apologise to all Kenyans for… some excesses that were conducted,” President Uhuru Kenyatta said in a live …

Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Despite loud appeals for caution, Africans are rushing to embrace chloroquine, the venerable anti-malaria drug touted as a possible treatment for coronavirus. From hospitals in Senegal to pharmaceutical companies in South Africa and street sellers in Cameroon, chloroquine has fired hopes of a medicinal fix against …

Rabat, Morocco | AFP |  Isolation to keep coronavirus at bay is a tall order for Moroccans like Abdellah, who is supposed to spend days cooped up indoors without sunlight in an impoverished neighbourhood of the capital Rabat. So he stays out in the street. “I know social isolation is a …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  Soldiers tower over youngsters in South Africa’s Soweto township, forcing them to do push-ups and roll on the floor as punishment for not adhering to a lockdown meant to halt the spread of coronavirus. Caught on camera and circulated on social media, they added to …

Paris, France | AFP | Despite extensive study by doctors and scientists across the world since the new coronavirus first appeared in China three months ago, much about the scourge is still unclear. Here are five key questions that remain unanswered about the virus officially known as SARS-CoV-2 that leads to …

Algiers, Algeria | AFP |  A year after the unexpected downfall of Algeria’s longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the ailing octogenarian remains holed up in his plush and medically adapted home, with his detractors still demanding justice. Bouteflika assumed the presidency in 1999, reigning omnipresent over Algeria’s political life until a stroke …

Kampala, Uganda | Isaac Khisa | Africa’s multi-lateral lender, African Export-Import Bank has unveiled a US$3bn facility, named Pandemic Trade Impact Mitigation Facility (PATIMFA), to help African countries deal with the economic and health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. PATIMFA, approved by the Bank’s Board of Directors during its sitting on March.20, …

Arua, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | South Sudanese refugees continue entering Uganda despite the closure of the country`s borders. President, Yoweri Museveni announced the closure of Uganda’s borders last week to contain the spread of the Corona virus alias COVID19. The State Minister for Refugees and Disaster Preparedness, Musa Ecweru …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP |  Armoured vehicles in the streets, hundreds arrested, smartphone surveillance — sweeping measures to fight the coronavirus have raised concerns in the Middle East over the erosion of already threatened human rights. As the world battles the COVID-19 pandemic, more than three billion people are now living …