AFRICA

Paris, France | AFP | A ‘pandemic’ of air pollution shortens lives worldwide by nearly three years on average, and causes 8.8 million premature deaths annually, scientists said Tuesday. Eliminating the toxic cocktail of molecules and lung-clogging particles cast off by burning oil, gas and coal would restore a full …

Washington, United States | AFP | A smartphone app that lets users check the eyes of newborn babies for jaundice may be an effective, low-cost way of identifying which cases need treatment, scientists reported Monday. Jaundice, a liver problem which causes the skin and whites of the eyes to turn yellow, …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | “We are counting on you in helping us make Zimbabwe great again,” said Zimbabwe’s number two top diplomat in a passionate appeal to the Pan African Parliament (PAP) on sanctions against his country. Citing the continued untold sorrow and deterioration of the well-being of his countrymen, …

Blantyre, Malawi | AFP | In a continent where armies often prop up governments, crush dissent and interfere in mainstream politics, Malawi in southern Africa has been an exception for decades. From Sudan to Zimbabwe to Ivory Coast and Guinea-Bissau, the military has had a long track record of being …

Tripoli, Libya | AFP | The UN’s envoy to war-plagued Libya, Ghassan Salame, announced his resignation on Monday citing health reasons, nearly three years after taking up the post. “I tried to unite Libyans and restrain foreign interference… but for health reasons I can no longer continue with this level …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Members of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) have been urged to make appropriate laws that protect victims of Online Child Sexual Exploitation (OCSE). Speaking to MPs of the continental parliament in South Africa, experts said that the interpretation of the laws on OCSE are ambiguous …

  Bissau, Guinea-Bissau | AFP |  The man appointed interim president of Guinea-Bissau by the side beaten in the December presidential election has stepped down because of death threats, less than two days after being nominated. “Given the death threats against me and my bodyguards, I have decided to give …

Nekemte, Ethiopia | AFP |  Desta Garuma, a 27-year-old rickshaw driver, never showed much interest in politics, so his family has no idea how soldiers concluded he was involved in a rebel movement active in Ethiopia’s Oromia region. But one day in January, five truckloads of soldiers followed him home, shouting …

Conakry, Guinea | AFP |  Guinea’s President Alpha Conde announced a “slight postponement” of Sunday’s referendum on whether to adopt a new constitution, following mounting international criticism over the poll’s fairness. The government argues that the draft constitution would, among other things, codify gender equality and ban female circumcision and underage …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Residents of Nigeria’s economic hub Lagos scrambled for hygiene products Friday, after the chaotic megacity of 20 million announced the first confirmed case of new coronavirus in sub-Saharan Africa. Health Minister Osagie Ehanire said in a statement overnight that the infected person was an Italian citizen …