AFRICA

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Authorities in Democratic Republic of Congo have appealed for calm after an evangelical preacher fell ill with Ebola in the eastern city of Goma, the first recorded case of the disease in the urban hub in a nearly year-old epidemic. Goma, which has a population …

Soweto, South Africa | AFP |  After helping an elderly woman load her bags into a mini-bus taxi at a busy intersection in Soweto, a scrawny and strung-out young man is rewarded with a few coins for his efforts. High on nyaope, a street drug whose main ingredient is heroin, …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudanese protesters lit candles and released balloons in Khartoum as thousands rallied across the country to mourn dozens killed last month in a brutal raid on a protest camp, AFP correspondents reported. Crowds of protesters were violently dispersed by men in military fatigues in a pre-dawn …

Luanda, Angola | AFP |  The presidents of Rwanda and Uganda on Friday pledged at a summit in Angola to seek to resolve tensions that have erupted between their two countries in recent months. Rwanda’s Paul Kagame and Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni, once close allies, have exchanged public accusations of spying …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  South African former president Jacob Zuma is due on Monday to make a much-anticipated appearance before an inquiry into alleged corruption after previous witnesses gave damning evidence against him. Zuma is accused of overseeing mass looting of state funds during his nine-year reign before …

Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP |  Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer, earns just a fraction of the crop’s potential value and must process it domestically and develop its distribution to fully reap the benefits, a World Bank report said Thursday. Cocoa accounts for 40 percent of the West African …

Omo Forest, Nigeria | AFP |  The jungle was so thick that Emmanuel Olabode only found the elephants he was tracking when the great matriarch’s sniffing trunk reached out close enough to almost touch. “She flapped her ears, blocking us to guard her family, then left in peace,” recalls Olabode. “It …

Port Said, Egypt | AFP | When Mohamed Ghaly’s workshop was reduced to rubble in February, he could never imagine that a new cultural centre dedicated to an instrument with Pharaonic roots would thrive just months later. The semsemia, similar to a harp and made of beechwood with steel strings, is …

Salé, Morocco | AFP |  The trial of the suspected jihadist killers of two Scandinavian women hikers beheaded in Morocco’s High Atlas mountains last December neared its close Thursday as lawyers prepared to deliver their final arguments. Prosecutors have called for the death penalty for the three main jihadist suspects behind …

OURTZAGH, Morocco | AFP |  Beautiful handcrafted pottery made by Mama Aicha rarely sells in Morocco anymore, but thanks to social media her ancient techniques are drawing students from around the world to the foothills of the Rif mountains. “When I heard about the workshop on Instagram, I signed up immediately …