AFRICA

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Tanzania on Tuesday announced it would send back all Burundian refugees on its soil from October 1, saying it was working with the UN to secure their return. But the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) issued a statement that insisted any returnees should go home …

  Kampala, Uganda | AFP |  Uganda on Tuesday re-launched its national airline after two decades with an inaugural flight to Nairobi, becoming the latest East African nation seeking to revive their aviation industry. “The airline will first fly to seven destinations. Starting with Nairobi, Mogadishu, Juba and Dar es …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya is urging the UN to list Al-Shabaab under the same sanctions as Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, but foreign donors say the move could leave millions in drought-stricken Somalia without aid. The proposed listing — which could take effect as soon as Thursday — comes …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | In NASA satellite images, forest fires in central Africa appear to burn alarmingly like a red chain from Gabon to Angola similar to the blazes in Brazil’s Amazon that sparked global outcry. At the G7 summit this week, French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted about the …

Bangui, Central African Republic | AFP | Two teams confronted each other on the dusty sports field, wielding roughly cut sticks to whack a homemade puck at high speed. For the middle-aged and beyond, the sight of this rugged game triggered distant memories, of happier times. The sport, known as ngbaba, …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa has impounded a plane belonging to Tanzania’s national carrier over a farmer’s $33-million compensation claim for land which was nationalised decades ago, a lawyer said Sunday. The Air Tanzania aircraft was seized on Friday at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport after it …

DR Congo announces new govt seven months after president inaugurated Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP |  The Democratic Republic of Congo announced a coalition government Monday, seven months after the inauguration of new president Felix Tshisekedi. “The government is finally here. The president has signed the decree and we will …

Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP |  The seaside resort offers visitors a cool drink or tasty meal, a dip in a pool, a karaoke session or an overnight stay, all with a view. Nothing much new there, you may say — creature comforts like this are pretty much standard in tropical …

South Africa | AFP |  It’s old, doesn’t look like much and is located well out the way in an arid part of western South Africa. But the Steenkampskraal Mine may be about to become piping hot mining property thanks to some of the world’s highest-grade deposits of rare earth metals. …

Fresh fighting breaks out in northeastern DR Congo: army Bunia, DR Congo | AFP |  UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will visit Beni in North Kivu in DRC on September 1. Ituri and North Kivu province, just to the south, are trying to roll back a major epidemic of Ebola that has …