AFRICA

Dakar, Senegal | AFP | When Senegal’s Muslim families gather for the biggest Islamic religious feast of the year, they often encourage the Christian minority to join them in a tradition of tolerance rare in West Africa. Many Roman Catholics in Dakar were invited Monday to join Muslim friends for Tabaski, …

Morogoro, Tanzania | AFP | Tanzania on Sunday laid to rest most of the 71 people who died while trying to collect leaking petrol from an overturned fuel tanker that exploded. The deadly blast, which took place Saturday near the town of Morogoro, west of the economic capital Dar es Salaam, …

Goma, DR Congo | AFP | DR Congo’s pointman on Ebola voiced delight on Tuesday after researchers announced that two prototype drugs boost chances of surviving the dreaded disease. Jean-Jacques Muyembe, newly appointed by President Felix Tshisekedi to coordinate the year-long campaign against Ebola, said that out of four confirmed …

Gabes, Tunisia | AFP | As soon as the sun is up, people in southern Tunisia rush out to buy a glass or bottle of legmi, a coveted date palm drink that is too delicate to be sold far from the oasis. At 7:00 am, at the busy Ain Slam roundabout …

Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP |  DJ Arafat, an Ivorian singer with a huge following in francophone Africa, has died after a road accident in Abidjan, evoking a wave of tributes to the award-winning star of the “coupe-decale” dance genre. “Death of artist DJ Arafat… today at 8am as a result …

Juba, South Sudan | AFP | South Sudan activists on Monday began a campaign to pressure the country’s warring parties to meet a fast-approaching deadline to form a unity government as part of their 2018 peace agreement. The Civil Society Forum, a coalition of more than 100 organisations, on Monday marked the beginning of a …

Two Ebola drugs found to increase survival rates: health officials Washington, United States | AFP |  Scientists were a step closer to a cure for Ebola on Monday after two of four drugs in a clinical trial were found to significantly increase survival rates, the US health authority co-funding the …

Searching for lost lives: S.Africa’s unidentified corpses Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | At Olifantsvlei cemetery on the outskirts of southern Johannesburg, undertakers clad in white plastic overalls, boots and face masks take on a grim task: mass pauper burials. They are burying 46 bodies that have been lying in …

Ghanaian Antwi stars for Pyramids Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  Ghanaian John Antwi scored twice for Sebastien Desabre’s Egyptian outfit Pyramids as they lived up to a billing of being a club to watch in the CAF Confederation Cup this season. The debutants thumped Etoile of Congo Brazzaville 4-1 …

Tripoli, Libya | AFP | Forces battling for control of Libya’s capital agreed to a truce Saturday, on the eve of the Muslim festival of Eid Al-Adha, but a car bomb killed three UN staff in the eastern city of Benghazi. Military strongman Khalifa Haftar’s forces announced that they would implement …