Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Eighteen civilians were killed and others injured on Saturday when an army truck crashed into a minibus in northern Ethiopia, local media reported. The accident in Amhara state happened in the morning, the state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate said. Despite having one of the world’s …
Read More »Niger launches mass polio vaccination drive
Niamey, Niger | AFP | Niger has launched a mass polio vaccination campaign targeting more than three million children under five after new cases were detected, an official said Friday. The programme kicked off Thursday in the regions of Zinder, Maradi, Agadez and Diffa, said Rabi Souley, who is in …
Read More »Thousands rally in DR Congo against use of electronic machines in key polls
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Police on Friday fanned out across the DR Congo capital Kinshasa and other main cities as thousands of opposition supporters marched seeking the withdrawal of electronic voting machines in a long-delayed election due at the end of December. The regime of President Joseph Kabila …
Read More »African growth key to stemming migrant flows: Merkel
Prague, Czech Republic | AFP | German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Czech premier Andrej Babis agreed Friday to focus on economic development in Africa to try to slow migration into the European Union. “We are both convinced that we must achieve a win-win situation where the economic development of African …
Read More »Africa needs to beef up cyber security urgently: experts
Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | Africa is being increasingly targeted by hackers and must invest in cyber security, industry leaders said at the third Africa Cyber Security Conference closing Friday in Ivory Coast. Although Africa is not a prime target, “cyber threats have no more borders” and data pirates …
Read More »Ethiopia’s Zewde, Africa’s only female president
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Ethiopia on Thursday appointed a woman to the largely ceremonial position of president for the first time, further increasing female representation in the government of Africa’s second most populous nation. In a unanimous vote, Ethiopian lawmakers picked career diplomat Sahle-Work Zewde, 68, to replace …
Read More »Africa’s largest train-making plant opens in Johannesburg
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday unveiled the continent’s largest train manufacturing plant, a joint venture between the national rail firm and French transport group Alstom. The factory is a part of a 51-billion-rand ($3.5 billion, 3.1 billion-euro) deal between Alstom and the …
Read More »Sudan lifts Egypt produce ban as Sisi visits Khartoum
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir on Thursday lifted a 17-month long ban on agricultural imports from Egypt, during an official visit by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to Khartoum. “I signed today a decision cancelling the ban on imports of Egyptian products,” Bashir told reporters after …
Read More »DR Congo opposition parties agree to name unity candidate by mid-November
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | The Democratic Republic of Congo’s opposition parties agreed on Thursday to name a single unity candidate by mid-November to run against President Joseph Kabila’s choice in December elections. Tensions are running high before the long-delayed December 23 vote to chose a successor to Kabila, …
Read More »Liberia’s Weah announces free tuition for undergraduates
Monrovia, Liberia | AFP | Liberian President George Weah, who overcame childhood poverty to become one of the world’s top footballers, has abolished tuition fees for undergraduate students in the poor West African country’s state universities. Speaking Wednesday on the campus of the University of Liberia in the name of …
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