Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The International Committee of the Red Cross on Thursday urged the release of two of its staff kidnapped after armed men attacked their convoy in the troubled eastern DR Congo. The ICRC said the workers were abducted on Wednesday morning while on a humanitarian …
Read More »At least 15 killed in latest South Sudan road ambush
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | Unknown gunmen on Thursday ambushed a convoy on the main road connecting South Sudan’s capital with the Ugandan border, killing at least 15 people, officials said. Nine others were wounded in the attack on a civilian convoy escorted by the military on the insecure …
Read More »Rhino kills conservationist in Rwanda
Kigali, Rwanda | AFP | A conservationist who was training rangers to track and protect black rhinos in Rwanda has been killed by one of the animals, the organisation he worked for has said in a statement. Information about the exact circumstances of Hungarian Krisztian Gyongyi’s death on Wednesday morning …
Read More »Zimbabwe bus crash kills 43 near Zambia border
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | A bus accident in Zimbabwe has killed 43 people after the driver lost control and rammed into a tree, police said Thursday. “We have been told that 43 people have been killed,” police spokeswoman Charity Charamba told AFP. “The bus was travelling to Zambia when …
Read More »Hooray for… Kumawood! Ghana’s fastest filmmakers
Kumasi, Ghana | AFP | India has its Bollywood and Nigeria, Nollywood. Even New Zealand has a Wellywood. In Ghana, films made in Kumasi and the surrounding region go by a similar shorthand — Kumawood. The cultural heart of Ghana is about five hours’ drive from the more cosmopolitan coastal …
Read More »Hope Murera: Africa’s insurance industry
Africa’s insurance industry need fewer players to offer better services-Zep Re CEO Hope Murera It is six months since Hope Murera was appointed the chief executive officer of the Nairobi based-Zep Re (PTA Reinsurance Company) that is charged with the task of promoting trade, development and integration within the Common Market …
Read More »Four killed in latest roadside bomb in Kenya
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Four people, including three NGO workers, were killed Tuesday when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in eastern Kenya, a local government official said, in the latest such attack in the country. “We have four people dead from the incident that occurred between Dadaab and …
Read More »Mozambique warns of ritual attacks against bald people
Maputo, Mozambique | AFP | Police in Mozambique Tuesday warned that bald people could be the targets of ritual attacks, after the brutal killing of two men whose body parts were to be used in witchcraft. The two bald men, one of whom was found with his head cut off …
Read More »DR Congo’s tainted ex-police chief Numbi made national hero
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Democratic Republic of Congo’s former police chief John Numbi, believed by regime critics to be prime suspect in the murder of a key rights activist, has been made a national hero. Numbi, who holds the rank of general, is one of eight senior police …
Read More »South Africa in recession as economy shrinks 0.7% in Q1
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s economy unexpectedly contracted in the first quarter of this year, pushing the continent’s most advanced economy into its first recession since 2009, according to official statistics released Tuesday. The data, which also showed unemployment hitting a 14-year high, are expected to pile more …
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