Cotonou, Benin | AFP | The people watched in horror as the bulldozers moved in. Soon their meagre dwellings were reduced to rubble, becoming homes only to stray dogs that nosed through their belongings. The demolition of Xwlacodji, a district in Benin’s economic capital Cotonou, was carried out in the name …
Read More »Germany’s Merkel to open embattled Frankfurt car show
Frankfurt am Main, Germany | AFP | German Chancellor Angela Merkel opens the biennial IAA car show in Frankfurt to the public Thursday, addressing an auto industry on the defensive over safety and the environment. Climate protection protesters plan a rally outside the show Saturday, saying the sector is failing to …
Read More »Will Tunisia continue to democratise?
Tunis, Tunisia | AFP | Despite priding itself on being the sole country to emerge from the Arab Spring uprisings as a functioning democracy, Tunisia faces challenges on its new political path. The cradle of the autocrat-ousting movements that swept the region nine years ago, the North African country has been …
Read More »Exhausted C. Africans leave exile for unknowns at home
Mongoumba, Central African Republic | AFP | Under the tarpaulin shading the back of the lorry, the heat is still stifling on a rough road for some 30 refugees travelling home to the strife-weary Central African Republic. Potholes rattle spines and send up fine grit that sticks to the sweaty bodies …
Read More »Accelerating Africa’s transformation
Japan, S.A and AFDB unveil priorities in technology at TICAD 7 Science, technology and innovation as well as human resource development are critical in Africa, a continent, which has the biggest potential on earth, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at the Science and Technology in Society (STS) forum held on …
Read More »Cameroon president calls ‘national dialogue’ on separatist crisis
Yaoundé, Cameroon | AFP | Cameroon President Paul Biya on Tuesday announced that he intends to hold a major “national dialogue” later this month in a bid to put an end to the conflict between security forces and armed separatists from the anglophone minority in the west. Over the past two …
Read More »Trump fires hawkish national security chief Bolton
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced the firing of hawkish national security advisor John Bolton, a move widely seen as boosting the president’s push to negotiate with US foes in Afghanistan, North Korea and other trouble spots. Trump, who said he had disagreed “strongly” with …
Read More »New iPhones woo users to Apple television and games
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Apple on Tuesday played to its strengths with powerful new iPhone and iPad models able to serve as stages for its new game and television services. The Silicon Valley titan added into the mix a new-generation Apple Watch that can tell when a place …
Read More »New iPhones to share limelight as Apple revs up services
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Along with its new iPhones, Apple is stepping up on content and services for its devices for its big media event Tuesday. Apple was expected to introduce three upgraded iPhones and a successor to its more affordable iPhone XR as it looks to hold …
Read More »Morocco journalist’s trial for alleged abortion postponed after protest
Rabat, Morocco | AFP | The trial of a Moroccan journalist accused of having a late-term abortion and sexual relations outside marriage was postponed on Monday after hundreds of people protested outside a court in the capital Rabat. The case brought against Hajar Raissouni, who writes for the Arabic-language newspaper Akhbar …
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