Tunisians voted Sunday in a presidential election largely expected to see incumbent Kais Saied secure another five years in office while his main critics — including one contender — are behind bars.Three years after Saied staged a sweeping power grab, the election is seen as a closing chapter in Tunisia’s short-lived experiment with democracy.After ousting …

Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-electionSun, 06 Oct 2024 11:52:31 GMT Read More »

Across Maputo are red flags pierced by harsh sunlight and faded walls plastered with posters of Frelimo, the party that has been in power in Mozambique for half a century.In the vibrant capital of the Portuguese-speaking country, the lack of suspense is palpable days ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections, but it still stirs emotion.Frelimo …

Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusionSun, 06 Oct 2024 05:15:19 GMT Read More »

The Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicentre of an mpox epidemic, launched a vaccination campaign against the virus on Saturday in the eastern city of Goma, AFP journalists said.The launch, initially scheduled for last Wednesday, was delayed by three days amid logistical difficulties delivering the vaccines across the sprawling, infrastructure-poor central African country.The first vaccines …

DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreakSat, 05 Oct 2024 19:58:25 GMT Read More »

Raymonde Desiree was 25 when she was forced to leave her native Chagos Islands as Britain emptied the Indian Ocean archipelago of its inhabitants to make way for a strategic military base.Fifty-one years later, the petite matriarch says she, like many Chagossians living in Britain, is angry at not being given a say in the …

Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands’ fateFri, 04 Oct 2024 20:37:52 GMT Read More »

Mauritius will hold legislative elections on November 10, the presidency announced on Friday, just a day after Port Louis sealed a landmark deal to regain sovereignty over a chain of islands from Britain.”We are heading towards another great moment in our history where every Mauritian who can vote will decide our future,” said Prime Minister …

Mauritius to hold legislative election on November 10Fri, 04 Oct 2024 15:47:07 GMT Read More »

Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicentre of an mpox outbreak, will begin a vaccination campaign on Saturday, three days later than planned.Jabs were set to be rolled out on Wednesday in DRC but health authorities told AFP this would not be the case.However Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba on Friday confirmed the start date.”We are launching, …

DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in eastFri, 04 Oct 2024 15:41:21 GMT Read More »

Without a last-minute diplomatic intervention, Nigeria’s youth basketball team would have missed an international competition in South Africa last month.Nigerian officials claimed South Africa had tried to stop the under-18 team from participating — the latest row in long-simmering tensions between the two African economic heavyweights.Recently the discord has spilled over into sports, music, ride-sharing …

How Nigeria-South Africa rivalry turned uglyFri, 04 Oct 2024 14:35:25 GMT Read More »

A senior Guinean official has warned that anyone attacking the image of the country’s ruler would meet the fate of a doctor who died in jail after being held for allegedly burning his portrait.The prefect of the eastern Kankan region, Kandia Mara, caused a furore after videos surfaced on social media of him apparently warning …

Top Guinean official threatens anyone attacking junta leaderFri, 04 Oct 2024 14:32:28 GMT Read More »

A spoon, some towel hooks, a piece of kettle and a plastic cap — that’s all you’ll need to make a mixing deck if you have the technical and musical skills of DJ Boboss.The 27-year-old — real name Paul Mwangi — has been building up a fanbase online and on the streets of Kenya with …

Spoon scratching: Kenya’s DIY DJFri, 04 Oct 2024 05:26:20 GMT Read More »

When an Israeli air strike killed her employer and destroyed nearly everything she owned in southern Lebanon, it also crushed Fatima Samuella Tholley’s hopes of returning home to Sierra Leone to escape the spiralling violence.With a change of clothes stuffed into a plastic bag, the 27-year-old housekeeper told AFP that she and her cousin made …

‘We don’t want to die here’: Sierra Leone migrants trapped in LebanonFri, 04 Oct 2024 05:24:56 GMT Read More »