France will aim to renew ties with Africa and build “balanced partnerships” that are beneficial to the continent, the country’s top diplomat Stephane Sejourne said Saturday.Relations have spiralled downwards between France and some former African colonies as the continent becomes a renewed diplomatic battleground, with Russian and Chinese influence growing.Appointed in January, Sejourne began his …

France says to build ‘balanced partnerships’ with AfricaSat, 06 Apr 2024 12:46:52 GMT Read More »

Dafroza Mukarumongi-Gauthier, who lost nearly all her family in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, tells rapt schoolchildren how she and her husband have for three decades tracked down genocide suspects who have found refuge in France.For 30 years Dafroza, 69, and Alain Gauthier, 75, have dedicated much of their spare time and now retirement to …

A couple’s long quest for Rwanda genocide justiceSat, 06 Apr 2024 09:07:56 GMT Read More »

Thousands of people protested in Morocco’s commercial capital Casablanca late on Friday against “massacres” in the Gaza Strip and against the country’s normalisation of ties with Israel.The protest — the latest large-scale rally of its kind in Morocco — was called by the banned but tolerated Islamist group Al Adl Wal Ihssane.The group also organised …

Moroccan protesters denounce ‘massacres’ in GazaSat, 06 Apr 2024 06:49:10 GMT Read More »

A 200-year-old Tutsi art form made with cow dung, Rwanda’s imigongo painting tradition has experienced a revival in the Great Lakes nation three decades after the 1994 genocide, becoming a symbol of culture and unity.Known for its raised black and white patterns, imigongo is widely believed to have been invented by a Tutsi prince in …

Reviving a traditional art form in Rwanda after genocideSat, 06 Apr 2024 05:46:12 GMT Read More »

Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye named a “breakaway” government on Friday, appointing a host of fresh faces to top roles following his landslide election win last month.The 44-year-old, who has never before held elected office, swept to a first-round victory on a promise of radical reform, becoming the country’s youngest president.Faye looks set to share …

Senegal’s youngest president names ‘breakaway’ governmentSat, 06 Apr 2024 02:25:35 GMT Read More »

Zimbabwe’s central bank launched a new “structured currency” backed by gold on Friday, as it seeks to tackle sky-high inflation and stabilise the country’s long-floundering economy.The ZiG — short for Zimbabwe Gold — will replace the Zimbabwean dollar which has tumbled in value over the past year, pushing inflation through the roof, Reserve Bank governor …

Zimbabwe launches new gold-backed currencyFri, 05 Apr 2024 13:47:22 GMT Read More »

Every April, as Rwanda commemorated the 1994 genocide, Agatha would turn off the radio, take to her bed and retreat into a silence so impenetrable that her daughter Agnes once asked if she had been a victim.The answer, given by her grandmother, left 10-year-old Agnes reeling. “I cried and immediately started feeling afraid of my mother …

30 years on, a Rwandan family’s journey to heal from rapeFri, 05 Apr 2024 05:48:54 GMT Read More »

Togo’s opposition on Thursday called for a three-day mass protest to demonstrate against the government’s decision to delay this month’s legislative elections.Tensions between President Faure Gnassingbe’s government and the opposition have heightened following parliament’s approval of a contested constitutional reform critics say is a bid to keep Togo’s leader in power.The presidency announced Wednesday that …

Togo opposition calls for protests over election delayThu, 04 Apr 2024 21:42:12 GMT Read More »

Somalia on Thursday ordered the expulsion of Ethiopia’s ambassador and announced the recall of its own envoy to Addis Ababa, accusing its neighbour of “bluntly interfering” in its internal affairs.The diplomatic moves come as Somalia continues to seethe over a maritime deal Ethiopia signed with the breakaway region of Somaliland in January — ratcheting up …

Somalia expels Ethiopia ambassador over ‘interference’Thu, 04 Apr 2024 16:40:39 GMT Read More »

President Emmanuel Macron believes France and its Western and African allies “could have stopped” Rwanda’s 1994 genocide but did not have the will to halt the slaughter of an estimated 800,000 people, mostly ethnic Tutsis, the presidency said on Thursday. In a video message to be published on Sunday to mark the 30th anniversary of the …

Macron believes France, allies ‘could have stopped’ Rwanda genocideThu, 04 Apr 2024 16:26:31 GMT Read More »