After waiting for hours outside a morgue in the capital Nairobi, gripped by protests against the Kenyan government’s controversial tax rises, Florence Onyango received the news she had been dreading.”A friend of mine died because he was demonstrating yesterday close to the parliament. He was shot in the head,” the 47-year-old told AFP, tears welling …

Kenya torn between anger and mourning after protest deathsWed, 26 Jun 2024 15:21:09 GMT Read More »

Five facts about the Islamic republic of Mauritania, a vast desert nation in western Africa that will hold presidential elections on Saturday.- Rock in volatile Sahara -Over the decades, Mauritania has been embroiled in many regional and domestic conflicts.Sharing a border with the long-disputed territory of the Western Sahara, Mauritania withdrew from its part of …

Five things to know about MauritaniaWed, 26 Jun 2024 14:35:31 GMT Read More »

Mauritanians vote in a presidential election Saturday, with incumbent Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani expected to win a second term at the helm of the West African state seen as a rock of relative stability in the volatile Sahel.  Around 1.94 million registered voters will choose between seven candidates vying to lead the vast desert …

Stable outlier in turbulent region, Mauritania heads to pollsWed, 26 Jun 2024 14:32:20 GMT Read More »

The International Criminal Court on Wednesday convicted a jihadist police chief of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during a reign of terror in the fabled Malian city of Timbuktu.Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud, 46, was found guilty of crimes including torture and outrages upon personal dignity.Presiding judge Antoine Kesia-Mbe …

ICC convicts Timbuktu jihad police chief of war crimesWed, 26 Jun 2024 14:24:43 GMT Read More »

South Africa coach Rob Walter believes his team will not be haunted by its embarrassing legacy of big-match stagefright when they take on Afghanistan for a place in the T20 World Cup final.Despite the Proteas’ deep resources of talent, the country has only won one international title — the Champions Trophy back in 1998.In World …

South Africa ignore near-misses with eye on T20 World Cup finalWed, 26 Jun 2024 12:19:44 GMT Read More »

Kenyan protest organisers called Wednesday for fresh peaceful marches against deeply unpopular tax hikes, as the death toll from nationwide demonstrations climbed to 22, a state-funded rights body said, vowing an investigation.Tensions sharply escalated Tuesday, as police opened fire on demonstrators who stormed parliament, after the mainly youth-led rallies began mostly peacefully last week with …

‘You can’t kill all of us’: Kenya protesters vow to march againWed, 26 Jun 2024 11:34:20 GMT Read More »

The death toll from protests in Kenya has climbed to 13, an official from the main doctors’ association told AFP Wednesday, after anti-tax hike rallies turned violent and police opened fire at demonstrators who ransacked parliament.The unprecedented scenes that left parts of parliament ablaze and gutted and injured scores of people on Tuesday have shocked Kenyans …

‘Shaken to the core’: Kenya protest death toll climbs to 13Wed, 26 Jun 2024 08:14:37 GMT Read More »

South African scientists on Tuesday injected radioactive material into live rhino horns to make them easier to detect at border posts in a pioneering project aimed at curbing poaching.The country is home to a large majority of the world’s rhinos and as such is a hotspot for poaching driven by demand from Asia, where horns …

First radioactive rhino horns to curb poaching in S.AfricaWed, 26 Jun 2024 07:12:32 GMT Read More »

Kenya was in a state of shock Wednesday following unprecedented scenes that left parts of parliament ablaze and gutted, as protests over proposed tax hikes turned deadly, prompting President William Ruto’s government to deploy the military.  “Deaths, mayhem”, read the front-page headline on the Standard newspaper, while the Daily Nation described the situation as “Pandemonium”, saying: …

‘Shaken to the core’: Kenya shocked as protests turn deadlyWed, 26 Jun 2024 05:10:53 GMT Read More »

Doctors in eastern Sudan say Mohammed al-Juneid’s wife, displaced and diagnosed with cancer, needs treatment elsewhere in the war-torn country. But the road is long and dangerous, and the journey expensive.”Even if we make it to Meroe in the north, who knows how long we’ll have to wait until it’s her turn,” the 65-year-old told …

Costly odyssey for cancer care in war-torn SudanWed, 26 Jun 2024 04:46:09 GMT Read More »