AFP Africa

Pope Francis smashed the stereotypical profile for a pontiff, becoming the Catholic Church’s first leader from the Americas and the first non-European since the eighth century.Some hope his successor, to be chosen in a conclave of cardinals in the coming days or weeks, could come from Africa or Asia.The late Argentine pontiff championed far-flung regions …

Diplomacy likely to trump geography in choice of new popeSun, 27 Apr 2025 02:37:26 GMT Read More »

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou on Saturday denounced the fatal stabbing of a Muslim worshipper inside a mosque as police hunted the killer, who filmed his victim as he lay dying.The attacker stabbed the worshipper dozens of times then filmed him with a mobile phone while shouting insults at Islam in Friday’s attack in the …

French police hunt suspected killer of Muslim worshipper inside mosqueSat, 26 Apr 2025 20:14:12 GMT Read More »

Belgium’s foreign minister told AFP that Rwanda’s “legitimate” security concerns in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo could not justify its former colony’s backing for the M23 armed group.In an interview with AFP, Maxime Prevot urged both sides to negotiate an end to the conflict in the DRC’s troubled east, where the M23 has seized …

Rwanda’s actions in DR Congo unjustified: Belgian top diplomatSat, 26 Apr 2025 15:00:05 GMT Read More »

Some 250,000 people paid respects to Pope Francis during the three days his coffin led in St Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican said Friday, as public viewing ended and world leaders began gathering for his funeral.French President Emmanuel Macron was among the last to bow before the coffin, with the overall crowds exceeding the estimated 195,000 …

Huge crowds pack Vatican for last day of Pope’s lying in stateFri, 25 Apr 2025 21:06:15 GMT Read More »

The funeral of Pope Francis, who died on Monday aged 88, will take place Saturday. After a multi-lingual mass in St Peter’s Square, his coffin will be taken to the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica, in central Rome, for burial. Here is the official programme of the ceremonies:05:30 (0330 GMT) St Peter’s Square opens.09:30 (0730 GMT) US President Donald Trump …

Pope Francis’s funeral programmeFri, 25 Apr 2025 14:42:31 GMT Read More »

Diplomatic tensions between Benin and its junta-led Sahel neighbours Niger and Burkina Faso have led to a security vacuum which jihadists are exploiting with ever-deadlier attacks, analysts told AFP.North Benin, which borders both Niger and Burkina Faso, has seen a recent rise in strikes targeting army positions, with an attack last week claimed by Al-Qaeda-linked …

Benin tensions with Burkina, Niger open door for jihadistsFri, 25 Apr 2025 13:59:03 GMT Read More »

Gabon’s Brice Oligui Nguema won 94.85 percent of the vote, according to final results released on Friday, confirming the junta chief’s landslide election as the central African country’s president. That result marks a five-percent increase on his score in the provisional results given the day after the April 12 ballot, the country’s first since Oligui ended …

Junta chief wins 94.85% in Gabon vote landslide: final resultsFri, 25 Apr 2025 12:39:13 GMT Read More »

Tens of thousands of people flocked to the Vatican Friday for a last glimpse of Pope Francis’s open coffin, as world leaders and other guests began arriving for his funeral.Around 150,000 people had paid their last respects to the Argentine pontiff by midday Friday, seven hours before the end of three days of lying in …

Huge crowds pack Vatican ahead of Pope’s funeralFri, 25 Apr 2025 12:23:21 GMT Read More »

It may be the gateway to the vast Sahara desert, but that does not mean it’s free of that modern scourge of the environment — the rubbish humanity discards.In southern Morocco, volunteers are hunting for waste embedded in the sand, and they do not have to look far.Bottles, plastic bags — “there are all kinds”, …

Morocco volunteers on Sahara clean-up missionFri, 25 Apr 2025 08:23:17 GMT Read More »

Two years after Kenyan athletics champion Agnes Tirop was stabbed to death, the prime suspect was released on bail and promptly disappeared — evidence, say activists, of how Kenya fails victims of gender violence.The Silencing Women Project, an NGO-run initiative, recorded 170 femicides last year in just 10 of the country’s 47 counties, “the deadliest …

Kenya failing to tackle record-high femicides, activists sayFri, 25 Apr 2025 05:37:25 GMT Read More »