AFP Africa

In the seven months since it was formed, South Africa’s unlikely unity government has been stretched and cracked but remains intact under the leadership of President Cyril Ramaphosa, who delivers its first state of the nation address Thursday.Several loud quarrels have erupted over sticking points such as language education in schools and Ramaphosa’s warm words …

S.Africa’s unity govt stays the course after a stormy startWed, 05 Feb 2025 10:00:54 GMT Read More »

Goma, which fell to M23 fighters and the Rwandan military last week, has become a symbol of the conflict that has ripped apart the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo over three decades.In early January, a push on the capital of North Kivu province, where thousands of UN and humanitarian workers were based, was seen as …

Fire and fury: the intense fight for DRC’s GomaWed, 05 Feb 2025 07:36:23 GMT Read More »

Rwandan-backed armed group M23 announced a humanitarian “ceasefire” from Tuesday in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s perennially explosive east, days before a planned crisis meeting between the Congolese and Rwandan leaders.The M23 and Rwandan troops last week seized Goma — the provincial capital of the mineral-rich North Kivu region that has been blighted by conflict …

Rwandan-backed group declares ceasefire in DRC’s war-torn eastTue, 04 Feb 2025 19:35:13 GMT Read More »

The still waters of Lake Kivu stretch all the way to the horizon, undisturbed by the turbulence raging on its shores.Boats have vanished from the lake since the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group seized control of the Congolese city of Goma at its north tip. On the other end of the lake lies the city of …

Cut off from Goma by front line, prices soar in DR Congo cityTue, 04 Feb 2025 17:11:10 GMT Read More »

Mauritius’s prime minister said Tuesday that his country had reached a newly renegotiated deal with Britain over control of the strategic Chagos Islands but was awaiting US President Donald Trump’s opinion.Britain and its former colony reached a deal in October to hand back the Indian Ocean isles — which it kept control of after Mauritius …

Mauritius says ‘new deal’ reached with UK on Chagos IslandsTue, 04 Feb 2025 16:57:32 GMT Read More »

Lack of military coordination and tension among countries in Africa’s Lake Chad region are hindering efforts to end a more than decade-long jihadist insurgency, according to local officials and security sources.The region, comprising the four countries that surround Lake Chad — Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria — has been battling insurgency since 2009, after a …

Lack of regional cooperation hampering Lake Chad jihadist fightTue, 04 Feb 2025 15:33:16 GMT Read More »

People cannot go to Mali’s Dogon region to witness its spectacular ancient culture, so the Dogons brought their dancing, wrestling and architecture to the Sahel nation’s capital. The central region has been isolated for a decade because of the insecurity that has stricken the huge west African country.But authorities have organised the annual week-long Ogobagna festival …

Masks and wrestlers bring Dogon people out of Mali’s shadowsTue, 04 Feb 2025 15:02:03 GMT Read More »

The gates at a Johannesburg LGBTQ clinic called OUT have been closed for more than a week and HIV prevention and treatment services suspended for its 6,000 clients.The lights are also off at the University of the Witwatersrand’s HIV project, a leader in the provision of services to sex workers in South Africa, a country …

‘Unreliable partner’: S.Africa’s HIV clinics scramble over US aid freezeTue, 04 Feb 2025 13:47:57 GMT Read More »

DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame will attend a summit on Saturday as a Rwanda-backed armed group advances in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.M23 fighters and Rwandan soldiers have made substantial gains in the eastern DRC, taking the major city of Goma last week, and have vowed to march across the …

DR Congo, Rwanda leaders to join summit on crisis in war-torn eastTue, 04 Feb 2025 04:56:09 GMT Read More »

Fierce fighting in south and west Sudan killed at least 65 people and wounded more than 130 Monday, medics said, as the devastating war between the army and paramilitary forces rages on.In South Kordofan, artillery fire on the state capital Kadugli killed at least 40 people and wounded 70, according to two medical sources.The city, …

At least 65 killed as Sudan fighting escalatesMon, 03 Feb 2025 21:06:54 GMT Read More »