AFP Africa

Springbok scrum-half Faf de Klerk said Thursday his teammates are “well prepared and eager” to get on with this weekend’s eagerly awaited Pool B encounter with Ireland in Paris.Defending champions South Africa opened their World Cup account with a hard-fought 18-3 win over Scotland and followed that with a 76-0 demolition of Romania. Ireland, meanwhile, have …

South Africa ‘eager’ for Ireland crunch: De KlerkThu, 21 Sep 2023 12:29:54 GMT Read More »

In the photo that got him arrested, Gift Ostallos Siziba is sporting wide sunglasses and the jersey of his favourite football team, Zimbabwe’s Highlanders.”We fear fokol” (slang for “nothing”) read the caption the opposition lawmaker posted on social media this month, as the squad from Bulawayo readied to face its bitter rivals, the Dynamos. After the …

Zimbabwe opposition faces wave of arrests after disputed voteThu, 21 Sep 2023 10:40:29 GMT Read More »

Lines of hundreds of trucks stretch back many kilometres close to Benin’s northern border with Niger, their cargo wasting and their drivers going broke after weeks stranded at the closed frontier. Almost two months since a coup ousted Niger’s president, the trucks blocked in Malanville at Benin’s border are the most striking symbol of the fallout Niger’s …

After Niger coup, sanctions pain strikes at shutdown Benin borderThu, 21 Sep 2023 08:34:05 GMT Read More »

The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday called for a speedy withdrawal of a key UN peacekeeping mission that has been in the nation for nearly 25 years.”It is time for our country to take full control of its destiny and become the main actor in its own stability,” Felix Tshisekedi told …

DR Congo calls for swift withdrawal of UN peacekeepersThu, 21 Sep 2023 01:02:32 GMT Read More »

Italy’s prime minister on Wednesday urged the United Nations to launch a “global war without mercy” against migrant smugglers, after a surge of arrivals on the island of Lampedusa.Addressing the UN General Assembly, right-wing prime minister Giorgia Meloni said that Italy, which next year heads the Group of Seven wealthy democracies, was ready to lead …

Italian PM urges UN to wage ‘war without mercy’ on migrant traffickingThu, 21 Sep 2023 00:37:15 GMT Read More »

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday told world leaders the climate crisis had “opened the gates to hell” during a summit where leading polluters China and the United States were conspicuously absent.The talks were partly overshadowed by an announcement from Britain — also not present — that it was rolling back policies that would help …

Climate crisis has ‘opened the gates to hell’, UN chief tells summitWed, 20 Sep 2023 21:11:05 GMT Read More »

Four memorials to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda of more than 800,000 people, mainly Tutsi, were added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list on Wednesday, the UN cultural body said.The sites at Nyamata, Murambi, Gisozi and Bisesero commemorating the mass killings were “just inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list”, the organisation posted on X (formerly …

UNESCO puts Rwanda genocide memorials on World Heritage listWed, 20 Sep 2023 17:19:04 GMT Read More »

Archaeologists said on Wednesday they have unearthed the oldest wooden structure ever discovered, dating from nearly half a million years ago, which suggests that our ancestors may have been more advanced than previously thought.The exceptionally well-preserved wooden structure was found at Kalambo Falls in the north of Zambia near the border with Tanzania.It dates back …

World’s oldest wooden structure discovered in ZambiaWed, 20 Sep 2023 15:14:54 GMT Read More »

Three weeks after Ali Bongo Ondimba was overthrown in a coup, one of his sons and several allies of the ousted Gabon president have been charged with corruption and placed in custody, the state prosecutor said Wednesday.Bongo’s eldest son Noureddin Bongo Valentin and former presidential spokesman Jessye Ella Ekogha were indicted on Tuesday and placed …

Son of ousted Gabon leader held in corruption caseWed, 20 Sep 2023 14:34:11 GMT Read More »

Vanessa Uwase had little chance of survival when her mother was murdered during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Today, she works at the country’s largest memorial to the slaughter — one of four sites added to UNESCO’s heritage list on Wednesday.The Gisozi genocide memorial is “a resting place for many of my loved ones, and …

A chance ‘to heal’: Rwanda genocide survivor on UNESCO memorialWed, 20 Sep 2023 13:33:49 GMT Read More »