AFP Africa

Negotiators haggled Tuesday to find a compromise over the fate of fossil fuels as the Dubai climate summit went into overtime, with Saudi-led crude producers resisting a phase-out of oil, gas and coal.The 13-day UN COP28 conference in the glitzy metropolis built on petrodollars has debated a historic first-ever global exit from fossil fuels, the …

Fight on fossil fuels as Dubai summit goes into overtimeTue, 12 Dec 2023 14:49:17 GMT Read More »

The family of award-winning singer Zahara on Tuesday led tributes to the Afro-pop star who has died at the age of 36.Zahara’s debut album Loliwe turned her into an overnight sensation but she had also told in recent years of her struggle with alcohol.Zahara, born Bulelwa Mkutukana, had been in hospital since last month and …

South Africa pop sensation Zahara dies aged 36Tue, 12 Dec 2023 13:28:13 GMT Read More »

Environmental campaigners are losing faith in the UN-led COP climate process after signs that a phase-out of fossil fuels may not be agreed in Dubai, a leading activist said on Tuesday.Uganda’s Vanessa Nakate, a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, said activists were tired of being disappointed at the annual United Nations conferences to battle climate change.She was …

Campaigners ‘losing trust in COP’, says leading activistTue, 12 Dec 2023 13:00:35 GMT Read More »

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday seeks to avoid a humiliating defeat for his latest plans to send migrants to Rwanda that have split his ruling Conservative party.  The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill is Sunak’s answer to a unanimous Supreme Court ruling last month that deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda was …

UK PM Sunak faces leadership test over Rwanda planTue, 12 Dec 2023 12:28:46 GMT Read More »

President William Ruto said Tuesday that Kenya was emerging “out of debt distress”, touting his economic policies despite public anger over tax hikes and slashed subsidies as the country marked its 60th independence anniversary.East Africa’s economic powerhouse has been struggling to manage multiple challenges, including depleted government coffers, high inflation and a plunging currency that …

Kenya ‘out of debt distress’, Ruto saysTue, 12 Dec 2023 11:32:40 GMT Read More »

Tributes were paid Tuesday to award-winning South African singer Zahara, whose debut album made her an overnight pop sensation, after her death at the age of 36. South Africa’s arts minister and Zahara’s record company announced her death late Monday in a Johannesburg hospital where she was first admitted last month. Born Bulelwa Mkutukana to a poor …

S.Africa afro-pop sensation Zahara dies aged 36Tue, 12 Dec 2023 09:53:37 GMT Read More »

South Africa, battling crippling power blackouts, plans to add 2,500 megawatts of new nuclear generation, the government announced Tuesday.The country has Africa’s only nuclear power station but the Koeberg plant near Cape Town is currently only working at half capacity.The first of the new units will probably come on stream in 2032 or 2033, Zizamele …

South Africa to build new nuclear plants: govtTue, 12 Dec 2023 08:34:05 GMT Read More »

Hikers hit the trail before dawn at South Africa’s natural jewel Table Mountain, but instead of simply trekking its rugged landscape they were also demonstrating against a surge in attacks on walkers and tourists. Pensioner Mary Lloyd, among the roughly 50 gathered to sound the alarm at one of Africa’s most visited landmarks, had only weeks …

Table Mountain attacks highlight crime threat to S.Africa tourismTue, 12 Dec 2023 07:42:34 GMT Read More »

The lights fade and the screen lights up, transporting Senegalese cinemagoers back in time to the world of Ousmane Sembene, who would have been 100 this year.  To celebrate, Dakar movie theatres are showing some of the best-known works by the father of African film, including “The Money Order”, “The Outsiders”, “Camp de Thiaroye” and “Black Girl”.  Sembene, who died in …

Senegalese cinemas pay tribute to Sembene on 100th anniversaryTue, 12 Dec 2023 07:20:33 GMT Read More »

As Edinah Nyasuguta Omwenga fought for her life after developing complications during childbirth, she overheard doctors in the Kenyan hospital describe her condition as a textbook example of the damaging — even deadly — effects of genital mutilation.But unlike thousands of girls across East Africa, Omwenga underwent female genital mutilation (FGM) in a hospital, at …

The dangerous rise of ‘medicalised’ genital mutilation in KenyaTue, 12 Dec 2023 06:08:44 GMT Read More »