BBC Sudan’s ruling military council and opposition leaders have signed a power-sharing accord after all-night talks. It is a “historic moment” for the country, the deputy head of Sudan’s ruling military council, Mohamed Hamdan “Hemeti” Dagolo, is quoted as saying by AFP news agency. Sudan has been in turmoil since the military ousted President Omar
Times Live President John Magufuli urged Tanzania’s women to “set your ovaries free” and bear more children as a way to help boost the economy into a regional powerhouse, a step critics said would instead worsen inequality and poverty. “When you have a big population you build the economy. That’s why China’s economy is so
Aljazeera The battle between rival groups for the Libyan capital has killed more than 1 000 people since it began in April, the United Nations said, a grim milestone in a stalemated conflict partly fuelled by regional powers. The World Health Organization said in a brief statement on Tuesday that 1 048 people have been
BBC France has denied breaching a UN arms embargo after four of its anti-tank missiles were found on a base loyal to a rogue Libyan general. The country’s defence ministry says the “unusable” US-made Javelin missiles were never intended to be passed to any group, and were due to be destroyed. However, they were discovered
Aljazeera Tens of thousands of Algerians have taken to the streets to celebrate their country’s independence from France and continue calls for a new democratic leadership in the wake of former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s resignation in April. Amid extra-high security and resurgent anger at authorities, crowds wearing Algerian flags on their shoulders, heads and waists
BBC In a candid speech on South Sudan’s independence day, President Salva Kiir has apologised for the “failures” of his government. After a long civil war, South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 to great fanfare. That optimism was shattered following the start of South Sudan’s own civil war in December 2013. Kiir said
BBC Nigerian writer Lesley Nneka Arimah has won a prestigious prize for her story about a parallel universe where single women go naked until they are married. She has been awarded $12,500 (£10,000) for her winning Caine Prize for African Writing story called Skinned. Arimah told the BBC its underlying message was to show the
BBC Dozens of migrants are feared dead after a boat capsized off the coast of Tunisia. Three people are said to have survived the sinking, which took place in waters near the town of Zarzis. Those rescued said that they had set out from Zuwara in Libya. The country is a main departure point for
BBC At least 18 soldiers have been killed in western Niger in an attack by suspected Islamist militants on a military base. The attack began with the detonation of two car bombs, officials said, before gunmen on motorbikes joined the raid. Air strikes by US and French forces helped to drive the insurgents back, the
BBC A Rwandan man who hid his involvement in the 1994 genocide has been sentenced to eight years in jail. Jean Leonard Teganya committed “the most serious form of immigration fraud” by “lying about his status as a war criminal to win asylum,” US Attorney Andrew E Lelling said in a statement. In just 100
By Aljazeera A human rights group says the Egyptian government bears responsibility for the death of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, amid pressing international demands for a fair and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding his final hours. According to authorities, the first democratically elected president in Egypt‘s modern history died on Monday after collapsing in
By EU Today Nearly two decades after the European Union imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe, a thaw in relations is palpable, following praise by the EU ambassador and head of the EU-Zimbabwe Delegation Timo Olkkonen. “The government of Zimbabwe has been clear that significant political economic reforms are necessary for the benefit of its people,” Olkkonen said, adding
By BBC THE head of Sudan’s ruling military council, Lieutenant General Abdul Fattah al-Burhan, has met Eritrea’s President Isiaias Afwerki in the capital, Asmara. General Burhan is seeking to build up regional support for the military, which is under pressure to hand over to a civilian administration. Eritrea has already criticised the decision of the
By BBC A Kenyan MP has been charged with assault after allegedly slapping a female colleague because she did not allocate money to his constituency. Rashid Kassim is accused of slapping Fatuma Gedi – who sits on the budget committee – in the car park of the parliament building in the capital, Nairobi. He denied
BBC Nearly 100 people have been killed in an attack in a village in central Mali inhabited by the Dogon ethnic group, officials say. The attack happened in Sobame Da, near Sanga town in the Mopti region. The search for bodies is ongoing, but officials say 95 people have been found dead, with many of
BBC Sudan’s army ruler said Wednesday he was open to negotiations even as gunfire crackled across the capital after a crackdown that doctors close to protesters said left at least 60 people dead. Despite mounting international concern at what demonstrators called a “bloody massacre”, a bid at the UN Security Council to condemn the killings
AFP DR Congo’s health ministry said late on Monday that it had recorded more than 2 000 cases of Ebola, two-thirds of which had been fatal, since the disease broke out in the country’s east 10 months ago. “Since the start of the epidemic, the total number of cases stands at 2 008, of which
BBC Sudan’s military leaders say they are scrapping all existing agreements with the main opposition coalition and will hold elections within nine months. The announcement came as the military faced mounting international condemnation for their violent attack on protesters in the capital, Khartoum, which reportedly left at least 30 dead. The US said it was
BBC Nearly 150 refugees and asylum seekers have been flown from the Libyan capital, Tripoli, to the Italian capital, Rome, by the UN’s refugee agency, the UN says. Those taken are from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia and many of them need medical attention and are suffering from malnourishment. Among those relocated are 65 children,
BBC Crowds in Kinshasa are still awaiting the arrival of the body of the father of Democratic Republic of Congo’s new president, two years after he died in Belgium. Opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi died in Brussels in February 2017 at the age of 84. But his body remained in a fridge in a morgue for
