Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AFP) – A huge fire destroyed a large part of South Africa’s parliament on Sunday, as police said a suspect will appear in court in the week and firefighters struggled to bring the blaze completely under control. Dozens of crews battled throughout the day to extinguish the fire which broke out at about 0300 GMT in the parliament complex’s oldest wing, which was completed in 1884 and has wood-panelled rooms. As […]
A major fire broke out at South Africa’s seat of parliament in Cape Town early Sunday, sending a thick column of smoke into the sky and threatening the National Assembly building. The fire was believed to have started in one of the older buildings in the parliament precinct, leading to a security cordon nearby the cathedral where anti-apartheid icon Archbishop Desmond Tutu was buried just hours before. “The roof has caught fire and the National […]
KANO, Nigeria (AFP) — More than 100 jihadist fighters were killed in air strikes by the Nigerian military last week, security sources and residents told AFP on Tuesday. Fighter jets bombarded three Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) camps in Nigeria’s northeast on Monday last week, killing more than 100 fighters including several senior commanders, the sources said. ISWAP has been consolidating its power in the Lake Chad region since the death in May of […]
RABAT, Morocco (AFP) — Morocco on Monday announced a ban on New Year’s Eve celebrations as part of stepped-up measures against rising coronavirus cases. The government ordered a ban on all forms of celebration on the evening of New Year’s eve, including parties in hotels and tourist sites. It ordered restaurants and cafes to close at 11.30 pm and said a curfew would be in place from midnight until 6:00 AM on January 1. Morocco […]
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — South Africa Wednesday reported its highest daily tally of new coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, just weeks after announcing the discovery of the Omicron strain. The tally of 26,976 Covid infections topped the previous record of 26,485 on July 3, at the height of the country’s third wave caused by the Delta variant. The highly mutated Omicron strain was first detected in South Africa last month […]
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday and is receiving treatment for mild symptoms, the presidency said in a statement. Ramaphosa, who is fully vaccinated, began feeling unwell after leaving a state memorial service for former deputy president F W de Klerk in Cape Town earlier in the day but was in good spirits and being monitored by doctors, it said. He would remain in self-isolation […]
NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — A massive fire tore through an overcrowded prison in Burundi before dawn on Tuesday, killing dozens of inmates and seriously injuring many more, the country’s vice president said. Many prisoners were still asleep when the blaze took hold in a penitentiary in Burundi’s political capital Gitega, witnesses said/ Some survived only by clambering out — completely naked — to safety through the roof. Much of the facility was destroyed, with images […]
WINDHOEK, Namibia (AFP) — Namibia’s President Hage Geingob announced Monday that the first cases of the Omicron Covid-19 variant had been detected in the country, which was forced to dispose of 150,000 expired vaccine doses. Geingob called on citizens to get booster jabs after 18 Omicron cases were identified in the country, which neighbours South Africa where the variant was first discovered last month. Only 12.1 percent of Namibia’s 2.4 million people are fully vaccinated […]
NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — Divers recovered seven more bodies Sunday from a bus that was swept off a bridge by a flooding river in Kenya, bringing the death toll from the tragedy to more than 30. The bus was taking a church choir and other revellers to a wedding in Kitui County on Saturday when it keeled over and sank beneath fast-flowing waters as the driver tried to navigate a submerged bridge. Twelve passengers managed […]
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — South Africa’s Covid-19 infections surged to a record three million on Friday as a new wave driven by the Omicron variant rips through parts of the country, official figures showed. The government on Friday reported 16,055 new cases over a 24-hour period, taking the cumulative laboratory-confirmed cases to 3,004,203. “This increase represents a 24.3 percent positivity rate,” the government run National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said in a […]
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — South African pharma giant Aspen said Tuesday it has reached an agreement in principle with US-based Johnson & Johnson paving the way for an anti-Covid vaccine “made in Africa for Africa”. “Today we are pleased to announce the intention for Johnson & Johnson to grant Aspen the rights to manufacture and sell Aspen’s own brand of the vaccine in Africa,” Aspen CEO Stephen Saad said in a statement. The preliminary […]
KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) – Uganda launched air strikes and artillery attacks targeting the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel group in eastern DR Congo on Tuesday, in an operation agreed with Congolese forces, both sides said. “As announced, targeted and concerted action with the Ugandan army started today with air strikes and artillery fire from Uganda against positions of the terrorist ADF in the DRC,” Congolese government spokesman and Communications Minister Patrick Muyaya wrote on […]
