Africa

Nigeria: 86 killed in fresh herder-farmer violence

  by Salisu Shitu in Jos, with Aminu Abubakar in Kano Agence France-Presse JOS, Nigeria (AFP) — Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday called for calm after 86 people were killed in an attack by suspected nomadic herders against farming communities in the restive centre of the country. The grim discovery in the Barikin Ladi area of Plateau state came after days of violence apparently sparked by an attack by ethnic Berom farmers on Fulani […]

DFA checking if Filipinos in Ethiopia were among injured in Saturday’s explosion at PM rally that hurt at least 154 people

  (Eagle News) — The Department of Foreign Affairs said it is monitoring the situation in Ethiopia after an explosion at a political rally in the capital Addis Ababa on Saturday that has reportedly left one dead and at least 154 injured. “The Philippine Embassy in Cairo is checking whether any of the 800 members of the Filipino Community were among those injured in the explosion,” said a DFA release. Ambassador to Cairo Leslie Baja, […]

One dead, scores injured in grenade blast at Ethiopia PM’s rally

  by Chris Stein Agence France Presse ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AFP) — One person died and scores of others were hurt after a grenade blast at new Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s first mass rally in the capital that sent crowds fleeing in panic. Abiy had just wrapped up his speech before tens of thousands of people in the heart of Addis Ababa when the explosion went off, sending droves of supporters towards the stage […]

South Sudan foes set to meet after two years

  ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AFP) — The two figures at the centre of the civil war that has ravaged South Sudan are scheduled to meet on Wednesday for the first time in nearly two years. Ethiopia, which has helped broker the meeting, says rebel leader Riek Machar, who fled South Sudan in July 2016, is expected to meet face-to-face with the country’s president, Salva Kiir. The official scope of the talks is broad — to build bridges […]

Two stabbed to death in South Africa mosque, assailant killed: police

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AFP)- A man stabbed to death two people in an attack at a mosque in South Africa early Thursday, before being shot dead by police, police said. Several people were also wounded in the attack in the town of Malmesbury near the southwestern city of Cape Town. “Malmesbury police were called out to a local mosque and found two people dead with stab wounds and several injured,” Noliyoso Rwexana, spokesperson for the […]

Plane with 10 aboard goes missing in Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — Rescue teams on Wednesday were looking for a small plane with 10 people on board that went missing north of the Kenyan capital Nairobi, the aircraft owners and the national disaster agency said. The plane, operated by East African Safari Air Express, took off from the western town of Kitale in the late afternoon Tuesday. It disappeared off the radar screens at Nairobi international airport, its final destination, around 80 minutes […]

ICC to rule in war crimes appeal by ex-Congolese VP

  by Jo Biddle © Agence France-Presse THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — International judges will Friday hand down a verdict in the appeal of disgraced former Congolese vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba, fighting his conviction for war crimes and an 18-year jail term. Bemba, 55, appealed after judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) unanimously found him guilty in June 2016 on five charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Central African Republic (CAR). In […]

Death toll from Tunisia migrant shipwreck rises to 52

KERKENNAH, Tunisia (AFP) — The Tunisian navy has recovered four more corpses from a deadly shipwreck of migrants over the weekend, bringing the official number of victims to 52, the interior ministry said Tuesday. “The toll is now at 52 corpses recovered, 48 of which have been identified,” ministry spokesman Khalifa Chibani told AFP. Chibani said the identified bodies belonged to “36 Tunisians and 12 foreigners”, referring to migrants from sub-Saharan Africa. A total of […]

50 dead in boat accident in northwest DR Congo

  MBANDAKA, DR Congo (AFP) — Fifty people died in a boat accident on a river in remote northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), officials said on Friday. The accident happened on the Momboyo river Wednesday night, Richard Mboyo Iluka, vice governor of Tshuapa province, told AFP, saying: “We found 49 bodies on Thursday and another one this morning.” The boat had been transporting passengers and a large amount of goods from the town of […]

Catholic priest ‘infected with Ebola’ in DR Congo

  MBANDAKA, DR Congo (AFP) — A Catholic priest has been quarantined after being infected with the Ebola virus in the town of Mbandaka in the Democratic Republic of Congo, medical sources said Thursday. “We have quarantined a priest from the diocese of Mbandaka-Bikoro who tested positive” for the Ebola virus, a medical source told AFP on condition of anonymity. Religious authorities could not be immediately contacted. DRC health officials launched a small, targeted vaccination […]

Death toll in DR Congo Ebola outbreak now at 27; authorities start administering prototype vaccine

  KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — The death toll from Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has risen to 27, the health ministry said on Tuesday, after a fatality was recorded in a city on the front line of the outbreak. The death, which involved a person confirmed by lab tests as having the viral disease, occurred in Wangata, a district of Mbandaka, the ministry said in a press release. So far, there […]

Ebola death toll hits 26 in DR Congo as vaccinations start

MBANDAKA, DR Congo (AFP) — The death toll in an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) rose to 26 on Monday after a person died in the northwest city of Mbandaka, the government said, as it began vaccinating first responders against the dreaded disease. “A death was recorded (on Sunday), while two people who had been confirmed as ill with the Ebola virus were cured on Saturday,” Health Minister Oly Ilunga […]