TRIPOLI – About 6,500 migrants have been rescued off Libya, the Italian coastguard says, in one of the biggest operations of its kind to date. Some 40 co-ordinated rescue missions took place about 20km (12 miles) off the Libyan town of Sabratha, it added. Video footage shows migrants, said to be from Eritrea and Somalia,…
JOHANNESBURG – Archbishop Desmond Tutu admitted himself to a Cape Town hospital on Wednesday “for treatment to a recurring infection,” according to a statement from his family. The 84-year-old archbishop will remain in the hospital for one or two weeks, according to his family’s statement. They noted that Tutu went through a similar treatment last…
LAGOS – A Nigerian man who named his dog after President Muhammadu Buhari and painted the name on both sides of the dog was arrested for breach of the peace. Joe Fortemose Chinakwe walked Buhari in an area where support for the president was high, police said. Officers said they were worried the moved could…
LILONGWE – Malawian President Peter Mutharika is under fire from the opposition lawmakers for shielding cabinet ministers who have been implicated in a $330m corruption scam. But Mutharika has vehemently rejected the accusation, claiming he did not know names of the implicated ministers. Leading the bandwagon of those calling for the sacking of the alleged…
JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s governing ANC party has lost control of the country’s largest city and economic centre, Johannesburg. The city council elected as mayor Herman Mashaba from the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA). The ANC had run the city since the fall of apartheid more than 20 years ago. It lost its council majority in…
LUSAKA – Zambia’s main opposition party has alleged fraud in Thursday’s presidential vote and called for a recount of votes in the capital Lusaka. The UPND party, led by Hakainde Hichilema, has withdrawn from the ballot verification process. President Edgar Lungu, of the governing PF party, holds a slim lead over his rival Mr Hichilema,…
LUSAKA – Zambia’s incumbent President Edgar Lungu has been delared the winner of the August 11 Elections after he polled 1, 860, 877 (50.3 %) and his closest river Hakainde Hichilema from the UPND polled 1, 760, 347(47.8%). With the results from all the 156 constituencies, the PF candidate secured a Margin of 100 530,…
JOHANNESBURG – South Africa has regained the title of Africa’s largest economy, two years after Nigeria rebased its GDP to claim the spot, according to IMF data. A recalculation using current exchange rates put South Africa on top because the rand has strengthened against the dollar. Nigeria’s currency has fallen sharply since a peg to…
LUSAKA – Polling stations have closed in Zambia’s presidential and parliamentary elections following campaigning marred by clashes between rival supporters. It is expected to be a tight race between President Edgar Lungu’s governing PF party and the opposition UPND led by Hakainde Hichilema. For the first time, a presidential candidate must win more than 50%…
ADDIS ABABA – Several people are feared dead in clashes in north-western Ethiopia between police and anti-government protesters, amid a wave of unrest. On Friday police arrested dozens of demonstrators during massive rallies in the capital, Addis Ababa. Since last November the government has been facing protests from the two largest ethnic communities over alleged…
