Category: Africa

South Africans living in Alexandra, Johannesburg marked World Cleanup Day on Saturday by cleaning the banks of the polluted Jukskei river. The river is a source of drinking water for the residents but there is a serious problem with sewage pollution on the river due to an aging infrastructure and a backlog of maintenance. “I thought it would be a great thing for me to take part in this initiative as it benefits the environment and also the people around the place” said Faith Masango, a volunteer. “The water that…

Less than two months before South Africa begins municipal elections, president Cyril Ramaphosa campaigns for voter registration – and to vote for the ANC – in Soweto. The municipal polls on November 1 will test whether the party which freed South Africa from the racist apartheid regime can overcome a situation so dire that members and supporters themselves are losing patience. Cyril Ramaphosa, however, says he is rest assured about the votes. “I’m [feeling] strong. I’m very strong. Raring to go, to get stuck into electioneering and campaigning. Our people…

A new Netflix documentary sets out to dig deep into the relationship between legendary civil rights activist Malcolm X and championship boxer Muhammad Ali. “It’s a beautiful story about this wonderful brotherhood and two beautiful souls that connected during this particular moment in time. I was just reading something where my father said that Muhammad Ali had … great integrity,” said Ilyasah Shabazz, daughter of Malcolm X. “We forget what the history was like, what the social climate was like in the 1960s. It was quite challenging, you know. And…

Former Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who battled for independence from France, united his conflict-torn country, and was subsequently overthrown during pro-democracy protesters in 2019 after two decades in office, has died at the age of 84, according to state television on Friday. The local channel’s report, which cited a statement from the office of incumbent President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, did not specify the cause of death or offer details on burial plans. Bouteflika had suffered a stroke in 2013 that badly weakened him. Concerns about his state of health, kept secret…

Kenyans voiced fury on Thursday at a jump in fuel prices, which threaten to pile on the misery for a population already suffering economic hardship because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Fuel prices are now at record levels after the country’s energy regulator this week put an end to subsidies on petrol, diesel and kerosene that were introduced earlier this year to ease anger over the surging cost of living. The East African economic powerhouse has suffered huge job losses as gross domestic product shrank last year for the first time…

France said Thursday that its troops deployed in Africa’s Sahel region had killed the head of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, who had been hunted for years over deadly attacks on US soldiers and French aid workers. Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi formed the ISGS in 2015 after splitting with jihadist linked to Al-Qaeda and pledging allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group, which at the time controlled swathes of Iraq and Syria. Sahrawi was “neutralised by French forces,” President Emmanuel Macron tweeted early Thursday, calling it “another major…

Last updated: 4 hours ago France’s Notre Dame Cathedral is finally stable and secure enough for artisans to start rebuilding it, more than two years after the shocking fire that tore through its roof, knocked down its spire and threatened to bring the rest of the medieval monument down, too. The government agency overseeing the reconstruction announced in a statement on Saturday that the works to secure the structure – which began the day after the April 15, 2019 fire – are at last complete. Carpenters, scaffolding experts, professional climbers,…

Several hundred protesters marched through central Tunis on Saturday to demand a return to parliamentary democracy after a July power grab by President Kais Saied. The march was tightly marshalled by security forces on the ground and an interior ministry surveillance drone overhead, journalists reported. Most of the protesters were supporters of the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party, which formed the largest bloc in parliament before its dissolution by the president. “The people want the collapse of the coup,” the protesters chanted. “We want legitimacy.” On July 25, Saied sacked the government,…

Last updated: 2 hours ago Police used pepper spray in a number of confrontations and made over 200 arrests in Melbourne, as several hundred attendees flouted stay-at-home orders and marched through an inner-city suburb. The illegal gathering comes amid city’s sixth lockdown since the pandemic started, with the wider state of Victoria reporting over 500 cases of Covid-19 on Saturday. More about Sourced from Africanews

Algerians react to the death of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who ruled Algeria for two decades before resigning in 2019 as huge protests engulfed the country. The former strongman had left office in April 2019 under pressure from the military, following weeks of demonstrations over his bid to run for a fifth term in office. After quitting, he had stayed out of the public eye at a residence in western Algiers. Bouteflika became president of Algeria in 1999 as the former French colony emerged from a decade of civil war…