Security forces in South Africa have ramped up a clampdown on illegal miners. On Thursday (Dec. 14), dozens of army and police searched shacks, seizing mining equipment in the Soul City settlement near Kagiso, west of Johannesburg, AFP reporters saw. More than 70 people, mostly undocumented migrants, were held over two days in the area, which...

 The Women's World Handball Championship is now entering the race for the last four. The tournament being held in Sweden, Norway and Denmark has seen Senegal achieve the greatest feat in the history of its handball. For their 2nd participation, the Lionesses reached the main round.Senegal's performance kept a large part of the country on its t...

 President of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said on Tuesday that it is time for Somalia to "take up full responsibility of its security." "The achievement of this objective will not only benefit Somalia, but it will also contribute to regional and global peace and stability," said Mohamud at the Somalia Security Sector Conference in New York. ...

 With just a few days to go before the presidential election in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the issue of faulty voters' cards is worrying voters and election observers alike. At a time when the DRC is already weakened by attacks from the M23 rebellion and other armed groups, the issue risks adding a new layer to the spectre of a post-ele...

 Former Sierra Leonean president Ernest Bai Koroma has been placed under house supervision in what the opposition say is house arrest following the recent violence. Koroma was questioned on Monday (Dec. 11) for the third time by police in Freetown about the events of November 26, described by the authorities as an attempted coup d'état. On Sat...

 South Africa, battling crippling power blackouts, plans to add 2,500 megawatts of new nuclear generation, the government announced Tuesday. The country has Africa's only nuclear power station but the Koeberg plant near Cape Town is currently only working at half capacity. The first of the new units will probably come on stream in 2032 or 2033...

 The High Court in Kampala, Uganda, has sentenced 25-year-old Musa Musasizi to 105 years in prison for the heinous murders of three women and a three-month-old infant. The victims were identified as his girlfriends, and the infant was the child of one of the victims. Musasizi, who pleaded guilty, pursued romantic relationships with the women b...

 On Tuesday, international NGOs working in Niger called on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to ease its sanctions against Niamey to allow emergency humanitarian aid to enter from neighbouring Benin. The twenty or so organisations are calling for the "immediate reopening" of the border with Benin, which has been blocked be...

 Nearly 200 nations meeting in Dubai on Wednesday (Dec. 13) adopted a deal calling on all countries to transition away from the use of fossil fuels and accelerate action in this decade. The deal marks the first mention of all fossil fuels in the history of COPs. ''In this process, I invite the CMA to adopt the draft decision entitled 'outcome ...

 Kenyan middle-distance runner Faith Kipyegon and American sprinter Noah Lyles were among the six "Athletes of the Year" honored in Monaco on Monday evening by the International Athletics Federation (World Athletics), which also paid tribute to the marathon records broken this season. World Athletics usually names one man and one woman "Athlet...

 Hikers hit the trail before dawn at South Africa's natural jewel Table Mountain, but instead of simply trekking its rugged landscape they were also demonstrating against a surge in attacks on walkers and tourists. Pensioner Mary Lloyd, among the roughly 50 gathered to sound the alarm at one of Africa's most visited landmarks, had only weeks p...

 Kenya is "out of the danger of over-indebtedness", claimed its president, William Ruto, on Tuesday, praising his economic policy despite public anger at tax hikes and subsidy cuts. The country of 53 million inhabitants, the economic powerhouse of East Africa, is now "out of the danger of over-indebtedness", said the head of state in Nairobi a...

 Vote counting began in Egypt on Tuesday evening (Dec. 12) after polls closed at 7PM GMT. Some 67 million Egyptians were registered to cast a ballot in the presidential election. State newspaper Al-Ahram reported that the National Elections Authority, which is responsible for organising the poll, recorded an "unprecedented" turnout. The turnou...

Singer who played for Nelson Mandela at his home had been hospitalised with 'physical pains', and previously suffered liver damage from alcoholism The South African pop singer Zahara, whose soaring voice and strident ballads earned her multiple platinum-selling albums in her home country, has died aged 35. South Africa's sports, arts and culture mi...

 Of nearly 25 million people in need, the United Nations has only been able to reach a fraction, according to the head of the UN's humanitarian response in war-torn Sudan. But assistance to even those four million could soon stop, Clementine Nkweta-Salami told AFP in an interview, if the chronic lack of funding continues. The UN's humanitarian...

 A South African court Monday ruled that the government's recognition of the King of the Zulu nation last year was unlawful, potentially setting off a new succession battle. The Pretoria high court ordered President Cyril Ramaphosa to set up an inquiry to probe whether the tumultuous accession of King Misuzulu Zulu was done in line with custom...

 More than 400 miners who had been underground for four days in South Africa, some of them held back by colleagues against a backdrop of tensions following a recent murder in obscure circumstances, emerged from a gold mine east of Johannesburg on Monday. "We're very happy that it's coming to an end," Ziyaad Hassam, of the Gold One company oper...

 The best of African football was in Marrakech, Morocco, Monday (Dec. 11) for the CAF awards. Nigeria's Victor Osimhen won the best African male player of the year award. His exceptional season saw him win the Italian Serie A with Napoli. Osimhen edged Egypt's Mohamed Salah and Morocco's Achraf Hakimi. The last time a Nigerian shone on the con...

 **With rice consumption in Nigeria steadily rising, outgrowing local supply, there is now a supply gap of about 2 million metric tonnes annually, a new report says. ** According to the AFEX Wet Season Crop Production Report for 2023, this has led to an over 37 per cent increase in the price of the commodity so far in 2023. Impact on business ...

 Since his fight against Tyson Fury, boxing stars are increasingly open to taking on Francis Ngannou. In particular, American Deontay Wilder is not closing the door. He's even ready to meet the Cameroonian in the cage, but has some questions about the rules. What's Francis Ngannou's future in the cage? Will he sign a new MMA fight? Since his v...