In the news

A mysterious explosion hit the center of Johannesburg on Wednesday afternoon at rush hour, tearing the roadway off a traffic axis and injuring around 40 people, authorities said. Emergency services initially pointed to a possible explosion of underground gas pipes, but the Egoli gas company said in the evening that …

An Accra Circuit Court has sentenced a man to nine months imprisonment in hard labour for stealing a-32-inch LG television set and money box valued GHC135.00 and cash in Ghana. The convict is the complainant’s neighbour. He pleaded guilty to unlawful entry and stealing and was ordered to serve his …

Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah al-Sissi has pardoned jailed rights activist Patrick Zaki and lawyer Mohammed al-Baqer, state media reported. The news comes a day after an emergency court found Mr Zaki guilty of “spreading false news” and sentenced him to three years in prison. The judgement, based on an article …

Russia’s private military company Wagner boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has told Afrique Media TV that his mercenaries will continue working in African countries where they are present. “We continue to work in all the countries where we started or are now doing this work of co-operation and development,” he said in …

South African authorities have adopted sign language as the country’s 12th official language, local media reported. President Cyril Ramaphosa formally approved the Sign Language Bill into law during a ceremony in Pretoria. Some of the country’s other languages are Afrikaans, English, Xhosa and Zulu. South Africa is the fourth country …

A 10-day-old baby has died at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Hospital in a suspected case of medical negligence in Kumasi, Ghana, reports said. “The baby was sent to the facility for a male circumcision procedure and suffered cardiac arrest during the procedure,” reports said. He died …

British foreign intelligence chief on Wednesday called on Russians “appalled” by their country’s invasion of Ukraine, to join his services in London, in a rare public appeal for new operatives. In a speech in Prague, Richard Moore, head of MI6, said that “many Russians today are silently appalled at the …

A Zion Christian Church bishop sent nude photos and asked for love from his nephew’s wife in Zimbabwe, according to reports. The church is at the brink of splitting after the act of the bishop. “The bishop wanted his nephew’s wife to be his fourth lover, as he already has three …

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Tunisian security agents of committing “serious abuses” against black African migrants attempting to get to Europe. The campaign group said it had interviewed more than 20 migrants and asylum seekers since March. Seven were among more than 1,000 black Africans expelled or forcibly transferred …

A woman claims to have been miraculously pregnant, giving birth to a healthy baby boy, despite retaining her virginity in Uganda, according to reports. The Ugandan community is grappling with an extraordinary case that has left medical experts bewildered and questioning the boundaries of science while residents are living in …