A court in Bangladesh sentenced to death five members of an Islamist militant group on Tuesday for killing a U.S. blogger critical of religious extremism six years ago. Avijit Roy, a U.S. citizen of Bangladeshi origin, was hacked to death here by machete-wielding assailants in February 2015 while returning home …
Read More »New WTO boss targets ‘early wins’ in Covid-19 fight
Newly appointed head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, says having “early wins and successes” in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic will help restore trust in the organisation. She said that the priority was to look at how WTO can help make access to vaccines, therapeutics and …
Read More »Dozens dead after boat sinks in Congo River
Officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo say more than 60 people have drowned after a barge capsized and sank on the Congo River. Three-hundred people have been rescued but possibly 200 others are unaccounted for following the accident. Locals said the boat hit a rock east of the capital, …
Read More »WHO clears way for dispatch of Covid vaccine to Africa
The World Health Organization (WHO) has approved two versions of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, clearing the way for the vaccines to be shipped to African countries through the Covax scheme. Covax is a global initiative in which countries pool their resources to support the development of vaccines …
Read More »Chad calls for more international funds for Sahel
Chad has called on foreign powers to urgently increase funds for the development of the Sahel. Speaking at a summit on Islamist violence in the region, the Chadian President Idriss Deby said combatting poverty would help defeat militancy. The French President Emmanuel Macron is attending the meeting via video link. …
Read More »DR Congo: Health workers first to get Ebola vaccine
An emergency stockpile of 8,000 Ebola vaccines kept in reserve in the Democratic Republic of Congo is being used to fight a resurgence of the disease that began earlier this month. The first people to be vaccinated were health workers at Matanda health centre, where the first Ebola patient was …
Read More »Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde appointed new prime Minister of DR Congo
Former sport minister, Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, is the new prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Before being appointed he was the Director-General of Gecanine, DR Congo’s biggest parastatal mining company. The 43-year-old has a month to form a government that will lead the so-called Sacred Union, the new …
Read More »Opposition candidates call for protests in Somalia
Somalia’s opposition presidential candidates have called for protests on Friday over what they call “illegal stay in power by the president”. Former President Sheikh Shariff Sheikh Ahmed said, while making the announcement on behalf of other candidates, that the government had failed to organise both parliamentary and presidential elections. President …
Read More »Liberia on heightened alert after Guinea Ebola virus deaths
Liberia’s President George Weah has ordered health authorities to heighten surveillance in the wake of an Ebola resurgence in neighbouring Guinea. Three people have died in Guinea and four others reportedly have symptoms. The Guinean region affected by the latest outbreak is near the border with Liberia. President Weah is …
Read More »Suspected Islamists torch church and kill 16 people
The army in the Democratic Republic of Congo says suspected Islamists have killed 16 people and burned down a church in the north-eastern province of Ituri. They attacked people as they were worshipping in the village of Ndalya. The Allied Democratic Forces, which originated in Uganda, is active in the …
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