In the news

Fifteen members of Ghanaian parliament and 56 staff members have contracted coronavirus, local media reported. They returned positive tests following a recent round of testing, Speaker Alban Bagbin is quoted as saying in parliament on Thursday. The infected lawmakers and staff have been asked to self-isolate while undergoing treatment, according …

Joe Biden the new American President promised to rebuild his country’s partnership with the African Union (AU) moments after he delivered his first foreign policy speech since taking office. His predecessor, Donald Trump, sparked a row in 2018 over his alleged use of the word “shithole” to describe African nations. …

Several people have been injured after a gas explosion in Memmingen in southern Germany, daily Bild reported on Friday, citing a police spokesman. The paper said a further explosion could not be ruled out. According to the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper the explosion occurred at the offices of the German Red …

Antony Blinken, the American Secretary of State has expressed concern over the situation in Tigray region during talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Mr Blinken urged Mr Abiy Ahmed to allow humanitarian access to the region to prevent further loss of life. He also pledged the US support for …

A civil disobedience movement in Myanmar is gaining momentum with teachers and students protesting against Monday’s military coup. Demonstrators at a university in the biggest city, Yangon, chanted support for jailed leader Aung San Suu Kyi and wore red ribbons, her party’s colour. Although Ms Suu Kyi has not been …

An American has been sentenced to more than 15 years in prison for abusing underage girls in a Kenyan orphanage. Christian missionary Gregory Dow set up the orphanage with his wife in 2008. “Gregory Dow was the proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing,” said the FBI’s Michael Driscoll. Last year, Dow …

A group of pro-Joseph Kabila senators in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday denounced a perceived “dictatorial shift” in the country. Their indignation in fact, comes after President Félix Tshisekedi, who took office in January 2019, made a series of top-level changes in parliament where a majority of deputies …

Conspiracy theories, mistrust and patchy communication have contributed to a flourishing of skepticism about Covid-19 vaccines in African countries, experts say, posing potential dangers to future immunisation campaigns. Anti-vaccine sentiment, often fed by rumours spread on social media, is already thriving in the West. But a similar dynamic is at …

On Thursday, Burkina Faso’s government said that it was open to holding talks with Islamist militants, a position embraced by its neighbours in the Sahel region where terrorist attacks are recurrent. Jihadists activities have grown in the region despite military operations to contain them. France which has more than 5,000 …

Muhammadu Buhari, the Nigerian president has nominated four former military commanders for ambassadorial roles after their resignation last week. The president overhauled the military’s top command amid growing calls for a reshuffle due to insecurity across the country. He accepted the resignation of the chief of defence staff and the …