Politics and society

At least two protesters have been shot dead as security forces confronted crowds marching in Sudan on Monday demanding the release of prisoners and an end to military rule, Reuters reports. Across the River Nile from Khartoum, soldiers fired teargas to try to disperse people who approached the disused parliament …

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday his government wants to expand its nascent domestic cannabis industry as it looks to tap global demand and grow local production and exports. Africa’s most industrialized nation plans to streamline the “regulatory processes so that the hemp and cannabis sector can thrive …

Tanzanian MPs say the use of emergency contraceptives, known as P2, is on the rise among to prevent pregnancies among girls and women aged between 14 and 24. A recent report by members of a parliamentary health committee into the rise in HIV infections found that girls and young women …

Thousands of Ghanaians took to the streets of the capital Accra on Thursday to demonstrate against a controversial government-sponsored electronic transaction tax bill. The parliament is yet to pass the bill, which introduces a 1.75% tax on all money transactions above 100 cedis ($15; £11). The majority leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu …

Zimbabwean education ministry said it has suspended staff who did not turn up for the start of the school term on Monday. A large number of government-employed teachers are on strike over poor wages. The absent teachers were suspended without pay with immediate effect for three months while investigations into …

The government in Zimbabwe has warned that six cyclones may hit the country during the current rainy season. July Moyo, the local government minister, said measures had been put in place to warn and protect lives and property. “Lessons had been learnt from previous cyclones that had affected the southern …

A Ghanaian journalist and host of Power FM Radio has been sentenced to 14 days in prison for contempt of court, reports the BBC. The journalist Oheneba Boamah Bennie, reportedly issued a series of threats to President Nana Akufo-Addo in a live video on his Facebook page. The journalist alleged …

Authorities in Ethiopia’s Oromia region have accused a rebel group of killing more than 160 civilians and burying 87 bodies in a mass grave, local media reported. The federal government has often accused the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) of being behind the killings of ethnic minorities living in the area. …

The Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni has lifted an almost two-year curfew affecting motorcycle taxis popularly known in the country as boda bodas. Boda bodas have been banned from operating between 7:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. local time since March 2020, when coronavirus cases in the country began to rise. The …

Prayers are done this Friday in all mosques in Morocco in the hope of bringing rain to the drought-stricken Maghreb country, the Islamic Affairs Ministry announced. On the orders of King Mohammed VI, “the invocation of God for the request for rain” will take place in all mosques, the ministry …