By AFP Social media networks like Facebook and Instagram were back online in Ethiopia on Wednesday after being blocked for five months, according to an internet advocacy organisation and an AFP journalist. A service run by the Open Observatory of Network Interference (Ooni), an association that tracks online censorship, showed that access to social networks in Africa’s…
Russia’s Defence Ministry said all ships travelling to Ukraine considered to be potentially transporting military cargo. Russia has warned that ships travelling to Ukraine’s Black Sea ports will be considered potential military targets, as Kyiv said it would set up a temporary shipping route to continue grain exports following Moscow’s withdrawal from a deal that permitted food shipments…
By Mike Thomson BBC News, Tunis Tunisian rapper El General was just 21 when his haunting, raw video Rais Lebled, or Mr President, went viral in late 2010. Standing in a darkened, sewage strewn alley – festooned in graffiti – he ripped into the country’s then dictator, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali – in a way…
Reuters | @SABCNews Efforts to vaccinate children worldwide against deadly diseases such as measles and diptheria began to recover in 2022 after a historic backslide caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). But the recovery remains uneven, with strong bouncebacks in large lower-middle income…
Vusi Makhosini | @SABCNews The case of the former eThekwini mayor, Zandile Gumede and 21 others will continue in the High Court in Durban on Tuesday. On Monday, Judge Charmaine Bolton issued a strong warning to the legal representatives of the accused, against withdrawing in the middle of the trial. This after some legal teams withdrew saying funds had dried…
Busi Chimombe | @SABCNews President Cyril Ramaphosa says striving for peace in the world is an ideal that the late former President Nelson Mandela stood for. In his weekly letter to the nation, Ramaphosa says on Madiba’s birthday today, it’s important to remember that he sought to see an end to conflicts everywhere, and wanted a true…
Reuters | @SABCNews Russia’s announcement that it was withdrawing from a pact that allowed Ukrainian grains to leave Black Sea ports sent a shiver through poorer countries, many of which are already reeling from inflation, climate shocks and conflict. The Black Sea grains deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July 2022, helped bring down global food…
Alexander WinningReuters July 18 (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund’s executive board has approved a $271 million Extended Credit Facility for Burundi, with an immediate disbursement of over $62 million, the IMF said in a statement late on Monday. The East African country’s economy is just starting to recover from years of conflict and political upheaval under former leader…
By VOICE OF AMERICA Rights activists and opposition groups in Zimbabwe say President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s signing into law a so-called “Patriotic Bill” is a grave attack on fundamental freedoms and rights. The new law authorizes harsh penalties, including the death penalty, for anyone found guilty of “willfully damaging the sovereignty and national interest of Zimbabwe.”…
By Catherine Byaruhanga BBC News, Nairobi In the latest sign of rising homophobia in different African countries, a Kenyan opposition MP is leading a campaign for parliament to further criminalise the country’s small LGBTQ community. George Peter Kaluma’s move comes after neighbouring Uganda adopted a tough new anti-gay law, rejecting threats by US President Joe…