By Aaron Ross Feb 3 (Reuters) – Among the more ambitious hopes for Pope Francis’ visit to South Sudan this week is that it will give a jolt to a peace process aimed at ending a decade of conflict that has cost hundreds of thousands of lives. Government forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and opposition…
By Religion Editor Aleem Maqbool & Nichola Mandil in Juba BBC News There has never been a visit like it and it has been years in the planning. A Pope and an Archbishop of Canterbury make a foreign trip together for the first time in history, joined by the most senior figure in the Church…
By Rédaction Africanews and AFP EGYPT The 54th annual Cairo International Book Fair is taking place against the backdrop of a deep economic crisis. Egypt’s currency, the pound, halved in value and prices skyrocket in the past year with inflation hitting 21.9 percent in December “The situation in Egypt, the rising dollar exchange rate and…
By AGGREY MUTAMBO Somalia’s neighbours on Wednesday approved Mogadishu’s request for an all-out war — including its need for lethal weapons and coordinated support to — annihilate Al-Shabaab militants. The decision came out of an inaugural meeting of frontline states with Somalia, a definitive gathering between Mogadishu and all its immediate land neighbours in the…
By REUTERS Nairobi Improved security in Ethiopia’s Tigray region since a November 2022 ceasefire has allowed aid to reach some previously inaccessible areas, but humanitarian needs remain urgent, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said. A two-year war that broke out in November 2020 between the federal government and forces led by the…
By AFP Butaleja Musa Hasahya Kasera has so many children he can’t remember most of their names. The Ugandan villager is struggling to provide for his vast family that he says includes 12 wives, 102 children and 578 grandchildren, and now feels enough is enough. “At first it was a joke… but now this has…
By AFP Juba Pope Francis is making a long-awaited “peace pilgrimage” to conflict-torn South Sudan, but whether his plea for reconciliation is heard by the country’s battle-hardened leaders remains an open question. It is the first visit by a pope since the mostly Christian south achieved independence in 2011 following a decades-long struggle against Muslim-majority…
Mauro Lourenco Reforestation is a common feature in climate change plans, aimed at capturing carbon from the atmosphere. But there is another, overlooked type of natural carbon sink – peatlands, writes Mauro Lourenco. For climate change news and analysis, go to News24 Climate Future. Ask most people what they picture when thinking about natural “carbon sinks” – ecosystems…
Umaru FofanaReuters The World Bank has signed an agreement with four West and Central African nations worth $311 million to fund renewable energy projects. The funds will finance around 106 megawatts (MW) of solar power generation capacity with battery energy and storage systems, and 41 MW expansion of hydroelectric capacity. The countries are Sierra Leone,…
In our series of letters from African journalists, Sammy Awami considers how democracy is faring in Tanzania as the East African nation nears the second anniversary of the death of President John Magufuli, who had little tolerance for multiparty politics. There is a well-deserved excitement about the return after six years of political rallies in…