AFRICA

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South African Airways workers on Friday embarked on an indefinite strike for higher wages and against the national carrier’s retrenchment plan, forcing the cash-trapped airline to ground hundreds of flights. The strike has forced South Africa’s largest carrier to cancel more than 200 domestic, regional …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya and Somalia have agreed to “normalise” relations and start reissuing travel visas to each other’s citizens after a long-running dispute over marine borders strained ties between the neighbours. The agreement, announced by Kenya’s presidency late Thursday, followed a meeting in Nairobi between President Uhuru Kenyatta …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Two years ago, Linos Mutepera was among hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans who celebrated the toppling of long-time ruler Robert Mugabe with tears of joy. Today, he looks back at that time with bitterness, his hope of a better life dashed on the rocks of poverty …

Birao, Central African Republic | AFP | A heavy silence hangs in the dusty alleys of Birao, in the extreme northeast of Central African Republic, where figures only rarely wander between the empty houses and reed hedges. Since September, Birao has been hit hard by fighting between armed groups despite a …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The second meeting between Uganda and Rwanda to address rising tension between the two countries and the border closure, has been called off indefinitely. According to the Uganda government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo, the meeting was called off at the request of Kigali. He said …

Dakhla, Western Sahara | AFP |  In the heart of disputed Western Sahara, a former garrison town has become an unlikely tourist magnet after kitesurfers discovered the windswept desert coast was perfect for their sport. In Dakhla, an Atlantic seaport town punctuated with military buildings in Morocco-administered Western Sahara, swarms of kitesurfers …

Goma, DR Congo | AFP | Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo Thursday introduced a second vaccine to fight the deadly Ebola virus in the east of the country, the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity said. It said the new vaccine, produced by a Belgian subsidiary of Johnson & …

Bamako, Mali | AFP |  If military operations depend on winning hearts and minds, the thousands of foreign troops deployed to the Sahel to combat jihadism seem to be on losing ground. At first welcomed, these troops find themselves today in the crosshairs as a growing number of locals in this …

Bamako, Mali | AFP | If military operations depend on winning hearts and minds, the thousands of foreign troops deployed to the Sahel to combat jihadism seem to be on losing ground. At first welcomed, these troops find themselves today in the crosshairs as a growing number of locals in …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  South Sudan’s president and its armed opposition leader have missed another 100-day deadline to form a power-sharing government, threatening a tenuous ceasefire that has paused years of bloodshed in the world’s youngest country. The warring camps were given another extension to join forces after a meeting …