AFRICA

Macomia, Mozambique | AFP | Aldeia da Paz was once a sleepy place. Farmers went about their daily lives, tending to meagre crops along the road linking Mozambique to its northern border with Tanzania. Everything changed after nightfall on August 1st. “They arrived around seven o’clock in the evening,” said Lucas …

Tunis, Tunisia | AFP | Campaigning for Tunisia’s presidential election opened Monday with 26 candidates vying to replace late leader Beji Caid Essebsi in a vote seen as vital to defending democratic gains in the cradle of the Arab Spring. Seven million Tunisians are expected to head to the ballot box …

  Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  South African police on Monday arrested dozens of people following widespread looting and protests in the transport industry linked to a wave of anti-foreigner sentiment. At least 70 people have been arrested since hundreds of people marched through Johannesburg’s Central Business District (CBD) …

  Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis flies out on Wednesday for a week-long tour visiting three Indian Ocean African countries hard hit by poverty, conflict and natural disaster. The pope will visit Mozambique and Madagascar, as well as Mauritius, countries visited by pope John Paul II …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Earlier this year, hairdresser Mazen Kamal was stopped by paramilitary forces on a street in Khartoum for having long hair and was shaved on the spot. Now the barbershop he works in is seeing an influx of young men coming for modern hairstyles that would have …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | A Sudanese court on Saturday charged ousted president Omar al-Bashir, on trial for corruption, with illegal acquisition and use of foreign funds, offences which could put him behind bars for a decade. Judge Al-Sadiq Abdelrahman said at the third session of Bashir’s trial that foreign funds …

Mpondwe, Uganda | AFP |  Before dawn, Congolese teenager Doneka Kabowo sets off for school in Uganda, negotiating miles of jungle, the threat of armed militias and an international border to reach her classroom. Every weekday morning, yet another obstacle stands in the way of 15-year-old Kabowo and hundreds of other …

Beni, DR Congo | AFP |  The Ebola outbreak showed no signs of easing in DR Congo Friday on the eve of the UN chief’s visit to the country, with the death toll from the highly contagious virus crossing 2,000 and a new fatality in neighbouring Uganda. The latest casualty …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudan’s new premier on Wednesday delayed announcing his picks for the first cabinet since the ouster of veteran ruler Omar al-Bashir in order to continue mulling nominees, a source close to the prime minister said. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who took the oath last week, was …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP |  A “remarkably complete” 3.8-million-year-old skull of an early human has been unearthed in Ethiopia, scientists announced Wednesday, a discovery that has the potential to alter our understanding of human evolution. The skull, known as “MRD”, was discovered not far from the younger Lucy — the …