Africa

Libya’s new presidency council to visit Turkey on Friday

Libya’s new presidency council will visit Turkey on Friday for talks with President Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish presidency said late on Thursday, marking the council’s first official visit to Turkey…

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Suez Canal suspends traffic as ship stuck like ‘beached whale’

A container ship blocking the Suez Canal like a "beached whale" sent new shockwaves through global trade on Thursday as officials stopped all ships entering the channel and the salvage…

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Tugs resume effort to clear Suez ship blockage; traffic jam builds

Efforts to dislodge a 400-metre long container vessel that has choked traffic along the Suez Canal resumed at high tide on Thursday, with five tugs working to drag the vessel…

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Gunmen kill wanted Libyan commander in new sign of instability

Gunmen assassinated an eastern Libyan commander wanted for war crimes on Wednesday, medics said, underscoring the risks of violent escalation on the ground that poses the biggest challenge to Libya's new unity government. Mahmoud al-Werfalli was shot…

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Congo Republic’s Sassou re-elected with 88% of the vote

Congo Republic President Denis Sassou Nguesso has been re-elected with more than 88% of the vote, official results showed, extending his 36 years leading the Central African oil producer despite…

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UPDATED: Giant container ship stuck in Suez Canal partially re-floated, port agent says

The giant container ship that has been blocking the Suez Canal for more than a day has been partially refloated and traffic along the fastest shipping route from Europe to…

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Another tragedy in the Mediterranean as 60 people die off Libyan coast

Alarm Phone revealed that up to 60 people were killed after a boat fire off the Libyan coast. The tragedy unfolded off the Libyan coast on Thursday, 18 March 2021.…

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UPDATED:Tug boats working to free container ship stuck in Suez Canal

Eight tug boats are working to free a large container ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal amid high winds and a dust storm, canal authorities said on Wednesday.…

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Macron says France to reopen embassy in Tripoli on Monday

France will reopen its embassy in the Libyan capital Tripoli next Monday to show its support for the North African country's new authorities, President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday. Libya's…

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EgyptAir to seek up to $447 million in state support

EgyptAir will seek 5 billion to 7 billion Egyptian pounds ($318 million - $447 million) in government support this year to help to pay for salaries, foreign loans and aircraft…

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Photo Story: Tunisia’s launches first satellite into space

Tunisian President Kais Saied (R) and Telnet CEO Mohamed Frikha (L) attend the launch of Tunisia's first satellite ''Challenge-1'', which was created by the Telnet telecommunications group, in Tunis, Tunisia…

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Libya to investigate discovery of bodies in Benghazi

The prime minister of Libya’s new unity government said he had instructed the attorney general to open an investigation into the discovery of bodies in Benghazi. Local media said more…

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Morocco’s vaccination drive bypasses undocumented migrants

Morocco is further ahead with its COVID-19 vaccination programme than any other African country, but undocumented migrants are not a part of its plans, potentially undermining efforts to come to…

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UPDATED: Tanzania swears in Samia Suluhu Hassan as first female president

Tanzania's new President Samia Suluhu Hassan said on Friday the country should unite and avoid pointing fingers after the death of John Magufuli, her COVID-19 sceptic predecessor, urging the east…

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UPDATED: African Union says benefits outweigh risks of AstraZeneca COVID shot

The African Union said on Thursday that African countries should continue to use AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, echoing the World Health Organization (WHO) by saying the shot's benefits outweighed risks. The…

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Algeria rattled by strong tremor

A shallow 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the Algerian coast early Thursday morning, the US Geological Survey said. The USGS said the quake hit 20 kilometres north-east of the city…

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Tanzania’s President John Magufuli dead at 61

Tanzania’s President John Magufuli, one of Africa’s most prominent coronavirus sceptics, has died aged 61, Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan announced after a more than two-week absence from public life…

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South African variant detected in Libya

The Libyan National Center for Disease Control said it had detected Coronavirus samples of the South African and British variants in the country, adding that the team of virus experts…

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Photo Story – Africa’s highest mountain

The summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, in Oloitoktok, Kajiado in southern Kenya, 27 February 2021. VIA EPA-EFE/Daniel Irungu

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Libya’s unity government sworn in

BENGHAZI, Libya, March 15 (Reuters) - Libya's first unity government in years was sworn in on Monday in the eastern city of Tobruk, charged with unifying the country after years…

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Senior ISIS militant captured in Libya

Forces of Libya’s eastern military strongman said they arrested a suspected senior local Islamic State fighter on Sunday in a southwestern town known to be a militant hideout. Mohammed Miloud…

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Beaten and cowering, kidnapped Nigerian students beg for help

KADUNA, Nigeria, March 13 (Reuters) - A video of some of the students kidnapped from a college in northwest Nigeria emerged on Saturday, showing them cowering on a forest floor…

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Photo Story: Health workers in Tunis receive vaccination with Sputnik V vaccine

A Tunisian nurse shows the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 at a hospital in Tunis, Tunisia, at the launch of a vaccination program, on Saturday. Tunisia has received 30,000…

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African economies likely to rebound 3.4% this year

African economies are expected to grow by an average of 3.4% this year, the African Development Bank said, as the continent recovers from its worst contraction in half a century.…

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Central African Republic braces for tense elections amid conflict

Central African Republic will vote in a second round of parliamentary elections on Sunday under high security after a surge in rebel violence surrounding December’s polls. Insurgents laid siege to…

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UN urges foreign troops and mercenaries to leave Libya

The U.N. Security Council urged countries with troops and mercenaries in Libya to withdraw them “without delay” as demanded in the cease-fire agreement between the country’s warring parties. A presidential…

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More students kidnapped in Nigeria

Gunmen in northwest Nigeria kidnapped around 30 students overnight from a forestry college near a military academy, three students said on Friday, in the fourth mass school abduction since December.…

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Algeria finds 13 with coronavirus variant first seen in Nigeria, 7 with variant tied to Britain

Algeria recorded its first 13 cases of the coronavirus variant first discovered in Nigeria and also tested positive seven other people for the variant first identified in Britain, state research…

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Libya appoints first female foreign minister

Libya’s first woman foreign minister, Najla el-Mangoush, will be sworn in next week as part of a new unity government, a rare female voice at the top table whose appointment…

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Ivory Coast’s PM dies in Germany

Ivory Coast Prime Minister Hamed Bakayoko, who was seen as a possible successor to President Alassane Ouattara, has died in Freiburg in southwestern Germany, two days after his 56th birthday,…

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Libyan peace plan gains momentum

Libya’s long-divided parliament on Wednesday approved an interim government mandated to bring the fractured country together after a decade of chaos and violence, and to oversee elections in December as…

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Libya’s NOC signs contract to establish Oil Centre for Maintenance and Services with Italy’s Saipem

Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) signed a consultancy service contract for oil conservation and services center with the Italian company Saipem, NOC said in a Facebook post. The contract is…

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UPDATED: Libyan parliament votes to approve unity government

Libya's long-divided parliament voted on Wednesday to back a unity government that has emerged through a U.N. peace process as part of a plan to resolve a decade of chaos…

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At least 39 die as two migrant boats sink off Tunisia

TUNIS (Reuters) - At least 39 migrants died when two boats sank off Tunisia on Tuesday as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to the Italian island of Lampedusa, the…

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Libyan MPs arrive at Sirte to debate unity government

Scores of Libyan parliament members from both sides of the divided country arrived in the frontline city of Sirte on Sunday for a session this week to debate a proposed…

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Maltese delegation visits Tripoli’s Mitiga airport to prepare for flights resumption – UPDATED

The Libya Observer reported that a delegation from Malta visited Tripoli's Mitiga airport on Saturday to inspect the measures taken at the airport for arriving and departing flights. The delegation…

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Africans cheer rollout of COVAX vaccinations

ABUJA/NAIROBI (Reuters) - Nigeria, Kenya and Rwanda started inoculating frontline healthcare workers and vulnerable citizens against COVID-19 on Friday as Africa, the world's poorest continent and home to 1.3 billion…

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At least 20 killed by suicide car bomb near restaurant in Somalia capital

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - At least 20 people were killed and 30 wounded by a suicide car bomb just outside a restaurant near the port in Somalia's capital Mogadishu late on…

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Seventeen tonnes of cannabis resin bound for Libya seized in Niger

Niger police have seized a record 17 tonnes of cannabis resin worth around $37 million in a shipment originating in Lebanon and bound for Libya, the spokesman for the West…

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Tunisia hopes to save its tourism season, as it will ease COVID-19 measures

TUNIS, March 5 (Reuters) - Tunisia said on Friday it hoped to save its economically vital summer tourism season as it announced an easing of COVID-19 restrictions including quarantine measures,…

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Egypt begins vaccine rollout to wider population

Egypt on Thursday expanded its coronavirus vaccination rollout to include the elderly and people with chronic diseases after several weeks of vaccinating medical staff, the cabinet said. Nearly 153,000 people…

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World Bank readies COVID-19 vaccine funds for around 30 African countries

The World Bank is preparing emergency financing to help about 30 African countries access COVID-19 vaccines, the global lender told Reuters, as the continent scrambles to secure doses and start…

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First Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines to Africa under COVAX go to Rwanda

The first doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 shots to be dispatched to Africa under the global COVAX vaccine-sharing scheme were to arrive in Rwanda on Wednesday, as efforts to inoculate…

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Morocco suspends contact, cooperation with German embassy, organizations

Morocco has told government departments to cease cooperation and contacts with Germany’s embassy in the North African kingdom due in part to Berlin’s stance over Western Sahara, a senior Moroccan…

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Tunisia detects first cases of British coronavirus variant

Tunisia has recorded its first cases of a highly contagious variant of the coronavirus first identified in Britain, the health ministry announced. The ministry did not give further details. Tunisia…

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Libya’s PM elected through bribery – UN report

The legitimacy of Libya’s new interim prime minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, has been thrown into doubt after an inquiry by the United Nations found that he allegedly gained power after…

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Kidnappers release schoolgirls abducted in Nigeria’s Zamfara state – governor

Gunmen have released girls who were kidnapped from a boarding school in the northwest Nigerian state of Zamfara, the governor said in a tweet on Tuesday. An armed gang abducted 317 girls…

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Libya’s NOC says Paris court confirmed that LERCO must pay it $115 million plus interest

Libya’s National Oil Corp (NOC) said that a Paris court of appeal had upheld an award by a court of arbitration against Libyan Emirates Oil Refining Company (LERCO) regarding the…

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Nigerian security forces continue search for 300 abducted girls

Relatives of more than 300 girls abducted by gunmen from their boarding school in northwest Nigeria endured an agonising wait for news amid rumours that they had been released, while…

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Judicial seizure of Libyan plane in Malta to be lifted – Reports

Libya Observer reports that the Libyan African Aviation Holding Company (LAAHOC) announced the lifting of a judicial seizure on a Libyan owned aircraft - Global 5000 - in Malta. The…

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100 persons rescued off Libya’s coast

The Libyan naval authorities have confirmed the rescue of 100 illegal immigrants off the coasts of Zuwara and Zawiya on Saturday. Libya Observer reports that Libyan Coast Guard and the…

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Tunisia’s main party holds huge rally as government row grows

Tunisia’s biggest political party assembled an immense crowd of supporters in the capital on Saturday in a show of strength that could fuel a dispute between the president and the…

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Nigeria losing 200,000 barrels a day to theft, vandalism

Nigeria is losing 200,000 barrels of crude oil a day because of theft and vandalism, the head of the state oil company said, underscoring how insecurity is causing vast financial…

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Morocco set to legalise cannabis production for medical use

Morocco plans to allow the farming, export and domestic sale of cannabis for medical and industrial use, the government said, a move it hopes will help impoverished farmers in the…

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Algeria detects first two cases of UK coronavirus variant

Algeria has recorded its first two cases of the British variant of the coronavirus, state research centre Pasteur Institute announced. Two people, a healthcare employee working at a hospital in…

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UPDATED: Another mass kidnapping of school children in Nigeria

Unidentified gunmen kidnapped a number of schoolgirls, estimated to be more than 300, from the town of Jangebe in northwest Nigeria early on Friday, the second such kidnapping in little…

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Libyan PM-designate proposes unity government plan

Libya’s designated prime minister, chosen via a U.N.-facilitated process last month, said on Thursday he had proposed a governing plan to the country’s divided parliament as part of a peace…

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