Kenya extends COVID curfew for two months but reduces hours

Nigeria's main labour unions will begin an indefinite strike from Monday to protest an increase in power and petrol prices, the leader of the body said, after a meeting with the government two weeks ago ended in a deadlock.

Health crises are not new in Africa. The continent has grappled with infectious diseases on all levels, from local (such as malaria) to regional (Ebola) to global (COVID-19).

Kenya's Chief Justice, David Maraga, has written to the country's President Uhuru Kenyatta, recommending that he dissolves parliament for its failure to enact a law on gender balance.

Ivory Coast’s main presidential election challenger and a group of opposition parties called on Sunday for a civil disobedience campaign to stop President Alassane Ouattara’s bid for a third term on October 31.

Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye says his country is now safe and that its citizens have agreed on setting aside tribal differences.

The Regional Expert Committee on Traditional Medicine for COVID-19 formed by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and the African Union Commission for Social Affairs has endorsed a protocol for phase 3 clinical trials of herbal medicine for COVID-19 as well as a charter and terms of reference for the establishment of a data and safety monitoring board for herbal medicine clinical trials.

Anti-abortion and church groups in Kenya are spreading false information about a bill to tackle teenage pregnancy and maternal death, women's rights campaigners said on Friday, warning that lawmakers could be influenced and vote against it.

Ethiopia has filed terrorism charges against a prominent media mogul and opposition politician from the Oromo ethnic group, Jawar Mohammed, the attorney general’s office said on Saturday.

At the Pyramids of Giza, just a handful of tourists walks among the ancient wonders. Twelve people showed up to admire Luxor’s towering colonnades the day it reopened this month. At Egypt’s Red Sea resorts, visitor numbers are well below previous years.

Programme Manager for Emergency Preparedness at the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Africa, Dr Ambrose Talisuna says COVID-19 has shown us that there needs to be a strong health system on the continent.

Eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar said on Friday his forces would let oil production resume after an eight-month blockade and a senior politician in Tripoli said a committee would be formed to ensure fair distribution of revenues.

Three women, two of them from Africa, advanced to the second round of selection to become the next director-general of the World Trade Organisation as the field was cut from eight to five, the Geneva-based body said on Friday.

Some Zimbabwean nationals around the Beitbridge border between South Africa and Zimbabwe have welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa's announcement to ease the lockdown regulations. 

International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor says South Africa's intervention in Zimbabwe can only happen at the request of the Government of Zimbabwe.

A wife in Botswana can now own land alongside her husband, President Mokgweetsi Masisi said on Thursday in a boost for women that rights groups called long overdue.

Somali money transfer companies moved more than R60 million ($3.7 million) in cash between suspected weapons traffickers in recent years, including to a Yemeni under United States (US) sanctions for alleged militant links, according to a report seen by Reuters.

The World Health Organisation (WHO)says there is increasing evidence that Africans living with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as hypertension and diabetes are more likely to suffer severe cases of COVID-19 and die.

Mali’s military coup leaders must hand over power to a civilian transitional government immediately, the chairman of the West African regional bloc said on Tuesday, as a deadline expired for the ruling junta to appoint interim leaders.

Nigerian health workers demanding the payment of a hazard allowance for treating coronavirus patients have gone on strike only a week after doctors in Africa’s most populous country staged a walkout.

Ivory Coast’s Constitutional Council on Monday ruled that President Alassane Ouattara is eligible to run for a third term in the Oct. 31 presidential election, even as opponents said his candidacy jeopardises the West African country’s democracy.

The Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) have announced a new partnership to build capacity in readiness for the introduction of new, high-quality antigen rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for COVID-19 that are anticipated to become available soon.

Working conditions are so bad for some medics in Morocco handling a surging coronavirus outbreak that they have staged protests against inadequate staffing and poorly equipped facilities.

As the pandemic started to rage through Libya last month, medics working in the war-ravaged country’s few functioning hospitals faced their nightmare scenario - a surge in cases and dwindling resources.

Kinyenye Furaha passed out from shock when he realised a mine collapse in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo had buried more than 50 fellow miners including his brother, he said on Sunday, as the hunt continued for bodies two days after the disaster.

SACP General Secretary Blade Nzimande has called for a frank discussion on the Zimbabwean crisis, saying developments in that country directly impact on South Africa.

he World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) are stepping up efforts to assist in the fight against the virus.

Mali’s ruling junta pushed through a political charter on Saturday that could lead to the appointment of a soldier as interim president despite objections from the coalition that led anti-government protests before last month’s coup.

Informal gold miners in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo scoured rubble on Saturday for more than 50 colleagues presumed dead after an artisanal gold mine collapsed near Kamituga in the east of the country under the weight of heavy rain.

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara’s government has reached out to his main opponents and religious leaders to intervene and ease tensions following his decision to bid for a third term in next month’s election.

At least 50 people are thought to have died when an artisanal gold mine collapsed near Kamituga in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday afternoon, a local mining NGO said.