Suicide blast targets convoy in Somali capital

African health ministers met on Tuesday to take stock of the continent's fight against COVID-19 as the pandemic continues to stretch health systems to breaking point in some countries and just 2% of all Africans are fully vaccinated against the virus.

The biggest party in Tunisia's Parliament voiced concern on Tuesday at what it called the ambiguity surrounding the country's future after the President indefinitely extended emergency measures announced a month ago.

Algeria cut diplomatic relations with Morocco on Tuesday, citing what it called hostile actions by its most populous neighbour with which it has had strained relations for decades.

New President Hakainde Hichilema pledged on Tuesday (August 24) to tackle Zambia's "unsustainable" debt, lamenting that the national budget was overwhelmed by the cost of servicing it.

Gunmen killed two Nigerian military personnel and abducted another in an attack on an army training college in the northern state of Kaduna on Tuesday, a spokesman said, highlighting the authorities' loss of control over escalating violence.

A criminal trial over the $2 billion debt scandal that crashed Mozambique's economy began on Monday (August 23). Chang, who denies wrongdoing, and 19 others including state security officials and a former president's son face charges including blackmail and embezzlement for their alleged roles in the disappearance of hundreds of millions of dollars in government-backed loans.

The Department of Research and Innovation at the National University of Lesotho has made strides towards the possible treatment of the COVID-19 virus.

Egypt will vaccinate all 4.5 million of its state employees against COVID-19 in August and September as it seeks to accelerate vaccinations ahead of a likely fourth wave of infections, the health minister said on Monday.

The guest list for the inauguration of Zambia's newly elected President, Hakainde Hichilema, is creating buzz. Hichilema, a former opposition leader, extended invitations to oppositions leaders of several countries in the Southern African Development Community. The move which is seen as unprecedented is also seen as a message to other long-ruling leaders in the region.

The United States Aid Agency (USAID) has accused the Ethiopian government of blocking humanitarian aid to the country's Tigray region where over 5 million people need humanitarian assistance.  

Authorities in Uganda have suspended more than 50 Non-Governmental Organisations for allegedly not complying with regulations, dealing a blow to thousands who directly benefit from the organisations' activities.

South Africa will extradite former Mozambique finance minister Manuel Chang to his home country, its justice department said in a statement on Monday, years after he was arrested in Johannesburg over his role in Mozambique's $2 billion debt scandal.

A Belgian lawyer for the man whose story inspired the film "Hotel Rwanda", who is being tried on terrorism charges, has been deported for working without a permit, the head of Rwanda's immigration service said on Monday.

Suggest a holiday in Africa and most people picture baking hot sun, palm-fringed beaches or herds of wildebeest galloping across the savannah. Few think of skiing.

Egypt is to close the Rafah crossing on its border with the Gaza Strip on Monday until further notice, Egyptian security sources said.

Bandits have released 15 more students kidnapped last month from a Baptist school in northwest Nigeria, officials told Reuters on Sunday.

Chad has decided to recall half of its 1 200 troops battling militant groups in the tri-border area of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, a spokesperson for the Chadian authorities said on Saturday.

A team supported by the World Health Organisation is investigating the deaths of five people in Lesotho's district of  Leribe allegedly after being vaccinated.

Armed gunmen kidnapped at least 75 people from a village in northwest Nigeria, residents said on Saturday, the latest in a slew of abductions that have plagued the West African country's west.

At least 16 people have been killed in an attack on a village in southwestern Niger where Islamist militants have repeatedly massacred civilians this year, a local official and a security source said on Saturday.

For the first time in nine months of war in Ethiopia's Tigray region, aid workers will run out of food this week to deliver to millions of people who are going hungry, the head of the US government's humanitarian agency said, blaming the government for restricting access.

Uganda said on Friday it had suspended the operations of 54 non-governmental organisations for a range of reasons including non-compliance with regulations that require them not to be involved in politics.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday pushed for an immediate ceasefire and unrestricted aid access in Ethiopia's Tigray region, where he said millions of people needed help and women had suffered "unspeakable violence".

Tunisia will from August 25 require 10 days of quarantine for visitors who have not been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, a move to help keep the pandemic under control as cases have begun to fall, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.

The Court of Appeal in Kenya is set to rule on the country's halted controversial Constitutional amendment process also known as the Building Bridges Initiative.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday pushed for an immediate ceasefire and unrestricted aid access in Ethiopia's Tigray region, where he said millions of people needed help and women had suffered"unspeakable violence."

Fifteen soldiers were killed and a number of others wounded in an ambush on a military convoy in central Mali on Thursday, the armed forces said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that on top of the COVID-19 pandemic, West Africa is facing new outbreaks of the viral haemorrhagic fevers Marburg and Ebola, risking huge strains on ill-equipped health systems.

Ivory Coast has identified an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu near the commercial capital Abidjan and has taken steps to curb its spread, the livestock ministry said in a statement.

Tunisia will relax its nightly curfew and cafes and restaurants will be allowed to remain open until 10pm as part of an easing of anti-COVID restrictions, the Tunisian presidency said on Wednesday.