AFRICA

Gunmen have abducted an unspecified number of students and staff of Government Science College, Kagara in Nigeria’s Niger State. The presidency confirmed the incident and that President Muhammadu Buhari has “directed the Armed Forces and Police, to ensure immediate and safe return of all the captives.” “The President has also dispatched to …

South Africa will administer its first COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, with President Cyril Ramaphosa to get the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) shot alongside health workers. The first shot will be given at Khayelitsha District Hospital in Cape Town this afternoon, the government said. Ramaphosa said in a statement that 80,000 J&J doses …

South Africa’s sky-high “excess” death number indicates that more than 50% of South Africa’s population have already been infected by Covid-19, says Discovery Group CEO and founder Adrian Gore. In an interview with The Money Show with Bruce Whitfield on Tuesday, Gore said that there’s “absolutely no ambiguity” that the excess deaths …

Zimbabwe says the coronavirus variant first discovered in neighbouring South Africa now makes up more than 60% of cases within its borders. It is the first country outside of South Africa to report that the so-called “501.YV2” variant is the dominant strain. Botswana, Zambia, Ghana and the Gambia have also …

A 72-year-old Veteran Nollywood actor, Victor Decker, has been reported dead. The actor was found dead in his apartment on Monday, February 15, 2021. According to reports, Mr Decker’s decomposing body was found on a couch in his apartment by his neighbours. His neighbours had not seen him for days …

Even as Africa battles the deadly COVID-19 virus, an old foe, which decimated part of the continent’s population a few years ago has returned. The Ebola virus has been officially confirmed to be in circulation in Guinea after three people died of infections in the West African country. The World …

WTO members made history when the General Council agreed by consensus to select Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria as the organization’s seventh Director-General. When she takes office on 1 March, Dr Okonjo-Iweala will become the first woman and the first African to be chosen as Director-General. Her term, renewable, will expire on …

Officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo say more than 60 people have drowned after a barge capsized and sank on the Congo River. Three-hundred people have been rescued but possibly 200 others are unaccounted for following the accident. Locals said the boat hit a rock east of the capital, …

A South African judge says he wants ex-President Jacob Zuma to be given a jail sentence for failing to appear before him to answer corruption allegations. Mr Zuma, 79, ignored a summons to appear before a commission of inquiry being chaired by Justice Ray Zondo. The judge said Mr Zuma’s …

Hassabo Mohamed Abdel Rahman, who once served as vice-president to Sudan’s ousted long-serving leader Omar al-Bashir, has been arrested for fomenting weeks of protests against rising food prices. Other senior members of Bashir’s administration have also been detained. Hassabo Mohamed Abdel Rahman served as one of Sudan’s vice-presidents between 2013 …