AFRICA

As Turkish drones helped drive eastern Libyan forces back from Tripoli this month, Russia was said to be reinforcing them with warplanes, raising the stakes in a stalemated civil war that has partitioned the country. Recent weeks have marked a turning point in a complex conflict between two uneasy coalitions …

Moussa Faki Mahamat, the chairman of the African Union (AU) Commission, has condemned the killing of a unarmed black man in the US city of Minneapolis, calling it “murder”. George Floyd, 46, died in police custody on Monday. A white police officer was filmed kneeling on his neck, despite him …

South Africa’s firebrand opposition politician Julius Malema has urged people not to fall for the “trap” of going to church, saying they will die after contracting coronavirus. Places of worship are set to reopen from 1 June after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced easing of lockdown restrictions to level three – …

Armed men on motorcycles killed 27 civilians in central Mali in three attacks on ethnic Dogon farming villages in less than 24 hours, local officials said on Thursday. Central Mali has been ravaged in recent years by ethnic reprisal killings, as recriminations between herding and farming communities over jihadist violence …

Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina appears to have made a U-turn regarding the much publicised purported coronavirus remedy he said his country had developed. Last month Mr Rajoelina officially launched a local herbal tonic which he said could prevent and cure coronavirus. But this was disputed by the World Health Organization …

A total of 875 people have committed suicide during the lockdown period in Nepal. The country has been under lockdown since March 24. According to the data compiled by the Nepal Police, the suicide cases across the country increased by 16 per cent in the first month of the lockdown. …

The UN says at least 38 people have been killed by an armed group in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. They were killed in a series of attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in the provinces of Ituri and North Kivu. A local monitoring groups says …

Police in Bugiri District has commenced investigations into the motive for the murder of a woman allegedly by her husband, who was later also killed by an angry mob. Mr Patrick Bakaleka, 60, is alleged to have beaten Ms Teddy Nakaweesa, 50, to death on Monday morning before being killed …

New swarms of locusts are increasing the risk of food insecurity for millions of people in East and Central Africa who are already reeling from the impact of Covid-19 and flooding, humanitarian agency Oxfam has said in a new report. Locust invasions in recent months are estimated to have destroyed …

The illicit trade in cigarettes in South Africa is now in full swing after the sale of tobacco was banned at the end of March as part of strict measures imposed to slow the spread of coronavirus, as the BBC’s Pumza Fihlani reports. Whereas once Michelle could go to her …