SpaceX is due to make its second attempt at launching a private, crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday night, South African time. The launch is due to take place at 21:22, SA time. The first attempt, on Wednesday night SA time, was aborted due to weather …

A security guard was shot dead and another injured when they came under attack from armed robbers in Cape Town. The two were ambushed inside their stationary vehicle on Saturday morning. Police spokesperson Colonel Andrè Traut said the victims were travelling in their vehicle when they experienced a mechanical problem …

Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr said it is hard for his team to win the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations because they are not the best team on the continent. The German tactician recently agreed to a two-and-a-half-year deal to continue his work as the handler of the three-time African champions, …

One of the primates was reportedly later spotted up in a tree, chewing one of the sample collection kits. A gang of monkeys attacked a laboratory assistant and escaped with a batch of coronavirus blood test samples, it has been reported. The bizarre incident saw the troop of primates launch their …

One more death has been recorded whilst 119 Coronavirus patients have recovered in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 2540. The country’s Coronavirus case count has also increased to 7768, according to the Ghana Health Service. The current figures are an update on Friday, May 29 records where the …

Nigeria’s Air Force Institute of Technology, based in Kaduna, has unveiled locally made ventilators that it hopes will be a game changer in the country’s fight against Covid-19. “The ventilators will go a long way to help not only coronavirus patients but also others with respiratory illnesses,” the leader of …

The Minerals Commission’s Alternative Livelihood Project on Oil Palm for 2020 planting season, will distribute over 1,057,000 oil palm seedlings freely to farmers in mining districts in the Eastern region. These seedlings are targeted at the youth to discourage them from engaging in illegal mining. This was made known during …

A fire tore through an overcrowded maximum security prison in Cameroon’s port city of Douala on Thursday leading to the hospitalisation of three prisoners with serious burns, a local fire chief said. Firefighters backed up by police were able to contain the blaze and stop it spreading beyond New Bell …

Sex workers living with HIV in Uganda have stopped taking their medication because of a lack of food and income as restrictions have left them with no clients. The government has been giving food aid to some of those who are most affected by the restrictions that have been in …

Two UN peacekeepers in Mali have died from the coronavirus, officials said Friday. Out of the some 100,000 UN troops deployed on about 15 different missions around the world, these two are the first whose deaths were directly linked to the pandemic. “Unfortunately, I also want to say that yesterday …

A voice note that is being shared on WhatsApp claims chewing raw onions can help cure coronavirus. In the 4 minutes, 21 seconds long voice note, a man speaking Hausa- a widely spoken language in Northern Ghana and Zongos across the country is heard assuring listeners and vulnerable COVID-19 victims to try …

A Chief Magistrates’ Court in Kafanchan, Kaduna State has jailed a 35-year-old man, Abdullahi Sani, and his 20-year-old girlfriend, Sarah Paul, for stealing 64 chickens. The police charged Sani and Paul with criminal conspiracy, housebreaking, theft and mischief, contrary to sections 58, 332, 270 and 312 of the Kaduna State …

An Ethiopian soldier shot a man dead in front of several people after his phone rang during a public meeting, Amnesty International says. It is one of many incidents the rights watchdog recorded from a security crackdown in Oromia regional state at the end of 2018 and 2019. This was …

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 …

Total confirmed Covid-19 cases in Ghana now stand at 7,616 with 2,421 recoveries and 34 deaths. According to the Ghana Health Service, the active cases are 5,161. Regional breakdown: Greater Accra Region – 5,331 Ashanti Region – 1,160 Western Region – 395 Central Region – 376 Eastern Region – 117 Western North Region – 63 Volta Region – 59 Northern Region – 36 …

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 …

The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) has given the government a five-day-ultimatum to ensure that loans due students are paid before the examination begins. According to them, despite their efforts to engage government on the challenges students are facing, including loans, e-learning amongst others, the government has refused to …

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. …

Ghana has 186 new COVID-19 cases to put the current confirmed case count to 7,303, the Ghana Health Service has announced. On the official website of Ghana Health Service, 2,412 persons who tested positive for COVID-19earlier have also recovered. This implies that as of the last update, 95 more persons …

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 …

Four grave diggers have been arrested by policemen in Ondo State after they were found with the heads of five dead people which they exhumed at the cemetery where they are working. The four men identified as Adewale Abiodun, 40; Akinola Sunday, 69; Seun Olomofe, 45; and Oluwadare Idowu 67, …

The outspoken communication team member of the ruling party, NPP, in the central region, Dr Nana Yaw Agyenim-Boateng, is begging the government to consider reopening schools for only final year students in junior,senior high schools and universities. Dr Agyenim-Boateng believes these students should be government’s immediate focus when the ban …

The Gauteng Department of Health on Sunday confirmed that 53 employees at AngloGold Ashanti’s Mponeng mine in the Merafong district have tested positive for COVID-19. According to the latest update on the company’s website, the number of positive cases has now been confirmed as 164, of which the vast majority are …

Teachers in South Africa want the planned reopening of schools on 1 June halted, Independent Online news website reports. Educators Union of SA (Eusa) general secretary Siphiwe Mpungose is quoted as saying that they will file a court application on Monday against the Department of Basic Education (DBE). The DBE …