UN rights chief deplores abuse reports in Ethiopia's Tigray

The U.N. rights chief said on Monday she was "deeply disturbed" by reports of continued violations including executions in Ethiopia's Tigray region, and added that a long-awaited joint investigation should be ready by August.

Ghana plants 5 million trees in single day to combat deforestation

Ghana aimed to plant at least 5 million trees in a single day on Friday to help regrow the country's lost forests and curb the impacts of climate change, the president said.

Mali's president and prime minister resign following military takeover

Mali's interim president and prime minister resigned on Wednesday, two days after they were arrested by the military, an aide to the vice president said.

‘Don't shoot,’ Ethiopian father begged Eritrean soldiers, daughter says

Fourteen-year-old Mibrak Esayus recalls the day last November when she says Eritrean soldiers burst into her home in Ethiopia’s Tigray region and killed her mother and father.

UN calls for stop to ‘horrific’ sexual violence in Ethiopia’s Tigray

A dozen top United Nations officials called for a stop to indiscriminate and targeted attacks against civilians in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, particularly calling out reports of rape and “other horrific forms of sexual violence.”

War crimes court orders record $30 million compensation for Congo victims

Child soldiers and other victims of convicted Congolese militia leader Bosco Ntaganda should get a total of $30 million compensation, International Criminal Court judges ruled on Monday, in their highest ever reparation order.

Volcano erupts near Congolese city of Goma; residents flee

Congo’s Mount Nyiragongo erupted for the first time in nearly two decades Saturday, turning the night sky a fiery red and sending lava onto a major highway as panicked residents tried to flee Goma, a city of nearly 2 million.

Malawi destroys 20,000 expired doses of AstraZeneca vaccine

Last month the World Health Organization urged African nations not to destroy expired doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine after several countries received doses from India with a very short shelf life. But this week, WHO reversed its position and said that the vaccines should be destroyed.

11 killed, nearly 100 injured after train derails in Egypt's Cairo

At least 11 people were killed on Sunday when some train carriages derailed in Egypt's Qalyubia province north of Cairo, the health ministry said in a statement.

11 soldiers killed in attack in Nigeria's Benue state

One army officer and 10 soldiers were killed in Nigeria’s Benue state in what a spokesman said was an unprovoked attack on Thursday.

Stranded Suez Canal ship re-floated, marine services firm says

The stranded container ship blocking the Suez Canal for almost a week was re-floated on Monday and is currently being secured, Inchcape Shipping Services said, raising hopes the busy waterway will soon be reopened.

Over 180 people trapped in Mozambique hotel after insurgent attack

More than 180 people including expatriate workers are trapped inside a hotel in a northern Mozambique town under siege by insurgents for three days, workers and security sources said Friday.

Nigerian schoolboys freed as forces search for 300 abducted girls

Gunmen in Nigeria released 27 teenage boys who were kidnapped from their school in the northern state of Niger, while security forces continued to search for more than 300 schoolgirls abducted in a nearby state.

Italian ambassador killed in eastern DR Congo while in UN convoy: Foreign Ministry

The Italian ambassador to DR Congo and an Italian carabineri police officer were killed Monday while traveling in Congo in a UN convoy, the Foreign Ministry said.

Africa reaches 100,000 known Covid-19 deaths as danger grows

Africa has surpassed 100,000 confirmed deaths from Covid-19 as the continent praised for its early response to the pandemic now struggles with a dangerous resurgence and medical oxygen often runs desperately short.

Gunmen kidnap ‘hundreds’ of schoolboys in Nigeria: security, official sources

Gunmen believed to belong to a criminal gang have kidnapped hundreds of schoolboys from their hostels along with some of teachers in central Nigeria, an official and a security source told AFP Wednesday.