Author: Maryam Sulaiman

The death toll from a ferry disaster on Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe has climbed to 68 after search crews retrieved more bodies on Saturday, according to local police. The government-operated vessel, run by the Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (RIDA), capsized in rough conditions on Tuesday. Police confirmed the update in a brief statement, advising Zimbabweans and relevant stakeholders that the death toll in the Kariba RIDA boat accident is now 68 following the recovery of 22 bodies on Saturday. While authorities provided few additional details, the majority of those on board were local villagers and fish traders operating around the…

Senegal’s government has implemented a fuel price hike, citing a sharp rise in global oil costs as the reason for the decision. Beginning Saturday, August 15, the price of super petrol went up by 70 CFA francs to 990 CFA francs per litre. Diesel also saw an increase of 75 CFA francs, bringing the new price to 755 CFA francs per litre. Government officials confirmed that prices for other petroleum products, including household gas and fuel used for pirogues, remain unchanged. According to authorities, this adjustment simply restores fuel costs to where they were before a price cut was introduced…

More than 40 journalists in Burkina Faso have undergone a mandatory military-style patriotism training program ordered by the country’s authoritarian ruling junta. Burkina Faso has faced years of deadly violence from jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State. Since seizing power in a 2022 coup, Captain Ibrahim Traore has spearheaded anti-Western, domestically focused policies aimed at reclaiming national sovereignty. Under his administration, both public and private media outlets must now participate in an annual patriotic immersion, a requirement similar to one imposed on high school graduates sitting for final exams since last year. The government-organized program ran for six…

Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and their allies have pushed into Kurmuk, a strategically vital town on the Sudanese border with Ethiopia, according to government and military sources. The advance into the Blue Nile State location occurred on Thursday alongside fighters from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – North, prompting the Sudanese army to initiate a withdrawal. In an official statement, the RSF-led coalition claimed to have inflicted significant casualties on army personnel, compelled their retreat, and confiscated weapons and military equipment. The local administration in Kurmuk reported that the border hub faced heavy drone strikes and artillery bombardment over a…

The deadliest Ebola outbreak on track in DRC history has expanded into a sixth province, health officials reported on Thursday. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the first casualty in the previously unaffected Bas-Uele region: a motorcycle-taxi driver who traveled from a neighboring area, visited multiple hospitals seeking care, and tested positive for the virus after his death in Buta. Following his death, colleagues attempted to forcibly seize his body, forcing police to step in and raising serious concerns about further virus transmission among the local population. This current epidemic in eastern Congo has already claimed 2,100…

A fierce forest fire driven by strong, shifting winds swept through the Landes region on Thursday, August 13, breaking out just before 2.30 p.m. and threatening residences near the village of Luglon. By Friday morning, local prefecture officials confirmed that the blaze had scorched over 1,100 hectares. While no homes have been destroyed so far, authorities evacuated 525 people, including nearby residents and campers, setting up a temporary reception center in the town of Sabres as a precautionary measure. Local officials also closed two departmental roads in the area surrounding Luglon. An emergency response of roughly 500 firefighters and 40…

Following a recent visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo, the head of the World Health Organization is raising serious concerns regarding the ongoing Ebola crisis. During his visit, he met with the nation’s president, commending his efforts to combat the virus. However, the WHO leader emphasized that current measures remain insufficient, noting that the outbreak is escalating at an unprecedented rate. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “it is already the second-biggest Ebola epidemic on record, and it is moving faster than any previous Ebola outbreak. At its current pace, it is on track to eclipse the West African Ebola…

Families across the Maghreb region are growing smaller as changing social dynamics and economic challenges reshape traditional household structures. Fertility rates throughout Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia have plummeted by over 50 percent since the 1970s. For many young couples today, navigating the escalating cost of living makes raising a large family financially unfeasible. Ahmed, a 21-year-old student, said he would prefer to have two children so he could balance their needs with those of their parents. Bouchra Bekioua, a 21-year-old bride-to-be, similarly said families increasingly see two children as more manageable. Achraf Boukhamera, 25, pointed to low average incomes as…

The ongoing Ebola crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo has crossed a tragic threshold, claiming more than 2,000 lives in what has become the nation’s second-deadliest outbreak on record and one of the fastest-spreading ever recorded. Data from Congolese health officials shows that the virus has resulted in 2,011 fatalities out of 4,381 confirmed cases since the outbreak was officially declared in May. Experts note that the pathogen was likely circulating undetected for several weeks before initial detection. The current surge is driven by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, a variant for which no licensed vaccines or…

A horrific road crash in northern Egypt has left at least 18 people dead, many of them young children aged 13 and 14, according to a local medical source. The fatal collision involved two pick-up trucks carrying agricultural day laborers in the Dawawis area of the Ismailia governorate. Egypt’s health ministry reported that the incident resulted in 47 total casualties, including roughly 30 individuals who sustained injuries. The workers, hailing primarily from two villages within the Sharqiya governorate in the Nile Delta, were traveling to work on a farm in Ismailia when the crash occurred, a local security source confirmed.…