Reuters Africa Top

By Simon Lewis and Humeyra Pamuk WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The death of Egyptian economic researcher Ayman Hadhoud requires a “thorough, transparent and credible” investigation, the U.S. State Department said on Monday, after Hadhoud died in a Cairo psychiatric hospital where he was sent by the security services that detained him. “We are deeply disturbed by …

U.S. State Dept says death of Egyptian research requires investigation Read More »

ABUJA (Reuters) – Armed gangs who kidnapped dozens of passengers in an attack on a train in northern Nigeria are using civilians as human shields, making it difficult for the military to carry out a rescue mission, President Muhammadu Buhari said on Monday. Nigeria’s state railway company said last month that 168 people were missing …

Nigeria train kidnappers using victims as human shields -president Read More »

By Tim Cocks JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Africa’s first COVID-19 vaccination plant, touted last year as a trailblazer for an under-vaccinated continent frustrated by sluggish Western handouts, risks shutting down after receiving not a single order, a company executive said on Saturday. South Africa’s Aspen Pharmacare negotiated a licensing deal in November to package and sell …

S.Africa’s Aspen COVID-19 vaccine plant risks closure after no orders-executive Read More »

NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Sunday his government would hike the country’s minimum wage by 12% immediately to help workers cope with a surge in consumer prices, driven in part by the war in Ukraine. “There is a compelling case to review the minimum wage so as to cushion our workers …

Kenyan president hikes country’s minimum wage by 12% Read More »

CONAKRY (Reuters) -The military junta in Guinea said its transition back to civilian rule will probably take more than three years, a proposal likely to upset West Africa’s political bloc that has called for a swift return to constitutional order. Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, the head of the junta that took power in a coup last …

Guinea’s coup leader proposes 3-year transition back to civilian rule Read More »

By Tim Cocks JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Two new sublineages of the Omicron coronavirus variant can dodge antibodies from earlier infection well enough to trigger a new wave, but are far less able to thrive in the blood of people vaccinated against COVID-19, South African scientists have found. The scientists from multiple institutions were examining Omicron’s …

COVID’s new Omicron sub-lineages can dodge immunity from past infection – study Read More »

KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudanese security forces fired tear gas at crowds who massed in Khartoum on Saturday to rally against military rule and mark the third anniversary of the killing of scores of protesters. The crowds blocked a major road junction in the capital and laid out food to break their Ramadan fast. But just …

Protesters face tear gas on third anniversary of Sudan sit-in killings Read More »