https://www.scmp.com/rss/322266/feed The latest breaking news, politics and current affairs from Africa. en https://assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Wang Huiyao Wang Huiyao The European Commission is pressing China for progress by next month to address the widening EU-China trade imbalance, and raising the possibility of new protectionist trade policy. The deadline raises a question: how should China and its trading partners address perceived economic imbalances while sharing the benefits of Chinese industrial competitiveness? China’s merchandise trade surplus approached US$1.2 trillion last year even as other exporting economies press for controls. “Overcapacity”... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3368293/chinas-industrial-strengths-must-also-benefit-its-trading-partners?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3368293/chinas-industrial-strengths-must-also-benefit-its-trading-partners?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Sep 2026 21:30:12 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Three shooters killed at least 11 people including a woman who was believed to be pregnant in an attack at a house party in South Africa, police said on Wednesday. Three others were wounded in the mass shooting late on Tuesday night in KwaMakhutha township around 30km (19 miles) south of the city of Durban on the east coast. The people had gathered at the house for a party when the suspects entered the house and opened fire, police said. Ten people, including the pregnant woman, died at the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3368504/south-africa-mass-shooting-leaves-11-dead-3-wounded?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3368504/south-africa-mass-shooting-leaves-11-dead-3-wounded?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Sep 2026 08:51:02 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Prosecutors said on Monday they had brought the first-ever charges in the UK against a man for his alleged role in the 1994 Rwanda genocide, after a complex seven-year investigation. Vincent Brown, 65, was arrested and charged on Monday with one count of being an ancillary to genocide and six offences of aiding crimes against humanity in Rwanda, prosecutors and the London police said. “He is alleged to have directed and incited acts of murder and genocide carried out by others” against the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3368303/first-charges-brought-uk-1994-rwanda-genocide?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3368303/first-charges-brought-uk-1994-rwanda-genocide?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Sep 2026 18:51:26 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Under a global cloud of wars and bitter divisions, world leaders meet at the United Nations in New York this week facing new fears that runaway artificial intelligence could threaten humanity even as climate shocks and escalating prices are already making life much tougher for hundreds of millions of people. The annual high-level gathering at the UN General Assembly will also be consumed with major wars in Iran, Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Congo and Myanmar and a persisting question: can the leaders... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3368291/world-leaders-meet-un-planet-grapples-climate-change-wars-runaway-ai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3368291/world-leaders-meet-un-planet-grapples-climate-change-wars-runaway-ai?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Sep 2026 13:54:07 +0000 Hao Nan Hao Nan The prospect of United States, Chinese and Russian leaders meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Shenzhen this November has revived the Yalta analogy. Talk of a Trump-Xi-Putin summit – echoing the 1945 meeting that reshaped the world – surfaced during the first Trump term, and speculation returned last year with the 80th anniversary of the second world war. No such meeting occurred. However, Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted the two presidents back-to-back in... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3367866/middle-powers-dont-have-wait-trump-xi-putin-summit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3367866/middle-powers-dont-have-wait-trump-xi-putin-summit?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Sep 2026 08:30:09 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Nigeria’s food and drug regulator on Saturday said alcoholic concoctions tainted with methanol killed 48 people and sickened 182 in recent weeks. The deaths occurred in three districts of Nigeria’s southwestern Ondo state after victims consumed the locally brewed mixture, which local media said is known as “Monkey Tail”. Methanol is highly toxic and causes death by organ failure as well as blindness. The country’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said five... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3368125/methanol-tainted-nigeria-drink-kills-48-182-made-ill-government?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3368125/methanol-tainted-nigeria-drink-kills-48-182-made-ill-government?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 19 Sep 2026 14:24:01 +0000 Reuters Reuters For years, the race to build ever more powerful artificial intelligence followed a well-worn Silicon ⁠Valley principle: move fast and break things. But in a series of cascading events over a 10-day stretch, the largest ⁠AI labs found themselves reeling as their own creations threatened to break humanity itself. An Anthropic researcher quit the firm, warning that the pace of AI development poses an existential threat, possibly within a decade. Another researcher at the firm said the odds of human... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3368117/ai-10-days-changed-course-artificial-intelligence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3368117/ai-10-days-changed-course-artificial-intelligence?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 19 Sep 2026 11:40:38 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A woman’s body was found on Tuesday in the same area east of Johannesburg in South Africa where the discovery of several other victims in the past two months has sparked fear of a potential serial killer at large and led to a public warning by the police. According to South African authorities, the cases appear to be linked, though they did not confirm whether they are the work of the same killer. The South African Police Services (SAPS) has issued a public warning for women to be cautious when... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3367629/south-africa-alert-after-7th-womans-body-found-near-capital?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3367629/south-africa-alert-after-7th-womans-body-found-near-capital?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Sep 2026 13:12:42 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Two minibus taxis collided head-on, and an SUV crashed into them on one of South Africa’s main highways, killing at least 21 people and leaving four others seriously injured, authorities said on Monday. The crash on Sunday night in the Western Cape Province took place between the small towns of Prince Albert and Leeu-Gamka, around 380km (235 miles) east of Cape Town, according to the Road Traffic Management Corporation, or RTMC, the national traffic agency. The collision involved two Toyota... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3367493/south-africa-road-accident-kills-least-21-people?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3367493/south-africa-road-accident-kills-least-21-people?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Sep 2026 13:19:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Uganda’s King Oyo Nyimba, who was once the world’s youngest monarch, was buried on Saturday amid an acrimonious succession dispute that has rocked the royal family and gripped the nation. The traditional monarch, who ascended the throne of Uganda’s Tooro Kingdom as an infant in 1995, died last month from cancer. He was 34. He was buried next to his ancestors after an emotional funeral service in an Anglican cathedral in the remote city of Fort Portal, near the Congo border, concluding a nine-day... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3367376/uganda-buries-one-time-boy-king-whose-death-has-sparked-succession-battle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3367376/uganda-buries-one-time-boy-king-whose-death-has-sparked-succession-battle?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Sep 2026 21:30:47 +0000 Makane Moïse Mbengue Makane Moïse Mbengue The ocean looks like peace from afar and truth up close, they say. But beneath the waves, the map of the world’s oceans is far less settled than it looks. Today, dozens of sea borders remain unresolved. Like so many conflicts, they owe their origins to complicated questions of where one country’s territory ends, and another’s begins. Many involve overlapping claims to areas rich in resources; and a disproportionate number concern the waters of the Global South. Africa’s coastline is a stark... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3366221/global-south-cannot-afford-let-its-maritime-border-disputes-fester?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3366221/global-south-cannot-afford-let-its-maritime-border-disputes-fester?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Sep 2026 21:30:05 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Former Sierra Leone president Ernest Bai Koroma returned to his home country on Sunday, where authorities welcomed him after treason charges against him over an alleged coup attempt were dropped. Koroma had left for Nigeria in 2024, days after being charged with treason and other offences over a deadly 2023 army uprising. The former president, who led Sierra Leone from 2007 to 2018, arrived at the international airport in the capital, Freetown, accompanied by Nigerian ex-president Olusegun... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3366564/sierra-leone-ex-president-returns-country-after-treason-case-dropped?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3366564/sierra-leone-ex-president-returns-country-after-treason-case-dropped?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Sep 2026 17:50:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse At least 25 people, mostly children and teenagers, were killed in a bus crash on Cabo Verde’s Fogo Island, public radio network RCV said on Sunday. Several others were injured in Saturday’s accident, some of them seriously, the head of civil protection for Sao Filipe city, Jose Canuto, told reporters. Such incidents are rare in the west African archipelago, where roads are generally in good condition. Canuto and other local authorities said the bus, which was carrying 32 passengers, veered off... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3366561/children-among-least-25-killed-cabo-verde-bus-crash?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3366561/children-among-least-25-killed-cabo-verde-bus-crash?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Sep 2026 15:00:45 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A fire at a wedding party in Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital Kinshasa left at least 22 people dead, the regional mayor said on Saturday. Several others were injured. The fire started on Friday night and continued into early Saturday in a building in Lingwala in northern Kinshasa. The building’s narrow hallways were constricted by people trying to escape the fire. Several people - some alive and some dead - were laid by the roadside as attendees tried to help those who were still... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3366508/least-22-dead-several-injured-fire-dr-congo-wedding-party?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3366508/least-22-dead-several-injured-fire-dr-congo-wedding-party?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Sep 2026 20:49:01 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse An Egyptian court sentenced a well-known television presenter and 11 others to death for manufacturing and trafficking narcotics in a sprawling drugs case, official media reported on Saturday. The presenter, Sarah Khalifa, 39, is best known for her programme Mission Impossible, which dealt with issues concerning security and crime. The state-linked Al-Ahram newspaper said a Cairo court sentenced “Khalifa and 11 other defendants to death by hanging on charges of forming an organised criminal gang... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3366504/egypt-sentences-tv-presenter-11-others-death-drugs-case?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3366504/egypt-sentences-tv-presenter-11-others-death-drugs-case?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Sep 2026 17:38:14 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A low-altitude flyover by two Airlink passenger jets before a rugby match at Cape Town’s DHL Stadium is being reviewed by South African aviation authorities after it drew safety concerns, officials said on Wednesday. The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) said it had obtained flight data recordings and requested additional information from regional carrier Airlink as part of its assessment. A full report with recommendations would be issued once the review was complete. “It is... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3366172/low-jet-flyover-cape-town-stadium-sparks-south-africa-safety-probe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3366172/low-jet-flyover-cape-town-stadium-sparks-south-africa-safety-probe?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Sep 2026 03:10:41 +0000 Mohamed Ibrahim Hafez,Sebastian Contin Trillo-Figueroa Mohamed Ibrahim Hafez,Sebastian Contin Trillo-Figueroa China is beginning to match its economic presence abroad with the military reach required to operate across it. The clearest evidence came from Egypt. Chinese J-16 fighters flew there recently, supported by YU-20 tankers that refuelled them in the air. The Chinese jets are taking part in Egypt’s “Eagles of Civilisation” alongside Egyptian Rafales and MiG-29s. This is the first time China has sent the jets to Africa, providing experience in moving a combat force across continents and operating... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3365853/china-egypt-joint-drills-show-beijings-military-reach?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3365853/china-egypt-joint-drills-show-beijings-military-reach?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Sep 2026 12:30:09 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Scientists in South Africa are investigating why masses of sardines have washed up dead or dying along parts of the country’s west and south coast – and if a herpes virus detected in the fish is responsible. The mass mortality of sardines this month has so far stumped the country’s Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, though scientists have come to at least one conclusion: it is the first time that the virus in question – pilchard herpesvirus, or PHV – has been identified in... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3365714/scientists-probe-if-herpes-virus-killing-sardines-south-africa?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3365714/scientists-probe-if-herpes-virus-killing-sardines-south-africa?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Aug 2026 12:10:48 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Mutinying soldiers led armed clashes in Niger’s capital on Saturday, alarming residents, but the ruling junta said it had largely wrested back control after hours of heavy exchanges around some of its most sensitive sites. While the fighting had subsided later on Saturday, the rebel troops were said by a regional security source and an African diplomatic source to be holed up in an airbase near the capital’s airport. Niger’s ruling junta declared, in a statement read on state television, that it... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3365712/clashes-niger-after-troops-try-storm-presidential-palace?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3365712/clashes-niger-after-troops-try-storm-presidential-palace?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Aug 2026 11:44:13 +0000 Bao Yinan Bao Yinan With the end of the 60-day US-Iran memorandum of understanding, tensions in the Strait of Hormuz have flared again. The crisis in the strait highlights how the security and stability of key international waterways are becoming an increasingly urgent global concern. Over the past decade, major maritime routes have been affected by regional armed conflicts, geopolitical tensions and growing security risks. These disruptions have exposed a vulnerability in the global trading system: a key... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3365191/us-and-china-must-team-keep-maritime-trade-routes-free-and-safe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3365191/us-and-china-must-team-keep-maritime-trade-routes-free-and-safe?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:30:15 +0000 Reuters Reuters Police have arrested four suspects in an investigation ⁠into the deaths ⁠of 18 elephants in Kenya’s Amboseli ⁠ecosystem, where authorities also seized assorted substances including chemicals, the tourism and wildlife ministry has said. A Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) spokesperson told Reuters on Monday that the four had since been released on bail. Preliminary laboratory ‌results pointed to the probable involvement of a toxic substance, the ministry said in a statement released on Saturday, with... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3365098/4-arrested-kenya-investigates-18-elephant-deaths-amboseli?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3365098/4-arrested-kenya-investigates-18-elephant-deaths-amboseli?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Aug 2026 13:40:38 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Military officials from Uganda and Burundi visited Israel last week to discuss deploying troops to Gaza as part of an international security force envisioned by US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” for the fragile ceasefire, according to officials. An official with the board said that Ugandan officials had joined a Burundian military delegation and that Uganda was finalising details of its participation after its parliament approved the troop contribution this month. Nothing has been... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3365030/east-african-troops-prepare-gaza-peacekeeping-role-us-backed-plan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3365030/east-african-troops-prepare-gaza-peacekeeping-role-us-backed-plan?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Aug 2026 06:14:59 +0000 Reuters Reuters A landslide at a ⁠landfill in Guinea’s capital killed 30 people, the government said on Sunday, after heavy rains overnight prompted the collapse of a massive mound of waste that engulfed nearby tents and shacks. The incident happened less than a week ‌after the government announced plans to close the site and relocate the waste because of the threat it posed, especially during the continuing rainy season, which causes landslides and fatal flash floods each year in crowded, underdeveloped cities... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3364990/landfill-collapse-kills-least-22-guinea-rescuers-search-survivors?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3364990/landfill-collapse-kills-least-22-guinea-rescuers-search-survivors?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Aug 2026 16:54:40 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Somali pirates hijacked an oil products tanker off Yemen, a Somali maritime security official said, the latest in a resurgence of piracy that has seen six commercial vessels seized since April across the Gulf of Aden and western Indian Ocean. Six armed pirates hijacked the Eritrean-flagged M.T. Sibu 1 on Thursday about 136 nautical miles (252 kilometres) east of al-Mukalla, Yemen, and took it towards Somalia’s Puntland coast, the official, who has knowledge of the incident, told journalists on... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3364934/20-sailors-kidnapped-somali-pirates-near-yemen-us-sanctioned-ship?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3364934/20-sailors-kidnapped-somali-pirates-near-yemen-us-sanctioned-ship?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Aug 2026 12:17:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Cameroon’s President Paul Biya has returned to the country after a more than two-month absence that has fuelled fierce debate about his ability to rule after 44 years in power. Biya, who at the age of 93 is the world’s oldest serving head of state, landed in Yaounde in the late afternoon from Geneva, where he had been staying since June 7 on what his office called “a short private stay”. Cameroonian media had reported that Biya, leader since 1982, had been in the Swiss city with family members... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3364736/paul-biya-cameroons-undefeated-ruler-44-years-returns-after-long-absence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3364736/paul-biya-cameroons-undefeated-ruler-44-years-returns-after-long-absence?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Aug 2026 20:11:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Ecuador’s intelligence chief and five US citizens died when a helicopter carrying tourists crashed in central Kenya on Wednesday, killing all seven people on board, officials said. The accident happened at 9.13am local time, in Samburu county, north of the capital, Nairobi, according to the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA), after the aircraft departed from the Loisaba wildlife reserve. Images shared by the Kenya Red Cross on social media in the afternoon showed a crash site in... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3364602/7-killed-kenya-tourist-helicopter-crash?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3364602/7-killed-kenya-tourist-helicopter-crash?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Aug 2026 14:15:38 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Instead of celebrating her son’s birthday this month, Zimbabwean mother Rodwin Chitewere spent the day praying for his body to be brought home from Russia, where he was reportedly killed fighting Moscow’s war against Ukraine. In Botswana and South Africa, too, women are desperate for sons and husbands to return from a conflict many say they were duped into joining, as authorities warn recruiters are still active. Chitewere’s son, who would have turned 23, left with a cousin in April from a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3364541/african-families-heartbreak-young-men-trapped-russian-battlefields?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3364541/african-families-heartbreak-young-men-trapped-russian-battlefields?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Aug 2026 07:08:18 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is moving faster than any previous epidemic of the disease and risks spreading to more countries, the head of the World Health Organization has warned. “We must be frank: the epidemic is far from being under control,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told an emergency meeting on the outbreak on Tuesday. “It had a big head start, and we are still playing catch-up.” His comment came after the DR Congo on Monday said the outbreak... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3364476/who-chief-warns-dr-congo-ebola-outbreak-far-being-under-control?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3364476/who-chief-warns-dr-congo-ebola-outbreak-far-being-under-control?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Aug 2026 15:45:43 +0000 Reuters Reuters At least 14 suspected illegal miners were killed and eight injured when a mine dump collapsed in South ‌Africa’s North West province on Monday night, police said. Search and rescue operations are under way for an unknown number of people who may still be trapped at the site ⁠near Rustenburg, provincial police commissioner Arthur Peter Adams said. The collapse ‌occurred as the miners were digging for platinum group metals at a ‌disused dump on a private company’s site, Adams ⁠said. The ⁠injured... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3363691/south-africa-mine-dump-collapse-kills-least-14-suspected-illegal-miners?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3363691/south-africa-mine-dump-collapse-kills-least-14-suspected-illegal-miners?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Aug 2026 14:19:01 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record started in February, months before it was officially declared in mid-May, the World Health Organization said on Monday, as responders in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) struggle to catch up. The WHO regional director for Africa, Mohamed Yakub Janabi, told a press conference that sequencing indicated the outbreak’s start. He said some cases early in the outbreak were wrongly attributed to malaria and typhoid. “So we are chasing the virus,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3363572/congos-ebola-outbreak-started-months-it-was-declared-says-who?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3363572/congos-ebola-outbreak-started-months-it-was-declared-says-who?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Aug 2026 15:47:15 +0000 dpa dpa In northern Nigeria, 1,500 couples have tied the knot at a mass wedding organised by the state. The two-day ceremony in Kano State was aimed at people who, for financial reasons, would otherwise struggle to afford a wedding. According to the regional government, each bride received a dowry of 200,000 naira (US$147) as well as support to set up a small business. The couples were also given household items such as beds, mattresses and blankets. Before the wedding, the couples underwent screening... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3363416/1500-couples-tie-knot-mass-wedding-nigeria?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3363416/1500-couples-tie-knot-mass-wedding-nigeria?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Aug 2026 21:50:20 +0000 Reuters Reuters Congolese health authorities were screening more than 300 people ⁠travelling on a ⁠river boat intercepted near Kinshasa on ⁠Thursday after the death of a passenger suspected of having Ebola raised concerns the virus may have spread on board, officials said. Authorities deployed a mobile laboratory to the vessel after it was stopped in Maluku, around 65km (40 miles) upstream from the capital on Wednesday. The secretary general of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s health ministry, Body Ilonga... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3363217/dr-congo-tests-over-300-passengers-after-suspected-ebola-death-boat?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3363217/dr-congo-tests-over-300-passengers-after-suspected-ebola-death-boat?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Aug 2026 18:30:56 +0000 dpa dpa The government in Madrid has rejected allegations that it ignored warnings from the CNI intelligence service about a mass arrival of tens of thousands of migrants in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta in North Africa. It said on Monday that no intelligence reports had been received warning of a migration crisis on this scale. Meanwhile, efforts to accommodate and repatriate the remaining migrants, as well as the search for further fatalities, are continuing in Ceuta. According to the Ministry of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3362844/spain-denies-ignoring-intelligence-service-warning-over-ceuta-migration-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3362844/spain-denies-ignoring-intelligence-service-warning-over-ceuta-migration-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Aug 2026 18:44:19 +0000 Reuters Reuters The death toll from a mass rush of migrants from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta last week reached at least 72 on Sunday, as five more bodies were found along the North African coast, officials said. The number of fatalities was considerably higher than what was announced by Moroccan authorities on Sunday. More than 50,000 ‌people crossed into Ceuta by land and sea in an unprecedented surge that began on Thursday at one of the European Union’s only two land borders with Africa,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3362727/death-toll-migrant-rush-spains-ceuta-rises-72?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3362727/death-toll-migrant-rush-spains-ceuta-rises-72?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 02 Aug 2026 17:44:55 +0000 dpa dpa At least 15 elephants have died from exposure to a suspected poison in the Amboseli National Park in southern Kenya over a four-week period, the country’s nature conservation authorities reported on Wednesday. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said the animals had died in the park, which lies along the border with Tanzania, between June 24 and July 24. The nearby Kimana Conservancy and the Kuku Ranch area have also been affected. The KWS said that 10 of the 15 elephants showed similar symptoms,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3362295/15-elephants-die-suspected-poisoning-kenyan-park?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3362295/15-elephants-die-suspected-poisoning-kenyan-park?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Jul 2026 13:07:51 +0000 Reuters Reuters Footprints left on a muddy lakeshore in northern Kenya ⁠around 1.43 million years ago are providing new insight into the size and behaviour of a species in the human evolutionary lineage that was the last of its kind, known for extensive anatomical adaptations for eating tough vegetation. The species, Paranthropus boisei, is known mostly from skull and tooth fossils. Now researchers working along the eastern side of Kenya’s Lake Turkana have identified 21 footprints made by eight individuals of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3362168/footprints-kenya-shed-light-prehistoric-human-cousin-paranthropus?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3362168/footprints-kenya-shed-light-prehistoric-human-cousin-paranthropus?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Jul 2026 14:15:36 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Confirmed cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s ongoing Ebola outbreak reached 3,262, its ministry of health said in an overnight update, nearly the same as the 2018-2020 outbreak that is the largest ever recorded in the country. Data from the Congolese health ministry showed that 1,437 patients have died out of the 3,262 cases, in what officials have said is the fastest Ebola outbreak on record, concentrated in the eastern Ituri province. The 2018-2020 outbreak that was recorded in Congo... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3362155/ebola-cases-dr-congo-top-3200-nearing-record-countrys-worst-outbreak?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3362155/ebola-cases-dr-congo-top-3200-nearing-record-countrys-worst-outbreak?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Jul 2026 12:25:32 +0000 Göktuğ Çalışkan Göktuğ Çalışkan When Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), met Jiang Feng, head of China’s mission to the African Union, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in mid-July, the message was practical. They signed a handover certificate that brought Beijing’s direct emergency support for the Ebola response to US$4.5 million. A five-member Chinese medical team was already working in the Democratic Republic of Congo capital of Kinshasa. Kaseya described the contribution as... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3361447/rapid-ebola-aid-china-shows-itself-reliable-partner-africa?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3361447/rapid-ebola-aid-china-shows-itself-reliable-partner-africa?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Jul 2026 21:30:07 +0000 Reuters Reuters An ⁠impending ‘super’ El Nino is likely to inflict a combined US$10 billion to US$20 billion of damage ⁠in affected African countries and trigger mass migration from hard-hit areas, the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) top climate expert said. Forecasters are warning that the El Nino weather pattern – which often drives severe droughts, flooding and storms in Africa – could turn into one of the strongest ever seen if current Pacific Ocean warming trends continue. As well as the threat to food... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3361891/super-el-nino-africa-facing-mass-migration-us20-billion-damages?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3361891/super-el-nino-africa-facing-mass-migration-us20-billion-damages?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Jul 2026 09:02:39 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A volunteer was injected on Friday with the first dose of a rapidly developed vaccine targeting the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola driving a deadly outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Oxford University said. More than 1,000 people have been killed in the DRC and Uganda since the outbreak emerged in May, according to the World Health Organization. Researchers and health organisations have since been racing to get a vaccine or treatment for the relatively rare strain to the clinical... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3361804/ebola-virus-first-person-vaccinated-uk-trial-new-jab?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3361804/ebola-virus-first-person-vaccinated-uk-trial-new-jab?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Jul 2026 15:16:40 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press More than 1,000 people have died in the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to Africa’s top health body, a grim toll in the fastest Ebola outbreak in history, as conflict, community resistance and an uneven response fuel its spread. Speaking at a health summit in Ghana on Wednesday, Dr Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said 1,031 deaths have been confirmed. “These are people dying. They are dying because we don’t... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3361493/congos-ebola-outbreak-kills-nearly-1000-people-warning-worse-come?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3361493/congos-ebola-outbreak-kills-nearly-1000-people-warning-worse-come?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Jul 2026 11:54:01 +0000 Mia Nurmamat Mia Nurmamat Africa’s exports to China have surged since Beijing expanded its zero-tariff policy across the continent in May, as customs data showed signs of emerging trade links in a range of new sectors alongside traditional categories such as critical minerals. China’s imports from Africa soared by 21.1 per cent and 40.2 per cent year on year in May and June, respectively – outpacing the overall growth in Chinese imports over the same period, customs data showed. The increase was partly driven by China’s... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3360758/chinas-imports-africa-surge-after-beijing-expands-zero-tariff-policy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3360758/chinas-imports-africa-surge-after-beijing-expands-zero-tariff-policy?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Jul 2026 05:00:06 +0000 David Dodwell David Dodwell As US President Donald Trump flew home from a fractious Nato summit in Turkey, he was poised to resume the war with Iran, whose leaders he labelled “sick” and “scum”. Trump also complained about European leaders’ failure to spend enough on arms, support him in Iran and recognise the need for the US to take control of Greenland. The sense of rising global conflict has been palpable this week. What clearly showed at the summit of the transatlantic security alliance was confirmed by the latest... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3360025/how-ai-changing-nature-war-and-conflict?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3360025/how-ai-changing-nature-war-and-conflict?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Jul 2026 08:30:07 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo is the “fastest growing” ever, African health authorities said on Thursday, as the World Health Organization said the disease had killed 600 people. Updated numbers issued by the UN health agency showed there have been 1,759 confirmed cases in DR Congo since the outbreak was declared in mid-May, including 600 confirmed deaths. “This is the fastest growing Ebola outbreak ever, not only among the previous Bundibugyo outbreaks, but all the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3360036/ebola-outbreak-fastest-growing-ever-600-die-dr-congo?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3360036/ebola-outbreak-fastest-growing-ever-600-die-dr-congo?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Jul 2026 17:37:39 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse At least five women have accused the archbishop of Rabat of sexual assault, according to an Agence France-Presse investigation, prompting the Spanish-born cleric to announce he was “stepping back” on Tuesday while the Vatican holds an inquiry. Agence France-Presse interviewed a retired woman involved in the Church and reviewed the written testimony of another woman who said Cristobal Lopez Romero had sexually assaulted them. The 74-year-old archbishop denied all wrongdoing when contacted by... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3359778/cardinal-morocco-steps-back-duties-after-sexual-assault-claims?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3359778/cardinal-morocco-steps-back-duties-after-sexual-assault-claims?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Jul 2026 18:11:18 +0000 dpa dpa Egypt has inaugurated a new armed forces headquarters, which observers say is the largest in the world, with an elaborate ceremony and a rare appearance from the president and former general Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi in military uniform. The Octagon, as the complex is being called, consists of eight buildings each with an eight-sided floor plan in an area of around 90 sq km (34.7 square miles), the size of the Portuguese capital Lisbon. It has replaced the Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Defence... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3359498/egypts-president-el-sisi-inaugurates-massive-new-military-headquarters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3359498/egypts-president-el-sisi-inaugurates-massive-new-military-headquarters?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Jul 2026 18:20:46 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Residents at the epicentre of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC’s) Ebola outbreak are pinning their hopes on experimental treatments after researchers began a highly anticipated study in early July of two possible Ebola treatments in hopes of fighting the still-growing outbreak. At the Ebola treatment centre inside Bunia’s Evangelical Medical Centre, in eastern Congo’s Ituri province, the launch of the research was marked by urgency rather than ceremony on Thursday. As ambulances continued... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3359470/ebola-treatment-trial-begins-congo-citizens-mourn-hundreds?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3359470/ebola-treatment-trial-begins-congo-citizens-mourn-hundreds?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Jul 2026 08:52:57 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during their attack on El-Fasher city between 2024 and 2025, Amnesty International alleged Wednesday. Sudan has been mired since April 2023 in a brutal war between the army and the RSF, which has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee, according to the United Nations. Both sides have been accused of atrocities, with a UN independent fact-finding mission in February concluding... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3359065/sudans-rsf-committed-ethnic-cleansing-says-amnesty?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3359065/sudans-rsf-committed-ethnic-cleansing-says-amnesty?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Jul 2026 13:11:05 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg A person admitted to hospital in Scotland with suspected Ebola has tested negative, as central Africa continues to face a deadly outbreak of the virus. The person arrived at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow on Tuesday, according to a BBC report. A representative for the hospital declined to comment. Public Health Scotland (PHS) said in a statement a person was tested for Ebola as a precautionary measure. The government health agency said there are no confirmed cases in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3358955/uk-patient-tested-possible-ebola-cases-rise-africa?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3358955/uk-patient-tested-possible-ebola-cases-rise-africa?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Jun 2026 22:05:49 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg Thousands of people joined anti-migrant protests in South Africa on Tuesday, watched over by a massive police contingent that was deployed to prevent violence and intimidation. The demonstrations in Johannesburg, Pretoria, the port cities of Durban and Cape Town and other towns were called by an organisation known as March and March to demand that all undocumented foreigners leave the country. The rallies, which marked the culmination of weeks of protests that have displaced thousands of mainly... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3358913/south-africa-anti-migrant-demos-draw-thousands-plus-huge-police-presence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3358913/south-africa-anti-migrant-demos-draw-thousands-plus-huge-police-presence?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Jun 2026 10:58:40 +0000