Scientists on Tuesday said they could fill a blank in the history of Central Africa’s pygmies, whose past is one of the most elusive of any community in the world. At a key period in the human odyssey, these hunter-gatherer tribes shunned interbreeding…
Browsing: AFP
Nigeria’s military on Tuesday said that a call by the country’s top military officer for a swift end to the Boko Haram insurgency had been “taken too literally”. Air Marshal Alex Badeh was appointed chief of defence staff last month and on January 20…
Gunmen killed about 30 people in an early morning raid on two villages in central Nigeria, witnesses said on Tuesday, in the latest violence to hit the region. The police in Plateau state, which has been hit by repeated communal violence, confirmed…
Eight people were killed and 26 injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a hotel in a Shiite…
Nigeria’s Muslims have voiced concern about an apparent increase in religious “profiling” after hundreds of terror-related arrests in the country’s Christian-majority south. Last month some 300 traders from the Muslim majority north of the country were…
Africans played leading roles in some of the most surprising results around Europe over the weekend, with Algeria’s Sofiane Feghouli in particular to the fore. Feghouli starred in Valencia’s stunning win away to Barcelona in La Liga, while Peter Odemwingie…
Nigeria’s ruling party, weakened by mass defections and riven by months of in-fighting, was dealt a fresh blow on Sunday, when one of its most senior figures said he had joined the main opposition. Atiku Abubakar, the country’s vice-president under…
A Muslim cleric who had previously criticised Boko Haram has been shot dead with his wife and child in northern Nigeria, locals and his family said on Sunday. Unknown gunmen opened fire on Adam Albani’s car at about 10:30 pm (2130 GMT) on Saturday in…
General Electric has signed a deal with a Nigerian bank to invest $350 million in Nigeria’s ailing power sector, the country’s trade and investment minister said on Friday. Olusegun Aganga said the deal between the US conglomerate and Stanbic Bank would…
Eight people were killed in religious violence in Nigeria on Friday, including a Christian family of seven, while a roadside bomb killed seven others in an area known for Boko Haram activity. The two incidents follow deadly violence last weekend, which…
More than 2,000 people were forced from their homes after a market attack in northeast Nigeria blamed on Boko Haram militants that killed at least 52, a relief agency said Thursday. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in the region said…
Two Islamic courts in Nigeria have been forced to suspend the trials of 10 men accused of homosexuality because of fears of mob violence, judges and officials have said. An angry crowd last week pelted stones at seven men suspected of breaking Islamic…
The number of people killed in a deadly market attack blamed on Boko Haram militants in northeast Nigeria has risen to 52, police told AFP on Tuesday. “From the verified figures I have in my records, 52 people have been confirmed killed in the attack…
Eurozone countries are “worried” by the problems hitting emerging economies but do not believe there is a risk of contagion, senior officials said Monday. Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the head of the Eurogroup which gathers the finance ministers of countries…
Only Fools and Horses’ Del Boy has come off the winner in an unlikely tussle with tough guy Jack Bauer, of US action drama 24, in a scrap over a prime London filming location. Canadian actor Kiefer Sutherland is due to reprise his role as anti-terror…
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger insisted Monday his team were not favoured by the fixture programme following comments from Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho the Gunners had a certain “influence” over the schedule. “It is simple — look at the fixtures and analyse…
At least 45 people were killed in a suspected Boko Haram attack on a market in restive northeast Nigeria, police said on Monday, warning the death toll could rise. “So far, we have 45 dead and 26 injured… but the figures could increase as our men…
Nigeria’s ruling party, never out of power since the nation returned to civilian rule, faces a Valentine’s Day test of voters’ affections next year, after a date was set for elections. Voters in Africa’s most populous nation will go to the polls on…
Simmering tensions over a key oil-producing state in Nigeria mounted on Thursday, as the country’s two main political parties traded threats and insults, stoking fears of violence in the run-up to elections. The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)…
Tens of thousands of striking workers at South Africa’s top three platinum producers agreed Thursday to take part in government-brokered talks aimed at ending the dispute and limiting economic damage. The Association of Mineworkers and Construction…