Africa StreaM

Algeria's ruling National Liberation Front won the most seats in the country's parliamentary elections, the election board said Monday, securing 90 out of 407 in the July 2 vote. But the poll was marred by record-low turnout after the government barred more than a third of prospective candidates from running.

Insurgents in ​Mali staged attacks in at least five locations ‌early ⁠on ‌Saturday, including at a prison in Kenieroba, according to an army statement. The attacks seem to have been focused on seizing the town of Anefis in Kidal region, which hosts fighters from the Russian mercenary group Africa Corps as well as Malian troops.

The UN on Friday warned that a "human rights catastrophe" was unfolding in Sudan's El-Obeid where experts have warned the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) may be about to stage an offensive. Civilians in the city have already been subjected to "siege-like conditions" for the past 18 months, UN rights chief Volker Turk said.

An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed more than 400 people and continues to spread, with health authorities confirming a first case in the major city of Kisangani, hundreds of kilometres from the epidemic's epicentre in the northeast.

Russian mercenaries from the Africa Corps, which has replaced the well-known Wagner Group in providing support to the Malian army, are deploying new combat drones in Mali. Frequently found on the frontlines in Ukraine, these drones are now entering the Sahel region – an environment for which they were not designed.

Algerians on Thursday voted in parliamentary elections amid concerns over turnout after a campaign season marked by low attendance at official campaign events. Electoral authorities barred 269 candidates from running for the 407-seat lower house of parliament ahead of the vote.

A viral video showing handcuffed men walking in single file is being shared by Islamophobic accounts claiming it depicts Muslims enslaving Christian Africans. However, the video has been taken out of context.

Shops shuttered, workers stayed home and police fanned out across South Africa on Tuesday as fears mounted that planned anti-immigrant protests would descend into violence. Thousands of foreigners already fled ahead of the unauthorised June 30 "deadline" set by anti-immigrant groups for all migrants to leave the country.

Senegal's President Bassirou Diomaye Faye will call a referendum on a proposed constitutional amendment that would strengthen the power of parliament and the prime minister, the country's justice minister said Monday. The country's National Assembly overwhelmingly backed the reform in a vote earlier in the day that saw roughly 50 opposition protesters attempt to storm the building.

Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists, the Malian army and its Russian allies have all committed "grave abuses" against civilians during and after the April attacks that rocked the West African country, Human Rights Watch said in a report on Monday.

Thousands of people have fled South Africa in recent weeks ahead of a June 30 "deadline" for foreign nationals to leave the country announced by anti-immigrant groups. We spoke to Congolese refugees in KwaZulu-Natal province who were forced to leave their homes and livelihoods after anti-immigrant protests erupted in violence.

Burkina Faso's military junta on Friday cut diplomatic ties with former colonial power France, accusing Paris of acting against its interests and backing subversive networks and militants in the Sahel. The move deepens the ruling authorities' break with Western allies since Captain Ibrahim Traore seized power in a 2022 coup.

While France confirmed its first case of Ebola, reports of people successfully treated for the condition are also emerging from Mongbwalu, the epicentre of the epidemic in the eastern part of the DRC. Although successful treatments are sparking hope among teams on the ground, health professionals remain fearful about the continued progression of cases.

After two decades of delays, the colossal trans-Saharan gas megaproject to export Nigerian gas to Europe via Niger and Algeria is back in the spotlight with this month's announcement that construction of the Algerian section had rebegun. The pipeline, once completed, could fundamentally reshape Europe's energy map.

The deadly Ebola outbreak in DR Congo is rapidly spreading in spite of accelerating public health measures, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday. The outbreak, which began in mid-May, is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus for which there is not yet a vaccine or specific treatment.

Al Qaeda-linked JNIM claimed responsibility on Thursday for an attack on the airport and military airbase in Niger's capital, Niamey. The group said it killed 11 security personnel and two civilians, according to a statement published by its propaganda arm Az-Zallaqa.

Arlindo Chissale, a journalist and political activist in Mozambique, disappeared without a trace on January 7, 2025, in Cabo Delgado, a region in the grips of an Islamist insurrection. Chissale’s public stance and worrying signs in the days leading up to his disappearance make his loved ones suspect that the Mozambican security forces were involved.

Arlindo Chissale, a journalist and activist who was in contact with the FRANCE 24 Observers team, disappeared on January 7, 2025, in the region of Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, which is the scene of a deadly Islamist insurrection. Chissale spoke out about topics the Mozambican government did not want out in the open – a pursuit that his friends say put him in danger.

The UN-backed Special Criminal Court in the Central African Republic will on Tuesday, with foreign judges, begin the trial in absentia of former president François Bozizé over crimes against humanity. Bozizé, 79, who seized power in a 2003 coup before being overthrown 10 years later by rebels, has been living in exile in Guinea-Bissau since March 2023.