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The tussle between Starlink boss Elon Musk and South Africa over the company’s failure to launch in the country stems from the nation’s black empowerment laws, and could be one factor behind the diplomatic row between the US and Africa’s most industrialised nation. To his more than 219 million followers on his social media platform […]

An American pastor who was kidnapped by armed men during a church service in South Africa last week has been rescued following a “high-intensity shoot-out” that left three people dead, police say. Josh Sullivan was found unharmed in the township in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape on Tuesday evening – the area where the 45-year-old […]

Ghana has banned all foreigners from trading in its local gold market as part of efforts to boost national revenue and streamline the country’s mining sector. It follows the enactment of a new law earlier this month that grants exclusive authority of gold mining to a new state body, the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod). “All […]

Sudan’s paramilitaries have declared the formation of a rival government to the country’s armed forces, two years into a war that has become the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. The leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo, said the group was “building the only realistic future for Sudan”. The announcement came as […]

A high-level international conference is under way in London to find “a pathway to peace” in Sudan, in the words of one of the hosts, the UK’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy. Sudan’s civil war began exactly two years ago causing what aid agencies call the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The UK is promising an extra […]

Spanish authorities have arrested a couple suspected of selling exotic cats online, including protected species like white tigers, pumas and clouded leopards. Civil Guard police raided the couple’s home on the island of Majorca after learning that they were owning and breeding rare feline species which they then sold on social media. In total, 19 […]

Rapper and musician Lil Nas X has revealed he is suffering from a sudden partial paralysis of the face. Posting to Instagram from hospital, the star told his 10.4 million followers that he has “lost control” of the right-hand side of his face. “This is me doing a full smile right now, by the way,” […]

Four men have pleaded guilty in Kenya to trying to smuggle hundreds of highly sought-after ants out of the country. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), which is more used to protecting larger creatures, such as lions and elephants, has described this as a “landmark case”. The contraband included giant African harvester ants, which are valued […]

Algeria’s decision to expel 12 French consular staff members appears to have put paid to hopes of any imminent rapprochement between the two countries. The order was in response to charges filed in France on Friday against an Algerian consular official, accused with two other Algerians of taking part in the kidnap of an opposition […]