Mogadishu (AFP) - Somali pirates on Thursday handed over an oil tanker and eight Sri Lankan hostages captured just days ago, the Oceans Beyond Piracy NGO told AFP, bringing to a close the first such attack since 2012. The Puntland maritime police force freed the ship. They made (the pirates) an offer they couldn't refuse and the pirates have le ...

Nairobi (AFP) - Somali pirates have handed over an oil tanker and eight Sri Lankan hostages just days after capturing the vessel, the Oceans Beyond Piracy NGO told AFP Thursday. The Puntland maritime police force freed the ship. They made (the pirates) an offer they couldn't refuse and the pirates have left, said the former British army office ...

Freetown (AFP) - A pastor working in the mines of eastern Sierra Leone has unearthed a 706-carat diamond, a discovery that experts said Thursday could be the 10th largest stone ever found. The huge rock was extracted by Emmanuel Momoh, one of thousands who seek their fortunes in the informal mining sector that dominates the diamond-rich Kono reg ...

London (AFP) - Major chocolate makers, including Ferrero, Nestle and Mars, agreed Thursday a landmark initiative to tackle deforestation in top cocoa producers Ivory Coast and Ghana -- a move hailed by Prince Charles. Twelve cocoa and chocolate companies agreed to a statement of collective intent committing them to work to end deforestation an ...

New York (AFP) - More than a century after a long-hushed genocide took place in Namibia while under German colonial rule, descendants of the victims are getting their day in court in New York for the first time Thursday. In one of the darkest chapters of African colonial history, tens of thousands of Herero and Nama people were killed from 1904 ...

Mogadishu (AFP) - Coastguards in northern Somalia exchanged gunfire Thursday with armed men aboard a boat heading towards a hijacked oil tanker where pirates are holding eight hostages, an official said. Armed attackers seized the Aris 13 tanker on Monday as it made its way from Djibouti to Mogadishu, the first hijacking of a large merchant vess ...

16 March 2017, Johannesburg - Africa needs to focus on improving infrastructure, technological readiness and health and primary education in order to become more competitive and create more job opportunities for its burgeoning young population; that rsquo;s according to KPMG rsquo;s latest Report on Africa in a changing global environment.[/I ...

Freetown (AFP) - A pastor working in the mines of eastern Sierra Leone has unearthed a 706-carat diamond, the government said Thursday, pledging to hold a transparent auction for the gem in a nation once tainted by blood diamonds . The huge diamond was discovered by pastor Emmanuel Momoh, one of thousands who seek their fortunes in the informal ...

Strasbourg (France) (AFP) - The European Parliament on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a law requiring firms to ensure they do not use so-called conflict minerals from Africa and other areas that end up funding warlords. The law will force companies to track their supply of tungsten, tin, tantalum and gold, which are often used in computers and ...

Addis Ababa (AFP) - Madagascan Ahmad Ahmad was elected president of the Confederation of African Football Thursday, ousting veteran leader Issa Hayatou after 29 years in office to usher in a new dawn for the sport on the continent Ahmad, head of Madagascar's football federation, won the election in the Ethiopian capital by 34 votes to Hayatou' ...

Addis Ababa (AFP) - Madagascar's football chief Ahmad Ahmad was elected president of the Confederation of African Football Thursday, ousting veteran leader Issa Hayatou after 29 years in office. Ahmad won the election in the Ethiopian capital by 34 votes to Hayatou's 20, official results showed. Delegates cheered and pumped their fists in the pl ...

Abidjan, C ocirc;te d rsquo;Ivoire, March 13, 2017 ndash; The Chair of the Africa Progress Panel and former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, and the President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, have called on African governments and their partners to do everything possible to close the continent rsquo;s huge energy gap. ...

Wellington (AFP) - A maiden Test century by Henry Nicholls hauled New Zealand off the ropes and back into the second Test against South Africa on day one in Wellington on Thursday. From reeling at 21 for three inside the first hour, New Zealand were all out for 268 in the final session of the day with the left-handed Nicholls providing the backb ...

The Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), in collaboration with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), will organise a Regional Training Workshop on the New FATF Methodology for Mutual Evaluation Assessors. The Workshop will be held at the Holiday Inn Airport Hotel, Accra, Ghana from Monday, Mar ...

Rabat (AFP) - The king of Morocco is to appoint a new prime minister, the royal palace announced, after an unprecedented five months of talks on forming a coalition government ended in failure. To break the current deadlock, the king has decided to appoint another member of the PJD (Justice and Development Party) to lead the government within t ...

London (AFP) - Africa will host a Commonwealth Games one day despite the blow of Durban being stripped of hosting the 2022 edition, David Grevemberg, the chief executive of The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), told AFP. Durban lost the right to host the Games on Monday -- just 18 months after being awarded them -- when it failed to meet crit ...

Wellington (AFP) - South Africa had an understrength New Zealand in early trouble with four wickets, including Kane Williamson, in the first session of the second Test in Wellington on Thursday. With weather and pitch conditions assisting swing and seam, Tom Latham and Neil Brook also went cheaply as New Zealand slumped to 21 for three inside 11 ...