Miami (AFP) - Elephants hardly ever sleep in the wild, getting around two hours of shut-eye per night and only in the wee hours of the morning, researchers said Wednesday. The findings in the journal PLOS ONE are based on two female wild African elephants -- living in Botswana's Chobe National Park -- who appear to sleep the least of any known m ...

Tunis (AFP) - Tunisia welcomed Wednesday a move by Belgium to partially lift travel restrictions on its nationals put in place following a deadly attack on a Tunisian beach resort in 2015. I welcome... Belgiumâ s decision to lift part of the restrictions on travel to Tunisia, Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui told reporters after meeting wit ...

Addis Ababa (AFP) - Ethiopia's government has charged three prominent opposition activists with inciting riots, destroying property and plotting a coup, a government spokesman told AFP on Wednesday. The allegations come after months of clashes between police and anti-government protesters that killed hundreds and were only quelled after authorit ...

Maseru (Lesotho) (AFP) - Lesotho's prime minister lost a no-confidence vote in parliament on Wednesday, deepening the political uncertainty in the mountain kingdom ahead of an election likely within three months. Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili, of the Democratic Congress (DC) party, has headed a coalition government since a snap election in 2 ...

Rabat (AFP) - Trade has picked up on a contested road in Western Sahara on Morocco's border with Mauritania after tensions eased between troops and separatists, officials and truck drivers said Wednesday. Moroccan television said truck drivers were no longer being deterred by the presence of armed Polisario Front separatists who had been patroll ...

In response to the release on ldquo;open arrest rdquo; today of the final seven Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) members detained on mutiny charges since 2015, Amnesty International rsquo;s Regional Director for Southern Africa, Deprose Muchena said: ldquo;Today rsquo;s release of the seven members of the Lesotho Defence Force, after almost ...

Kinshasa (AFP) - The body of Congolese opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi is to be repatriated next week, several weeks after his death, his party said Wednesday, raising hopes of a restart of talks on a deal to end the political crisis. Tshisekedi's death and the delay over repatriating his body from Brussels have blocked the implementation o ...

Algiers (AFP) - Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has rarely appeared in public since a crippling stroke in 2013, marks his 80th birthday on Thursday amid persistent doubts over his health. He suffered a bout of bronchitis in February, forcing German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the last minute to cancel a scheduled visit to Algiers a ...

Johannesburg Leadership in Africa needs to shun away from doing what everyone else is doing around the world and focus on providing solutions to specific challenges on the continent, says an international speaker and currently Operations Executive at Circle Food Group, Zipho Sikhakhane. Africa is currently plunged into high figures of u ...

Tunis (AFP) - Tunisia is to prosecute six policemen over their response to a 2015 gun and grenade attack on a beach resort that killed 38 foreign holidaymakers, a judiciary spokesman said Wednesday. The announcement comes a day after an inquest into the deaths of the 30 Britons among them found that the response of Tunisian police was at best s ...

Kabugi Njuma rsquo;s pockets were filled with mud. He was forced to run in 38C (100F)heat carrying a bucket laden with 36kgs (80lb) of earth on his head until he confessed to Mau Mau activities. He died of a heart attack at Aguthi special detention camp in September 1958. His body bore bruises consistent with blows from a stick. The Briti ...

Ouidah (Benin) (AFP) - With its palm tree-lined beaches, unique heritage and wildlife parks, Benin can hold its own against the best African holiday destinations. But tourism revenue accounts for just 0.7 percent of gross domestic product and there were only 240,000 visitors in 2014, according to World Bank figures. That compares to an averag ...

Cotonou (AFP) - In the Very Holy Church of Jesus Christ of Baname, the 25-year-old founder calls herself God, her business partner is a self-styled Pope and devotees pledge to end the reign of the Devil. Its charismatic theology and clashes with other religions have caused it to be expelled from Benin's community of churches, and repeated scanda ...

Hamilton (New Zealand) (AFP) - South Africa set a New Zealand a difficult target of 280 on a turning wicket in the fourth one-day international on Wednesday thanks to half-centuries from skipper AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis. De Villiers top-scored on 72 not out, with du Plessis making 67 and Wayne Parnell contributing 29 off 12 balls before ...