Brunei on Wednesday introduced harsh new sharia laws -- including death by stoning for adultery and gay sex -- despite a storm of global criticism from rights groups. Although most Muslim nations incorporate elements of sharia law in their legal systems, very few carry out the harsher punishments -- known as hudud -- which even Muslim schol ...

It 39;s not because you don 39;t have the means that you don 39;t dream, says Guy-Serge Namane, a director at the second Bushman Film Festival, a cornucopia of global smartphone cinema. Action , his assistant director calls. Namane asks actress Berenice Irie, in full make-up, to knock on the door of Room 8 at the Bushman Cafe in ...

Brunei 39;s sultan called for Islamic teachings in the country to be strengthened as strict new sharia punishments, including death by stoning for gay sex and adultery, were due to come into force on Wednesday. The tough penal code in the tiny country on tropical Borneo island -- ruled by the all-powerful Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah -- is set ...

Great white sharks fitted with cameras on their dorsal fins have been filmed for the first time stalking prey in dense kelp forests long thought to be no-go zones for the top-level predators. The thrilling, shark 39;s-eye views show the massive carnivores manoeuvering effortlessly thought thick kelp fronds suspended in the water like giant ...

An audit released by Sierra Leone 39;s finance ministry has accused the administration of former president Ernest Bai Koroma of siphoning off more than $1 billion, officials said Tuesday. Finance Minister Jacob Jusu Saffa vowed to recover all stolen monies to provide basic amenities for our people after the audit found the hole in public ...

The Supreme Court in Comoros on Tuesday confirmed Azali Assoumani as the winner of the disputed presidential election held last week in the volatile Indian Ocean archipelago. Azali was declared the winner with 59 percent of the votes, well ahead of his rivals Mahamoudou Ahamada who scored 15,7 percent and Mouigni Baraka Said Soilihi, who wa ...

The late UN chief Kofi Anan 39;s Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria says looters are defrauding the organisation of its meagre resources. According to a new audit report by the Geneva-based financier, which has raised more than $37 billion since its founding in 2002, fraudsters in seven African countries are damaging the f ...

More than 113 million people across 53 countries experienced acute hunger last year because of wars and climate disasters, with Africa the worst-hit region, the UN said Tuesday. Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan and Syria were among the eight nations accounting for two-thirds of the total number of people worldwide expo ...

Beira, 1 April 2019 ndash; World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, took a first-hand look at response efforts to save lives and protect health for the people in Beira, the city hardest hit by Cyclone Idai in Mozambique. ldquo;The next few weeks are crucial and speed is of the ...

More than 113 million people across 53 countries experienced acute hunger last year because of wars and climate disasters, with Africa the worst-hit region, the UN said Tuesday. Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan and Syria were among the eight nations accounting for two-thirds of the total number of people worldwide expo ...

A solution to the decades-old conflict over Western Sahara is possible, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday in a report that takes stock of two rounds of exploratory talks. Guterres told the Security Council a settlement would require strong political will, not just from the parties and neighbouring states, but also from the ...

Boeing must perform more work on its proposed fix to 737 MAX aircraft before it can be submitted for review, US officials said Monday, suggesting the planes could stay grounded a while longer. Additional work is needed to ensure that Boeing has identified and appropriately addressed all pertinent issues, a Federal Aviation Administration ...

The African Union has called on all sides in Comoros to show the greatest restraint amid violence and a political crisis in the wake of disputed elections. AU commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat said he was concerned about the deterioration of the political and security climate on the Indian Ocean archipelago, in statement released lat ...

Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia on Friday swallowed their differences and presented a joint bid to secure coveted UN heritage status for couscous, UNESCO announced. The four countries applied to have the hearty dish added to UNESCO 39;s Intangible Cultural Heritage list, which showcases the world 39;s most treasured cultural prac ...

Anti-government protesters thronged the streets of Algeria 39;s capital and other cities on Friday, saying moves by top loyalists to abandon ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika were not enough. While there were no official figures, security sources said hundreds of thousands turned out in Algiers and that marches were held in at least 36 ...

Two assailants and a policeman were killed and two people injured in violence in Comoros Thursday, a minister said, after a defeated presidential candidate bidding to unseat the president was arrested. The Indian Ocean nation is in the grip of a political crisis following President Azali Assoumani 39;s victory in Sunday polls that his op ...

Insecurity in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo continues to hamper efforts to fight Ebola as the number of the cases reaches 1,029 people, the World Health Organisation 39;s Africa director has told RFI. Continued attacks by armed groups are curtailing efforts to control the spread of the disease, potentially dragging out the epidemic ...

French finance minister Bruno Lemaire met with his counterparts from the 14-strong CFA bloc in the Niger capital Niamey on Thursday to discuss the health of the CFA franc, amid growing calls for the currency to be scrapped. Critics say the CFA franc is a relic of colonialism, whilst France maintains that the mechanism guarantees stability. ...

A Nigerian judge on Thursday said the treason trial of a pro-Biafran leader will go on without him, after he disappeared for more than a year before re-emerging in Israel and Britain. Nnamdi Kanu, who heads the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) movement, was arrested in October 2015 after calling for a separate homeland for the Igbo people ...

One of the world 39;s poorest countries, the Indian Ocean island nation of the Comoros has endured years of political turmoil including a spate of coups. Here is some background on the country, where gunfire erupted near a military barracks in the capital Moroni on Thursday after the arrest of a defeated presidential candidate. Incumbe ...