South Africa’s debt burden is stabilising for the first time in nearly two decades, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced Wednesday, as Africa’s most developed economy shows cautious signs of recovery and pledges increased spending on security.

Eleven South African men allegedly tricked into fighting for Russian forces in Ukraine returned home Wednesday, as political fallout intensifies over recruitment claims linked to former president Jacob Zuma’s party.

Iran pushed back Wednesday against U.S. President Donald Trump’s pressure tactics ahead of critical nuclear talks in Geneva, with Tehran’s parliament speaker warning that negotiations may yield an agreement through “honorable diplomacy”.

Pope Leo XIV will embark on his first major overseas trip of 2026 from April 13-23, visiting Algeria, Angola, Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon—including a historic first-ever papal visit to Muslim-majority Algeria, the Vatican announced Wednesday.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Secretary General Mambwe Zimba of Zambia was arrested on Tuesday, allegedly over a fake image posted on Facebook, depicting the country’s president lying in a casket.

DR Congo government forces launched a major attack on the M23 rebel group in the east, using drones to strike a key mining site near Rubaya, North Kivu.

Ethiopia on Tuesday revoked the licence of independent online outlet Addis Standard saying it harmed national interests, in the latest curb on press freedom. Africa’s second most populous nation s ranks 145th out of 180 in the press freedom index compiled by Reporters without Borders.

Zimbabwe has pulled out of talks with the United States over a new health aid deal meant to replace a program dismantled under President Donald Trump. The agreement would have provided $367 million over five years, supporting 1.2 million Zimbabweans receiving HIV treatment.

Zimbabwe has imposed an immediate freeze on exports of all raw minerals and lithium concentrate, the mines ministry announced Wednesday, tightening state control over resources critical to global clean-energy and defense industries.

Renewed student protests erupt at Tehran universities as a new semester begins, reviving slogans from recent unrest and highlighting growing tensions.

In the rugged hills of Somaliland, officials say vast treasure lies beneath the earth. The breakaway territory in northern Somalia claims it holds abundant critical minerals and potentially billions of barrels of oil, resources that could transform its economic future.

Ghana’s Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa on a rare visit to Ukraine on Wednesday urged President Volodymyr Zelensky to release two Ghanaian prisoners of war who were captured fighting for Russia.

Guinea’s military has confirmed the detention of 16 Sierra Leonean soldiers after accusing them of crossing the border and raising their flag on Guinean soil, while Freetown maintains its troops were on its own territory constructing a border post.

The violence that followed the killing of a cartel leader in Mexico is fueling fears that the bloodshed could hurt tourism ahead of the FIFA World Cup later this year.

For 163 years, the streetcars of Alexandria have rumbled along the Mediterranean coast, weaving through the city’s neighborhoods and memories. Now, they are set to be replaced by a partially elevated light rail line, a modern project designed to move passengers faster and carry more of them.

US President Donald Trump has wrapped up his State of the Union address, promising “our future will be bigger, better, brighter, bolder, and more glorious than ever before.” Trump’s 108-minute speech broke his own record for longest presidential address to Congress.

Conflict, drought and international funding cuts have left 6.5 million people in Somalia in desperate need of food, according to a new report by UN-backed experts.

Turkey witnessed an unusual scene during an amateur playoff in Istanbul when a seagull was hit by a clearance kick.

Egypt on Tuesday urged the international community to better support Lebanon’s armed forces as the country moves forward with a plan to disarm the militant group Hezbollah and bring all weapons under state control.

Brazil is facing deadly floods in Minas Gerais after record rain hit Juiz de Fora and Uba.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog arrived in Addis Ababa on Wednesday as he started his official visit to Ethiopia.

As the United States assembles its greatest military firepower in decades in the Middle East, Iranians warily await talks this week in Geneva that may give their country’s theocracy its last chance to strike a deal with President Donald Trump.

Nigeria’s government has denied it paid ransom money to free dozens of schoolchildren kidnapped from a catholic school in November. The coments come in report to an AFP report released Tuesday.

Concern is growing over Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye’s health. Having been behind bars for more than a year now, he has been rejected bail a string of times. Human rights groups argue he is facing political persecution.

The President of Madagascar, Michael Randrianirina, is visiting his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, in Paris. According to the Elysée, their discussions will focus on humanitarian aid to the cyclone-battered island.

Eighteen Senegalese football supporters were handed sentences ranging from three months to a year for their pitch invasion during the AFCON final.

Ukraine marks four years since Russia’s invasion with a Kyiv memorial as Zelensky and EU leaders honour the dead and vow to keep resisting.

Senegal’s Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko has pledged to increase the punishment for same-sex relations to up to ten years in prison. The move has been condemned by human rights groups.

The footballer has denied the allegations made by a young woman in a suburb of the French capital in February 2023.

The military spokesperson for the M23 rebel group, Lieutenant-Colonel Willy Ngoma, was killed early Tuesday in a drone strike near Rubaya in North Kivu province, multiple sources confirmed, dealing a significant blow to the rebel movement amid ongoing ceasefire efforts.

Four of the 17 men lured into fighting for Moscow on the frontline of its war in Ukraine have returned home so far.

Ghana has renamed its main international airport, dropping the name of a military officer linked to the 1966 overthrow of the country’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah. This move has reignited old political and historical tensions.

Police in Haiti exchanged gunfire with a group of suspected kidnappers in downtown Port-au-Prince on Monday, with unconfirmed reports indicating casualties on both sides, as kidnapping-for-ransom continues to plague the capital.

UN aid chief Tom Fletcher has sounded the alarm about the humanitarian situation in South Sudan, where fighting rages on.

The decision comes almost three months after Anicet Ekane died in military detention, some five weeks after being arrested.

Mexican special forces killed Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, leader of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel, sparking deadly retaliatory attacks that left 25 National Guard members dead across six separate incidents, authorities said Monday.

Hundreds of Kenyan nationals stranded in Cambodia have turned to the courts in Nairobi, asking judges to force the government to secure their return after what they describe as a human trafficking ordeal disguised as overseas employment.

After 10 months in prison, prominent Tunisian lawyer Ahmed Souab walked free on Monday. The 69-year-old was arrested in April last year after condemning a mass trial of government critics.

The World Bank announced Monday it aims to provide Mozambique with $6 billion in mostly concessional financing over the next five years to support public investment projects, as the Southern African nation grapples with strained public finances and recent IMF warnings over worsening debt dynamics.

Greece marks Clean Monday with Galaxidi’s flour war, as crowds throw dyed flour to close the carnival season.