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These are external links and will open in a new window Share this with Facebook   Share this with Twitter   Share this with Messenger   Share this with Email   Share Image copyright Image caption Homo naledi has a mixture of primitive and more modern features Scientists have discovered a new human-like species in a burial chamber deep in a cave system in South Africa. The discovery of 15 partial skeletons is the largest single discovery of its type in Africa. The researchers claim that the discovery will change ideas about our human ancestors. The studies which have been published in the journal  Elife  also indicate that these individuals were capable of ritual behaviour. Image copyright NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Image caption Homo naledi may have looked something like this The species, which has been named  naledi , has been classified in the grouping, or genus,  Homo,  to which modern humans belong. The researche...

At least 26,000 people live in squalid camps around a largely abandoned town after armed groups faced-off there in May. Bria, Central African Republic - In mid-May the armed group the Popular Front for the Renaissance of Central African Republic (FPRC) marched into the town of Bria in the Central African Republic ( CAR ). Tens of thousands of, mostly Christian, civilians were displaced as the group faced off with anti-balaka fighters in the town, located some 600km northeast of the capital, Bangui. Around 85 percent of the town's residents fled. At least 60 people were killed in Bria, as the FPRC rebels, a faction of the Seleka, a Muslim-led coalition that toppled then President Francois Bozize in a coup in 2013, targeted the mainly Christian anti-balaka fighters and anyone they considered to be associated with the group. Thousands of people - both Muslim and Christian - have been killed in the country and almost a million displaced since the coup. Christians and Muslims have been ...

Bria mayor says death toll will certainly rise after a day of heavy clashes between rival factions. More than 50 percent of CAR's population requires humanitarian assistance, according to the UN [EPA] As many as 100 people may have been killed in a day of clashes between rival factions in the Central African Republic town of Bria, shortly after a truce deal was signed, the town's mayor said. Bodies lay in the streets of Bria, around 580km northeast of the capital, Bangui, and dozens more people were treated for shotgun wounds after fighting erupted at dawn on Tuesday. "The death toll will certainly rise. For now it's an estimate and it could be up to 100 dead," Maurice Belikoussou told the Reuters news agency on Wednesday by telephone, raising an earlier death toll of "around 50". "There are still dead lying in the neighbourhoods, in the road and in the bush," he said. Witnesses said houses were looted and set on fire during the clashes. The c...

The country no longer has areas in famine but almost two million people on the brink of starvation, report says. More than three million people have fled their homes since the civil war begun in December 2013 [AP] South Sudan no longer has areas in famine, but almost two million people are on the brink of starvation, the country's government and the United Nations said in reports. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and South Sudan's National Bureau of Statistics said the situation remains critical, warning that an estimated six million people, half the population, will face extreme food shortages between June and July. "People are in a catastrophic situation," said Serge Tissot, of FAO. The country's government said its urgent response to the emergency situation averted a humanitarian catastrophe in the country. "The government of South Sudan has done tremendously well. And now South Sudan has moved away from near famine in some parts of th...

Ongoing violence in central Kasai region has killed more than 3,300 people since October, according to Catholic church. Congo's government says it will cooperate with the UN inquiry [Melanie Gouby/AP] The United Nations has opened an investigation into killings in central Democratic Republic of Congo , though some Western countries and campaign groups say they had hoped it would have a stronger mandate. Congo's government has been fighting armed groups in the Kasai region since August, prompting fears of a wider conflict in the central African country, riven by ethnic rivalry and competing claims over mineral resources. Congo's Catholic Church said this week the violence had killed more than 3,300 people since October, with both government forces and the militia responsible for hundreds of deaths. On Friday, the UN's Human Rights Council (UNHRC), composed of 47 member states, adopted by consensus the resolution calling for an investigation, brought by African countries...

LATEST Orphans of the Sahara: Return With the fall of Gaddafi, thousands of Tuaregs return to Mali and Niger and launch their fight for an independent state

More than 80,000 people have fled their homes in Pool province surrounding Congo Republic’s capital since the government began a military operation there last year, a joint U.N. and government statement said. The campaign, involving occasional aerial bombardments, aims to curb what the government says is a resurgent rebellion led by Pastor Ntumi, an enemy of President Denis Sassou Nguesso from the oil-rich country’s 1997 civil war. While it has been hard to confirm death tolls and the impact on residents, any clear evidence of escalating violence could be damaging to Sassou Nguesso’s ruling party, the Congolese Party of Labour, ahead of legislative elections next month. The United Nations is seeking around $20 million in emergency funding to provide humanitarian assistance in the province, after a recent visit found widespread signs malnutrition, the statement released late on Friday said. Many of the displaced remain beyond the reach of aid workers, it added. “In non-accessible zones…...

The  United States  says the West African Bijagos Islands are a hub for Latin American drug traffickers who use them as a transit point to Europe. The islands are a UNESCO World Heritage site known for their unique ecosystem. Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque reports from The Bijagos. \

An online petition is set up after the president said mothers would be too distracted to go to school.

Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari is in the United Kingdom, Angola’s Eduardo Dos Santos was in Spain, Benin’s Patrice Talon just returned from Paris and Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe frequents Singapore. Ordinarily one would think these leaders fly out to participate in international engagements or for official visits but that is not the case in respect of those mentioned above. All four left home to seek medical treatment abroad. What is it about the healthcare system back home that these leaders would rather seek treatment outside their respective countries? Buhari’s undisclosed ailment and the London trips 74-year-old Muhammadu Buhari returned home in March 2017 after spending seven weeks on sick leave in the UK for an undisclosed ailment. He left Abuja on January 19 after informing the National Assembly. He is, however, back in the UK since May 7, for ‘further medical checks,’ his wife visited him earlier this month and reported that he was doing well and fast recuperating. It is unclear when ...