Author: Montage Africa

By Joel Kouam In Libreville, filling up with diesel has become a real struggle. Since the end of September, queues have been growing outside service stations across the Gabonese capital. Customers wait in long lines, jerrycans in hand, hoping to get the much-needed fuel. “We have been without diesel for more than three days, so diesel-powered vehicles are facing serious problems,” one motorist told Africanews. “It’s the same across Greater Libreville since yesterday — Ntoum, Akanda, Greater Libreville as a whole.” Fuel is being rationed, with a limit of 10,000 CFA francs per person. “I’ve been here since 4 a.m.,”…

About 150 million people across Africa are living with mental health, neurological or substance use conditions, with many still unable to access the care and support they require, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said. The global health body said stigma, discrimination and limited access to services continue to prevent many people from seeking or receiving appropriate care, urging African countries to strengthen community-based mental health services. WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Mohamed Janabi, made the call in his message to mark World Mental Health Day 2026, observed under the theme, “Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change.” Janabi…

UN Secretary-General António Guterres, on Tuesday, called for an end to the United States-Iran war and the toll it has taken on global trade, as he began an official visit to Pakistan. Guterres made the call at a joint press conference with Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad Dar at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Pakistan’s capital city, Islamabad. Guterres is in Pakistan on a two-day visit. “From Islamabad, I want to send a loud and clear message to all parties. “End the conflict. Return to diplomacy. Fully restore navigational rights and freedoms in accordance with international law,” he said.…

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said more than 1,900 children have lost or been separated from one or both parents or caregivers to Ebola across eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since the outbreak was declared in May. UNICEF, in a statement on Tuesday, said that Ebola had been robbing children of their loved ones, with some succumbing to the deadly disease themselves. The update comes as regional neighbour Kenya confirmed its first case and death from the disease, believed to have come from DRC. The UN agency stated that of these children, 1,581 had been identified in…

By DESMOND TIRO and JACK DENTON The black-and-white stripes of Brian Gatonye’s prison uniform match the pieces staring back at him from the chessboard at Kenya’s Maranjau Prison. The 27-year-old has served about 18 months of a three-year sentence for assault and is due to be released in November 2027. During a break in the prison yard, he considers his next move: a pawn, perhaps, or a knight. The break isn’t long, but if he finishes the game quickly he may have time to face one of the skilled guards. But it is unwise to rush or act impulsively —…

By Rédaction Africanews The Malian army said it has entered the strategic northern city of Kidal, which was captured in April by Tuareg separatists who announced their withdrawal earlier Tuesday as the military advanced. “We have just arrived in Kidal ahead of schedule,” a staff officer told AFP, with a second officer confirming the arrival. In a statement released on Tuesday, the general staff claimed for the first time to have “engaged in large-scale air-land operations in the Kidal region” with its ” Russian partners” in order to ” neutralize armed terrorist groups,” “destroyed their sanctuaries” and “sustainably restored the…

By JACOB ZIMBA and GERALD IMRAY Zambia will sign a revised health agreement with the United States that will not include contentious clauses committing the African nation to share patient health data and specimens with the U.S. government. The five-year deal is worth $3.6 billion in total, combined funding from both countries for the African nation’s health services, Zambian Minister of Health Roma Chilengi said at a press briefing on Tuesday. He didn’t say how much the U.S. would commit. However, he told Zambian state broadcaster ZNBC on Monday the U.S. would provide $1.5 billion over five years. The U.S.…

By Rédaction Africanews Countries in central Africa face a major public health threat from trafficking in medicines, fuelled by a gap between healthcare needs and access to safe, affordable medicine, the UN warned on Tuesday. The six countries of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) have a high prevalence of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria and HIV. But treatment and safe medicines are not always readily available, or are too expensive, which “fuels the development of an illicit market for medical products”, warned a new report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the…

Emmanuel Akindubuwa Twenty-one years after Lionel Messi helped Argentina beat Nigeria in the Under-20 World Cup final, another African side will be on the pitch for the final match of his international career. Benin face Argentina at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires on Tuesday in a farewell match for the 39-year-old. For Benin assistant coach Tunde Adelakun, there is a neat symmetry to the occasion. “Africa has been at the heart of Messi’s remarkable career,” he told BBC Sport Africa. “I was physically there when they beat Nigeria in the final, where he was the most valuable player in…

By Al Jazeera  “I was surveilled not because of a specific article. I was investigating land dispossession in Morocco. I then learned I was a Pegasus target,” Omar Radi, a journalist and human rights defender, told Al Jazeera, referring to the mobile surveillance tool developed by Israeli company NSO Group. The findings emerged in June 2020, when Amnesty International Security Lab examined his phone. Radi, now based in Germany, said he had spent two years, from 2018 to 2020, noticing signs including his phone’s battery draining quickly, its temperature rising and the network slowing down. end of list The physical…