Egypt’s national football team has secured a spot in next year’s World Cup with a 2-1 win over Congo Brazzaville, clinching a place at the World Cup finals for the first time since 1990. Mohamed Salah, 25-year-old forward who plays for Liverpool, scored a stoppage-time penalty on Sunday at the Borg El Arab Stadium in the Egyptian city of Alexandra …

Hundreds of thousands demonstrated over the weekend in Spain against Catalonia’s independence and for a dialogue between Madrid and Barcelona, while pressure is mounting on Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont not to declare independence on Tuesday (10 October). Between 350,000 and 900,000 people – according to diverging figures from organisers and Catalan authorities – took to the streets of Barcelona on …

Liberians head to the polls on Tuesday (10 October) to elect a successor to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who will step down after 12 years at the helm of Africa’s oldest republic. Over two million Liberian voters will participate at the general election to choose a president out of 20 candidates and 73 lawmakers out of the 986 aspirants. Among …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says her CDU will hold talks with the FDP and the Greens on forming a coalition government. The move was widely expected after the Social Democrats said they wanted to be in opposition. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday that her Christian Democratic Union would hold talks with the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the …

Nigeria’s national team, the Super Eagles, have become the first African country to qualify for next year’s World Cup in Russia after taking an unassailable lead atop Group B. The team beat Zambia’s Chipolopolo in the city of Uyo, southern Nigeria, to secure their qualification. The only goal of the game was scored by Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi. He came on …

Far fewer people are making the dangerous journey from Libya to Italy. Maryline Dumas of InfoMigrants talked to people in Libya to find out why. The number of migrants arriving in Italy has significantly decreased since the beginning of this year. Compared to the same period in 2016, there has been a 22 per cent decrease. In August alone, there …

Kolo Toure has been appointed as an assistant coach to the Cote d’Ivoire national team. The former Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City defender will work under ex-Belgium coach Marc Wilmots, the Ivorian Football Federation (FIF) has announced. He was already an assistant manager at the last club he played for, Celtic. He hung his boot earlier in September 2017 after …

Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has promised to initiate a programme that will ensure every student receives free chocolate or cocoa products every day. He said the decision is tied with the government’s plans of boosting the local consumption of cocoa products from the world’s second largest producer of the cash crop. “Our target is to provide every Ghanaian …

Research of the MEDIENDIENST has found that 57 members of the newly-elected German Parliament have a migration background. This corresponds to 8 per cent of the members of Parliament – a slightly higher ratio than 2013. They were born or have at least one parent born as a foreigner. However, 22.5 per cent of the German population has a migration …

Hilton Worldwide plans to spend $50 million over the next five years to renovate and rebrand 29 hotels in Africa, it said on Thursday, joining other chains keen to tap growing business and international travel on the continent. One property will open in the Kenyan capital Nairobi by the end of this year and another in the Rwandan capital Kigali …

Prince Wale Soniyiki, a refugee from Nigeria, says his own story shows how migrants can find their place in Croatia – if the country gives them a chance. In Croatia, just 30 refugees have jobs. Prince Wale Soniyiki wants to change that. He found work via a TV show and a former army leader, now he wants to help other …

The number of African governments selling land to foreign investors has increased dramatically over the past decade. As the Africa Film Festival in Cologne showed, many filmmakers are now tackling the difficult subject in their work, reports Aude Gensbittel. “How can they say the land is not ours?” asks Okello O to the camera, horrified. “Our ancestors are buried here, …

John J Stremlau, a Visiting Professor of International Relations at South Africa’s University of the Witwatersrand, writes on the emerging shape of US President Donald Trump’s policy on Africa. Africa’s leaders, along with everyone else interested in US-Africa relations, have waited eight months for US President Donald Trump’s administration to explain its Africa policy. We aren’t there yet. But in …

Mamadu Bassir sits eating a breakfast of warm milk and cookies in a migrants’ shelter in Rome – one of nearly 65,000 lone youngsters who have survived the perilous sea journey from North Africa to Italy in the past four years. His meal finished, the gangly 17-year-old tells the story of his trip from Guinea, via a Libyan prison where …

Catalonia’s leader, Carles Puigdemont, said Tuesday (3 October) that the region will soon declare independence, while the Spanish King accused Catalan leaders of breaking up the country. The region will declare independence 48 hours after all the official results are counted, Puigdemont told the BBC in an interview, adding that this will happen “over the weekend or the beginning of …

Unemployment in Germany hit a surprise new low in September, newly-released official data show, the latest in a string of sunny indicators as the upswing continues in Europe’s top economy. The proportion of people out of work fell to 5.6 per cent this month, the Federal Labour Agency said, while analysts had expected the figure to hold steady at 5.7 …

Mo Ibrahim, Sudanese-British business mogul who founded the telecommunications company Celtel International in 1998, has accused of individuals and companies from outside the continent of promoting corruption in Africa. The philanthropist and founder of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation spoke on the sidelines of the 2nd Africa Convergence summit held in the Moroccan city of Casablanca last weekend. Ibrahim, who was …

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a group advocating for a separate state for the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria, has called for international intervention in the attacks on pro-Biafra activists. IPOB spokesman in a statement issued on Monday said the group denies all claims of violence as advanced by the army and the government. Whiles challenging the authorities to …

Some members of the Ugandan rugby national team have gone missing in Germany at the end of a three-day 12-nation tournament which the Rugby Cranes finished 10th. The three players – Ramathan Govule, Brian Kikaawa and Fred Odur – were not found at the team’s hotel on Monday (2 October) when they were preparing to leave the country, local media …

Soldiers shot dead at least eight people and wounded others in Cameroon’s restless English-speaking regions on Sunday during protests by activists calling for its independence from the majority Francophone nation, an official and witnesses said. The demonstrations – timed to take place on the anniversary of Anglophone Cameroon’s independence from Britain – came as a months-old movement against perceived marginalisation …