Africa

The government will remove regulatory hurdles to invest in new electricity infrastructure. Loadshedding has almost brought South Africa's economic growth to a standstill.

In Rutshuru, DR Congo, the International Committee of the Red Cross has set up phone booths to help displaced families track down those left behind in combat zones. Also, a new film is out in France that focuses on the Senegalese tirailleurs, a corps of colonial infantry in the French armies of the First and Second World Wars.

A Tanzanian teacher has won the hearts of many by giving classes for children suffering from long-term illnesses. Upendosia Peter Moshi helps kids at a pediatric hospital keep up with the state syllabus by embracing in-hospital schooling.

After Ornella lost several family members over the space of three years, relatives and neighbours in her east Congo village of Kabare began suspecting the 14-year-old of witchcraft. It is not uncommon in some African countries for frail children like Ornella, who suffers from a genetic form of anaemia, to be considered a bad omen and blamed for the mishaps that hit isolated and impoverished communities.

Rwanda-backed rebels stirring ethnic divisions: Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned of a dangerous escalation of tension between ethnic Tutsi and Hutu communities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, as a result of fighting involving a militia that Rwanda is accused of backing.

A weekly news show produced with photos, videos and personal accounts from The FRANCE 24 Observers around the world - all checked by our staff here in Paris.

Kennedy Odede dreamed of providing his neighborhood with safe, affordable water. But first he had to negotiate with the gangs monopolizing Kibera's water supply.

Facebook has been under scrutiny before, for failing to curb hate speech on its platform in Ethiopia. The son of a man killed after calls for his murder appeared on the platform argues that Facebook treats Africa differently to Europe and the US.

Returning from Africa, Pope Francis took umbrage with those who used Pope Benedict XVI's death to attack the church. He was also joined by fellow faith leaders he traveled with in defending the gay community.

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa was forced this week to cancel a trip to Davos by an escalating energy crisis that is inflicting rolling blackouts on the continent’s most developed economy.

A papal mass drew a crowd of over a million people to Kinshasa this week. Prayers were said for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the power of the Catholic Church is a counterweight to the state.

"May he convert the hearts of those who carry out brutal atrocities, which bring shame upon all humanity," the 86-year-old said. He added that the conflict in mineral-rich eastern Congo was driven by greed, at the expense of innocent victims, and called on combatants to lay down their arms.