A major fire broke out after a leak of oil from the Shuqair-Mostorod pipeline next to a busy highway in a Cairo suburb and 17 people were injured, authorities said. The pipeline runs along a motorway on the outskirts of the capital and a spark caused by passing cars ignited crude that was leaking from the pipe, the petroleum ministry said. The pipeline's valves were immediately closed in the area of the blaze and the flames were brought under control, it added in a statement. A witness at the scene said about two dozen cars were torched, apparently abandoned by…

A Tunisian court has sentenced blogger Emna Chargui to six months in prison and a $700 fine for reposting a Facebook joke about the coronavirus written as if it was a Koranic verse. "This is unfair and unjust ... this proves that there is no freedom here," Chargui, 27, told Reuters from home where she had been waiting for the ruling. She plans to appeal as allowed within 10 days. Chargui's sharing of the post in May angered some conservative social media users who demanded punishment in a nation periodically polarised between secular and Islamist political wings since a revolution…

SOPHIE DAVIES A social media campaign started by three Moroccan friends has emboldened hundreds of "revenge porn" victims to share their experiences, raising awareness about online abuse and challenging taboos. The Diha F'Rassek movement - meaning 'Mind Your Own Business' - was launched to fight back against dozens of "revenge porn" accounts that appeared online during the country's coronavirus lockdown, said co-founder Sophia Zerh, 26. "We started to receive messages that were really shocking, for instance girls starting to think about suicide," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, adding that the campaign has drawn 15,000 followers in less than two…

EBOLA is spreading in western Democratic Republic of Congo, with nearly 50 known cases across a large region bordering the Republic of Congo and Central African Republic, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday. Since authorities announced the outbreak on June 1, 48 cases have been confirmed in Congo's Equateur province, with a further three probable cases and a total of 20 deaths, WHO's top emergencies expert Mike Ryan said. "This is still a very active outbreak, and I would say it is still a great concern," Ryan told a news briefing. The province includes part of the River…

GALE-force winds and heavy ocean swells in South Africa's Cape Town halted traffic on Monday with curious onlookers and cars drenched by sea spray foam, witnesses said. The cappuccino-coloured foam from the icy Atlantic was flung far onto the Sea Point promenade and main road, popular with runners and skaters during summer but virtually deserted in such stormy conditions, Reuters pictures and a video posted by a witness showed. Africa's southernmost city, Cape Town has been lashed by successive cold fronts with heavy rains and flooding accompanying the latest winter storm that landed late on Sunday in the city known…

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER A lawyer, a police officer and a soldier are among the 41 suspects who have appeared in court in connection with the hostage drama at a church in Johannesburg, South Africa, which left five people dead. The suspects - arrested in connection with an attack on the International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC) headquarters - have spent two days in awaiting-trial detention cells while waiting for their next appearance where they are expected to apply for bail. According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the 41 made their first appearance at the Westonaria Magistrates Court on Monday and…

MILITIAMEN have killed a United Nations peacekeeper from Rwanda and injured two others in an ambush on a convoy in the northwest Central African Republic, the U.N. said. The attack, in the Nana-Mambéré prefecture, was allegedly carried out by the Return, Reclamation and Rehabilitation (3R) armed group, said a U.N. statement condemning the attack. Central African Republic has been rocked by violence since 2013 when mainly Muslim Selaka rebels ousted then president Francois Bozize, prompting reprisals from mostly Christian militias. U.N. peacekeepers were deployed in 2014. Violence waned after a peace accord was signed in February 2019 between the government…

TAREK AMARA TUNISIA’S Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh says he will conduct a cabinet reshuffle in the coming days amid a row with the moderate Islamist Ennahda party, in what appears to be a step to remove Ennahda ministers in the government. Ennahda said on Monday that it wants a new government, adding that the current coalition had lost credibility due to allegations of conflicts of interest involving Fakhfakh. An independent member of parliament published documents last month indicating that the prime minister owns shares in companies that had won deals worth 44 million dinars ($15 million) from the state. Fakhfakh…

ZIMBABWE has fired top executives of the country's five biggest state hospitals as part of a restructuring exercise, the health services board said, a week after the health minister was dismissed following corruption allegations. Millions of Zimbabweans rely on government hospitals for healthcare, but the institutions face perennial shortages of drugs and basic equipment. Nurses have been on strike for better pay since June. Health Services Board chair Paulinus Sikhosana told state broadcaster ZBC on Monday that the dismissal of the chief executives and several directors at state hospitals in Harare and Bulawayo was meant to improve "operational efficiency, effectiveness,…

SOUTH  Africa's decision to reimpose a ban on the sale of alcohol upset consumers and the hospitality sector on Monday, but health experts said it could free up space in stretched hospitals as coronavirus cases spike. Ramaphosa announced the return of the ban, which was only lifted on June 1, in an address to the nation on Sunday, saying it was necessary to ease pressure on the healthcare system. South Africa is now recording more than 12,000 new coronavirus cases a day, the fourth-largest daily increase worldwide, and deaths from COVID-19 rose by a quarter in the past week to…