Geography of Africa

Kenyans producing, selling or even using plastic bags will risk imprisonment of up to four years or fines of $40,000 from Aug. 28, as the world's toughest law aimed at reducing plastic pollution came into effect.

The East African nation joins more than 40 other countries that have banned, partly banned or taxed single use plastic bags, including China, France, Rwanda, and Italy.

Getting Europe's migrant crisis under control will be the main focus of a summit of Europe's 'big four' continental powers hosted on Monday by French President Emmanuel Macron, who has invited three African nations to the talks in Paris, reported Reuters. 

The number of Turkish fishing boats off the northwest African coast of Mauritania has risen to 33, up from just two last year, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Aug. 23. 

The fisherman have been giving their catch to factories established by Turkish entrepreneurs in Mauritania to be turned into fish flour, which is then sent to Turkey.

Russia's ambassador to Sudan, veteran diplomat Mirgayas Shirinsky, was found dead in the swimming pool at his Khartoum home on Aug. 23, Sudanese and Russian officials said.

"The Russian ambassador died this evening at his Khartoum residence," the Sudanese foreign ministry said in a statement, without giving a cause of death.

Russian Ambassador to Sudan, Mirgayas Shirinskiy, was found dead at his home in Khartoum, Reuters and the France press reported, citing local authorities.

President Trump's administration has cut off nearly USD 100 million in military and economic aid to Egypt and postponed nearly USD 200 million in military funding until improvements in human rights and mitigation efforts for civilian and non-governmental organizations have taken place, referring to official sources.

Moroccan authorities have arrested two people suspected of links to the alleged perpetrators of the van attack that killed 13 people in the Spanish city of Barcelona, state TV channel 2M reported on Tuesday, quoted by Reuters. 

Pope Francis on Sunday prayed that God will liberate the world from the "inhuman violence" of terrorism, in the wake of incidents over the past week in Burkina Faso, Barcelona and Finland that left a total of 34 people dead. The pontiff has long condemned terrorism, especially when it's religiously-inspired, insisting that it's "blasphemy" to kill in the name of God.

At least 19 people were killed in eastern South Africa on Sunday when an overloaded minibus lost control and rolled down a steep embankment, according to local government officials.
The crash happened near a bridge on the main road outside of Pietermaritzburg, in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, according to authorities.

As Germany struggles to absorb more than a million migrants from the Middle East and Africa, the government is hoping to avoid the mistakes it made half a century ago when it brought in a generation of guest workers from Turkey.