The moon turned red last night for skywatchers across the U.S. VOA Horn of Africa Services’ Tigist Geme, captured these images in Silver Spring, a city in the U.S. state of Maryland Thursday evening.

🇺🇸🌇🌅A total lunar eclipse was visible in the Western Hemisphere overnight Thursday, with the best views in North America and South America.

The Council of the European Union named South Africa as the EU’s largest trading partner in Sub-Saharan Africa, with $53 billion (49 billion euros) worth of trade in goods in 2023.

In his opening remarks, Ramaphosa said the summit attests to the "long-standing and close relationship," that is a "partnership based on shared values and common interests."

Von der Leyen made the remarks while sitting next to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and European Council President Antonio Costa.

EU chief von der Leyen said the commission is aware of South Africa's drive to protect the "health of its people, autonomy and local industries," adding that "Europeans want to diversify some of our most critical supply chains, and we know that virus knows no borders," she said.

The funding includes "clean energy transition" projects and efforts "to boost vaccine manufacturing," she said in a video posted on X.

🇿🇦💶💶💶European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced a new $5.10 billion (4.7 billion euros) investment package for South Africa Thursday at the eighth EU-South Africa summit in Cape Town.🧵

🇦🇴🇨🇩🇿🇼🇿🇦🇪🇹 VOA 60: Direct peace talks between DRC, M23 rebels to kick off in Angola next week, and more

SADC extended its mandate late last year. @AFP @Reuters

The SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, SAMIDRC, — made up of soldiers from Malawi, Tanzania and South Africa — was sent to the region in December 2023 to help the government of the DRC, also a SADC member, restore peace and security.

"Summit terminated the Mandate of SAMIDRC and directed the commencement of a phased withdrawal of SAMIDRC troops from the DRC," the Southern African bloc said in a communique after the summit.

SADC lost more than a dozen soldiers in conflict in January. The 16-nation bloc took the decision at a virtual summit on the conflict in the area that has seen some three decades of unrest and claimed millions of lives.

🇿🇼🇨🇩The Southern African Development Community or SADC said Thursday that a summit of regional heads of state had terminated the mandate of its troop deployment in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo and decided on a "phased withdrawal."🧵

Beledweyne, about 335 kilometers (208 miles) north of the capital, Mogadishu, is the capital of the Hiran region and a strategic location in the ongoing campaign against al-Shabaab.

The Cairo Hotel houses traditional elders and military officers involved in coordinating the government’s offensive against the militant group al-Shabaab. The al-Qaida-affiliated al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.

Somali security forces continued efforts to flush out attackers late Tuesday after heavy gunfire.

🇸🇴A car bomb exploded Tuesday at a hotel in the central Somali city of Beledweyne, kicking off an hours-long militant attack that killed an unknown number of people.🧵

The Paris Fashion Week began March 3 until the 11th in the French capital, yet again without an artistic director.

🇫🇷🇿🇦South African-Grammy winning singer Tyla was spotted Tuesday sitting next to Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour as models strutted the runway to showcase Chanel's women's ready-to-wear collection for fall/winter 2025-26 in Paris.🧵