Used to fear, abandonment, even attack, a group of young people with albinism in a remote rural community are learning that photography can tell their stories and give them a place in society
Continue reading...Category Archives: Africa
Inch by inch: how Angola is clearing its killing fields
As Prince Harry visits the country to build on the anti-landmine work begun by his mother, Princess Diana, the Observer joins a group of women while they clear one village of explosives
From Benguela, a city on the west coast of Angola, it takes four hours to reach the village of Cabio by car, first on potholed highways and then on unmarked sandy tracks that take you deep into the bush. It is a remote place, and a poor one. Its 82 inhabitants live in tiny houses built of mud bricks and corrugated iron. Its open-air church is little more than an arrangement of sticks. Its school is a blackboard tacked to a tree.
For the newcomer, however, Cabio has a surprise up its sleeve. Though barely reachable by road, the village is a stop on the Benguela Railway, which runs from the port of Lobito in the west all the way to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the east. The railway, which fell into disrepair during Angola’s brutal civil war, was reconstructed between 2006 and 2014 by the Chinese, and with it Cabio’s station. Flamingo pink, in the Portuguese style, it could not look more incongruous if it tried.
Continue reading...The mine-clearing women of Angola – in pictures
Photographer Antonio Olmos visited the village of Cabio in Benguela Province to document the work of the women of the Halo Trust who are clearing the anti-personnel mines left over from the Angolan civil war.
Continue reading...Swiss to auction 25 supercars seized from son of Equatorial Guinea dictator
Luxury cars seized from vice president Teodorin Obiang Nguema are expected to fetch $18m at Geneva auction
A collection of luxury cars seized from Equatorial Guinea’s vice president, Teodorin Obiang Nguema, will be auctioned off in Switzerland and are estimated to bring in 18.5m Swiss francs ($18.7m).
“This is an exceptional sale,” Philip Kantor, of British auctioneers Bonhams, told AFP. “It’s a private collection of supercars, with very low mileage.”
Continue reading...Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of Congo – in pictures
This is the 10th Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It’s also the largest and longest ever. More than 2,000 people have died since the outbreak started in August 2018. As part of the UN Ebola emergency response, the Red Cross is working with the World Health Organisation and the ministry of health to help stop the spread of the disease. Infection can occur from touching the bodies of those who have died. This practice is part of traditional burial rituals in eastern DRC, so the rituals need to be modified so that family members can say goodbye to their loved ones without becoming exposed to the virus. The Red Cross has trained specialist burial teams in remote communities to safely bury people who have died of Ebola
Continue reading...Mugabe buried in low-key ceremony as family snub national plans
About 200 people attended the funeral service while family members witnessed the burial in a courtyard
The former leader of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe has been buried in his rural home Zvimba in a low-key private burial after the family snubbed the hilltop National Heroes Acre burial this week.
About 200 people attended the funeral service while family members witnessed the burial in a courtyard.
Continue reading...Egypt’s Tahrir Square on lockdown as regime moves to stifle protests
Security forces patrol Cairo, a week after rare rallies appeared to catch Sisi regime off guard
Egyptian security forces have blocked access to Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the highly symbolic focal point of the 2011 revolution, as part of a wide-ranging crackdown aimed at heading off planned protests against the president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.
Barricades and checkpoints on surrounding streets and the Qasr al-Nil Bridge diverted traffic on Friday afternoon, and three metro stations underneath the square were closed. Security officials stopped and searched pedestrians in the vicinity.
Continue reading...UK development bank launches inquiry after murder of Congolese activist
Independent investigators to explore alleged involvement of security guard for palm oil company supported by CDC
An independent investigation has been launched following the alleged murder of a Congolese activist by a security guard in the employ of a palm oil company part-funded by the UK development bank.
CDC, which is wholly owned by the Department for International Development, appointed independent investigators to examine the circumstances surrounding the death of Joël Imbangola Lunea, a 44-year-old father of eight, in Bempumba on 21 July.
Continue reading...Hundreds of captives, many boys in chains, rescued in Nigeria
Children rescued from the school were said to have been abused and starved
More than 300 captives, most of them children and many in chains, have been rescued from a building in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna.
All the children, seen by a Reuters reporter at the scene, were boys aged from five to their late teens. Some had their ankles manacled and others were chained by their legs to large metal hubcaps.
Continue reading...The Guardian view on Egypt: Sisi isn’t everyone’s favourite dictator | Editorial
While foreign leaders buddy up to Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, his people endure a brutal crackdown on rights
Even before Egyptian authorities warned that they would “decisively confront” any protests that take place on Friday, it was evident that it would require extraordinary courage to answer the call to the streets. Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s regime has repeatedly shown its utter ruthlessness since seizing power six years ago in a coup. Security forces killed thousands of people protesting against the takeover. The country has locked up 60,000 political prisoners. Executions have soared this year.
Yet hundreds of people did demonstrate in cities including Cairo, Suez and Alexandria last week. The authorities responded with teargas, rubber bullets, beatings and live ammunition. Almost 2,000 people have since been arrested – more than are thought to have taken part. They include several prominent figures who do not appear to have been involved in any way, including the internationally recognised rights lawyer Mahienour el-Massry, who was defending protesters; the journalist and opposition politician Khaled Dawoud; and Hazem Hosny, a former spokesperson for Sami Anan, the former military chief of staff detained since he tried to challenge Mr Sisi for the presidency last year.
Continue reading...Over 1,900 arrested as Egypt braces for more protests
Demonstrations planned for Friday against rule of Abdel Fatah al-Sisi
More than 1,900 people have been arrested in Egypt in the last week, as the country braces for further demonstrations on Friday against the rule of president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.
The figures were compiled by the Cairo-based NGO the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights. Bystanders and others who had little to do with the protests were reportedly detained along with the demonstrators, and those arrested were being held across the country.
Continue reading...Johnson offers words of praise to Egypt’s leader despite repression
Banning of BBC and crackdown on protests seemingly not on agenda at PM’s talks with Sisi
The prime minister, Boris Johnson, lavished praise on Egypt at a bilateral meeting with its president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, in New York, hours before the UK hosted a global media freedom conference with Amal Clooney, the UK’s special envoy on media freedom.
Sisi has just instigated a fresh massive crackdown on journalists following the outbreak of protests against corruption in Egypt.
Continue reading...Turning the tables: global poverty conference to be held in a slum
Inaugural World Poverty Forum – dubbed ‘Davos with the poor’ – to take place in Kenya’s Kibera to ensure voices of poorest are heard
A global conference on poverty is to take place in Africa’s largest slum in an effort to make sure the poorest get a voice.
The inaugural World Poverty Forum will be announced on Wednesday in New York at the Decade of Action event taking place during UN general assembly week. It is already being dubbed as “Davos with the poor”.
Continue reading...Contractor, actor … protest leader? The Egyptian exile driving rare dissent
Mohamed Ali is unlikely source of viral videos about corruption that have stirred resentment
Hundreds of protesters have taken to the streets across Egypt since Friday in a rare show of public dissent against Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi’s rule. But the call for demonstrations came from an unlikely source: a contractor and part-time actor living in exile in Barcelona, who has made bold corruption claims in a string of viral videos.
Mohamed Ali is a former military contractor who addresses Egyptians from his apartment, shirt often unbuttoned and cigarette in hand. His colloquial style of speech, sometimes swearing in an accent more working class than his own, is intended to present a man-of-the-people appeal. Ali has called for a million Egyptians to march on Friday.
Continue reading...Robert O’Brien attended ‘routinely racist’ university in apartheid South Africa
Donald Trump’s new national security adviser studied at the segregated University of the Orange Free State
Donald Trump’s new national security adviser attended a segregated university in South Africa, described by one of its former vice-chancellors as “routinely racist”.
Robert O’Brien, a relatively junior official appointed to the top White House post on Wednesday, went to the University of the Orange Free State under the South African apartheid system. O’Brien’s LinkedIn page says he was there in 1987, while still an undergraduate. He received a scholarship from Rotary International and according to its records he was there from 1986. The first black undergraduate was admitted in 1988.
Continue reading...Fallout from Thomas Cook collapse felt across Europe and Africa
Governments are in crisis-planning mode over efforts to repatriate 500,000 tourists
The collapse of Thomas Cook has plunged governments across Europe and Africa into crisis-planning mode as they help with the repatriation of more than 500,000 stranded tourists and begin to count the cost of the holiday company’s demise on already-battered economies.
About 50,000 holidaymakers are stranded in Greece, 21,000 in Turkey, 15,000 in Cyprus and 4,500 in Tunisia. Thousands of tourists are also stuck in the US and dozens of other countries. Most of the tourists are from the UK with an estimated 150,000 people, followed by Germany with about 140,000 holidaymakers.
Continue reading...Alarm over cases of disease with Ebola-like symptoms in Tanzania
World Health Organization frustrated by lack of clinical data sharing, while Tanzania insists its tests show disease is not Ebola
Several unexplained cases of a disease with Ebola-like symptoms in Tanzania have prompted an extraordinary statement from the World Health Organization questioning the response of the country’s health authorities.
WHO warned that lack of information over the cases, including clinical data, possible contacts and potential laboratory tests performed for differential diagnosis of the patients had not been communicated, leaving it unable to assess the potential risk.
Continue reading...Gambia’s joy gives way to sinking distrust as Barrow clings to power
When he ended the brutal 22-year presidency of Yahya Jammeh, he was hailed as a hero. But the hope inspired by Adama Barrow’s ascent has long since faded
Almost three years ago, Yahya Jammeh’s 22-year rule over the small west African nation of the Gambia came to a shock end. Fed up with the constant fear and human rights abuses, a floundering economy and endemic corruption, Gambians voted out one of Africa’s most notorious strongmen.
The man who beat him, estate agent, businessman and one-time Argos security guard Adama Barrow, was a political nobody who united a divided opposition in a coalition, promising to create jobs, repeal bad laws and create a level political playing field. He also promised to be only a transitional president, resigning after three years.
Continue reading...Hundreds of Egyptians arrested in latest wave of protests against Sisi
Younger generation takes to the streets in defiance of six-year ban on demonstrations
Hundreds of Egyptians have been swept up in a campaign of arrests targeting protesters, as demonstrations against Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi’s rule continue.
The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF), a Cairo-based NGO, reported on Sunday that at least 220 people had been arrested since protests began on Friday night. The organisation said it had set up an “emergency room” to deal with the spike in arrests, and that at least 100 more people were likely to have been detained after protests in Suez, Alexandria and Giza. Another NGO, the Egyptian Centre for Economic & Social Rights, stated it had recorded at least 274 arrests since the demonstrations began.
Continue reading...‘A crazy amount of talent’: contemporary art thrives in Harare
An unexpected post-Mugabe boom has caught the attention of international art collectors
In a makeshift studio, in an empty house on a ridge with a spectacular view of trees and blue sky, two artists are setting out brushes and paint. Half-finished canvases lean against walls. The bustle and noise of the city is far away.
Gresham Tapiwa Nyaude and Helen Teede are among a new wave of young artists in Zimbabwe who are attracting attention from collectors and curators worldwide. Both now work in a converted house surrounded by forest, a 40-minute drive from the capital, Harare.
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