Category Archives: Africa

Prince Harry’s Instagram takeover barks up the right tree

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While his captions weren’t up to much, the prince’s takeover of the National Geographic’s Instagram on his tour in Africa had a larger purpose

When celebrities become guest editors of corporate social media accounts, it usually results in dozens of pouting selfies. For this reason, Prince Harry’s takeover of the National Geographic Instagram account to encourage people to “look up” and get lost in the beauty of trees is a weirdly enticing concept.

On Monday, the Duke of Sussex curated a set of images of forest canopies each taken by National Geographic photographers, which went out to the publication’s 123 million followers. The idea was to highlight the importance of conservation while spotlighting the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy campaign, which will result in two national parks being created in South Africa, where Harry is touring. As part of the campaign, 50 countries have either dedicated indigenous forest for conservation or committed to planting millions of new trees to combat climate change.

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Moroccan journalist jailed for abortion that she says never happened

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Critics say Hajar Raissouni’s one-year sentence is a crackdown on criticism government

A Moroccan journalist has been sentenced to a year in prison on charges of having an illegal abortion and premarital sex, in a trial observers say was concocted to crack down on criticism of the government.

A Rabat court sentenced journalist Hajar Raissouni to one year in prison, on charges of “having an illegal abortion and sexual relations outside marriage”. Her fiancee, Prof Rifaat al-Amin was given a one-year sentence for alleged complicity.

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Joseph Wilson obituary

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Diplomat who disputed the US intelligence used to justify the invasion of Iraq in 2003

Joseph Wilson, who has died aged 69 of organ failure, was the American diplomat whose first-hand questioning of the rationale behind the 2003 invasion of Iraq earned him the enmity of the George W Bush administration, and saw his wife Valerie Plame’s identity as a CIA operative exposed publicly in retaliation.

In 2002, with the administration building its case for war with Iraq, the CIA sent Wilson, usually known as “Joe”, to investigate whether the Iraqis had sought to buy yellowcake uranium ore, which might be enriched for use in nuclear weapons, from Niger.

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‘He took huge risks to get to the truth’: rights activist Patrick Naagbanton dies

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Tributes paid to the inspirational Nigerian campaigner and writer, who was hit by a car outside his home in Port Harcourt

A leading activist, journalist and writer who fought for the environmental rights of Nigerians in one of the most polluted places on earth has died after being hit by a car.

Friends and colleagues of Patrick Naagbanton described him as highly respected in the Niger Delta, Africa’s most important oil-producing region. They said his death, and the absence of his work holding the government, companies and individuals with interests in the region to account, would leave an enormous hole.

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Somali militants attack US drone base and European convoy

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Al-Shabaab claims its fighters launched raid on military base west of Mogadishu

A US military base used to launch drones and a European military convoy have been hit in separate attacks in Somalia.

A Reuters journalist saw a seriously damaged armoured vehicle bearing a small Italian flag sticker in the capital, Mogadishu, on Monday. It was unclear if there were any casualties.

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‘We’ve been taken hostage’: African migrants stranded in Mexico after Trump’s crackdown

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Hundreds of migrants from Africa are stuck in Tapachula because of Mexico’s willingness to bow to Trump and stem the flow of migrants

Neh knew she was taking a risk when she got involved with English-language activists in mostly-Francophone Cameroon.

She had no way of know that her decision would eventually force her to flee her country, fly halfway across the world and then set out on a 4,000-mile trek through dense jungle and across seven borders – only to leave her stranded in southern Mexico, where her hopes of finding safety in the US were blocked by the Mexican government’s efforts to placate Donald Trump’s anti-migrant rage.

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Nigeria warned it risks humanitarian disaster by expelling charities

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Aid agencies strongly deny Nigeria’s claims they are diverting funds to Boko Haram

Nigeria has been warned it risks a humanitarian disaster if the government goes ahead with its threat to throw aid agencies out of the north-east of the country, claiming they are in league with extremist Islamic groups.

A spate of aid offices have been forcibly shut after unproven claims they have been acting as conduits for cash that has ended up with Boko Haram, or Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap).

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Inch by inch: how Angola is clearing its killing fields

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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.

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Swiss to auction 25 supercars seized from son of Equatorial Guinea dictator

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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.”

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Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of Congo – in pictures

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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

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Mugabe buried in low-key ceremony as family snub national plans

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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.

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Egypt’s Tahrir Square on lockdown as regime moves to stifle protests

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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.

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UK development bank launches inquiry after murder of Congolese activist

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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.

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Hundreds of captives, many boys in chains, rescued in Nigeria

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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.

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The Guardian view on Egypt: Sisi isn’t everyone’s favourite dictator | Editorial

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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.

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Over 1,900 arrested as Egypt braces for more protests

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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.

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Johnson offers words of praise to Egypt’s leader despite repression

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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.

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Turning the tables: global poverty conference to be held in a slum

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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”.

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