Category Archives: Africa

‘Go and we die, stay and we starve’: the Ethiopians facing a deadly dilemma

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In the rarely visited town of Gedeb, fears are rife over state plans to return 150,000 people to areas they fled because of ethnic violence

Last week, a car rolled through the town of Gedeb in southern Ethiopia, flanked by federal police. A local official made an announcement to roughly 150,000 people who, displaced from their homes, have sought sanctuary in makeshift camps in the town and across the surrounding farmland.

In two days’ time, they were told through a loudspeaker, their shelters – mostly built of firewood, banana leaves and the odd tarpaulin sheet – would be demolished. Food aid, medical treatment and other humanitarian assistance would soon stop.

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Ebola in the DRC: everything you need to know

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Key facts about the second largest outbreak of the disease in history

With more than 2,577 confirmed cases and more than 1,803 confirmed deaths, the outbreak in the eastern DRC is the second largest in history. It has a 67% fatality rate and 11 months after it began, the case numbers are still escalating. It is disproportionately affecting women (55% of cases) and children (28%).

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‘Terrifying’ Ebola epidemic out of control in DRC, say experts

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More than 1,600 people infected in North Kivu province since outbreak began in August

An Ebola epidemic in a conflict-riven region of Democratic Republic of Congo is out of control and could become as serious as the outbreak that devastated three countries in west Africa between 2013 and 2016, experts and aid chiefs have warned.

New cases over the past month have increased at the fastest rate since the outbreak began last year, as aid agencies struggle to enact a public health response in areas that have suffered decades of neglect and conflict, with incredibly fragile health systems and regular outbreaks of deadly violence involving armed groups.

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Sudan protests turn violent as Omar al-Bashir is charged

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At least four dead in protests in Khartoum after ousted president charged and transition deal moves closer

Violence has flared in Sudan’s capital Khartoum after the military council and opposition groups said they had agreed to a power structure for the country’s transition following the removal of President Omar al-Bashir last month.

Heavy gunfire was heard late into the evening, and the council said a military police officer and a protester had been killed and many protesters wounded. A doctors’ committee linked to protest movement later said three more protesters had been shot dead. State TV put the death toll at one police officer and three protesters.

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Images from Nigeria, land of the ‘inseparable two’

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In the west African country where there are many more twins than anywhere else in the world, photographers Bénédicte Kurzen and Sanne de Wilde explore ‘double birth’ and its mythology

Ten young people pose for a group shot, boys in front, girls behind. Almost identically dressed, they stare straight to camera with a mixture of shyness and defiance familiar from school photographs the world over. But the brightness of their uniform, the playfulness of their headgear, suggests that this is no ordinary gathering – and indeed it is not. These children, togged out in their holiday best, were among more than 2,000 sets of twins who poured into the Nigerian town of Igbo-Ora last autumn for the state of Oyo’s first twins festival – an event celebrating the town’s claim to be the twins capital of the world.

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Up to 70 dead after boat capsizes trying to reach Europe from Libya

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Survivors report fishing vessel coming to their rescue 40 miles of coast of Tunisia

As many as 70 people trying to reach Europe from Libya have drowned after their vessel capsized in the deadliest such incident in the Mediterranean since January.

According to survivors, at least 16 of whom were rescued, the boat left Zuwara in Libya, where renewed warfare between rival factions has gripped the capital, Tripoli, in the past five weeks. The vessel capsized 40 miles off the coast of Sfax, south of Tunis, as it headed towards Italy.

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Love Corbyn, hate Brexit? Labour’s EU elections dilemma – podcast

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Jeremy Corbyn launched Labour’s European elections manifesto with a renewed promise to back a second Brexit referendum in certain circumstances – but to also respect the result of the first. Yet for ardently pro-Corbyn Europhiles such as Momentum’s Laura Parker, it has been a tough balancing act to support. Also today: Jason Burke on the South African election and the ANC

Jeremy Corbyn launched Labour’s European elections campaign with a renewed commitment to hold a second referendum on Brexit if a “sensible” deal cannot be agreed and there is not a general election. The pledge maintains the party’s precarious balancing act between promising to respect the initial vote and calling for a fresh one.

One of Labour’s MEP candidates is Laura Parker, who joins Anushka Asthana in the studio. Formerly a private secretary in Corbyn’s office, she is now national coordinator for the Labour pressure group Momentum and is campaigning for another public vote. Like many leftwingers who backed Corbyn from the beginning, she is desperate for Labour to commit to stopping Brexit.

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South Africa election: early results point to reduced ANC majority

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Party expected to retain power with 56% of vote, its lowest share in democratic era

Early results in South Africa’s general election suggest the ruling African National Congress party (ANC) is heading for a historic low but with enough votes to retain power.

With about half the votes counted, the ANC was on 56%, enough for a majority but a sign President Cyril Ramaphosa has failed to slow the accelerating decline in the party’s popularity 25 years after the country’s first free elections ushered in a new democratic era.

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Ghana shakes up art’s ‘sea of whiteness’ with its first Venice pavilion

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In curving galleries designed by David Adjaye, artists are putting Africa firmly on the biennale map

The Venice Art Biennale, the world’s most celebrated international art event, has a history that is inextricably bound up with colonialism.

Its first pavilion for the showcasing of a “national” art was established by Belgium in 1907. Britain followed soon after. European countries remain dominant at the event – at least numerically.

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ANC corruption is a major cause of South Africa’s failure – and the polls will show it | William Gumede

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The post-apartheid consensus has collapsed. The ANC must renew itself, or become a spent force

When South Africans go to the polls today, it could be the last time the governing ANC wins an overall majority, unless the party renews itself and starts delivering on its promises to increasingly disgruntled supporters. The ANC is likely to win the national elections but its majority will take a hit and it may struggle to win, or have to share power in some of the provinces. After 25 years in power, the party’s popularity is lower than the personal popularity enjoyed by President Cyril Ramaphosa. If Ramaphosa was not also the head of the ANC, it is very likely that it would be heading for defeat this week. Large numbers of ANC supporters have entirely given up hope, both on the party of liberation being able to deliver a better life for them and on South Africa’s post-apartheid democratic institutions.

Even if the ANC wins today’s election, it will be unable to deliver a better life for those who voted for it

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British soldier killed by elephant during anti-poaching patrol

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Mathew Talbot of Coldstream Guards died on deployment in Malawi, MoD confirms

A British soldier has died while on anti-poaching operations in Malawi, the Ministry of Defence has said.

It is understood Mathew Talbot, of the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, was on a patrol when he was killed by an elephant. He was on his first operational deployment when he died on 5 May, according to the MoD.

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Women dressed ‘provocatively’ are being arrested in Nigeria. The law’s still failing us | Sede Alonge

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Those arrested in Abuja nightclubs were labelled prostitutes – despite there being no evidence. In this society, you don’t need any

Nigerian media has been awash with news of a recent police raid in the capital, Abuja, in which dozens of women were arrested in and around nightclubs on charges of prostitution. A city official said one way police assessed the potential guilt of the women was if they were dressed “provocatively”. No men were arrested in the raid. There was also an ominously conspicuous absence of any evidence of soliciting, which is a crime under Nigerian law. Most alarming of all, there are witness reports of rape, sexual assault and financial extortion of the women by the policemen who arrested them. Some of the women were taken to a mobile court and allegedly pressured to plead guilty to charges of prostitution on the spot.

Such arrests don't just disregard due process but send a clear message as to who's in charge: men

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Libyan officials say 200 people have been killed in recent fighting

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Khalifa Haftar’s bid to topple UN-recognised government has displaced 50,000 people

Nearly 200 people have been killed and more than 1,000 injured in the most recent wave of fighting in Libya, officials said this weekend.

The offensive to take control of Tripoli launched by Khalifa Haftar, a military commander based in the east of the country, is now in its second month.

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Saudi Arabia’s sudden interest in Sudan is not about friendship. It is about fear | Nesrine Malik

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In the uprising against Omar al-Bashir in Sudan, the Saudi royal family see a portent of their own demise

In the days following the Yom Kippur war, after the Egyptian president, Anwar Sadat, agreed to a ceasefire and subsequent peace treaty with Israel, he faced questions at home about his climbdown. When confronted on his capitulation, he is reported to have said that he was prepared for battle with Israel but not with America. On the third day of the war, President Nixon had authorised Operation Nickel Grass, an airlift from the United States with the purpose of replenishing Israel’s military losses up to that point. In November of 1973, the New York Times reported that “Western ambassadors in Cairo confirm Egyptian accusations that American Galaxies were landing war equipment in the Sinai.”

Related: Sudan's female revolutionaries must beware fate that befell women in Libya

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The next PM? Time will come for talk of that, says Jeremy Hunt

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UK foreign secretary refuses to be called on possible leadership bid during marathon African tour

Jeremy Hunt’s 12,500-mile odyssey through Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Kenya has been a chance for the man who could be the UK’s next prime minister to learn more about Africa – and for us to learn more about him.

The visit by the foreign secretary was ambitious in mileage and scale, speckled with meetings with presidents, helicopter rides to Maiduguri – the Boko Haram haven in Nigeria’s north-east – keynote speeches at the African Union headquarters, seminars with civil society and photo-ops.

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Ebola death toll in Congo to pass 1,000, World Health Organization warns

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Women and children fare worst as efforts to contain outbreak are undermined by health centre attacks and local mistrust

The number of people killed by the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is expected to exceed 1,000 on Friday, the World Health Organization has warned.

Weekly infections have been rising since late February, with attacks by armed groups and a failure to win community trust undermining the response to the epidemic.

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Caster Semenya ruling ‘tramples on dignity’ of athletes, South Africa says

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Olympian receives strong backing from South African government and fellow athletes

South Africans have expressed widespread support for the double Olympic champion Caster Semenya, who will run her last 800m on Friday before the imposition of controversial new rules limiting testosterone in female athletes.

Tokozile Xasa, the sports minister, said on Thursday that the South African government was disappointed with the ruling by the court of arbitration for sport that women with unusually high testosterone levels, such as Semenya, would have to take medication to significantly reduce their testosterone before they were permitted to compete internationally at distances between 400m and a mile.

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Sudan’s female revolutionaries must beware fate that befell women in Libya

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Alaa Salah’s role in Sudan’s protests was not unique, African women have long led change – and Libya’s precedent is especially relevant

At the same time that images of female Sudanese revolutionaries were going viral, the citizens of Tripoli were preparing for an assault on their city. The contrast between the two experiences – jubilation and determination in Khartoum, weary resilience in Libya – could not be greater. But the parallels between the uprisings in Sudan and Libya are much closer that one might think, with hard lessons to be learned.

Having protested against the regime of Omar al-Bashir for 16 weeks, Sudanese women like Alaa Salah became icons almost overnight. In much of the global coverage, the sight of an African woman leading crowds chanting for freedom and democracy was seemingly regarded as novel, even groundbreaking.

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