Category Archives: Africa

September Supermoon: the best place and time to see tonight’s bigger and brighter full moon

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Find a viewing spot that is dark and looks towards the east, which is where the moon will rise. A flat location will give a ‘really cool’ perspective, experts say

If you look up into the sky on Wednesday night, you’ll likely notice the full moon gleaming bigger and brighter than usual.

You’ll be looking at the second supermoon of the year – the term for when the moon’s orbit is closest to Earth while it is full.

How to take a good photograph of the full moon on your phone or camera

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Zimbabwe outlines plan to cull scores of elephants to feed people after drought

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Culling after severe drought wiped out crops across region is also part of effort to decongest country’s parks

Zimbabwean authorities have set out plans to cull 200 elephants to feed communities facing acute hunger amid the worst drought in four decades.

The El Niño-induced drought has wiped out crops across southern Africa, affecting 68 million people and causing food shortages across the region. In Zimbabwe, 7.6 million people are set to face food insecurity from January to April next year, the height of the lean season, according to the World Food Programme.

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Nadia Davids wins Caine short story prize for ‘triumph of language’ Bridling

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The South African author’s work was described as ‘an impressive achievement’ by chair of judges Chika Unigwe

South African writer Nadia Davids has won this year’s Caine prize for African writing for her short story Bridling, described as a “triumph of language” by the chair of judges.

The prize, worth £10,000, is awarded annually to a short story by an African writer. Bridling, originally published in The Georgia Review in 2023, is told from the point of view of a female actor performing with other women in a show staging artworks by men that depict women. The story will be published in the Caine prize anthology, Midnight in the Morgue and Other Stories, to be published by Cassava Republic Press in the UK.

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More than 200 inmates escape Nigerian prison in aftermath of flooding

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Prisoners fled when the walls of their jail collapsed in the country’s worst flooding in two decades

More than 200 inmates escaped from a prison in north-east Nigeria in the aftermath of the worst flooding there in over two decades, authorities have announced.

There have been 37 deaths in Borno state after parts of its capital, Maiduguri, were overrun by water on 9 September following the collapse of a dam, according to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). As many as 200,000 others have been displaced. Residents of the city said some areas were still flooded on Monday when the president, Bola Tinubu, visited.

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Amnesty calls for release of peaceful protesters in Angola

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Health of three of four detained a year ago has deteriorated sharply after medical care withheld, charity says

Amnesty International has urged authorities in Angola to free four activists who were detained a year ago for planning a peaceful protest, and an influencer who criticised the president in a TikTok video.

The four activists were arrested in September last year before a protest against restrictions on motorcycle taxi drivers. They were sentenced to two years and five months in prison for “disobedience and resisting orders”. The health of three of the four activists has deteriorated sharply in prison, Amnesty said.

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Climate scientists troubled by damage from floods ravaging central Europe

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Experts unsurprised at intensity of extreme weather but say damage wreaked shows how unprepared world is

Picturesque towns across central Europe are inundated by dirty flood water after heavy weekend rains turned tranquil streams into raging rivers that wreaked havoc on infrastructure.

The floods have killed at least 15 people and destroyed buildings from Austria to Romania. The destruction comes after devastating floods around the world last week when entire villages were submerged in Myanmar and nearly 300 prisoners escape a collapsed jail in Nigeria, where floods have affected more than 1 million people.

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South Africa school language law stirs Afrikaans learning debate

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The DA party argues Afrikaans education will be harmed, while the ANC says law is necessary to redress inequality

A contentious South African education law has drawn furious condemnation from politicians and campaigners who claim it is putting Afrikaans education under threat while evoking for others an enduring association of the language with white minority rule.

The Basic Education Laws Amendment Act was signed into law on Friday by the president, Cyril Ramaphosa, who said he would give dissenting parties in his coalition government three months to suggest alternatives to two sections that give provincial officials the powers to override admission decisions and force schools to teach in more than one of South Africa’s 12 official languages.

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At least three dead as two passenger trains collide in Egypt’s Nile delta

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More than 40 others were injured in crash in the city of Zagazig, according to the country’s health ministry

Two passenger trains have collided in Egypt’s Nile delta, killing at least three people, two of them children, authorities have said.

The crash happened on Saturday in the city of Zagazig, the capital of Sharqiya province, the country’s railway authority said. Egypt’s health ministry said the collision injured at least 40 others.

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Thousands attend funeral of runner Rebecca Cheptegei who was set on fire by partner

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Mourners in Uganda pay respects to Olympic athlete whose death prompted renewed calls for more protection for women in sport

Thousands of mourners in Uganda paid their respects on Saturday to Rebecca Cheptegei, the Olympic athlete who died last week in Kenya after her partner set her on fire. The military funeral took place in a remote town near the Kenyan border.

Military officers played a prominent role in the funeral because Cheptegei held the rank of sergeant in Uganda’s army, said military spokesperson Brig Felix Kulayigye, adding that she deserved a “gun salute that befits her rank”.

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Zimbabwe orders cull of 200 elephants amid food shortages from drought

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Environment minister says country has more elephants than it needs while critics of hunt say they are a major tourist drawcard

Zimbabwe will cull 200 elephants as it faces an unprecedented drought that has led to food shortages, a move that tackle a ballooning population of the animals, the country’s wildlife authority has said.

Zimbabwe had “more elephants than it needed”, the environment minister said in parliament on Wednesday, adding that the government had instructed the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority (ZimParks) to begin the culling process.

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Trailblazing ballerina Michaela Mabinty DePrince dies at 29

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Sierra Leone-born DePrince, who moved to US as a child, danced with Boston Ballet and performed with Beyoncé

Michaela Mabinty DePrince, a trailblazer and inspiration to many in the ballet world, has died at 29, a spokesperson announced on her Instagram page on Friday. No cause of death has yet been reported.

“Her life was one defined by grace, purpose, and strength,” the caption said. “Her unwavering commitment to her art, her humanitarian efforts, and her courage in overcoming unimaginable challenges will forever inspire us. She stood as a beacon of hope for many, showing that no matter the obstacles, beauty and greatness can rise from the darkest of places.”

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Briton and Americans among 37 given death sentence over DRC coup attempt

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Son of opposition figure who led botched attempt in May is among three Americans sentenced to death

A Briton and three Americans are among 37 people sentenced to death on Friday over an attempt to overthrow the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Six people were killed during the botched coup attempt led by the opposition figure Christian Malanga on 19 May that targeted the presidential palace and a close ally of President Félix Tshisekedi.

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EU fears for its human rights credibility as Tunisia crushes dissent, leak shows

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Document detailing ‘deterioration’ under Kais Saied will fuel concerns about bloc’s migration deal with his country

The EU fears its credibility is at stake as it seeks to weigh growing concerns about the crushing of dissent in Tunisia while preserving a controversial migration deal with the north African country, according to a leaked document.

An internal report drafted by the EU’s diplomatic service (EEAS), seen by the Guardian, details “a clear deterioration of the political climate and a shrinking civic space” under the Tunisian president, Kais Saied, who has suspended parliament and concentrated power in his hands since starting his term of office in 2019.

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Candidates to lead Commonwealth urge reparations for slavery and colonialism

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Three African contenders for role of secretary general call for financial measures or reparative justice

The three candidates to be the next secretary general of the Commonwealth have called for reparations for countries that were affected by slavery and colonisation.

The candidates from the Gambia, Ghana and Lesotho expressed their support for either financial reparations or “reparative justice”, as they made their pitches to lead the 56-country organisation at a debate hosted by the Chatham House thinktank in London on Wednesday.

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Sudanese rebels appear to be posting self-incriminating videos of torture and arson on social media

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Footage that seems to show fighters glorifying abuse of prisoners with ‘little fear of consequences’ could be used in war crimes prosecutions

Footage of rebel fighters in Sudan appearing to glorify the burning of homes and the torture of prisoners could be used by international courts to pursue war crime prosecutions, observers have told the Guardian.

Fighters from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group, have been accused of waging a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Sudan for the past year as they try to take control of the country.

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Giant tortoises in Seychelles face threat from luxury hotel development

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Conservationists and botanists express concern over plans for Qatari-funded upscale resort on Assomption Island

The habitat of the largest giant tortoise population in the world is threatened by a Qatari-funded hotel development that aims to bring luxury yachts, private jets and well-heeled tourists to a remote island in the Indian Ocean, conservationists have warned.

Plans for an upscale resort on Assomption, which is part of the Aldabra island group, are currently under discussion by the Seychelles authorities, and construction is already finished on an airport expansion that would allow bigger aircraft to land on the 11.6-sq-km (4.5-sq-mile) coral island.

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Religious groups ‘spending billions to counter gender-equality education’

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Report reveals how US Christians, Catholic schools and Islamists fight sex education, LGBTQ+ and equal rights

Extreme religious groups and political parties are targeting schools around the world as part of a coordinated and well-funded attack on gender equality, according to a new report.

Well-known conservative organisations aim to restrict girls’ access to education, change what is on the curriculum, and influence educational laws and policies, according to Whose Hands on our Education, a report by the Overseas Development Institute.

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Crocodiles and snakes ‘washed into communities’ as flood hits Nigerian zoo

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Park in Borno state says more than 80% of its animals have been killed and urges residents to take precautions

Floods in northern Nigeria have killed more than 80% of the animals in a large zoo housing wildlife from lions and crocodiles to buffalo and ostriches, the facility has said.

“Some deadly animals have been washed away into our communities, like crocodiles and snakes,” the Sanda Kyarimi Park zoo added in a statement on the floods in the northern Borno state, urging residents to take precautions.

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South African farmer accused of killing two women and feeding them to pigs

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Farm owner and two employees allegedly shot dead Locadia Ndlovu and Maria Makgatho after they trespassed

A South African farmer and two of his employees have been accused of killing two women and feeding their bodies to his pigs.

The killings of Maria Makgatho and Locadia Ndlovu, also named in local media as Kudzai Ndlovu, allegedly took place when the two women trespassed on a farm in the northern province of Limpopo in August. They were scavenging for expired dairy products, which local media reported had been left there to feed the pigs.

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Egypt and Turkey’s nascent alliance tested by new crisis in Libya

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Fallout from Libyan central bank governor’s dismissal presents immediate challenge for Sisi and Erdoğan

A new alliance between Egypt and Turkey designed to end a long-running dispute over events in the Middle East faces it first major test in the shape of a worsening political crisis in Libya linked to control of its oil wealth.

Egypt and Turkey fell out in the aftermath of the 2011 Arab spring, primarily because of the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s coup against his Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi, an ally of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

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