Category Archives: Africa

More than 100 killed in attempt to escape DRC’s largest prison

Posted on by

Democratic Republic of the Congo officials say 129 people died in failed jailbreak at Makala facility in Kinshasa

More than 100 people were killed while trying to escape from a prison in the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the early hours of Monday, the security minister has said.

In a post on X on Tuesday morning, Jacquemain Shabani said 129 people had died and 59 others were injured in the escape attempt at Makala prison in Kinshasa. Twenty-four of those who died were killed by gunfire, while the others lost their lives in a crush during the chaos, he said.

Continue reading...

Weather tracker: extreme heat hits Brazil, fuelling risk of wildfires

Posted on by

Some African countries, meanwhile, hit by unusual rainfall with flooding killing at least 170 people

Unrelenting heat will continue across parts of Brazil this week with temperatures about 5C to 10C above the 1991 to 2020 average.

Daytime temperatures will reach 35C to 40C in parts of the Central West region, affecting cities such as Belo Horizonte, Brasília and Manaus. This extreme heat is likely to continue into next week, with temperatures above 40C possible in places.

Continue reading...

South African beauty queen crowned Miss Nigeria after nationality row

Posted on by

Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, had been competing in South African competition, but withdrew after a xenophobic backlash

A former Miss South Africa contestant hounded over a nationality row was crowned Miss Universe Nigeria on Saturday, bringing to an end a difficult few weeks for the contender.

Born to a Nigerian father in South Africa, 23-year-old Chidimma Adetshina withdrew from the country’s competition “for the safety and wellbeing of my family” after a backlash that exposed anti-foreigner sentiment in South Africa.

Continue reading...

African nations hit by mpox still waiting for vaccines – despite promises by the west

Posted on by

Last week’s planned rollout of doses faces further delays as campaigners complain of greed and inequality

None of the African countries affected by the outbreak of a new variant of mpox have received any of the promised vaccine, pushing back a rollout that had been planned for last week.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been at the centre of an outbreak of the new clade 1b variant, with 18,000 suspected cases and 629 deaths this year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Continue reading...

US and UN call for talks in Libyan dispute over control of central bank

Posted on by

UN-backed institutions in west of Libya show no sign of backing down over dismissal of bank’s governor of 20 years

A crisis in the Libyan economy sparked by an escalating and sometimes violent contest over the control of the country’s central bank can only be cured through diplomacy, the US embassy in Libya has said, as it backed efforts by the UN to convene an emergency meeting of the groups involved.

The embassy, led by the ambassador Richard Norland, pleaded with all sides to heed a UN call to hold talks, saying the contest over the administration of the bank “undermines confidence in Libya’s economic and financial stability in the eyes of Libyan citizens and the international community, and increases the likelihood of harmful confrontation”.

Continue reading...

Flood surge in Sudan bursts dam, destroying villages and killing dozens

Posted on by

One report says 150-200 people missing after heavy rain led to Arbaat dam giving way in area already hit by civil war

Surging waters have burst through a dam in eastern Sudan, wiping out at least 20 villages and leaving at least 30 people dead but probably many more, the UN has said, devastating a region already reeling from months of civil war.

Torrential rains caused floods that on Sunday overwhelmed the Arbaat dam, which is 25 miles (40km) north of Port Sudan, the de facto national capital and base for the government, diplomats, aid agencies and hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

Continue reading...

Macklemore cancels Dubai show to protest UAE role in Sudan civil war

Posted on by

US rapper says he will not perform in United Arab Emirates until it ‘stops arming’ the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, where thousands have been killed

Macklemore has cancelled an upcoming October concert in Dubai over the United Arab Emirates’ role “in the ongoing genocide and humanitarian crisis” in Sudan through its reported support of the paramilitary force that has been fighting government troops there.

The announcement by the US rapper reignited attention to the UAE’s role in the war gripping the African nation. While the UAE repeatedly has denied arming the Rapid Support Forces and supporting its leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, UN experts reported “credible” evidence in January that the Emirates sent weapons to the RSF several times a week from northern Chad.

Continue reading...

Minister seeks legal settlement in case of South Africa’s imperilled penguins

Posted on by

Dion George says avoiding extinction of African penguin is his objective, and settling case aimed at stopping fishing around major colonies will help

South Africa’s new environment minister has said he wants to stop African penguins from going extinct by taking measures including settling a case brought by two environmental charities to stop fishing around the birds’ major colonies.

BirdLife South Africa and the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCOB) said they want an extension of no-fishing zones around six beaches and islands where the penguins breed, after failing to reach an agreement with fishing industry groups demanded by the previous minister.

Continue reading...

Africa to finally receive first batch of vaccines for deadly mpox virus

Posted on by

The continent will belatedly get 10,000 shots amid criticism of delays to the process caused by WHO red tape

Africa’s first batch of mpox vaccines will this week finally reach the continent, weeks after they have been made available in other parts of the world.

The 10,000 shots, donated by the US, will be used to tackle a dangerous new variant of the virus, formerly known as monkeypox, after a 2022 outbreak triggered global alarm.

Continue reading...

‘Really heavy to see’: Lewis Hamilton speaks up on plight of refugees in Africa

Posted on by
  • Hamilton reiterates that F1 must stage a race in Africa
  • Verstappen unsure on future after current deal expires

Lewis Hamilton has spoken out over the plight of refugees and displaced people in Africa, ­decrying the lack of empathy toward them in the UK. He pledged to consider what he could do to support them after an emotional visit to the continent ­during the Formula One summer break.

Hamilton was speaking before this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, the first since the sport shut down for the summer, during which period the British driver travelled in Africa, ­visiting Senegal and Morocco and then the Maratane refugee settlement in the north of Mozambique, where he saw the work of the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR.

Continue reading...

Botswana diamond could be second-largest gem-quality example ever found

Posted on by

Canadian company Lucara digs up ‘extraordinary’ 2,492-carat stone from Karowe diamond mine

A 2,492-carat raw diamond discovered in Botswana could be the second-largest gem-quality example ever unearthed.

The Canadian mining company Lucara Diamond Corp said it had recovered the “exceptional” stone from its Karowe diamond mine, with a photo showing the hefty rough diamond sitting in the cupped palm of a hand.

Continue reading...

Rapidly urbanising Africa to have six cities with populations above 10m by 2035

Posted on by

Youthful, growing cities expected to create wealth and opportunities but stretch public and utility services

Six African cities will have more than 10 million people by 2035, with the continent’s booming young population making it the world’s fastest urbanising region, according to a report.

Angola’s capital, Luanda, and Tanzania’s commercial hub, Dar es Salaam, will join the metropolises of Cairo, Kinshasa, Lagos and Greater Johannesburg with populations of more than 10 million, the Economist Intelligence Unit said in a report on African cities.

Continue reading...

How west Africa’s online fraudsters moved into sextortion

Posted on by

With ‘hustle kingdoms’ teaching young people the tricks of the trade, there has been a surge in blackmailing crimes

In the late 90s and early 2000s, as internet connectivity began penetrating west Africa, young people soon realised that individuals in North America and Europe with access to more money than them and potentially susceptible to blackmail were now reachable by the click of a button.

Along came the “Nigerian prince” letters, a famous scamming technique employed by online fraudsters – known as Yahoo boys in Nigeria, Sakwa boys of Ghana and the brouteurs of Ivory Coast – preying on unsuspecting targets across the web. The emails typically involved someone pretending to be Nigerian royalty and asking for money, a claim so outlandish that victims presumed it couldn’t be a lie.

Continue reading...

African health officials call for solidarity not travel bans over mpox outbreak

Posted on by

Head of Africa CDC Jean Kaseya urges international community to support rollout of testing and vaccinations

African health officials have appealed to the international community not to impose travel bans on countries dealing with an outbreak of mpox, but instead to support the continent in rolling out testing and vaccinations.

There have been about 1,400 new cases and 24 deaths linked to a new variant of mpox over the past week, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Continue reading...

Police in Kenya say suspected serial killer has escaped from custody

Posted on by

Man accused of murdering and dismembering 42 women named as one of 13 detainees on the run in Nairobi

A Kenyan man who police claim has confessed to murdering and dismembering 42 women has escaped from a Nairobi police cell, along with a dozen other detainees, police have said.

Collins Jumaisi, 33, described by police as a “vampire, a psychopath”, was arrested in July after the discovery of mutilated bodies in a dump in a slum in the Kenyan capital.

Continue reading...

‘A revolution is building’: can young people force change across Africa?

Posted on by

Africa has the youngest population of any continent, and recent protests in Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda suggest growing youth disillusionment. Will they be able to turn discontent into action?

The youth-led protests that have broken out in several African countries over the past weeks should, say observers, serve as warnings that a disillusioned generation blame the elders of the ruling political classes for missed economic opportunities.

From mid-June to early August, young people in Kenya hit the streets protesting against what they described as runaway corruption and high taxes levied by President William Ruto’s regime. In Uganda, what was shaping up as protests against the government in July were nipped in the bud by police after President Yoweri Museveni’s warning that those thinking of such protests “were playing with fire”. Nigeria saw short-lived protests against the poor handling of the economy by President Bola Tinubu’s government.

Continue reading...

Libya’s central bank ‘suspends operations’ after official abducted

Posted on by

Head of IT was kidnapped in Tripoli and other executives threatened a week after siege at bank

The Central Bank of Libya said on Sunday it was “suspending all operations” after a bank official was abducted in the capital, Tripoli, in a statement posted on social media.

Musab Msallem, the head of information technology at the Central Bank, “was kidnapped by an unidentified group from his house this morning”, the statement said.

Continue reading...

Failure to deal with mpox outbreak ‘is risk not just to Africa but whole world’

Posted on by

Health leaders warn that global response to virus is test case for equity and preparation for future pandemics

A failure to show solidarity with African countries at the heart of the mpox outbreak will put the world at risk and harm preparations for future pandemics, health leaders have said.

The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared an international public health emergency in the face of rising cases that are spreading beyond the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where the virus is endemic.

Continue reading...

Mpox screening stepped up globally as more cases emerge outside Africa

Posted on by

The move comes amid reports of disappointing results from trials for a treatment against the variant behind the current outbreak

Surveillance efforts against mpox are being ramped up globally, as trials for a new treatment showed disappointing results against the variant driving the current outbreak.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on Friday raised its risk level assessment for mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, from low to moderate. The decision came after Sweden reported the first case of clade Ib outside Africa.

Continue reading...

Global health charities warn of ‘huge and terrible’ threat to abortion rights if Trump returns

Posted on by

‘Global gag rule’ and funding cuts will be ‘on different scale’ if Republicans win again, family-planning providers say

Providers of women’s healthcare around the world are preparing for potentially disastrous consequences should Donald Trump win the US presidential election in November.

Policies pursued during Trump’s last presidency caused “devastating” harm in a number of countries, said Beth Schlachter, a senior director at MSI Reproductive Choices in the US. It meant “clinics shuttered, health teams closed, women dying … but a second Trump term will be on a different scale”.

Continue reading...