Category Archives: Africa

‘Right to freedom from torture’: UN experts urge the Gambia not to decriminalise FGM

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Repealing ban would mean return of ‘one of the most pernicious forms of violence committed against women and children’

A team of UN experts has urged Gambian lawmakers not to repeal a ban on female genital mutilation, saying such a move would set a dangerous global precedent.

In a letter dated 8 April and made public on Thursday, the experts, led by Reem Alsalem, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, said allowing the unchecked return of “one of the most pernicious forms of violence committed against women and children” would violate their right to freedom from torture.

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Sunak welcomes Kagame to No 10 as Rwanda scheme hits fresh snags

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Meeting to discuss PM’s key policy overshadowed by reports of lack of housing for deportees or airline to remove them from UK

Rishi Sunak has welcomed the Rwandan president to Downing Street amid signs that ministers are struggling to find an airline or housing in Kigali to carry out their flagship deportation plan.

The meeting on Tuesday was overshadowed by the former home secretary Suella Braverman’s criticism of fallen expectations over the policy, which aims to forcibly send people seeking asylum 4,000 miles to central Africa.

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‘Hardest Geezer’ Russ Cook enjoys a day off running after epic Africa journey

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Endurance athlete from Worthing says he is ‘just trying to soak it all in’ after completing 352-day, 9,940-mile run

After sinking a strawberry daiquiri and a few beers and enjoying a reunion with his girlfriend after more than a year apart, Russ Cook, AKA the “Hardest Geezer”, who completed his 9,940-mile (16,000km) run along the entire length of Africa on Sunday, woke up feeling “a little bit frosty, a little bit tired”.

And for once, the 27-year-old endurance athlete from Worthing, West Sussex, who raised more than £700,000 for charity on his epic journey, was not pulling on his running shoes. It was all “quite, quite overwhelming”, he said.

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More than 90 dead in Mozambique ferry disaster as packed vessel sinks, say officials

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Most passengers heading for island off Nampula province were trying to escape mainland due to panic over cholera outbreak, official says

More than 90 people including many children died when an overcrowded makeshift ferry sank off the north coast of Mozambique, local authorities have said.

The converted fishing boat, carrying about 130 people, ran into trouble as it tried to reach an island off Nampula province, officials said on Sunday.

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Two charged in Nigeria over alleged sextortion that led to Australian teenager’s death

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Boy who took his own life allegedly told to pay $500 to stop personal photos being shared with family and friends

Two men in Nigeria have been charged over an alleged sextortion case that led to a teenage Australian boy taking his own life.

The boy had been engaging online with an unknown person who threatened to share personal photos of him with his family and friends if he did not pay $500, NSW police said in a statement on Monday.

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‘I’m a little bit tired’: Briton becomes first person to run the length of Africa

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Russ Cook from Worthing reaches Ras Angela, Tunisia, after covering more than 9,900 miles in 352 days

After more than 9,940 miles (16,000km) over 352 days across 16 countries, Russ Cook, aka the “Hardest Geezer”, has completed the mammoth challenge of running the length of Africa.

The 27-year-old endurance athlete from Worthing, West Sussex, crossed the finish line in Tunisia on Sunday afternoon, and planned to celebrate with a party – as well as a strawberry daiquiri – having raised more than £600,000 for charity.

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Fears of violence grow as Somalia scraps power-sharing system

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Semi-autonomous state of Puntland refuses to recognise changes to the fragile country’s constitution and has withdrawn from the federal system

An overhaul of Somalia’s constitution, scrapping its power-sharing system and handing the president increased control, is threatening to destabilise the fragile country, as its wealthiest and most stable state refuses to recognise the changes.

The amendments risk worsening violence, the information minister from the semi-autonomous state of Puntland has warned. Mohamud Aidid Dirir told the Guardian that “almost a totally new constitution” had been introduced without input from the state’s leaders. He accused the Somali president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, of using parliament to “gather authority into his hands”.

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Macron to say France and allies could have stopped Rwanda genocide in 1994

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French president marks 30th anniversary with video, airing Sunday, saying international community lacked will to stop the slaughter

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has said France and its western and African allies “could have stopped” Rwanda’s 1994 genocide but did not have the will to halt the slaughter of an estimated 800,000 people, mostly ethnic Tutsis.

In a video message to be published on Sunday to mark the 30th anniversary of the genocide, Macron will emphasise that “when the phase of total extermination against the Tutsis began, the international community had the means to know and act”, the presidency said on Thursday.

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US tourist killed after bull elephant toppled safari vehicle in Zambia

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Four others were wounded in the attack at Kafue national park, in which the animal barreled into the side of a truck

An elderly US tourist was killed and four others hurt when an aggressive bull elephant charged and toppled their safari vehicle during a game drive in Zambia.

The attack at Kafue national park, in which the large pachyderm ran from a wooded area and barreled into the side of the truck, was captured on video and posted to social media by ABC News. It identified the tourist as 79-year-old Gail Mattson of Minnesota.

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Elite cyclist to lead London race while living in asylum hotel

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Trhas Tesfay, who fled war in Ethiopia, says she suffers hunger headaches as she cannot eat Home Office hotel meals

One of Ethiopia’s elite female cyclists will be pedalling at the front of one of London’s biggest bike races next month while living in an asylum seeker hotel on less than £10 a week.

Trhas Teklehaimanot Tesfay, 22, rode a bicycle for the first time when she was 13 years old. She has achieved success in a range of competitions such as the African Continental Championships and the national championships of Ethiopia.

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Ex-speaker of South African parliament charged with money laundering and corruption

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Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula resigned amid accusations she solicited bribes when she was defence minister

South Africa’s former parliament speaker has been charged with corruption and money laundering, in the latest scandal to hit the governing African National Congress (ANC) party before elections in May.

Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, who resigned from her post as speaker on Wednesday, appeared before a court in Pretoria after she handed herself in to police and was formally detained.

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Rio Tinto’s Madagascar mine may face lawsuit over pollution claims

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Mining company hit with accusation it contaminated waterways with harmful levels of uranium and lead

Rio Tinto is facing a likely lawsuit in an English court brought by the UK-based law firm Leigh Day on behalf of people living in villages near a mine in Madagascar.

In a letter of claim, a document that is an early step in a lawsuit, the villagers accuse Rio Tinto of contaminating the waterways and lakes that they use for domestic purposes with elevated and harmful levels of uranium and lead, which pose a serious risk to human health.

This story was published in partnership with The Intercept. The reporting for this investigation was supported by a grant from Journalists for Transparency, an initiative of Transparency International.

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Zimbabwean president declares state of disaster due to drought

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Emmerson Mnangagwa says country needs $2bn of aid as severe dry spell caused by El Niño afflicts southern Africa

Zimbabwe has declared a national disaster over a drought caused by the climate event known as El Niño and President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said the country needs $2bn in aid to help millions of people who are going hungry.

The severe dry spell is wreaking havoc across southern Africa.

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Surge of interest in Ethiopian culture boosts case for return of treasures, says Sissay

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Poet who is curating country’s first Venice Biennale pavilion says ‘part of the heart’ of the country was looted and is being held in museums

An Ethiopian cultural surge – including a first national pavilion at the Venice Biennale and the rise of stars such as Ruth Negga and The Weeknd – is making the country’s calls for restitution of looted colonial-era artefacts harder to ignore, according to Lemn Sissay.

The poet and author, who is curating the country’s inaugural Biennale pavilion, where Tesfaye Urgessa’s work will be on show, said the event would be part of a significant cultural push from the east African country and its diaspora over the last two decades.

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Uganda court rejects petition to overturn harsh anti-gay law

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Legislation adopted last year outraged LGBTQ+ community, rights activists, the UN and western nations

Uganda’s constitutional court has rejected a bid to overturn a controversial anti-gay law that is considered one of the toughest in the world.

“We decline to nullify the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 in its entirety, neither will we grant a permanent injunction against its enforcement,” Justice Richard Buteera, Uganda’s deputy chief justice and head of the court, said in the landmark ruling.

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Botswana threatens to send 20,000 elephants to Germany in trophy hunting row

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President Mokgweetsi Masisi voices anger over Berlin’s opposition to the import of trophies over poaching concerns

Botswana’s president has threatened to send 20,000 elephants to Germany amid a dispute over the import of hunting trophies.

Earlier this year Germany’s environment ministry raised the possibility of stricter limits on the import of hunting trophies over poaching concerns. But a ban on the import of hunting trophies would only impoverish Botswanans, Mokgweetsi Masisi told German daily Bild.

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Norwegian Cruise captain refused to let eight passengers who were late reboard ship

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Passengers, who have since rejoined vessel, missed scheduled departure time from São Tomé and scrambled to reunite with ship

Eight cruise passengers had to scramble to reunite with their cruise ship after being left behind in São Tomé and Príncipe.

The passengers, including a pregnant woman and a paraplegic traveller, missed their scheduled departure time from the island of São Tomé in the Gulf of Guinea, about 250km off the coast of Gabon, after disembarking the Norwegian Dawn to take a local tour.

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British Steel wins multimillion-pound contract for Egyptian rail project

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Around 9,500 tonnes of track will be provided for north African country’s first fully electrified mainline

British Steel has won a multimillion-pound contract to supply rail for a new route in north Africa, the company has announced.

Approximately 9,500 tonnes of track, produced in Scunthorpe, will be provided for Egypt’s first fully electrified mainline and freight network which stretches from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.

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Bassirou Diomaye Faye sworn in as Senegal’s youngest president

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Leftwinger one of a group of opposition politicians freed from prison 10 days before presidential ballot

Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a leftwing pan-Africanist, has been sworn in as Senegal’s youngest president, pledging systemic change, greater sovereignty and calm after years of deadly turmoil.

The 44-year-old, who has never held an elected office, swept to a first-round victory on a promise of radical reform just 10 days after being released from prison.

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British Museum investigated over Ethiopian artefacts hidden from view for 150 years

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Watchdog examining claims key details have not been disclosed about altar tablets it is facing calls to return

The British Museum is being investigated by the information watchdog over claims it has been overly secretive about some of the most sensitive items in its collection – a group of sacred Ethiopian altar tablets that have been hidden from view at the museum for more than 150 years.

The 11 wood and stone tabots, which the museum acknowledges were looted by British soldiers after the Battle of Maqdala in 1868, have never been on public display and are considered to be so sacred that even the institution’s own curators and trustees are forbidden from examining them.

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