Category Archives: Africa

German aid worker freed after kidnapping in Niger four years ago

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63-year-old Joerg Lange’s employer, humanitarian organisation Help, did not say how release secured

A 63-year-old German aid worker, Joerg Lange, has been freed more than four years after he was kidnapped in western Niger near the Malian border, his employer, humanitarian organisation Help, said in a statement on Saturday.

Armed men on motorcycles kidnapped Lange in April 2018 near the Nigerien town of Inates in borderlands where militant groups, some with links to al-Qaida and Islamic State, have carried out frequent attacks for years.

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Pakistani journalist’s killing in Kenya ‘a pre-meditated murder’

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Fact-finding team sent by Pakistani government finds contradictions in reports on Arshad Sharif’s death

A team set up by the Pakistani government to investigate the killing of a well-known Pakistani journalist in Nairobi said it found several contradictions in the version given by Kenyan authorities, and believes it was a case of pre-meditated murder.

The TV journalist Arshad Sharif, who had fled Pakistan citing threats to his life, was shot dead in Nairobi in October. Kenyan officials said it was a case of mistaken identity and that police hunting car thieves opened fire on his vehicle as it drove through a roadblock without stopping.

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‘Bring your own syringe’: Malawi’s medical supplies shortage at crisis point

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A lack of essential drugs and equipment is causing health centres to close, while critics accuse the government of complacency

Health workers in Malawi claim the government is “ignoring” acute shortages of drugs and equipment that are crippling the country’s hospitals.

Patients have been asked to bring in their own syringes while the theatre and labour ward at the main Bwaila maternity hospital in the capital, Lilongwe – has faced temporary closures because “we don’t have equipment/supplies to work with”, according to a notice pasted to a wall. Regular power cuts are also impacting.

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Rising temperatures causing distress to foetuses, study reveals

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Climate crisis increases risks for subsistence farmers in Africa who usually work throughout pregnancy

Rising temperatures driven by climate breakdown are causing distress to the foetuses of pregnant farmers, who are among the worst affected by global heating.

A study revealed that the foetuses of women working in fields in the Gambia showed concerning rises in heart rates and reductions in the blood flow to the placenta as conditions became hotter. The women, who do much of the agricultural labour and work throughout pregnancy, told the scientists that temperatures had noticeably increased in the past decade.

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Delighted Morocco fans dance in the streets of London after World Cup win

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Crowds mass joyfully in centre of capital after 3-0 victory on penalties against Spain puts team in quarter-finals

Elated Morocco fans celebrated on the streets of London on Tuesday night following their team’s triumph over Spain in the last 16 of the World Cup.

Footage showed crowds of people around Oxford Street, Piccadilly Circus and Edgware Road chanting, dancing and waving Moroccan flags after the result.

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Ramaphosa account of ‘Farmgate’ cash backed up by businessman

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Hazim Mustafa says he paid $580,000 for cattle at South African president’s ranch in 2019

A Sudanese businessman has confirmed that he made the payment of hundreds of thousands of dollars for cattle at the centre of the scandal threatening to unseat South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa.

The embattled president launched legal action on Monday to challenge a report handed over last week by an independent panel appointed by parliament that accused him of serious misconduct after the theft from his private game ranch of a sum reported to be between $500,000 (£410,000) and $5m in cash almost three years ago.

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Former development secretaries urge Sunak to increase east Africa aid amid drought

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‘Famine in all but name’ ravaging Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, yet British aid is one-fifth of 2017 amount

The UK urgently needs to do more to help more than 28 million people in drought-stricken Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, two former secretaries of state for international development and the heads of 14 of the UK’s leading aid agencies have warned in a joint letter to the prime minister, Rishi Sunak.

They say one person is dying every 36 seconds, yet British aid to the region is only one-fifth of what Britain provided when the region was struck by famine in 2017. More than 7 million children are acutely malnourished across the three countries.

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DRC estimates 300 villagers killed in massacre by rebels

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Raid on village of Kishishe in Democratic Republic of Congo blamed on M23 insurgents

About 300 people died in an attack on villagers blamed on the M23 rebel group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo last week, industry minister Julien Paluku has said.

The army had initially accused insurgents of killing at least 50 civilians in Kishishe village in eastern North Kivu province, before the government put the number of dead at more than 100.

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South Africa: ANC says it will block efforts to impeach Cyril Ramaphosa

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Ruling party’s decision is a relief for the country’s president after doubts about his political future

South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party has said it will block attempts to impeach the country’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, at a crucial vote in parliament on Tuesday, providing relief to the embattled leader after days of uncertainty about his political future.

Ramaphosa launched legal action on Monday to challenge a report handed over last week by an independent panel appointed by parliament that accused him of serious misconduct after the theft from his private game ranch of somewhere between $500,000 (£410,000) and $5m in cash almost three years ago.

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Nigeria frees student arrested after tweet about first lady Aisha Buhari

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Aminu Adamu’s detention had sparked widespread outrage before Aisha Buhari withdrew complaint

Nigeria has freed a student charged with “criminal defamation” over a tweet he posted about the physical appearance of the country’s first lady.

Aminu Adamu was arrested at his university in northern Jigawa state on 18 November after Aisha Buhari filed a complaint and then remanded into custody until January.

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£18bn project to link UK to huge wind and solar farm in Sahara delayed by a year

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Exclusive: Dave Lewis, chair of startup hoping to provide 8% of Britain’s energy, tells how political turmoil has delayed undersea cable project

An £18bn project to connect Britain with a huge wind and solar farm in the Sahara through an undersea cable has been delayed by at least a year because of political ructions in Westminster.

The energy startup Xlinks hopes to provide 8% of Britain’s energy supplies through a 3,800km (2,360-mile) cable linking Morocco with the UK, powering 7m homes by 2030.

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Senegal or England to win? Parents v children in London’s west African community

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In Deptford, south-east London, support for Senegal is high among the older generation, while their offspring opt for the country of their birth in the World Cup showdown

Football’s capacity to unite is routinely lauded, but Sunday’s World Cup match between England and Senegal has already divided many west African families in London.

The split is generational. Parents say they tend to support Senegal, the country of their birth, while their children opt to support the state they were raised in: England.

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South Africa president to mount legal action in face of impeachment threat

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Cyril Ramaphosa rejects call to stand down after accusation of ‘serious misconduct’

Cyril Ramaphosa, the embattled president of South Africa, has rejected calls to step down and said he will seek a judicial review of a report handed over last week by an independent panel appointed by parliament that accused him of “serious misconduct”, aides said.

The move may forestall looming impeachment but could plunge South Africa into a prolonged bout of political instability.

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Campaigners celebrate changing of colonial street names in Berlin

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Street and square in north-east of city renamed in tribute to figureheads who resisted forced rule in Africa

Campaigners who have fought for decades for Germany to confront its colonial past celebrated the renaming of a square and a street in the north-east of Berlin on Friday in tribute to figureheads who resisted forced rule in Africa.

Manga Bell Platz in the so-called African Quarter of Berlin’s Wedding district was renamed in memory of Rudolf and Emily Duala Manga Bell, a king and queen of Duala in Cameroon who fought against German colonialism. Rudolf Duala Manga Bell, who had been educated in Germany, was executed along with about 100 other people by German authorities in August 1914 after a sham trial.

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Cyril Ramaphosa fighting for political life amid battle for control of ANC

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South African president cancels all official engagements and was reported to be close to resigning over ‘Farmgate’

Farmgate scandal: what is it and why does it matter?

The South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, is fighting for his political life as rivals and supporters face off in a divisive battle for control of the ruling party, the African National Congress.

The power struggle came after an independent panel appointed by parliament said there was evidence suggesting the South African president committed “serious misconduct” after millions of dollars in cash was reportedly stolen from his private game ranch almost three years ago.

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Paraglider crosses border from Morocco into Spanish enclave and disappears

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Spanish authorities hunt for person seen landing near border fence in Melilla and running off

Spanish authorities are looking for a person who used a paraglider to cross over a border fence from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Melilla in what appears to be the first use of the method to migrate into European territory.

Footage obtained by El Faro newspaper shows a person landing near the fence and then running off, leading officials to suspect the individual was trying to reach Europe.

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‘Senegal is the best’: Dakar dreams of World Cup upset over England

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There is a buzz in the air of the capital and a real belief the Lions of Teranga can beat the Three Lions

Just under 4,500 miles (7,200km) away from the shiny stadiums in Qatar, a man named Serigne Fallou confidently proclaims that he already knows what the result will be on Sunday when England take on Senegal in the World Cup’s round of 16.

“Absolutely, Senegal will win, 1-0,” says Fallou, an apartment doorman in Dakar, Senegal’s bustling capital on the Atlantic Ocean. “I don’t have a doubt.”

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South Africa’s Farmgate scandal: what is it and why does it matter?

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With Cyril Ramaphosa under pressure, we look at what the scandal could mean for the country

Cyril Ramaphosa took power as South Africa’s president in 2018 and led the ruling African National Congress party to a general election victory a year later. He campaigned on an anti-corruption platform, attracting much support after the turbulent nine-year rule of his populist predecessor, Jacob Zuma, who was forced out by a series of scandals. Ramaphosa, 70, has since struggled to push through much-needed reforms and has faced fierce resistance from Zuma loyalists.

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Nigeria charges student with defamation over tweet about first lady

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Student arrested five months after posting comment about Aisha Buhari

Nigeria has charged a student with “criminal defamation” over a tweet he posted about the physical appearance of the country’s first lady.

Aminu Adamu was arrested at his university in northern Jigawa state on 18 November and transferred to the capital, Abuja, five months after his online post about Aisha Buhari, the president’s wife.

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Ramaphosa delays parliament appearance over ‘Farmgate’ corruption scandal

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South Africa’s political crisis deepens after panel says president should face scrutiny over ability to stay in office

The government of Cyril Ramaphosa has plunged further into crisis, a day after an an independent panel appointed by parliament said there was evidence suggesting the South African president committed “serious misconduct” after millions of dollars in cash were reportedly stolen from his private game ranch almost three years ago.

Ramaphosa was expected to answer questions in South Africa’s parliament on Thursday but postponed his appearance, saying he needed time to consider the panel’s timing. The deputy president, David Mabuza, cancelled a keynote address at a World Aids Day commemoration event, while key spokespeople failed to hold regular briefings.

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