Category Archives: Africa

LGBTQ+ groups face crackdowns in Uganda as environment turns hostile

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Activists fear a systematic ‘witch-hunt’ against sexual minorities by parliament, police and religious conservatives

A dramatic surge in attacks on LGBTQ+ people in Uganda has been recorded by rights groups this year, as the environment for sexual minorities turns increasingly hostile.

More than 110 people reported incidents including arrests, sexual violence, evictions and public undressing, to advocacy group Sexual Minorities Uganda (Smug) in February alone. Transgender people were disproportionately affected, said the group.

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More than 100 killed as Storm Freddy returns to Mozambique and Malawi

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One of the strongest storms recorded in the southern hemisphere hit region for second time in a month

Mozambique and Malawi have been left counting the cost of Tropical Storm Freddy, which killed more than 100 people, injured scores and left a trail of destruction as it ripped through southern Africa for the second time in a month over the weekend.

Freddy is one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the southern hemisphere and could be the longest-lasting tropical cyclone, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

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Press banned from opening session of new Tunisian parliament

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Independent media barred from building to avoid ‘disorder’, as president tightens autocratic grip

Independent and foreign journalists have been barred from attending the first session of Tunisia’s new parliament, which has been largely stripped of its powers by the increasingly autocratic president.

The ban on journalists entering the parliament building is the first since the revolution that ousted the late dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.

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Dozens of people reported missing in Mediterranean after vessel capsizes

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Rescue organisations say passengers on boat attempting crossing from Libya to Italy are feared dead

Several dozen people are missing and feared dead in the central Mediterranean after the boat in which they were travelling from Libya capsized in bad weather, two rescue organisations have said.

The Mediterranea Saving Humans NGO tweeted that according to several sources, the vessel, travelling in the direction of Italy, capsized this morning about 110 miles (180km) north-west of Benghazi.

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‘Farmgate’: Cyril Ramaphosa inquiry ‘clears’ South African president but police still investigating

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ANC leader was accused of failing to report theft of foreign cash hidden in sofas at his ranch

South Africa’s anti-corruption watchdog has reportedly cleared president Cyril Ramaphosa of any wrongdoing in a preliminary report on a cover-up scandal known as “farmgate”, involving between $580,000 and $5m of foreign currency hidden at his private game farm.

The Public Protector said it had notified implicated parties of the preliminary findings of its probe over the theft of the cash from Ramaphosa’s luxury farmhouse – something the president is accused of having attempted to conceal.

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Children face acute risk amid Malawi’s deadliest cholera outbreak

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The disease, which has killed 1,500 people since last March, has been aggravated by heavy rains and an overburdened health system

Malawi’s cholera outbreak is the country’s deadliest on record, claiming more than 1,500 lives, according to the UN.

More than 50,000 cases have been detected in the landlocked country in south-east Africa since an outbreak was declared in March last year, triggered by two devastating tropical storms that hit the region. Almost 200 children have died.

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Nigeria postpones state elections amid dispute over presidential vote

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Electoral commission says it is pushing back polling due to problems with digital voting system

Nigeria has postponed Saturday’s crucial state elections amid wrangling over a presidential vote that opposition parties claim was rigged.

The electoral commission emerged from an hours-long meeting on Wednesday night to announce it was pushing back polls to elect powerful state governors by a week.

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Sphinx-like statue and shrine discovered in southern Egypt

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It is thought the Roman emperor Claudius could have inspired work found in the temple of Dendera

Archaeologists have unearthed a sphinx-like statue and the remains of a shrine in an ancient temple in southern Egypt.

The artefacts were found in the temple of Dendera, in Qena province, 280 miles (450km) south of Cairo, Egypt’s antiquities ministry said.

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UK urged to seek release of Tunisian opposition figure jailed in crackdown

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Daughter of Said Ferjani, who lived in UK for more than 20 years, says he has been falsely imprisoned and asks MPs to intervene


Britain is being urged to help protect the last vestiges of the Arab spring by calling for the release of Said Ferjani, the leading Tunisian politician who has been thrown into prison as part of an effort to silence the critics of the country’s increasingly authoritarian president.

Ferjani, 68, lived in the UK in political exile for more than two decades before returning for Tunisia’s democratic awakening in 2011.

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Florence and her cubs give hope that west African lion can come roaring back

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National park in Senegal shows off three surprise new recruits in fight to save critically endangered species from extinction

A lioness in one of the world’s rarest lion populations has given birth to three cubs, new video footage shows, raising hopes that the critically endangered big cat can be saved from extinction.

In contrast to their southern cousins, west African lions have almost completely disappeared. Scientists believe between 120 and 374 remain in the wild, their historic range reduced to four populations clinging on in Nigeria, Benin, Niger and Burkina Faso.

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Kenya’s LGBTQ community wins bittersweet victory in battle for rights

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Supreme court rules for freedom of association but landmark decision sparks backlash from government and churches

The supreme court of Kenya has criticised the government for failure to register an association for LGBTQ+ people, saying the decision discriminates against the rights of the community.

Although same-sex unions remain illegal in Kenya, the court ruled that everyone has a right of association. It is the culmination of a decade-long legal battle, and a victory for the LGBTQ+ community.

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Third-party candidate Peter Obi to challenge Nigeria election result

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Political outsider says says he will prove he won, after official result awarded victory to ruling party’s Bola Tinubu

The third-party candidate Peter Obi said he would challenge the outcome of Nigeria’s fiercely fought presidential elections after official results awarded victory to the ruling party’s candidate, Bola Tinubu.

“We will explore all legal and peaceful options to reclaim our mandate. We won the election and we will prove it to Nigerians,” Obi, the Labour party candidate, told reporters on Thursday in the capital, Abuja.

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How family and Libya conflict radicalised Manchester Arena bomber

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Parents’ extremist views and civil war in the country of their birth set Salman Abedi on path to terrorism

Although Salman Abedi was born in Manchester, on New Year’s Eve in 1994, his path to becoming one of the UK’s most deadly terrorists began in Libya, the country of his parents’ birth.

It was from there that Ramadan Abedi and Samia Tabbal fled in 1993, claiming asylum in the UK on the basis that they faced persecution under the regime of Muammar Gaddafi. The couple went on to establish new lives in Fallowfield, south Manchester, with their children attending local schools.

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Scientists prove clear link between deforestation and local drop in rainfall

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Study adds to fears Amazon is approaching tipping point after which it will not be able to generate its own rainfall

For the first time researchers have proven a clear correlation between deforestation and regional precipitation. Scientists hope it may encourage agricultural companies and governments in the Amazon and Congo basin regions and south-east Asia to invest more in protecting trees and other vegetation.

The study found that the more rainforests are cleared in tropical countries, the less local farmers will be able to depend on rain for their crops and pastures.

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Uganda MPs revive hardline anti-LGBTQ bill, calling homosexuality a ‘cancer’

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In a country where gay sex is already punishable by life in prison, campaigners have condemned proposed new law as ‘demonisation’

MPs in Uganda have reintroduced a controversial anti-LGBTQ bill, with one describing homosexuality as a “cancer”, attracting strong condemnation from rights campaigners.

Asuman Basalirwa, an opposition MP, made the remark as he tabled the draft law [pdf] which seeks to punish gay sex and “the promotion or recognition of such relations”.

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US firm to bid to turn DRC oil permits in Virunga park into conservation projects

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Exclusive: company plans to sell carbon and biodiversity credits in endangered gorilla habitat and Congo basin rainforest as alternative to drilling for fossil fuels

A New York investment firm is to launch a $400m (£334m) bid for oil concessions in the Congo basin rainforest and Virunga national park with plans to turn them into conservation projects, the Guardian can reveal.

EQX Biome, a biodiversity fintech company, has sent an expression of interest to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) government for 27 oil exploration blocks put up for auction last July, some of which are in critical ecosystems.

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Nigeria’s ruling party candidate Tinubu wins presidential election – electoral commission

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Former Lagos governor polled ahead of Abubakar and Obi in Nigeria’s most competitive election since end of military rule in 1999

Nigeria’s ruling party candidate, Bola Tinubu, was on Wednesday declared winner of the presidential election, after defeating two of his closest rivals in the most competitive election for decades.

Tinubu’s victory after the weekend vote signalled the continued dominance of the established political elite in Nigeria. Analysts had described the poll as a potential “inflection point” for Africa’s most populous country, which is struggling with economic turmoil, widespread violence and corruption.

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Nigeria’s opposition calls for election to be scrapped as results show Tinubu leading

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Reuters tally on Tuesday night says ruling party’s candidate has an ‘unassailable lead’

Nigeria’s main opposition parties have called for the country’s presidential election to be scrapped, alleging that results showing the ruling party’s candidate in the lead had been manipulated.

A slew of results during the day have put Bola Tinubu from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) well ahead of the main opposition Peoples Democratic party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and the outsider third challenger, the Labour party’s Peter Obi.

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Nigeria election: early results put ruling party’s Bola Tinubu in strong lead

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Tinubu appears on course for victory despite Labour candidate Peter Obi taking Lagos in surprise result

Early results in Nigeria’s presidential and parliamentary elections have put the ruling party’s candidate well ahead, but also revealed a surprise victory for the outsider Peter Obi in Lagos, the country’s biggest city and commercial powerhouse.

Analysts speak of a “bellwether” election that could be a crucial turning point for Nigeria after several years of worsening insecurity and acute economic troubles. Many believe a credible poll and progress in tackling the country’s multiple problems are key to stability across a swath of Africa.

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Weather tracker: Cyclone Freddy brings torrential rain to parts of Africa

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Downpours lash Mozambique and Zimbabwe – meanwhile, unseasonably high and low temperatures hit east and west US

The remnants of Tropical Cyclone Freddy continue to wreak havoc in parts of south-east Africa. Originally forming as a disturbance embedded within a monsoon trough on 5 February, the system continues to bring torrential rain. However, it is no longer classed as a tropical cyclone, with sustained wind speeds now well below 74mph.

Having spent three weeks moving westwards across the entire Indian Ocean before affecting Mauritius, Réunion and Madagascar, Freddy made landfall in Mozambique on 24 February, bringing sustained winds of 50mph.

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