Crops have failed in several countries, with 27m people at risk of hunger according to World Food Programme
Emmanuel Himoonga paced his dry field, picking up stalks of maize that had been bleached almost to bone white.
The 61-year-old chief of Shakumbila, a mainly agricultural community of about 7,000 people roughly 70 miles west of Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, had seen droughts before.
Continue reading...Roland Cherry, from Warwickshire, sustained severe bite wounds after being mauled by animal during safari
A man narrowly survived after being dragged to the bottom of a river and “thrown through the air like a rag doll” when he was attacked by hippo while canoeing on holiday in Zambia.
Roland Cherry, who was on five-week holiday through southern Africa with his wife, Shirley, sustained severe bite wounds across his body, including a 10in wound to his abdomen, as well as a thigh injury and dislocated shoulder in the attack.
Continue reading...Africans still have stronger preference for democratic governance than many other parts of the world
Support for democracy is falling in Africa amid a string of military coups and dissatisfaction with corruption and mismanagement, according to a report by Afrobarometer. However, Africans still have a stronger preference for democratic governance than many parts of the world.
Two-thirds of people in 30 African countries prefer democracy, surveys conducted in 2021 or 2023 found, down seven percentage points from a decade earlier.
Continue reading...Zambia’s Mubita Nawa, who is on shortlist for top job, is accused of involvement in an attempted extortion in 2022
A candidate to be the next head of Interpol has been accused of involvement in the kidnap, detention, assault and attempted extortion of two Indian businessmen.
Lawyers for Vinod and Uddit Sadhu have written to Interpol saying the allegations against Mubita Nawa, a deputy commissioner of police in Zambia, suggest he is “plainly unsuitable” to be its next secretary general.
Continue reading...Collins Nzovu says country’s plight is foretaste of disasters that will increasingly afflict region as climate breakdown takes hold
Severe drought in Zambia is threatening hunger for millions of people, cutting off electricity for long periods and destroying the country’s social fabric and economy, the environment minister has warned, in a harbinger of what is in store for the region as the climate crisis worsens.
Collins Nzovu said the “crippling drought” his country was experiencing hammered home the message that developing countries were facing catastrophe from the climate crisis, even as richer countries failed to muster financial help for the most afflicted.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...Resurgence classified as grade 3 emergency by WHO, with southern Africa and Haiti among those hardest hit
Cholera cases soared last year, according to preliminary data from the World Health Organization, which recorded 4,000 cholera deaths and 667,000 cases globally.
The numbers surpassed that of 2022, and the WHO has classified the global resurgence of cholera as a grade 3 emergency, its highest internal health emergency level.
Continue reading...South African court dismisses huge class-action lawsuit over toxic legacy of mining at Broken Hill in Zambia between 1925 and 1974
A South African court has thrown out a case brought against the multinational mining company Anglo American on behalf of 140,000 Zambian women and children, who allege they have suffered lead poisoning from one of its mines.
The lawsuit, one of Africa’s largest class-action cases, was filed in October 2020, accused Anglo American of negligence over its alleged failure to prevent widespread lead poisoning in the Zambian town of Kabwe, where its South African subsidiary is alleged to have played a key role in running a large mine from 1925 until 1974.
Continue reading...Hiring from ‘red-list’ nations risks destabilising healthcare overseas, warns Royal College of Nursing
The NHS has been accused of “unethical” behaviour after it emerged that it has been recruiting record numbers of nurses and midwives from countries which have serious staffing shortages.
Bringing in staff from “red-list” countries risked destabilising those nations’ healthcare systems and breaching government guidelines, said hospital employers and the Royal College of Nursing.
Continue reading...Country, estimated to be owed up to $1.5trn, is increasing penalties for late payments and cutting back on infrastructure projects
China has become the world’s biggest debt collector, as the money it is owed from developing countries has surged to between $1.1tn (£889bn) and $1.5tn, according to a new report. An estimated 80% of China’s overseas lending portfolio in the global south is now supporting countries in financial distress.
Since 2017, China has been the world’s biggest bilateral lender; its main development banks issued nearly $500bn between 2008 and 2021. While some of this predates the belt and road initiative (BRI), Beijing’s flagship development programme has mobilised much of the investment in developing countries.
Continue reading...Morning runs by Edgar Lungu and party supporters amount to ‘activism’ that requires clearance, police say
A former president of Zambia has been warned that his morning jog is turning into “political activism” for which he must seek police approval.
The police said the runs by Edgar Lungu and some of his party supporters requires their clearance to ensure the safety of the man who lost power in 2021.
Continue reading...Logs shaped with sharp tools on border of river predate rise of modern humans and may have formed walkway or platform
Researchers have discovered remnants of what is thought to be the world’s oldest known wooden structure, an arrangement of logs on the bank of a river bordering Zambia and Tanzania that predates the rise of modern humans.
The simple structure, made by shaping two logs with sharp stone tools, may have formed part of a walkway or platform for human ancestors who lived along the Kalambo River nearly 500,000 years ago.
Continue reading...Zambia study finds egg variability and random nest selection by cuckoos helps fork-tailed drongos rumble impostors
Cuckoos might be the ultimate avian con artists, laying lookalike eggs in the nests of other birds to avoid raising their own young, but researchers say at least one potential victim is remarkably good at rumbling the fraud.
Scientists studying the African cuckoo have revealed that while the birds are able to produce almost identical-looking eggs to those of the fork-tailed drongo, the latter is likely to reject an impostor egg about 94% of the time.
Continue reading...Exclusive: CT Group, co-owned by Lynton Crosby, planned secretive African campaign on behalf of Canadian mining giant
A lobbying firm with deep ties to the Conservative party planned a secretive campaign to influence elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in exchange for millions of pounds from a mining company.
Leaked documents suggest the influential firm co-owned by the veteran Tory strategist Sir Lynton Crosby agreed to help the mining company swing a presidential election in the central African country.
Continue reading...Economists accuse bondholders of standing to make huge profits at the expense of the crisis-hit country
More than 100 economists and academics have urged international lenders to crisis-stricken Zambia to write off a significant slice of their loans during financial restructuring talks this month.
Zambia is seeking up to $8.4bn (£7.3bn) in debt relief from major lenders, including private funds run by the world’s largest investment manager, BlackRock, to help put its public finances back in order.
Continue reading...Years of mismanagement have led to soaring debt levels, but critics say that without meaningful relief, austerity will continue
The International Monetary Fund has approved a $1.3bn (£1.1bn) loan to Zambia, as the country scrambles to rebuild its crisis-hit economy after defaulting on its foreign debts in 2020.
The Covid pandemic compounded Zambia’s economic woes, blamed on years of mismanagement and corruption, which left the country with unsustainable levels of debt.
Continue reading...Anti-poverty campaigners say world’s largest fund manager refuses to reduce or delay payments on Zambia’s debt
BlackRock, the world’s largest fund manager, has come under pressure to delay demands for debt interest payments from Zambia to prevent the crisis-hit African country’s finances from spiralling out of control.
Anti-poverty campaigners said BlackRock, which manages $10tn (£7.68tn) of assets, was among the private sector lenders that had refused to reduce the interest rate or delay payments on Zambian bonds, unlike governments and international agencies that hold the country’s debts.
Continue reading...Conservationists welcome interim injunction to stop farm development they say threatens migration of 10 million fruit bats
Conservationists in Zambia have hailed a high court injunction preventing deforestation and commercial agriculture on the edge of Kasanka national park, which they say threatens the world’s biggest mammal migration.
Every October, about 10 million straw-coloured fruit bats descend on the swamps of Kasanka from across Africa and beyond. They feast on fruit in and around the park, one of Zambia’s smallest but under the highest level of protection, dispersing seeds across the continent on their epic journey.
Continue reading...Care International report highlights ‘deep injustice’ neglected by world’s media, as extreme weather along with Covid wipes out decades of progress
From Afghanistan to Ethiopia, about 235 million people worldwide needed assistance in 2021. But while some crises received global attention, others are lesser known.
Humanitarian organisation Care International has published its annual report of the 10 countries that had the least attention in online articles in five languages around the world in 2021, despite each having at least 1 million people affected by conflict or climate disasters.
Continue reading...Amelie Osborn-Smith said she felt 'very lucky' to be alive and was not going to be held back, after a crocodile mauled her during a white water rafting trip along the Zambezi in Zambia.
Osborne-Smith, 18, thought she would lose her foot after the attack and said she was very 'relieved' when doctors told her they had managed to save it
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