Africa - Page 5

The World Health Organization (W.H.O.) on Thursday declared a formal end to its monkeypox emergency due to rapidly declining case numbers around the world.

“Stolen” African artefacts returned by the progressive West to the Nigerian government have now disappeared, experts say.

Police in Kenya on Monday reported they have recovered at least 58 bodies from forest land occupied by the Good News International Church, a cult whose members believed they could ascend to Heaven by starving themselves.

President Joe Biden on Saturday ordered the evacuation of U.S. embassy staff in Khartoum, Sudan, amid worsening fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, a rival paramilitary force.

Yoweri Museveni, the longtime authoritarian president of Uganda, announced on Thursday that he would not sign into law a legislative bill that would greatly expand criminal punishment for individuals suspected of being gay, including proscribing the death penalty for a new crime: “aggravated homosexuality.”

Nigerian presidential candidate Peter Obi was detained at Heathrow Airport in London on Good Friday and interrogated for hours, apparently because someone had been impersonating him in London.

A documentary on the life and tumultuous times of Queen Cleopatra is on the horizon for Netflix with the planned docuseries veering from accepted historical wisdom by changing the subject’s ethnicity.

Last weekend saw a rash of mass casualty attacks in Africa, with atrocities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burkina Faso, and Nigeria claimed by the Islamic State (ISIS) and other terrorist groups.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni responded to criticism of his country’s draconian new laws against same-sex relationships by urging other African leaders to join him in resisting “the promotion of homosexuality.”

China’s state-run Global Times on Monday mocked the Biden administration for trying to compete with China for the affections of Africa by spending a fraction of the money Beijing has invested in the continent.

A former general has called on the EU to act militarily in Africa, blaming PMC Wagner Group for the current wave of illegal immigrants. 

Vice President Kamala Harris visited Ghana on Monday. She praised the “democratic principles” of President Nana Akufo-Addo and pledged $139 million in assistance for the coming fiscal year, plus a share of various regional initiatives, including economic support and counter-terrorism programs.

An in-depth genetic study of the German composer’s DNA has dispelled longstanding myths and claims the composer had African roots.

The World Health Organization (W.H.O.) said on Thursday that eight new cases of the deadly Marburg disease have been reported in Equatorial Guinea, bringing the total of confirmed and probable cases to 20 since the mysterious outbreak began in February. Tanzania surprisingly reported five deaths this week in that country’s first known Marburg infections.

Uganda’s parliament passed a bill criminalizing homosexuality on Tuesday, with 387 out of 389 legislators voting in favor. The bill stipulates the death penalty for defendants who commit acts of “aggravated homosexuality.”

A crew of as-yet unidentified gunmen attacked a Chinese-operated gold mine in the Central African Republic (CAR) on Sunday, killing nine Chinese nationals and injuring two more.

The implosion of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) is sending shockwaves around the world, reaching all the way to Africa, where fragile tech startups are worried that more banks will fail, destroying their supply of much-needed venture capital.

A wild cat captured in Oakley, Ohio, a few months ago was later tested for narcotics, and the result was shocking.

The majority of those leaving Africa for Europe are not economic migrants, a Catholic official asserted this week, but climate migrants.

First lady Jill Biden told CNN that she offers a “good balance” of insight to her husband, President Joe Biden.

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that he will be reducing the number of French troops stationed in Africa while turning military bases into “academies”.

Latin American and African nations made up the bulk of the small resistance on Thursday against condemning Russia on the anniversary of its “special operation” against Ukraine during a vote at the United Nations General Assembly.

Less than 24 hours before polls open in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy is facing an unprecedented four-way race to the presidency marred by rampant Whatsapp conspiracy theories, fears of vote-buying, threats of violence against would-be voters, and at least one candidate assassination.

Tunisian President Kais Saied has been criticised for stating illegal immigration is directed toward changing demographics.

Two members of the House subcommittee on Africa, Reps. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) and Chris Smith (R-NJ), on Wednesday asked President Joe Biden to halt a $1 billion arms sale to Nigeria due to humanitarian abuses, including the Nigerian military allegedly killing children and running a near-genocidal illegal abortion program.

The depiction of French soldiers as trying to steal ‘vibranium’ has prompted fury from the country’s real-life armed forces minister.

U.N. Undersecretary-General for Counter-Terrorism Vladimir Voronkov said on Thursday that the Islamic State (ISIS) remains a serious threat, with a “particularly worrying” show of growing strength in Africa’s conflict zones.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov continued his swing through Africa on Thursday by meeting with the ruling junta in Sudan immediately after pledging Russia’s support to the military coup that rules Mali.

Migrants leaving Africa to travel across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe are only looking for “a little well-being,” Pope Francis said Tuesday.

Ethiopia’s Addis Standard on Wednesday reported that dozens of civilians have been killed in clashes in the Oromo Special Zone of the Amhara region.

Hundreds of people turned out in Lusaka, Zambia, on Tuesday to attend the funeral of Lemekani Nyirenda, a 23-year-old engineering student recruited by Russia’s infamous Wagner Group of mercenaries and killed while fighting for Russia in Ukraine.

A group of unidentified “bandits” reportedly shouting “Allahu akbar!” shot and burned alive Father Isaac Achi on Sunday in Niger state, Nigeria – ending the life of a dedicated clergyman who had already survived a Boko Haram Christmas bombing, an abduction, and another shooting.

A report by the Rand Corporation on the growing influence of China and Russia in Africa found that Beijing is not far behind Moscow in exporting weapons and private military contractors to African nations, especially those participating in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The Indian government is reportedly interested in buying a copper mine and up to two lithium mines in Argentina, in a bid to catch up with China as a top provider of minerals needed for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

The EU aims to increase its ability to deport illegal migrants, the bloc’s Home Affairs commissioner has claimed amid a growing wave of illegal immigration into the bloc.

African Christians endured another grim year in 2022, especially in turbulent Somalia and Nigeria, where Islamist gangs such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State wiped out entire villages and Christian farmers clashed with herdsmen from the Fulani tribe.