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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Africa

Africa stories: 274 news summaries

1 - 20 of 274 Stories | 1 2 3 4 5 ... 14 Next >>

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PALEONTOLOGISTS SAY

 100M Years Ago, Africa 
 Was Crocodile Central 

3 new species unearthed from Sahara include DogCroc

Nov 20, 09 1:12 PM CST
(Newser) - The universe of diverse prehistoric crocodile species keeps expanding, suggesting crocs were one of the dominant forms of life 100 million years ago. Paleontologists have just unearthed three new species in the Sahara desert: the 20-foot BoarCroc, which likely fed on dinosaurs; the 20-foot PancakeCroc, a flat-bodied fish-gobbler; and the... More »

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Africa • paleontology • dinosaur • crocodile • Sahara • National Geographic • Cretaceous Period • scientific research • reptiles • new species

China Offers Africa Billions
in Aid, Debt Forgiveness

Beijing gives back
amid flak over greed

Nov 8, 09 8:09 AM CST
(AP) - Chinese premier Wen Jiabao today pledged $10 billion in low interest loans to African nations over the next three years and said Beijing would cancel the government debts of some of the poorest of those countries. The Asian powerhouse, at the start of a two-day China-Africa summit, looked to deflect... More »

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China • Africa • foreign aid • Wen Jiabao

 Desert Rift Creating 
 New African Sea—Slowly 

Crack created by volcanic eruption will eventually meet with Red Sea

Nov 3, 09 2:14 PM CST
(Newser) - Africa is getting a new ocean—in a million years, give or take. It's starting with a 35-mile rift in the Ethiopian desert caused by the eruption of a volcano in 2005. The rift will eventually meet with the Red Sea, allowing the waters to spill in, say scientists. The... More »

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Africa • Ethiopia • volcano • tectonic plates • Red Sea • new ocean in africa

Famed Man-Eating Lions Not That Hungry: Scientists

Kenyan duo credited with 135 kills ate just 35 humans

Nov 2, 09 4:43 PM CST
(Newser) - The Tsavo lions, reputed to have consumed 135 railroad workers in Africa at the turn of the last century, were not quite as ravenous as legend would have it. The lions—whose stuffed carcasses are enshrined at Chicago ’s Field Museum —actually dispatched a mere 35 souls,... More »

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Africa • Kenya • Chicago • railroad • Field Museum • Tsavo lions • British Empire • taxidermy • John H. Patterson

Rush isn't buying

 Swine Flu 
 Crisis Is Fake 
 —Just Like 
 AIDS in Africa 

Those dang Africans are just fishing for relief cash, says Limbaugh

Oct 29, 09 8:37 AM CDT
(Newser) - What do H1N1 and HIV have in common? They’re both money-making schemes! At least according to Rush Limbaugh, who yesterday took a fairly reasonable critique of swine flu hysteria off the rails and into crazy town, by saying it was being purposely hyped “for many of the same... More »

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Africa • AIDS • Rush Limbaugh • swine flu • H1N1 virus



 Pirates Hijack Yacht, 
 Kidnap UK Couple 

Brits reportedly safe after yacht seized off Somalia

Oct 27, 09 8:35 AM CDT
(Newser) - A British couple whose yacht went missing in the Indian Ocean four days ago is being held by Somali pirates. The couple was captured during a round-the-world trip while sailing from the Seychelles to Tanzania; five international warships were searching hundreds of miles off the African coast for the pair.... More »

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Somalia • Africa • sailing • pirates • yachts • hijacking

Madonna Starts Malawian Girls School

Star breaks ground
on $15M project in children's homeland

Oct 26, 09 4:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - Construction on a Malawian school for girls founded by Madonna began today. The singer has put up $15 million for the creation of the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls, which is expected to be finished in 2 years, the BBC reports. "Growing up in a privileged life, I took... More »

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education • Africa • women • school • Malawi • girls • Madonna • David Banda • Mercy James

$5M African Leadership Prize Goes to ... Nobody

Committee passes over all three candidates, doesn't award $5M to any

Oct 19, 09 2:43 PM CDT
(Newser) - Nobody has won this year's $5 million Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, the committee responsible for picking a winner announced today. That’s an enormous snub to the people eligible for the award, who include former heads of state Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria,... More »

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Africa • Nigeria • South Africa • awards • Thabo Mbeki • Ghana • head of state • Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership • Olusegun Obasanjo • John Kufuor

 Elephants on Verge 
 of Extinction 

Illegal hunting could kill off African population in 15 years

Oct 19, 09 1:44 PM CDT
(Newser) - Within 15 years, African elephants could be extinct as a consequence of rampant ivory poaching, conservation experts say. Africa's elephant population numbers just 600,000, and that number appears to be dwindling by about 38,000 a year. That’s faster than the birth rate. One animal welfare group is... More »

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endangered species • Africa • ivory • poaching • birth rate • elephant • poachers

Tsvangirai Boycotts Unity Government in Zimbabwe

But he's not pulling out of the coalition just yet

Oct 16, 09 1:25 PM CDT
(Newser) - Zimbabwe PM Morgan Tsvangirai’s party will boycott Cabinet meetings and cut off communication with president Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF, theoretically its partner in government. The move accompanies growing anger among members of Tsvangirai’s MDC over Mugabe’s strong-arm tactics and the jailing of a Cabinet minister-designate, the More »

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Africa • Zimbabwe • Robert Mugabe • Morgan Tsvangirai • boycott • coalition government • Zanu-PF • MDC • Southern African Development Community • Roy Bennett • unity government

 In Coup-Torn Guinea, 
 Women Raped in Public 

Cell phone images harden opposition to military junta

Oct 6, 09 7:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - In the west African nation of Guinea, where a military junta seized power in 2008, 50,000 people attended a political demonstration in a stadium last week, where they were attacked by soldiers who shot and killed at least 157 unarmed people, according to human rights groups, and raped at... More »

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Africa • rape • Doctors Without Borders • junta • sexual violence • coup d'etat • Guinea

 10% of Babies Are Premature, 
 Taxing World's Health System 

Of 13 million preemies, 1 million die before surviving 1 month

Oct 4, 09 5:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - Nearly 10% of babies born each year worldwide arrive prematurely, and the stress of caring for them "is exacting a huge toll emotionally, physically and financially on families, medical systems and economies," the March of Dimes said today. Some 13 million babies are preemies, and more than 1... More »

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Africa • Asia • United States • public health • birth rate • preemies • North America • March of Dimes • premature birth • premature baby • preterm birth rate

 Fossil Find 
 Shakes Up 
 Evolution 
 Timeline 

Ardipithecus ramidus lived in trees and walked upright

Oct 1, 09 11:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - A primate fossil found in Africa in 1994 predates the famous “Lucy” skeleton by 1 million years and offers clues to human evolution, researchers say. “This is huge,” a paleoanthropologist tells the Washington Post. “This is the biggest discovery really since” Lucy. The researchers believe... More »

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Africa • evolution • archaeology • paleontology • fossil • chimpanzees • Lucy • primates • scientific study • Australopithecus • Ardipithecus ramidus

 Mountain Gorillas 
 Take Fight to 
 Survive 
 Online 

Ugandan animals' advocates embrace social networking

Sep 28, 09 6:37 PM CDT
(Newser) - Not only can your online buddies be any age and in any location, they don't even have to be your species. Tech-savvy advocates of the endangered mountain gorilla are about to launch an umbrella site, friendagorilla.org, that will feature videos, social networking, and blogs—by park rangers, not gorillas.... More »

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endangered species • Africa • Facebook • gorilla • Rwanda • Uganda • mountain gorillas • Twitter • Congo • Jason Biggs

 Toxic Booze 
 Kills 40 Ugandans 

Victims of adulterated spirits include much-loved radio host

Sep 25, 09 3:54 AM CDT
(Newser) - Toxic alcohol has killed at least 40 drinkers in the last month in the the African party capital of Kampala, where all-night bars sell cheap spirits. Among the victims who suffered sudden blindness followed by organ failure was one of the country's best-loved media personalities, lonely-hearts radio host DJ ... More »

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Africa • alcohol • Uganda • Kampala • poisoning

 Scandinavia Battles 
 Genital Mutilation 

African, Middle Eastern immigrants arrested after mutilations abroad

Sep 19, 09 5:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - Scandinavian countries are hitting perpetrators of genital mutilation with heavy fines and prison sentences, even when the act is committed in other countries, Global Post reports. African and Middle Eastern immigrants who take their daughters abroad for genital mutilations—which are considered normal and even necessary in some cultures—are... More »

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Africa • Norway • genital mutilation • female genital mutilation • Sweden • Denmark • Scandinavia

Oil Giant Tries to Settle Biggest- Ever UK Lawsuit

Trafigura offers deal
to Africans sickened
by toxic sludge

Sep 17, 09 8:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - A British multinational has offered a multimillion-dollar payout to settle a case involving toxic pollution in the Ivory Coast, the Independent reports. A contractor working for oil trading firm Trafigura dumped hundreds of tons of toxic sludge around Abidjan in 2006, sickening tens of thousands. Some were permanently disfigured, and... More »

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Africa • lawsuit • toxic waste • Britain • oil companies • Ivory Coast • Trafigura • Abidjan

221 Missing,
8 Dead in Sierra Leone Boat Accident

Vessel was carrying mostly schoolkids

Sep 10, 09 8:33 AM CDT
(AP) - Police say more than 200 people remain missing in Sierra Leone a day after a boat capsized, killing at least eight. Most of the passengers were schoolchildren returning from holidays in the West African nation. At least 221 people remain missing, with 39 passengers rescued. The boat was traveling from... More »

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Africa • Sierra Leone • drowning • boat accident • rescue mission

Ugandan Child Murders Linked to Witch Doctors

US-backed task force struggles to quell brutal surge

Sep 6, 09 6:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - Ritual murders and kidnappings continue to haunt Uganda despite police efforts to battle the horrors, the Guardian reports. Often linked to organ trafficking and witch doctors, some 300 cases were reported last year, and only 18 taken to court. A US-backed task force started this year has failed to stem... More »

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Africa • murder • organ trafficking • ritual • Uganda • human sacrifices • witch doctors • child murder

Mali's President Bails
on Women's Rights Law

Protests force him to send it back for review

Aug 27, 09 8:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - Mali's president says he won't sign a controversial new law that gives more rights to women, the BBC reports. President Amadou Toumani Toure says he supports the so-called family law, which Muslim leaders have denounced as the devil's work, but is sending it back to parliament for review. "I... More »

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Africa • women's rights • marriage • protests • Muslim • parliament • Mali • Amadou Toumani Toure

1 - 20 of 274 Stories | 1 2 3 4 5 ... 14 Next >>


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