Africa

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We Talk Ukraine and Gaza, but Not This 'Living Hell'

International community's silence on civil war in Sudan speaks volumes, some note

(Newser) - There's been understandable outrage from all corners over the wars in Gaza and Ukraine , with media covering frantic aid negotiations and threats of famine . But when it comes to the nearly year-old civil war in Sudan, a continent away, there's been relative silence—silence now becoming deafening, according...

This May Be First Nation to Do a 180 on Female Genital Mutilation

Gambia advances bill to repeal its ban

(Newser) - Activists who've been campaigning for years to outlaw female genital mutilation around the world could face a major setback as Gambia risks becoming the first country to reverse a ban on the practice linked to infertility and death. The West African country banned female genital mutilation (FGM) or cutting...

Undersea Cables Fail, Knocking Out Internet Service to Africa

At least a dozen countries are affected by outages

(Newser) - Several subsea cables failed Thursday, operators reported, cutting internet service to west and central Africa. Ivory Coast, for example, was reduced to about 4% connectivity in the morning, according to NetBlocks, a tracker. In Liberia, basic internet service and social media access were unavailable in most of the country, the...

As Wars Rage, This 'Living Nightmare' Is Largely Ignored

Sudan civil war has killed thousands, forced 8M from their homes

(Newser) - With much attention on wars in Europe, the victims of Sudan's civil war are facing death and destruction largely without help. Eleven months after fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group broke out on the streets of the nation's capital,...

Horrific Cases of Femicide Spur Protests Across Africa

Brutal murders in Kenya, Somalia, and Cameroon have sparked protests

(Newser) - Recent acts of femicide and gender-based violence across several African countries—including Kenya, Somalia, and Cameroon—have prompted protests and calls for government action. The details are harrowing, and include beheadings, immolation, and mutilation, with the majority of cases involving intimate partners, the New York Times reports. Women's rights...

Drought Kills at Least 100 Elephants
Drought Kills
at Least 100
Elephants

Drought Kills at Least 100 Elephants

El Nino blamed for lack of water killing pachyderms in recent weeks in Zimbabwe's largest national park

(Newser) - At least 100 elephants have died in Zimbabwe's largest national park in recent weeks because of drought, their carcasses a grisly sign of what wildlife authorities and conservation groups say is the impact of climate change and the El Nino weather phenomenon. Authorities warn that more could die as...

Most French Speakers Don't Live in France

60% of those who use the language are in Africa

(Newser) - The New York Times has a story detailing how the French language is evolving in a relatively fast manner, with the twist being that most of this evolution isn't actually happening in France. The story has some surprising stats on the subject, starting with this one: Most speakers of...

UN Calls Food Crisis in Africa Unprecedented

Most people can't afford a healthy diet, report says

(Newser) - At least three-fourths of Africans can't afford a healthy diet, and a fifth are undernourished due to an "unprecedented food crisis," United Nations agencies said in a report released Thursday with the African Union Commission. The continent's 1.4 billion people are confronting high levels of...

'Mountains' of Plastic Waste Grow Across Africa

New analysis, church leaders warn of harm before negotiations begin on treaty

(Newser) - Africa's plastic waste problem is increasing faster than in any other part of the world, an analysis of data by the charity Tearfund says—with enough plastic being burned or dumped in sub-Saharan Africa every minute to cover a football field. A United Nations conference is being held next...

400 Elephants Dropped Dead. Now, a 'Very Worrying' Find
400 Elephants Dropped Dead.
Now, a 'Very Worrying' Find
in case you missed it

400 Elephants Dropped Dead. Now, a 'Very Worrying' Find

In a first, researchers link 'Pasteurella' Bisgaard taxon 45 to blood poisoning

(Newser) - Experts believe they've gotten to the bottom of a "conservation disaster" that killed hundreds of endangered African savanna elephants across Botswana and Zimbabwe, and the explanation isn't likely to soothe those hoping to save the beautiful beasts. Nearly 400 elephants of all ages were found dead in...

Officers Seize Power, Arrest President in Gabon
Africa Sees Another Coup

Africa Sees Another Coup

Military officers seize power in Gabon, put president under house arrest

(Newser) - Gabon's diplomatic government appears to be falling along with what the New York Times calls "one of Africa's most enduring political dynasties." Military officers in Gabon appeared on television early Wednesday, less than an hour after President Ali Bongo Ondimba was declared to have won a...

Moderator of Facebook Content: I 'Stood Up and Screamed'

As employees sue, CEO of Sama laments harmful content, wishes she'd never signed a contract

(Newser) - Online content moderation is a stressful job, but someone's got to do it—though now an East African firm is saying it wishes its workers weren't those someones. Per the Guardian , employees are now bringing lawsuits against both outsourcing company Sama and Meta, Facebook's parent, after they...

Niger's Coup Leaders: We'll Try Deposed Prez for 'High Treason'

New regime says Mohamed Bazoum will face prosecution

(Newser) - Niger's mutinous soldiers said they'll prosecute deposed President Mohamed Bazoum for "high treason" and undermining state security, in an announcement hours after the junta said they were open to dialogue with West African nations to resolve the mounting regional crisis. If found guilty, Bazoum could face the...

6 African Nations Now Form a Continent-Wide 'Coup Belt'

From Sudan in the east to Guinea in the west

(Newser) - Take a map of Africa, shade in the nations that have had military coups over the last few years, and you'll see the pattern: It's what Declan Walsh in the New York Times calls a "coup belt" stretching across the entire continent. It goes from Guinea on...

The Numbers Out of Sudan Are Jarring
The Numbers Out
of Sudan Are Jarring
the rundown

The Numbers Out of Sudan Are Jarring

More than 100K have fled the country's fighting, and the UN warns the total may reach 800K

(Newser) - Two rival generals in Sudan have been waging war against each other for more than two weeks now, and the UN offered some stats on Tuesday reflecting the brutal impact on citizens:
  • Refugees: More than 100,000 have fled to neighboring nations already, and the figure is projected to rise
...

Piecing Together the Story of One African 'Ghost Boat'
This Is the Story of
One African 'Ghost Boat'
longform

This Is the Story of One African 'Ghost Boat'

43 migrants set off with hope, but they became casualties of a dangerous new route

(Newser) - Around 6:30am on May 28, 2021, a couple of miles from Belle Garden Beach on the Caribbean island of Tobago, a narrow white-and-blue boat drifted onto the horizon. From a distance, it seemed no one was aboard. But as fishermen approached, they smelled death. Inside were the decomposing bodies...

The World Has a New War Unfolding, This One in Africa
The World Has a New War
Unfolding, This One in Africa
the rundown

The World Has a New War Unfolding, This One in Africa

Power struggle between two generals erupts in Sudan

(Newser) - The UN Security Council can't agree on much these days, given that Russia is one of its members, but it can agree on this: Fighting that erupted in Sudan over the weekend must stop before it escalates into full-fledged civil war. The council on Sunday issued a statement that...

In Senegal, Yellen Recoils at the Business of Slave Trading

Treasury secretary says administration has not endorsed reparations

(Newser) - US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen paid a solemn visit Saturday to the salmon-colored house on an island off Senegal that is one of the most recognized symbols of the horrors of the Atlantic slave trade that trapped tens of millions of Africans in bondage for generations. Yellen, in Senegal as...

Nun's 'Peaceful Patience' Helped Her Survive Kidnapping

Sister Suellen Tennyson, who lost 20 pounds in captivity, was held for 5 months in Burkina Faso

(Newser) - Sister Suellen Tennyson sat amazed as one of her captors began washing her feet. "I was just taken aback," the 83-year-old Roman Catholic nun and former international leader of the Marianites of Holy Cross tells the Clarion Herald from a safe haven in the Archdiocese of New Orleans,...

5 Months After Her Kidnapping, an American Is Found Alive

Sister Suellen Tennyson was abducted in Africa in April

(Newser) - An American nun kidnapped in west Africa by a group of armed men in April has been found alive. Sister Suellen Tennyson, a Roman Catholic nun, was abducted from her bed at a mission site in Burkina Faso, NOLA.com reports. Not many details about her "recovery," which...

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