A new truck arrives in the South Sudanese town of Renk, packed with dozens of elderly men, women and children, their exhausted faces betraying the strain of their traumatic journey out of war-ravaged Sudan.They are among more than half a million people who have crossed the border into South Sudan, which is struggling to accommodate …
Napoleon Krizoa gazed stunned at the rubble before him, all that was left of his house, of his whole neighbourhood — swept away in a vast demolition operation by the Abidjan city authorities.”It was all torn down in front of us,” said his wife, Flora Seka, as she nursed their months-old baby daughter.She had only …
At a South African farm, hundreds of ostriches stretch their slender necks and shake their black feathers under the setting sun. The birds’ lanky legs raise a cloud of ochre dust in their enclosure, one of dozens dotting the rugged landscape surrounding the southern town of Oudtshoorn. “May the feathers be with you,” reads an inscription welcoming …
South African town sees gold in ostrich plumesThu, 29 Feb 2024 06:51:49 GMT Read More »
Democracy faced sharp, widespread setbacks worldwide in 2023 with violence and manipulation marring a series of elections, Freedom House said Thursday.In its annual report, the US-funded pro-democracy advocacy and research group switched classifications for two countries, downgrading Ecuador from free to partly free and upgrading Thailand from not free to partly free.Overall, political rights and …
Global freedom drops sharply in 2023, study saysThu, 29 Feb 2024 05:24:30 GMT Read More »
A “general search” of vehicles and passersby was under way late Wednesday in Chad’s capital after gunfire erupted near an opposition party’s headquarters.The sound of automatic weapons fire earlier in the day prompted people to leave the area in the centre of N’Djamena where the Socialist Party Without Borders’ (PSF) main office had been surrounded …
Chad government on alert after attack on security servicesThu, 29 Feb 2024 02:36:30 GMT Read More »
Ghana’s parliament voted to pass a controversial bill to severely restrict LGBTQ rights on Wednesday in a move condemned by activists.The bill still has to be validated by the president before becoming law, which observers believe is unlikely before a general election in December.Activist groups have called the “Human Sexual Rights and Family Values” bill …
Ghana parliament passes anti-LGBTQ billWed, 28 Feb 2024 23:49:31 GMT Read More »
The government of Senegal President Macky Sall on Wednesday adopted an amnesty bill aimed at bringing “appeasement” as the country reels from its biggest political crisis in decades.Senegal’s crisis was sparked by Sall postponing a presidential election that was due to take place last Sunday.The amnesty, which must first pass through the national assembly, could …
Senegal government adopts amnesty bill in ‘appeasement’ bidWed, 28 Feb 2024 21:47:24 GMT Read More »
The United Nations on Wednesday started pulling peacekeepers out of Democratic Republic of Congo, moving to end a 25-year presence as conflict surges in the east of the long-troubled African state.DR Congo demanded the withdrawal of the remaining 13,500 troops and 2,000 police in regions bordering Rwanda and Burundi despite international concerns over rampant violence.At …
UN peacekeepers begin pullout from war-torn DR CongoWed, 28 Feb 2024 16:40:54 GMT Read More »
A Kenyan court granted bail on Wednesday to the main suspect in a deadly gas plant blast that killed six people and injured 300 others in the capital Nairobi earlier this month.The move was opposed by the prosecution, which argued Derrick Kimani was likely to interfere with witnesses’ statements. Kimani, who police said owned the “illegal” …
Suspect in deadly Kenya gas explosion freed on bailWed, 28 Feb 2024 15:43:32 GMT Read More »
Sporadic shots were heard Wednesday in Chad’s capital near the headquarters of an opposition party, accused by the government of an overnight attack on the internal security agency’s offices which left several dead.The sound of automatic weapon fire prompted people to leave the area in the centre of N’Djamena where the Socialist Party Without Borders …
