Category: Africa

Vietnamese Workers at Chinese Factory in Serbia Cry for Help

ZRENJANIN, Serbia—They are shivering in barracks without heat, going hungry, and have no money. They say their passports have been taken by their Chinese employer and that they are now stuck in a grim plainland in Serbia with no help from local authorities. These are the Vietnamese workers who are helping build the first Chinese…


Migrant Boat With 10 Dead Bodies Arrives in Sicily

ROME—A boat carrying the bodies of 10 migrants found dead at sea arrived in Sicily on Friday, along with dozens of people it rescued this week as they tried to cross the Mediterranean. The crew of the Geo Barents vessel, run by charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF), found the corpses on an overcrowded boat 30…


Death Toll From Gunmen Attack in Nigeria’s Northwest Rises to 43

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria—At least 43 people have died following raids by gunmen in Nigeria’s Sokoto state this week, three times more than the initial death toll given by officials, a spokesman for the state governor said on Wednesday. Although the military is conducting an operation to stamp out a tide of violence by armed gangs known…


Shooting Deaths Roil Cameroon’s Breakaway Region

Children have recently been caught in the crossfire of the five-year-old war between Cameroon’s military and armed Anglophone separatists, a conflict that has not spared non-combatants. At least 11 Cameroonian soldiers died Saturday, Nov. 13, when suspected Anglophone separatist militants ambushed them with Improvised Explosive Devices(IEDs) at Matazem, Santa Sub-Division in the country’s embattled North…


US State Department Urges US Citizens to Leave Ethiopia Immediately

The U.S. State Department on Tuesday again urged U.S. citizens in Ethiopia to leave the country immediately, adding that the United States has no plans to facilitate an evacuation via military or commercial aircraft as Washington steps up pressure to bring an end to the conflict in Ethiopia. The United States this month advised U.S….


How Mainstream Media Shaped the World’s View on Apartheid and Mandela

Commentary The death of South Africa’s last president before the end of the apartheid era gives reason to pause and reflect on the historic transfer of power from Frederick Willem de Klerk to Nelson Mandela 27 years ago. At the time, mainstream media outlets worldwide described the end of apartheid as a “miracle” and hailed…


Gas Explosion in Nigeria’s Lagos Kills 5, Including a Child

LAGOS, Nigeria—A gas explosion in Lagos, Nigeria’s biggest city, on Tuesday killed at least five people, including a child, an emergency services official told The Associated Press. “There are four adults dead—three males and one female—and a 10-year-old boy died in the incident,” Ibrahim Farinloye of the National Emergency Management Agency said, adding that rescue…


South Africa Powerless as Energy Crisis Intensifies

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—Energy analysts say South Africa’s entire electricity grid is in danger of collapsing, as an energy crisis that began in 2008 plunges the continent’s most technologically developed nation into economic stagnation that is exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. For the past two weeks, the country’s national power company, Eskom, has battled to turn…


2 Explosions Rock Ugandan Capital, Killing 3

Two explosions rocked Uganda’s capital, Kampala, early Tuesday, killing at least three civilians in what police described as a coordinated attack by terrorists. Three suicide bombers also died in the blasts, police said. The explosions caused chaos in Kampala as terrified residents fled the city’s center. “The bomb threats are still active, especially from suicide…


2 Explosions Rock Uganda’s Capital, Kampala, Injuring 24

KAMPALA, Uganda—Two loud explosions rocked Uganda’s capital, Kampala, early Tuesday, sparking chaos and confusion as people fled what is widely believed to be coordinated attacks. One blast was near a police station and another on a street near the parliamentary building, said witnesses. The explosion near parliament appeared to hit a building housing an insurance…