Tag: Africa

Aid Group: 22 Migrants Die on Way to Spain; Dozens Missing

MADRID—A humanitarian aid group that monitors the plight of migrants taking perilous seaborne routes to Spain said that 21 women and one girl have died and several dozen more people were lost at sea while trying to reach the Canary Islands. Helena Maleno, founder of nongovernmental organization Walking Borders, tweeted Thursday that 22 bodies have…


Gunmen Abduct 73 Children From School in Northwest Nigeria

Armed men kidnapped 73 children from a school in the northwestern Nigerian state of Zamfara in the latest mass abduction in the region, police said in a statement on Wednesday. Police said a large number of armed bandits invaded the Government Day Secondary School in the village of Kaya in rural Zamfara state at 11:22…


WHO Says C.1.2. COVID-19 Variant Does Not Seem to Be Spreading

GENEVA—A new coronavirus variant that was first detected in South Africa in May does not appear to be spreading, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, adding it was monitoring the variant as the virus evolves. “It does not appear to be increasing in circulation,” WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris told a U.N. briefing, adding…


South African Scientists Flag Concerning New COVID-19 Strain

South African scientists have been keeping a close eye on a new COVID-19 variant because of “its concerning constellations of mutations.” The variant, called C.1.2, was first identified in May in South Africa. The scientists have posted a preprint study, saying the new CCP (Chinese Communist Party) Virus variant shares mutations with other more transmissible…


7 Minors Among 29 Dead on Migrant Boat to Canary Islands

MADRID—At least 29 Africans, including seven children, died last week while trying to reach Spain’s Canary Islands on a smuggling boat, according to information released Monday from a U.N. migration agency and a Spanish migrant charity in touch with victims’ relatives. Spanish maritime services on Friday rescued 27 migrants and recovered 4 bodies in the…


Doctors Without Borders Forced to Withdraw From Cameroon’s Crisis-Hit Northwest

Atiku Bakari, 12, living in Cameroon’s embattled Northwest Region, had gone to fetch firewood that fateful July 16, when his eyes fell on a rare “toy”: a hand grenade. As Atiku innocently grasped the lethal object to start throwing around, it detonated—shattering his right hand, hitting him on the chest and wounding his stomach, and leg….


Protest of Sectarian Violence in Jos, Nigeria: Corpses Hauled to Governor’s Front Door

JOS, Nigeria—Anguished citizens of terrorized Plateau State, Nigeria, forced lawmakers to see their pain up close and personal Aug. 25 by hauling the corpses of victims to their front door. They marched by the thousands to the Government House in Jos, the cosmopolitan capital of Nigeria’s northern states, beside biers of flatbed trucks carrying the…


Up to 48 Missing After Boat Capsizes Off Coast of Senegal, Says Army

DAKAR—Up to 48 people were missing on Friday after a boat carrying around 60 people capsized off the coast of northern Senegal, the Senegalese army said in a statement. Navy vessels rescued 11 passengers and retrieved one body from the waters after receiving an alert that a boat had overturned 22 miles from the estuary…


Mali’s Former Prime Minister Arrested Over Corruption Claims

Bamako—Mali’s former prime minister Boubeye Maiga was arrested on Thursday for his role in the purchase of a presidential plane during the rule of ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, his lawyer said. The exact reason for the arrest was not clear, but it was related to Mali’s purchase of a jet in 2014 for $40…


Gunmen Attack Nigeria’s Defense Academy

KADUNA, Nigeria–The Nigerian military are hunting for unknown gunmen who attacked its premier defense academy early Aug. 24, killing two, wounding one, and abducting another. Security analysts described it as a “humiliating attack” on the Afaka Barracks of the Nigeria Defense Academy (NDA), Igabi Local Government Area (LGA) of  Kaduna State, Central Nigeria.  Two mid-cadre officers,…