US President Donald Trump’s return to office has triggered a surge in disinformation about Africa, researchers say, warning of a radical shift in online media driven by geopolitical disruption and mistrust.Here are some examples from three African powerhouses in recent weeks, including some claims debunked by AFP Fact Check.- South Africa: ‘genocide?’ -South Africa has …
When Nigeria’s Senate suspended a lawmaker this month shortly after she spoke up about alleged sexual harassment, women’s groups and women politicians rose up — to join those criticising the senator in question.The case of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan — and the notable lack of solidarity she has found after accusing the Senate president of harassment …
Nigerian Senate sexism row exposes uphill battle for women’s rights Read More »
Mozambique police Tuesday opened fire in the capital Maputo on a crowd marking a day of protest called by the main opposition leader, killing two people, witnesses and AFP journalists said.It was the first major shutdown called by Venancio Mondlane in weeks, following months of deadly demonstrations after October presidential elections he claims were rigged …
Mozambique police fire on protesters, killing two: AFP journalists Read More »
A South African court order issued Tuesday barred for at least 10 years commercial fishing at key breeding colonies for African penguins that are facing extinction in part because of threats to their food supply.Bird conservation groups that pushed for the protection welcomed the settlement in the Pretoria High Court as a milestone in the …
S. Africa court bars fishing to protect endangered African Penguins Read More »
In the streets of Anyama, children play and braziers smoke on corners. There is little to show that the ground of this everyday Ivory Coast neighbourhood conceals seminal prehistoric treasures.Near the local storefronts lies the site of an excavation that unearthed stone tools from 150,000 years ago — the earliest sign ever of humans inhabiting …
Ivory Coast’s epochal prehistoric finds pass unseen Read More »
The Rwanda-backed M23 group said it would not attend Tuesday’s peace talks with the DR Congo government in the Angolan capital Luanda following EU sanctions on some of its top brass.But Kinshasa said it would participate despite the M23’s announced no-show.Tina Salama, the spokeswoman for DRC President Felix Tshisekedi, told AFP: “The Congolese delegation has …
M23 shuns DR Congo peace talks at 11th hour after sanctions Read More »
The European Union sanctioned three Rwandan military commanders and its mining agency chief Monday over support for armed fighters in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a day before planned peace talks. Rwanda at the same time announced that it had severed diplomatic ties with Belgium, saying the former colonial power had “consistently undermined” it.The Rwanda-backed …
EU sanctions Rwandan commanders over M23 in DR Congo Read More »
In a war-ravaged neighbourhood of Sudan’s capital Khartoum, the stench from a gaping sewage pit is unbearable as Red Crescent workers pull a bloated body from deep underground.The volunteers say 14 more remain below.”They were shot in the head, some have crushed skulls,” Hisham Zein al-Abdeen, head of forensic medicine at Sudan’s health ministry, told …
Stench of death as Sudan army, paramilitaries battle for capital Read More »
Countries must move rapidly to slash CO2 emissions from homes, offices, shops and other buildings — a sector that accounts for a third of global greenhouse gas pollution, the United Nations said Monday. Carbon dioxide emissions from the building sector rose around five percent in the last decade when they should have fallen 28 percent, according …
‘More and faster’: UN calls to shrink buildings’ carbon footprint Read More »
In a corner of his mother’s backyard, 30-year-old Thabang Moshoke runs a clipper through a client’s hair at a makeshift barbershop that has only a rough roof to shield it from the skies.A queue of men and boys wait their turn for a 60-rand ($3.50) trim from this self-taught barber, who defied South Africa’s massive …
From determination to despair: S.Africa’s youth battling for work Read More »
