Africa

Algeria’s President quits after Six Weeks of Mass Protests
2019-04-02 21:51:36 UTC
ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria’s ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned on Tuesday, succumbing to six weeks of largely peaceful mass protests driven by youth and pressure from the powerful army against his 20-year rule. Hundreds took to the streets of the capital after state media announced the 82-year-old’s departure, capping a wave of protests demanding the removal of an aging elite seen by many as out of touch with ordinary people and presiding over an economy riven by cronyism. Bouteflika’s supporters had sought to stop the dissent by telling Algerians not to return to the dark days in the 90s when some 200,000 were killed i...
Mozambique's Cyclone Survivors Face Cholera
2019-03-27 17:36:23 UTC
BEIRA, Mozambique (Reuters) - Dozens of fragile patients poured into a clinic in the wrecked Mozambican port city of Beira on Wednesday, as the government said it had confirmed the first five cases of cholera in the wake of deadly Cyclone Idai. Thousands of people were trapped for more than a week in submerged villages without access to clean water after the cyclone smashed into Mozambique on March 14, causing catastrophic flooding. Relief efforts have increasingly focused on containing outbreaks of waterborne and infectious diseases. In Munhava in central Beira, doctors and nurses at a newly set up treatment center said they are tre...
Catastrophic Effects of Climate Change
2018-11-25 02:46:14 UTC
(Reuters) - Climate change will cost the U.S. economy hundreds of billions of dollars by the end of the century, hitting everything from health to infrastructure, according to a government report issued on Friday that the White House called inaccurate. The congressionally mandated report, written with the help of more than a dozen U.S. government agencies and departments, outlined the projected impact of global warming on every corner of American society in a dire warning that is at odds with the Trump administration’s pro-fossil-fuels agenda. “With continued growth in emissions at historic rates, annual losses in some economic secto...
UNHCR: 4 million refugee children can't go to school
2018-09-23 22:16:47 UTC
Four million refugee children around the world are excluded from education, according to a United Nations report. A solution should be to allow refugees to attend regular schools, the UNHCR has demanded. With more and more children forced to leave their homes, the number of refugees out of education has topped four million, according to the UN's Refugee Agency (UNHCR). The figure represents more than half of all school-age refugees around the world, according to the report named "Turn the Tide: Refugee Education in Crisis." <blockquote><h2>Key takeaways from the report</h2><blockquote><I> • There are now 7.4 million school-age refu...
Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan dies aged 80
2018-08-19 06:04:34 UTC
ACCRA/GENEVA (Reuters) - Former U.N. Secretary-General and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kofi Annan died on Saturday at the age of 80, his foundation said, after decades of championing efforts to try to end protracted conflicts in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Annan, a Ghanaian national, died in hospital in Bern, Switzerland, in the early hours, his close associates said. In Geneva, the Kofi Annan Foundation announced his peaceful death after a short undisclosed illness with “immense sadness”, saying he was surrounded in his last days by his second wife Nane and children Ama, Kojo and Nina. After rising through the ranks of the U...
Zimbabwe electoral commission declares Emmerson Mnangagwa winner of presidential election
2018-08-02 23:43:12 UTC
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former spy chief installed after Robert Mugabe’s removal in a coup in November, on Friday won a poll marred by the deaths of six people in an army crackdown on opposition protests. Mnangagwa received 50.8 percent of the vote, while his main opponent, Nelson Chamisa, polled 44.3 percent. After two days of claims and counterclaims, the 75-year-old Mnangagwa secured a comfortable victory, polling 2.46 million votes against 2.15 million for 40-year-old opposition leader Nelson Chamisa. The election, the first since the army’s removal of 94-year-old Mugabe, passed off relative...
Nelson “Madiba” Mandela 100th birthday
2018-07-18 07:37:17 UTC
“It always seems impossible, until it’s done!” This statement could have been made by Diddy or Cardi B. It could have been a lyric cleverly woven into a Drake song or tattooed across 50 Cent’s chest. But none of those examples are the origins of this statement. When Nelson “Madiba” Mandela uttered those words, he had already walked a 27-year bid in prison. He also had already lead a coup to overturn the South African government. He had already used his brilliant legal mind to engage an entire legion of young people to fight for a better life. And though he never rocked a rhyme on the mic, there probably is no more “Hip-Hop” leader th...
Zimbabwe will hold first post-Mugabe elections on July 30
2018-05-30 17:06:12 UTC
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe will hold presidential and parliamentary elections on July 30, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said on Wednesday, a vote he promises will be free and fair with international monitoring after the ouster of 94-year-old strongman Robert Mugabe. Mnangagwa, who took power after the November military coup against Mugabe, counts on the election to bolster his legitimacy as he pursues a promised break with Mugabe’s repressive policies while urging foreign investors to return to Zimbabwe. Missing from the July ballot for the first time in 20 years will be Zimbabwe’s foremost political gladiators, Mugabe and Morgan Tsv...
Zimbabwe investigates Grace Mugabe for ivory smuggling
2018-03-26 06:11:15 UTC
The former first lady of Zimbabwe, Grace Mugabe, is suspected by wildlife officials of having smuggled ivory worth millions of dollars. The wife of ex-President Robert Mugabe was once tipped to lead the country. The wife of former Zimbabwean ruler Robert Mugabe, faced accusations on Sunday that she had raided the country's ivory stockpiles during her time as first lady and sent pieces as gifts to high-profile individuals in the Middle East and Asia. Tinashe Farawo, speaking for Zimbabwe's Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, said "we opened our investigations and realized that former first lady Grace Mugabe was illegally dealing ...
South Africa ex-President, Jacob Zuma, faces corruption charges
2018-03-16 19:08:19 UTC
PRETORIA (Reuters) - Former South African president Jacob Zuma is to face corruption charges over a $2.5 billion arms deal, prosecutors said, as a years-old scandal returned to haunt him within weeks of his fall from power. It was a stunning judicial development on a continent where political “Big Men” rarely have to face their accusers in court. Zuma, who was forced to resign by his ruling African National Congress (ANC) last month, was at the center of a 1990s deal to buy European military kit that has cast a shadow over politics in South Africa for years. Chief state prosecutor Shaun Abrahams told a media conference on Friday...
Listeriosis outbreak kills 180 people in South Africa
2018-03-05 20:37:17 UTC
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Officials have said the outbreak was linked to contaminated sausage and warned South Africans not to consume "ready to eat" processed meat. The UN said the listeria outbreak is believed to be the largest-ever worldwide. South Africa's Health Ministry said on Sunday that a listeriosis outbreak has killed 180 people in the country since the beginning of 2017. Officials also announced that the outbreak was tied to a sausage-type meat that is made by South Africa's largest consumer foods group. The meat, known as "Polony," is produced by Tiger Brands, a unit of Enterprise Food, and by RCL Foods, Health Minis...
Ethiopia ruled out military takeover amid state of emergency
2018-02-17 17:08:46 UTC
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia’s defense minister on Saturday ruled out a military takeover a day after the East African nation declared a new state of emergency amid the worst anti-government protests in a quarter-century. The United States said it “strongly disagrees” with the new declaration that effectively bans protests, with a U.S. Embassy statement saying the answer to Ethiopia’s sometimes violent unrest is “greater freedom, not less.” The state of emergency will last for six months with a possible four-month extension, similar to one lifted in August, Defense Minister Siraj Fegessa said. He also ruled out a transiti...
South Africa faces a long, hard road back to prosperity and self-respect
2018-02-15 08:20:01 UTC
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africans awoke to a nation without Jacob Zuma as president for the first time in nine years on Thursday, released from the burden of a compromised leader who darkened the dreams and aspirations of the post-apartheid “Rainbow Nation”. The road back to prosperity and self-respect will be long and hard in a nation so divided by race and inequality but Zuma’s ultimate demise proved the enduring strength of its institutions, from the courts to the media and the constitution. Zuma reluctantly resigned as head of state late on Wednesday on orders from the ruling African National Congress (ANC), bringing an end...
South Africa's ANC party to "recall" Jacob Zuma as president
2018-02-13 07:12:26 UTC
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The ANC has decided to sack Jacob Zuma as President of South Africa, a senior official said on Tuesday, after a marathon meeting to determine the fate of a leader whose scandal-plagued years in power darkened and divided Nelson Mandela’s ‘Rainbow Nation’. The decision by the ruling party’s national executive came in the early hours of the morning, after 13 hours of tense deliberations and one face-to-face meeting between Zuma and his presumed successor, deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa. Zuma has been living on borrowed time since Ramaphosa, a union leader once tipped as Mandela’s pick to take over the reins, ...
Cape Town’s Critical Water Shortage Disaster Plan “Day Zero”
2018-01-28 19:46:52 UTC
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa’s police and military will help secure water collection sites in drought-stricken Cape Town if authorities must turn off most taps on what they call “Day Zero,” a date currently projected to fall in the first half of April, the city said Sunday. Hospitals, key economic and industrial areas and densely populated areas with a higher risk of disease would be exempt from a water cut-off, said municipal authorities, who plan to open a disaster operations center on Monday to prepare for a possible closure of taps in a city known internationally for its natural beauty and tourist attractions. South Africa’s ...
Zimbabwe's president orders top officials to declare assets
2018-01-23 18:23:11 UTC
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe has given cabinet ministers and senior government officials until the end of February to declare their assets as new President Emmerson Mnangagwa seeks to foster transparency and fight corruption. Mnangagwa, 75, took power after Robert Mugabe was toppled by the military. He immediately promised to tackle corruption, especially in public institutions. Misheck Sibanda, chief secretary to the president and cabinet, said in a statement that it was now mandatory for cabinet ministers, their deputies, senior government officials and bosses of state-owned businesses to declare their assets. The officials will ...
South African 'homeland' leader who resisted the end of apartheid dies
2018-01-19 09:32:39 UTC
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Lucas Mangope, a leader of one of South Africa’s tribal homelands who resisted the end of apartheid, died on Thursday at the age of 94, local media reported on Friday. Mangope was president from 1977 to 1994 of Bophuthatswana, one of South Africa’s “self-governing” homelands, or bantustans - fragmented islands of rural poverty where most black South Africans were literally confined under white rule. During the often-tense negotiations that paved the way to majority rule in 1994, Mangope maintained that Bophuthatswana would remain independent. He was ousted in a coup weeks before the elections that brought Nel...
Zimbabwe opposition leader dies in US helicopter crash
2018-01-19 07:31:03 UTC
New Mexico/ Albuquerque — Authorities in the US state of New Mexico say key Zimbabwean opposition leader Roy Bennett has been killed in a helicopter crash. State Police Lieutenant Elizabeth Armijo confirmed Bennett's death on Thursday, a day after a helicopter carrying him and five others went down in a mountainous rural area of northern New Mexico. Obert Gutu, spokesman for the MDC-T opposition party, said the loss of Bennett, a white man who spoke fluent Shona and drew the wrath of former President Robert Mugabe, was tragic. Gutu says Bennett's wife, Heather, also died. The crash killed five and injured a sixth person aboard. Th...
Zimbabwe fires more than 30 senior police commanders
2018-01-18 19:21:36 UTC
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe has fired more than 30 senior police commanders as part of a process to clean up the image of the force, the state-owned Herald newspaper reported in its online edition on Thursday quoting unnamed police sources. Police in the southern African country had become deeply unpopular for their traffic checkpoints, which many motorists and foreign tourists saw as a means of shaking down drivers for money. Following the de facto military coup that removed 93-year-old Robert Mugabe from power, police initially withdrew from the streets and were replaced by soldiers, but over the past few weeks returned with orders...
Immigrants from Africa Boast Higher Education Levels Than Overall U.S. Population
2018-01-13 10:19:57 UTC
NEW YORK - Today, New American Economy (NAE) released a report on the contributions of immigrants from Sub-Saharan Africa to the U.S. economy. Between 2010 and 2015, the number of African immigrants in America more than doubled - rising from roughly 723,000 people to more than 1.7 million. Power of the Purse: How Sub-Saharan Africans Contribute to the U.S. Economy suggests that African immigrants punch well above their weight in many respects. These immigrants naturalize at high rates, they attain higher levels of education than the overall U.S. population as a whole, and are more likely to have earned their degree in a Science, Tec...
All African countries decry Trump's insult as "outrageous, racist, and xenophobic"
2018-01-13 08:01:19 UTC
All 54 African ambassadors to the United Nations decried Donald Trump's reported remarks as "outrageous, racist, and xenophobic" on Friday, a day after US media reported that Trump had referred to African states, Haiti, and El Salvador as "s***hole countries." The UN diplomats met for an emergency session before issuing a joint statement to demand a "retraction and an apology" from the US president. "For once, we are all on the same page," an ambassador told the Agence France-Presse news agency. The ambassadors also thanked American citizens "from all walks of life who have condemned the remarks." On Thursday, Trump was meeting l...
Zimbabwe's former first lady Grace Mugabe faces arrest
2018-01-07 03:54:07 UTC
HARARE — Former Zimbabwe first lady Grace Mugabe could soon be arrested over an array of corruption-related allegations as woes mount for the ex-Zanu PF women’s league boss. The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption commissioner responsible for investigations, Goodson Nguni yesterday told The Standard that the anti-graft body was already probing Grace over the suspicious awarding of a doctorate by the University of Zimbabwe after enrolling at the institution for barely three months. He said indications were that certain officials at the institution could also find themselves in trouble together with the former first lady for fraud or misrepresent...
Harare water unsafe to drink, due to chemical shortage
2018-01-02 08:32:35 UTC
The mayor of Harare says a shortage of chemicals has resulted in unsafe water being pumped into residents’ homes for consumption in the Zimbabwean capital. Bernard Manyenyeni told The Herald newspaper: “Our claims that the water is chemically safe to drink will not hold if residents cannot stand the sight of frothing or foaming coloured water. “This has been caused by the shortage of our main chemicals — aluminium sulphate‚ sulphuric acid‚ HTH Chlorine and activated carbon.” He explained that most chemicals were imported “and we have been caught in the crisis of forex”. Borehole water in some Harare suburbs was recently condemn...
Who Is Zimbabwe’s General Constantino Chiwenga?
2017-12-30 21:28:59 UTC
HARARE (Reuters) - His wife is a beauty queen, his troops unseated Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe, and his motorcade is fit for a president. General Constantino Chiwenga, head of the armed forces until earlier this month, is on a roll. On Dec. 15 his 10-vehicle convoy, complete with soldiers toting AK-47 assault rifles, roared into a congress of the ruling ZANU-PF party. It was one of several displays of power by Zimbabwe’s generals since they helped oust Mugabe, the southern African nation’s ruler of 37 years, on Nov. 21. Ostensibly Chiwenga, 61, is subordinate to the veteran politician who replaced Mugabe as president: Emmerson ...
Zimbabweans of European Origin Return to Seized Land
2017-12-24 11:14:22 UTC
RUSAPE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) - The last time farmer Rob Smart left his land it was at gunpoint, forced out in June by riot police armed with tear gas and AK-47 assault rifles. He returned on Thursday to ululations and tears of joy from former workers and their families who were also kicked out - a jubilant return and the first sign that the president who has replaced Robert Mugabe is making good on a vow to stop illegal land seizures and restore property rights. Scores of jubilant black Zimbabweans nearly knocked the 71-year-old off his feet as he and his two children stepped out of their car and onto their land for the first time in s...