All articles tagged with #africa
Climate change is altering malaria distribution in Africa, potentially reducing cases in West Africa while increasing them in the South and East. However, human interventions like vaccines and bed nets have a far greater impact on reducing global malaria deaths than climate factors alone.
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has surpassed 8,400 confirmed cases and 4,000 deaths, driven by the rare Bundibugyo virus. While a new treatment center is being built in Mangala, local health workers argue the response was delayed, allowing the virus to spread rapidly across seven provinces.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has temporarily withdrawn from Mekelle, the regional capital, citing civilian safety concerns. Pro-government forces now control the city, with residents reporting restored mobile services. This shift follows weeks of fighting in Tigray, Afar, and Amhara, and coincides with drone strikes in Addis Ababa. Neighboring leaders met in Egypt to urge restraint, while diplomatic ties between Ethiopia and Eritrea have collapsed.
In Johannesburg, a non-profit called Father A Nation is organizing men in informal settlements to confront violence against women. The initiative follows the discovery of 12 female bodies in Ekurhuleni, which has intensified national outrage. While President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced new safety measures, critics argue these are insufficient. The group focuses on teaching positive masculinity and holding men accountable for their actions, aiming to prevent future violence by changing male behavior at the community level.
Heavy fighting has resumed in northern Ethiopia as the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and its new seven-group alliance launched coordinated offensives against Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government. The TPLF has seized key airports in Mekelle, Axum, and Shire, while clashes have spread into the Amhara and Afar regions. Ethiopia’s army chief accused Eritrea and Sudan of backing the rebels, while the TPLF described its actions as a defensive response to government drone strikes. The conflict threatens to disrupt Ethiopia’s vital trade corridor through Djibouti and risks drawing in neighboring states.
At least 27 people were killed in two separate mass shootings in South Africa's Johannesburg and Cape Town over a 24-hour period. Eight gunmen armed with assault rifles and pistols attacked a bar in the Wedela township near Johannesburg on Saturday evening, killing 17 and wounding 15. A second attack occurred early Sunday at a barbecue venue in a township outside Cape Town, killing 10 and wounding 11. No suspects have been arrested in either incident, and motives remain unconfirmed, though police are investigating links to illegal mining turf wars and business rivalries. President Cyril Ramaphosa vowed to intensify security efforts to curb the country's high levels of gun violence.
Young men in Ethiopia’s Tigray region are fleeing to Addis Ababa amid fears of forced military recruitment, as renewed fighting between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the federal government shatters the 2022 peace deal. Human Rights Watch reports abductions of civilians and children as young as 15, while the TPLF denies coercion. The conflict has expanded to Amhara and Afar, with Tigrayan forces seizing three airports and forming a new rebel alliance. Internet and banking services in Tigray have been cut, exacerbating a humanitarian crisis that already left the region cash-strapped. Analysts warn the Pretoria Agreement’s incomplete implementation has created a cycle of insecurity, while the TPLF claims the accord is no longer valid.
A California missionary kidnapped in Niger in 2016 by an Al Qaeda–linked group describes six years of brutal captivity—beatings, drugging, shackles and isolation—and his return home in 2023; in his memoir All the Way Home he details trauma, faith, and rebuilding, and warns Western workers of danger in the Sahel, while officials say no ransom was paid and no direct negotiation occurred.
BBC profiles the families of Eritrea’s G-15 detainees—Petros Solomon and other senior officials arrested in 2001 after signing a call for a constitution and elections—whose fates remain unknown; their children grew up in exile or with relatives, living with fear and memory as rights groups and the UN press for information and accountability from a government that has not commented.
Security forces in Minna, Niger State, fired on protesters demanding accountability for the deaths of 37 miners detained by the NSCDC, with some demonstrators attacking government facilities; a 24-hour curfew was imposed and authorities promised a full investigation amid reports that overcrowding or poor ventilation may have contributed to the deaths.
Geologists say Africa’s Turkana Rift has thinned to about 13 km and reached a necking stage, signaling a continental split into Nubian and Somali plates and the eventual formation of a new ocean. While the process will still take millions of years, the timeline is shorter than previously thought, with evidence from the Afar Depression and a Nature Communications study linking tectonic changes to fossil preservation.
Two pilots of a 2026 Cessna Citation Latitude private jet crashed on landing at Misrata International Airport in Libya, with prosecutors alleging they were flying under the influence; they were detained pending pretrial review. The Turkish-operated jet, which had departed Istanbul Atatürk Airport to pick up VIP passengers, carried three people (a German pilot, a Turkish co-pilot, and a Turkish flight attendant) and suffered a fiery runway crash with no injuries. The operator, BKNJET Aviation Co., disputed the alcohol allegations, saying no verified evidence had been received as investigations continue and the airport disruption was short.
Seismic data show the Turkana Rift in East Africa has crust as thin as about 13 km in its center (edges ~35 km), crossing a necking threshold that makes continental breakup likely and the formation of a new ocean possible in the distant future. This accelerated rifting, ongoing for ~4 million years, may also explain exceptional fossil preservation in the Turkana region, with findings published in Nature Communications.
Police in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, confirmed the ninth woman's body in two months, with the latest victim found in Dawn Park; other bodies have been found in Kempton Park, Olifantsfontein, Clayville and KwaThema. Authorities say links between cases haven't been established and no serial killer is confirmed, while a multidisciplinary team investigates and a reward is offered amid rising concern over violence against women in SA.
President Cyril Ramaphosa pledges urgent justice as police investigate the deaths of seven women around Kempton Park near Johannesburg; authorities say there is no confirmed serial-killer link yet but a possible copycat pattern is being explored, with at least one arrest and heightened safety advisories for women.