No one knows the whereabouts of Siham Sergiwa, a Libyan lawmaker abducted from her home in Benghazi one month ago, and amid the country’s armed conflict that means fears for her safety are mounting. Sergiwa was taken during an early-morning incident on July 17 that left her husband, Ali, shot…
Unaccompanied minors aboard the Spanish sea rescue ship Open Arms were permitted to disembark at the Italian port of Lampedusa on Saturday, one day after the head of the rescue organization warned the situation aboard the ship – where migrants have been trapped for two weeks – was rapidly deteriorating….
United States Rep. Ilhan Omar has responded to a ban on her planned visit to Israel with the charge that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, has aligned himself with Islamophobes and harmed the cause of peace. “As a member of the House Committee on…
While much attention is rightly focused on the perils of Mediterranean Sea crossings, the Human Rights Watch organization is calling attention to the conditions faced by Ethiopian migrants as they take other routes across the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. “A combination of factors, including unemployment and other economic…
Sudanese opposition leaders say they’ve agreed to the nomination of Abdalla Hamdok as the nation’s new prime minister, ahead of Saturday’s formal launch of a transitional government that’s been under negotiation since the ouster of former President Omar al-Bashir in April. The announcement came Thursday from the Sudanese Professionals Association,…
Uganda’s Winnie Byanyima will serve as the new executive director for UNAIDS, overseeing the efforts of some 11 different United Nations agencies and their global partners united in the fight to end HIV/AIDS. Byanyima said she’s pleased to accept the position at such a critical time for UNAIDS. “The end…
Botswana’s President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi, seeking to maintain his position in an election year, is campaigning in the southern African nation with an invitation for opposition leaders who have left the ruling though splintered Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) to return. Masisi, speaking in Gaborone alongside a candidate for the October…
Social media giant Facebook says it has added new African language capabilities in its effort to curb misinformation and “fake news” on political issues. That means that posts shared on Facebook can now be checked for accuracy in Yoruba and Igbo in Nigeria, where Hausa fact-checking already exists. It also…
The Russian presence on the African continent may be broader than publicly acknowledged, and alongside a rising China remains a critical concern for the United States, according to a new report from investigative news outlet The Intercept in the U.S. The report from award-winning author Nick Turse, published Tuesday, is…
By Piotr Arak AT Contributor The process of increasing international trade in Africa and decreasing barriers that can foster growth resembles the goals and policies introduced successfully in Europe. This year Africa will take a big step towards tackling entrenched economic problems including a dearth of intra-regional trade as the…
The death toll has risen to 75 in Tanzania, following the explosion of a fuel tanker Saturday that attracted dozens of villagers to the scene of its crash. That’s according to the Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam, which said the four new fatalities came from among the 43…
The World Health Organization says that two of the four Ebola treatment drugs tested in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are performing better than the others, and will be the only drugs used on future patients as the country moves forward in its yearlong outbreak. The decision to…
On World Elephant Day, environmental champion and conservationist Jane Goodall is leading the charge to protect elephants with a campaign to end the legal ivory trade in Canada. “The ongoing slaughter of African elephants for their tusks has decimated elephant populations. Today, this magnificent animal is highly endangered and on…
Some 2 million people will experience this year’s hajj rites in Saudi Arabia, where roughly 10 percent of pilgrims in 2018 were from sub-Saharan Africa. Among this year’s pilgrims is Aisha Buhari, first lady of Nigeria. Buhari posted an Instagram photo Friday of herself, joined by the first ladies of…
The opposition in Malawi says there are more than 600 witnesses who may testify in the case challenging the results of the May 2019 presidential election, one that saw President Peter Mutharika gain a disputed second term. The country’s highest court began the hearings Thursday with testimony from Saulos Chilima,…