The Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo has reached another milestone, as the cases reported by the country’s Ministry of Health now stand at 500. The new total in what has become the second-largest Ebola outbreak in global history, after the 2014 West African outbreak, includes 452 confirmed cases…
Police in France are still searching for the suspect in Tuesday’s attack on a Christmas market in the city of Strasbourg. The suspect is identified as Cherif Chekatt, a 29-year-old French national of Moroccan descent, who they say opened fire on the market after escaping arrest during a roundup earlier…
The protests aren’t just for yellow vests anymore. Now a Tunisian grassroots group has launched its “gilet rouge” movement, saying it’s the only way to save the nation eight years after the Tunisian Revolution of December 2010. Citing their disappointment in Tunisia’s economic situation, including high prices, unemployment and corruption,…
Contra Nocendi, a Paris-based NGO focusing on human rights in Burundi, Cameroon and other African nations, joined in the chorus of voices to welcome Tuesday’s announcement that journalists who are harassed, detained and killed for their work are Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” for 2018. “It is always vital…
Now there’s even more controversy surrounding the More Than Me (MTM) organization, a charity based in the United States but operating in Liberia, where rape and sexual abuse cases involving students at its Monrovia academy became the subject of an October investigative report from ProPublica and Time. The in-depth reporting by Finlay Young…
Global leaders meeting in Morocco have adopted the Global Compact for Migration, an international strategy to deal with migrant flows first introduced at the United Nations General Assembly two years ago. The compact approved by 164 countries on Monday is meant to end the trauma of migrant experiences across Africa and…
The European Union on Monday approved a one-year extension on sanctions placed against 14 people for human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, including the hand-picked presidential candidate and close ally of outgoing President Joseph Kabila. Emmanel Ramazani Shadary, the People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) candidate…
The United States has banned former president Yahya Jammeh and members of his family from entering the country, announcing on Monday a decision tied to “involvement in significant corruption.” The law enabling the decision is applicable when, the department said, the Secretary of State has credible information of such corruption…
President Joseph Kabila may have stepped aside for the moment, but he hasn’t ruled out a future run in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kabila told media outlets on Sunday that he may contemplate a return to power, with the next presidential election expected in 2023. The Congolese president stubbornly…
Opposition leaders in Togo on Sunday confirmed their opposition to the planned December 20 legislative elections, and their resolve to continue protests after at least two people died in clashes on Saturday. Jean-Pierre Fabre and the Coalition of 14 (C14) political opposition accused the government of President Faure Gnassingbé of…
Zambia’s President Edgar Lungu is the latest African leader expected to make another bid to stay in power, after a constitutional court decision Friday that paves the way for a possible third term in 2021. Lungu, who has presided over an increasingly repressive Zambia since 2015, will be able to…
For the first time, more than half of the world’s population is using the Internet and it is sub-Saharan Africa that is making the greatest progress. The ITU, a United Nations agency devoted to information and communication technologies, released a report Friday that estimates that 3.9 billion people, or 51.2…
It will likely come as no surprise to Africans, but the continent sees the highest risk of a road traffic death in the world – nearly three times that of Europe, which has the lowest such risk. That’s according to new figures from the World Health Organization, with the release…
Ebola in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo shows no signs of abating, as the second-largest outbreak in global history, behind the 2014 West African outbreak, claimed new victims. There are now 275 fatalities, the country’s Ministry of Health said in its Friday update. The total of cases stands at 477,…
With Thursday’s announcement that Rwandan opposition activist and former presidential hopeful Diane Shima Rwigara and her mother have been acquitted on all charges, the NGO Amnesty International said the decision underscores the need for Rwanda to improve its human rights record. “Diane and Adeline Rwigara should never have faced charges…