A Nigerian nun speaking at a Vatican conference on sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church had strong words for leaders who have failed to protect their congregations – and a message for Africans who think the abuse is a European and North American problem. Sister Veronica Openibo, leader of…
Horn of Africa nations continue their battles with a desert locust outbreak that is affecting the Red Sea region, where February rains have promoted a second generation of the insect breeding that began in December. New swarms are expected to form at the end of the month. “Once vegetation begins…
The Chinese government distanced itself on Wednesday from the illegal wildlife trafficking of one of its citizens, who was sentenced this week in a Tanzanian court to 15 years in prison for smuggling almost two tons of elephant-tusk ivory. The trafficking involved ivory from at least 430 elephants. The 2015…
Ten human rights and anti-corruption organizations said Friday that they are aligned in their opposition to Equatorial Guinea, and a decision they say retaliates against the French lawyer who pressed a successful money laundering case against Teodorin Nguema Obiang. The arrest warrant issued by Equatorial Guinea turned the tables, listing…
The results of a post-mortem examination completed Thursday in the death of Kenyan human rights activist Caroline Mwatha Ochieng are consistent with excessive bleeding following complications of an attempted abortion. Amnesty International in Kenya said they are accepting the results of the examination, which followed street protests in the Dandora…
Police in Kenya have arrested six people in connection with the disappearance and death of Caroline Mwatha Ochieng, a prominent human rights activist who was reported missing on February 9. Mwatha’s body was found on Tuesday at the city morgue in Nairobi, where she had been since last Thursday although…
Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, each addressed the African Union assembly on Sunday as the outgoing Kagame handed over the AU leadership to Sisi. In his remarks to African heads of state, Sisi called for the creation of more job opportunities and investments. He…
Did Swiss courts go far enough in their decision to seize assets from Teodorin Nguema Obiang, the vice president of Equatorial Guinea and son of its president of nearly four decades? Not according to Human Rights Watch, which said Friday that Swiss prosecutors – though they established some hefty consequences…
Experts at the Lüderitz Marine Research facility in Namibia are working to understand why hundreds of endangered penguins have died at Halifax Island, an important breeding site for African penguins. “No other species seems to have been affected,” the researchers said. “We are seeing decades of conservation efforts and rehabilitation…
More than 130 migrants went missing on Tuesday morning when two boats capsized off the coast of Djibouti. The International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations agency for refugees and migrants, said the boats capsized about 30 minutes after leaving shore because they were overloaded as they headed into…
The federal prosecutor in Belgium has asked for DNA samples from about 15 Congolese children who were adopted by families there, but who may still have living parents in DR Congo who never willingly placed them for adoption. It’s the latest development in a case Belgian authorities and media outlets…
Six weeks on, there’s still no word on the whereabouts of Canadian Edith Blais and Luca Tacchetto of Italy, the travelers who went missing in Burkina Faso and haven’t been heard from since December 15. Canadian officials say they are pressing on with the case and believe Blais is alive…
A wildfire in South Africa threatened a popular tourist landmark on Sunday, as fire crews battled flames hoping to contain the spread before it forced evacuations in neighboring Cape Town communities. The fire broke out on the slopes of Lion’s Head mountain, a 669-meter peak known as a hiking destination…
Burial services were held Sunday in Zimbabwe for musician Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi, whose legendary music was beloved across the world. The 66-year-old Mtukudzi, considered a cultural icon in Zimbabwe for his Afro-jazz style as well as his philanthropy and political activism, was laid to rest in his hometown of Madziwa….
A United Nations human rights expert has welcomed Angola’s leadership in decriminalizing same-sex relations, and urged other countries to follow the example in establishing human rights. “All other countries that still criminalize homosexuality and other forms of sexual orientation and gender identity, without exception, must observe these processes of decriminalization…