Legislation to protect wildlife from poaching in the Okavango River Basin of southern Africa was passed this week by the United States House of Representatives, where members who sponsored the bill raised the alarm over ties between wildlife trafficking and terrorist organization finance. “This ecosystem spans three countries,” said bill…
The Human Rights Watch organization has called on Angolan authorities to investigate what appears to be the summary execution of a criminal suspect by police officers in Luanda, one of dozens of similar cases reported by nongovernmental human rights group Maka Angola. Footage of the June 1 incident, captured by a…
A protester in Angola was hospitalized in critical condition following an attack by police dogs on Sunday, in what human rights organization Amnesty International said continued the pattern of crackdowns on dissenting views and the freedom to expression. Police spokesman Lázaro da Conceição told Angola’s state news agency that more…
The Angolan leader of a peacekeeping operation deployed to Lesotho in late November by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) said he’s pleased with the progress to date. Matias Bertino Matondo, head of Preventive Mission in Lesotho (SAPMIL), told Angop that the political climate was tense when he arrived with…
China’s Minister of Foreign Affairs plans official visits to four African nations beginning Friday, in keeping with the decades-long tradition of choosing destinations on the continent for the first trip abroad. Wang Yi will visit Angola, Gabon, Rwanda, and São Tomé and Príncipe during his trip, which “speaks volumes about…
Angola’s new president announced Wednesday the removal of Isabel dos Santos as board president of Sonangol, the state-controlled oil company. She has been replaced by Carlos Saturnino, according to ANGOP, Angola’s news agency. Dos Santos, the daughter of longtime former president Jose Eduardo dos Santos, was removed by President João…
Peacekeeping troops are headed for Lesotho ahead of a November 1 deadline set by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) for a 1,000-strong force to assist in stabilizing the small kingdom. The SADC peacekeepers include 250 members of the Namibian Defence Force, according to the country’s international relations minister. Netumbo…
Presidential candidate João Lourenço of Angola’s Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) has been formally declared winner of the country’s August 23 election, but opposition parties said Wednesday that they plan to contest the results. The National Electoral Commission (CNE) said Lourenço, the nation’s defense minister and MPLA vice president,…
Presidential candidate João Lourenço of Angola’s Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) has been declared winner of the August 23 election on the basis of provisional results, but it will be September 6 before final results are confirmed. The opposition disputes those results, after warning in recent days of…
Government forces in the DR Congo have been implicated in waves of increasing ethnic violence in the Kasai provinces, according to a United Nations investigation report released Friday. The report, based on interviews with Congolese seeking refuge in neighboring Angola, details their horrific accounts of targeted killings and mutilation of…
Electoral campaigns began over the weekend in Angola, with just a month to go before voters head to the polls on August 23. The official campaigns began quietly with André da Silva Neto, head of the National Electoral Commission, calling for tolerance and respect for order, according to the state-affiliated…
Officials in Benin said Monday that President Patrice Talon did in fact undergo two separate surgeries during a recent visit to Paris that sparked much speculation about the state of his health. On May 26, Talon received treatment for a prostate lesion, the statement released to media said. The minor…
Economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa is showing signs of recovery, the World Bank said Wednesday, but regional growth in 2017 is still projected to reach a comparatively weak 2.6 percent. Seven countries show the greatest economic resilience, with annual growth rates above 5.4 percent in the 2015-2017 period. They include…
More than 4,000 Congolese have crossed the border into Angola since Wednesday, seeking refuge from the fighting between Kamuina Nsapu rebels and government forces in the southern Kasai region of Democratic Republic of Congo. That’s according to figures provided on Saturday by the DR Congo consulate in Moshico, cited by…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States reported Tuesday that 10 percent of American women with confirmed Zika in pregnancy had babies with birth defects in 2016. The new data were released as the CDC reminded citizens that the mosquito-borne Zika virus is not “last year’s…