Eric Overvest, the United Nations coordinator for São Tomé and Príncipe, thanked authorities on Friday after an attack on a military barracks, part of a reported coup attempt, was shut down. Overvest said military and judicial authorities acted swiftly and appropriately transferred the detainees after the attack. He appealed for…
Three African nations have had their voting rights suspended by the United Nations because of their failure to pay the required financial contributions for member states. Sudan and Congo-Brazzaville, along with the Indian Ocean island nation of Comoros, are among 10 nations that have failed to pay their dues in…
Central African Republic, Lesotho and The Gambia have had their United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voting privileges suspended because of a failure to pay required member dues. The decision is in line with rules under the UN charter that withhold the voting privileges when a nation meets or exceeds the…
An unusual earthquake, at least for this region, happened Wednesday afternoon near the island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe, and was felt as far away as Cameroon and Gabon in mainland West Africa. The 5.5-magnitude quake was centered some 90 kilometers east of Santo António island at a depth…
Environmentalists with the Sea Shepherd organization say authorities from São Tomé and Príncipe and Gabon worked with their marine conservationists to stop illegal shark fishing off the African coast. The fishing vessel Vema, flagged in Senegal but linked to Spain, was licensed to catch tuna but when the boat was…
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…
For island nations like Kirabati in the Pacific Ocean, climate change poses an existential threat – and reducing that risk was the topic of a meeting in Mexico on Monday, ahead of the biennial 2017 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction held this week. Dozens of representatives of the world’s…
Authorities in Sao Tome and Principe have tentatively identified a disease outbreak on the islands as a “necrotizing cellulite,” but they aren’t yet sure how to treat it. “It involves the infection of the skin that then rapidly develops for necrosis, with the death of the tissue,” explained Maria Tomé…
Botswana was a bright spot among African nations ranked in the 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index, released Wednesday by the Transparency International Organization based in Berlin, Germany. The southern African nation ranked 35th on the list of 176 nations evaluated for good governance, public transparency and accountability, their standards for integrity…
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit five African countries on an official tour that begins Friday. Wang will travel to Madagascar, Zambia, Tanzania, Congo-Brazzaville and Nigeria, the Chinese government announced. The official visits begin China’s foreign policy plans for 2017, and follow a diplomatic tradition that puts African nations…
Six African island nations will get economic development support designed to help make their agriculture more resilient to climate impacts, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization said Thursday. Farmers in Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe – as well as Mauritius, Comoros, and Seychelles – will benefit from shared…