Tag Archives: africa

At least nine students have been abducted by gunmen during a late-night raid on their school in northern Nigeria’s Kogi state, authorities said Friday, the third such abduction amid rampant kidnappings targeting schools in the conflict-hit region this year. The assailants invaded the Confluence University of Science and Technology in Kogi state, which neighbors the nation’s capital, Abuja, and whisked …

A leading rights group said on Thursday that attacks by Sudanese paramilitary forces and their allied militias, which killed thousands in the western region of Darfur last year, constituted a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the area’s non-Arab population. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which has been fighting Sudan’s military for over a year, allied with armed militias to carry …

About half of Zimbabwe’s population urgently needs food and water after the country’s worst drought in four decades, the U.N. humanitarian agency said Thursday as it launched an appeal for $430 million to help those most in need. About 7.6 million of the country’s 15 million people need “lifesaving and life-sustaining” humanitarian assistance, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of …

Chad’s military leader, Mahamat Deby Itno, was declared the winner of this week’s presidential election, according to provisional results released Thursday. The results were contested by his main rival, Prime Minister Succès Masra. The national agency that manages Chad’s election released results of Monday’s vote weeks earlier than planned. The figures showed Deby Itno won with just over 61% of …

A Boeing 737-300 plane carrying 85 people caught fire and skidded off a runway at Senegal’s main airport, near the capital of Dakar. Ten people were injured in the crash, including the pilot, the country’s transport minister said Thursday. Passengers were evacuated from the burning aircraft at Blaise Diagne International airport and some described “complete panic” as they scrambled for …

High-level mediation talks on South Sudan were launched Thursday in Kenya with African presidents calling for an end to a conflict that has crippled the country’s economy for years. South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir thanked his Kenyan counterpart, William Ruto, for hosting the talks and said that his government would negotiate in good faith and with an open mind. SUDANESE …

Tensions in Tunisia ratcheted up as demonstrators seeking better rights for migrants staged a sit-in before European Union headquarters on Thursday, capping a week in which Tunisian authorities targeted migrant communities from the coast to the capital with arrests and the demolition of tent camps. Several activists were apprehended this week, accused of financial crimes stemming from providing aid to …

Kenya’s public hospital doctors union on Wednesday signed a return to work agreement with the government, ending a national strike that began in mid-March and had left patients in limbo. Davji Atellah, the union secretary general, said the doctors agreed to trust the government to implement an agreement to ensure the labor issues that caused the strike, including poor remuneration …

Kenya’s President William Ruto has declared Friday a public holiday to mourn the 238 people who have died due to ongoing flooding. The president on Wednesday said the day will be observed by national tree planting activities to help mitigate the effects of climate change. Kenya, along with other parts of East Africa, has been overwhelmed by floods. More than …

Rescue teams trying to find dozens of construction workers missing since a multi-story apartment complex collapsed in a coastal city in South Africa have made contact with 11 people buried alive beneath the mangled wreckage, authorities said Tuesday. One man called his wife from underneath the rubble of the five-story building that had been under construction when it collapsed Monday, …