Africa

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Soldiers Shoot Mauritania's President 'by Mistake'

Islamists, however, had vowed revenge against him

(Newser) - Soldiers in Mauritania have shot and wounded the nation's president, but he assures people the incident was all a mistake, Reuters reports. The government flew President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz to France yesterday for medical treatment, where he issued a televised message: "I want to reassure everyone about...

African Gorillas' Habitat Quickly Disappearing

Continent-wide survey finds huge losses since 1990s

(Newser) - The first-ever continent-wide survey of gorillas in Africa finds that their habitats have been shrinking at a disturbingly fast clip since the 1990s, reports the BBC . Eastern gorillas, for example, have the distinction of being the largest living primate, but they've lost 52% of their habitat over that span....

US-Funded African Armies Slaughtering Elephants

Poaching is at its highest level in decades

(Newser) - Elephant poaching in Africa is at its highest level in decades, and American taxpayer dollars are helping to fund the frenzied slaughter, the New York Times finds. Soldiers from US-trained and funded armies in Uganda, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo have been implicated in poaching and ivory...

Man Gets Ebola... From Phone He Stole
 Man Gets Ebola ... 
 From Phone 
 He Stole 
in case you missed it
Sep 1, 2012 7:00 PM CDT

Man Gets Ebola ... From Phone He Stole

And it was worth just $24

(Newser) - A Ugandan thief got a serious lesson in why you shouldn't steal, particularly from people with deadly diseases. After breaking into a hospital isolation ward earlier this month and stealing a cell phone from an Ebola patient, the suspect came down with Ebola himself. The patient, who later died,...

Togo Women Vow Sex Strike to Oust President

Women will withhold sex for a full week, activists say

(Newser) - Women in the civil rights group "Let's Save Togo" said they will have a week-long sex strike to demand the resignation of President Faure Gnassingbe. The plan for women to withhold sex from their husbands for a week will start tomorrow, said Isabelle Ameganvi, leader of the group'...

Angola Kicks Out China 'Gangsters'

Kidnapping, extortion, human trafficking among alleged crimes

(Newser) - Chinese police today brought back 37 suspected Chinese gangsters from Angola, where they were arrested for alleged crimes against other Chinese such as kidnapping, armed robbery, extortion, human trafficking, and forced prostitution. Such crimes are a major concern for China, which has become Africa's main trading partner and a...

Gambian Executions Begin, Says Rights Group

9 put to death; dozens may follow: Amnesty

(Newser) - Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh alarmed human rights activists last week when he vowed to quickly execute all of the nation's prisoners on death row. Amnesty International is now worried that he's started making good on the threat, reports Voice of America . Nine inmates were killed late Thursday, the...

Ethiopian PM Dies During Treatment for Mystery Illness

Meles Zenawi had been receiving treatment for 2 months

(Newser) - Ethiopia's prime minister has died at an undisclosed location overseas while being treated for a mystery illness, reports Reuters . Meles Zenawi, 57, considered a stabilizing force in Africa, suddenly succumbed to an undisclosed infection in an overseas hospital where he was being treated over the last two months for...

China Sinking Big Bucks Into African News

Critics say propaganda, but Chinese call it good PR

(Newser) - China has long been investing big money into Africa, in construction, natural resources, housing, and other projects. Increasingly, though, China is also pouring money into news and media on the continent, bringing two Chinese television news channels, radio, and written articles by Xinhua, China's state-sponsored news service, to places...

Irate Zambian Miners Kill Chinese Manager

Coal miners riot over low wages

(Newser) - A fresh round of unrest has hit Chinese-operated mines in Zambia. Rioting coal miners killed a Chinese manager on Saturday by pushing a mine trolley at him as he tried to flee, reports the BBC . Another Chinese manager and several Zambians were injured during the incident at the mine, which...

Signs Found of Mysterious Neanderthal 'Sister Species'

Evidence lives on in the DNA of modern-day Africans: scientists

(Newser) - Newly discovered bits of "foreign DNA" in modern Africans indicate that a mysterious "sister species" may have walked the earth with Neanderthals and humans, according to scientists. The DNA doesn't resemble DNA from any modern-day humans, nor from Neanderthals, whose DNA sometimes shows up in modern-day Europeans....

Drug Resistance Threatens HIV Fight in Africa

Eastern areas see 29% increase in resistance per year

(Newser) - HIV is developing a growing resistance to drugs in sub-Saharan Africa, and that has researchers worried, the BBC reports. Scientists found a 29% increase in drug resistance per year in East Africa, while Southern Africa saw a 14% increase, they say (compared to zero change in resistance levels in the...

US Takes Drug War to Africa
 US Takes Drug War to Africa 
Jul 22, 2012 7:45 AM CDT

US Takes Drug War to Africa

Critics say United States just playing 'Whac-A-Mole,' risks blowback

(Newser) - Latin America has long been the United States' focus on the war on drugs. But increasingly that war is reaching Africa, too, as US forces are training counternarcotic squads in Ghana and are looking to start similar programs in Nigeria and Kenya, reports the New York Times . In addition, the...

One of Africa's Driest Countries Finds Water

And aquifer could be enough to supply northern Namibia for centuries

(Newser) - Namibia is the driest country in sub-Saharan Africa, but perhaps not for long. The BBC reports that an aquifer flowing beneath its boundary with Angola has been discovered—and the new water source could keep the country's north anything but parched for some 400 years. And one encouraging announcement...

In Florida Skies This Week: Saharan Dust

Annual visitor helped along by trade winds

(Newser) - Residents of South Florida this week might find the sky a little hazier and the temperature a little higher, and they can thank the African Sahara. As the Miami Herald explains, desert dust will be making an appearance, a regular summer event. The dust particles travel across the ocean on...

Rwanda, Congo OK Border Army to Hunt Rebels

African nations set differences aside at summit

(Newser) - Presidents of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo mended fences today by agreeing on an international force to hunt down rebels in the Congo's chaotic borderlands, Reuters reports. Rwanda's Paul Kagame and the Congo's Joseph Kabila signed the surprising agreement at an African Union summit in...

Obama&#39;s &#39;Boring&#39; Aid Is Saving Lives in Africa
Obama's 'Boring' Aid
Is Saving Lives in Africa
nicholas kristof
Jul 12, 2012 2:02 PM CDT

Obama's 'Boring' Aid Is Saving Lives in Africa

Nicholas Kristof: US emphasis on agriculture isn't sexy, but it's effective

(Newser) - President Obama deserves credit for a great foreign aid success, writes Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times , but it's a safe bet you haven't heard of it. That's because it's happening not in a war zone or some sexy locale but on small farms in...

'Tough' New Car Designed for Sale ... in Africa

Mobius Two can fit eight people and haul large cargo

(Newser) - Africa, meet the $6,000 car. Mobius Motors plans to sell Africa a new vehicle, the Mobius Two, even though the entire continent has just a $15 billion market (about $485 billion lower than America's). But the Mobius Two could revolutionize the economy in a land where hundreds of...

US Outsourcing African Spy Missions

US contractors have been searching for Joseph Kony for years, with contractors

(Newser) - The US was searching for Lord's Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony for years before it sent troops to central Africa last year , but it was using American contractors instead of the military, the Washington Post finds in a detailed look at the program code-named "Tusker Sand." Private...

US Has Vast Secret Intel Operation in Africa

'Washington Post' reveals details in extensive article

(Newser) - In an extensive piece today, the Washington Post details a vastly expanded secret intelligence operation that the US military has been establishing across Africa since 2007, a surveillance network of disguised aircraft and a dozen air bases used to spy on al-Qaeda and other terrorist operations. The Obama administration has...

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