No love lost: In Hollywood movies vultures are evil and in Africa they’re harbingers of death not treasured for gift of ‘killing’ diseases
Vultures also have extremely strong stomach acid, don’t get food poisoning and are able to consume and neutralise anthrax, botulism and other bacteria and toxins in carcasses that would kill other animals, removing deadly threats from the environment. Just this week, more than 50 hippos died from suspected anthrax poisoning in a reserve in Congo.
Sting in the tail: Nigeria bans song, ‘Tell Your Papa’ censures President Tinubu’s ‘insensitive’ policies
Since taking office in 2023, Tinubu’s policies such as the removal of subsidies on gasoline have hit hard as Nigeria grapples with fluctuating prices. Last year, at least 20 people were shot dead and hundreds more were arrested at protests demanding better opportunities and jobs for young people.
Livestock rights: Chinese voracious craving for donkey meat, skins decimating African populations
Emmanuel Sarr, the West Africa regional director of the international animal welfare group Brooke, argues that the illegal trade in donkey hides persists due to the high demand from the ejiao industry. “The situation is further exacerbated by weak enforcement and the vulnerability of local farmers,” he says
UAE come under scrutiny for breaching genocide convention as Sudan accuses it of funding rebels
Sudan descended into a deadly conflict in mid-April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary rebels broke out in the capital, Khartoum, and spread to other regions. Both the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces have been accused of abuses.
Unwanted in France, lost in Africa: Trouble with new French deportation law that hounds Africans
Interviewed, more than 40 people including five individuals said they were affected by the new law, along with rights advocates, lawyers and researchers, for a detailed look at the impact of France’s 2024 immigration reform.
Kenya, 37 African countries in quandary over ties with US as China bullies Africa to exit US-allied group
Founded in 2020, the group has coordinated sanctions on China over rights abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong and rallied support for Taiwan, a self-ruled democratic island Beijing claims as its territory.
Americans facing death sentences over a failed coup plot in DR Congo repatriated to the US
Among the three Americans was 21-year-old Marcel Malanga, son of opposition figure Christian Malanga, who led the foiled coup attempt that targeted the presidential palace in Kinshasa. The elder Malanga, who live-streamed from the palace during the attempt, was later killed while resisting arrest, Congolese authorities said. Marcel Malanga has said his father forced him to take part.
South African citrus farmers fear Trump tariffs will erase 35,000 jobs, wobble entire towns
The group said the tariffs were due to come into effect the same week the first citrus fruit of the South African season was being packed to be exported to the US It said it was urgently calling on the South African government to prioritize negotiations with the US on tariff reductions or exemptions on citrus.
Ex-French President Sarkozy’s trial sheds light on Paris’s back-channel talks with Libya’s Gadaffi
Britain, France and other Western countries sought to restore a relationship with Libya for security, diplomatic and business purposes. In 2007, Sarkozy welcomed Gadaffi to Paris with honours for a five-day official visit, allowing him to set up a Bedouin tent near the Elysee presidential palace. Many French people still remember that gesture, feeling Sarkozy went too far to please a dictator.
Pushed on the edge, more and more Tunisians are turning to eating snails as an alternative to beef, veal and fish
Low in fat and high in iron, calcium and magnesium, snails offer both nutritional value and economic relief. In a country where unemployment runs high and median wages remain low, they cost about half as much as beef per kilogramme and often less when sold by the bowl.
