Ethiopian government arrests over 4,500 people, among them rights activists and journalists
Ethiopian security officials are conducting a massive operation across the country that has led to the arrests of more than 4,500 people in one region alone. The crackdown on journalists, activists and others, dubbed a “law enforcement operation,” came into effect after the administration of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on...
Report: Russian Wagner Group mercenaries ‘sleep in army barracks and run a logistical hub’ from where they kill civilians in Africa
Satellite imagery of the atrocities committed Russian Wagner Group mercenaries in Africa shows that construction of the new military base near Mali’s main airport began in August, a month before news broke that leaders were negotiating a deal with Wagner. Mercenaries sleep in the barracks and run a logistical hub,...
Africa: Atrocities by Russian ‘hired guns of Wagner Group’ are now familiar narrative of ‘everywhere, bodies were dropping to the ground’
The man knew what to expect from Islamist fighters. They had appeared at his door for years, demanding money or livestock – the taxes he paid to survive. Then one morning in March, the threat in his rural community suddenly had a confusing new face: White men in military fatigues,...
South Sudan’s plan to revive 118-year-old Jonglei Canal project runs into headwinds as ecologists oppose it
A petition to stop the revival of the 118-year-old Jonglei Canal project in South Sudan, started by one of the country’s top academics, is gaining traction in the country, with the waterway touted as a catastrophic environmental and social disaster for the country’s Sudd wetlands. It follows a series of...
US enacts law to punish African countries for lack of support for Washington-led efforts to rein in Russia
A United States bill that would oblige Washington to punish African governments that abet Russian “malign” activities on the continent is sailing through Congress. The Countering Malign Russian Activities in Africa Act passed the House of Representatives on April 27 by a huge, bipartisan 419-9 majority and is now sure...
South Africa comes under stinging criticism from UN for allegedly sheltering a Rwanda genocide suspect
The United Nations Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) has turned its focus on Fulgence Kayishema, a suspected Rwandan genocide perpetrator who it believes is in South Africa. This was revealed on Wednesday by MICT chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz after his crack team established that another genocide fugitive, Phénéas Munyarugarama,...
US says Hotel Rwanda hero Rusesabagina ‘wrongfully detained’ giving the matter a higher political profile
The United States has determined that Paul Rusesabagina, portrayed in the film “Hotel Rwanda” sheltering hundreds of people during the African nation’s 1994 genocide, has been “wrongfully detained,” the State Department said on Thursday. Rusesabagina, 67, was sentenced last September to 25 years in prison over eight terrorism charges tied...
120 confirmed cases of monkeypox sends scientists into a spin as US guards against potential bioterrorism
More than 120 confirmed or suspected cases of monkeypox, a rare viral disease seldom detected outside of Africa, have been reported in at least 11 non-African countries in the past week. The emergence of the virus in separate populations across the world where it doesn’t usually appear has alarmed scientists...
NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft ‘feels confused’ after 45 years in orbit, logging 23 billion kilometres away from Earth
NASA’s Voyager 1 mission launched in 1977, passed into what scientists call interstellar space in 2012 and just kept going – the spacecraft is now 14.5 billion miles (23.3 billion kilometres) away from Earth. And while Voyager 1 is still operating properly, scientists on the mission recently noticed that it...
Ukraine war: Tale of two atrocities – international relations and barbarity of racism aimed at Africans
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a tale of two atrocities: One engages the attention of the world as an international relations priority, the other, the barbarity of racism, receives little official acknowledgement. This unaddressed crime involves African students in Ukraine, and the anti-Black hate they have faced trying to flee...
