Africa

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Ben Affleck Lends Star Power on African Atrocities

He and 'Washington Post' columnist hear tales of LRA brutalities

(Newser) - Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army have been terrorizing central Africa for years, "but the net around him tightens," writes Michael Gerson in the Washington Post . Gerson accompanied Ben Affleck, who founded the Eastern Congo Initiative , to the region to hear first-hand the tales of atrocities...

Bungee Cord Breaks Over Croc-Infested River

Australian tourist falls into African river on New Year's Eve

(Newser) - An Australian tourist plummeted 360 feet into crocodile-infested waters in Africa on New Year's Eve when her bungee cord broke, Channel 9 News reports. Plunging into the Zambesi River, which borders Zambia and Zimbabwe, Erin Langworthy, 22, blacked out for a moment before battling roaring water and a maddening...

Terror&#39;s New Home: Africa
 Terror's New Home: Africa 
Jan 8, 2012 9:01 AM CST

Terror's New Home: Africa

Islamist network stretches across continent, taking refuge in Sahara

(Newser) - On Christmas day, a car full of explosives plowed into a Catholic Church in Nigeria, killing dozens of people . A radical Muslim group named Boko Haram proudly claimed credit, saying it was trying to kill Christians. As recently as 2009, Boko Haram was a local Nigerian group, bloodily crafting a...

Activists: Coke Propping Up Swaziland Dictator

Huge Coca-Cola operation under fire

(Newser) - Swaziland's dictator keeps on going, thanks in part to support from Coca-Cola, activists are charging. King Mswati III has long been accused of human rights abuses and of looting the national treasury. Coca-Cola owns a large concentrate manufacturing plant in Swaziland, and has hosted trips by Mswati to its...

DNA Unlocks Secret of Early Humans

Homo sapiens may have gone to India first

(Newser) - Early humans may not have journeyed north out of Africa after all. Instead, DNA experts say, they built boats about 60,000 years ago and floated their way from East Africa over to India. That and other interesting tidbits are emerging from a DNA study called the Genographic Project, the...

Nigeria Declares Emergency After Attacks

It's battling radical sect Boko Haram

(Newser) - Nigeria's president today declared a state of emergency in parts of Africa's most populous nation, after a recent slew of deadly attacks blamed on a radical Muslim sect killed dozens of people. President Goodluck Jonathan declared an indefinite state of emergency in four states, which would all allow...

Gambians Get Out Their Voting Marbles

Mystic expected to win African nation's unique election

(Newser) - It's election time in the Gambia, and the west African nation's 800,000 voters are dropping their marbles. With the literacy rate under 50%, the country has adopted a unique voting system in which each voter drops a marble into one of three different colored drums representing presidential...

US Flying Armed Drones Out of Ethiopia Base

Ethiopia denies US presence, Air Force doesn't

(Newser) - Not only has the United States built a network of military drone bases in East Africa , it is flying its armed Reaper drones out of a base in southern Ethiopia on secret missions against al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist groups from Somalia to Yemen, reports the Washington Post . The Ethiopian government is denying...

Croc Takes on Elephant
 Croc Takes on Elephant 
Oct 19, 2011 1:40 AM CDT

Croc Takes on Elephant

Guess who wins

(Newser) - Don't mess with Dumbo—or Dumbo's mom. An adventurous croc found that out the hard way when he leaped up at an African water hole and grabbed a mama elephant's trunk. She hoisted the giant croc into the air, slammed him back in the water and stepped...

Malaria Deaths Plummet 20% Over Decade

Dozens of countries poised to eliminate disease

(Newser) - Countries across the globe are making giant strides against malaria, the World Health Organization says: The number of deaths from the disease has dropped more than 20% over the last 10 years, and a third of the 108 countries where the illness is endemic could be rid of it in...

Contraceptive Shot May Double HIV Risk
 Contraceptive Shot 
 May Double HIV Risk 
study says
Oct 4, 2011 11:39 AM CDT

Contraceptive Shot May Double HIV Risk

Study findings could present a 'major health crisis'

(Newser) - Alarming new research out of eastern and southern Africa, where both unplanned pregnancies and AIDS wreak havoc: The most popular contraceptive used by women there appears to double their risk of contracting HIV—and if a woman already has HIV, it doubles her risk of transmitting it to her partner...

'Crisis Tracker' Maps Atrocities in Africa

Rights groups create site to monitor rebels of Lord's Resistance Army

(Newser) - Two nonprofit rights groups are bringing technology to bear on a rebel group that has terrorized Uganda and central Africa for more than two decades. Mashable takes note of a digital mapping service called LRA Crisis Tracker that provides real-time accounts of assaults, kidnappings, and worse committed by the infamous...

Why Lions Will Eat You After Full Moon

They're especially hungry because they can't hunt on bright nights

(Newser) - African lions are most likely to hunt prey on moonless nights, and especially on nights following a full, bright moon, the Telegraph reports. A study looked at roughly 500 lion attacks on Tanzanian villagers over the past two decades, and found that a vast majority occurred between dusk and 10pm...

African Food Crisis: 4.5 Million People Need Food, Ethiopia Says
 Ethiopia: 4.5M Need Food Aid 
Jul 11, 2011 9:22 AM CDT

Ethiopia: 4.5M Need Food Aid

$400M, or 380 tons of food, needed in Eastern Africa

(Newser) - An estimated 4.5 million Ethiopians are in need of food assistance, says a government official—an increase of 40%. Nearly $400 million is needed to fill the country's food gap, adds Ethiopia's state minister of agriculture, who says Ethiopia needs to distribute 380 metric tons of food....

Michelle Obama Wraps Euphoric Africa Tour

First lady was warmly received

(Newser) - Michelle Obama today wrapped up her weeklong tour of Africa, a whirlwind trek in which she hobnobbed with schoolkids, celebs, and dignitaries, and was hailed as American royalty by enthusiastic crowds. As Nelson Mandela's wife, Graca Machel, said: "We welcome you as a daughter of African heritage and...

First Lady’s Africa Trip Re-Ignites Criticism

Africa advocates say White House overlooks troubled continent

(Newser) - Michelle Obama's trip to southern Africa this week is giving new life to criticism that the Obama administration is overlooking the troubled continent, reports the Washington Post . The president has been to sub-Saharan Africa only once since taking office— a 24-hour trip to Ghana in 2009 —and critics...

Nigeria Prez Sworn In, Bomb Blast Rocks City

Several die as Goodluck Jonathan starts term

(Newser) - A bomb blast rocked the northern Nigerian city of Bauchi within hours of the inauguration of President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday. Several people were killed, but an exact death toll was not released. A second minor blast hit a beer hall just outside the capital of Abuja, where the president was...

Congo's Rape Crisis Isn't What You Think

Weapon of war? That's not the full picture: Laura Seay

(Newser) - News that 48 women are raped in the Congo every hour has led to understandable condemnation of how rape has become a weapon of war, writes Laura Seay in the Atlantic . The problem is that "a growing body of literature suggests that the prevailing journalistic and activist accounts of...

Sesame Street Hits Nigeria, With HIV-Positive Muppet

A Nigerian adaptation of children's show deals with local issues

(Newser) - It's finally ready to go live : A Nigerian adaptation of Sesame Street will debut later this month in Africa's most populous country, according to US officials. It will be called Sesame Square and will feature Kami, an inquisitive female Muppet living with HIV, and Zobi, a blue Muppet...

Gruesome Scenes Unfold in Ivory Coast Capital

Laurent Gbagbo's refusal to leave taking heavy toll on Abidjan

(Newser) - The end may finally be near for Laurent Gbagbo in the Ivory Coast, but it's clear his refusal to give up power continues to take a devastating toll on the country. Traveling on a main access road into Abidjan, Reuters correspondent Mark John describes seeing a dozen corpses lined up...

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