https://www.voanews.com/z/612 The latest news and analysis from Africa. https://www.voanews.com/Content/responsive/VOA/en-US/img/logo.png https://www.voanews.com/z/612 en 2026 - VOA 60 Mon, 17 Aug 2026 08:55:47 -0400 Pangea CMS – VOA U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Friday that South Africa's ambassador to Washington had been declared persona non grata, signaling worsening relations between the two countries.In a post on X, Rubio said South Africa's ambassador to the U.S., Ebrahim Rasool, was "no longer welcome in our great country.""Ebrahim Rasool is a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates @POTUS [President of the United States]."There has been no immediate... https://www.voanews.com/a/us-to-expel-south-africa-ambassador-as-relations-deteriorate/8011493.html https://www.voanews.com/a/us-to-expel-south-africa-ambassador-as-relations-deteriorate/8011493.html Fri, 14 Mar 2025 22:05:55 -0400 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) Kansala, Guinea-Bissau — For centuries, the history of the West African kingdom of Kaabu has been told mainly by word of mouth.Kaabu existed from the mid-1500s to the 1800s. At its peak, it encompassed Guinea-Bissau and reached into what are now Senegal and Gambia.Sometimes Kaabu's story passed from father to son. Often it was passed by griots — or West African oral historians — who sang about the kingdom’s rulers.“The griots have already sung it, but now we know it’s real," is... https://www.voanews.com/a/archaeologists-use-song-to-herald-findings-in-guinea-bissau-dig-/8011218.html https://www.voanews.com/a/archaeologists-use-song-to-herald-findings-in-guinea-bissau-dig-/8011218.html Fri, 14 Mar 2025 18:39:48 -0400 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (Ricci Shryock) JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA — Researchers warn that type 2 diabetes could affect millions more people in the coming decades after a study published this month revealed the disease is rising far faster among people in sub-Saharan Africa than previously thought.Take 51-year-old security guard Sibusiso Sithole, for example. Being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes came as a shock, he said, because he walked six miles to and from work every day and never thought his weight was a problem.Then his wife... https://www.voanews.com/a/africa-faces-diabetes-crisis-study-finds/8010779.html https://www.voanews.com/a/africa-faces-diabetes-crisis-study-finds/8010779.html Fri, 14 Mar 2025 12:06:35 -0400 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (Zaheer Cassim) Gaborone, Botswana       — Botswana has made $4 million from the sale of licenses to hunt wild animals, the highest figure since lifting a hunting ban in 2019. The hunting season, which ended in November, was held amid growing opposition from some European countries that want a ban on the importation of African wildlife trophies.Botswana issues around 400 elephant licenses annually, with most purchased by overseas hunters.Wynter Mmolotsi, minister of environment and tourism, told... https://www.voanews.com/a/botswana-hunting-revenues-almost-double-amid-uk-opposition-/8010588.html https://www.voanews.com/a/botswana-hunting-revenues-almost-double-amid-uk-opposition-/8010588.html Fri, 14 Mar 2025 08:21:32 -0400 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (Mqondisi Dube) UNITED NATIONS — The head of the U.N. children’s program, UNICEF, said Thursday that 16 million children in Sudan are suffering horribly from the country’s civil war, with many facing daily threats of violence, starvation, disease and sexual assault. "The fighting is happening right at their doorsteps, around their homes, their schools and hospitals, and across many of Sudan’s cities, towns, and villages,” Catherine Russell, UNICEF’s executive director, told a meeting of the U.N.... https://www.voanews.com/a/children-being-brutalized-in-sudan-s-civil-war-say-unicef-and-msf/8009853.html https://www.voanews.com/a/children-being-brutalized-in-sudan-s-civil-war-say-unicef-and-msf/8009853.html Thu, 13 Mar 2025 15:25:26 -0400 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (Margaret Besheer) BLANTYRE, MALAWI — Tropical Cyclone Jude slammed into parts of southern Africa this week, causing no deaths but leaving widespread damage, especially in Malawi and Mozambique.Officials in the two countries said thousands of people were homeless and some areas were without power. Aid agencies distributed relief where they could, but washed-away roads made the task difficult.The storm made landfall in northern Mozambique early Sunday and moved over southern Malawi, resulting in heavy rains... https://www.voanews.com/a/cyclone-jude-batters-malawi-mozambique-no-deaths-reported/8009719.html https://www.voanews.com/a/cyclone-jude-batters-malawi-mozambique-no-deaths-reported/8009719.html Thu, 13 Mar 2025 13:49:24 -0400 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (Lameck Masina) LONDON — A British jury on Thursday convicted a United Nations judge of forcing a young woman to work as a slave after tricking her into coming to the U.K.Prosecutors said Lydia Mugambe made the Ugandan woman work as her maid and provide childcare for free.Mugambe, who is also a high court judge in Uganda, was studying for a doctorate in law at the University of Oxford when the offenses occurred.Prosecution lawyer Caroline Haughey told jurors during the trial that Mugambe "exploited and... https://www.voanews.com/a/un-judge-from-uganda-convicted-in-uk-of-forcing-woman-into-slavery-/8009684.html https://www.voanews.com/a/un-judge-from-uganda-convicted-in-uk-of-forcing-woman-into-slavery-/8009684.html Thu, 13 Mar 2025 13:29:28 -0400 Europewebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) A High Court judge in Zimbabwe on Wednesday adjourned the case of a journalist arrested over his interviews with a war veteran-turned-politician who criticized the country's president.Blessed Mhlanga, a journalist with NewsDay and Heart and Soul Television, has been in custody since Feb. 24 over accusations of incitement.Lawyers for the journalist had requested that he be bailed out, but at a hearing in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, Justice Gibson Mandaza requested more time to... https://www.voanews.com/a/zimbabwe-journalist-still-in-custody-after-case-adjourned/8008998.html https://www.voanews.com/a/zimbabwe-journalist-still-in-custody-after-case-adjourned/8008998.html Wed, 12 Mar 2025 21:26:24 -0400 Press Freedomwebdesk@voanews.com (Gibbs Dube) On Feb. 24, the Moroccan counterterror agency broke up a terrorist cell calling itself "the Lions of the Caliphate in the Maghreb Al Aqsa." Authorities said the group was making remote-controlled bombs to carry out attacks in the North African country.In November, a similar terrorist cell was dismantled in the Spanish cities of Seville and Ceuta.The connection? Both Moroccan and Spanish authorities said the groups were aligned with Islamic State in The Sahel.The group is best known... https://www.voanews.com/a/is-in-sahel-expands-terror-threat-beyond-strongholds/8009027.html https://www.voanews.com/a/is-in-sahel-expands-terror-threat-beyond-strongholds/8009027.html Wed, 12 Mar 2025 21:07:35 -0400 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (Henry Wilkins) ABUJA, NIGERIA — Security analysts are praising ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, for activating its regional standby force but remain doubtful about its effectiveness following the recent withdrawal of three member states.Nigerian Defense Minister Mohammed Badaru Abubakar announced the activation of a standby military force Tuesday on the sidelines of the 43rd security meeting of the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS. The force, expected to comprise... https://www.voanews.com/a/ecowas-regional-bloc-activates-counterterror-force/8008619.html https://www.voanews.com/a/ecowas-regional-bloc-activates-counterterror-force/8008619.html Wed, 12 Mar 2025 19:11:40 -0400 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (Timothy Obiezu) LUANDA, ANGOLA — Direct peace talks between the Democratic Republic of Congo and M23 rebels will begin in the Angolan capital on March 18, Angola's presidency said in a statement on Wednesday.The Southern African country has been trying to mediate a lasting ceasefire and de-escalate tensions between the DRC and neighboring Rwanda, which has been accused of backing the Tutsi-led rebel group. Rwanda denies those allegations.Angola announced on Tuesday that it would attempt to broker the... https://www.voanews.com/a/drc-m23-rebels-to-begin-direct-peace-talks-angola-says/8008553.html https://www.voanews.com/a/drc-m23-rebels-to-begin-direct-peace-talks-angola-says/8008553.html Wed, 12 Mar 2025 16:08:40 -0400 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters) WASHINGTON — Security forces in Somalia say they killed all six attackers who laid siege to a hotel in the central town of Beledweyne and later killed at least 50 al-Shabab militants in airstrikes.Speaking to reporters, Beledweyne District Commissioner Omar Osman Alasow confirmed that the hotel siege ended early Wednesday.“Our security forces successfully got rid of six militants who attacked a hotel where traditional elders and security officials were meeting,” he said.Al-Shabab, a... https://www.voanews.com/a/somali-forces-kill-50-militants-in-airstrikes-after-ending-hotel-siege/8008152.html https://www.voanews.com/a/somali-forces-kill-50-militants-in-airstrikes-after-ending-hotel-siege/8008152.html Wed, 12 Mar 2025 11:42:56 -0400 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (Mohamed Olad Hassan) NEW DELHI — India and Mauritius have upgraded their ties, say leaders of both countries — a move analysts say is aimed at increasing New Delhi’s influence in the Indian Ocean as it seeks to counter China’s expanding footprint in the region.The announcement of upgraded ties came during a two-day visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Mauritius, an island nation that sits along vital seaways in the western Indian Ocean.Modi, who was chief guest at Mauritius’s National Day celebrations... https://www.voanews.com/a/india-mauritius-upgrade-strategic-ties-with-eye-on-china/8008079.html https://www.voanews.com/a/india-mauritius-upgrade-strategic-ties-with-eye-on-china/8008079.html Wed, 12 Mar 2025 10:44:32 -0400 South & Central Asiawebdesk@voanews.com (Anjana Pasricha) In Malawi's Majete Wildlife Reserve, conservation experts are testing birth control methods on lions. The goal of the wildlife management effort is to control the lion population to ensure antelopes and other prey species continue thriving. Lameck Masina reports from the reserve in the Chikwawa district. https://www.voanews.com/a/malawi-lions-get-birth-control-in-effort-to-save-their-prey/8007252.html https://www.voanews.com/a/malawi-lions-get-birth-control-in-effort-to-save-their-prey/8007252.html Tue, 11 Mar 2025 16:49:32 -0400 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (Lameck Masina) WASHINGTON — Gunmen stormed a hotel in the Somali city of Beledweyne on Tuesday, leaving at least five people dead and triggering an ongoing siege, according to witnesses and a Somali lawmaker.In an interview with VOA Somali, federal lawmaker Dahir Amin Jesow said local elders and government officials were meeting at the Qahira Hotel in central Somalia.“They attacked the hotel at dawn this morning, with an explosion and then gunmen stormed it. At least five people including two... https://www.voanews.com/a/gunmen-storm-hotel-in-central-somalia-siege-ongoing-/8006503.html https://www.voanews.com/a/gunmen-storm-hotel-in-central-somalia-siege-ongoing-/8006503.html Tue, 11 Mar 2025 08:36:09 -0400 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (Mohamed Olad Hassan) NAIROBI, KENYA — Uganda's military chief said Tuesday his country had deployed special forces in South Sudan's capital Juba to "secure it" as tensions between President Salva Kiir and his First Vice President Riek Machar stoke fears of a return to civil war. Tensions have been growing in recent days in South Sudan, an oil producer, after Kiir's government detained two ministers and several senior military officials allied with Machar. One minister has since been... https://www.voanews.com/a/uganda-says-special-forces-deploy-in-south-sudan-capital-amid-tensions/8006369.html https://www.voanews.com/a/uganda-says-special-forces-deploy-in-south-sudan-capital-amid-tensions/8006369.html Tue, 11 Mar 2025 04:49:52 -0400 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters) SINGAPORE — Only seven countries met World Health Organization air quality standards last year, data showed on Tuesday, as researchers warned that the war on smog would only get harder after the United States shut down its global monitoring efforts. Chad and Bangladesh were the world's most polluted countries in 2024, with average smog levels more than 15 times higher than WHO guidelines, according to figures compiled by Swiss air quality monitoring firm IQAir. Only Australia, New... https://www.voanews.com/a/only-seven-countries-met-who-air-quality-standards-in-2024-data-shows/8006336.html https://www.voanews.com/a/only-seven-countries-met-who-air-quality-standards-in-2024-data-shows/8006336.html Tue, 11 Mar 2025 02:12:46 -0400 Climate Changewebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters) U.S. President Donald Trump, in a speech last week, vowed to take “historic action” to “dramatically expand production of critical minerals and rare earths.” The latest announcement came as the Democratic Republic of Congo approached the United States to strike a Ukraine-like minerals deal. Experts say the U.S .could offer a viable alternative to the DRC and check China’s influence while ensuring access to critical minerals for Washington. But they caution that a mineral agreement is also... https://www.voanews.com/a/voa-mandarin-drc-wants-a-mineral-deal-with-the-us-a-potential-check-on-china-s-dominance-/8005974.html https://www.voanews.com/a/voa-mandarin-drc-wants-a-mineral-deal-with-the-us-a-potential-check-on-china-s-dominance-/8005974.html Mon, 10 Mar 2025 19:46:33 -0400 China Newswebdesk@voanews.com (Nayan Seth) NAIROBI — A British charity for the disabled, citing World Bank data, says the world could gain trillions annually in Gross Domestic Product if women were employed at the same rate as men. Failure to close gender employment gaps reduces a country’s economic growth by 20% on average, according to the data. In many countries, women face multiple challenges when seeking employment or starting a business. Gender discrimination alone can drive women into poverty, but the risk increases if paired... https://www.voanews.com/a/uk-charity-calls-to-close-gender-employment-gap-for-disabled/8005797.html https://www.voanews.com/a/uk-charity-calls-to-close-gender-employment-gap-for-disabled/8005797.html Mon, 10 Mar 2025 16:36:09 -0400 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (Mohammed Yusuf) Fighting between M23 rebels and pro-Congo militias was underway Sunday in Nyabiondo, about 100 km north of Goma in eastern Congo, residents said, days after a nearby attack left a heavy civilian death toll, according to the United Nations and an NGO.  The M23 rebel group has seized swathes of mineral-rich eastern Congo since the start of the year.  "M23 has taken Nyabiondo since 11 a.m. [local time] (0900 GMT), following clashes," Kipanda Biiri, an official from the local... https://www.voanews.com/a/clashes-continue-in-eastern-drc-days-after-attack-on-civilians-left-many-dead/8004470.html https://www.voanews.com/a/clashes-continue-in-eastern-drc-days-after-attack-on-civilians-left-many-dead/8004470.html Sun, 09 Mar 2025 15:12:41 -0400 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)