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IBADAN, Nigeria (AFP) — Cassava, the starch rusty-coloured root that is a staple in Nigeria, is a paradigm of the problem the import-dependent nation now faces as the plunge in oil prices crimps the economy. The root is used to make “eba” and “fufu” — filling pastes that are beloved dishes in Nigerian homes — but there are a myriad of uses for cassava, including making flour and beer. The problem — and opportunity — […]
A growing Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria has killed 101 people, as West Africa battles to contain a flare-up of the virus, according to data from the nation’s health authorities released Saturday. Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) statistics show that reported cases of the haemorrhagic disease — both confirmed and suspected — stood at 175 with a total of 101 deaths since August. “As at today, 19 (including Abuja) states are currently following up […]
(Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP) — New security measures were in place Sunday at cemeteries in the Sierra Leone capital Freetown after grave robbers used pickaxes and sledge hammers to pry open tombs and steal coffins and jewellery. Around 250 graves were targeted in three of Freetown’s seven cemeteries over the past two months, Freetown City Council said in a statement on Saturday. At one of the cemeteries targeted, Kingtom, 60 percent of the more than […]
REUTERS — The mosquito-borne Zika virus linked to an outbreak of birth defects in Latin America could spread to Asia and Africa, the World Health Organization told a press briefing at its Geneva-based headquarters on Tuesday. “The complications of this relatively mild illness do have potentially devastating effects, for families to have a child with microcephaly, and to have a tenfold increase in numbers and the potential for spread, not just across Latin America, but […]
(Reuters) — At least 65 people were killed during an attack by Islamist militant group Boko Haram near Nigeria’s northeastern city of Maiduguri on Saturday (January 30), a Reuters reporter said after counting bodies at a hospital morgue. The remains of a dozen victims were burnt beyond recognition in Saturday’s attack when militants opened fire on residents, set fire to houses and targeted a crowd with suicide bombers, security and medical officials said. A […]
Satellite images show five possible mass graves on the outskirts of Burundi’s capital at sites consistent with testimony by witnesses who accused security forces of killing dozens of people in December, Amnesty International said on Friday (January 29). Witnesses said graves were dug on the afternoon of Dec. 11, and before and after images and video footage show disturbed earth at five sites in the Buringa area on the edge of Bujumbura, rights group Amnesty […]
At least 17 people were killed when Islamist gunmen struck a popular beachside restaurant in the Somali capital of Mogadishu late on Thursday (January 21), Somali police said. Al Shabaab, a militant group aligned with al Qaeda, said its members set off two car bombs at the Beach View Cafe on Mogadishu’s popular Lido beach, engaging in a gun battle for hours with government troops trying to flush them out. “The attackers started shooting from […]
Jobless protesters clashed with police on Wednesday (January 20) in the central Tunisian city of Kasserine as anger over rising unemployment in the North African country triggered demonstrations in the capital Tunis and several other cities. At least one policeman was killed in Feriana after he was attacked by protesters, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry said. Large crowds burned tyres and chanted: “Work, freedom, dignity” during a second day of demonstrations that erupted in […]
Tunisian police firing tear gas clashed with hundreds of protesters in at least four separate towns on Tuesday (January 19) after demonstrations broke out to demand employment just days after a young jobless man committed suicide. The protests erupted in Kasserine, where the young man killed himself, apparently over the lack of job opportunities, residents said, and later spread to three other towns or cities in the country’s impoverished central, southern region. Tunisia’s “Arab Spring” […]
(Reuters) A woman who died of Ebola this week in Sierra Leone potentially exposed dozens of other people to the disease, according to an aid agency report on Friday, raising the risk of more cases just as the deadliest outbreak on record appeared to be ending. Just a day earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) had declared that “all known chains of transmission have been stopped in West Africa” after Liberia joined Sierra Leone and […]
(Reuters) — Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) said on Friday (January 15) it was responsible for an ongoing attack on a hotel in Burkina Faso’s capital of Ouagadougou, SITE Intelligence Group reported. A senior member of the ultra hardline group had called in December for Muslims in several countries, including Burkina Faso, to wage jihad. AQIM, along with two other groups, also claimed responsibility for killing 20 people and taking hostages in the […]
Egypt’s new parliament convened on Sunday, in its first session in three years, signaling the end of the country’s political roadmap that started in 2013. For the first time since it was dissolved in 2012, and despite the daunting task, the 596 members of parliament were excited about their work. “For 40 years the Egyptian people have only expected limited services from the parliament members. Today they hope that they will have a strong foundation […]
