At the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, an illegal labor strike encouraged by the Kenya Aviation Workers Union has caused flights to be grounded and riot police to respond to the situation. To avoid unnecessary harm to native and foreign travelers, passengers have been advised not to come to the airport until the strike can be successfully suppressed…. Read more »
Underneath the mango tree that marks the centre of Kondo, a village in northern Tanzania, Mwanaidi Saidi prises open a green box. Inside are the 110,000 Tanzanian shillings ($47) the 35-year-old has saved since she joined the country’s nascent welfare scheme. “The money helps me solve small problems,” she says. It has helped her buy school uniforms for her four children,… Read more »
Hundreds of travellers were stranded at Nairobi’s international airport as a strike prompted by a labour dispute grounded flights and riot police were deployed to disperse striking workers. With flights grounded since midnight on Tuesday, passengers were advised on Wednesday morning not to come to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport – East Africa’s busiest according to the Kenya Airports Authority… Read more »
On february 22nd millions of Sudanese gathered with bated breath in front of their television screens. It had been two months since tens of thousands of protesters, angry at rising food prices, began demanding an end to the 30-year rule of President Omar al-Bashir. Earlier in the day Sudan’s security chief had briefed journalists that Mr Bashir would step down as… Read more »
Deborah nzigire, a 65-year-old Congolese woman, is nervous when she sits down for her job interview. Her hands are clasped tightly together, her words are slow and deliberate; she is blinking too much. “What inspired you to pursue this career?” asks one of the two people on the interview panel. Her answer is garbled, she mentions money. When asked to… Read more »
Migingo Island, a 2,000 square meter round rock crammed with metal shacks and a population of over 500 inhabitants, lies in Lake Victoria right on the border between Uganda and Kenya. The two countries both claim ownership of the island, as its deep surrounding waters are home to an abundance of fish, such as the Nile perch, making it a… Read more »
Eight miners have been rescued from two flooded mine shafts west of the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, officials have said, although dozens more miners are still missing and feared dead. “So far we have managed to bring out eight miners alive and we are yet to assess and find any more people down there who are still alive,” Tapererwa Paswavaviri, the… Read more »
Migingo island, Lake Victoria – A round rock crammed with corrugated metal shacks rises out of Lake Victoria right at the border between Kenya and Uganda. The deep waters that surround it are rich with fish. Migingo Island covers less than half a football pitch but more than 500 people, according to the Ugandan police, live in less than 2,000 square metres area. The rock island, with its… Read more »
A Chinese businesswoman labelled the “Ivory Queen” has been sentenced to 15 years in prison by a Tanzanian judge for smuggling the tusks of more than 350 elephants. Yang Feng Glan, 69, had been charged in October 2015 along with two Tanzanian men with smuggling about 860 pieces of ivory worth 13bn shillings ($5.6m) over several years to Asia. Kisutu… Read more »
A United Nations report says its investigators have identified alleged perpetrators of pervasive rape, killings and torture in South Sudan‘s civil war – violence they believe was driven by oil revenues. The UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan on Wednesday said the army, national security, military intelligence, rebel forces and affiliated armed groups committed serious human rights breaches. The UN body had drawn up… Read more »