NPR News -Africa

July 18, 20243:00 AM ET
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AFP via Getty Images

AFP via Getty Images

Sudan has been at the center of a deadly and brutal war for over a year. It’s the site of the world’s largest hunger crisis, and the world’s largest displacement crisis.
On the surface, it’s a story about two warring generals vying for power – the latest in a long cycle of power struggles that have plagued Sudan for decades. But it’s also a story about the U.S. war on terror, Russia’s war in Ukraine, and China’s global rise.
Today on the show, we turn back the clock more than a century to untangle the complex web that put Sudan on the path to war.
Guests:
Kholood Khair, Sudanese Political Analyst and Founding Director of Confluence Advisory, a “think-and-do” tank formerly based in Khartoum
Christopher Tounsel, Historian of modern Sudan and Associate Professor at the University of Washington
Ibrahim Elbadawi, Managing Director of the Economic Research Forum based in Cairo
To access bonus episode..

July 17, 20244:27 PM ET
Enlarge this imageA teargas canister detonates as protesters run for safety during anti-government protests in Nairobi on July 16.

Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images

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Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images

A teargas canister detonates as protesters run for safety during anti-government protests in Nairobi on July 16.

Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images

In Kenya, protests that began in response to tax increases have grown into a movement demanding the president’s resignation. Scores of protestors have gone missing since the anti-government protests began a month ago. Human rights groups fear that the security forces are behind these disappearances. We hear from young protestors.

July 17, 20244:29 AM ET

In Kenya, nearly 60 people have gone missing since the anti-government protests began over a month ago. Human rights groups fear that the security forces are behind these disappearances.

July 16, 20243:20 PM ET
Gambian activist Jaha Dukureh celebrates after the country’s parliament rejected the bill to end a ban on female genital mutilation.

Malick Njie/Reuters

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Malick Njie/Reuters

When she was 2, Absa Samba underwent genital cutting – also known as female genital mutilation.
“I do not have any memories of what happened to me that day, but I do remember it not being talked about,” she says.
Now, Samba is 29 and she speaks openly – and critically – about the practice. She says it undermines the dignity and well-being of women and is a tool used to “control our bodies and our well-being.”
That echoes the World Health Organization’s position – that female genital mutilation is a violation of a woman’s human rights and can cause physical harm – even death from bleeding – as well as psychological damage. The practice involves damaging part of the clitoris and labia ..

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Dani Pendergast for NPR

Dani Pendergast for NPR

Episode 1: Would you alter your body for the chance to compete for a gold medal? That’s the question facing a small group of elite athletes right now. Last year, track and field authorities announced new regulations that mean some women can’t compete in the female category unless they lower their body’s naturally occurring testosterone levels. You’ll meet one of those runners, Christine Mboma, a reigning Olympic silver medalist, and hear about the difficult choice she faces.
Listen to Embedded wherever you get your podcasts, including NPR App, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Spotify, and RSS.
To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcastsor at plus.npr.org.

July 15, 20241:53 AM ET
Peter Nyongesa walks through the mangroves to monitor his beehives in the Bangladesh slums in Mombasa, Kenya, on May 30, 2024. The 69-year-old Nyongesa recalled how he would plead unsuccessfully with loggers to spare the mangroves or cut only the mature ones while leaving the younger ones intact. So he has turned to deterring the loggers with bees, hidden in the mangroves and ready to sting.

Gideon Maundu/AP

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Gideon Maundu/AP

MOMBASA, Kenya — Dressed in protective clothing and armed with a smoker, Peter Nyongesa walked through the mangroves to monitor his beehives along the Indian Ocean coastline.
The 69-year-old Nyongesa recalled how he would plead unsuccessfully with loggers to spare the mangroves or cut only the mature ones while leaving the younger ones intact.
“But they would retort that the trees do not belong to anyone but God,” he said.
So he has turned to deterring the loggers with bees, hidden in the mangrove..

July 11, 20245:14 AM ET
Three young spectators cover their faces from rubber debris and smoke at the spinning field, at Wheelz N Smoke arena, on July 7, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Kyle Thosmon for NPR

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Kyle Thosmon for NPR

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s new minister of sports, arts and culture robbed his first bank at the tender age of 16, but notes that it “wasn’t as glamorous as the movies make it.”
Gayton McKenzie’s career has followed an unusual trajectory from rags to riches, gangs to government, prison to parliament.
A seismic shift in South Africa’s political landscape in May’s election was what ultimately clinched McKenzie a Cabinet position. The African National Congress (ANC) party, which has governed South Africa since Nelson Mandela’s time, lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in 30 years.
Gayton McKenzie at Gallagher Estate on June 1 in Midrand, South Africa. South ..

July 11, 20245:11 AM ET
On July 6, volunteers dispense medication at a makeshift emergency clinic, set up in a former school in eastern Sudan, for people displaced by conflict.

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AFP via Getty Images/AFP

On a recent June morning in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, Tedla Damte, UNICEF Sudan’s chief of health, woke up energized thinking of his plans for the day: a visit to a UNICEF school for displaced children and meetings with the Sudan’s minister of health.
Since the country’s civil war started in April 2023, the veteran humanitarian worker has been trying to manage the massive health crisis unfolding in Sudan. It’s a challenge that most days Damte has been ready to meet. But that day in June, he got a text message from Darfur, on the other side of the country, where fighting has escalated over the past few months.
It was from a colleague, informing Damte that the Saudi hospital there had been attacke..

July 3, 20244:32 PM ET
Enlarge this imageElections are happening all over the world.

Aurelien Morissard/ Pool via AP; Rajesh Jantilal/AFP via Getty Images; Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

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Aurelien Morissard/ Pool via AP; Rajesh Jantilal/AFP via Getty Images; Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Elections are happening all over the world.

Aurelien Morissard/ Pool via AP; Rajesh Jantilal/AFP via Getty Images; Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

More than 60 countries around the world are holding national elections. From India to El Salvador, countries accounting for more than half the world’s population are voting this year.
Halfway through the biggest election year in modern history, we’ve already seen some dramatic changes. To name just a few:
India re-elected Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist party for a third term, but not by the landslide many were anticipating. After a decade in power, Modi’s critics are getting louder.
South Africa’s African National Congress p..

July 2, 20244:23 PM ET

NPR’s Ailsa Chang speaks with UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell about her visit to Sudan and what she saw about the toll the country’s civil war has had on children.