NPR News -Africa

May 19, 20246:33 PM ET
Enlarge this imageSupporters of Niger’s ruling junta gather for a protest in Niamey, Niger, on Aug. 3, 2023.

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Supporters of Niger’s ruling junta gather for a protest in Niamey, Niger, on Aug. 3, 2023.

Sam Mednick/AP

WASHINGTON — U.S. troops ordered out of Niger by the West African country’s ruling junta will complete their withdrawal by the middle of September, the Pentagon and Nigerien defense officials said Sunday.
The timeline was the product of four days of talks between the countries’ defense officials in the capital city of Niamey, according to a joint statement.
Niger’s decision to kick out American forces dealt a blow to U.S. military operations in the Sahel, a vast region south of the Sahara desert where groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group operate.
U.S. troops and some gear already have begun leaving the country, a senior military official and a senior defense..

May 19, 20248:10 AM ET
Enlarge this imageParamedic Papinki Lebelo waits for a police escort before responding to an emergency call-out in the Red Zone neighborhood of Philippi East in Cape Town, South Africa. Due to a rise in attacks on paramedics, large parts of the city are only accessible to ambulance crews when they have a police escort. This severely delays response times.

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Paramedic Papinki Lebelo waits for a police escort before responding to an emergency call-out in the Red Zone neighborhood of Philippi East in Cape Town, South Africa. Due to a rise in attacks on paramedics, large parts of the city are only accessible to ambulance crews when they have a police escort. This severely delays response times.

Tommy Trenchard for NPR

It’s 7:30 p.m. in the South African city of Cape Town. Paramedic Papinki Lebelo wears an expression of deep frustration as he waits in his ambulance outside the Phi..

May 16, 20243:00 AM ET
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Peter Dunne/Getty Images

Peter Dunne/Getty Images

For nearly thirty years, the South African government held a man it initially labeled prisoner number 46664, the anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela. But in 1994, Mandela transformed from the country’s ‘number one terrorist’ into its first Black president, ushering in a new era of democracy. Today, though, many in South Africa see Mandela’s party, the ANC, as corrupt and responsible for the country’s problems. It’s an ongoing political saga, with all sides attempting to weaponize parts of the past – especially Nelson Mandela’s legacy. On today’s episode, we tell Mandela’s story: the man, the myth, and the cost of freedom.
Guests:
Sean Jacobs, professor of international affairs at The New School.
Tshepo Moloi, senior lecturer in the Department of History at the University of Johannesburg.
Sisonke Msimang, author of The Resurrection of Winnie Mandela.
Richard Stengel, collaborate..

May 13, 20245:01 AM ET
Enlarge this imageJosephine Dusabimana says she rescued 12 people during the Rwandan genocide.

Jacques Nkinzingabo for NPR

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Jacques Nkinzingabo for NPR

Josephine Dusabimana says she rescued 12 people during the Rwandan genocide.

Jacques Nkinzingabo for NPR

LAKE KIVU, Rwanda — To be clear, there is nothing funny about genocide. Which is why it is particularly disconcerting to hear Josephine Dusabimana laugh out loud, repeatedly, as she recounts the events that took place in her Rwandan village on the shore of Lake Kivu in 1994.
Over 100 days almost a million people were killed in one of the worst genocides in modern history.
As Dusabimana recounts the events, she smiles often at little details. You can see her big, crooked grin. At times, when she remembers a close call, or a moment of humor in a time of incredible tragedy, she laughs.
Maybe this explains Dusabimana’s courage — she finds joy in the face of evil..

May 12, 20246:34 AM ET
Enlarge this imageParis Lekuuk, 15, (center) listens to a math lesson in the third grade classroom of his primary school in northern Kenya. Just weeks earlier, he had been living the traditional life of a Samburu “moran,” or warrior — herding cattle on a mountain.

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Paris Lekuuk, 15, (center) listens to a math lesson in the third grade classroom of his primary school in northern Kenya. Just weeks earlier, he had been living the traditional life of a Samburu “moran,” or warrior — herding cattle on a mountain.

Claire Harbage/NPR

The Science of Siblingsis a new series exploring the ways our siblings can influence us, from our money and our mental health all the way down to our very molecules. We’ll besharing these storiesover the next several weeks.
The Science of SiblingsParis Lekuuk is 15 years old. But he’s standing in the third grade of a primary school in Northern Kenya &..

May 10, 20241:25 PM ET
Enlarge this imageIsabella Mogeni, 54, from the neighborhood of Mukuru kwa Reuben, looks on as bulldozers destroy homes in the slum area on May 3.

Emmanuel Igunza for NPR

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Isabella Mogeni, 54, from the neighborhood of Mukuru kwa Reuben, looks on as bulldozers destroy homes in the slum area on May 3.

Emmanuel Igunza for NPR

Though Isabella Mogeni lost everything she owned, she was lucky to survive the heavy storm waters that swept through the Mukuru kwa Reuben slums in Nairobi, Kenya, last week, killing dozens of her neighbors.
But hours after the storms, while Mogeni was out at the market, city authorities demolished her house and hundreds of others that had weathered the deluge.
“They never should have done this to us,” Mogeni wails, collapsing to the ground as neighbors try to comfort her amid the din of bulldozers.
For decades, the sprawling corrugated iron shacks and crammed, busy alleys in Mu..

May 9, 202411:47 AM ET
Enlarge this imageDaniel Ojukwu is an investigative journalist in Nigeria.

Foundation for Investigative Journalism

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Foundation for Investigative Journalism

Daniel Ojukwu is an investigative journalist in Nigeria.

Foundation for Investigative Journalism

LAGOS, Nigeria — An investigative journalist in Nigeria has been arrested by police and held without charge for over a week, leading to growing fears for his safety. His case has also ignited criticism from media and advocacy groups on the worsening climate for independent journalism in Africa’s most populous country.
Police arrested 26-year-old Daniel Ojukwu on May 1 in Lagos. He was reported missing the following day by his colleagues at Nigeria’s Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), after friends and family were unable to reach him by phone. FIJ hired private investigators who found his last location before he was arrested, leading journalists to demand a..

May 9, 20245:15 AM ET

The war that began last year has killed thousands of people and caused a great displacement crisis. In al-Fasher, one of the regional capitals of Darfur, there are reports of attacks on civilians.

May 8, 20245:28 PM ET

Kenya has endured months of record rainfall with no sign the deluge will stop any time soon. With over 200 killed in flash floods, many Kenyans think the government has been slow to react.

May 7, 20244:40 AM ET
Enlarge this imageThe scene of a collapsed building in George, South Africa, on Tuesday.

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The scene of a collapsed building in George, South Africa, on Tuesday.

AP

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Rescue teams worked through the night searching for dozens of construction workers buried for more than 12 hours under the rubble of concrete after a multi-story apartment complex that was being built collapsed in a coastal city in South Africa.
Authorities said early Tuesday that the death toll had risen to five, while 49 workers remained unaccounted-for in the mangled wreckage of the building, which collapsed on Monday afternoon. Authorities said a further 21 workers had been rescued from the rubble and taken to various hospitals, with at least 11 of them suffering severe injuries.
The collapse happened in the city of George, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Cape Town on South Africa’s south coast.
More than 100 em..