March 7, 20254:45 PM ET
In many parts of the world skin whitening is a major industry, but women in Nigeria have a particular fondness for creams and lotions that promise to lighten their skin. By one estimate, over 77% of women in the country have used such products. We go to Nigeria and learn that the effects of skin whiteners can be severe and many people who use them are unable to stop.
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March 6, 20254:10 AM ET
Government officials in the small African country of Lesotho were shocked by President Trump’s dismissive remarks that “nobody has ever heard” of their country.
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March 5, 20255:19 PM ET
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JOHANNESBURG — In his Tuesday night address to Congress, President Trump defended his administration’s humanitarian aid cuts to countries around the globe, including one nation he joked “nobody has ever heard of.”
It is the southern African nation of Lesotho.
Politics 6 takeaways from Trump’s pointedly partisan address to CongressThe country’s foreign minister, Lejone Mpotjoane, told NPR it was “quite shocking for the head of state to make such a remark.”
“The government of the United States has an embassy in Maseru [Lesotho’s capital],” Mpotjoane said on Wednesday, adding that the two countries have had “a long cooperation.”
He invited Trump to visit the country.
At least one person attending the address on Capitol Hill could likely place the tiny country on a map: Elon Musk, Trump’s South African-born adviser, who has been instrumental in dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development. Just last fall, Lesotho’s prime minister met ..
March 3, 20256:08 PM ET
The average person in Lagos, Nigeria, spends over six hours of their day in traffic. NPR battles the chaos of a Lagos gridlock to find out if new Chinese-backed rails have made a difference.
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February 28, 20252:59 PM ET
A Palestinian man serving 18 life sentences for a pair of bus bombings in 2004 speaks to NPR days after his release. And, the average person in Lagos, Nigeria, spends over 6 hours of their day in traffic – have new Chinese-backed railways made a difference?
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Enlarge this imageEyad Abu Shkheidem in his family’s home in Hebron.
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Eyad Abu Shkheidem in his family’s home in Hebron.
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February 17, 20254:05 AM ET
Rwandan-backed rebels have taken over a second city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as they continue to seize territory under the watching and passive eyes of the international community.
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February 13, 20255:25 PM ET
President Trump’s offer of refugee status to economically privileged white South Africans has enraged some people in that nation. NPR gets more reaction from South Africans on the issue.
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February 13, 20254:17 AM ET
President Trump’s offer of refugee status to economically privileged white South Africans has enraged some people in that nation. NPR gets more reaction from South Africans on the issue.
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February 12, 20254:10 AM ET
Mpox continues to impact parts of Africa. And experts say the outbreak stands at a critical moment as the U.S. halts foreign assistance and rebel violence scramble efforts to control the virus.
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February 11, 20257:03 AM ET
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The trip that changed Tigran Gambaryan’s life forever was supposed to be short — just a few days. When he flew to Nigeria in February of 2024, he didn’t even check a bag. Tigran is a former IRS Special Agent. He made his name investigating high-profile dark web and cryptocurrency cases. Some colleagues called him the ‘Crypto Wizard’ because of his pioneering work tracing crypto transactions for law enforcement. Since 2021, he’s worked at the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance.
Tigran was in Nigeria as a sort of envoy. He was supposed to meet with government officials and show them that Binance – and crypto itself – was safe, reliable, and law-abiding.
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One of the most important meetings was at the headquarters of the Office of the National Security Advisor. He says officials there made him wait hours. And when officials finally came into the roo..