NPR News -Africa

A refugee mother and child from the Tigray region of Ethiopia wait to receive basic medical attention from an understaffed clinic run by the Sudanese Ministry of Health with assistance from Doctors Without Borders located in the east Sudanese border village of Hamdayet on Dec. 6, 2020.

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The Trump administration has moved aggressively to cut U.S. foreign aid, canceling 83% of aid contracts on March 10, a decision that has already halted critical health programs in Africa and beyond.
On Feb. 3, President Trump said that USAID was run by ‘radical left lunatics’ and accused the agency of “tremendous fraud,” though he did not provide any details.” Trump also accused the aid agency of stealing “BILLIONS OF DOLLARS” in a post on Truth Social.
Now, the White House is pushing to rescind the$58.4 billion appropriated for the current fiscal year, with many of these cuts being fought in court. A federal judge ru..

March 15, 20252:11 PM ET
South Africa’s ambassador to the U.S. Ebrahim Rasool speaks at the South African Embassy in Washington, Dec. 6, 2013.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he’s kicking out the new Ambassador from South Africa — accusing him of hating America and hating Donald Trump.
It’s the latest salvo against South Africa, which has been in the administration’s crosshairs since Trump took office in January.
In afiery post on X on Friday, Secretary Rubio called Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool a “race baiting politician” and said he was considered “a persona non grata.”
Rubio’s ire came after Rasool said in an online seminar hosted by a South African think tank that the MAGA movement was partially in response to worries about demographic change and a future when white Americans would no longer be the majority.

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“So in terms of that — the supremacist assault on incumbenc..

March 13, 20254:08 PM ET

President Trump has derided aid the U.S. provides overseas as rife with fraud. His administration has moved aggressively to eliminate such funding including cancelling contracts already in progress. This is all being challenged in court but the effects are being felt acutely by those providing the aid on the ground in foreign countries. We hear from three providers in Africa.

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March 13, 20254:12 AM ET

NPR’s Michel Martin talks about the consequences of deep cuts to foreign aid programs with three aid workers in Africa, where about a quarter of USAID funds were allocated.

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March 11, 20252:17 AM ET
Sheep are for sale in a northern district of Algiers on June 8, 2024, ahead of the Eid al-Adha, or “Feast of Sacrifice,” when Muslims around the world slaughter sheep and cattle in remembrance of Abraham’s near-sacrifice of his son.

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Anis Belghoul/AP

ALGIERS, Algeria — Algeria’s president has announced plans to import a staggering 1 million sheep ahead of this year’s Eid al-Adha, the holiday during which Muslims worldwide purchase livestock for sacrifice.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Sunday instructed his ministers to launch plans for the massive livestock import effort to stabilize costs and meet soaring demand.
The plan is the latest in a series of measures designed to ease public frustration over rising costs and the military-backed government’s uncompromising grip on power.
It builds on previous efforts to flood markets with food staples throughout Islam’s holy month of Ramadan. Yet its scale..

March 10, 202512:10 AM ET
Enlarge this imageIn 2012, playwright Athol Fugard, who was then 80, said, “I have a greater sense of adventure at this moment in my life than I ever had in the past.” Fugard is pictured above in February 1985.

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In 2012, playwright Athol Fugard, who was then 80, said, “I have a greater sense of adventure at this moment in my life than I ever had in the past.” Fugard is pictured above in February 1985.

John Minihan/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

When apartheid ended, and Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa, Athol Fugard thought his life as a playwright was over, he told NPR in 2015.
“I sincerely believe that I was going to be South Africa’s first literary redundancy,” Fugard said. “But as it is, South Africa caught me by surprise again and just said, ‘no, you got to keep writing, man. There are still ..

March 9, 20258:03 AM ET

A new report describes the Sahel region of Africa, a million mile band that runs through Mauritania to Sudan, as “the epicenter of global terrorism.” We examine those findings.

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March 7, 20255:45 PM ET

At least 9,000 people have been forcefully evicted from a community in Lagos. Like many waterfront communities across the city, it has faced threats and been targeted by real estate developers.

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March 7, 20255:23 PM ET
A woman gestures in front of her demolished house in Otodo-Gbame waterfront in Lagos, Nigeria. Saturday, March 18, 2017. Slums and shantytowns are often targeted in rampant demolitions across Africa’s most populous country

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LAGOS, Nigeria—A century old riverside community of more than 9,000 people located in Nigeria’s largest city, Lagos, was demolished on Friday and residents were forcefully evicted.
Dozens of Lagos state officials, as well as police and young men known locally as “area boys” armed with machetes and clubs entered the community of Ilaje-Otumara in the early hours of Friday, forcing thousands to flee with their belongings, as bulldozers rolled through homes, businesses and places of worship.
NPR witnessed state government officials and police watching on as residents were beaten and attacked and forced to leave without their possessions. Reporters covering the demolitio..

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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