VOA News Africa

Jihadists Abduct Aid Worker, Local Officials in Nigeria 

KANO, NIGERIA — A human­i­tar­i­an aid work­er and two local offi­cials have been abduct­ed by Islam­ic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fight­ers in con­flict-plagued north­east­ern Nige­ria, two secu­ri­ty offi­cials said Wednes­day. Jihadists kid­napped them at a check­point in the village

Human Rights Watch Accuses Azerbaijan of Abusing Armenian POWs

Human Rights Watch accused Azer­bai­jani forces Wednes­day of bru­tal­iz­ing some Armen­ian troops cap­tured in the con­flict over the dis­put­ed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Acts of mis­treat­ment were cap­tured on video and cir­cu­lat­ed on social media over the past two months, HRW

China Joins Race to Mine Moon for Resources

China’s space pro­gram cel­e­brat­ed a major accom­plish­ment this week when its Chang’e 5 lunar probe mis­sion safe­ly land­ed on the moon. The land­ing Tues­day brought Bei­jing a step clos­er to becom­ing the third coun­try in the world to retrieve geological

European Alpine Nations Split on Opening Ski Resorts During Pandemic

Europe’s alpine nations are split regard­ing how to han­dle the ski sea­son at their respec­tive resorts dur­ing the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic. Ger­many, France and Italy are stay­ing tem­porar­i­ly closed, while Switzer­land, Spain and Aus­tria are par­tial­ly open­ing. France, like Italy, Austria

WMO: Global Warming Triggering Extreme Weather Events

GENEVA — The World Mete­o­ro­log­i­cal Orga­ni­za­tion reports 2020 is shap­ing up to be one of the three warmest years on record and a year in which extreme weath­er events have wreaked hav­oc on the lives and liveli­hoods of millions

ILO: COVID-19 Drives Wages Down and Increases Inequality

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND — The Inter­na­tion­al Labor Orga­ni­za­tion says wages plunged dur­ing the first six months of the year due to the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic, with women and low­er paid work­ers among the biggest losers.  Its report is based on data from

Uganda’s Wine Demands End to Interference in His Presidential Campaign

KAMPALA, UGANDA — Pres­i­den­tial can­di­date Bobi Wine filed a com­plaint with Ugan­da’s elec­tion com­mis­sion after police fired tear gas and rub­ber bul­lets Tues­day at his sup­port­ers, send­ing at least five to the hos­pi­tal. In a three-hour closed-door meet­ing Wednes­day with the

UN, Nigerian Authorities: More Bodies Recovered After Boko Haram Massacre

ABUJA, NIGERIA — Niger­ian author­i­ties say they are try­ing to res­cue at least 10 women who were abduct­ed by Boko Haram mil­i­tants in an attack over the week­end that left at least 43 peo­ple dead.   Boko Haram on Tuesday

Nigeria’s Police Reform Efforts Under Scrutiny

Lek­ki Toll Gate, a non­de­script toll plaza on a busy Lagos high­way, has become a ral­ly­ing cry for Nige­ri­ans demand­ing police reform.After dark on Octo­ber 20, eye­wit­ness­es say, secu­ri­ty forces opened fire on pro­test­ers demon­strat­ing against Nigeria’s Spe­cial Anti-Rob­bery Squad,

Dow Closes at Record on News of Second Potential COVID-19 Vaccine

The U.S. Dow Jones Indus­tri­al Aver­age closed at a record high Mon­day as investors embraced news of anoth­er break­through in the effort to devel­op an effec­tive COVID-19 vac­cine to attack the glob­al coro­n­avirus pan­dem­ic.   The bell­wether Dow Jones Industrial