US to expel South Africa ambassador as relations deteriorate

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Friday that South Africas ambassador to Washington had been declared persona non grata, signaling worsening relations between the two countries.

In a post on X, Rubio said South Africas ambassador to the U.S., Ebrahim Rasool, was no longer welcome in our great country.

Ebrahim Rasool is a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates @POTUS [Preside...

Archaeologists use song to herald findings in Guinea-Bissau dig

Kansala, Guinea-Bissau — For centuries, the history of the West African kingdom of Kaabu has been told mainly by word of mouth.

Kaabu existed from the mid-1500s to the 1800s. At its peak, it encompassed Guinea-Bissau and reached into what are now Senegal and Gambia.

Sometimes Kaabus story passed from father to son. Often it was passed by griots — or West African oral historians — who sang abou...

Africa faces diabetes crisis, study finds

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA — Researchers warn that type 2 diabetes could affect millions more people in the coming decades after a study published this month revealed the disease is rising far faster among people in sub-Saharan Africa than previously thought.

Take 51-year-old security guard Sibusiso Sithole, for example. Being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes came as a shock, he said, because he walked six...

Botswana hunting revenues almost double amid UK opposition

Gaborone, Botswana       — Botswana has made $4 million from the sale of licenses to hunt wild animals, the highest figure since lifting a hunting ban in 2019. The hunting season, which ended in November, was held amid growing opposition from some European countries that want a ban on the importation of African wildlife trophies.

Botswana issues around 400 elephant licenses annually, with ...

Children being brutalized in Sudan's civil war, say UNICEF and MSF

UNITED NATIONS — The head of the U.N. childrens program, UNICEF, said Thursday that 16 million children in Sudan are suffering horribly from the countrys civil war, with many facing daily threats of violence, starvation, disease and sexual assault.

The fighting is happening right at their doorsteps, around their homes, their schools and hospitals, and across many of Sudans cities, towns, and villages, C...

Cyclone Jude batters Malawi, Mozambique; no deaths reported

BLANTYRE, MALAWI — Tropical Cyclone Jude slammed into parts of southern Africa this week, causing no deaths but leaving widespread damage, especially in Malawi and Mozambique.

Officials in the two countries said thousands of people were homeless and some areas were without power. Aid agencies distributed relief where they could, but washed-away roads made the task difficult.

The storm made landfal...

UN judge from Uganda convicted in UK of forcing woman into slavery

LONDON — A British jury on Thursday convicted a United Nations judge of forcing a young woman to work as a slave after tricking her into coming to the U.K.

Prosecutors said Lydia Mugambe made the Ugandan woman work as her maid and provide childcare for free.

Mugambe, who is also a high court judge in Uganda, was studying for a doctorate in law at the University of Oxford when the offenses occurred...

Zimbabwe journalist still in custody after case adjourned

A High Court judge in Zimbabwe on Wednesday adjourned the case of a journalist arrested over his interviews with a war veteran-turned-politician who criticized the countrys president.

Blessed Mhlanga, a journalist with NewsDay and Heart and Soul Television, has been in custody since Feb. 24 over accusations of incitement.

Lawyers for the journalist had requested that he be bailed out, but at a hearin...

IS in Sahel expands terror threat beyond strongholds

On Feb. 24, the Moroccan counterterror agency broke up a terrorist cell calling itself the Lions of the Caliphate in the Maghreb Al Aqsa. Authorities said the group was making remote-controlled bombs to carry out attacks in the North African country.

In November, a similar terrorist cell was dismantled in the Spanish cities of Seville and Ceuta.

The connection? Both Moroccan and Spanish authorities s...

ECOWAS regional bloc activates counterterror force

ABUJA, NIGERIA — Security analysts are praising ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, for activating its regional standby force but remain doubtful about its effectiveness following the recent withdrawal of three member states.

Nigerian Defense Minister Mohammed Badaru Abubakar announced the activation of a standby military force Tuesday on the sidelines of the 43rd security meeting of t...

DRC, M23 rebels to begin direct peace talks, Angola says

LUANDA, ANGOLA — Direct peace talks between the Democratic Republic of Congo and M23 rebels will begin in the Angolan capital on March 18, Angolas presidency said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Southern African country has been trying to mediate a lasting ceasefire and de-escalate tensions between the DRC and neighboring Rwanda, which has been accused of backing the Tutsi-led rebel group. Rwanda denies...

Somali forces kill 50 militants in airstrikes after ending hotel siege

WASHINGTON — Security forces in Somalia say they killed all six attackers who laid siege to a hotel in the central town of Beledweyne and later killed at least 50 al-Shabab militants in airstrikes.

Speaking to reporters, Beledweyne District Commissioner Omar Osman Alasow confirmed that the hotel siege ended early Wednesday.

Our security forces successfully got rid of six militants who attacked a h...

India, Mauritius upgrade strategic ties with eye on China

NEW DELHI — India and Mauritius have upgraded their ties, say leaders of both countries — a move analysts say is aimed at increasing New Delhis influence in the Indian Ocean as it seeks to counter Chinas expanding footprint in the region.

The announcement of upgraded ties came during a two-day visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Mauritius, an island nation that sits along vital seaways in t...

Malawi lions get birth control in effort to save their prey

In Malawis Majete Wildlife Reserve, conservation experts are testing birth control methods on lions. The goal of the wildlife management effort is to control the lion population to ensure antelopes and other prey species continue thriving. Lameck Masina reports from the reserve in the Chikwawa district.

Gunmen attack hotel in Somalia, killing at least 5

WASHINGTON — Gunmen stormed a hotel in the Somali city of Beledweyne on Tuesday, leaving at least five people dead and triggering an ongoing siege, according to witnesses and a Somali lawmaker.

In an interview with VOA Somali, federal lawmaker Dahir Amin Jesow said local elders and government officials were meeting at the Qahira Hotel in central Somalia.

They attacked the hotel at dawn this mornin...