insert_link Africa South Sudan floods: the first example of a mass population permanently displaced by climate change? Abandoned homes in South Sudan. rameesha bilal shah / shutterstock By Liz Stephens, University of Reading and Jacob Levi, Charité – Berlin University of Medicine Enormous floods have once again engulfed much of South Sudan, as record water-levels in Lake Victoria flow downstream through the Nile. More than 700,000 people have been affected. Hundreds of thousands of people there were already forced from their homes by huge floods […] todaySeptember 12, 2024 41
insert_link Africa Tanzania investigates kidnappings of opposition figures ahead of elections Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has ordered an investigation into the abductions of political figures and government critics ahead of upcoming elections in the East African nation. According to Bloomberg Africa, the investigation follows the kidnapping and murder of a senior member of the main opposition Chadema party, Ally Mohamed Kibao. todaySeptember 9, 2024 27
insert_link Africa Scattered anti-government protests in Kenya By Hillary Orinde Hundreds of protesters took to the streets across Kenyan towns on Tuesday in defiance of a police ban, the latest in a series of demonstrations that have rocked the East African nation. Activists led by young Gen-Z Kenyans launched peaceful rallies last month over steep tax increases but they spiralled into deadly violence, before morphing into wider anger against President William Ruto's government. […] todayJuly 23, 2024 11
insert_link Africa How old are South African fossils like the Taung Child? New study offers an answer By Francis Thackeray, University of the Witwatersrand One hundred years ago the discovery of a skull in South Africa’s North West province altered our understanding of human evolution. The juvenile skull was dubbed the Taung Child by Raymond Dart, an anatomist at the University of the Witwatersrand, who first described it. In 1924 Dart could not say exactly how old it was, but he […] todayJuly 15, 2024 13
insert_link Africa Lake Victoria: why so many fishers are dying and what can be done about it By Ranaivo Rasolofoson, University of Toronto and Kathryn Fiorella, Cornell University Small-scale fishers on Lake Victoria (Africa’s largest freshwater lake, shared by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda) are drowning. Safety issues such as storms, a lack of available life jackets, and a shortage of navigational equipment and rescue services are a major cause of this. Existing studies have found that climate change is projected to […] todayJune 26, 2024 22
insert_link Africa AU approves force shift amid Somalia security concerns The African Union has endorsed the creation of a new force to replace more than 13,000 troops due to leave Somalia by year-end, amid fears that al Qaeda militants in the country are growing in power. Bloomberg Africa reports that troops from Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Burundi, and Djibouti, part of the so-called African Union Transition Mission, are due to leave by the end of December. todayJune 24, 2024 17
insert_link Africa Kenyan schools reopen after devastating floods Schools in Kenya have reopened after flooding in the country killed more than 250 people. Kenya and other parts of East Africa have been battered by torrential rains, claiming lives and destroying property. Human Rights Watch says that Kenyan authorities have not responded adequately to flash floods resulting from heavy rains. The floods have left at least over 200, 000 people displaced, destroyed infrastructure, and livelihoods across the country; and […] todayMay 14, 2024 46
insert_link Africa Subsea cable cut causes Internet slowdown in East Africa Several countries in East Africa including Kenya are experiencing slow internet connections after at least one sub-sea cable serving the region was cut. Ben Roberts, group chief technology and innovation officer at Liquid Intelligent Technologies told Bloomberg Africa, “One of the subsea cables seems cut 45 kilometers north of Durban, is causing the internet to be sluggish.” todayMay 13, 2024 18
insert_link Africa East Africa braces for more rains Kenya remains on high alert as Tropical Cyclone Hidaya threatens to dump more torrential rains on East African countries, which recently emerged from three years of historic drought. The heavy rains have caused deadly flooding and landslides that have killed nearly 400 people across the region since March. The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Kenya, Stephen Jackson. todayMay 7, 2024 65