Slowdowns and shutdowns: Africans challenge internet restrictions
Nairobi, Kenya/Durban, South AfricaThomson Reuters Foundation Internet curbs and shutdowns in African countries have disrupted communication and complicated everyday life for millions of people over the last year, with Sudan becoming the latest nation hit by sweeping connectivity blocks this week. Telecommunications were interrupted in Sudan on Monday after the army seized power from a transitional government in a coup […]
Essay: Kenneth Kaunda – the last giant of African nationalism and benign autocrat left a mixed legacy
In an article first published on The Conversation, GAVIN EVANS, a lecturer at Birkbeck, University of London, looks at the life and legacy of former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda, who died last week at the age of 97…
COVID-19 cases surge in Africa, less than 0.8 per cent of people fully vaccinated, say officials
Nairobi, KenyaReuters COVID-19 cases rose by over 20 per cent week-on-week in nearly two dozen African countries and progress on vaccinating Africans is proceeding slowly, with just 0.79 per cent of people on the continent fully vaccinated, senior health officials said on Thursday. “Africa is in the midst of a full blown third wave…We’ve seen […]
Snapshot: Watching from the water, Zambia…
See BIRGER STRAHL’s image…
Christian medical charities join efforts to help children living with disabilities in Africa
A new partnership between Christian medical charities Mercy Ships and CURE International will see at least 250 surgeries carried out to help children with disabilities in Africa during the first half of this year, according to the organisations. The partnership, which was announced earlier this month, aims to improve access of children living with disabilities […]
Piped water boosts women’s health, happiness and income in rural Zambia
Johannesburg, South AfricaThomson Reuters Foundation From growing vegetables to spending more time with their children, women’s quality of life improved drastically after piped water was installed near their homes in rural Zambia, Stanford University researchers said on Thursday. In a study involving 434 households in four Zambian villages, they found not having to walk to […]
Catholic aid is helping returned African migrants counter hunger, COVID-19
Harare, ZimbabweReligion Unplugged Catholic organisations are stepping up efforts to assist migrants returning to Africa as southern African countries – including Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa and Malawi – relax COVID-19 restrictions and open up land borders. In some countries, strict lockdowns worsened hunger and joblessness, threatening asylum seekers and citizens returning from abroad with starvation. […]
Musician with albinism says coronavirus raises risk of attack
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation The coronavirus pandemic has left people with albinism in fear of attack and murder in parts of Africa where their body parts are used for lucky charms, a Zambian musician with the condition has said. John Chiti, 35, said there had already been one murder in Zambia since the virus emerged […]
Climate-smart cassava gets new use in Zambia: hand sanitiser
Luksaka, ZambiaThomson Reuters Foundation To deal with drier conditions brought by a shifting climate, farmer Pamela Nyirenda last year shifted to growing drought-hardy cassava, among other new water-sipping crops such as groundnuts and cowpea. But this year her cassava field has brought not just a secure harvest but also a financial windfall, as buyers snap […]
Church groups ready as Zambia faces food shortages in chronic drought
Via World Council of Churches Victoria Falls is known locally as Mosi-oa Tunya (“The Smoke that Thunders”) due to the power of the water from the Zambezi River that often flows across one of the great wonders of the world. Today it is a mere trickle. PICTURE: Laurie MacGregor/ACT The waterfall has displayed one of the […]