Senegal’s local toy manufacturers are experiencing a surge in demand ahead of Christmas, with sellers hoping to win market share with high-quality products that reflect the country’s culture and values. Mostly Muslim Senegal has a strong tradition of different religions sharing and enjoying each other’s holidays. Christmas in the capital Dakar is an example, where … Read more
Abuja, Nigeria – At least 67 people, many of them children, were killed in stampedes during three Christmas charity events across Nigeria last week. Families are struggling during the country’s worst survival crisis in a generation. At least 35 children were killed in southwestern Oyo state on Wednesday. And on Saturday, 22 people died in … Read more
Abuja, Nigeria – At least 13 people, including four children, were killed in two separate stampedes in Nigeria as large crowds gathered to collect food and clothing items distributed at annual Christmas events, police said on Saturday. Both accidents came days after another similar stampede in Africa’s most populous country, amid a growing trend by … Read more
Mamoudzou, Mayotte – French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in the Indian Ocean archipelago of Mayotte on Thursday to survey the devastation caused by Cyclone Chido and immediately got a first-hand account of the devastation wreaked on the French territory. “Mayotte has been demolished,” Assane Haloi, a security agent, said after Macron disembarked from the plane. … Read more
Nairobi, Kenya – Kenya’s president said on Tuesday that a large-scale livestock vaccination campaign would continue despite fears from some herders and farmers that vaccination would somehow harm their animals. Kenyan President William Ruto has hit out at those objecting to the agriculture ministry’s livestock vaccination programme, which the ministry says aims to prevent the … Read more
Yaoundé, Cameroon – Chad’s electoral commission has asked the Central African state’s military to help protect election officials and candidates amid a surge in attacks ahead of Dec. 29 elections. Witnesses say opposition supporters have used clubs and iron bars to prevent the ruling MPS party from holding rallies in several cities and towns. The … Read more
Abuja, Nigeria – Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, says it is investigating about 800 suspects arrested for alleged internet fraud during massive raids in Lagos last week. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission says this is the largest number of arrests ever made in a single raid. EFCC spokesman Wilson Uwujaren … Read more
Saint-Denis de la Reunion, France – Rescuers were hard pressed Monday to reach survivors after a devastating cyclone hit the French Indian Ocean region of Mayotte, destroying homes across islands and leaving hundreds feared dead. Images from Mayotte, which like other French overseas territories is an integral part of France and governed from Paris, showed … Read more
Tripoli, Libya – One of Libya’s main refineries in the west was shut down after clashes broke out between local armed groups early Sunday and a fire broke out across infrastructure, state oil company NOC said. Several tanks caught fire at the Zawiya refinery, a town 45 kilometers west of Tripoli and the only one … Read more
Cape Town, South Africa – At least 11 people have died as Cyclone Chido caused devastating damage in the French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, France’s interior ministry said on Sunday. The intense tropical cyclone has now reached Africa’s east coast, where aid agencies are warning of more loss of life and serious … Read more