Slavery, history and the past being another country
By Gwynne Dyer “Assessing the people of America’s past by today’s standards would compel us to cast the majority of our heroes as villains.” That seemed...
Africa
Suspected people smuggler arrested in the north
Authorities in the north arrested a Turkish Cypriot man who was caught trying to smuggle four third-country nationals into the government-controlled areas, reports said on...
Shakespeare would recognise Lady Macbeth of Maseru
By Gwynne Dyer First there was ‘Macbeth’, the Shakespeare play (1606). It’s a bloody play even by Shakespeare’s demanding standards, with Lady Macbeth as the chief...
Thousands flee deadly violence in Cameroon’s separatist regions – sources
Thousands have fled a fresh flare-up of violence in Cameroon’s separatist English-speaking regions in the past few days, a local security source and a government...
Congo races to contain Ebola after gold miner contaminates several in Goma
Congolese authorities were racing to contain an Ebola epidemic on Thursday, after a gold miner with a large family contaminated several people in the east’s...
Sorry end for Africans on ‘education island’
By Esra Aygin The body of a 33-year-old Nigerian student, who had been missing since July 1, was found in the boot of a car...
Living in air-polluted Nicosia will cost residents on average a year of their lives
By Lizzy Ioannidou AN AVERAGE of one year is cut from the lives of every Nicosia resident due to high levels of air pollution, which...
Why are African leaders pushing for population growth?
By Gwynne Dyer I was one of five children, so I am in an invidious position when I write about population growth. That was quite...
Chinese leader begins Africa visit as US interest in continent wanes
Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Africa on a four-nation visit seeking deeper military and economic ties. His visit comes as the US, the...
‘Vicious cycle’ as conflict uproots millions in Africa
Violence and conflict in sub-Saharan Africa forced 15,000 people from their homes every day in 2017, double the previous year’s figure, an international monitoring centre...
Illegal gold miners invade Grace Mugabe’s farm amid legal dispute
A farm owned by Robert Mugabe’s wife Grace is at the centre of a legal dispute after hundreds of illegal gold miners invaded parts of...
Israel says to send 16,000 African migrants to Western countries
Israel said on Monday it has cancelled a plan to deport African migrants to Africa and reached an agreement with the UN refugee agency to send...
Hunger brings death to Congo’s Kasai after guns fall silent
The guns have fallen silent in the Congolese town of Mwene Ditu, but each day starving children arrive at the small hospital there battling...
Risk of mass starvation rapidly rising in Africa, Yemen – UN
The risk of mass starvation in four countries – north-east Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen -is rapidly rising due to drought and conflict, the...
Famine is back, but why always Africa?
For the first time in six years, there is famine in the world: a real, United Nations-declared famine, with more than 30 per cent of...
German ministry wants migrants returned to Africa – report
The German Interior Ministry wants to stop migrants ever reaching Europe’s Mediterranean coast by picking them up at sea and returning them to Africa, the...
Aids is not over
FOUR years ago optimism was high that Aids was in retreat, and could ultimately be eradicated. Back then the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/...
African elephant population tumbles due to poaching
By Ed Stoddard Africa’s elephant population fell around 20 percent between 2006 and 2015 because of a surge in ivory poaching, the International Union for...
Benin burning waste explosion kills two people
An explosion at a waste burning site in Benin killed two people and injured at least 60, the health ministry said on Friday. The blast...
Migrants tell of horrors of voyage in Italy media campaign
Italy launched an internet, TV and radio campaign on Thursday to discourage Africans from setting out on the often deadly voyage to Europe, including real...
