Africa

Rwanda holds a week of commemorations marking 30th anniversary of 1994 genocide

5:07am April 08, 2024

by Emmanuel Akinwotu

As Rwanda marks three decades since the genocide, President Paul Kagame says the international community failed them. An estimated 800,000 people were killed by government-backed extremists.

30 years on, legacy of genocide haunts Rwandans

5:19pm April 07, 2024

by Juana Summers

Decades after a genocide that killed nearly 1 million Rwandans, NPR visits a church that was the site of a massacre where 7,000 people were killed, and talk to one man who perpetrated crimes there.

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Former US President Bill Clinton, left, and South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa arrive to lay a wreath at a ceremony to mark the 30th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, held at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, in Kigali, Rwanda, Sunday, April 7, 2024. Rwandans are commemorating 30 years since the genocide in which an estimated 800,000 people were killed by government-backed extremists.

World News

Bill Clinton and other leaders join Rwandans in marking 30 years since their genocide

6:03am April 07, 2024

by The Associated Press

Rwandans are commemorating 30 years since the genocide in which an estimated 800,000 people were killed by government-backed extremists, shattering the small East African country.

Beyoncé accepts the Innovator Award at the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards on April 1. Her new album is "Carter Country" and it features a banjo on the hit song "Texas Hold 'Em." At right: a gourd banjo was an early American incarnation of an instrument that originated in Africa and was played by African Americans.

The banjo is a star of Beyoncé's new album. Turns out it has African roots

11:55am April 05, 2024

by Aaron Cohen

In "Texas Hold 'Em," the singer is accompanied by a banjo. It's often thought of as a quintessential Americana instrument. But the history of the banjo tells a different story.

The Nkamira Transit Center in western Rwanda is home to more than 6,000 refugees who fled violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Violence in eastern Congo has displaced millions. Some end up at this camp

9:33am April 05, 2024

The Nkamira Transit Center is home to thousands of refugees who fled violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The decades-long conflict is a legacy of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

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Democratic Republic of Congo is experiencing its largest outbreak of mpox

11:03am April 04, 2024

by Gabrielle Emanuel

An outbreak of mpox — formerly known as monkeypox — in the Democratic Republic of Congo has health experts concerned as the majority of deaths have been children.

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Reading glasses are easy to come by in Western countries. But getting a pair in the Global South can be a challenge. A new study shows the surprising benefits that a pair of specs can bring.

Health & Safety

Glasses aren't just good for your eyes. They can be a boon to income, too

3:16pm April 03, 2024

by Gabrielle Emanuel

That's the finding of a new study in Bangladesh, which gave reading glasses to hundreds of people and then measured their earnings.

Bassirou Diomaye Faye delivers his inaugural speech after being sworn in as Senegal's president in Dakar, Senegal, Tuesday, April 2, 2024.

Weeks ago, Bassirou Diomaye Faye was in prison. Now, he is Senegal's president

11:01am April 03, 2024

by Emmanuel Akinwotu

Senegal's youngest ever president has been sworn-in after a dramatic prison to presidential palace rise to power.

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World News

Violence in eastern Congo has displaced millions of people. Some end up at this camp

4:54pm April 01, 2024

The Nkamira Transit Camp is home to more than 6,000 refugees fleeing violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The decades-long conflict is a legacy of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

South Africans have had to line up for water as the country's largest city, Johannesburg, confronts a collapse of its water system affecting millions of people.

World News

Johannesburg's water crisis is the latest blow to South Africa's 'world-class city'

5:00am April 01, 2024

by Kate Bartlett

It bills itself as a "world-class African city" but these days residents say it's anything but — with the collapse of the water system and frequent power outages.