Africa

Gambian president Yahya Jammeh (center) has his finger inked before casting his marble in a polling station in a presidential poll, in Banjul on Dec. 1, 2016.

In Reversal, Gambian President Rejects Loss And Calls For New Election

3:42pm December 10, 2016

by James Doubek

Longtime President Yahya Jammeh conceded defeat in an election last week. Now, he says there were irregularities in the results and is calling for a new election.

The M-PESA agent who works in this shop is part of a vast network of small-time vendors.

Dial M For Money: Can Mobile Banking Lift People Out Of Poverty?

2:44am December 10, 2016

by Nurith Aizenman

We look at the remarkable findings from a new study of Kenya's M-PESA system, out in 'Science.'

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A woman walks past campaign posters of opposition presidential candidate Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party on Thursday in Accra, Ghana.

World News

Opposition Candidate Wins Ghana's Presidential Vote

6:23pm December 09, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

"It is my duty and my privilege to declare Nana Akufo-Addo as the president elect of Ghana," election commissioner Charlotte Osei said at a news conference.

The singer Alsarah: "Sudanese people said I wasn't Sudanese enough. Arabs said I wasn't an Arab. Americans said I wasn't American. I used to be like, 'I don't belong anywhere! Now I'm like you're all mine. All my countries, you're all mine."

Born In Sudan, Based In Brooklyn. A Singer Remixes Her Identities

3:38pm December 09, 2016

by Nurith Aizenman

Please, says the singer-songwriter, don't pigeonhole her as some sort of "refugee artist." She calls her music "East-African Retro-Pop."

Fears Of Genocide In The World's Newest Nation

9:15am December 09, 2016

by Michele Kelemen

There are fears of a genocide in South Sudan, a country just five years old. Activists say the world is ignoring the crisis as the United Nations and the U.S. go through leadership transitions.

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World News

International Crisis Group Report Examines Women And Boko Haram

6:14pm December 08, 2016

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks to Comfort Ero, Africa program director for the International Crisis Group, about the organization's new report on women and the Boko Haram insurgency. It finds that while thousands of women and girls have become victims, women also fight on both sides of the conflict.

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A nighttime satellite image offers some information about pockets of poverty — that's where electricity isn't lighting things up.

To Help The Poorest Of The Poor, First You Have To Find Them

6:24pm December 06, 2016

by Mark H. Kim

A new project uses computers to analyze daytime satellite pictures for signs of extreme poverty. Does it work?

World News

Gambia Poised For Peaceful Transition After 22 Years Under Authoritarian Ruler

4:39pm December 06, 2016

by Ofeibea Quist-Arcton

The tiny West African nation of Gambia is poised for an unprecedented handover of power. In a surprise election upset, the opposition candidate bested the 22-year ruler, whose government is known for forced disappearances, torture and other human rights violations.

Dominic Ongwen, a senior commander in the Lord's Resistance Army, enters the courtroom of the International Court in The Hague, Netherlands, on Tuesday.

World News

Former Child Soldier Denies War Crimes In Trial At International Criminal Court

1:00pm December 06, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

Dominic Ongwen, who was kidnapped by the Lord's Resistance Army when he was a boy, pleaded not guilty to 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Uganda. He was nicknamed the White Ant.

A doctor keeps a pedestrian away from the JFK Ebola treatment center on October 13, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

A Stabbing, A Possible Ebola Outbreak, And A 'Time Bomb'

12:00am December 06, 2016

In Liberia, a team of epidemiologists have to delay a criminal investigation, look the other way on illegal drug use and build trust to stop an outbreak of Ebola.

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