Africa

'Do They Know It's Christmas?' Raises Hackles As Well As Dollars

8:17pm November 23, 2014

by Neda Ulaby

The newest version of Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" raised a $1 million within a few minutes of its release on Tuesday. Critics say the song still sends the wrong message about Africa.

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In Liberia, A New Focus On Tracking Down Rural Ebola Cases

8:16pm November 23, 2014

by Kelly McEvers

The disease continues to run rampant in the countryside here. In response, the Centers for Disease Control is trying out a system of rapid response teams that "flood the zone" and isolate cases.

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Sarah Obama, left, and her translator, Mama Sarah Obama Foundation Executive Director Debra Akello, spoke at the United Nations on Wednesday.

Obama's Step-Grandmother Continues Educating Young Kenyans

8:13pm November 23, 2014

by NPR Staff

Sarah Obama, 94, received an award from the United Nations on Wednesday, and hopes to raise money during the trip to build a school and hospital in her home village.

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Civilians who had just recently arrived in Yola prepare to flee again, this time in a large open-top truck headed to the city of Jos.

World News

Rumors Of Boko Haram Attack Send Nigerian Refugees Fleeing Again

8:13pm November 23, 2014

by Ofeibea Quist-Arcton

Many of the displaced ended up in camps in the city of Yola. Now they're racing further away as concerns grow that Yola also faces attack, and that the government isn't doing enough to stop it.

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World News

Tunisian Election Completes Its Transition To Democracy

8:12pm November 23, 2014

Thousands of Tunisians called for an end to dictatorship in 2011. Now the country will hold its first democratic presidential election. NPR's Rachel Martin talks to journalist Naveena Kottoor.

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World News

Highway Bandits Steal Blood Believed To Contain Ebola Virus

1:51pm November 22, 2014

by Bill Chappell

A roadway robbery in Guinea resulted in an alarming haul this week, as thieves made off with cash, personal items — and a batch of Red Cross blood samples.

Rats are a common sight along the streets of Antananarivo, where trash can go weeks, even months, without being collected.

Plague Outbreak In Madagascar Spreads To Its Capital

9:26pm November 21, 2014

by Michaeleen Doucleff

Madagascar reports hundreds of plague cases each year. Health officials are concerned that this year's outbreak could grow rapidly now that it has reached a densely-populated city.

Women and children wait in the recovery area at the Hastings Ebola Treatment Center in Freetown, Sierra Leone. About 60 patients at the facility were almost ready to go home after recovering from Ebola.

An Ebola Clinic Figures Out A Way To Start Beating The Odds

8:22pm November 21, 2014

by Nurith Aizenman

Staff members at a clinic in Sierra Leone were told to minimize treatments and expect few survivors. But they refused to follow that plan and came up with a safe way to boost the survival rate.

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Baby Sesay, a traditional healer in Sierra Leone, treated a child who later died, apparently of Ebola, and then became sick herself and went to a care center. As this photo was taken, her body seized up and she nearly collapsed.

An NPR Photographer Looks Ebola In The Eye

1:06pm November 20, 2014

by Marc Silver

Baby Sesay was in a care center in a village in Sierra Leone, waiting to find out if she had Ebola. Our photographer took a picture. Two days later, she was gone.

World News

Oh, The Places You'll Go: Toilet Signs Try To Help (And Often Fail)

4:57pm November 19, 2014

by Eleanor Klibanoff

Do I squat or sit? What can I flush? Is there even a way to flush? Signs from around the world aim to answer your vital toilet questions. Sometimes they're helpful. Sometimes they're just ... weird..