Africa

World News

Police Officers Caught In The Middle Go On Strike In Egypt

6:03pm March 08, 2013

There is a growing strike by police officers in Egypt. Long accused of brutality before and after the fall of the Mubarak regime, police commanders say they are ill-equipped to handle the ongoing protests, many of them violent, in Port Said and other cities. They are demanding the ouster of the new Interior Minister, appointed by President Mohammed Morsi. The strike comes amid fears of more violence on Saturday when a court in Cairo is scheduled to hand down a second group of verdicts and sentences in connection with a soccer riot that left 70 dead last year.

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Ethnic Violence Haunts Kenya's Presidential Election

1:02pm March 04, 2013

In the East African nation of Kenya, voters are choosing the next president. Of greatest concern is whether these polls will provoke the same amount of deadly ethnic violence as the elections five years ago. More than 1,000 people were killed during voting in that election.

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Kenyan authorities are trying to guard against fraud and violence when they hold a presidential election on March 4. Here, voters register on biometric equipment last December in Nairobi.

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Fearing Election Turmoil, Kenyans Seek A Tech Solution

8:22pm February 25, 2013

by Gregory Warner

Text messages spreading false rumors helped spark postelection violence in 2007. This time, monitors will keep an eye on social media and will be in touch with government officials in a bid to prevent bloodshed.

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People walk down a market street in Eastleigh, a predominantly Muslim Somali neighborhood in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2009. The neighborhood has come under scrutiny as the U.S. cracks down on terrorism financing.

Fighting Stream Of Terrorist Capital, Kenya Cracks Down On Somali Businesses

10:26pm February 23, 2013

by Gregory Warner

U.S. counterterrorism efforts include choking off the flow of cash to extremists and urging friendly countries to help. But in places like the Nairobi neighborhood of Eastleigh, where Somali refugees have flocked, it's hard to distinguish between tainted money and honest cash.

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Pistorius Case Puts South African Courts In Spotlight

11:55am February 23, 2013

Weekend Edition guest host Don Gonyea speaks to David Smith, Africa correspondent for The Guardian, about the latest in the murder case against Olympian Oscar Pistorius. Smith has been live-tweeting updates all week as Pistorius stands accused of shooting his girlfriend in the early hours of Valentine's Day.

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Algerian police stop cars at a checkpoint in In Amenas, deep in the Sahara near the Libyan border, on Jan. 18. Islamists took hostages at a nearby gas field in a major international incident.

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Sahara Attack Revives A Fear Of Renewed Terrorism In Algeria

10:30am February 22, 2013

by Eleanor Beardsley

Algerians received a double blow when an oil and gas plant was taken over in the desert last month. Algerians thought those kinds of attacks were a thing of the past, and many were angry when Western countries criticized the way Algeria's security forces responded.

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HIV drugs not only can keep patients healthy but also can stop the sexual transmission of the virus. Here an HIV-positive mother picks up medications at a hospital outside Johannesburg, South Africa.

Treating HIV Patients Protects Whole Community

9:51am February 22, 2013

by Jason Beaubien

Treating people for HIV isn't just beneficial for those infected but also helps the entire community. Two studies show that where HIV drugs are widely available, the risk for new HIV infections drops dramatically and overall life expectancy increases by more than a decade.

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In Bail Hearing, Pistorius Says Girlfriend's Death Was Accidental

9:41am February 20, 2013

Renee Montagne gets an update from New York Times correspondent Lydia Polgreen on the bail hearing for South African Olympian Oscar Pistorius. He is charged with murdering his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

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Islamists Failed To Quiet Mali's Music

12:33pm February 19, 2013

The African nation of Mali has long claimed it gave birth to the blues. Renee Montagne reports that the country's musical tradition was threatened this past year when Islamist militants took over the deserts of northern Mali and banned music.

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The Dark Side To French-African Ties

4:18pm February 15, 2013

by Eleanor Beardsley

President Francois Hollande's visit to Mali, after French troops routed Islamist extremists, brings to mind France's long relationship with its former colonies in Africa. African troops helped France and the allies defeat Hitler's forces, and Hollande expressed gratitude for that while he was in Mali. But there's also a dark side to the French-African connection.

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