ADF

ADF STAFF The Mitchells Plain neighborhood sits along the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa, in a section called Cape Flats. It is a part of the city known for its notorious street gangs, who violently clash with each other and terrorize the residents. The gangs sport flashy and colorful names such as the Hustlers, Rude Boys, Ghetto Kids and Spoilt Brats. The language of graffiti marks walls, shacks and homes. The gangs’ dealings in drugs, weapons and the shellfish abalone led to deadly turf wars. In 2018, Cape Town saw more than 2,800 murders, a rate of about 66…

ADF STAFF A speedboat carrying eight pirates approached a Ghanaian vessel 105 kilometers off the port town of Tema. Five pirates fired at the Ghanaian vessel before boarding it, sailing it farther south and kidnapping five crew members, according to a report by Dryad Global, which covers maritime security issues. The May incident brought the number of kidnappings in the Gulf of Guinea to 56 during five incidents in 2021. It also underscored one reason members of the Nigerian Navy, Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in Ghana, the Danish government and the United Nations Development Programme gathered in…

ADF STAFF About 2 1/2 years ago, Professor James Larkin was having lunch with friends at a lovely Mexican restaurant in Johannesburg when the subject of rhino poaching came up. Part of the multibillion-dollar illicit wildlife trade worldwide, rhino horn is worth more than gold. Despite having no medicinal value, it is considered a potent ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine. “James, why don’t you zap them with radiation?” one of his friends asked, knowing Larkin is director of the Radiation and Health Physics Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. That suggestion led to the Rhisotope Project, which became…

ADF STAFF The suspected death of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in Nigeria in May raises questions about the future of the country’s notorious extremist organization and a possible shift in power toward its rival, the Islamic State in West African Province (ISWAP). The Nigerian military has said it is attempting to confirm ISWAP’s claim. This is the sixth time Shekau has been declared dead since 2009. That year, after recovering from an attack in Niger, Shekau returned to Nigeria and took control of Boko Haram. Under his control, the organization became more violent, killing thousands and driving more than…

ADF STAFF | Photos by AFP/Getty Images Early in the 2018 Ebola epidemic in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), contact tracers used paper forms, filling them out each day for every contact made. At the end of the day, tracers turned in the paperwork to their supervisors, who alerted doctors if any of the contacts showed signs of Ebola. The process was slow, tedious and bureaucratic. The World Health Organization (WHO) noted that paperwork also drew unnecessary and unwelcome attention to contact tracers. Sometimes, people chased them away. Contact tracers later traded their papers for mobile phones.…

BBC NEWS AT BBC.CO.UK/NEWS An abandoned quarry in Nigeria has become a tourist hot spot after images were posted on social media in August 2020. Photos of the rocky cliffs climbing into a blue sky, a moss-lined footpath, small green hills and a lake that shimmers in the sun have been shared all over the world. Days after the post, the site, known as Crushed Rock, in Mpape, a neighborhood outside the capital, Abuja, was thronged. There have been a DJ stand, food vendors, hundreds of sunbathing selfie-takers and a band of classical musicians. The COVID-19 pandemic also has encouraged…

BBC NEWS AT BBC.CO.UK/NEWS Activists aiming to maintain traditional culture have pledged $1 million to help the people of central Mali’s Mopti region restore parts of their heritage, which has been threatened by armed conflict. The United Nations’ cultural organization, UNESCO, is working with the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas to support rehabilitation of the Cliff of Bandiagara, also known as the Land of the Dogons, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1989. The area is known for its homes carved into the limestone rock and the architecture, as well as the…

VOICE OF AMERICA South Africa’s Market Theatre is one of several African cultural institutions that has gone entirely online because of COVID-19 restrictions that prevent large gatherings. This small institution has seen other difficult times. It often is known as the “Theater of the Struggle” for its flouting of apartheid-era laws after opening in 1976. Now, theater staff members hope their artistic message, which touches on current events, will resonate beyond Africa. Artistic director James Ngcobo said the acclaimed theater, which has received 21 international awards for its work, is seizing the opportunity to spread its stories beyond this country…

BBC NEWS AT BBC.CO.UK/NEWS Tanzanian pop star Diamond Platnumz has become the first Sub-Saharan African singer to get 1 billion views on his YouTube channel. Over the past 10 years, the 30-year-old award-winning musician has popularized “bongo flava,” a uniquely Tanzanian offering. The music has romantic melodies with an urban beat influenced by traditional taarab music from the East African coast. “Diamond Platnumz is very hard working and has great showmanship,” says DJ Edu, who hosts the weekly pan-African music show This Is Africa for BBC World Service. With more than 43% of Tanzania’s 55 million people having access to…

ADF STAFF Cyber security experts say Africa’s top smartphone brand has sold tens of thousands of phones loaded with malicious software. The phones drain users’ data, sign them up for subscription services without their knowledge, and make them unwilling accomplices in fraudulent ad schemes. The Triada malware turned up on Chinese-made Tecno W2 smartphones in Ethiopia, Cameroon, Ghana and South Africa, according to a report. Triada uses a hard-to-remove program known as x-Helper to do its dirty work, experts say. In addition to creating fake subscriptions, the malware generates fake clicks on banner ads in the background of sites that…