ADF

U.N. Peacekeeping Operations in Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia Offer Lessons From Challenges Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia share more than a border. The two West African nations have a recent history of civil war and upheaval. Both also had United Nations peacekeeping missions to help them pick up the pieces after the conflicts. The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) began September 19, 2003, immediately after the second Liberian civil war, which started in 1999. The first civil war raged from 1989 to 1996. UNMIL’s job was to support the cease-fire agreement; protect U.N. staff members, civilians and infrastructure; protect humanitarian…

Recurring Weather Events Can Intensify Security Issues On a continent prone to a wide range of environmental disasters, tropical Cyclone Idai stood out. The exceptionally devastating storm plowed into southeastern Africa on March 15, 2019, bringing fury to Mozambique, as well as neighbors Malawi and Zimbabwe. The storm might be the worst disaster to strike the Southern Hemisphere, the United Nations said. A month later, Mercy Corps reported that the cyclone had left an estimated 3 million people needing humanitarian assistance and killed more than 1,000, with hundreds more missing. By April 25, 2019, Cyclone Kenneth was slamming into Mozambican…

From plowing fields to repairing sewage plants, Soldiers are redefining their roles The Vaal River in central South Africa is an environmental disaster, threatening the health of 19 million residents who live downstream. Its fate is in the hands of unlikely environmental warriors — the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). In September 2018, the South African Human Rights Commission inspected the river after allegations that 150 million liters of untreated sewage were spilling into it each day. The commission said, “The site inspection has revealed a prima facie violation of the rights of access to clean water, clean environment…

Cameroon’s top female football star has opened an academy to teach the sport to girls. The academy is the first of its kind in the country, where football is still largely considered a boys’ sport. Gaelle Enganamouit, a 27-year-old football star, never had any formal training. But she said having a football academy for girls will develop Cameroon’s players into world stars. “The foundation has as its objective to promote women’s football so we can see the impact.” she said. “In 2016 here with the African Cup, I was so impressed. I said I have the opportunity to open this…

To “showcase the best African narratives,” some artists and writers have teamed up to publish comic books in print and online. They also are experimenting with augmented reality products. Nigerians Ziki Nelson and Tolu Foyeh, along with Ugandan Hamid Ibrahim, have started Kugali Media, based in London and Lagos, Nigeria. All three men are under 30. Their flagship product, Kugali Anthology, is a collection of comics by contributors from across the continent and the diaspora. They also are testing augmented reality (AR), similar to Pokémon Go, a game that is downloaded onto smartphones and combines visuals of computer-generated characters with…

Senegal has opened its new $34 million Museum of Black Civilizations in the capital, Dakar. It follows calls from Senegal and other African nations for France to return art it looted during the colonial era. Among the first temporary exhibitions to be shown are works from artists from Mali and Burkina Faso as well as from Cuba and Haiti. The idea of establishing the museum dates back more than 50 years, to Senegal’s late poet-president, Léopold Sédar Senghor. Along with Martinican writer Aimé Césaire, Senghor was a creative force behind the philosophy of Négritude, which promoted black culture, heritage and…

BBC NEWS AT BBC.CO.UK/NEWS Netflix is to launch its first African original series in 2020. Queen Sono is “a drama about a secret agent who fights crime while dealing with crises in her personal life,” according to entertainment news magazine Variety. The star of the series, South African actor Pearl Thusi, says it’s “going to change the game for every artist on this continent.” Queen Sono is the brainchild of director Kagiso Lediga and executive producer Tamsin Andersson, who previously worked together on Catching Feelings, a romantic comedy. Netflix plans to invest more of its $8 billion original production budget…

Researchers are betting that a new variety of maize can help farmers in Zimbabwe withstand increasing instances of drought. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center says it is working on ensuring that Zimbabwe returns to its former status as a prosperous, self-sufficient agricultural producer, after erratic rainfall in recent years affected the country’s food security. The El Niño weather phenomenon has harmed crop production across Southern Africa in recent years. But the center believes its technologies can improve small farmers’ maize production, said researcher Esnath Hamadziripi. “Here in Zimbabwe, three in five seasons are expected to be bad for…

Airport authorities in Hong Kong arrested two men accused of smuggling a record number of rhino horns worth $1 million. The accused smugglers were headed to Vietnam from Johannesburg, South Africa. About 24 severed rhino horns weighing 40 kilograms were found in the bust, the largest ever recorded in Hong Kong. Customs officials said the illegal haul was transported through the terminal in two cardboard boxes. The incident came just two weeks after officials in Hong Kong seized 8 metric tons of pangolin scales and more than 1,000 elephant tusks. A local environmental group said the rhino horns accounted for…

South African surgeons successfully performed the world’s first implant of middle-ear bones that used 3D printed components, a research university said. The technique “may be the answer to conductive hearing loss — a middle ear problem caused by congenital birth defects, infection, trauma or metabolic diseases,” Pretoria University said in a statement. The surgery replaced the hammer, anvil and stirrup — the smallest bones in the body, which make up the middle ear — with similarly shaped titanium pieces produced on a 3D printer. “3D technology is allowing us to do things we never thought we could,” said University of…