An Appalling International Embarrassment

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/TcPzvq_ANr4

 

Anti-LGBTQ+ laws are on the rise across west Africa, campaigners warn

According to US-based international reproductive rights organisation Ipas, the annual gatherings are supported by Family Watch International (FWI), an Arizona-based Christian campaign group that opposes abortion and comprehensive sex education (CSE). Also in attendance has been Dutch-founded lobby group Christian Council International, which promotes similar views…

 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/02/anti-lgbtq-laws-are-on-the-rise-across-west-africa-campaigners-warn

US government map of Africa mislabels every country at global conference

State department ‘takes full responsibility’ for erroneous, widely shared chart displayed at Aids conference in Brazil…

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/30/government-map-mislabels-african-countries

 

A quarter of young Africans believe USAID cuts could be positive, survey finds

Degan Ali, executive director of Adeso, an African non-profit incubating ideas and enterprises to lower aid dependency, said that while the cuts were carried out in a “hugely irresponsible and inhumane” manner, she was not surprised that a significant proportion of young people saw positivity there. “I think it’s a reflection of the general feeling. A lot of people find aid very demeaning,” she said. “They didn’t feel that the aid was being used for the right things and there is a sense of ‘We can do this for ourselves’. The younger generation feel like our leaders are the duty bearers and are supposed to be handling the needs of our communities.”…

 https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jul/30/a-quarter-of-young-africans-believe-usaid-cuts-could-be-positive-survey-finds

 

U.S. Demands to Access Africans’ Data Raise Privacy, Sovereignty Concerns — ProPublica

The United States is requiring access to health data as part of lifesaving aid deals with African countries. The U.S. says the data will be aggregated and anonymized, but privacy experts fear the information could be misused or exploited...

https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-state-department-africa-uganda-aid-medical-data-privacy 

‘Family values’ African charter condemned by rights groups as regressive and dangerous

The terminology running through the charter exposes the strong influence of conservative Christian organisations from the US and Europe that oppose abortion and LGBTQ+ rights. Progressive policies are dismissed as neocolonialism or cultural imperialism. 

Famia Nkansa, communications lead at Purposeful, a Sierra Leone-based organisation focused on girls’ activism, said: “Anti-rights activity on the continent is simply an extension and expansion of the same colonial playbook: Africa serving as a battleground on which the west wages its ideological and economic wars.”…

 https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jun/05/ghana-african-charter-family-values-gender-women-sex-lgbtq-reproductive-rights

 

WHO declares Ebola outbreak in Congo and Uganda ‘emergency’ of international concern

At least 80 deaths reported in Congo’s Ituri province while Uganda reports spread from travellers from the DRC…

 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/17/who-ebola-outbreak-congo-uganda-global-health-emergency

 

Pope Leo speaks of 'handful of tyrants' spending billions on war : NPR

"The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy, yet often a lifetime is not enough to rebuild," he stated. 

 "Blessed are the peacemakers!" he said. "But woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth."…

https://www.npr.org/2026/04/16/nx-s1-5787753/pope-leo-takes-trump-war-tyrants-iran-africa 

Rising anger over ‘lop-sided’ and ‘immoral’ US health funding pacts with African countries

"Zimbabwe was being asked to share its biological resources and data over an extended period, with no corresponding guarantee of access to any medical innovations – such as vaccines, diagnostics or treatments – that might result from that shared data," he said. "In essence, our nation would provide the raw materials for scientific discovery without any assurance that the end products would be accessible to our people should a future health crisis emerge."…

 https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/feb/27/rising-anger-over-lop-sided-immoral-us-health-funding-pacts-africa-countries

 

Trump administration to destroy nearly $10m of contraceptives for women overseas

As part of president's end to foreign aid, destruction of the long-acting contraceptives will cost US taxpayers $167,000…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/18/trump-administration-destroy-contraceptives-usaid-africa

 

TB Joshua exposé: How the disgraced pastor faked his miracles

The BBC unmasks, for the first time, how the late Nigerian televangelist TB Joshua faked the miracles that drew millions of people to his church...

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-67944614

Nearly 50 Million in West and Central Africa Facing Hunger, Partly Due to 'Climate Shocks'

United Nations humanitarian officials on Tuesday renewed warnings that as many as 48 million people across West and Central Africa will likely go hungry in the coming months due to severe food insecurity driven by armed conflict, Covid-19, inflation, and the worsening climate emergency…

https://www.commondreams.org/news/hunger-in-africa

Africa is being devastated by a climate crisis it didn’t cause. Cop27 must help

The failure of developed countries to honour their commitments is not just an injustice and a failure of global solidarity. It contributes to the serious tensions and divisions that are preventing global action on a host of other issues, from peace and security to human rights. As the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu said: "Exclusion is never the way forward on our shared paths to freedom and justice."…

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/05/africa-climate-crisis-cop27-drought-flooding-support

While the focus is on Ukraine, Russia’s presence in the Sahel is steadily growing

Russian trade and investment in Africa is small but increasing. A deal to establish a naval base in Sudan has boosted Moscow's military foothold in the continent.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/feb/03/while-the-focus-is-on-ukraine-russias-presence-in-the-sahel-is-steadily-growing

Global gag rule linked to abortion rise in African countries that accept US aid | Global development | The Guardian

… "The health of mothers is a global priority. Our findings suggest how a US policy that aims to restrict federal funding for abortion services can lead, unintentionally to more – and probably riskier – abortions in poor countries."…

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/jun/27/global-gag-rule-africa-abortion-study

How China is influencing African military and police forces - The Washington Post

… To be sure, these actions have made U.S. policymakers concerned that China's involvement in Africa represents a growing threat to U.S. interests on the continent. China's increased visibility and influence mean that African countries can request monetary and security assistance from Beijing rather than its Western partners...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/04/30/chinas-belt-road-initiative-invests-african-infrastructure-african-military-police-forces/

Big Pharma's 'appalling' $26 billion in shareholder payouts could fund vaccines for all of Africa: report - Raw Story - Celebrating 17 Years of Independent Journalism

... These vaccines were funded by public money and are desperately needed worldwide if we are to end this pandemic," Heidi Chow, senior campaigns and policy manager at Global Justice Now, said in a statement. "It's morally bankrupt for rich country leaders to allow a small group of corporations to keep the vaccine technology and know-how under lock and key while selling their limited doses to the highest bidder."

https://www.rawstory.com/big-pharmas-appalling-26-billion-in-shareholder-payouts-could-fund-vaccines-for-all-of-africa-report/

Africa to Trump: Who′s a sh**thole now? | Africa | DW | 07.01.2021

Africans are responding to the chaos at the US Capitol with irony, sarcasm and humor. #Trump started trending on Twitter in places like Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya as the the platform blocked the US president.

https://www.dw.com/en/africa-to-trump-whos-a-shthole-now/a-56156615

ISIS attacks surge in Africa even as Trump boasts of a ‘100-percent’ defeated caliphate - The Washington Post

...The resurgence threatens to undermine one facet of President Trump's reelection pitch to voters: his oft-repeated claim of victory over the Islamic State...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/islamic-state-attacks-surging-africa/2020/10/18/2e16140e-1079-11eb-8a35-237ef1eb2ef7_story.html

Trillions of locusts descend on East Africa in second wave - The Washington Post

A second infestation of locusts has taken flight, and experts fear a third could arrive during the year's most crucial harvest, causing calamitous food shortages.....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/world/2020/05/05/locusts-africa-swarms-kenya-ethiopia/