'Where it begins': Young hungry locusts bulk up in al-Shabab-controlled area of Somalia
At a glance, the desert locusts in this arid patch of northern Somalia look less ominous than the billion-member swarms infesting East Africa in the worst outbreak some places have seen in 70 years. But their time will come. Small and wingless, the hopping young locusts ...
At current rate, female genital mutilation will take centuries to eradicate, U.N. says
Female genital mutilation (FGM) will take centuries to eradicate despite world leaders promising to end the practice by 2030, according to United Nations data released on Thursday. FGM remains as common today as 30 years ago in Somalia, Mali, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Chad and Senegal, ...
Somalia declares locust plague emergency, appeals for funding
Somalia declared the worst desert locust invasion in a quarter-century a national emergency that's posing a major threat to an already fragile food situation. Swarms of the insects are breeding in Djibouti, Eritrea and Sudan and have also spread to neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia, where ...
African locust invasions believed triggered by climate change
Climate change may be powering the swarms of desert locusts that have invaded eastern Africa, ravaging crops, decimating pasture and deepening a hunger crisis, locust and climate experts said. Hundreds of millions of the insects have swept over the Horn of Africa in the worst ...
Worst locust swarms in decades threaten crops in East Africa
The hum of millions of locusts on the move is broken by the screams of farmers and the clanging of pots and pans. But their noise-making does little to stop the voracious insects from feasting on their crops in the rural community Katitka. The worst ...
Al-Shabab warns of more attacks against Kenya and U.S. interests
Somali Islamist group al-Shabab on Wednesday warned Kenya "will never be safe," threatening tourists and calling for more attacks on U.S. interests after they stormed an American base at the weekend. The al-Qaida-linked group said its attack on Camp Simba, in which three Americans were ...
A tragic airline crash with far-reaching consequences, cataclysmic cyclones that may be a harbinger of the future, the death of an African icon and a new leader who won the Nobel Peace Prize. These African stories captured the world's attention in 2019 — and ...
Al-Qaida ally al-Shabab suspected in Somalia's worst attack in two years with at least 79 dead
A massive car bomb exploded in a busy area of Mogadishu on Saturday, leaving at least 79 people dead and scores injured in Somalia's deadliest attack in two years. At least 16 of those killed were students from the capital's private Banadir University, who had ...
At least 90 people killed in Mogadishu checkpoint blast after rush-hour truck bomb explodes
In one of the most deadly recent attacks, at least 90 people were killed and dozens were wounded when a bomb-laden vehicle exploded at a bustling checkpoint in the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Saturday, an international organization working in the country said. The dead ...
Heavy rains and floods have killed more than 50 people and forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes across East Africa as researchers warn warming oceans are causing unpredictable weather patterns in the region. South Sudan declared a national emergency last week after ...
Al-Shabab claims attacks on U.S. base and EU convoy in Somalia
The al-Shabab militant group claimed responsibility for an attack on a U.S. base in Somalia on Monday, as the European Union confirmed a separate strike against a convoy of Italian advisers. The militants struck the U.S. base at Baledogle, about 110 km (70 miles) northwest ...
Five people, including three civilians, were killed in a gun battle in Somalia on Monday after al-Shabab militants opened fire on a checkpoint in the capital Mogadishu, officials said. Al-Qaida-linked Shabab fighters have been fighting for more than a decade to topple the government. They ...
