Africa

Amnesty International Ghana has condemned lawmakers in the country for unanimously supporting a redrafted anti-LGBT bill which seeks to impose a three-year prison sentence on people identified as LGBT. People who campaign for LGBT rights could also face up to 10 years in jail. Amnesty Ghana director Genevieve Partington says …

Health authorities in Nigeria have announced an epidemic of diphtheria in the capital, Abuja, after the death of a four-year-old child, local media reported. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) said there had been multiple outbreaks across the country since late last year, with almost 800 confirmed …

Lawmakers in Ghana have backed a proposed amendment to an anti-gay bill that would make identifying as LGBT punishable by a three-year prison sentence. People who campaign for LGBT rights could also face up to 10 years in jail. The amendments were backed by a cross-party group of MPs, but …

Three students of the Kwadaso SDA Nursing and Midwifery Training College in the Ashanti Region, Ghana, have been suspended by the management of the institution for one year for their involvement in a leaked sex tape, local media reported. The three students, all of whom are in their first year, …

Some 18 million doses of the first RTS,S malaria vaccine will be delivered to 12 African countries until 2025, the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) announced on Wednesday. “Malaria remains one of the deadliest diseases in Africa, where it kills almost half a million children under …

At least 24 people, including children, died after a gas leak in a slum near Boksburg, about 40 kilometers east of Johannesburg, emergency services and firefighters reported on Wednesday evening. “We have counted 24 bodies,” emergency services spokesman William Ntladi confirmed to AFP, on the spot, adding that the search …

The United Nations has condemned what it called rising sexual violence against women and girls in Sudan in more than two months of conflict, the BBC reported. The UN human rights office in Sudan said it had received credible reports of more than 20 incidents of conflict-related sexual violence against …

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has called for urgent action to address issues plaguing Rwandan football, including the presence of witchcraft, local media reported. During the televised “Ask the President” session with the Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA) on Tuesday, Mr Kagame said some individuals, particularly coaches, were involved in unethical practices …

Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba says football players in Africa too often fall prey to fake agents peddling promises of fame and fortune, Reuters reported. Through his foundation, Drogba has teamed up with global soccer players union FIFPRO and the International Labour Organisation to raise awareness about the risks. “Please, …

A 25-year-old fetish priest has been jailed for defiling a six-year-old girl at Twifo Ampekro in the Twifo Hemang Lower Denkyira District of the Central Region, Ghana. “There had been a change in the way my daughter walks and also the little girl cries anytime she is urinating,” according to …