News

Reigning football’s world champions, Germany, beat Chile on Sunday to win the Confederations Cup just two days after claiming the European Under-21 title. Lars Stindl scored the only goal into an empty net in the 20th minute of a pulsating, bad-tempered final in the Russian city of St Petersburg. The dramatic game featured missed chances, defensive howlers, scuffles and two …

Fighting disinformation and raising awareness of the risks of exile: These are the goals of the Saloum Rapatak association, which has been active in Senegal for more than seven years. Jimane – whose real name is Ousmane Thioune – is a radio host and the president of Saloum Rapatak, an organisation based in the city of Kaolack, 189 kilometres southwest from …

An increasing number of old people in Germany face the risk of being stuck in poverty in the coming years, says a new study. Single women, low-skill workers and long-term unemployed are among those starkly affected. The changes taking place in the German labour market in favour of temporary jobs, contract workers and precarious working conditions in the low-wage sector, …

Facebook as at Tuesday, 27June 2017 had officially registered two billion monthly users, its founder and chief executive officer, Mark Zuckerberg, has confirmed. Zuckerberg broke the news on his Facebook wall stressing that the network was making progress in connecting the world. The company reached the billion mark in October 2012, he further confirmed in response to a comment. Facebook …

Archbishop of Bamako, Jean Zerbo, has been elevated to the position of cardinal by Pope Francis. He becomes the first ever Catholic cardinal from the Muslim-dominated West African country. The 73-year-old, who has been Archbishop since 1998, was at the Vatican on Wednesday (28 June) for the ceremony elevating him. He helped negotiate a peace agreement between the government and …

Italy’s envoy to the EU has said it is unsustainable for all migrant rescue ships in the Mediterranean to land on his country’s shores. Over 10,000 asylum-seekers have arrived in Italy over the last few days. Italy’s ambassador to the EU, Maurizio Massari, was given a formal mandate by his government to raise the issue with European Migration and Home …

The president of African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has been named the 2017 World Food Prize Laureate. Adesina, whose name was selected on Monday, becomes the 46th recipient and the sixth African to be so honoured. The award was announced in Washington D.C. by the World Food Prize Foundation in recognition of Adesina’s achievements in the agriculture sector …

Daisy Maritim-Maina* explains why there are such bitter contests every election cycle in the East African country and she suggests how to create a sustainable, vibrant democratic culture where the voters look beyond ethnic affinity. In 1992 Kenya held its first multi-party election in 26 years. Since this re-introduction of multipartism, the “politics of tribe” has been blamed for the …

Making agriculture profitable and “cool” for young people in Africa is key to lifting millions out of poverty and stemming migration to Europe, said the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina. He was named the winner of this year’s World Food Prize on Monday for his decades-long work to boost food production in his native Nigeria, increase …

In recent months, social networks across Africa have been saturated with photos and videos showing horrified people demonstrating against the presence of plastic in food items, like rice and eggs. Yet most of these videos don’t have a grain of truth (or plastic) in them. Alexandre Capron, a French journalist and member of the Observer Team of France24 (OTF), has …

Dr Daniel Yakubu Kutchin, a Germany-based computer specialist, argues that the time has come for Nigeria to prioritise vocational education in the face of acute skills shortage in manufacturing and the trades at a time of high unemployment among young people. ——————————————– By Dr Daniel Yakubu Kutchin The Nigerian Education system still follows somewhat loosely the Commonwealth Education system. It …

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Friday appealed to the international community to assist Uganda in dealing with a surging refugee influx from South Sudan. Donor pledges have fallen way below the target. At a fundraising summit held in Entebbe, Uganda, the UN secretary-general commended Uganda’s open-door refugee policy, which he called “exemplary.” He said Uganda stood out from many nations …

Spain is one of the countries in Europe with the lowest rate of acceptance for persons seeking refugee protection while Nigerian nationals have the highest rejection rate of asylum applications made by Africans in Europe, reports show. According to the annual report by Spanish NGO National Commission for Aid to Refugees (CEAR), Spain is among the European countries with the lowest …

Fingerprinting is one of the most commonly used ways of identifying asylum-seekers when they enter the European Union. Wesley Dockery reports on how the EU shares fingerprinting data and how the data is used to determine where a migrant can apply for asylum. The EU registers fingerprints of asylum-seekers in a system called the EURODAC. The system, which was established …

The big Brexit talks have kicked off in Brussels, with both sides sitting down for their first official discussions over the UK leaving the EU. At stake is how to untangle over 44 years of a complex relationship that is enshrined in thousands of pages of legal texts. It will need to be resolved in less than two years, with …

Getting an apartment which they desire and can afford could be a big problem for Africans living in Germany because of discrimination. A study has now confirmed that indeed you may not even be called for viewing, the first step in the apartment-seeking process, if your name sounds non-German. People with foreign sounding names are discriminated against when they are …

UN Secretary General António Guterres declares open the first World Solidarity Summit on Refugees on Thursday in Uganda’s capital, Kampala. Among the heads of state and about 500 dignitaries attending include Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Guinean President and Chairman of the African Union, Alpha Condé, Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, Gabonese President Ali Bongo, Zambian President Edgar Lungu and Ethiopian Prime …

Many migrants who arrive in Germany find it difficult to navigate the country’s bureaucracy and start living a normal life. But a new organization is helping migrants find a friend who can help them settle in the country, reports Manasi Gopalakrishnan. Bassel Wali (above right) first heard about ‘Start with a Friend’ from another refugee. The 23-year-old, who withstood the …

The United Nations has praised Germany as a “humanitarian frontrunner” in the resettling of refugees, but German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel warns that the country can’t face the challenges alone. The United Nations’ refugee agency on Tuesday honoured Germany for being a “humanitarian frontrunner” in helping to tackle the world’s refugee crisis as it marked World Refugee Day. The day …

Conflict or persecution forced a record 65.6 million people worldwide to flee their homes by the end of 2016. That equates to one person displaced every three seconds.  The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) released the figure on Monday (June 19), the eve of World Refugee Day. Syria and Afghanistan remain the biggest sources of refugees, with 5.5 million and 2.5 …