-
Lil Wayne leaves cryptic message about ‘something special’ while announcing he won’t attend Super Bowl
by Kofi Oppong Kyekyeku (Face2Face Africa) on February 5, 2025 at 6:05 pm
Lil Wayne has sparked intrigue with a cryptic message about a special project he’s working on, leaving fans in suspense as he confirmed he won’t be attending the Super Bowl. In a video shared on his Instagram Story on Tuesday, February 2, 2025, the famous American rapper hinted at his absence from the big event...
-
Configurations in Black: a stateless Rwandan refugee makes art out of his experience
by Veronica Esposito (Africa | The Guardian) on February 5, 2025 at 5:31 pm
Serge Alain Nitegeka was forced out of his home as a result of genocide and now, awaiting citizenship, turns his displacement into art showing at a New York galleryArtist Serge Alain Nitegeka became a refugee of the Rwandan genocide in 1994 at age 11, when he began a years-long odyssey through multiple African nations, eventually arriving in South Africa, where he remains to this day. During his years in transit, Nitegeka began to create art – first while attending high school in Kenya, where he learned to “make do”, as he put it, a theme the rings throughout his artistic output, and then later though higher education in South Africa.Nitegeka engages singularly with the genocide, using almost completely abstract, minimalistic means to do so. His paintings and sculptures are dominated by just a few colors – he started with just black, white and red, eventually adding others such as blue, teal, green and gold. These hues are poured into mostly textureless, abstract shapes, making for art that can come across as quite flinty yet also fluid and even dreamlike. They are works that are hard to pin down. Continue reading...
-
Allen Iverson sports card makes history
by Abu Mubarik (Face2Face Africa) on February 5, 2025 at 5:00 pm
A new record has been set in the world of memorabilia by Allen Iverson, a former NBA player who currently serves as Vice President of Reebok Basketball, working alongside the President of Reebok Basketball, Shaquille O’Neal. Last month, Heritage Auctions put the 1997 Skybox E-X 2001 Allen Iverson card up for auction. The card displays...
-
The real reason Usher didn’t star alongside Jennifer Hudson in ‘Dreamgirls’ revealed
by Dollita Okine (Face2Face Africa) on February 5, 2025 at 4:16 pm
During an appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show, eight-time Grammy winner Usher told the audience—and Hudson—that he nearly costarred with her in Dreamgirls. Hudson had requested the 46-year-old musician to tell the audience how they first met and according to Usher, he first viewed her audition tape for a movie he had heard she was...
-
What got Illinois mayor and boyfriend involved in fistfight during township meeting
by Dollita Okine (Face2Face Africa) on February 5, 2025 at 2:14 pm
The first Thornton Township Board meeting in months was marred by punches and expletive language. Leaders of the south suburban Chicago township were forced to clear the hall and stop working again as chaos erupted. CBS reported last month that the confrontation began shortly after the meeting’s public comment session. The final person to speak...
-
The Long Wave: Why more countries are ditching the British monarchy
by Nesrine Malik (Africa | The Guardian) on February 5, 2025 at 12:17 pm
Charles is king of 14 Commonwealth realms – but possibly not for much longer. A look at the drive for decolonisation. Plus, Bob Marley at 80Hello and welcome to The Long Wave. This week, I spoke to Natricia Duncan, our Caribbean correspondent, on the latest moves on behalf of Commonwealth countries to decolonise their national identity. But first, the weekly roundup. Continue reading...
-
Almost-nude bodysuit Bianca Censori wore put on sale by Kanye West
by Francis Akhalbey (Face2Face Africa) on February 5, 2025 at 11:40 am
Kanye West and his wife Bianca Censori caused a stir on the 2025 Grammys red carpet and at influencer Justin LaBoy’s Grammys after-party when the Australian model showed up at the two events in provocative and almost-nude outfits. The controversial couple made headlines and came under scrutiny afterward, but it appears there was a business...
-
5 little-known facts about Tems, the first Nigerian to win two Grammy awards
by Mildred Europa Taylor (Face2Face Africa) on February 5, 2025 at 11:00 am
Nigerian singer Tems beat Yemi Alade, Burna Boy and Wizkid to take home the Best African Music Performance Grammy for her song Love Me Jeje on Sunday. She is now the first Nigerian to win two Grammys after winning the Best Melodic Rap Performance in 2023 for featuring on Future’s song Wait For U. The...
-
Flies in hospital wards may be spreading drug-resistant bacteria to patients
by Kat Lay, Global health correspondent (Africa | The Guardian) on February 5, 2025 at 10:00 am
Scientists in Nigeria found the insects carry infections resistant to last-resort antibiotics, adding to fears about superbugsFlies buzzing between beds may be spreading drug-resistant bugs among patients in hospitals, according to new research.Researchers from the Ineos Oxford Institute for antimicrobial research (IOI) found that houseflies in Nigerian hospitals carry bacteria resistant to some key antibiotics, including those used only as a last resort. Continue reading...
-
Angel Reese, Simone Biles, Sha’Carri Richardson join other big names on the 2025 Met Gala host committee
by Francis Akhalbey (Face2Face Africa) on February 5, 2025 at 9:20 am
Superstar athletes Angel Reese, Simone Biles, and Sha’Carri Richardson are now members of the 2025 Met Gala host committee. Per TMZ, the organizers of the event released the list on Tuesday, with NBA superstar and Future Hall of Famer LeBron James serving as the honorary chair. Reese, who is set to start her sophomore WNBA...
-
Here’s what Michael Jordan’s son Marcus told police before he was arrested
by Francis Akhalbey (Face2Face Africa) on February 5, 2025 at 9:11 am
Marcus Jordan, the son of NBA legend Michael Jordan, was on Tuesday arrested and charged with cocaine possession, driving under the influence (DUI) and resisting arrest. Marcus, 34, was arrested in connection with the incident in Florida and booked into the Orange County Jail in Orlando, CBS News reported. Per a police report, two police...
-
Hundreds of women raped and burned to death after Goma prison set on fire
by Joost Bastmeijer, Saskia Houttuin and Mark Townsend (Africa | The Guardian) on February 5, 2025 at 8:00 am
Atrocity follows escape of thousands of male inmates amid chaos as Rwandan-backed M23 rebels seize eastern DRC cityHundreds of women were raped and burned alive during the chaos after a Rwandan-backed rebel group entered the Congolese city of Goma last week.The female inmates were attacked in their wing inside Goma’s Munzenze prison during a mass jailbreak, according to a senior UN official. Continue reading...
-
Being a mother in the west would be a dream, I was told. But compared to Uganda, it was a nightmare | Patience Akumu
by Patience Akumu (Africa | The Guardian) on February 5, 2025 at 6:00 am
Nothing prepared me for the reality of mothering without my extended family to help. How have western women managed like this for so long?I hear the baby crying in my sleep. My mother hands him to me. I sit up to breastfeed without opening my eyes then I hand him back. I know that when I am ready to get out of bed, there will be fruits and katogo, a meal of plantain mixed with all the fatty meat cuts my mother could lay her hands on, waiting for me. Or I could choose to have porridge. It is sacrilege to have a nakawere (new mother) in the house and not have a flask of hot porridge available for her all day. Nakawere … the syllables are pronounced slowly, and the word must roll off your tongue with awe at the woman who just went through the remarkable ordeal of bringing life.Replaying my new mum experience became my favourite pastime when I moved from Uganda to Switzerland in May last year. I moved with my husband and two children, aged six and 12, because I found my dream job in health advocacy. I was not ready for the parenting nightmare that came with it. While I had lived in Europe before, including in the UK in my 20s, I had never had to live outside Uganda with my family. Nothing prepared me for the reality of mothering without the extended family to help take care of you, and the nonchalance with which the western world treats mothers. Continue reading...
-
‘It breaks my heart’- Mother reacts to daughter’s brain damage battles after she swallowed playing toy
by Prosper Kuzo (Face2Face Africa) on February 5, 2025 at 1:30 am
A Texas mother named Ashley Haugen has opened up about a widely used children’s toy that left her daughter with brain damage. Asley’s eight-year-old daughter Kipley Haugen, suffered brain damage after she swallowed water beads that got stuck in her intestines and eventually shut off blood supply to her brain. According to reports, the little...
-
This is not my last album, it’s my Black album – DJ Khaled teases his latest album ‘Aalam of God’
by Kofi Oppong Kyekyeku (Face2Face Africa) on February 5, 2025 at 12:30 am
DJ Khaled is gearing up to drop his 14th studio album, Aalam of God. The American producer and hitmaker made the big announcement on Tuesday, February 4, 2025. To build anticipation, Khaled shared an action-packed, seven-minute cinematic trailer on Instagram. Directed by Eif Rivera, the high-energy clip follows Khaled as he fights to protect his...
-
Mauritian PM expects ‘speedy resolution’ with UK over Chagos Islands
by Peter Walker Senior political correspondent (Africa | The Guardian) on February 4, 2025 at 7:11 pm
Navin Ramgoolam says Keir Starmer expressed confidence about finalising agreement within weeksDowning Street has refused to comment on the prospect of an imminent deal over the Chagos Islands, after the Mauritian prime minister said Keir Starmer had told him he was confident about finalising an agreement in the coming weeks.An interim deal on returning sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, which would maintain the key UK-US military base on the largest of the islands, Diego Garcia, was agreed last year, building on work that began under the Conservative government. Continue reading...
-
Deaths predicted amid the chaos of Elon Musk’s shutdown of USAid
by Mark Townsend, Karen McVeigh, Charles Pensulo in Lilongwe, Caroline Kimeu in Nairobi and Luke Taylor in Bogota (Africa | The Guardian) on February 4, 2025 at 4:28 pm
The impact of the billionaire’s declaration has been swift and brutal, with food and crucial drugs abandoned in warehouses, vital programmes closed and workers laid offCritical supplies of life-saving medicines have been blocked and children left without food and battling malnutrition as multiple effects were reported across the globe after Elon Musk resolved to shut down the US government’s pre-eminent international aid agency.Chaotic scenes were seen in scores of countries as aid organisations warned of the risk of escalating disease and famine along with disastrous repercussions in areas such as family planning and girls’ education, after President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze funding to USAid. In 2023, the agency managed more than $40bn (£32bn). Continue reading...
-
How should Africa respond in a Trumpian world?
by Kasirim Nwuke (New African Magazine) on February 4, 2025 at 1:22 pm
What does Trump 2.0 mean for Africa? In his first term, he dismissed the continent as full of ‘shithole countries’. Now, with a big majority in Congress and an appetite to take over other countries for their strategic value or resources, is Africa under threat of invasion? Kasirim Nwuke considers the options. Before the November The post How should Africa respond in a Trumpian world? appeared first on New African Magazine.
-
‘There is nothing here’: the island left behind by Lagos’s economic boom
by Eromo Egbejule in Lagos (Africa | The Guardian) on February 4, 2025 at 12:57 pm
Politicians in Nigeria hope the country’s largest city will one day look like Dubai, but on nearby Refuge Island people live without electricityFor the estimated 2,000 residents of Refuge Island life sometimes feels like that of a refugee.A dozen communities live on the island, which lies in a lagoon on the eastern fringes of Lagos and takes its name from the arrival of enslaved people fleeing the hinterland of western Nigeria in the 19th century. The island has never had electricity, and there are no tarred roads, only footpaths. Continue reading...
-
Rwandan-backed rebel group M23 declares unilateral ceasefire in DRC
by Carlos Mureithi in Nairobi and agencies (Africa | The Guardian) on February 4, 2025 at 10:05 am
Militias say decision is ‘for humanitarian reasons’, as UN says at least 900 killed in last week’s fighting with DRC forcesThe Rwanda-backed M23 rebels who seized the city of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo last week have declared a unilateral ceasefire starting on Tuesday.The Congo River Alliance, a coalition of militias including M23, said it was declaring the ceasefire “for humanitarian reasons”. Flows of aid, food and other basic goods into the city were all but cut off by the M23 advance, and in recent days humanitarian organisations and the international community have stepped up calls for the creation of safe corridors to get vital items in. Continue reading...
-
Progress Since 2024: Top 10 African Nations Leading Climate Change Initiatives in 2025
by Fathia Olasupo (The African Exponent) on February 4, 2025 at 1:35 am
Discover the top African countries making progress on climate change initiatives, with Morocco at #9 globally and Kenya driving ambitious emissions reductions.
-
Top 24 Energy Startups Pioneering Innovative Solutions in Africa 2025
by Sebastiane Ebatamehi (The African Exponent) on February 3, 2025 at 3:50 pm
Discover how these top 24 energy trailblazers are tackling critical challenges, improving lives, and unlocking Africa's vast potential to lead the world in clean energy adoption. Curious to see the game-changers? Dive in now!
-
Peter Fraenkel obituary
by Graham Mytton (Africa | The Guardian) on February 3, 2025 at 1:07 pm
My friend and former work colleague Peter Fraenkel, who has died aged 98, was a greatly admired radio broadcaster. He began his career in Africa before moving to the BBC in London, where he was instrumental in shaping the corporation’s broadcasts to Greece and eastern Europe.Starting out in the 1950s at the Central African Broadcasting Service, Peter initially made programmes only for African people and entirely in local languages before moving in the early 60s to the BBC’s External Services, writing radio programmes for translation. Continue reading...