Africa News Tonight - VOA Africa

Africa News Tonight is a lively news magazine show featuring VOA correspondent reports, interviews with African officials, opposition leaders, NGOs and human rights activists. News feature stories look at science and technology, environmental issues, humanitarian topics, and the African diaspora.

Mining spots in the Democratic Republic of Congo are among the highest-risk areas worldwide for developing active tuberculosis. The World Health Organization, WHO, says miners in sub-Saharan Africa have greater incidence of TB than in any other population. On World TB Day March 24, Rachel Ngum, Project Lead for Humana People to People Congo, tells VOA’s Carol Van Dam that TB in the mining sector is an invisible crisis eroding the DRC's economic development.

Africa News Tonight is a lively news magazine show featuring VOA correspondent reports, interviews with African officials, opposition leaders, NGOs and human rights activists. News feature stories look at science and technology, environmental issues, humanitarian topics, and the African diaspora.

A recent study by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies covering recent years showed that the proliferation of disinformation is a fundamental challenge to stable and prosperous African societies. The study also showed that the scope of these intentional efforts to distort the information environment for a political end is accelerating with 189 documented disinformation campaigns in Africa nearly quadruple the number reported in 2022.

Joseph Siegle, director of research at the center discussed the findings of the study with VOA’s senior analyst Mohamed Elshinnawi.

Africa News Tonight is a lively news magazine show featuring VOA correspondent reports, interviews with African officials, opposition leaders, NGOs and human rights activists. News feature stories look at science and technology, environmental issues, humanitarian topics, and the African diaspora.

The Israel-Hamas war is a major issue in the U.S. presidential campaign. Last weekend, President Joe Biden embraced the view of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer who is deeply critical of Israel's continued assault in Gaza. Schumer is calling for new elections in Israel. Former President Donald Trump says Jews who support Democrats "hate Israel" and "their religion." American University professor William Lawrence discussed the situation with VOA's Mohamed Elshinnawi.

Famine is imminent in northern Gaza according to the international community’s authority on hunger severity. Israel faces mounting pressure to streamline the delivery of aid into Gaza. Bob Kitchen, VP for Emergencies at the International Rescue Committee, tells VOA’s Carol Van Dam Israel is holding up crucial aid at the border. Josep Borell, the EU's foreign affairs chief, says Israel has ignored calls to lift the blockade. Israel's foreign minister blames Hamas for the suffering in Gaza.

A senior U.S. official has warned that efforts to end Sudan’s conflict have reached a time of incredible urgency, and called on the international community to meet the immediate humanitarian needs of the Sudanese people. The Cameroon government has threatened to arrest opposition parties for seeking to create coalitions for a transitional government to oust President Paul Biya, who has been in power for more than four decades. Famine is imminent in northern Gaza, where 70% of people are experiencing catastrophic hunger, according to an international report released this week.

In President Joe Biden's first conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in over a month this week, the President expressed new concerns about Israel’s planned ground attack in Rafah. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan called the plan "a mistake.” Netanyahu agreed to send an Israeli delegation to Washington for talks. Political science professor William Lawrence at American University discussed this with VOA senior analyst Mohamed Elshinnawi.

U.S. President Joe Biden recently spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time in more than a month, voicing new concerns about Israel’s war against Hamas and its plan for a ground attack on the city of Rafah. Zimbabweans are facing hunger this year because of crop failures and in some villages, people stand in line for life-saving handouts of grain, peas and cooking oil. Naledi Pandor, South Africa’s minister of international relations and cooperation, is visiting Washington on a mission to meet members of Congress and discuss the value of the U.S. relationship with South Africa.