The Democratic Republic of Congo marked its 60th independence anniversary on 30 June. Belgium’s King Philipe chose the occasion to apologise for his country’s horrendous atrocities against the Congolese people during its colonial occupation of the vast African country. How genuine is the apology? Femi Awoniyi takes a look at the situation of the troubled African country against the background …

After years of agitation by Black activists and their German supporters, a Berlin underground train station will be renamed. According to the management of the Berlin public transport authorities (BVG), the “U-Bahnhof Mohrenstrasse”, the station on Line U2 of the city’s metro network, will be changed to “U-Bahnhof Glinkastraße”. The decision, announced on Friday, came as Black Lives Matter protests …

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Thursday condemned France for the “inhuman and degrading living conditions” of three asylum-seekers who were “living in the street without any resources”. The Strasbourg-based court ruled that authorities “had failed in their duties” with regard to the three asylum-seekers, finding France responsible for the conditions in which the three men – an …

  Other TV reception modes in Nigeria and Ghana currently include terrestrial, cable and IPTV  A new study has shown that Satellite TV reception increased by 23% in Nigeria and 19% in Ghana in 2019, two years after the last study was conducted.  On 25 June, SES, the leader in global content connectivity solutions, unveiled the results of its annual …

Flights will resume at Nigerian airports on 8 July, the federal government has announced. The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, made this known via his official Twitter handle on Monday. The minister explained that the resumption of commercial operations would begin with the Lagos and Abuja airports on 8 July. Kano, Port Harcourt, Owerri and Maiduguri would resume from July …

After 30 years of hurt, Liverpool Football Club are – to use a phrase coined by former Manchester United Manager, Alex Ferguson – “back on their perch”. Last week they were crowned English Premier League champions basically with their legs on the sofa. They were confirmed winners after Chelsea Football pipped Manchester City 2-1 which ensured Liverpool had an unassailable …

Residents of Germany can expect numerous changes again in July 2020. Several of these are related to the ongoing corona crisis, such as the reduction in VAT or the end of tenancy protection or the easing of travel ban on non-essential travel into EU member countries. Pensioners, on the other hand, can look forward to a pension increase. The African …

BOOK REVIEW It is easy, as the western media often do, to dismiss Africa as a continent of misery where nothing new happens except this misery is recycled in new varieties: corruption, hunger, wars, etc. But nobody pauses to take a harder look into the past of this troubled continent and find how its terrible history has played a part …

Nigeria’s cashless policy, initiated six years ago, was designed to encourage electronic transactions with a view to reducing the amount of physical cash in the economy to foster transparency, curb corruption and drive financial inclusion. It’s however now threatened by the growing perpetration of fraud.  Oludayo Tade, researcher in criminology, victimology, electronic frauds and cybercrime, University of Ibadan, presents his …

Dr Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana’s speech in the European Parliament on 17 June on how Belgian policemen physically harassed her was greeted with a loud ovation and shocked Europe to the reality of police violence against Black people. It became a topic of media discussions across the continent. In a strange twist to the story, instead of the police to apologise to …