Aislinn Laing
The Telegraph
City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, GP, South Africa
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Past articles by Aislinn:
Thieves steal £8.8m in ATM bank heist in Japan
Japanese police are investigating a nationwide ATM heist after nearly £8. → Read More
WHO warns South American Zika virus strain 'on the doorstep of Africa'
The Zika virus that has caused birth abnormalities and neurological defects in South America has been identified in Africa for the first time, raising fears it could soon become a global concern, the World Health Organisation said on Friday. Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’s Africa director, said that research conducted on samples of a virus that is thought to have affected more than 7,000 in Cape… → Read More
Nigeria's president promises to return Chibok abductee to school
Pictures showed the president greeting first Amina then holding her four-month-old baby Safiya, who is likely to be the child of one of the Boko Haram fighters who abducted her. Meanwhile security analysts questioned whether the girl's release had really taken place as billed and wasn't in fact a "good faith gesture" on the part of Boko Haram which recently said publically it wanted to enter… → Read More
Escaped Chibok girl Amina Ali due to meet Nigeria's president Buhari
The girl's escape is likely to raise pressure on the military to secure the rescue of more of the girls, although military analysts say this is fraught with danger and could result in mass fatalities. There are also concerns that Amina will now be exploited by the military and the Buhari government as an example of rare good news in the fight against Boko Haram, rather than being allowed to… → Read More
One of abducted Chibok girls 'released from Boko Haram'
One of the more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram from the Nigerian town of Chibok two years ago has been found, campaigners for the girls’ release have claimed. The girl, named as Amina Nkek, was reportedly discovered on Tuesday night by a vigilante group after a fight with suspected militants for the Islamic extremist group on the edge of the Sambisa Forest in the country’s northeast… → Read More
Uganda's Kizza Besigye accused of treason over fake swearing-in
The film clip emerged on the same day that strongman Yoweri Museveni was sworn in for a fifth term of office which will extend his rule to 35 years following a vote which observers said was neither free nor fair. In the clip, which was widely circulated on social media, Dr Besiyge holds a bible and reads the oath of president before telling cheering crowds: "What is happening today is not an… → Read More
Kenyan man brutally assaulted by riot police 'was attending job interview'
The man, named as Boniface Manono, from Kiambu County just north of Nairobi, said he was caught up in the violence as he walked to the bus station to go home. He said he changed direction after a teargas canister was thrown at him but when he started to run, police officers chased him, according to the Daily Nation. "Several police officers beat me up with batons and left me there. I was… → Read More
Kenya police launch inquiry after officers filmed beating protester
Police have not yet confirmed the protester’s death and claims surfaced on social media that he might still be alive. Joseph Boinnet, Inspector General of Police, said the officers implicated in excessive violence would be identified and, if appropriate, brought to book. “I condemn the lawlessness visited on the public by rioters yesterday and an internal inquiry is underway to determine whether… → Read More
Former CIA spy says he helped South Africa arrest 'communist toy' Nelson Mandela
A former spy for America’s Central Intelligence Agency has confirmed that he helped South Africa’s apartheid authorities find and arrest Nelson Mandela because the US viewed him as a “toy of the communists”. Donald Rickard said he and his handlers believed Mandela was “the world’s most dangerous communist outside of the Soviet Union” and he had no qualms about tipping the authorities off about… → Read More
South African court ruling clears path for up to half a million miners to sue over lung disease
As many as half a million miners across southern Africa who are thought to have contracted lung disease while digging for gold are set to sue some of the world’s biggest mining houses after a landmark court judgement. Three judges sitting in Johannesburg High Court ruled that what is expected to be South Africa’s biggest ever class action law suit was “the only realistic option” to test the… → Read More
White South African judge sparks outrage after claiming 'rape is black culture' in online rant
In January, a Durban estate agent told Facebook friends that black people had flocked to the local beaches “like monkeys” over the holidays. Last week, a black Rhodes Must Fall activist was pilloried when he recounted how he and fellow diners made a white waitress “cry white tears” when they refused to pay her a tip. In a series of comments, Mrs Jansen said that black mothers were “so… → Read More
Kenya says years of hosting refugees 'have come to an end'
The Kenyan government has threatened to eject refugees from its borders including closing the world’s largest refugee camp in Dadaab, saying it is harbouring terrorists. The government said it acknowledged the “adverse effect” the decision would have on the refugees’ lives but it had to put its own “national security interests” first. It said that it had agreed to the camps’ gradual closure by… → Read More
Oxford University rejects call for expulsion of Rhodes Must Fall scholar
A petition to have Rhodes Must Fall activist Ntokozo Qwabe sent down from Oxford or stripped of his scholarship for verbally abusing a white waitress has been rejected by the university which said it would violate his “free speech”. Mr Qwabe sparked outrage when he posted on Facebook last week that he and his dining companions had made a waitress cry “white tears” by telling her they would pay a… → Read More
Kenyan police detain 'Anthrax plotters with links to Isil'
Joseph Boinnet, Kenya’s police chief, alleged that the man in custody, Mohammed Abdi Ali, had recruited Isil fighters and plotted to stage attacks in Kenya. He hailed his detention - and the agreement by a court to an order to hold him for 30 days pending investigations - as “a major breakthrough in the fight against terrorism in Kenya and the region”. "The suspects were planning large scale… → Read More
All Blacks were 'poisoned' before 1995 rugby cup
New Zealand’s All Blacks rugby team were poisoned just 24 hours before the sensational 1995 Rugby World Cup final which saw outsiders South Africa claim the title, a bodyguard to former president Nelson Mandela has claimed. Rory Steyn, Mr Mandela’s head of security during his time in office who the president appointed to ensure the security of the mighty New Zealand national team, said he… → Read More
White waitress abused by Rhodes Must Fall activist 'to use donations for house near sick mother'
A waitress who a black Rhodes Must Fall student activist boasted about making cry “white tears” when he refused to tip her will use $6,000 from donations in well-wishers to buy a house near her mother who is suffering from cancer. Cape Town restaurant employee Ashleigh Shultz was told by a dining companion of Oxford student and race activist Ntokozo Qwabe that they would not give her a tip until… → Read More
‘Great Green Wall’ thousands of mile long could be built across Africa to stop the spread of the Sahara
The harsh conditions and resultant lack of economic opportunities are in part blamed for sending economic migrants north to Europe and as factors in the spread of Islamist extremism in the area. Groups such as Boko Haram and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) prey on young men who are unemployed and desperate. Boko Haram has been known to offer microloans to prospective fighters. Adopted by… → Read More
Kenya prepares world's biggest ivory bonfire in conservation effort
Kenya will today set light to 105 tonnes of elephant ivory in the biggest burn in history aimed at crushing poaching and the illicit wildlife trade. The country’s president will set light to 11 pyres containing a total of 25,000 pieces of wildlife contraband including elephant tusks, rhino horns, exotic animal skins and medicinal bark. If sold on the black market, the tusks alone, from around… → Read More
Kenya to push for global ban on elephant ivory sales
Dr Leakey said burning ivory delivered the message that it would never be back on the market “under any circumstances”. “I would appeal to southern African states to consider the implications of holding on to their stockpiles. While you have those you are suggesting that there will be a future market,” Dr Leakey said. The KWS chair also suggested that politicians’ pledges to protect elephants… → Read More
Hopes for peace in South Sudan as rebel leader Riek Machar returns to capital
One of Africa’s bloodiest wars took a crucial step towards resolution on Tuesday when South Sudan’s rebel leader returned to the capital to take up the job of vice-president. Riek Machar landed in Juba a week later than expected, but in accordance with a peace deal designed to end a war that has claimed at least 50,000 lives and driven 2.3 million people from their homes. “We need to bring our… → Read More