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Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe, who played a critical role in establishing post-colonial African literature, has died. The author of Things Fall Apart was 82.
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The seven — four Lebanese, one British, one Greek and one Italian citizen – who worked for a construction company were kidnapped Feb 16. A militant Islamist group claimed responsibility.
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Although access to the Web is still limited in many parts of Africa, "Nollywood" films — movies produced in Nigeria — are booming on the Internet. Startup iROKOtv is a part of that boom, and their audience is a global one.
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The world is close to wiping out polio, as the number of new cases is at an all-time low. But recent violence against polio vaccinators threatens to reverse this progress. Recently, gunmen killed nine polio vaccinators in Nigeria, mirroring attacks in Pakistan in December.
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Thousands of kids have been exposed to toxic levels of lead around illegal gold mines in northern Nigeria. After months of delay, the Nigerian government has released money to clean up the lead in these areas.
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Islamist rebels in Mali force out secular Tuareg rebels from towns close to Mauritania and Niger's border; the U.N. Secretary General says any international intervention force sent to Mali must be well trained in human rights obligations.
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The attacks bear the hallmarks of Boko Haram, but the Islamist group, which has killed 760 people this year, has not claimed responsibility.
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Despite intensified efforts to vaccinate kids in Nigeria, polio cases are on the rise there. It's one of the last places in the world where polio is endemic. Most cases are popping up in a few communities that are now the prime targets for public health workers.
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During the financial crisis, gold prices hit record highs as people looked for somewhere safe to park their money. In West Africa, that's had a devastating, deadly effect on children.
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NPR's global health correspondent Jason Beaubien just returned from a remote region of northern Nigeria, where he was reporting on the tragic lead poisoning of thousands of children. Beaubien chatted yesterday on Twitter about this crisis and his reporting from this rural corner of Nigeria.