Africa

The court in Botswana has decriminalized homosexuality in a ruling. It thereby rejects an appeal lodged by the country's conservative government. The High Court announced this on Monday.   In 2016, the court of Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, ruled that laws criminalizing same-sex relationships should be changed. These "relics of the Victorian era are oppressing a minority," the court said. The decision was seen as "historic" because homosexuality is illegal in many African countries. But in October, the government filed an appeal. According to them, the parliament and not the judge should decide on the "political issue". Again, without success, because the appeal was rejected. Many gay Botswanians have long "lived in constant fear of being discovered or arrested," Judge Ian Ki...

The number of new corona cases in Africa is starting to fall slightly. Every week, the number of confirmed infections fell by 15 percent, to a total of 239,000, reports John Nkengasong of the African Union health organization (Africa CDC).   At the same time, there are warnings about the rise of the delta variant and the low vaccination coverage. Despite the slight decline in infection rates, it is still too early to speak of a tipping point, emphasizes Matshidiso Moeti, regional director of the World Health Organization (WHO). "The continent is still in the third wave of contamination, and we are certainly not out yet." The current wave of infection is being driven by the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus. In western Africa, this is still leading to an increase in...