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South African Anti-Apartheid Icon and COPE Founder Mosiuoa Lekota Passes Away

Mosiuoa Lekota, the 77-year-old former leader of the Congress of the People (COPE) and a veteran of South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle, has died, COPE confirmed Friday. Lekota, who stepped away from frontline politics in 2025, had been battling health problems in recent years. In a brief statement, COPE leader Teboho Loate said Lekota died “after a period of illness.” The Lekota family has asked for privacy, Loate said, and details about memorial arrangements would be announced in due course. Lekota was a former Robben…

Africa Unites in Grief Over Civil Rights Icon Jesse Jackson

Tributes Pour in for Jesse Jackson, Renowned Civil Rights Leader and Anti-Apartheid Advocate Civil rights leader and anti-apartheid struggle flagbearer Jesse Jackson has died at the age of 84. Leaders across the continent expressed their condolences and paid tribute to his decades-long fight for equality and justice. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa offered his condolences to the Jackson family, highlighting that Jackson's campaign against apartheid and support for the liberation movement significantly contributed…

Trump leads tributes to civil rights icon Jesse Jackson, a “force of nature”

Rev. Jesse Jackson, the towering civil rights leader and one of the United States’ most influential Black voices, died peacefully this morning at 84, his family said, prompting an immediate outpouring of tributes from political leaders and activists at home and abroad. President Donald Trump praised Jackson as “a force of nature like few others before him” and credited himself with helping the iconic minister in his efforts to empower Black Americans. Trump posted his remarks on his Truth Social platform. Former Vice…

Jesse Jackson, civil rights icon who championed unity and common ground

Jesse Jackson, the U.S. civil rights leader, Baptist minister and two-time Democratic presidential candidate who rose from the segregated South to become a confidant of Martin Luther King Jr., has died at 84, his family said in a statement. “Our father was a servant leader — not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world,” the Jackson family said. Jackson, a long-time Chicago figure and an electrifying orator, disclosed in 2017 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s…

Golden-era cultural icon Khadijo Mohamud Yusuf ‘Qalanjo’ passes away in Hargeisa

Qalanjo, the Star Who Gave Somalia Its Soundtrack, Dies in Hargeisa She walked onto the stage with a dancer’s grace and a singer’s certainty, a silk scarf sweeping like a banner. In the 1970s and ’80s—when Somali theaters were full and radios hummed in every teashop—Khadijo Mohamud Yusuf, known to her country simply as Qalanjo, helped give Somalia its soundtrack. The Ministry of Information confirmed she died on August 29 in Hargeisa, calling her passing a profound loss to Somali culture. She was among the first women to…

Basketball Icon Fisher Visits Kenya for Coaching Clinic as NBA Turns Its Gaze to Africa

NBA Icon Fisher Lands in Kenya for Basketball Coaching Event Amid NBA Africa Focus Derek Fisher, a titan in the basketball world and former NBA standout, touched down in Kenya to share his expertise with budding hoops stars. The NBA's broader mission to unearth and cultivate emerging talent in Africa underpins Fisher's visit. Reporting from the scene, our intrepid correspondent Olivia Bizot gives us the scoop.

Alaa Salah, icon of the Sudan revolution: “he

The young Sudanese activist Alaa Salah has become an icon of protest in her country with her revolutionary songs. Today she tells about her experience during the uprising in a book written by Martin Roux entitled Le chant de la revolte, published by Favre. In 2019, Alaa Salah, then a 23-year-old architecture student, participated in the demonstrations in her own way. Lying on the roof of a car, all…