IN SHORT: A graphic circulating online in South Africa and Nigeria warns of criminals claiming to test blood sugar for free, only to infect people with HIV instead. But this hoax circulated in the Philippines in 2025, and the country’s health department debunked it. According to a shocking claim sent to Africa Check by subscribers…
Two weeks after a total solar eclipse wowed skywatchers in southern Europe, a near-total lunar eclipse is set to put on a show Thursday night for people across North and South America. Lunar eclipses occur when Earth slips between the sun and the moon and casts a shadow on the lunar surface. During this week’s…
The Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, has hailed the China-Africa friendship, saying it was built with sweat and blood. He disclosed this at a press conference on March 8, 2026, in China, according to a transcript shared with journalists by the Chinese embassy in Abuja. Wang Yi said, for 70 years, China-Africa friendship has…
COVID vaccines saved millions of lives, but months into the rollout, a small number of people began developing dangerous blood clots in unusual parts of the body. These only happened after vaccines that used a modified adenovirus to deliver its payload – such as the AstraZeneca vaccine. Why these blood clots formed was a mystery…
Blood tests are useful tools for doctors and scientific researchers: they can reveal a lot about a body’s health. Usually, a blood sample is taken to get a picture of the large molecules that are present, such as cholesterols, lipids and proteins. This is called a metabolic profile. For more specific information, another kind of…
Large wild mammals – from elephants to antelopes – are already struggling to cope with global warming. Now new research shows that even the small creatures adapted to harsh, arid landscapes may be reaching their limits. Even though they’re accustomed to living in semi-desert environments, the African striped mice of southern Africa are showing signs…
South Africans will be treated to a rare celestial show on the evening of Sunday, 7 September, when the noon passes through Earth’s shadow in a total lunar eclipse. Astronomers say the event will be clearly visible across the country, with the moon taking on the characteristic deep red hue often referred to as a…
Shanghai — A Chinese woman trapped in a locked room for 30 hours was finally rescued after she flung a pillow bearing a message written in her own blood out of a window, according to a local government statement. The woman, only identified by her surname Zhou, was cleaning a guesthouse in western China’s Sichuan…
Two police officers were killed and another seriously wounded in a shooting Tuesday at a property in a rural part of Australia. The gunman remained at large as police scoured a vast remote area. The shooting occurred in midmorning when 10 armed police officers tried to execute a search warrant at a property in Porepunkah,…
