In a viral video that has been doing the rounds online, an African pastor can be seen entering the lion’s cage at a zoo and teasing the felines to show that nothing can happen to a man of God.

Originally posted on Instagram by @mufasatundeednut, the bizarre video shows a man wearing a blue suit playing with three young lions under the watchful eyes of several people outside the cage. The man is referred to as ‘Pastor Daniel’, and if the original poster of the clip is to be believed, the daring stunt was designed to convince his followers that he was under the protection of God, and that nothing could happen to him, even when surrounded by a bunch of lions. The bold pastor can be seen slapping the young lions and even letting one of them playfully chew on his hand.

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21-year-old Brooke Bruk-Jackson was crowned Miss Universe Zimbabwe, which means she will represent the African nation at the next Miss Universe pageant.

Held for the first time in 22 years this past week, the Miss Universe Zimbabwe beauty contest sparked racial controversy in the African country, with many claiming that the winner is not an accurate representation of Zimbabwe’s general population. Born and raised in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital city, Brooke Bruk-Jackson is also white, which for many is apparently a problem. Her crowning as Miss Universe Zimbabwe ignited a fiery debate on social media, with vocal critics arguing that her title is tainted by racial bias, and that she only won because she is white.

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A Nigerian comedian and content creator allegedly lost his sight for about 45 minutes after sobbing for hours in an attempt to cry for 100 hours and set a world record for the longest time crying continuously.

Tembu Daniel, who goes by ‘237_towncryer’ on Instagram, recently lived up to his nickname by attempting a rather unusual world record – crying continuously for 100 hours. The young Nigerian began his cry-athon on July 9, but was forced to suspend his crying only 6 hours later, due to some unforeseen side effects. Apparently, forcing himself to cry for hours non-stop caused Daniel to experience headaches, puffed eyes, and a generally swollen face. However, the most worrying symptom was partial blindness which allegedly lasted for about 45 minutes.

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An international team of scientists has reportedly created a genetically-modified ‘superbanana’ that contains significantly more nutrients, especially vitamin A.

Vitamin A deficiency has been plaguing poor countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia for hundreds of years, inhibiting children’s growth, causing blindness and significantly weakening their resistance to deadly treatable diseases such as diarrhea and measles. The World Health Organization estimates that 190 million preschool-aged children worldwide are deficient in vitamin A and that malnutrition accounts for 6% of early childhood deaths in Africa alone. Luckily, a cheap and viable solution to malnutrition and vitamin A deficiency, in particular, may be available in the very near future…

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Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, a former taxi driver turned religious leader, has been accused of convincing hundreds of followers to starve themselves to death in order to meet Jesus.

For the past several months, Kenya has been rocked by macabre revelations about the dealings of Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, a cult leader suspected of orchestrating the deaths of over 240 of his loyal followers through starvation. A former televangelist in charge of the Good News International Church, which officially closed down in 2019, Mackenzie Nthenge is believed to have continued his religious activities after moving to the remote village of Shakahola, spewing his extremist beliefs and exploiting people’s fear of the unknown. Evidence suggests that he was somehow able to convince his followers that starving themselves and their loved ones, including children, was a faster way of reaching heaven and meeting their savior, Jesus Christ.

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South Africa’s Mmabatho Stadium is famous for its unusual design, which features elevated stands that don’t actually face the pitch but other stands.

Built in 1981, during the apartheid era, Mmabatho Stadium is often cited as an example of impractical architectural design. It was commissioned by Lucas Mangope’s government which ruled the Bophuthatswana Bantusan and designed by Israeli architect Israel Goodovitch and engineer Ben Abraham. They came up with an unconventional concept that went against pretty much every basic principle of stadium design, and not in a good way. However, authorities apparently loved the idea and went ahead with the construction. After it was inaugurated, it didn’t take long for people to realize that its weirdly elevated stands didn’t offer the best view of the action on the pitch and actually required them to turn their heads to the side in order to watch the match.

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A Kenyan man recently made international news headlines after being caught taking part in a women’s chess tournament using a full burka as a disguise.

In what is considered a first for the Kenyan Chess Federation, a disciplinary committee is currently debating the proper punishment for a male player who disguised himself as a Muslim woman in an attempt to win a women’s chess tournament. 25-year-old Stanley Omondi was reportedly facing financial woes when he decided to try and get his hands on the £2,400 ($3,000) grand prize of a women’s chess tournament. To pull it off without attracting too much suspicion, the male chess player put on a black burka which only left his eyes and feet visible, and registered under the false name ‘Millicent Awour’. At first, organizers were none the wiser to the player’s gender, but it was his prowess at the game of chess that first drew their attention…

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The Bodi tribe of southern Ethiopia holds a yearly festival in which the man with the biggest belly is honored and celebrated. To prepare for this big event, the men go on a grueling six-month fattening journey.

Obesity and big bellies are usually seen as banes of modern life that not only have a negative impact on health, but are also considered generally inesthetic. However, in a remote area of Omo Valley, southern Ethiopia, big bellies in men are considered impressive, even attractive. The Bodi, a tribe of agriculturists and cattle herders, celebrate their love of big bellies during a yearly festival called Ka’el, in which the man with the biggest belly is crowned ‘fat man of the year’ and earns the respect of the entire tribe for life. But in order to earn this honor, the men must go on a fattening diet of cow’s milk or yogurt, raw blood, and honey for several months before the festival.

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A pastor in Mozambique, south-eastern Africa, recently passed away after suffering digestive organ failure attempting to emulate Jesus Christ’s 40-day fast.

It’s unclear why exactly 39-year-old Francisco Barajah, the founder of the Santa Trindade Evangelical Church, decided to imitate Christ’s 40-day fast in the desert as described in the Gospel of Matthew, but one thing is for sure – it was a fatal decision. 25 days into the grueling fast – no food or water – Barajah had become so weak that he couldn’t even stand, let alone move around or perform any menial tasks. Still, he insisted on going through with the Biblical fast, and by the time his family and followers finally decided to take him to a hospital, it was too late.

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Nigerian artist Alex Peter Idoko uses fire, razorblades and sandpaper to create stunningly-realistic portraits that look more like sepia-toned photos.

Pyrography, or painting with fire, is an intriguing art form that involves the decoration of a wooden canvas with burn marks resulting from a controlled flame or heated instrument, like a poker. It’s a less forgiving art than traditional painting, as mistakes are much harder to fix or hide due to the destructive nature of fire. However, some artists control the unusual medium so well that they can create photo-quality artworks that are almost indistinguishable to the naked eye.

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Mzee Musa Hasahya, a 67-year-old Ugandan farmer, is one of the most prolific polygamists in history, with 12 wives, 102 children, and a whopping 568 grandchildren to his name.

Even by the standards of his home village of Lusaka, where polygamy is legal, Mzee Musa Hasahya’s family is considered gigantic. Despite growing up in abject poverty, he managed to rise above his condition, accumulating enough wealth and prestige to be appointed village chairperson for several decades and to ensure that whenever he approached a family about marrying their daughter, they always agreed. Hasahya married his first wife in 1971, at age 16, and then kept taking new wives until he reached 12. Because his father only produced two children, which threatened to render his clan extinct, the Ugandan farmer took it upon himself to ensure that his bloodline endured, producing over 100 children.

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A South African pastor recently sparked controversy online after it was revealed that he was charging people serious money for real-life miracles, like seeing God in heaven.

If you’ve always wanted to see your maker without actually ending your mortal life, MS Budeli, one of the many shady pastors in Africa, claims he can help, if you can pay his fee, of course. According to a promotional poster that has been doing the rounds on social media, Pastor MS Budeli has the power to help people see their future in their smartphones, cancel all their financial debt and even see God. All people have to do is show up for his “Worship Conference” and pay the special prayer fees.

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A 40-year-old man has been dubbed ‘South Africa’s dumbest criminal’ after walking into a police station to get a job there despite being on a wanted criminal list.

Thomas Ngcobo had been on the run for the last seven years, after stealing hardware products worth more than $1,200 while working as a delivery man in 2015. He reportedly diverted deliveries to other addresses without the owner’s consent or knowledge, and went on the run as soon as his manager realized that some invoices were missing and several products had been delivered to the wrong addresses. Ngcobo’s name was added to the police’s wanted criminal list as soon as his employer filed a complaint against him, but he managed to avoid capture for seven years. And then he walked right into a police station like he didn’t even have a criminal record…

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The Ladoum sheep, known as the “king of sheep” in Senegal, is considered a mark of prestige and a status symbol in the African country, with prices for top specimens exceeding $85,000.

A hybrid of the Mauritanian ‘Touabire’ breed and the Malian ‘Bali-bali’, the Ladoum was first bred outside Senegal’s capital of Dakar in the early 1970s. For such a young breed, the Ladoum is incredibly popular in the West-African nation, with well-off families and breeders spending small fortunes on a specimen, and those who can’t afford one dreaming of one day having enough money to buy it. To understand just how revered the Ladoum is, in a country where about 40 percent of the population lives on $1.90 per day, some people spend tens of thousands of dollars on a single sheep.

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To most of the world, the red-billed quelea is a cute, sparrow-like bird native to Sub-Saharan Africa, but to the farmers of the regions that this little creature calls home, it is a pest capable of wiping out their crops.

Biblical plagues mention insects like locusts, lice and flies, but to the people of African countries like  Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, birds – one species in particular – are more dangerous than any of them. There is a very good reason why the red-billed quelea is popularly known as Africa’s feathered locust. This small, adorable bird eats about four grams of plant seeds per day, which doesn’t sound like much, but when you consider that it feeds in flocks of millions of individuals, the math starts to get pretty scary for farmers and those who depend on their crops.

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