Germany apologizes for leopard jibe that upset some Africans

By GERALD IMRAY
Associated Press

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Germany has apologized for using a leopard emoji in a jibe at Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Twitter that ended up offending some Africans. The German foreign ministry poked fun at Russia’s top diplomat during his tour of Africa when it tweeted that he wasn’t there looking for leopards. The tweet played off Germany’s decision to send some of its advanced Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine to help its forces fight off Russia’s invasion. But an African Union official took offense. The spokeswoman for the AU Chairman tweeted back to the German government account asking if Africa, its people and its wildlife was “just a joke to you?”