Support is growing for Burkina Faso’s military junta declaration of a “general mobilisation” to give the state “all necessary means” to combat a string of jihadist attacks since the start of this year. The goal is to create a “legal framework for all the actions to be taken” against the …
Read More »Shocking prison break fugitive returned to S. Africa
A South African fugitive who faked his own death in a prison break that embarrassed the authorities has been extradited from Tanzania, the government said on Thursday. Thabo Bester, convicted of rape and murder, escaped from a privately-run prison in Bloemfontein in May last year — but South African police …
Read More »Comoros, France spar over Mayotte expulsions
The Comoros government asked France on Monday to abandon a planned operation of evictions, destruction of illegal housing and arrests in Mayotte, a French department in the Indian Ocean facing a galloping crime rate, against the backdrop of a migration crisis. The operation, named “Wuambushu” (“takeover”, in Moroccan) and conceived …
Read More »UN chief urges more aid on visit to Somalia’s displaced
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday visited a camp for internally displaced people in Baidoa, in Somalia’s southwest. Speaking through a translator, Guterres sat down with some of the displaced to hear their concerns. The UN chief arrived in Somalia on Tuesday on what he termed as a ‘solidarity visit’. …
Read More »Egypt’s annual inflation rate up in March – Report
Egypt’s annual urban consumer inflation rate in March rose to 32.7% year-on-year, from 31.9% in February, according to data from the country’s statistics agency. Month -on-month, urban inflation slowed to 2.7% in March from 6.5% in February. Egypt has seen surging inflation since 2022 precipitated by currency devaluations, a dollar …
Read More »Gabon: 21 people charged over capsized ferry that killed dozens
Twenty-one people have been charged with manslaughter in the investigation into the sinking of a mini-ferry that killed 30 people and left seven missing a month ago in Gabon, the Libreville public prosecutor announced Saturday. On March 9, the Esther Miracle, which linked the capital to the oil port of …
Read More »At least 21 dead in Somalia’s flash floods – U.N. agency
At least 21 people including six children have died in Somalia’s flash flooding over the last week, according to the U.N. humanitarian agency. Nearly 100,000 people have been affected by the heavy rains and flash floods that hit the previously drought-stricken area in the Bardhere district of the Gedo region …
Read More »Congo: Pointe-Noire welcomes its very first cruise ship
The port of Pointe-Noire, the economic and oil capital of Congo-Brazzaville, received on Wednesday its first cruise ship carrying foreign tourists, a sign of the economic diversification sought by the Congolese government. Finnish flag floating in the air, 115 meters of steel carrying 150 tourists of various nationalities, the SH …
Read More »DRC urged to drop ‘discriminatory’ bill on ‘Congoleseness’
From the first concerned to the Catholic bishops, through political parties and civil society associations, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, positions are being taken against a controversial bill on “congolity”. This bill, known as the “Tshiani law”, named after its initiator Noël Tshiani, himself a candidate in the …
Read More »Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga calls off anti-government protests
Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga announced Sunday he was calling off a protest on Monday and would embark on dialogue with the government after two weeks of chaotic street demonstrations. Three people have died and properties and businesses been looted since anti-government protests erupted on March 20, alarming neighbours and …
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