Africa - Page 18

Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar is accused of exploiting the devastating Derna floods to tighten his grip on the eastern half of the country.

The Libyan Red Crescent on Thursday said the death toll from the flood in Derna, Libya, has reached 11,300 – and may continue to climb, as more than 10,000 people are still missing.

The World Meteorological Organization says Libya’s thousands of flood deaths could have been avoided with a good early warning system.

Humanitarian concern on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa after more than 5,000 people arrived in one day on smugglers boats.

Rescue teams in eastern Libya have retrieved hundreds of bodies from the rubble in a coastal city that was hit by devastating floods.

The military government of Niger on Sunday claimed France is positioning troops in surrounding countries and preparing an invasion to reverse the coup that forced President Mohamed Bazoum out of power in July.

A mob of Fulani Muslim raiders torched a Catholic parish rectory in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, killing a 25-year-old seminarian, local media reported.

MARRAKECH, Morocco (AP) — A rare, powerful earthquake struck Morocco late Friday night, killing more than 1,000 people and damaging buildings from villages in the Atlas Mountains to the historic city of Marrakech. The full toll was not known as rescuers struggled to get through boulder-strewn roads to the remote mountain villages hit hardest.

UNICEF warns that violence against children has escalated to horrifying levels in the war-torn eastern provinces of the Congo.

The Pentagon said on Thursday it will “reposition” troops and equipment in Niger, and withdraw some “non-essential personnel,” due to “an abundance of caution” as the security situation deteriorates. 

The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday imposed sanctions for human rights violations against Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo, a senior commander in Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a brutal paramilitary force led by Dagalo’s brother Mohammed Hamdan Daglo.

The first Africa Climate Summit ended Wednesday with a demand for global leaders to initiate a global carbon tax on fossil fuels, aviation and maritime transport, all while reforming financial systems that force African nations to pay more to borrow money.

The Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) suspended Gabon’s membership after a coup removed President Ali Bongo.

The U.K. will declare Russia´s Wagner mercenary group a banned terrorist organization, saying it remains a threat to global security.

Ugandan police on Sunday announced the arrest of a suspect in connection with a plot to bomb a church in the capital city of Kampala. Five more arrests were announced on Tuesday, and more explosive devices were reportedly recovered, suggesting a major terrorist attack linked to an Islamist insurgent group called the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) had been thwarted.

Economic success must have a price and a global tax on carbon emissions can help redress Africa’s chronically low Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rates, Kenya’s President William Ruto declared Tuesday as the first Africa Climate Summit began.

A massive protest on Saturday in Niger’s capital city of Niamey drew tens of thousands of angry demonstrators who demanded France withdraw all of its forces immediately. France has been critical of the July 26 coup, but the public has demonstrated a great deal of support for the junta, and attitudes towards France soured even before the civilian government was overthrown.

R&B singer Akon is hyping his centrally planned community in Senegal, the country of his childhood, promising that every African American who invests with him will become a millionaire. In addition, he says if they collectively leave the U.S. for Africa, they could do real damage to the country that has oppressed them so much.

The army of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Wednesday used force to disperse a protest against the United Nations in the eastern city of Goma, killing at least 43 people and injuring 56, plus 158 arrests.

Social media linked to Russia’s Wagner Group is circulating a video in which Yevgeny Prigozhin discusses rumors of his impending death.

Tendai Gambiza, a 33-year-old resident of Zimbabwe, forced his way into the Supreme Court building and threatened his ex-wife with an ax.

The soldiers who orchestrated a coup d’etat in Gabon announced they had appointed General Brice Oligui Nguema as their interim president.

“It’s clear that things haven´t gone well given the proliferation of military coups,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.

JOHANNESBURG — A nighttime fire ripped through a rundown five-story building in Johannesburg that was occupied by homeless people and squatters, killing at least 73 people early Thursday, emergency services in South Africa’s biggest city said.

Top military officials in Gabon, central Africa, appeared suddenly on national television on Wednesday and announced that they had ended the regime of President Ali Bongo Ondimba, whose family has ruled the country since 1967.

Russian officials on Monday appointed Gen. Andrey Averyanov, head of covert offensive operations for Russian military intelligence, to supervise the mercenary Wagner Group’s valuable operations in Africa following the reported death of its founders, Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, in a plane crash last week.

President Emmanuel Macron said that France’s ambassador is staying at his post in Niger despite being asked to leave by the ruling junta.

The slaughter of Christians has become a regular occurrence in sub-Saharan Africa, the Barnabas Fund reports on Saturday, and the “cause is Islamism.”

Niger’s military rulers, who seized control of the government in July, gave the French ambassador 48 hours to leave the country.

Two tankers carrying oil products and gas collided in the Suez Canal, disrupting traffic through the globally important waterway.

Former OPEC president Diezani Alison-Madueke has been charged with bribery offences, the UK National Crime Agency said on Tuesday.

Genocidal communist dictator Xi Jinping landed in South Africa in the early morning hours of Tuesday to a personal welcome from President Cyril Ramaphosa, a traditional dance troupe, and the nation’s armed forces in anticipation of this week’s BRICS summit.

The founder and leader of the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) Yevgeny Prigozhin resurfaced on Monday in what appeared to be his first video production since a failed attempt to oust the leaders of the Russian Defense Ministry in June, urging “real heroes” to join the mercenary organization.

General Abdourahamane Tchiani, the leader of the Niger military coup, announced that he would not remain in power for over three years.

The 2023 BRICS summit is scheduled for Tuesday through Thursday this week, bringing together the five member nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa to lay the groundwork for a world of post-American “inclusive multilateralism.”

The United Nations said on Tuesday that the situation in Sudan is “spiraling out of control” as food and medicine run out.