JUBA, South Sudan (AFP) – South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir vowed Tuesday that government would ensure aid could reach areas hit by famine after three years of war that has restricted access for humanitarian workers. The world’s youngest nation on Monday declared famine in parts of the northern Greater Unity state where 100,000 people were facing starvation and another one million were on the brink of famine. A total of nearly five million are going […]
Africa
Congo at crossroads as opposition chief Tshisekedi dies
by Bienvenu-Marie BAKUMANYA Agence France-Presse KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) – Volatile Congo faced uncertainty Thursday after the death of Etienne Tshisekedi, the veteran politician who recently banded the opposition together to end President Joseph Kabila’s rule of the mineral-rich nation. Business was slow and some shops closed in Democratic Republic of Congo’s usually bustling capital of 10 million people, Kinshasa, where large crowds gathered around Tshisekedi’s home and the headquarters of his UDPS party. Kabila, […]
African Union mulls Morocco membership, Trump fallout
by Fran BLANDY Agence France-Presse ADDIS ADABA, Ethiopia (AFP) – African Union leaders grappled with Morocco’s divisive bid to rejoin the bloc at a summit Monday and sounded alarm for the continent over US President Donald Trump’s immigration ban. “The very country (where) our people were taken as slaves… has now decided to ban refugees from some of our countries,” outgoing AU Commission chair Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma told some 37 heads of state and leaders from across […]
Egyptian Museum, muling binuksan
Dalawang taon makalipas ang naganap na bomb attack sa isang museum sa Cairo, Egypt. Muling binuksan ang naturang art para sa publiko. Dito ay ni-restore ang karamihan sa mga art. Dinaluhan naman ito ng maraming bisita na ang karamihan ay mga turista, upang masaksihan ang kinilalang historical museum. Ilan sa idinagdag dito ay ang medicine, coins, astronomy, weaponry upang magdagdag ganda sa museum collection. Marami ang totoong nagandahan sa bagong restoration nito kumpara noong luma […]
28 killed in Shabaab attack on Mogadishu hotel
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AFP) – Twenty-eight people were killed Wednesday when Al-Shabaab fighters attacked a popular Mogadishu hotel, setting off two car bombs and opening fire on security guards, according to the city’s main ambulance service. The attack, claimed by the Al-Qaeda-aligned Shabaab insurgents, began when a car loaded with explosives rammed the gate of the Dayah Hotel near the Somali parliament and state house. Security sources said at least four gunmen then entered the compound […]
Gambia’s Jammeh announces he is relinquishing power
BANJUL, Gambia (Reuters) –Gambia’s longtime ruler Yahya Jammeh, who refused to accept his election defeat last month, announced in the early hours of Saturday (January 21) that he was stepping down as leader after 22 years at the helm of the tiny West African nation. Appearing on state television channel GRTS, Jammeh said he wished to avoid dragging the country into a conflict as regional armies amassed to enforce rival Adama Barrow’s election win. “As […]
Gambia’s Barrow will be inaugurated on Gambian territory – Senegal Foreign Minister
DAKAR, Senegal (Reuters) — Gambian President-elect Adama Barrow will be sworn into office on Gambian territory on Thursday (January 19), Senegal’s Foreign Minister Mankeur Ndiaye said on Wednesday (January 18), despite the incumbent, Yahya Jammeh, refusing to step down. “President-elect Barrow will be sworn in tomorrow on Gambian territory, he will form his government, he will name his vice-president, and the international community will join him,” he said on Senegal state television. It was not […]
Nigerian air force kills 50 and wounds 120 in northeast – MSF
(Reuters) — Nigeria’s air force killed 50 people and injured 120 in an air strike on a camp for displaced persons in the northeast of the country on Tuesday (January 17), Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said. The military said the strike had targeted Boko Haram. MSF said the strike occurred in Rann in Borno state, the epicentre of the jihadist group’s seven-year-old bid to create an Islamic caliphate. Regional military commander General Lucky Irabor located […]
Gambia’s president declares state of emergency
BANJUL, Gambia (AFP) – Gambian President Yahya Jammeh on Tuesday declared a state of emergency just two days before he was due to step down, denouncing what he called dangerous foreign meddling in the country’s post-electoral crisis. The measure was prompted by the “unprecedented and extraordinary amount of foreign interference in the December 1 presidential elections and also in the internal affairs of The Gambia,” Jammeh announced on state TV. The 15-nation Economic Community Of West […]
Troops seize Ivory Coast’s second city in pay protest
Bouake, Ivory Coast (AFP) – Soldiers seized control of Ivory Coast’s second city Bouake on Friday in a protest over pay, firing rocket launchers in the streets and terrifying residents, as the government called for calm. The protests in Bouake spread to the central towns of Daloa and Daoukro as well as Korhogo in the north, as angry troops took to the streets demanding salary hikes. Witnesses said the soldiers had left the streets […]
Libya deputy PM quits, saying he has ‘failed’
TRIPOLI, Libya (AFP) — One of three deputy premiers in Libya’s UN-backed Government of National Accord resigned on Monday, saying he had failed in his mission. Moussa al-Kouni told a press conference in the capital of the chaos-ridden North African country that he could no longer stay in the post. “I’m resigning because I have failed,” said a visibly moved Kouni, who is originally from southern Libya and represents the Tuareg minority in the GNA. […]
Twelve years after Asia tsunami, 400 bodies unidentified in Thailand
(REUTERS) At least 400 victims of Asia’s 2004 tsunami that killed 226,000 people remain unidentified in Thailand 12 years on, police said on Monday. The 9.15 magnitude Dec. 26 earthquake triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean in one of the biggest natural disasters in history. Thailand, Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka were among the worst hit countries. Some 5,395 people were killed in Thailand, among them about 2,000 foreign tourists. “Since the 2004 […]