Scores of migrants from Africa have been left stranded in Costa Rica after they were denied entry into Nicaragua on their way overland north to the United States, media reported. According to the Costa Rican Red Cross, some 2,000 migrants largely from Africa, Asia and Haiti have come to Costa Rica. Many use the country as a crossing point north for the American dream. But the overland route to the U.S. is via Nicaragua and […]
Africa
Ugandan army enters S.Sudan to evacuate citzens
JUBA, South Sudan (AFP) by Peter MARTELL with Michael O’HAGAN in Nimule, Uganda A heavily-armed Ugandan military convoy crossed into South Sudan on Thursday to evacuate citizens trapped in the capital Juba as fears persist that days of fierce fighting might reignite despite a ceasefire. The United Nations has warned of tension and the possibility of fresh fighting in Juba, where a ceasefire has held since late Monday. President Salva Kiir on Thursday called on […]
UN seeks to raise $952 mln in aid for Sudan
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AFP) – The United Nations Tuesday launched a global appeal for $952 million to fund Sudan’s humanitarian needs in 2016, most of it to help people affected by the deadly conflict in Darfur. The much delayed appeal expects to address the humanitarian needs of up to 4.6 million people, including tens of thousands of South Sudanese refugees who have entered Sudan to escape the violence and food shortages in their country. “Women, men, refugees […]
Fierce fighting in Juba despite appeals for calm
JUBA, South Sudan (AFP) – Heavy fighting resumed in South Sudan’s capital Juba on Monday despite international calls for calm after deadly gun battles sent thousands of people fleeing and threatened the young nation’s shaky peace. The United Nations expressed deep alarm over the surge in violence, which has left several hundred people dead and risks plunging the country into a new civil war. Intense battles resumed Monday with tanks and helicopter gunships deployed and […]
UN Security Council meets on South Sudan fighting
by André VIOLLAZ JUBA, South Sudan (AFP) — The UN Security Council pressed South Sudan’s neighbors Sunday to help end renewed fighting in the capital, asking for additional peacekeepers. In a unanimous declaration, the council’s 15 member countries also demanded that President Salva Kiir and his Vice President Riek Machar “do their utmost to control their respective forces, urgently end the fighting and prevent the spread of violence.” It called for the two rivals to […]
Thousands flee heavy fighting in South Sudan capital
JUBA, South Sudan (AFP) — Thousands fled heavy fighting in South Sudan’s capital Juba on Sunday as government soldiers and former rebels traded fire in a return to hostilities that has claimed scores of lives, threatening a shaky peace deal. The battles are the first between the army and ex-rebels in Juba since rebel leader Riek Machar returned to take up the post of vice president in a unity government in April, under an accord […]
More EgyptAir crash remains recovered from Mediterranean
CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) — Search teams have recovered more human remains from the EgyptAir plane that crashed into the Mediterranean in May, the Egyptian-led investigative committee said Sunday. The search vessel John Lethbridge “retrieved all the human remains that were mapped at the crash location,” the Egyptian Aircraft Accident Investigation Committee said in a statement. After delivering the remains in Alexandria, the vessel will return to the crash location “to conduct a new thorough scan […]
13 hostages rescued after Bangladesh siege: commander
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AFP) — Thirteen hostages have been rescued after security forces ended a siege at a cafe in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Saturday, a top commander said. “Three of them are foreigners. Ten locals,” Tuhin Mohammad Masud, a commander of the elite Rapid Action Battalion which stormed the cafe, told India’s Times Now television network. © 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse
Ten killed in jihadist suicide bombing in Cameroon
YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AFP) — A suicide bombing by a Boko Haram jihadist has killed at least 10 people in northern Cameroon, a security source said Thursday. It was the latest in a spate of attacks blamed on the Nigeria-based Islamist militant group in northern Cameroon, which have driven tens of thousands of people from their homes. The security source said the attacker blew himself up in the town of Djakana near the Nigerian border overnight. “Seven […]
Tunisian killed in Istanbul attack seeking IS-linked son
TUNIS , Tunisia (AFP) — A Tunisian killed in the Istanbul airport attack blamed on the Islamic State group was in Turkey to secure the release of his son detained for joining the jihadists, diplomats said Wednesday. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim quickly pointed the finger at IS over Tuesday’s attack, which killed at least 41 people and wounded 239, although no group has claimed responsibility. One of the dead was a Tunisian identified as […]
Michelle Obama in Morocco to launch girls’ fund
MARRAKECH, Morocco (AFP) — US First Lady Michelle Obama launched a $100 million aid package in Morocco Tuesday to promote the education of girls in a country where half of females over 15 are illiterate. Visiting Marakech with actresses Meryl Streep and Frieda Pinto of the “Slumdog Millionaire” film, she told girls in attendance she wanted them to be part of a global conversation on female education. “We want to share this conversation with young […]
EgyptAir black box flight recorder ‘has been repaired’
by Mona SALEM CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) — One of the two black box flight recorders from the EgyptAir plane that plunged into the Mediterranean last month has been repaired, Egypt’s investigation commission said Tuesday, prompting hopes it could provide clues on why the aircraft went down. The two black box recorders were found two weeks ago, but were too damaged to extract information on what caused the passenger jet to go down. They were sent […]
