Latest atrocities in Sudan war include the shelling of house of traditional healer, who died with her children and neighbours
People trapped in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and its twin city of Omdurman say civilians are being deliberately targeted in shelling by the warring parties.
A woman who had been helping wounded soldiers was killed along with her three children and six neighbours when her home was shelled by Sudanese army forces earlier this week.
Continue reading...Polling described as ‘shambolic’, with electoral body accused of conspiring with ruling party to ‘disenfranchise’ opposition voters
Voting in Zimbabwe’s election has been extended by another day after huge delays in the delivery of ballot papers to some wards.
The country’s president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, issued a decree late on Wednesday to extend voting by another day in 40 wards across Harare, and the provinces of Mashonaland Central and Manicaland, as the government tried to salvage polling that had been described as “shambolic”.
Continue reading...Major expansion as economic bloc that includes Russia and China attempts to provide counterweight to the US and western allies
The Brics group of big emerging economies has announced the admission of six new members, in an attempt to reshape the global world order and provide a counterweight to the US and its allies.
From the beginning of next year, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Argentina, the UAE and Ethiopia will join the current five members – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – it was announced at a summit in Johannesburg on Thursday.
Continue reading...Most urban polling stations in Harare and Bulawayo, where opposition claims it has strong support, open four hours late
Delays have marred voting in Zimbabwe’s general election after a campaign dominated by the country’s interlinked economic crises.
Voting at most urban polling stations in Harare and Bulawayo began four hours late after polling officers failed to distribute papers for the council elections. Some polling stations were still to receive election material more than seven hours after polls opened.
Continue reading...Some took parts of wooden seats for buoyancy after watching friends die on drifting vessel
Facing hunger, thirst and a rising number of deaths, some of the group of asylum seekers who were adrift for more than a month in the Atlantic resorted to breaking off chunks of the boat’s wooden seats in hopes of floating to land, a friend of three of the survivors has said.
More than 90 people are believed to have died before the rickety boat that had set off from Fass Boye, a seaside town in Senegal, was found off Cape Verde last week. Survivors said they left on 10 July aiming to reach Spain’s Canary Islands and spent weeks drifting at the mercy of powerful Atlantic trade winds.
Continue reading...Experts say army received bribes from people smuggling until 2015 law associated with Mohamed Bazoum
Observers have linked Mohamed Bazoum’s support for European Union policies aimed at stifling migration routes through north Africa to his ousting as president of Niger last month.
Army officers toppled Bazoum on 26 July, as Niger became the fourth west African country since 2020 to have a coup, following Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali.
Continue reading...Africa minister says civilian death toll horrific and UK is to send evidence to UN
War crimes and atrocities against civilians are being committed in Darfur, western Sudan, the UK’s Africa minister Andrew Mitchell said on Tuesday, becoming one of the first western officials to identify that the fighting in Sudan has developed into more than a power struggle between two rival factions.
Mitchell said there was growing evidence of serious atrocities being committed, describing the civilian death toll as horrific in a statement released by the Foreign Office. “Reports of deliberate targeting and mass displacement of the Masalit community in Darfur are particularly shocking and abhorrent. Intentional directing of attacks at the civilian population is a war crime.”
Continue reading...AU opposes countries outside Africa getting involved, but gives more nuanced position on any Ecowas military action
The African Union (AU) appears to have left room open for military intervention by a west African political bloc to restore democracy in Niger, as Algerian state radio said it had refused a French request to fly over its airspace for a military operation.
France’s joint defence staff, however, denied the country had made any request to Algeria to use its airspace for a military operation in Niger.
Continue reading...Promises to get inflation and unemployment on track after decades of Mugabe rule have failed to materialise
An ever-worsening economic situation is hanging over Zimbabwean voters as they go to the polls in a repeat of the 2018 election pitting President Emmerson Mnangagwa against his charismatic and relatively youthful challenger, Nelson Chamisa.
Mnangagwa narrowly defeated Chamisa five years ago after the coup that deposed Robert Mugabe, and pledged to to tackle the economy “head on” in his first term. However, unemployment, inflation and falls in the value of the Zimdollar have persisted.
Continue reading...Two cases to be heard this month could serve as legal precedent to outlaw the holding of patients against their will for unpaid bills
Two women who were prevented from leaving hospital over unpaid medical bills are to have their case against Ugandan authorities heard this month in a case that lawyers hope will end the practice.
Akello Esther Susan, 23, and NS (known by her initials) are jointly suing the government, two district councils and church dioceses over their treatment after giving birth in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
Continue reading...Person who appears to be mercenary leader seen in desert area, saying his group is recruiting
The Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has posted his first video address since leading a short-lived rebellion in Russia, appearing in a clip – possibly shot in Africa – on Telegram channels affiliated with the Wagner group.
A person who appears to be the 62-year-old mercenary leader is seen in the video standing in a desert area in camouflage and with a rifle in his hands. In the distance, there are more armed men and a pickup truck.
Continue reading...Experts say India concerned about expansion and any overt anti-west turn as leaders fly into South Africa
Leaders from developing countries representing almost half the world’s population including China and Russia are meeting in South Africa for a key summit aimed at reinforcing their alliance as a counterweight to the west.
The Brics grouping summit in Johannesburg is being hosted by the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, and brings together the prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, as well the presidents of China, Xi Jinping, and Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Continue reading...Families said to have run away with nothing as three forces fight in South Kordofan state
Thousands of people have fled their homes in the capital of South Kordofan state in Sudan after an attack by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North rebel group, one of three forces now fighting in the area.
The SPLMN has been trying to capture the city from the regular army, known as the Sudanese Armed Forces, since June, when it entered the conflict that broke out in April between the SAF, led by Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
Continue reading...Ecowas group seeking restoration to power of Mohamed Bazoum also met army officers behind coup
A delegation from west Africa’s economic bloc has arrived in Niger and met the ousted president on Saturday, as it sought a peaceful solution after army officers seized power in a coup.
Mohamed Bazoum was “in good spirits”, a source close to the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) told AFP – though he remained under detention and his electricity was still cut off.
Continue reading...Descendants of PM, whose father’s wealth came from sugar plantations, travel to Guyana for 200th anniversary of rebellion by enslaved Africans
The family of one of Britain’s most famous prime ministers will travel to the Caribbean this week to apologise for its historical role in slavery.
Six of William Gladstone’s descendants will arrive in Guyana on Thursday as the country commemorates the 200th anniversary of a rebellion by enslaved people that historians say paved the way for abolition.
Continue reading...Walking Borders said it told authorities in four countries on 20 July about vessel with more than 100 asylum seekers onboard
A Spanish NGO alerted authorities from four countries on 20 July about a boat carrying an estimated 130 asylum seekers that was found earlier this week with just 38 survivors and the bodies of seven dead people on board.
Relatives of those onboard said the large fishing vessel had left Fass Boye, a seaside town in Senegal on 10 July, and was heading for Spain’s Canary Islands. The boat was spotted on Monday about 150 nautical miles (277km ) north of the Cape Verdean island of Sal.
Continue reading...Ecowas says it is ready to restore democracy and describes president Mohamed Bazoum as a hostage
A west African regional political grouping has reiterated it is prepared to intervene militarily in Niger following last month’s coup, describing the country’s detained president, Mohamed Bazoum, as a hostage.
Ecowas’s commissioner for political affairs, peace and security, Abdel-Fatau Musah, made the comments as military chiefs of staff from the bloc met in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, on Thursday and accused Niger’s military junta of “playing cat and mouse” with the grouping by refusing to meet its envoys.
Continue reading...Fishing vessel with 100 asylum seekers was travelling from Senegal to Spain’s Canary Islands
More than 60 people are believed to have died after the boat they were travelling on from Senegal was found off Cape Verde, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Wednesday.
At least 63 asylum seekers are thought to have died, while the 38 survivors include four children between the ages of 12 and 16, an IOM spokesperson told AFP.
Continue reading...Outsourcer Sama facing legal cases brought by Kenya-based employees alleging exposure to graphic content
The chief executive of a company contracted to moderate Facebook posts in east Africa has said she regretted taking on the work, after its staff said they were left traumatised by graphic content on the social media platform.
The US outsourcing firm Sama is facing a number of legal cases brought by Kenya-based employees, who alleged being exposed to graphic and traumatic content such as videos of beheadings, suicide and other material at a moderation hub.
Continue reading...As Ecowas chiefs prepare to meet to discuss possible action against junta, civic group says ‘we need to be ready’
Supporters of the Nigerien junta are calling for the mass mobilisation of citizens against the threat of military action by a west African regional bloc that is calling for the restoration of the country’s deposed president, Mohamed Bazoum.
With a delayed meeting of military chiefs of staff of the Ecowas bloc scheduled to take place later this week, regional tensions over the July coup against Bazoum appeared to be deepening, despite the junta’s efforts to suggest they were open to talks.
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