Africa
Cape Town fire ‘contained’ as firefighters battle windy conditions
A blaze advanced along South Africa’s iconic Table Mountain toward central Cape Town on Monday after ravaging university buildings, while firefighters battled strong winds in their efforts to control it and officials evacuated residential areas. The fire broke out Sunday morning in the foothills of the mountain and spread to the University of Cape Town (UCT), destroying buildings and part of a library housing a unique collection of African archives, while causing students to flee. The blaze had been largely contained on Monday, but firefighters were still battling to control it. Cape Town mayor Dan Plato said efforts were currently focused on the mountain above the Vredehoek suburb, with residents being evacuated “as a precautionary measure”. “Strong winds are placing pressure on firefight...
South Sudan to dispose of 60,000 expired coronavirus vaccines
South Sudan is looking to dispose of 60 000 expired doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, as rollout of the drugs is hampered by scepticism among the population, a health ministry official said Monday. The doses in question were donated by African telecommunications company MTN and the African Union late last month. “When it reached here we later discovered that the (remaining) lifespan of this vaccine is just … 14 days,” Richard Lako, Covid-19 incident manager at the health ministry, told AFP. He said that the drugs had since expired and were “already locked somewhere to be dealt with as soon as possible.” Lako said the health ministry and drug authority were working on plans to dispose of the vaccines. “The ministry is now engaging the African Union and the team with regards to that e...
Guinea receives purchase of 300,000 Sinovac coronavirus vaccines
Guinea received on Sunday a shipment of 300,000 Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines purchased from China and is also set to receive a donation of 200,000 Sinopharm shots, Guinean Foreign Minister Ibrahima Khalil Kaba said. Kaba gave no further details on the Sinopharm donation. Guinea is reporting 93 new coronavirus infections on average each day, 59% of the peak in March. There have been 21,460 infections and 138 coronavirus-related deaths reported in the country since the pandemic began. The West African country has administered at least 109,296 doses of COVID vaccines so far, according to government data compiled by Reuters. Assuming every person needs two doses, that’s enough to have vaccinated about 0.4% of the country’s population. The World Health Organization will decide late this month or i...
US: Chad rebels heading towards capital from north
The United States said rebel fighters in Chad appeared to be moving towards the capital N’Djamena and ordered non-essential staff to leave, warning of possible violence. A spokesman for the rebel Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) said its fighters had “liberated” the province of Kanem, some 220 km (136 miles) from the capital N’Djamena, but the government denied this. “The authors of these false statements are not even on the ground, but somewhere in Europe,” the government said in a message posted to Facebook. A day earlier the British government urged its citizens to leave Chad because of information that two rebel convoys on the move, one near the town of Faya, some 770 km (478 miles) northeast of N’Djamena, and another by the town of Mao, the provincial capital of Kanem. On S...
Eleven dead, 98 injured after train derails in Egypt
Eleven people were killed and 98 injured on Sunday in a train accident in Egypt’s Qalioubia province north of Cairo, the health ministry said in a statement. The train was heading from Cairo to the Nile Delta city of Mansoura when four carriages derailed at 1:54 p.m. (1154 GMT), about 40 kms (25 miles) north of Cairo, Egyptian National Railways said in a short statement. The cause of the accident is being investigated, it added. More than 50 ambulances took the injured to three hospitals in the province, the health ministry said. The derailing is the latest of several recent railway crashes in Egypt. At least 20 people were killed and nearly 200 were injured in March when two trains collided near Tahta, about 440 kms (275 miles) south of Cairo. Fifteen people were injured this month when t...
Ten killed in inter-communal violence amid protests in eastern Congo
Ten people have been killed and 34 injured in fighting between rival ethnic communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern city of Goma, a spokesman for the provincial government said on Tuesday. The clashes broke out when protests against the U.N.’s MONUSCO peacekeeping mission, which some blame for failing to end to worsening insecurity and militia attacks, descended into violence between the two communities. Attacks by armed militias and inter-communal violence in Congo’s restive eastern region have killed over 300 people since the start of the year as government troops and U.N. peacekeepers struggle to bring stability in the mineral-rich region. The governor of North Kivu province, Carly Nzanzu Kasivita, banned all public protests from Monday and called for calm. “From now o...
President Buhari appoints new DTCA, NIIA chiefs
President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Ambassador Rabiu Dagari as Director-General of the Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa (DTCA). The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Gabriel Aduda, in a letter dated April 8, 2021, addressed to Dagari, said the appointment was for an initial period of four years with effect from March 16, 2021. Letter read: “The terms and condition of your appointment is as provided in the appointment of Chief Executives of Government Parastatals and Agencies in the Federal Public Services. “It Is hoped that your performance at the Interview/screening exercise as well as your experiences as a seasoned Diplomat/Administrator will be brought to bear in the discharge of your duties as the Director-General of the Directorate,” Aduda...
AGF: I didn’t file any suit against Atiku Abubakar’s citizenship
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN), has said that he never filed any suit challenging the citizenship of former vice president, Atiku Abubakar. The AGF, through his media aide, Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, said Malami “has never filed any case before any court challenging the citizenship of the former Vice President.” The AGF was reacting to a report of AGF’s position in a suit filed against Atiku by the Incorporated Trustees of Egalitarian Mission for Africa before the Federal High Court, Abuja. He said: ”The Honorable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN has never filled any case before any court in the country challenging the citizenship of the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. “The matter ...
Djibouti president set to extend 22-year rule
Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh is expected to extend his two-decade rule of the tiny Horn of Africa nation as the country heads to the polls Friday. Guelleh, 73, is facing political newcomer Zakaria Ismail Farah, his only rival after traditional opposition parties decided to boycott the election. A businessman specialised in the importation of cleaning products, Farah, 56, is seen by observers as unlikely to pose a significant challenge to the strongman who has been in power for 22 years. Djibouti is a largely desert country strategically situated on one of the world’s busiest trade routes and at the crossroads between Africa and the Arabian peninsula, a short distance from war-torn Yemen. Under Guelleh, the country has exploited this geographical advantage, investing heavily in ...
Report: US says ex-Egypt premier had diplomatic immunity from lawsuit
The Biden administration has said a lawsuit seeking to hold former Egyptian Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi accountable for alleged involvement in torture against an Egyptian-American activist should be thrown out because he held diplomatic immunity, the Washington Post reported on Monday. In a submission to the US District Court in Washington, DC, shared by the Post, lawyers for the US Justice Department said “El Beblawi held diplomatic status at the time when the suit was commenced” and the court should dismiss “claims falling with the scope of his immunity”. El-Beblawi had served as Egypt’s representative to the International Monetary Fund, but quit and left the US in late October, the Post reported. The department said in its court filing that it was not making any judgements on the me...
UN: 40 people killed in ethnic clashes in West Darfur
At least 40 people have been killed in Sudan’s West Darfur region after three days of ethnic clashes that have prompted the government to declare a state of emergency, the United Nations announced Monday. The clashes in El Geneina, which is close to the border with Chad, also left at least 58 people wounded. Fighting among members of the Arabi Rizeigat and Masalit tribes in El Geneina began after armed men shot two people and wounded two others in the Masalit tribe, according to the U.N. While authorities have yet to determine the cause of the shootings, gunfire exchanges between the two tribes continued into Monday, claiming at least 40 residents. Residents told Agence France-Presse they heard fresh gunfire accompanied by loud explosions at dawn Monday as the violence spread to the suburb...
Mozambique army claims militants killed in battle
Mozambique’s military said on Sunday a “significant” number of militants had been killed during a battle over a key northern town and gas hub captured by the Islamic State (ISIS) last month. Palma was seized by the jihadists during coordinated attacks on 24 March, in what was seen as the biggest escalation of the insurgency ravaging the north of the African nation since 2017. The true death toll is not yet known, but thousands were displaced from the town of some 75 000 and the French energy giant Total suspended operations at its multibillion-dollar plant. On Sunday, the army escorted officials and journalists through the ravaged town, claiming a “significant” number of militants had been killed, and that they had now secured the surrounding area. Commander Chongo Vidigal, leading the mil...
