Gabon’s military-installed prime minister on Friday defended the takeover before the United Nations as a “lesser evil,” saying the intervention prevented bloodshed.Military leaders on August 30 overthrew Ali Bongo Ondimba, whose family has ruled the oil-rich Central African state for more than half a century, just as he was proclaimed the winner of another term.The …

Gabon’s new PM tells UN military takeover ‘lesser evil’Fri, 22 Sep 2023 21:48:53 GMT Read More »

An international force for violence-plagued Haiti came closer to reality Friday after months of efforts, with the United States saying up to a dozen countries have offered support and pledged its own logistical assistance.”Ten to 12 came with concrete offers to this mission,” State Department number two Victoria Nuland said after a ministerial meeting on …

Haiti force gathers steam as US leads UN talksFri, 22 Sep 2023 19:54:18 GMT Read More »

Libya’s eastern-based administration said on Friday that it would host an international conference next month in the flood-hit port city of Derna to aid reconstruction efforts.A tsunami-sized flash flood broke through two ageing dams upstream from Derna after a hurricane-strength storm lashed the area on September 10, razing entire neighbourhoods and sweeping thousands of people …

Libya’s flood-hit Derna to host reconstruction conference: authoritiesFri, 22 Sep 2023 18:11:53 GMT Read More »

Violence-wracked Somalia is seeking a three-month delay in the planned reduction of African Union troops after suffering “several significant setbacks” in its fight against Al-Shabaab militants, according to a government letter seen by AFP.Somalia’s national security adviser wrote to the United Nations requesting a 90-day delay in the second phase of a pullout that provides …

Somalia seeks three-month delay in AU force drawdown: letterFri, 22 Sep 2023 17:46:46 GMT Read More »

As much of the world’s attention has been focused on the port city of Derna since last week’s flooding in eastern Libya, other cities are mired in the resulting damage.Ahmed Saleh, a 34-year-old civil engineer clad in a traditional white jalabiya, is still in shock at the scale of the destruction in his home city, Susa.More …

As Derna reels, other flood-hit Libyan cities struggle to recoverFri, 22 Sep 2023 16:11:47 GMT Read More »

Exiled former Central African Republic president Francois Bozize, who now leads a rebel coalition, has been sentenced to forced labour for life for conspiracy, rebellion and murder in the chronically unstable nation.Bozize, who seized power in the CAR in 2003 but was toppled a decade later, was sentenced in absentia on Thursday, according to a …

Exiled C.African ex-leader Bozize sentenced to lifeFri, 22 Sep 2023 12:28:05 GMT Read More »

Libya’s devastating flood has transformed Derna from a busy port welcoming fishing boats and ships loaded with goods and passengers into a dump brimming with rubble, car wrecks and dead bodies.Tugboat captain Ali al-Mismari, 60, recalled the night of September 10 when torrential rains caused by Storm Daniel battered the eastern Libyan city, bursting two …

Debris and dead bodies clutter flood-hit Libyan portFri, 22 Sep 2023 12:12:01 GMT Read More »

In the sandy courtyard of a school turned shelter in northern Sudan, two children idly pass a football back and forth. Around them, dozens of adults wait, trapped between a war and a border.There is little else to do in the border town of Wadi Halfa, where a local support group says upwards of 20,000 …

Months-long limbo for thousands of Sudanese at Egypt borderFri, 22 Sep 2023 10:35:01 GMT Read More »

Violence-wracked Somalia is seeking a three-month delay in the planned reduction of African Union troops after suffering “several significant setbacks” in its fight against Al-Shabaab militants, according to a government letter seen by AFP.Somalia’s national security adviser wrote to the United Nations requesting a 90-day delay in the second phase of a pullout that provides …

Somalia seeks 90-day ‘pause’ in AU force drawdown: letterFri, 22 Sep 2023 09:15:17 GMT Read More »

Acute deprivation is endemic in Niger, one of the world’s poorest nations. But West African sanctions aimed at forcing a return to democracy after a coup are making people’s lives worse.  Food and medicines are scarce in the landlocked country, prices are skyrocketing and blackouts after regional powerhouse Nigeria cut its electricity supplies mean that …

Sanctions deepen economic misery in post-coup NigerFri, 22 Sep 2023 05:26:21 GMT Read More »