Illegal gold mining stokes bandit violence in NigeriaFri, 19 Dec 2025 06:32:31 GMT
A scramble for gold reserves dug up in illegal mines is fuelling violence by criminal gangs in parts of Nigeria, officials, expert reports and local residents say, with much of it smuggled to Dubai.Northwestern and central Nigerian states have long been terrorised by criminal gangs locally called “bandits” who raid villages, abduct residents and loot …
Illegal gold mining stokes bandit violence in NigeriaFri, 19 Dec 2025 06:32:31 GMT Read More »
Ethiopian civilians ‘caught in the crossfire’ of Amhara conflictFri, 19 Dec 2025 06:23:25 GMT
A few months ago, farmer Belete Melke was sheltering from a heavy downpour in a remote village in Ethiopia’s Amhara region when suddenly gunfire erupted around him.”We were caught in the crossfire,” he told AFP, after being struck by a stray bullet.Northern Amhara is Ethiopia’s second most populated region with roughly 23 million inhabitants, and …
L’accord UE-Mercosur reporté en janvier, von der Leyen confiante
La présidente de la Commission européenne, Ursula von der Leyen, s’est dite vendredi “confiante” de parvenir à signer l’accord commercial avec les pays du Mercosur en janvier, après un report provoqué par la France et l’Italie sur fond de mobilisation agricole.Ce report n’est “pas suffisant” pour la FNSEA, le premier syndicat agricole français, qui a …
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Arsonists target Bangladesh newspapers after student leader’s death
Firefighters pulled journalists from their burning newsroom on Friday after the building was set ablaze during violent demonstrations in Bangladesh’s capital.Thousands of protesters were brought to the streets by the assassination of a youth leader running for parliament in upcoming national elections. A key figure in last year’s uprising, Sharif Osman Hadi, 32, was shot by masked gunmen while leaving a mosque in Dhaka last week.After he died in hospital on Thursday, his supporters gathered in Dhaka demanding the killers be brought to justice. Several buildings, including those housing leading newspapers Prothom Alo and the Daily Star, were set on fire and vandalised, according to authorities.Staff trapped in the Daily Star newsroom described being unable to escape as the building filled with smoke.”I can’t breathe anymore. There’s too much smoke. I am inside. You are killing me,” reporter Zyma Islam wrote on her Facebook page.Firefighters managed to bring the blaze under control at 1:40 am (1940 GMT on Thursday), with 27 employees rescued from the smouldering building. “For the first time in the newspaper’s history, the publication had to be halted,” consulting editor Kamal Ahmed told AFP.At the Prothom Alo, executive editor Sajjad Sharif said he was “deeply saddened” that the newspaper could not be published due to vandalism and arson.”This attack is not merely an attack on Prothom Alo and the Daily Star, it’s an attack on freedom of the press, expression, dissent and diversity of opinion,” he said.Critics of the papers, the largest in the South Asian country, accuse them of favouring neighbouring India, where Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina has taken refuge since quitting in 2024.The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it was alarmed by the violence against the press.”CPJ is monitoring the situation and urges Bangladeshi authorities to ensure the safety of news outlets and journalists, and to hold those responsible accountable,” it said in a statement.Hadi, a leader of the student protest group Inqilab Mancha, was also an outspoken critic of India.After he was shot in Dhaka on December 12, he was airlifted to Singapore, where authorities later announced he had succumbed to his wounds.Inqilab Mancha distanced itself from the violence that erupted at the Dhaka protests, blaming opportunists for trying to derail the demonstrations.”They essentially want to turn Bangladesh into a dysfunctional state through vandalism and arson,” the group said in a statement posted to social media.”They want to endanger the independence and sovereignty of this country.”Bangladeshi police have launched a manhunt for Hadi’s shooters, releasing photographs of two key suspects and offering a reward of five million taka (about $42,000) for information leading to their arrest.
Volatile Oracle shares a proxy for Wall Street’s AI jitters
For a reading of Wall Street’s shifting mood on the artificial intelligence investment boom, take a look at the daily fluctuations of Oracle stock, analysts say.Shares of the software giant slumped more than five percent Wednesday following a news report of financing troubles with one of the company’s giant AI projects.But they recovered on Thursday and finished up around one percent at $180.03 as tech companies rallied following blowout results from Micron Technology, another big AI player.”Oracle is probably the poster child” for the AI investment boom, said B. Riley Wealth Management’s Art Hogan, who points to questions about “circular financing” arrangements that have made Oracle and OpenAI dependent on each other for billions of dollars in business.On Thursday, Oracle — along with Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX — was also named in a new deal with TikTok, according to an internal memo seen by AFP from the social media company’s CEO Shou Chew. “The US joint venture will be responsible for US data protection, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurance,” Chew said in the memo. The deal would allow TikTok to maintain US operations and avoid a ban threat over its Chinese ownership.Oracle stock rose more than five percent to $190.81 in after-hours trading on Thursday.The firm’s stock peaked at $345.72 in September after it unveiled a massive inventory of AI work, a surge that briefly vaulted co-founder Larry Ellison above Tesla CEO Elon Musk as the world’s wealthiest person.But its shares have since fallen more than 45 percent as investors have begun to question the risk of AI infrastructure overbuilding and scrutinized the financing of individual projects.Ellison, a close ally of President Donald Trump, is currently fifth on the Forbes real-time billionaire list with $230 billion.- Michigan project ‘limbo’ -This week’s gyrations in Oracle shares followed a Financial Times story Wednesday that described a $10 billion AI data center project in Michigan as “in limbo” after a key partner declined to join the project.The company, Blue Owl Capital, a backer of other major Oracle projects, pulled back after other lenders pushed for stricter terms “amid shifting market sentiment around enormous AI spending,” said the FT, which cited people familiar with the matter.Oracle, which is taking on billions of dollars of debt in the building spree, described the FT story as “incorrect.””Our development partner, Related Digital, selected the best equity partner from a competitive group of options, which in this instance was not Blue Owl,” said Oracle spokesperson Michael Egbert.”Final negotiations for their equity deal are moving forward on schedule and according to plan.”OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said the Chat GPT-maker has committed to some $1.4 trillion in investments in AI computing, with some $300 billion reportedly going to Oracle. But AI stocks have been volatile in recent weeks as the market scrutinizes the profit outlook for the data centers.”Investors are starting to ask questions about the sustainability of the AI trade and the profitability,” said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers.The enthusiasm for AI “makes sense” when considering that manufacturing and services companies could see profits enhanced by the technology, Sosnick said, before pointing to doubts over lofty AI equity valuations.Oracle’s price drop on Wednesday followed a selloff last week after the firm’s quarterly results sparked worry over its massive capital spending.Analysts bullish on the stock have emphasized its huge growth potential with the AI boom.On Thursday, Morningstar trimmed its price target on Oracle to $277 from $286, pointing to greater uncertainty around the projects.Oracle’s elevated debt “leaves little room for error, meaning the new data centers have to generate cash flow as soon as possible to service debt and lease obligations,” Morningstar said in a note. “However, we view recent events, including delays in some data centers’ completion dates, as minor setbacks that should not alter Oracle’s overall capacity ramp-up.”