Fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitaries engulfed the aid hub of Wad Madani Friday triggering an exodus of civilians already displaced by eight months of war, an AFP correspondent reported.When war broke out in April between the Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Wad Madani quickly became a safe haven …

Fighting engulfs Sudan aid hub, sparking new exodusFri, 15 Dec 2023 17:18:37 GMT Read More »

While the UN’s COP28 climate summit marked a pivot moment, when the world pledged to say “goodbye” to fossil fuels, International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol told AFP on Friday, it needs to now urgently boost finance for the energy transition in developing countries.Birol welcomed the landmark agreement struck at the negotiations in the oil-rich …

‘It’s finished!’: IEA boss says COP28 bid farewell to fossil fuelsFri, 15 Dec 2023 16:41:31 GMT Read More »

Niger’s ousted president Mohamed Bazoum, who has been held in detention since a July 26 coup, must be freed immediately, the court of the West African bloc, ECOWAS, ordered on Friday.The court called for his “immediate and unconditional release” and ordered that Bazoum be reinstated, according to the judge in the case heard in Nigeria’s …

W.Africa court orders immediate release of deposed Niger presidentFri, 15 Dec 2023 12:27:53 GMT Read More »

Consulting giant McKinsey & Company sought to place controversial carbon market schemes favoured by its fossil fuel clients at the heart of the Africa Climate Summit, according to internal documents and sources who talked to AFP.The documents reveal that the firm worked behind the scenes to shape the agenda of September’s Nairobi gathering, a key …

Leaks show McKinsey pushed fossil fuel agenda at Africa climate summitFri, 15 Dec 2023 10:50:52 GMT Read More »

“Fake Congolese” or “candidate of the aggressor country” — some of the accusations being bandied around on social media in a bid to ruin reputations in the run-up to DR Congo’s presidential vote.Some opposition candidates face claims online of being “foreigners”, a potentially powerful weapon in a country scarred by conflict with its neighbours and …

‘Foreigner’ claims dog DR Congo presidential candidatesFri, 15 Dec 2023 10:06:09 GMT Read More »

Security forces arrested scores of people in a crackdown on illegal mining on Thursday as President Cyril Ramaphosa said South Africa was “tired of crime”.Dozens of army and police searched shacks, detained suspects and seized mining equipment in the Soul City settlement near Kagiso, west of Johannesburg, AFP reporters saw. More than 70 people were held …

S.Africa army raids illegal miners as Ramaphosa talks tough on crimeThu, 14 Dec 2023 14:42:09 GMT Read More »

The military rulers of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have banded together in a joint defence pact to fight jihadists and present a united political front in their declared aim to restore sovereignty.Against a backdrop of a bloody jihadist insurgency in West Africa’s Sahel region that erupted in northern Mali in 2012, later spreading to …

Sahel military-led states bet on security, diplomatic defianceThu, 14 Dec 2023 14:40:00 GMT Read More »

A Senegalese judge on Thursday ordered that jailed opposition leader Ousmane Sonko be reinstated on the electoral roll, clearing the way for him to stand in next year’s presidential election.Sonko was struck off Senegal’s electoral register after being sentenced in June to two years’ imprisonment for morally corrupting a young person. The 49-year-old political thorn in …

Senegal court clears jailed opposition figure for presidential runThu, 14 Dec 2023 14:21:14 GMT Read More »

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Thursday he was open to toughening up his controversial plan to send migrants to Rwanda, which has divided his ruling Conservative party.The plan is Sunak’s answer to a unanimous Supreme Court ruling last month that deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda is illegal under international law.Sunak, who has been …

UK PM Sunak says open to tweaking Rwanda billThu, 14 Dec 2023 11:23:08 GMT Read More »

Slowing demand growth and rising US crude production will make it more difficult for OPEC+ to continue to prop up prices, the IEA said on Thursday.The OPEC+ cartel, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, has been restraining production to maintain prices but the latter have recently slumped due to the weakening of the global economy …

OPEC+ cartel’s grip on oil market loosening: IEAThu, 14 Dec 2023 09:20:30 GMT Read More »