President Mahamat Deby of Chad has called on citizens to keep promoting national unity and patriotism as the country prepares to celebrate its Independence Day. In a televised address to the nation on Independence Day, Mahamat said continued efforts to foster solidarity are essential to protecting social cohesion and driving development. “Chad has suffered too much from the horrors of war and division,” as well as intercommunal conflicts “that sow death and grief,” Mahamat said. He noted that the country’s future depends on “its ability to remain united and stand together” in spite of the challenges it faces. “We…
Author: Montage Africa
By Ameh George The United Nations has urged governments and technology companies to urgently protect children from growing online risks. The UN also called on advertisers, media organisations and researchers to prioritise children’s safety and participation in shaping digital policies. It said young people increasingly faced disinformation, online harassment, algorithmic bias and the malicious use of Artificial Intelligence. The warning was contained in a new UN brief released ahead of International Youth Day. According to the report, more than eight in 10 young people aged between 15 and 24 worldwide are now online. It said internet use among young people…
Celebrations have turned the northern Nigerian city of Kano into a riot of colour and excitement over the last week as 1,500 couples married at a mass wedding. For days the city’s streets have been buzzing with bridal parties and their families preparing outfits and attending other organised events. On Friday, brides in red hijabs with grooms in matching red hats and white robes went to the palace of the Emir, the city’s traditional Muslim leader, for the main ceremony where they officially became husband and wife. The nuptials culminated on Saturday with a wedding breakfast hosted by Governor Abba…
By Ameh George A criminal court in the Syrian capital Damascus on Tuesday sentenced former President Bashar al-Assad and several other former officials to death. The Fourth Criminal Court in the city unanimously convicted al-Assad, who remains abroad and was tried in absentia, on charges of murder and incitement to murder and sentenced him to death, according to reports on the court proceedings. The court also sentenced former senior security official Atef Najib to death over killings and abuses linked to the Syrian conflict, the reports said, adding that a total of nine former officials received death sentences. The verdict…
By Agencies Doctors Without Borders, or MSF, is warning of a deepening humanitarian crisis in Somalia, where half of all children living in displacement sites in the southwest are now suffering from acute malnutrition. The medical charity says prolonged drought, worsening food insecurity, and shrinking humanitarian funding have pushed thousands of families to the brink. Since January, MSF has screened more than 21,000 children under the age of five in Baidoa, finding acute malnutrition rates of around 50 percent. The organization has also expanded its nutrition ward to cope with a growing number of critically ill children. Mitchell Sangma, MSF…
By Rédaction Africanews In the Democratic Republic of Congo, 65 civil society organisations are urging President Félix Tshisekedi to abandon plans for a constitutional referendum. In a memorandum sent Monday to the president and the country’s main institutions, the groups say the security, humanitarian and economic crises make a referendum a poor use of resources. They point to the war in the east, the suffering of millions of displaced people, and worsening living conditions, warning that the proposed law could be seen as a first step toward changing the Constitution and could deepen political tensions. The organisations, including No to…
The Government of the Republic of Gambia has disclosed its intention to undertake a study tour of Nigeria’s foremost intervention agency, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund). The Gambia’s Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, Hon. Prof. Pierre Gomez led a delegation to the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Sonny Echono at the Fund’s Headquarters in Abuja. Speaking during the visit, the Gambian Minister stated that the purpose of the visit was to inform the Executive Secretary about the establishment of Gambia’s Tertiary and Higher Education Trust Fund ( THET Fund), a replica of Nigeria’s TETFund and to…
South African police have launched an investigation after 14 suspected illegal miners died when a mine dump site collapsed on them on Monday night. Eight others were injured and “an unknown number… may still be trapped underground”, police said in a statement. The site was being legally operated by a mining company and it is unclear how the miners, most of whom are believed to be from neighbouring Lesotho, gained access. Illegal mining is rife in South Africa as miners, known in South Africa as “zama zamas” (“those who try their luck” in Zulu), try to eke out a living…
By Agencies Zambians head to the polls on Thursday in the country’s eighth general election since the return to multiparty democracy in 1991, with the economy emerging as the defining issue for voters. President Hakainde Hichilema and his governing United Party for National Development are seeking another five-year term, arguing more time is needed to complete economic reforms after inheriting nearly 19 billion dollars in foreign debt. But many Zambians say they have yet to see meaningful improvements in their daily lives, with unemployment—particularly among young people—remaining high. Political analyst Leah Mitiba says the outcome remains difficult to predict. Leah…
By Dominic Wabwireh with AP President Donald Trump secretly switched from Air Force One to a smaller military aircraft after last month’s NATO summit in Ankara, according to The Washington Post, in an elaborate security operation reportedly prompted by an Iranian threat against him. Trump was publicly seen boarding an older-model Air Force One at Ankara airport after the NATO summit, leading journalists and some White House staff to believe he would fly aboard the presidential jet to Britain. But according to the Post, Trump was secretly transferred minutes later to a smaller Air Force C-32A. The newspaper reported that…