By Rédaction Africanews Almost three years of war in Sudan have left more than eight million children out of education for nearly 500 days, the NGO Save the Children said Thursday, highlighting one of the world’s longest school closures. “More than eight million children –- nearly half of the 17 million of school age –- have gone approximately 484 days without setting foot in a classroom,” the children’s rights organisation said in a statement. Sudan has been ravaged since April 2023 by a power struggle between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). This is “one of the…
Author: Montage Africa
By Dominic Wabwireh with other sources At least eleven police officers were killed in a major jihadist assault in eastern Burkina Faso over the weekend, security sources confirmed, highlighting the persistent and deadly violence plaguing the country despite military claims of progress. Security sources told AFP that “several hundred jihadists” attacked a police detachment in Balga, located in the Gourma province of the East Region. The assault left seven officers dead at the scene, with four others later succumbing to their wounds. The Al-Qaeda-affiliated Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) claimed responsibility for the attack on the…
Winter conditions are hitting the Gaza Strip hard, where families in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis dig through rubbish to find plastic and paper for fires. At a nearby dump, men, women and children use bare hands to collect anything that can burn, as firewood and gas have become unaffordable. In fragile tents, these fires are used to cook meals and keep warm during cold January nights. Residents say fuel is scarce and often sold on the black market, while incomes have vanished after months of conflict. Burning waste fills tents with smoke, but many say they have no…
The life of Uganda’s veteran opposition figure Kizza Besigye is in danger, his wife has said after visiting him in prison. ”He is extremely weak,” said Winnie Byanyima in a statement posted on X. The 69-year-old politician had been taken overnight to a medical facility, the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) party said, without specifying what he was suffering from. A prison service spokesperson denied that Besigye’s health was dire, describing his visit to a doctor as a “general check-up”. Besigye, a former personal doctor to President Yoweri Museveni and one of his longest-standing political rivals, has been in detention since…
Uganda’s opposition leader Bobi Wine has told the BBC he will not contest the results of Thursday’s election in court, citing a lack of confidence in the judiciary and has instead urged his supporters to take to the streets to peacefully protest. Speaking to the BBC from hiding, he said he would continue to stand up to President Yoweri Museveni despite concerns for his safety. “The judiciary in Uganda is captured and we encourage Ugandans to use any legal means to fight back and protect their democracy,” the 43-year-old former pop star said. Museveni, 81, won the vote by a…
By Rédaction Africanews and Agencies Residents of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu voiced their anger on Wednesday at remarks made by US president Donald Trump during his speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos. Trump disparaged Somalis living in America as “low-IQ” and dismissed Somalia as having “no government” and being “barely a state.” He singled out Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar for criticism—remarks that Somali officials and diaspora communities are calling racist, and ignorant. “Trump seems to be an international gangster who doesn’t care about international norms, diplomatic norms,” said local resident Said Ahmed. “He does a lot of things that…
South Africa’s Police Minister Firoz Cachalia has said that the security forces are not yet able to defeat deadly criminal gangs, in a stark admission that underscores the scale of the country’s crime crisis. Gang violence, alongside robberies, accounts for many murders in South Africa, which has one of the world’s highest homicide rates. Cachalia said gang violence had become increasingly complex, especially in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces, requiring new strategies beyond traditional policing. “I do not believe that we are currently in a position to defeat these gangs,” the minister told journalists on Wednesday. South Africa,…
By AP Greenland’s government on Wednesday told its citizens to be prepared as it published a handbook on what to do in case of a crisis. Greenlandic ministers held a press conference in Nuuk to discuss the publication of the handbook – which does not reference any threat from the United States. The guide – in Greenlandic and Danish – tells Greenlanders to ensure they have sufficient supplies at home to be able to survive for five days. The guide is similar to one published by Nordic nations Finland, Norway and Sweden and recommends people have three litters of water…
By Rédaction Africanews with AFP Even as Sudan’s civil war continues, reconstruction is underway in the capital Khartoum where the army-backed government says it plans to return gradually. Many roads in the city have been cleared, rubble is being removed, and cranes now punctuate the skyline. The army retook Khartoum last March from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) which it has been battling for nearly three years. Prime Minister Kamil Idris’ government has been operating from the Red Sea city of Port Sudan some 700 kilometres away since the start of the war. Now, officials tour reconstruction sites daily,…
By Rédaction Africanews with AP At a garbage dump in Khan Younis, many Palestinians use their bare hands to dig in search of plastic and paper to help start a fire to cook and keep warm in the bitter cold of January. As the winter weather worsens, it is deepening the suffering of Gazans, most of whom are still living in tents or buildings damaged by Israel’s bombardment of the enclave. For many of them, buying firewood is not possible. “Today, firewood costs around 7, 8 shekels [$2-3] and we have no income,” said Aziz Akel, who lives in a…