By Africanews with AFP Aid groups are warning that the war in the Middle East has upended their ability to get food and medicine to millions of people around the world in need, and that the suffering will deepen if the violence continues. Not only has the conflict cut off vital shipping routes, creating a global energy crisis, it’s also disrupting supply chains for aid groups, forcing them to use costlier, more time-consuming routes. Key pathways such as the Strait of Hormuz have been effectively shuttered and routes from strategic hubs such as Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi have also…
Author: Montage Africa
By Africanews with AFP The Middle East war “presents a serious risk to Africa”, the African Union and the African Development Bank (AfDB) said in a report seen by AFP Saturday. The conflict threatens to increase the cost of living and curtail growth on the continent, the report warned. The Middle East accounts for 15.8 percent of Africa’s imports and 10.9 percent of its exports, the report noted. “The conflict, which already has triggered a trade shock, could quickly turn into a cost-of-living crisis across Africa through higher fuel and food prices, rising shipping and insurance costs, exchange rate pressures,…
By Africanews with AP Iran’s joint command claimed on Sunday that the aircraft were destroyed during the complex rescue of an airman whose fighter jet was shot down on Friday. Iran’s state TV quoted the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters as saying the aircraft, which included two C-130 military transport aircraft and two Black Hawk helicopters, were destroyed in the province of Isfahan, where the rescue took place. Earlier Sunday, Iran’s state TV aired a video showing what it claims are parts of a U.S. aircraft that they had shot down and a photo of thick black smoke rising into the air.…
By Africanews with AP Congo will receive some migrants as part of a new deal under the Trump administration’s third-country program, its government said Sunday, the latest such African nation to receive migrants being deported from the U.S. The deportees will start arriving in Congo this month, the Congolese Ministry of Communications said in a statement, without further details on the date or the number of deportees expected. It described the arrangement as a “temporary” one that reflects Congo’s “commitment to human dignity and international solidarity.” It would come with zero costs to the government with the U.S. covering the…
By Africanews with AP Persecuted for being gay and disowned by his family, Assane (not his real name) left Senegal seven months ago for France. As Senegal was tightening anti-homosexuality laws, the pressure and stigma from his own family also became unbearable. Now he’s seeking asylum in France. “It’s been at most six or seven months since I left my country because of my sexual orientation, which my father had found out about,” said Assane. Senegal has enacted legislation doubling the maximum penalty for same-sex relations, making them punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The new law additionally…
By Rédaction Africanews Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met in Damascus Sunday for a high‑level, three‑way meeting. They were welcomed at the Presidential Palace by Syrian President Ahmed al‑Sharaa. According to Turkey’s state‑run Anadolu Agency, the talks will focus on joint projects to rebuild Syria, and on key regional issues, including efforts to bring northeast Syria more fully under the control of the central government, and the impact of nearby conflicts in Iran and Lebanon. In a post on X, Zelenskyy said he and President al‑Sharaa discussed both the wars in the Middle East and…
Christians in Nigeria’s central city of Jos celebrated Easter Sunday Mass under a pall of fear following a shooting that killed around 30 people a week ago. A large, imposing church situated metres from the site of the Palm Sunday attack was less than half full, as worshippers gathered to mark Easter, the most important festival on the Christian calendar. With the city still under a curfew between 3:00 pm and 7:00 am, streets were largely deserted. There was just one police checkpoint along the road where the church is located, in the Anguwan Rukuba district. The military said it…
By Rédaction Africanews and Euronews Catholic faithful around the world gathered on Easter Sunday to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and to share a message of hope. In his first Easter blessing at St. Peter’s Square, Pope Leo XIV delivered a powerful appeal for peace, urging world leaders to choose dialogue over force. “May those with the power to start wars choose peace—not a peace imposed by force, but a peace built through dialogue; not to dominate others, but to meet them,” he said. Addressing over 50,000 worshippers, the pontiff also cautioned against a “globalization of indifference,” echoing the…
Martha Ongwane looks adoringly at her bouncy, giggling four-year-old, unable to believe that just two years ago she had wanted to kill her. Non-verbal, biting and unable to sit still, her daughter Rachael, who had been diagnosed with autism, had slowly overwhelmed Martha leaving her desperate and depressed. She was shunned by her neighbours in the east African country of Malawi, who blamed her for what Rachael was doing. Martha was told to lock her little girl inside. There was no sympathy, and little understanding of autism and how it should be treated. Martha describes how she had poured poison…
By Rédaction Africanews Palestinian Orthodox Christians gathered at the Greek Orthodox church, St. Porphyrios in Gaza City for a Palm Sunday service. It is the first since a fragile ceasefire was reached in October. “On this day, we ask for peace and love. Our numbers are dwindling this year because of our brothers who were martyred in the church bombing and those who have emigrated in search of a dignified life,” Ehab Ayyad, from Gaza City, said. Worshippers lit candles inside the church in silence and reverence, and the choir members sang during the Palm Sunday service. Gaza’s tiny Palestinian…