Author: Montage Africa
By Africanews with AP When 33-year-old Brazilian woman Emily de Souza heard about a program allowing her to shave off four days from her prison sentence by reading a book, she seized the opportunity to reconnect with a cherished habit. Like tens of thousands of detainees across the country — including former President Jair Bolsonaro — she signed up for a sentence reduction program that encourages inmates to immerse themselves in literary works in exchange for reducing their sentences by up to 48 days per year. The possibility of reuniting earlier with her 9-year-old autistic son, who her mother and…
By Africanews Cameroon’s parliament on Saturday approved a bill creating the position of a vice president despite protests by the opposition. 200 lawmakers voted in favor of the text, while 18 rejected it. Four votes were declared invalid. Debate on the constitutional amendment had only started on Thursday in the capital Yaounde. Veteran opposition leader Maurice Kamto had called the bill an attempt at a power grab in an address on Friday. According to the text, the vice president would take over in the event of the president’s death, resignation or incapacity with no obligation to hold elections. President Paul…
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…
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…