Militia Aligned with Sudanese Army Accused of Executing Men in Khartoum
Relatives and rights groups have accused fighters from an Islamist paramilitary force aligned with the Sudanese army of executing dozens of young men on suspicion of cooperating with the Rapid Support Forces in the Khartoum area. The alleged killings occurred in September after fighters crossed a bridge over the Nile River into the city of Khartoum North from neighbouring Omdurman after weeks of trying. According to local people, fighters from the Al-Bara’ ibn Malik brigade arrested the men in the Halfaya neighbourhood. They said some of the men were killed immediately, while others were taken into custody at the Surkab military base in Omdurman…The Al-Bara’ ibn Malik brigade has been involved in the Sudanese civil war since it began. It is led by young Islamist men who were part of the Islamic movement that ruled the country for 30 years under the former president Omar al-Bashir. The Guardian
Blinken Announces Aid for Sudan and Talks about AI Risks at UN Security Council
Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced $200 million in humanitarian aid for conflict-torn Sudan during what was likely his final trip to the United Nations while in office…Blinken led Security Council sessions on artificial intelligence and Sudan, where conflict has sparked a dire humanitarian crisis that aid agencies say has not received enough attention. The money announced by Blinken will go toward food, shelter and health care for the people of Sudan. He also said the State Department will work with Congress to provide an additional $30 million to elevate civilian voices to help with the transition back to democratic governance…The roughly $230 million in assistance announced Thursday brings total U.S. support to over $2.3 billion since the fighting erupted. AP
Congo Replaces Top Military Chief and Other Senior Officers as Fighting in Its East Rages On
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi has replaced the armed forces chief and several other top military officers in a major reshuffle amid the ongoing fight against rebels in the country’s eastern region, state media announced late Thursday. The Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, Gen. Christian Tshiwewe, who has been in office since October 2022 during the last major shake-up, was replaced by Lt. Gen. Jules Banza Mwilambwe…The state television report did not give reasons for the military reshuffle. Other key figures affected included Maj. Gen. Christian Ndaywel, who was the chief of military intelligence and among those involved in the peace talks with Rwanda. AP
Libya PM Warns of ‘Battlefield’ amid Reported Russia Weapons Transfers
Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah worries the country could become a “battlefield”, following reports of Russian weapon transfers from Syria after Bashar al-Assad’s fall…In recent days, reports indicated that Russian forces were transferring military equipment from Syria’s Tartus naval base and Khmeimim air base to eastern Libya, where the [eastern] administration has received Russian support for years…Russia’s Tartus naval base and the Khmeimim air base have been key to the Kremlin’s activities in Africa and the Middle East. But with the fall of Assad this month, their fate became unclear. Haftar, with the support of Russia, launched in 2019 an unsuccessful offensive to seize Tripoli. Since then, Moscow has maintained close relations with the eastern administration. AFP
Libya’s Warring Factions Agree to Form Unity Government to End Deadlock
Libya’s warring factions … held talks in Bouznika, near the Moroccan capital Rabat agreeing to work together with a United Nations mission to pave the way for elections to end years of political deadlock. The talks involved the High Council of State based in Tripoli in the west and the House of Representatives in the [east]. The two factions also agreed to form a national unity government as well as launch institutional, financial and security reform. The U.N. deputy special envoy for Libya, Stephanie Koury, told the U.N. Security Council that as a first step, the U.N. political mission in Libya known as UNSMIL intends to establish an advisory committee, with a deadline to develop options to resolve outstanding electoral issues and a road map for holding an election. Koury stressed that the committee isn’t “a dialogue group to take decisions,” but to generate options for follow-on action by Libyan decision-makers. Africanews
Embattled Liberian Speaker Questioned by Police over Parliament Fire
The embattled speaker of Liberia’s House of Representatives has been questioned by the police after a huge fire at the West African nation’s legislature. Residents of the capital Monrovia woke up on Wednesday morning to see thick black smoke and flames rising from the Capitol building. The flames destroyed the entire joint chambers of the legislature, but no-one was in the building at the time. Four individuals, including Speaker Jonathan Fonati Koffa and Representative Frank Saah Foko, have been brought in for questioning, Liberia’s police chief Gregory Colman said. The fire occurred a day after plans to remove Koffa from his speaker role sparked a tense protest. Several demonstrators, including an aide to former President George Weah, were arrested during Tuesday’s protest…Liberia’s House of Representatives has been beset by a power struggle, in which a faction of lawmakers claims to have removed and replaced Speaker Koffa. Another group has resisted the action, calling it unconstitutional. A Supreme Court ruling has failed to solve the internal dispute. BBC
Journalists’ Watchdog Demands Release of South Sudan Editor
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on South Sudan’s authorities to reveal the whereabouts of Emmanuel Monychol Akop, the editor-in-chief of the privately owned The Dawn newspaper. CPJ said in a press release on Thursday that Akop had been detained since November 28 by agents of the National Security Services (NSS)…Rights groups have documented multiple allegations of abusing detainees in the NSS headquarters, known as Blue House…In 2019, Akop was arrested after he published a Facebook post criticizing minister’s dress on a diplomatic visit. He was detained for over a month and freed in mid-December of that year. Radio Tamazuj
Again, Vandals Attack Nigeria’s Electricity Transmission Line
On Friday, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said its 330kV Shiroro-Katampe transmission line has been vandalised again. Vandalism has recently become a significant threat to Nigeria’s power infrastructure. In March, the TCN said that one of its critical infrastructures, the Shiroro-Katampe 330 Kilo Volt (kV) transmission line, was vandalised, making it the fifth incident between February and March. [On Friday, a statement by the TCN General Manager Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah], explained that a TCN lines patrol team was dispatched from the Abuja regional office of TCN to investigate the cause of the fault. “The team discovered that vandals had stolen part of the conductor between towers T216 and T218,” she said. Premium Times
Nigeria: Tragic Deaths of Children in Christmas Party Stampede Expose Harsh Poverty
A Christmas fun fair in Nigeria that was organised for children turned tragic after a stampede led to at least 35 deaths, the police said. Six others are critically injured, according to the police. The death of dozens of children at the carnival in Ibadan, south-west Nigeria, on 18 December highlights the extent of hunger and poverty bearing down on the country’s citizens, analysts and opposition politicians have said…The incident highlights the impact of Nigeria’s unprecedented cost of living crisis. Inflation has soared to a record high and citizens are battling the realities of a hugely eroded purchasing power. The organisers of the event, WINGS Foundation – a non-governmental organisation that supports women and girls – had promised to hand out N5,000 ($3.20) each to 5,000 children. The Africa Report
Rwanda and WHO Declare End of Marburg Outbreak after No New Cases Reported
The World Health Organization and the Rwandan government on Friday declared the outbreak in Rwanda of the Ebola-like Marburg fever over after no new cases were registered in recent weeks. The country first declared the outbreak on Sept. 27 and reported a total of 15 deaths and 66 cases, with the majority of those affected healthcare workers who handled the first patients. Without treatment, Marburg can be fatal in up to 88% of people who fall ill with the disease…There is no authorized vaccine or treatment for Marburg, though Rwanda received hundreds of doses of a vaccine under trial in October. An outbreak is considered over after 42 days — two 21-day incubation cycles of the virus — elapsed without registering new cases and all existing cases test negative…Like Ebola, the Marburg virus is believed to originate in fruit bats and spreads between people through close contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals or with surfaces, such as contaminated bed sheets. AP
Kenya to Review Visa-Free Policy
Kenya will review its widely criticized visa-free policy after the country plummeted in an index that measures accessibility to visitors, the Cabinet said in a statement. The government in January replaced visas with its Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) system — a mandatory online requirement that costs $30 and takes three days to process. Travellers have complained about the cost and processing delays…Tourism Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano on Wednesday said on X that a review was scheduled for Jan. 7, adding that it would aim to improve Kenya’s ranking on the Africa Visa Openness Index, by the African Development Bank, where the country fell 17 places this year to rank 46th out of 54 countries. Kenya generated around $2.7 billion dollars from tourism last year, making it one of the largest contributors to the economy. Semafor
Sewage-polluted Lake Water Kills Rhinos, Other Wildlife in Zimbabwe
Tinashe Farawo, the spokesperson for the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, confirmed to VOA the death of four rhinos after drinking bacteria-polluted water at Lake Chivero Recreational Park, about 20 kilometers west of the capital, Harare…Amkela Sidange, spokesperson for the Environmental Management Agency of Zimbabwe, said that, nationwide, about 415 megaliters of untreated sewage are being discharged into the environment daily. The “city of Harare on its own … contributes about 219 megaliters of raw and partly treated sewer that is discharged into the environment on a daily basis, and that goes to show how huge the crisis is,” she said…“We have over 150,000 informal settlements, and these informal settlements do not have sewer reticulation systems,” [Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume] said. “Therefore, their discharge is going straight into our water bodies.” VOA
Esports Are Booming in Africa – but Can Its Infrastructure Keep Pace?
Esport events are on the rise in … Africa, driven in part by increased access to the internet and devices such as smartphones, PCs and consoles…The trend is part of a growing interest in video games in general in Africa, the continent with the youngest population…In order to grow further and compete in the global billion-dollar esports industry, the African scene will need to overcome challenges around technology and finances. Underdeveloped internet infrastructure often leads to poor connectivity. And because servers for most games are hosted outside Africa, there are often delays between playing devices and servers – a problem known as “high ping” – which makes intercontinental matches and matches between players in different African countries difficult. On the financial front, player sponsorships are hard to come by and top, big-money tournaments are few and far between. The Guardian