Wife of Uganda’s Opposition Leader Describes Moment Armed Men Attacked Her at Home
Barbara Kyagulanyi, [the wife of Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine], told reporters gathered around her hospital bed that she did not cooperate with the dozens of men in military uniform who broke into her home on Friday night. … Kyagulanyi recorded the intruders on her phone. The video, posted on X, shocked many Ugandans. … Kyagulanyi says two men held her while the rest searched the house. One asked her to unlock her phone. When she refused, he lifted her off the floor and she kicked him, at which point the second man grabbed her, ripping off her pajama top and the buttons. … Later, Kyagulanyi said, a gunman pulled her by the hair and banged her head against a pillar. Four men forced her down and sat on her. She said she passed out and was taken to the hospital at 1 a.m. … Kyagulanyi said she has no doubts that Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba — the army chief since 2024 and the president’s son — was responsible for the raid, following his repeated threats against her husband on X. AP
Uganda Expels Three French Journalists
Last week, journalist Bastien Renouil, the East Africa correspondent for France 24, and two others from Radio France Internationale (RFI), were expelled despite having entered Uganda with the documentation required to carry out their work. One of the other two journalists working for RFI was denied entry at the border, while the other, initially allowed into the country, was later escorted onto a return flight. Mr Renouil, who arrived on January 17, the day President Museveni was declared winner of the presidential election held two days earlier, was denied the opportunity to report. … After briefly returning to their hotel to book air tickets, the journalists retrieved their passports from immigration officials and were escorted to Entebbe Airport, and departed on January 20. Human rights defender Dr Livingstone Ssewanyana condemned the deportations, saying : “We should condemn actions that limit media space, particularly deportations. They speak volumes about our democratic credentials. We are part of the global village, and international partners require information that international journalists help to provide.” Monitor
US Military Working With Nigeria as Part of Wider Islamic State Pivot
The US military is increasing materiel deliveries and intelligence sharing with Nigeria, Africom’s deputy commander told AFP, as part of a broader American push to work with African militaries to go after Islamic State-linked militants. The Pentagon has also kept open lines of communication with militaries in the junta-led Sahel countries of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, Lieutenant General John Brennan said. … He also said that following the US strikes in northwestern Sokoto state, American support going forward would focus on intelligence sharing to aid Nigerian air strikes there, as well as the northeast, where a jihadist insurgency by Boko Haram and rival breakaway ISWAP has raged since 2009. Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) is “our most concerning group”, he said. … In the Sahel more widely, Brennan said “we still collaborate” with the junta-led governments in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, which have broken away from their west African neighbours and largely shunned the West. … “We have actually shared information with some of them to attack key terrorist targets,” he said. “We still talk to our military partners across the Sahelian states, even though it’s not official.” AFP
Nigeria Turns Illegal Loggers, Poachers Into Park Rangers
Poverty — and a weak state unable or unwilling to enforce regulations — has made illegal hunting and logging in protected areas an attractive way to make money. That puts places like Okomu, a tropical forest in [Nigeria’s] southwest — and the endangered buffalo, forest elephants and white-bellied pangolins that live in it — increasingly at risk. By recruiting former poachers and loggers, Africa Nature Investors (ANI), an NGO charged by Nigeria’s national parks service with managing Okomu, hopes to ease the economic pressures that eat away at Nigeria’s nature reserves. … “The first thing we did was to recruit rangers from the local communities,” said Tunde Morakinyo, founder of ANI, noting the “serious unemployment” in the area. … “People are driven into logging and poaching through poverty,” he added. “If you take away these livelihoods, you must replace them with alternative livelihoods.” … ANI has set up microfinance programmes, in partnership with the microcredit company Roshan Renewables, in several villages on the edge of the park to combat unemployment and poverty. … An ideal future for Morakinyo would be to develop ecotourism — sorely lacking in Nigeria, despite its rich wildlife — and possibly generate funds from carbon credits. AFP
Egypt and Saudi Arabia Pressure Libya’s Haftar to Stop UAE Supplies to Sudan’s RSF
Egypt and Saudi Arabia have stepped up pressure on Khalifa Haftar over the eastern Libya commander’s role in facilitating Emirati military support to Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), warning that continued assistance could trigger a serious shift in Cairo’s relationship with him. The pressure forms part of a broader Egyptian-Saudi effort to block flows of arms, fuel and fighters to the RSF, curb the UAE influence across the region and prevent further destabilisation along the sensitive Egypt–Libya–Sudan border triangle. … Though Haftar’s authorities in eastern Libya have long been supported by Egypt, he is also backed by the UAE, which is the RSF’s main patron and has been funnelling weapons, mercenaries and funds to the paramilitaries via Libya, Chad and Ethiopia. As revealed in a recent report, supply lines via Libya that the RSF established by seizing border areas in June directly contributed to the group’s ability to take el-Fasher, after besieging it for more than 550 days. Middle East Eye
Libya Signs 25-Year Oil Deal With TotalEnergies and ConocoPhillips
Libya signed a 25-year oil development agreement on Saturday with France’s TotalEnergies and U.S.-based ConocoPhillips, involving more than $20 billion in foreign-financed investment, Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah said. Signed through Waha Oil Company, the deal is aimed at boosting production capacity by up to 850,000 barrels per day (bpd) and is expected to generate net revenues of more than $376 billion, Dbeibah said in a post on X. A Waha source said the company’s daily output typically ranges between 340,000 and 400,000 bpd under normal operations. Waha, a subsidiary of Libya’s state-run National Oil Corporation, operates five main oil and gas fields as well as several producing subfields, connected by pipeline networks that transport crude to the Sidra oil terminal and gas to processing facilities. The government also signed a memorandum of understanding with U.S. oil major Chevron and a cooperation agreement with Egypt’s oil ministry during the Libya Energy and Economy Summit being held in Tripoli. … Foreign investors have been wary of putting money into Libya, which has been in a state of chaos since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Disputes between armed rival factions over oil revenues have often led to oilfield shutdowns. Reuters
“Spare No Lives”: UN Warns South Sudan at Risk of Mass Killings
A United Nations human rights commission warned on Sunday that inflammatory rhetoric by senior South Sudanese military figures and fresh troop mobilisation risk triggering mass atrocities, ethnic violence and further undermining the country’s fragile peace deal. The UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan said recent public statements by commanders encouraging violence against civilians, combined with military deployments in Jonglei State, marked a “dangerous escalation” at a time when the peace process is already severely weakened. The warning follows remarks by a senior military official who instructed troops deployed to front lines in northern Jonglei to “spare no lives,” including the elderly. General Johnson Olony, assistant chief of defence forces for mobilisation and disarmament and commander of the Agwelek militia, made the comments while addressing fighters in Duk County. Radio Tamazuj
Mali’s Government Moves to Impose Fuel Rationing as Militant Attacks Cut Off Supplies
Mali’s government has moved to impose fuel rationing to counter widespread shortages caused by [militant] groups operating in the border regions that have in recent months cut off fuel supplies to the landlocked African country. In announcing the rationing on Thursday, officials did not say when it would start. The measure was cast as an effort to reduce long lines at gas stations, especially with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan only a few weeks away. … Since September, militants in Mali have increasingly attacked fuel trucks — more than a hundred trucks have been burned in the violence, which has crippled fuel imports and distribution. … The new measures will include registering vehicle plates and wait periods for cars and vehicles to refuel. Cars will be allowed to tank up every 72 hours and motorcycles every 48 hours. … But many residents — especially taxi drivers — expressed concerns that the fuel limits would impact their daily lives. … Experts say the junta’s move was likely spurred by concerns about popular discontent over prolonged fuel shortage. AP
Seychelles Urges SADC to Boost Fight Against Maritime Crime
Seychelles has called on fellow Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states to take greater collective responsibility in combating maritime crimes that continue to threaten regional security, trade and coastal livelihoods in the Indian Ocean. Foreign Minister Barry Faure issued the appeal during a meeting with SADC Executive Secretary Elias Magosi in Victoria, warning that the region must accelerate work on the SADC Maritime Corridor Strategy to confront piracy, trafficking and other transnational threats. Maritime crime has surged across the western Indian Ocean in recent years, driven by illegal fishing, drug trafficking, human smuggling and sporadic piracy incidents that have re‑emerged along key shipping routes. … Analysts say these threats undermine regional commerce, strain naval resources and expose coastal communities to organised criminal networks. Faure stressed that the Maritime Corridor Strategy is essential not only for security but also for advancing regional economic integration, given the central role of sea routes in SADC’s trade flows. APA
Floods Push Crocodiles into Mozambican Towns as Health Concerns Rise
As floods ravage Mozambique, crocodiles are appearing in submerged towns and responsible for at least three deaths. In the town of Xai-Xai, the provincial capital of Gaza province and one of the worst-affected areas in the country’s south, authorities have warned residents of heightened crocodile risks as floodwaters spread and evacuations to higher ground continue. Torrential rains and severe flooding across parts of southern Africa over the past month have killed more than 100 people in Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe, destroying thousands of homes and damaging infrastructure such as roads, bridges, schools and health facilities. … Authorities said in Maputo that the crocodiles appeared to have been driven into the area by floodwaters from a park in neighboring South Africa. … Beyond the immediate danger posed by wildlife, the floods have triggered a deepening humanitarian crisis. Weeks of heavy rainfall, compounded by dam releases to prevent structural failure, have affected more than 700,000 people, more than half of them children, leaving a trail of destruction across vast farmland, according to humanitarian bodies such as the World Food Program and UNICEF. AP
SADC Team Joins Mozambique Flood Rescue Effort
A regional emergency team has arrived in Mozambique to help deal with the aftermath of severe flooding. The Southern African Development Community, or SADC, has sent a specialist unit to support local authorities, after more than 650,000 people were affected by weeks of heavy rain. The team, which landed in the country on Saturday, includes experts in logistics, search and rescue, public health, communications, and civil–military coordination. They’ve been integrated into Mozambique’s national humanitarian system to reinforce ongoing rescue and recovery efforts. The floods have damaged key roads, schools, health centres and other critical infrastructure. Gaza Province is currently the worst hit, with nearly 392,000 people affected and four deaths reported. Africanews
One Rescued, 50 Feared Drowned After Migrant Boat Sinks off Tunisia
A migrant has been rescued and 50 others are feared drowned after a boat sank in the Mediterranean, officials said on Sunday. The man had been in the sea for 24 hours and said he believed everyone else on the vessel had died, according to the Alarm Phone group which runs an emergency hotline for migrants. The boat had come from Tunisia, it added, a common departure point for migrants risking the dangerous journey to reach Europe. The man was rescued by a merchant ship off Tunisia and brought to Malta for medical treatment, Malta’s armed forces said. They and Alarm Phone did not say when the man was rescued. Reuters