Somalia

The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said on Tuesday night that it "condemned" what it describes as the "abduction" of the chief of staff to a senior politician in the capital Tripoli. The kidnapping is the latest in a series of incidents that have called into question the war - torn country's progress towards planned free and fair national polls in December, including a new collapse of talks on an election format. UNSMIL said in a statement on Twitter that it was "deeply concerned about the…

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced on Tuesday that all eligible civilians would join the armed forces as fighting raged in several regions of Africa's second most populous nation. "Now is the time for all talented Ethiopians who are of age to join the armed forces, special forces and militias and show your patriotism," the Abiy office said in a statement released less than two months after declaring a unilateral ceasefire. against Tigray rebels. Northern Ethiopia has been devastated by…

Putschist General Khalifa Haftar's so-called Libyan National Army (LNA) will not be subordinate to the current Libyan government, the warlord said on Monday. In a speech marking the 81st anniversary of the founding of the Libyan army, Haftar emphasized that his militia "will not be subject to any authority other than an authority that will be directly elected by the people." Haftar, who is based in the eastern city of Benghazi, added that his militia would resist any pressure sent in its direction and…

A massive Chinese-funded dam in Cambodia has "washed away the livelihood" of tens of thousands of villagers while not promising energy production, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday. The 400 megawatt lower Sesan II dam in the north-east of the kingdom has caused controversy since long before its launch in December 2018. Fisheries experts had warned to stem the confluence of the Sesan and Srepok rivers - two major tributaries to the resource-rich Mekong River - that would threaten fish stocks for…

An explosion has temporarily put South Africa's largest coal-fired power plant out of operation, just a week after it came online. The state power plant Eskom announced that an explosion occurred at Medupi power station late on Sunday evening for reasons that are still unknown. Although there were reportedly no injuries, a total of seven employees had to be treated for shock. The power plant came online just a week ago, about 14 years after construction began, the delay due to several costs and time…

South Africa's imprisoned former president Jacob Zuma has been admitted to hospital for observation near the Estcourt Correctional Center, where he is currently serving a 15-month sentence, the government announced on Friday. Zuma is in jail for defying an ordinance court order to testify at a state-sponsored investigation into allegations of corruption during his 2009-2018 presidency. A routine check indicated that Zuma would be admitted to a hospital, according to the prison service's statement.…

Pygmies, known for how unusually small they are, have maintained their way of life and continue to hunt in the rainforests of Central and West Africa as they have done for the past 5,000 years. Europeans referred to the local tribes as "pygmies" - a word meaning "dwarf" in Greek with a mythological reference - because humans had an average height of 120 centimeters (3.9 feet). There are currently about 120,000 pygmies in the world, most of them living in Cameroon's forest area near the Atlantic Ocean.…

The Tunisian president on Monday issued presidential orders to dismiss and replace two more ministers, a week after the government was fired. According to a presidential statement, Ali al-Kaali, Minister of Economy, Finance and Investment Support, dismissed the order, appointing Siham al-Boughdiri as his successor. Mohamed el-Fadil Karim, Minister of Communications and also Acting Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources, was also relieved of his duties and replaced by Nizar Bennaji.…

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a telephone conversation with his Tunisian counterpart, Kais Saied, late Monday, stressing the importance of democracy and the protection of freedoms in the midst of a coup that is seen as a coup. According to a statement from the Communications Directorate, Erdoğan emphasized that Tunisia's stability and peace were "very important to the region" and that Turkey was closely following developments in the North African country. Erdoğan added that the Turkish government…

About 394 migrants were rescued from a dangerously cramped wooden boat in the Mediterranean overnight by two humanitarian rescue ships on Sunday, in an operation that lasted about six hours, a Reuters witness said. The German and French NGOs (NGOs) send Sea-Watch 3 and Ocean Viking rescued migrants in Tunisian waters 68 km (42 miles) off the North African coast, near oil facilities and other ships. Sea-Watch 3, which took command of the operation, took 141 of the survivors while Ocean Viking took the…