Belarusian President Lukashenko claims Russia’s mutinous mercenary lord is still holed up in Russia
President Lukashenko said Prigozhin had his liberty but that journalists were naive if they thought Russian security services were not keeping a very close eye on him. Asked about earlier comments suggesting Putin had wanted to “wipe out” Prigozhin as the mutiny unfolded, Lukashenko said some in the Kremlin had wanted this, but that it would have tipped Russia into civil war.
Chinese mining company opens a giant lithium – used in electric car batteries – plant in Zimbabwe
Lithium is a key component for electric vehicle batteries. To cash in on demand, Zimbabwe last year banned the export of raw lithium ore. In doing so, it joined countries like Indonesia and Chile that are trying to maximise their return on deposits of lithium, cobalt and nickel by requiring miners to invest locally in refining and processing before they can export.
Johannesburg hosts 19th African edition of NBA and FIBA’s Basketball Without Borders camp
BWB Africa 2023 will bring together 40 boys and 40 girls from more than 25 African countries to learn directly from current and former NBA, WNBA and FIBA players, legends and coaches and compete alongside their peers from across the continent. The campers and coaches, who will be announced prior to the camp, will also take part in life skills and leadership development, and NBA Cares programming.
Donors in plan to build Libya’s food resilience against a backdrop of scarcity, political upheavals
The African Development Bank has rolled out a $1.5 billion African Emergency Food Production Facility to boost food security and nutrition. Launched in May last year, the facility is helping Africa mitigate rising food prices and inflation, worsened by climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic, and Russia’s war in Ukraine. The bank also co-organised a food summit in January in Dakar, Senegal, which produced food compacts for African countries.
Russia launches night cruise missile attack on Ukraine’s Lviv city, kills at least four people
Ukraine’s airforce reported it intercepted seven of the 10 Kalibr cruise missiles that Russia fired from Black Sea toward the Lviv region and its namesake city – more than 800 kilometres (500 miles) away — around 1 am on Thursday. The Kremlin’s forces have repeatedly hit civilian areas during the war, although Russian officials say they choose only targets of military value.
Sexual exploitation and abuse still rife in the strife-torn DR Congo despite UN intervention
UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence Pramila Patten says from April 17 to 30 this year Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams treated 674 victims of sexual violence in six IDP (internally displaced persons) sites in North Kivu. In the first quarter of 2023, MONUSCO documented 187 cases in North and South Kivu, Ituri and Maniema. Last year UNICEF reported more than 38,000 cases of gender-based sexual violence in North Kivu.
Germany partners with ADB in nearly $11m Nepad infrastructure development plan in Africa
N’Sele says: As economies in Africa navigate new challenges in the face of overlapping global crises, the support of partners such as Germany will enable the African Development Bank to deliver on its important development mission.
Covid truth: Court censures American academia for being compromised to censor Americans
Independent journalist Paul D. Thacker, who released several instalments of the “Twitter Files,” told The Defender the ruling also has implications for the collusion of academic institutions with the federal government and social media platforms under the guise of combating “misinformation” and “disinformation.”
Judge likens Biden regime to dystopian ‘Ministry of Truth’ that spreads lies, orders White House to stop censoring social media
Judge Terry Doughty: “During the Covid-19 pandemic, a period perhaps best characterised by widespread doubt and uncertainty, the United States government seems to have assumed a role similar to an Orwellian ‘Ministry of Truth.’”
