South African police end mine rescue operation with at least 78 dead and 246 survivors
Authorities launched the rescue effort on Monday in response to a court order last week ordering them to do so. A specialist mining rescue company had been dropping a small cage thousands of meters down a shaft to retrieve survivors and bodies. But no personnel from the company went down because they considered it too dangerous – instead two community volunteers were in the cage to help the miners out.
Trade unions in South Africa accuse state of ‘horrific’ crackdown as 78 corpses pulled from illegal mine
Mametlwe Sebei, a trade union leader who has been trying to help the miners, said police had begun attempting to force the miners up to the surface in August by removing a pulley system used to deliver food and water supplies to them. Sebei said some miners had died crawling through flooded tunnels in an attempt to reach shafts that would have allowed them to climb out.
China’s credit cuts to Kenya forces the East African nation to turn to UAE for railway financing
Trade between Kenya and the UAE has more than doubled over the last decade, Ruto’s office said. The UAE is the sixth biggest export market for Kenyan goods, and its second biggest source of imports. The value of the trade stood at Ksh445 billion ($3.44 billion) in 2023, with the UAE buying agricultural products, while Kenya imports petroleum products, machinery and chemicals.
UN says 21,000 child soldiers are fighting in Africa’s multiple civil wars with girls most vulnerable conscripts
The economic impact of using child soldiers significantly hampers national development. Missing out on schooling results in lost human capital and reduced productivity, contributing to long-term economic stagnation, decreased workforce participation, higher poverty rates and reduced foreign investment due to ongoing instability.
Defiant Mozambique opposition leader returns from self-imposed exile, maintains he won presidency
Venancio Mondlane left the country in October following an election clouded by allegations of rigging against the long-ruling Frelimo party, which has been in power since Mozambique gained independence from Portugal in 1975.
‘Disorganised and intoxicated by alcohol and drugs’ insurgents shot dead in Chad’s presidential palace
In an interview with state TV, Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah praised the vigilance of the palace guards, describing the attackers as disorganised and intoxicated by alcohol and drugs.
US says Sudan rebel force has committed genocide, imposes sanctions on its generals
The sanctions announced by the US include several businesses based in the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula, including one handling gold likely smuggled out of Sudan.
Slaughtered by Islamist extremists or Russian mercenaries, Burkina Faso’s 2.5 million displaced people are further abandoned by UN
For decades, the Fulani were neglected by the central government, and some did join Islamist fighters. As a result, Fulani civilians are often targeted both by the extremists – affiliated with al-Qaida or the Islamic State group – and by rival pro-government forces.
More than 170 armed-robbery convicts to be executed as crime skyrockets in Congo
Congo abolished the death sentence in 1981, but it was reinstated in 2006. The last execution took place in 2003.
As president, Jimmy Carter once regretted ‘our country ignored Africa’ and went on to become first US leader visit the continent
Cold War tensions drew Carter’s attention to the continent as the US and Soviet Union competed for influence. But Carter also drew on the missionary traditions of his Baptist faith and the racial injustice he witnessed in his homeland in the US South.
