UN peacekeepers in Kivu, eastern DR Congo, hand base to government as M23 rebels ramp up attacks

UN peacekeepers in Kivu, eastern DR Congo, hand base to government as M23 rebels ramp up attacks

Kamanyola was staffed mainly by Pakistani military personnel in its 19 operational years with Keita thanking them for their dedication and excellent service. Pakistan is the second largest MONUSCO TCC behind India. Speaking at the Kamanyola handover, Keita noted the MONUSCO withdrawal from South Kivu was “not synonymous with the UN leaving the DRC”. She termed it “a reconfiguration” of the UN presence.

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Rwanda-backed M23 rebels kill 10, run Congolese army out of Nyanzale town in eastern DRC

Rwanda-backed M23 rebels kill 10, run Congolese army out of Nyanzale town in eastern DRC

M23 controls about half of the North Kivu province, according to Richard Moncrieff, the Crisis Group’s Great Lakes Region director. The violence in the province has worsened in recent weeks as security forces battle the rebels. Residents have said the group’s fighter mostly launch attacks with bombs out of hills overlooking remote towns.

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Drink-and-Drive: How Kenya’s ex-president signed away standard gauge railway deal with China without reading it

Drink-and-Drive: How Kenya’s ex-president signed away standard gauge railway deal with China without reading it

The SGR contract left no room for rescheduling of the loan of approximately Ksh400 billion ($3.8 billion). The government, it now emerges, had to sit down with unwilling Chinese government to insert a clause in the agreement that now allows for rescheduling of repayment or renegotiating the loan without ceding sovereignty.

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Kenyan opposition politician vows fresh challenge to Haiti police deployment

Kenyan opposition politician vows fresh challenge to Haiti police deployment

Ekuru Aukot said the agreement between President William Ruto and Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry was invalid and failed to address objections by the judge who blocked the deployment in January following a lawsuit by Aukot’s party.

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Uganda’s lords of poverty: Where political elite find thrill in poverty for it earns them fat paycheques

Uganda’s lords of poverty: Where political elite find thrill in poverty for it earns them fat paycheques

Uganda has the largest percentage of the world’s freshwater resources, which are unfortunately being degraded by leaking chemicals and oil in them. Her freshwaters are naturally productive, but their productivity is in danger of plummeting due to unwise policies and use of the land and natural resources such as oil.

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Haiti PM whereabouts fuzzy as he’s denied landing in Dominica, gangsters lord ‘orders’ him to stay away after visit to Kenya

Haiti PM whereabouts fuzzy as he’s denied landing in Dominica, gangsters lord ‘orders’ him to stay away after visit to Kenya

Puerto Rico’s governor’s office confirmed Henry had landed in capital San Juan after reports from local media said the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, had earlier disallowed his plane to land.

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South Sudanese scholars charged in US with planning to illegally export arms to Juba to overthrow government

South Sudanese scholars charged in US with planning to illegally export arms to Juba to overthrow government

A federal criminal complaint unsealed on Monday in Arizona charges Ajak and Abraham Chol Keech, 44, of Utah, with conspiring to purchase and illegally export through a third country to South Sudan a cache of weapons in violation of the Arms Export Control Act and the Export Control Reform Act. The weapons that were considered included automatic rifles like AK-47s, grenade launchers, Stinger missile systems, hand grenades, sniper rifles, ammunition and other export-controlled arms.

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M23 rebels acquire advanced surface-to-air missiles in push to prise Kivu region from Congo

M23 rebels acquire advanced surface-to-air missiles in push to prise Kivu region from Congo

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has set up a regional mission and force known as SAMIDRC for, at this stage, a year-long deployment to the eastern DRC in the wake of an East African Community (EAC) regional force withdrawal. The United Nations (UN) mission in DRC – MONUSCO – has started withdrawing and is set to exit the troubled central African country by year-end.

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Top UN official calls for greater political investment in South Sudan ahead of elections set for December

Top UN official calls for greater political investment in South Sudan ahead of elections set for December

With both IGAD and the AU having expressed support for the elections the UN “will, therefore, offer as much support as possible in line with its mandate,” he said, stressing the importance of having the requisite architecture to ensure that polls are peaceful and credible.

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Student pilot and trainer killed in air collision with passenger aircraft over Kenya’s capital

Student pilot and trainer killed in air collision with passenger aircraft over Kenya’s capital

The 39 passengers and five crew members were all unharmed, the airline said. The aircraft, bound for Diani on Kenya’s coast, had “experienced a loud bang soon after take-off”, it said.

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