Across Africa in five minutes or less

 GHANA

A Sunyani-based human rights media advocacy and entrepreneurial training organization, Global Media Foundation (GLOMeF), has said that historical observations on temperature and precipitation as well as recent extreme weather events in Ghana indicate that climate change is happening faster than previously thought, and that the women, men and children of Ghana will continue to experience the impacts of dramatic climate change in the future.

GAMBIA

Gambia’s track queen Gina Bass, aka the “poor Olympian”, is one of four athletes all set for this year’s Tokyo Olympic Games as she aims to win a medal for the Gambia in the 200 metres.

It’s been a hard road to the Olympic games, but of late, Bass has had a series of successes despite other challenges.

CAPE VERDE

 The President of Cabo Verde, Jorge Carlos Fonseca, expressed this Sunday, in Angola’s coastal Province of Benguela, his country’s willingness to optimize bilateral relations with Angola, through strategic partnerships.

“The Cabo Verdean company has licences to fly to the United States and through this partnership, Angola Airlines (TAAG) could take advantage of this route,” he said, making an assessment of his visit of a few hours to Benguela Province, where was received by Governor Luís Nunes da Fonseca.

LIBERIA

ut by 3:51 pm on that day, a distress call came to the Liberia Authority from the Coast Guard and other marine related institutions that the vessel was sinking. By that, the ‘black deal’ which was once a secret, became exposed. Its Swedish captain, only identified as Jack, along with Chinese national Chen Feing Gui on the technical side, could not do much, but to struggle for survival. Nine persons on the crew list and nine personnel of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) Monrovia Office were onboard as passengers.

SIERRA LEONE

The National Authorizing Office, Sierra Leone Roads Authority, the Contractor CSE Company and Politecnica have officially launched the 163 metre length steel beam which is the first phase of a total of 231 metre steel beam on the Mabang Bridge over the Ribbi River along the Songo-Moyamba road that leads to southern part of Sierra Leone. The launching took place in the esteem presence of the Director of the National Authorizing Office [NAO] Ambrose James.

MALI

Attacks against so-called slaves in Mali are on the rise and authorities must do more to prevent them, two independent UN human rights experts said on Monday.

Although Mali outlawed slavery in 1905, a system of “descent-based slavery” persists, where some people are considered slaves because their ancestors were allegedly enslaved by the families of so-called masters.

MOROCCO

Nearly 800 people have been detained at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay since it opened in 2002. Today that number is down to 39 – this after the Biden administration transferred one detainee to Morocco. This is the first time a Guantanamo prisoner has been released since President Biden took office, and it signals a renewed effort to shrink Guantanamo’s population, maybe to close the prison entirely.

EGYPT

Egyptian veteran diplomat and director of Bibliotheca Alexandria pointed the finger at Israel on Tuesday over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) crisis.

Feki said, “Egypt will not return to negotiations in their current form,” stressing “the importance of the African Union’s demand from Ethiopia to stop unilateral measures and negotiate within a period of time ranging from six months to a year.”

MALAWI

Malawi has lost close to US$3.1 trillion through illicit financial flows over the past six decades, with the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) featuring among the institutions involved in diverting taxpayers’ money into personal accounts, Nyasa Times has gathered.

COMOROS

President Joe Biden nominated a University of California, Santa Cruz graduate to serve as ambassador to Madagascar and the Comoros, pending Senate confirmation.

ERITREA

The United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution Tuesday calling for the swift pullout of Eritrean troops from Ethiopia’s embattled northern Tigray region.

The council said Eritrean troops were “exacerbating the conflict” that continued Tuesday with the TPLF’s capture of Alamata, the main town in southern Tigray, according to AFP.

MADAGASCAR

It’s hard for many of us to imagine that horror. But it is happening tragically in Southern Madagascar.

Climate change has led to severe and repeated drought in the island nation off the coast of Africa. The World Food Program’s (WFP) Shelley Thakral reports how where there was once rushing water, there is now dry and cracked earth. If you look below a bridge built to pass over water, you see nothing but dry ground.

MOZAMBIQUE

The European Union announced a new military mission to Mozambique on July 12. The menace of radical Islamic terrorism has afflicted the country for several years, but worsened in 2021, prompting Mozambique’s government to call for an EU presence in the country. Mozambique joins the list of African countries that have welcomed European troops.

SOUTH AFRICA

The Pietermaritzburg High Court on Monday heard just under four hours of argument on whether a postponement was necessary so that former president Jacob Zuma could be physically present in court to give evidence during his special plea application in the arms deal corruption case, in which he is being tried alongside French arms manufacturer Thales.

NAMIBIA

Despite the economic fallout caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development said it has achieved its goal of delivering 200 residential units.

“I want to reiterate that the need for improved coordination and a collaborative approach has become even more important in the face of obvious increased challenges of low economic growth and reduced fiscal space, which have been worsened by the huge negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Today, I am pleased to inform this gathering that we have achieved our goal of delivering 200 houses in phase one,” he said.

ZIMBABWE

In order to curtail new Covid-19 infections and deaths, Government has, with immediate effect, ordered all civil servants to be vaccinated, while unvaccinated workers have been banned from boarding buses provided by the employer.

“All heads of ministries are, therefore, directed to ensure that all civil servants under their jurisdiction are vaccinated.

 

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