President João Lourenço in Cabo Verde for working visit

Praia – Angolan President of the Republic João Lourenço arrived Sunday afternoon in Praia city for a two-day state visit to Cabo Verde.

João Lourenço's visit follows an invitation from his Cabo Verdean counterpart, José Maria Neves, as part of the strengthening of friendship and cooperation relations between both countries.

The visit's agenda includes activities in Praia city, Cabo Verde's capital, and Mindelo, on the island of São Vicente.

João Lourenço will also meet with his counterpart, deliver speech at a special session of the Cabo Verdean Parliament and a meeting with the Prime Minister José Ulisses Correia e Silva.

President João Lourenço will also witness the signing of bilateral cooperation agreements between the ministerial delegations of Angola and Cabo Verde.

Also in the Cabo Verdean capital, the Angolan Head of State will symbolically receive the keys of the city and place a wreath at the memorial of the outstanding fighter of the anti-colonial liberation struggle, Amilcar Cabral.

As part of the visit, still in Praia, the President of the Republic will visit the headquarters of the Amílcar Cabral Foundation.

In Mindelo (São Vicente Island), the Angolan statesman will also receive the keys of the city and, along with his Cabo Verdean counterpart, will visit some industrial infrastructure and a desalinated water production station.

Angola and Cape Verde have strong ties of cooperation and, among the agreements signed, include visa exemption, as well as others linked to the fields of education, defence, oil, diplomacy, transport, finance and administration.

The formalisation of political-diplomatic relations between Angola and Cape Verde took place on August 30, 1977.

Zelensky suggests Jerusalem host negotiations between Ukraine, Russia

JERUSALEM- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested on Saturday that negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to end the war could be held in Jerusalem.

Zelensky spoke at a special briefing for reporters from Kyiv, under heavy “We generally support mediation by anyone,” he said in an answer to a question about Israel’s potential role, posed by a reporter for Haaretz. “But I wouldn’t call Prime Minister Bennett ‘anyone.’ You can play an important role because Israel is a country with a rich history.”

 

Zelensky added that Ukrainian immigrants were among Israel’s founders, “who brought with them their history and their desire to build a great country, as it is now. So it’s not bad at all for us to have such mediation.”

He said he told Bennett he did not believe negotiations could take place in Russia, Ukraine, or Belarus.

“These are not places where we can come to any understandings on ending the war — I’m not talking about technical meetings but meetings between leaders. I believe Israel can be such a place, especially Jerusalem. I think so, and I said this to Bennett.”

Channel 12 cited unnamed Israeli government sources as saying Russian President Vladimir Putin was considering the proposal but “it’s premature to assess its chances.”

Zelensky said his government assessed that some 1,300 Ukrainian troops had been killed in the fighting so far. He insisted that Russian losses were far higher.

He also said Russia “will conquer Kyiv only if they kill all of us. They’ll need to live in a world without us. They won’t find friends among Ukrainians.”

Speaking to Channel 12 news, Israel’s Ambassador to Ukraine Michael Brodsky, who is temporarily back in Israel, said of Zelensky’s remarks: “The idea to hold a summit in Jerusalem has also been raised before. If it can contribute, I think we of course must agree and take the idea forward.

Brodsky added: “The question is not really where but what. If we get to the ‘what,’ then of course there can be a meeting in Jerusalem. There can be a meeting anywhere, but Jerusalem has symbolic significance, and I think President Zelensky is referring precisely to that significance.”

Asked how the city was significant in this context, Brodsky said: “As a city of all the faiths. A city where individuals and people of different faiths live in coexistence. A city that is equally important for Ukrainians and Russians.”

Earlier in the day, a top adviser to Zelensky denied a report that Israel had pushed the Ukrainian leader to accept an offer from Putin that would see Kyiv make significant concessions to end Russia’s invasion.

 

 

Mikhail Podolyak tweeted that Bennett did not urge Ukraine to agree to the Russian demands, as was reported Friday by two Hebrew-language outlets.

Bennett, Podolyak wrote, “just as other conditional intermediary countries, does NOT offer Ukraine to agree to any demands of the Russian Federation.

“This is impossible for military & political reasons,” he added.

Podolyak said that Israel has urged Russia “to assess the events more adequately.”

Israel has been engaged in diplomatic efforts to try to end the war in Ukraine, with Bennett traveling to Moscow last Saturday for an hours-long meeting with Putin. He was the first foreign leader to sit down with the Russian president since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

Source: THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

Dozens dead in DR Congo train accident: Rail Company

A train crash in the southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has killed at least 60 people, the state rail company and local sources said.

“[Currently] the toll is 61 dead, men, women and children [and] 52 injured who have been evacuated,” Marc Manyonga Ndambo, director of infrastructure at the SNCC train operator, told the AFP news agency on Saturday.

Local media quoted the provincial governor, Fifi Masuka, as saying 60 people had been killed.

It was a freight train which was carrying “several hundred stowaways”, said Manyonga.

“Some of the bodies were still trapped in the wagons that had fallen into the ravines,” he added.

Manyonga said the train was made up of 15 wagons, 12 of which were empty. It was coming from Luen in a neighbouring province destined for the mining town of Tenke, close to Kolwezi, the capital of Lualaba province in southern DRC.

It derailed at 11:50pm (21:50 GMT) on Thursday near the village of Buyofwe, about 200km (125 miles) from Kolwezi, “at a place where there are ravines”, into which seven of the 15 wagons fell, he said.

“My team is working hard to clear the track by Monday,” Manyonga added. He did not say how the crash had happened.

Another provincial official, Jean-Serge Lumu, told reporters “seven bodies were recovered by the families, 53 others are still at the accident scene”.

Train derailments are common in the DRC, as are shipwrecks of overloaded boats on the country’s lakes and rivers.

Due to the lack of passenger trains or passable roads, people use goods trains to travel long distances.

Last October, nine people died after a train derailed in the city of Kenzenze in the territory of Mutshatsha in the same province.

In 2019, at least 24 people were killed and 31 injured in an accident when a freight train carrying stowaways derailed in the Bena Leka settlement in Kasai province.

ALJAZEERA

Kenya’s President Kenyatta backs his former rival Odinga in polls

NAIROBI-Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has endorsed his former archrival for the country’s top job, weeks after their parties joined forces ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections in August.

“We have chosen Raila Odinga, without any opposition, to be the fifth president of Kenya,” Kenyatta told a cheering crowd of thousands in the capital Nairobi.

The announcement brings together two of Kenya’s top political dynasties, who have a long history of opposing each other at the ballot box.

But in 2018, Kenyatta and Odinga stunned the country when they shook hands and declared a truce after post-election violence in 2017 left dozens of people dead.

Last month, Kenyatta’s Jubilee party announced that it would join the Azimio la Umoja (Quest for Unity) coalition headed by Odinga.

From rivals to political partners

On Saturday, Kenyatta declared his backing for the veteran opposition leader, saying: “We don’t have any doubt that we have a team captain in Raila Amolo Odinga.”

Odinga, 77, responded, saying the pair’s journey from bitter electoral rivals to political partners “has been the most unlikely in the history of our country.”

“I accept the nomination with absolute gratitude and dedication to our people,” he added.

At a rally later in the day, the duo, both wearing matching blue caps, danced to a song by Odinga with the lyrics: “Leo ni leo. Inawezekana” (Today is the day. It is possible).

The announcement came after Kenyatta’s previously anointed successor William Ruto, who also intends to contest the presidential election, was sacked from Jubilee.

Ruto, 54, was initially anointed by Kenyatta as his successor but found himself marginalised after the 2018 pact between the president and his former foe.

Ruto has positioned himself as a leader looking to upend the status quo and stand up for the “hustlers” trying to survive in a country ruled by “dynasties” – a reference to the Kenyatta and Odinga families which have dominated politics for decades.

‘State-backed vote-rigging’

The East African powerhouse has traditionally been ruled by presidents from the dominant Kikuyu tribe like Kenyatta or the Kalenjin tribe like Ruto.

This year’s contest is shaping up to be a two-horse race between Ruto and Odinga, who belongs to the Luo tribe.

A former political prisoner and prime minister, Odinga has secured the support of at least 26 parties, which are now part of the Azimio la Umoja coalition.

But his image as a fiery anti-establishment leader has taken a knock following “the handshake” with Kenyatta.

The duo has unsuccessfully tried to introduce sweeping constitutional changes, claiming that the reforms would help to end repeated cycles of election violence.

Although Ruto has said he will accept the election results, he has also brought up the possibility of “state-backed vote-rigging”.

 

During a visit to the United States last week, Ruto said: “The biggest issue on the ballot is the democracy of our nation and whether we truly have the opportunity to make free choices devoid of blackmail, threats and intimidation.”

 

 

“The only concern that many Kenyans have is the intrusion by agencies to try and manipulate decisions of people at different levels.”

 

Both Kenyatta and Ruto had been indicted by the International Criminal Court on crimes against humanity charges for their alleged role in orchestrating post-poll violence in 2007 that cost more than 1,100 lives.

The cases later collapsed, with former ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda saying a relentless campaign of victim and witness intimidation made a trial impossible.

The reforms pursued by Kenyatta and Odinga proposed expanding the executive and parliament to more evenly divide the spoils of victory.

But they were seen by critics as a way to enable Kenyatta – a two-term president who cannot run again – to remain in power by establishing the post of prime minister.

The government has appealed a court ruling that rejected the proposals and said Kenyatta could even be sued in a civil court for launching the process.

BP and ENI create Azule Energy oil company to operate in Angola

Luanda – The oil companies BP and ENI created new oil and gas company dubbed Azule Energy as a result of the agreement signed this Friday, in Luanda, with the aim to gather both companies’ businesses.

The signing of the agreement was made by the BP executive vice-president Gordon Biren and the ENI Upstream director Guído Brusco.

 

Azule Energy will be an international energy company to be managed independently with a production estimated in 200,000 barrels daily of oil and gas of net production.

 

However, it is expected the Azule Energy to be the greatest producer of oil and gas in Angola with assets in 16 concessions as well as in LNG Angola.   

 

It will have a strong set of new projects to start in the next years including the production of Agogo and PAJ oil in the blocks 6, 15 and 31.

 

The new oil company for the first time will produce in Angola non-associated gas that will contribute for the satisfaction of the Angolan market needs.

 

The BP executive vice-president,Gordon Biren, said that Angola has been an important region for the operations of the company and this new bet allows the continuation of the commitment of the country.

 

The ENI´s Upstream Director, Guído Brusco, pointed out that the creation of Azule Energy represents an important step in the strategy to accelerate growth, through an agile and financially independent company.

 

The creation of Azule Energy is a result of an agreement memorandum signed by both companies in May 2021.

 

Currently the ENI is the operator of the blocks 6, 15, North Cabinda, Center 1/14, 28 and for soon the NCG (New Gas Consortium). The company has also participation in blocks 0 (Cabinda) and Angola LNG.

 

The BP firm is the operator of blocks 18 and 31 and has participation in blocks 15, 17, 20 and 29. The company has also participation in NCG and Angola LNG.