The bustling Dantokpa market in Cotonou has regained its vibrant rhythm, with vendors calling out to customers and motorbikes navigating crowded alleys just days after a brief coup attempt disrupted the West African nation. Traders like Abel Ayihuonsou expressed relief as business resumed. “Everything is calm now, and we’re grateful,” he said, reflecting a broader…
A US brokered peace agreement between Congo and Rwanda was teetering Thursday after more than 400 civilians were killed in a renewed offensive by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group in eastern Congo, officials said. M23 captures key lakeside city of Uvira Residents and local authorities said M23 fighters took full control of Uvira, a strategic…
South Sudan military has assumed control of the strategic Heglig oil field in neighboring Sudan under a rare agreement with both sides in Sudan’s civil war, officials said Wednesday, in a bid to shield vital energy infrastructure from further damage. The move follows the Rapid Support Forces’ brief capture of the field on Dec. 8…
A Kenyan High Court judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked the government from sharing sensitive health data with the United States under a $2.5 billion bilateral agreement signed last week with President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration, citing privacy and constitutional concerns. Justice Bahati Mwamuye issued a conservatory order suspending any implementation of data-transfer provisions in the…
Brumelda Zuma, a daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma, was sworn in as a lawmaker Wednesday, filling the parliamentary seat left vacant by her half-sister who resigned amid allegations of recruiting South Africans to fight as mercenaries in Ukraine. The rapid family succession highlights the continued grip the Zuma name holds over the…
Rwanda-backed M23 rebels captured the strategic eastern Congolese city of Uvira on Wednesday, forcing Congolese troops to flee and displacing about 200,000 civilians, the United Nations said. The rapid advance came less than a week after a U.S.-mediated peace agreement between Congo and Rwanda has thrown the accord into jeopardy. Heavy gunfire rang out in…
The International Criminal Court on Tuesday sentenced a former commander of Sudan’s feared Janjaweed militia to 20 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the Darfur conflict two decades ago. Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, widely known as Ali Kushayb, was convicted in October on 27 counts that included murder, rape,…
Israel is quietly deepening its engagement across the Horn of Africa, with the self-declared independent Somaliland emerging as a strategic partner in security, trade and counterterrorism cooperation. Israeli officials and analysts say the Horn of Africa has taken on new importance amid shifting global alliances, competition among major powers and the need to secure maritime…
Tanzania imposed a virtual lockdown on its major cities Tuesday, deploying police and soldiers in force and declaring all protests illegal as the nation marked its Independence Day amid deepening anger over a disputed presidential election. The government warned that any demonstration would be treated as an attempted coup. Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa directed non-essential…
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s president accused Rwanda on Monday of violating a U.S.-brokered peace agreement signed just five days earlier, as the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group pressed a rapid offensive toward a key town on the Burundi border. President Felix Tshisekedi told Congo’s National Assembly that Rwandan forces and their allies launched attacks with…
