Africa

African Migration to Europe Is a Lifeline, not a Threat

As it has unfolded over the past several years, the migration crisis linking Europe and Africa has revealed many facets.

At its simplest, it is one of the worst ongoing human tragedies in the world today, but one that only commands the attention of a broad public under specific circumstances. One is when it is discovered that a large number of Africans have died at sea while trying to reach Europe, whether from thirst or after their boat capsizes.

Denmark Cracks Down on Mass Migration

The Danish Parliament has passed a new law that will allow the government to deport asylum seekers to countries outside of the European Union to have their cases considered abroad. The legislation is widely seen as a first step toward moving the country’s asylum screening process beyond Danish borders.

Burkina Faso: Jihadis Massacre More Than 100 Civilians

Islamists in the West African state have killed scores of civilians and set fire to their homes and businesses, according to the government.

Islamist fighters murdered at least 114 civilians in the West African country of Burkina Faso, the government said on Saturday.

Avec Olivier Dubois, journaliste otage au Mali

MANIFESTATION. Un rassemblement pour appeler à la libération du journaliste français s’est tenu ce mardi à 11 h 30 simultanément à Paris et à Bamako.

À l’initiative de Reporters sans frontières, du comité de soutien #FreeOlivierDubois, de France Médias Monde (Radio France Internationale, France 24, Monte Carlo Doualiya), des rédactions de Radio France, d’ex-otages tels que Florence Aubenas (Irak) et Didier François (Syrie), de l’Union des Clubs de la presse de France et des pays francophones, de SOS Otages et, bien sûr, des médias avec lesquels Olivier Dubois collabore (Le Point, Libération et Jeune Afrique), un rassemblement s’est donc tenu à Paris, place de la République, ce mardi 8 juin à 11 h 30. Au même moment, à Bamako, à la Maison de la presse une manifestation similaire a été organisée.

Un attentat à la voiture piégée fait au moins deux morts en Libye

Deux agents des forces de l’ordre ont été tués et cinq autres blessés dimanche soir dans l’explosion d’une voiture piégée visant un check-point dans la ville libyenne de Sebha (sud), a-t-on appris de source policière.

“Une voiture piégée a explosé au moment où elle franchissait un barrage déployé par les forces de l’ordre”, a déclaré à l’AFP un responsable de la police à Sebha, ville désertique située à 750 km au sud de Tripoli.

G7 back steps to deter tax dodging by multinational firms

The Group of Seven wealthy democracies agreed Saturday to support a global minimum corporate tax of at least 15% to deter multinational companies from avoiding taxes by stashing profits in low-rate countries.

G7 finance ministers meeting in London also endorsed proposals to make the world’s biggest companies – including U.S.-based tech giants – pay taxes in countries where they have lots of sales but no physical headquarters.

Jihadism in Tunisia: A Receding Threat?

What’s new? As the threat of jihadist violence recedes in Tunisia, some of the counter-terrorist measures put in place in 2013 are eroding social cohesion and undermining citizens’ trust in the country’s institutions.

Why does it matter? These government measures have the potential to drive up the number of jihadist attacks, and in worsening socio-economic conditions they could exacerbate crime and urban unrest.

Lost limbs, rising anger as town is caught up in Tigray war

Shops remained shuttered, some government workers hadn’t been paid and the town’s main hospital was utterly laid to waste. But the Tigrayan fighters still claimed victory, swaggering through the streets of Hawzen with their guns.

It wouldn’t last long.

Hawzen, a rural town in the ethnic Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, is a microcosm of the challenge facing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed — and a warning that the war here is unlikely to end anytime soon. When The Associated Press arrived in May, Tigrayan fighters had recently retaken Hawzen from Ethiopian government troops, laying claim once again to land that has switched control multiple times since the war began in November.

Nigerian Government Accuses Twitter of Supporting Secessionists

The U.S. company deleted a message from the Nigerian president who warned protesters to remember the country’s civil war in 1967.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration on Wednesday accused Twitter of having double standards and supporting the secessionists in Nigeria.

Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed took a swipe at Twitter after it deleted a tweet by Buhari who issued a warning to protesters in Nigeria.

“We have a country to rule, and we will do so to the best of our ability. Twitter’s mission in Nigeria is very suspect, they have an agenda. The mission of Twitter in Nigeria is very suspicious,” Mohammed said.

In the deleted tweet, Buhari had made a reference to the country’s 30-month civil war in 1967-1970, warning “those who wanted the government to fail” to desist from fomenting trouble.

“Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigeria civil war. Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand,” Buhari tweeted on Tuesday night.

Twitter deleted his post on Wednesday, following criticisms from some netizens. However, Mohammed questioned the rule of Twitter.

“Twitter may have its own rules, it’s not the universal rule. If Mr. President, anywhere in the world feels very bad and concerned about a situation, he is free to express such views,” he said, adding that the social networking service had overlooked the tweets of leading secessionists in Nigeria.

“When people were burning police stations and killing policemen in Nigeria during End SARS, a decentralized social movement, for Twitter, it was about the right to protest. But when a similar thing happened in the United States, it became insurrection,” Mohammed said.