Africa

Nigeria: Religious Extremism Fueling Violence

Escalating bloodshed in Nigeria is fueled in part by religious extremism – and the United States must recognize this in order to achieve peace, says the former U.S. religious freedom ambassador.

“This thing’s going to blow up on us, as we would say, ‘bigger than Dallas,’ if we don’t get into there and really start taking this seriously at this point,” Sam Brownback, former Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, told CNA on Wednesday of violence in Nigeria.

Mozambique: Crisis in Mozambique Is Grabbing the World’s Attention

As the insurgency in northern Mozambique continues to escalate, not only is the humanitarian crisis deepening, but the instability’s ripple effects are being felt far beyond Mozambique’s borders.

Over 700,000 people in the region have been internally displaced, and nearly a million are facing severe hunger. Humanitarian appeals have struggled to attract sufficient funding, but developments in the region suggest that some elements of the crisis definitely have the world’s attention.

Nigeria: Suspected Herders Kill 6 in Taraba

Six persons were reported killed while scores were wounded with hundreds displaced following an attack on Utsua Daa and Baafada villages at Bali Takum in Bali local government area of Taraba State, LEADERSHIP Weekend gathered yesterday.

A relation of one of the victims, Mr. Tyokua Ayoo told LEADERSHIP Weeekend on the phone that gunmen suspected to be herdsmen attacked the communities on Thursday afternoon.

Nigeria: Again, Northern Groups Call for Buhari’s Resignation Over Insecurity

The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has again called on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign over insecurity, accusing him of failing to secure the lives and property of the citizenry.

The coalition claimed that the nefarious activities of bandits and other criminals terrorising Katsina and other Northern states, forced President Buhari to stop celebrating Salah at his country home, Daura.

White People ‘Rescued First’ in Mozambique Attack – Amnesty

White contractors were prioritised for evacuation ahead of Black locals during a rescue operation following an attack in March 2021 by insurgents on the Mozambican town of Palma, according to Amnesty International. In a report compiled from interviews with 11 Black survivors, Amnesty says that even dogs were pulled to safety before Black people by a helicopter that airlifted civilians from a hotel where they had sought refuge. The attack on Palma left dozens of Mozambicans and foreigners dead, according to the government, and displaced tens of thousands. It marked a major intensification in a conflict that has wreaked havoc across Cabo Delgado province for more than three years.

Treasury Targets Hizballah Finance Official and Shadow Bankers in Lebanon

Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated seven individuals in connection with Hizballah and its financial firm, Al-Qard al-Hassan (AQAH). Â AQAH, which was designated by OFAC in 2007, is used by Hizballah as a cover to manage the terrorist group’s financial activities and gain access to the international financial system. Â Ibrahim Ali Daher (Daher) serves as the Chief of Hizballah’s Central Finance Unit, which oversees Hizballah’s overall budget and spending, including the group’s funding of its terrorist operations and killing of the group’s opponents. Â The other six individuals designated today used the cover of personal accounts at certain Lebanese banks, including U.S.-designated Jammal Trust Bank (JTB), to evade sanctions targeting AQAH and transfer approximately half a billion U.S. dollars on behalf of AQAH.

French Journalist Kidnapped in the Sahel

In April, Olivier Dubois, an experienced French journalist, was kidnapped in Gao, a Malian city on the Niger River. Though his disappearance was soon known by the Malian and French authorities, and by the non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders, nobody went public with the crime, ostensibly to facilitate the victim’s quick release. Those efforts appear to have failed, and in early May a jihadi group with alleged ties al-Qaeda released a video. In it, the victims pleads with his family and the French authorities to secure his release. The French authorities are seeking to authenticate the video.

Zimbabwe: la société civile dénonce les tentatives du régime de changer la Constitution

Cette semaine, les membres du Parlement, sous le contrôle du parti au pouvoir, la Zanu-PF, ont fait passer un amendement de la Constitution qui permettra au chef de l’État de contrôler un peu plus l’appareil judiciaire.

Avec une majorité au Parlement, les députés du parti au pouvoir n’ont eu aucun mal à faire passer cet amendement de la Constitution. Celui-ci va permettre au chef de l’État, Emmerson Mnangagwa, arrivé au pouvoir en 2017 après la destitution de l’ancien président Robert Mugabe, de nommer seul les principaux magistrats du pays sans aucune consultation : Cour constitutionnelle, Cour suprême, hautes courts.