A boat reportedly packed with people from Africa and South Asia bound for Italy has sunk off the Libyan coast, raising fears that dozens have died. A security official in the western Libyan town of Zuwarah, from where the overcrowded boat had set off, said on Thursday there had around 400 people on board. Many appeared to have been trapped in the cargo hold when it capsized. Blog: Why Al Jazeera will not say ‘Mediterranean migrants’ By late in the evening, the Libyan coast guard rescued around 201, of which 147 were brought to a detention facility for illegal migrants…
Author: AMA
Art Festival electrifies Ghana’s Streets. According to the inscription in the board, the girls never look backward. “We face neither East nor West, we face forward” Isn’t that inspiring? Source:: Al Jazeera
The Somali capital, Mogadishu, is hosting an international book festival, the first such event in the city in more than two decades. Authors, playwrites, poets, artists and musician have travelled from across the world to attend the three-day event that was also guested by the Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. “We are holding this fair to revive the culture of writing and reading in our country. Another aim is to connect local writers with their counterparts from abroad so they can exchange ideas.” Mohamed Diini, the event organiser, told Al Jazeera by phone from Mogadishu. “More than 30 writers are…
Conservationists are facing a race against time to prevent one of Ethiopia’s most sacred religious site from crumbling away. The ancient churches of Lalibela in northern Ethiopia have been a place of pilgrimage for local Christians since they were constructed 800 years ago. The 11 churches were carved out of the mountainside during the reign of the priest-king Lalibela, who hoped to give Ethiopians a place for pilgrimage inside the country and help them avoid making the dangerous journey to Jerusalem. However, moisture is eating away at the structures and the sacred site is literally crumbling away. The geological properties…
By Inside Story: South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has signed a peace deal that it is hoped will end 20 months of war. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and brought the world’s newest country to the brink of famine and economic collapse. Rebel leader Riek Machar signed the deal last week, but President Kiir had, until Wednesday, expressed reservations. The agreement calls for an immediate end to the fighting and the creation of a demilitarised zone in the capital Juba. It also calls for a transitional power-sharing government, with Machar returning as South Sudan’s vice president. But…
South Sudan President Salva Kiir has signed a peace deal with rebels – more than a week after initially refusing to do so – at a ceremony in the capital Juba attended by African regional leaders. Rebel leader Riek Machar signed the accord in the Ethiopian capital last week, but Kiir had said on the same day that his government needed more time to study the text. In an exclusive interview on Wednesday, Machar told Al Jazeera that the agreement includes several reforms, including the reconsitution of the army, security forces and the police. “There were reasons for the war,…
South Sudan President Salva Kiir is expected to sign a peace deal with rebels more than a week after refusing to do so, a presidential spokesman has said. The comments from Machar’s spokesperson come as the UN Security Council said that it would take immediate action if Kiir did not sign the agreement on Wednesday. Kiir is expected to sign the deal in Juba with the leaders of Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, and Ethiopia in attendance. Al Jazeera’s Anna Cavell, reporting from the capital, Juba, said the move was potentially very important and could change the lives of hundreds of thousands…
Hungary has announced it will deploy 2,100 police officers to help control its border with Serbia as record numbers of refugees try to enter the state trying to claim asylum. The Hungarian police chief’s announcement on Wednesday came amid scenes of brief violence on the country’s border with Serbia. Television footage showed Hungarian officers firing tear gas at refugees trying to overcome the barriers and enter the EU-member state. Police rounded up around 300-400 migrants and were addressing them through loud speakers, the Reuters news agency reported. Al Jazeera’s Andrew Simmons, reporting from the Serbian capital Belgrade, said the violence…
His back turned to the camera as he looks out over a nondescript housing development in Copenhagen, “The Shadow” describes how he fell victim to recruiters from the armed Somali group Al-Shabab. He outlines the conditions that make boys such as him susceptible to the lure of the “holy war,” explaining that, “Nothing in my life made any sense.” So eloquent is he in his account that one might think it was scripted, but what happened to him is as real as the scenes from a suicide attack by one of his former friends. A number of other very young…
Sierra Leone’s last known Ebola patient has been released from hospital, raising hopes the west African nation may finally have beaten the devastating epidemic. President Ernest Bai Koroma hailed “the beginning of the end of Ebola in Sierra Leone” pn Tuesday as Adama Sankoh, 34, was released from hospital in Makeni, the country’s third-largest city, in a festive ceremony. “The Ebola fight is not yet over – go and tell members of your community that,” the president said when presenting the certificate to the woman. “Go back to your community and continue to live life as you used to.” Sankoh,…