The United States has imposed sanctions against former and current senior Burundi government officials, which it says have contributed to the ongoing crisis in the country. In a statement issued by the White House on Monday, National Security Council spokesperson Ned Price said President Barack Obama has signed an executive order authorising the US to freeze the assets and impose visa restrictions on four Burundians and any others identified going forward. At least 240 people have been killed and more than 200,000 have fled Burundi since violence erupted in April after President Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to seek a third term…
Author: AMA
All signs are that Pope Francis will receive a rock-star welcome as he prepares for his first visit to Africa. Millions of people across Central and East Africa are already talking about the “historic visit” to the continent, and hundreds of thousands more are expected to turn out to catch a glimpse of the pontiff when he arrives in Kenya, the first stop in his three-country tour. Francis is scheduled to travel to Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic (CAR) – a travel itinerary that has raised eyebrows but also endeared him to the region. Religious tolerance Father Anthony…
Nairobi – Used plastic is being given a new lease on life in Kenya. It is melted and then used to make poles for construction and road signs. The concept is still new in Kenya – and expensive given the manufacturing costs – but the poles are slowly changing the landscape. http://bc05.ajnm.me/665003303001/201511/276/665003303001_4626741965001_20151122-KenRecycle-HMU-nostraps.mp4 By Haru Mutasa via [Al Jazeera]
Mali’s president has questioned claims that al-Mourabitoun, an al-Qaeda linked group, was responsible for last week’s assault on a luxury hotel in the Malian capital, Bamako. In his first interview since Friday’s attack that left 27 people dead, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita told Al Jazeera that despite early speculation, his intelligence suggested that another group, the Macina Liberation Front, was responsible for it. “Initially it was said that this was the work of al-Marabitoun but tonight all indications are it is the Macina Liberation Front who are behind this,” he said. “They’re acting as if Macina was a country or…
Malian security forces were hunting on Saturday for at least three at-large suspects involved in the brazen attack on a five-star hotel that killed 21 people in the heart of the capital, Bamako. A breakaway al-Qaeda faction from the country’s troubled north, al-Morabitoun, claimed responsibility for the nine-hour siege that ended after special forces stormed the hotel, killing two attackers. But Friday’s assault on the Radisson Blu was just the latest in a series of attacks this year on high-profile targets in a country that has battled various rebel groups for years. The situation is complex. Here, I answer some…
Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has declared a 10-day state of emergency after the attack on a luxury hotel in the capital Bamako. Gunmen stormed the Radisson Blu hotel early in the morning and took at least 170 people hostage. After a nine-hour standoff with Malian and UN soldiers, most of the hostages were released – but 19 were killed. Two attackers were also killed. The armed group that’s taken responsibility for the attack is known as Al-Mourabitoun; which is linked to Al-Qaeda. Since the start of Mali’s political crisis in 2012, the government has been unable to stop the…
New border control measures imposed by some Balkan countries risk people’s lives by leaving hundreds stranded outside amid plunging winter temperatures, aid agencies have warned. Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia are now profiling refugees according to their nationality, allowing passage to those fleeing Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, while turning back those from Africa and Asia. The measures are creating tension at border crossings and leaving some families stranded without adequate shelter, the UN refugee and children’s agencies and the International Organization for Migration said in a joint statement on Friday. “When you have numbers of people backing up at any…
A new case of Ebola has been identified in Liberia, a country declared free of the deadly disease in September, health officials have said. The patient, a 10-year-old boy in Paynesville, a suburb east of the capital Monrovia, felt sick on November 14 and was hospitalised three days later, Bruce Aylward, the head of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Ebola response, told journalists in Geneva on Friday. Heath officials are still investigating the origins of the new case. “The child has no known history of contact with a survivor or having been at a funeral [where an Ebola victim was…
Burundi’s government has accused its former colonial ruler Belgium of instigating an attempted coup against President Pierre Nkurunziza in May – a charge Belgium called absurd. Army officers unhappy with Nkurunziza’s bid to seek a third term as leader tried to seize power while he was on an official visit to neighbouring Tanzania. “We blame Belgium because all the plotters of the coup are in Belgium. The Belgians have given them accommodation and are looking after them. We blame them for the coup,” Willy Nyamitwe, spokesman for President Nkurunziza, told Al Jazeera. “We blame them for the 1972 genocide that…
Senegal is considering banning the full-body veil worn by some females in the Muslim-majority country. The proposal by the government in the West African nation comes as Senegalese security services questioned at least six religious leaders over alleged links to armed groups. “The full veil is not a religious affair and it does not represent our culture,” Interior Minister Abdoulaye Diallo said on Tuesday, adding the need to prevent attacks was behind the proposed veil ban. “For security reasons, all Senegalese people must support the president in this sense,” he said. RELATED: Congo-Brazzaville bans women from wearing full veil The…