WORLD

German Chancellor Merkel visits Egypt and Tunisia to curb migration from Africa

German Chancellor Angela Merkel starts a two-day trip to Egypt and Tunisia on Thursday (2 March), part of her push to limit migrant flows to Europe through North Africa, especially chaos-torn Libya. Since the 2011 overthrow of Muammar al-Gaddafi, Libya has lacked a national government, which has made it the main gateway for African migrants heading for the 28-member EU …

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Pope to visit South Sudan, but only on one condition

Pope Francis has made a surprise announcement saying he wants to make a trip to famine-struck, war-torn South Sudan, but not on his own. He wants the head of the Anglican Church, Archbishop Justin Welby, to come too. Francis made the disclosure at the weekend in impromptu comments during a visit to Rome’s Anglican Church, the first to the parish …

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UN team on racism now in Germany; Africans called to come out and meet the investigators

Human rights experts began on Monday (20 February) the first United Nations investigation of the situation of people of African descent in Germany. Black community representative, Elisabeth Kaneza, is calling on Africans to come out and meet the UN experts, who are scheduled to hold Town Hall Meetings in five cities across the country. In Germany, people of African origin …

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G20 foreign ministers meet in Bonn, discuss poverty in Africa

G20 foreign ministers will discuss ways to fight poverty in Africa, strengthen governmental institutions and better utilise the potential of many African countries, German ministry officials said on the eve of a two-day meeting (16-17 February) in Bonn. G20 comprises 19 major industrialised and emerging economies and the European Union. Germany, keen to improve conditions in Africa and halt a growing …

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UN team visits Germany to investigate racism against Africans

A UN expert group will visit Germany from 20-27 February to investigate the human rights situation of people of African descent in the country. The visit is taking place within the framework of the International Decade of People of African Descent (2015–2024), which highlights the human rights situation of the African Diaspora worldwide and aims to fight racial discrimination against …

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Nigerian arrested in German city of Göttingen for plotting terror attacks

Two Muslims suspected of planning terror attacks in Germany have been arrested during widespread raid against radical Islamists. Police in the town of Göttingen, the state of Lower Saxon (Niedersachsen), arrested the two men suspected of plotting a terror attack on Wednesday evening, officials announced on Thursday (9 February). The men arrested, a 27-year-old Algerian and a 23-year-old Nigerian, are …

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12,000 Nigerians in Germany to be deported

More than 12,000 Nigerian asylum seekers in Germany face deportation, it was disclosed yesterday (7 February). The Global Head of Programme, Migration and Development at the German Federal Ministry of Economic Co-operation and Development, Dr Ralf Sanftenberg, made the disclosure when he visited the Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa in Abuja. Sanftenberg …

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Why I see Africa as a continent of hope, by UN Secretary-General António Guterres

The new Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, has expressed his hopeful optimism for Africa. He spoke of the continent’s promise and vast potential at a press conference on 31 January in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, after attending the 28th African Union Summit. For the record, below is the full text of his remarkable statement: Far too often, the world …

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EU leaders back Italian-Libyan deal to stem immigration from Africa

EU leaders have endorsed on Friday (3 February) an Italian agreement signed the day before with Libya, aimed at stopping the flow of migrants into Europe through the Mediterranean Sea. Italy already on Thursday pledged money, training and equipment to help the UN-backed Libyan government curb migration in a memorandum of understanding that Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Seraj signed in …

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US court halts implementation of Trump’s order banning Muslim travellers

A federal judge has blocked part of President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration, ruling that citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries who have already arrived in the US and those who are in transit and who hold valid visas, cannot be deported from the US. “There is imminent danger that, absent the stay of removal, there will be substantial and …

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UK court rejects Niger Delta oil spill claims by Nigerians against Shell

A British court has rejected the pollution claims against Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell by residents of Nigeria’s Niger Delta region demanding compensation for decades of oil spills there. Members of the Ogale and Bille communities, who say thousands of lives have been devastated by environmental disasters from the global company, had applied for the case to be heard in Britain, …

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Trump bans visitors from three African countries and four others to the US

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday, 27 January suspending refugee arrivals and imposing tough new controls on travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries. The order imposed a 120-day suspension of the entire US Refugee Admissions Program and a 90-day ban on all entry to the United States from countries with “terrorism concerns”. The State Department said the …

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President Donald Trump pledges US-first foreign policy

Economic protectionism and the fight against Islamist terrorism will form the heart of US foreign policy, Donald Trump said in his inauguration speech in Washington on Friday (20 January). In a brief address in front of the Capitol building, he issued “a new decree to every foreign capital” that “from this day forward, we will bring back our jobs, we …

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Obama’s Africa Legacy: More Trade than Democracy

There was much excitement in Africa when Barack Obama was elected US president in 2008. But he didn’t live up to many expectations. Daniel Pelz recounts the legacy of the first US president with African roots. Jubilant crowds flooded the streets of Ghana’s capital Accra during Obama’s first visit to Africa as US president. Even members of Ghana’s parliament rose to chants …

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Paris promises continued support for Mali at France-Africa summit

French President François Hollande has reaffirmed his commitment to peace in Mali in an address to more than 30 African leaders gathered at the 27th Africa-France Summit in Bamako on Saturday, 14 January.  The annual conference, which took place in the Malian capital this year, discussed cross-border jihad, governance challenges and Africa’s role in the European migrant crisis. Malian President …

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Italy reopens embassy in Libya in desperate attempt to stop African migrants

Italy announced on Monday (9 January) that it would re-open its embassy in Libya’s capital as part of a broader effort to curb migration departures from the North African country. “The Italian ambassador is returning to Tripoli after two years. A great gesture of friendship to the Libyan people. Now more controls on migrant departures,” Italy’s foreign minister Angelino Alfano …

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