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Cameroon government declares ‘war’ on secessionist rebels

Crackdown comes after Anglophone insurgents kill soldiers and police officers, reports Mbom Sixtus* from Yahoundé The secessionist crisis in Cameroon’s western region is deepening, with the government promising to crack down hard after Anglophone militants shot dead four soldiers and two policemen last week. The soldiers were killed in an ambush on a military convoy outside the town of Mamfe …

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Sierra Leone’s ‘Peace diamond’ sold for $6.5m in New York auction

A 709 carat uncut diamond discovered in March 2017 in Sierra Leone fetched a lower-than-expected $6.5m at a New York auction on Monday (4 December). The stone was found by diggers working for Pastor Emmanuel Momoh in Koryardu, located in the country’s eastern Kono district. It is one of the largest ever discovered in Sierra Leone and the 14th largest …

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Russia 2018: Morocco, Nigeria, Tunisia drawn in ‘tough’ groups

Five African teams were part of 32 others entered into a draw for the group stages of the 2018 World Cup in Russia on Friday. The five African teams are Senegal, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and Tunisia. It turns out that from the final draw, Morocco and Nigeria will not have it easy in their respective groups as they face top …

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Deutsche Welle launches discussion platform for Africa’s youth

Germany’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) kicks off its “The 77 percent” project to give young Africans under 35 a platform to share their voices, writes Claus Stäcker, Head of DW’s Africa Service 77 percent of the population of sub-Saharan Africa are younger than 35, according to the World Bank. They go to school, study, look for jobs. They want …

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Thousands of Togolese to enjoy electricity as solar programme takes off

Awagomè, 4 December 2017 – The Government of Togo’s “CIZO” initiative has made a significant stride forward as BBOXX, a new generation utility which provides reliable energy access to communities with its solar home systems, officially launched its operations in Togo today. President Faure Gnassingbé, President of the Republic of Togo, visited one of BBOXX’s first customers in the rural …

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Libya: Migrants’ evacuation plan unrealistic, says Amnesty International

Human rights campaign group Amnesty International has described the plan agreed by EU and African leaders in Abidjan last Thursday to evacuate migrants stranded in Libya as unworkable. Franziska Vilmar, who works on asylum law and policy at the German branch of Amnesty International, told the German international broadcaster DW at the weekend that the plan was “unrealistic because the …

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Germany: Horst Seehofer to step down as Bavaria’s premier

Premier Horst Seehofer of Bavaria is set to step down but will remain head of the CSU as part of a party compromise. Intra-party conflict has made coalition building in Berlin difficult. Horst Seehofer is ready to step down as Bavaria’s state premier before local elections next year in order to end an internal crisis within his Christian Social Union …

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Gambians celebrate first anniversary of Yahya Jammeh’s downfall

Gambians celebrated the first anniversary of the electoral defeat of long-serving leader Yahya Jammeh on Saturday. The main event saw President Adama Barrow addressing citizens about the victory of 2 December 2016 and warning that there was more work to be done to better the lives of the people. Jammeh until 2016 had been president of the Gambia for 22 …

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More than 400,000 migrants still stranded in Libya – AU Commission

European and African leaders have set themselves a tall order to stamp out horrific abuse of African migrants in Libya, where thousands are suffering in a vast, lawless territory. On Thursday, a summit of the African Union and European Union set a goal of immediately repatriating 3,800 migrants languishing in a camp near Tripoli. But experts point to a daunting …

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Book: Teaching children about sharing, forgiveness and friendship

British-Nigerian comedian TBoy (real name Tolulope Ogunmefun) is well known for his popular web series ‘Don’t Jealous Me’ which led to a spin off series that premièred on London Live last year. TBoy’s YouTube channel, which he launched in 2009, has been viewed over 41 million times and he has been entertaining fans, both young and old, with hilarious comedy …

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