Rwandan, DR Congolese Leaders to Meet Over Eastern DRC Conflict

By Al Mayadeen English

8 Feb 2025 10:28

The M23 armed group is escalating its hostilities as the leaders of Rwanda and the DRC seek to hold talks with the hopes of ending the devastating conflict.

Rwanda's President Paul Kagame and his Congolese counterpart Felix Tshisekedi are set to meet in Tanzania on Saturday as regional leaders convene in an effort to defuse the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The Rwanda-backed M23 armed group has rapidly seized swathes of territory in the mineral-rich eastern DRC, launching an offensive that has left thousands dead and displaced large populations. Last week, the group took control of the strategic city of Goma and is now pushing into neighboring South Kivu province, intensifying the decades-long turmoil in the region.

Kagame and Tshisekedi will attend a joint summit in Dar es Salaam, bringing together the eight-member East African Community (EAC) and the 16-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Since the M23 resurfaced in 2021, multiple peace talks hosted by Angola and Kenya have failed to secure lasting stability. Rwanda has denied providing military support to the group, but a UN report last year alleged that Rwanda had deployed around 4,000 troops in the DRC and was profiting from smuggling gold and coltan—key minerals used in electronic devices—out of the country.

Meanwhile, Rwanda accuses the DRC of sheltering the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), an armed group founded by ethnic Hutus involved in the 1994 Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi population.

Mounting concerns over M23

As the summit convenes, the M23 is advancing on the town of Kavumu, home to an airport crucial for supplying Congolese troops. Kavumu serves as the last barrier before the provincial capital Bukavu, a city bordering Rwanda, where panic has escalated.

"The border with Rwanda is open but almost impassable because of the number of people trying to cross. It's total chaos," said a Bukavu resident, adding that businesses were barricading their storefronts and educational institutions had suspended classes.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk warned of worsening conditions in the region. "If nothing is done, the worst may be yet to come—for the people of eastern DRC, but also beyond the country's borders," he stated.

Turk reported that nearly 3,000 people have been confirmed killed and 2,880 injured since M23 seized Goma on January 26, though actual numbers are likely higher. His office is also investigating allegations of sexual violence, including rape, gang rape, and sexual slavery.

Expanding authority

The M23 has already installed its own mayor and local administration in Goma and has declared its intent to march on the national capital, Kinshasa—despite it being roughly 1,600 km away. The DRC army has been forced into multiple retreats.

The offensive has sparked concerns of a broader regional war, as several nations, including South Africa, Burundi, and Malawi, are actively supporting the DRC militarily.

On Friday, regional foreign ministers met in Tanzania ahead of the leaders’ summit. Kenyan Foreign Secretary Musalia Mudavadi described the talks as a "golden opportunity" to find a solution, advocating for the unification of previous peace processes hosted by Angola and Kenya.

After taking control of Goma last week, M23 fighters and Rwandan forces launched a new offensive on Wednesday, targeting the South Kivu town of Nyabibwe, located roughly 100 km (60 mi) from the regional capital Bukavu. This marked a breach of the unilateral humanitarian ceasefire declared earlier by M23, during which the group stated it had "no intention of taking control of Bukavu or other localities."

The United Nations reported on Wednesday that the battle for Goma resulted in at least 2,900 fatalities, a significantly higher toll than previously estimated.

Local and humanitarian sources revealed on Thursday that Congolese forces were preparing for an anticipated assault on Kavumu, a key town approximately 30 km from Bukavu that hosts the province’s airport. Troops and equipment were reportedly being evacuated to avoid capture by advancing M23 and Rwandan forces.

If Kavumu falls, it would represent another major blow to the Congolese government and military, further destabilizing a region plagued by decades of violence involving various armed groups.

UN Rights Body Condemns Rwanda and the Rebels it Backs in Neighboring DR Congo--Violence Mounts in East

Residents walk by charred vehicles in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

11:07 AM EST, February 7, 2025

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.’s top human rights body on Friday condemned Rwanda’s support of rebel fighters across the border in eastern Congo and ordered a team of experts to examine rights violations in the region.

The decision by the Human Rights Council was requested by Congo and agreed to by consensus, meaning no vote was taken. It culminated an urgent session on the spiraling violence in a region where Rwanda-backed M23 rebels recently captured the key city of Goma. Some 3,000 people have been killed and nearly as many injured since late January.

The area holds vast deposits of minerals critical to the manufacture of much of the world’s technology, including mobile phones.

The resolution text, among other things, “firmly condemns the military and logistic support of the Rwandan defense force to the March 23 Movement, which continues to cause many civilian casualties, more displacement and significant trauma among the population.”

The council also called on the M23 and Rwandan defense forces “to immediately halt violations of human rights” in the North and South Kivu regions, and allow access to humanitarian aid deliveries through the airport in Goma.

It also decided to create an independent commission of inquiry made up of three experts in international law to look into rights violations and report back to the council.

U.N. experts say the rebels, the most potent of more than 100 armed groups in the region, are backed by roughly 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has urged the rebels to lay down their weapons and agree to mediation.

Volker Türk, the U.N. human rights chief, said an estimated 3,000 people were killed and nearly 2,900 wounded in an increase in violence since Jan. 26. Speaking as the special session began, he cautioned that the real figures are “probably a lot higher.”

“If nothing is done, then the worst could still be yet to come for the inhabitants of the eastern part of the country, but also in people living beyond the DRC’s borders,” he said, referring to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Türk noted attacks by M23 and their allies, the use of heavy weaponry, and intense fighting with Congo’s armed forces and their allies.

“The Congolese people have been suffering terribly for decades,” he said, calling for international action. “How many more innocent lives must be lost before sufficient political will is galvanized to resolve this crisis?”

The rebels sought to reassure residents Thursday, holding a stadium rally and promising safety under their administration as they try to shore up public support amid growing international pressure.

Patrick Muyaya Katembwe, Congo’s communications minister, called on the council to “hold Rwanda responsible for its war crimes and crimes against humanity” through allegedly forced displacement and an aim “to definitively occupy these territories.”

Ambassador James Ngango, Rwanda’s permanent representative to U.N. institutions in Geneva, said members of an armed group that participated in the Rwanda genocide in 1994 had fled to Congo, “where they now pose an existential threat to our security” and were spreading “their genocidal ideology.”

Leaders from Eastern and Southern Africa Call for a Ceasefire and Negotiations in DR Congo

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA

12:53 PM EST, February 8, 2025

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Leaders from eastern and southern Africa on Saturday called for an immediate ceasefire in eastern Congo, where rebels are threatening to overthrow the Congolese government, but also urged Congo’s president to directly negotiate with them.

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, who attended the summit in the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam by videoconference, has previously said he would never talk to the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels he sees as driven to exploit his country’s vast mineral wealth.

A communique at the end of talks urged the resumption of “direct negotiations and dialogue with all state and non-state parties,” including M23. The rebels seized Goma, the biggest city in eastern Congo, following fighting that left nearly 3,000 dead and hundreds of thousands of displaced, according to the U.N.

The unprecedented joint summit included leaders from the East African Community bloc, of which both Rwanda and Congo are members, and those from the Southern African Development Community, or SADC, which includes countries ranging from Congo to South Africa.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame attended the summit along with his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, who has angered the Rwandans by deploying South African troops in eastern Congo under the banner of SADC to fight M23.

Rwanda has blamed the deployment of SADC peacekeepers for worsening the conflict in North Kivu, a mineral-rich province in eastern Congo that’s now controlled by M23. Kagame insists SADC troops were not peacekeepers because they were fighting alongside Congolese forces to defeat the rebels.

The rebels are backed by some 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts, while Congolese government forces are backed by regional peacekeepers, U.N. forces, allied militias and troops from neighboring Burundi. They’re now focused on preventing the rebels from taking Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province.

Dialogue ‘is not a sign of weakness’

The M23 rebellion stems partly from Rwanda’s decades-long concern that rebels opposed to Kagame’s government have been allowed by Congo’s military to be active in largely lawless parts of eastern Congo. Kagame also charges that Tshisekedi has overlooked the legitimate concerns of Congolese Tutsis who face discrimination.

Kenyan President William Ruto told the summit that “the lives of millions depend on our ability to navigate this complex and challenging situation with wisdom, clarity of mind, empathy.”

Dialogue “is not a sign of weakness,” said Ruto, the current chair of the East African Community. “It is in this spirit that we must encourage all parties to put aside their differences and mobilize for engagements in constructive dialogue.”

The M23 advance echoed the rebels’ previous capture of Goma over a decade ago and shattered a 2024 ceasefire, brokered by Angola, between Rwanda and Congo.

Some regional analysts fear that the rebels’ latest offensive is more potent because they are linking their fight to wider agitation for better governance and have vowed to go all the way to the capital, Kinshasa, 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) west of Goma.

Rebels face pressure to pull out of Goma

The Congo River Alliance, a coalition of rebel groups including M23, said in an open letter to the summit that they are fighting a Congolese regime that “flouted republican norms” and is “becoming an appalling danger for the Congolese people.”

“Those who are fighting against Mr. Tshisekedi are indeed sons of the country, nationals of all the provinces,” it said. “Since our revolution is national, it encompasses people of all ethnic and community backgrounds, including Congolese citizens who speak the Kinyarwanda language.”

The letter, signed by Corneille Nangaa, a leader of the rebel alliance, said the group was “open for a direct dialogue” with the Congolese government.

But the rebels and their allies also face pressure to pull out of Goma.

In addition to calling for the immediate reopening of the airport in Goma, the summit in Dar es Salaam also called for the drawing of “modalities for withdrawal of uninvited foreign armed groups” from Congolese territory.

A meeting in Equatorial Guinea Friday of another regional bloc, the Economic Community of Central African States, also called for the immediate withdrawal of Rwandan troops from Congo as well as the airport’s reopening to facilitate access to humanitarian aid.

___

Associated Press writer Wilson McMakin in Dakar, Senegal, contributed to this report.

Ramaphosa Says He's Not 'Getting into the Mud' in Public Spats with Other Heads of State

Ramaphosa was responding to a question about Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who accused him lying about the conflict and South Africa’s involvement.

CAPE TOWN - President Cyril Rampahosa said he won’t be "getting into the mud" and arguing with other heads of state in public.

Ramaphosa, who departs for the SADC and East Africa Community Joint Summit in Tanzania on Friday, said that matters between South Africa and Rwanda regarding the conflict in the DRC must be discussed behind closed doors.

Ramaphosa was responding to a question about Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who accused him of lying about the conflict and South Africa’s involvement.

The president addressed the media during his Presidential Golf Challenge in Cape Town on Friday, a day after his State of the Nation Address (SONA).

"With regard to what's happening in the DRC, as a head of state, I’m not in the habit of getting into the mud and arguing with other people, other heads of state. Matters of importance are discussed properly behind closed doors so I'm not going to get into the mud."

Ramaphosa Exercises Worldwide Diplomacy to Clear the Air, Spell Out SA's G20 Objective

On Thursday, during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) speech, President Ramaphosa said South Africa 'won't be bullied' as it tries to deal with diplomatic tensions with the US over land expropriation and Rwanda over the DRC conflict.

President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers the State of the Nations Address in a joint seating of Parliament in the Cape Town City Hall on 8 February 2024. Picture: Supplied/GCIS

CAPE TOWN - President Cyril Ramaphosa will send a delegation worldwide to explain South Africa's position on several issues, including land expropriation.

Ramaphosa says he also intends to deal with his international counterparts in a “formal way” as he prepares for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and East Africa Community Joint Summit in Tanzania to discuss the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) conflict.

Ramaphosa was speaking at the Presidential Golf Challenge charity event in Cape Town on Friday.

On Thursday, during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) speech, President Ramaphosa said South Africa "won't be bullied" as it tries to deal with diplomatic tensions with the US over land expropriation and Rwanda over the DRC conflict.

"As I said I’m sending a delegation to the world to our own continent, to Europe, to the Americas and to Asia, the Middle East to go and explain our position, particularly our G20 objective."

Ramaphosa also says he won’t engage in public disagreements with other heads of State like Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

"Matters of importance are discussed properly behind closed doors so I’m not going to get into the mud."

Ramaphosa is expected to meet with Kagame at the joint summit due to start on Saturday.

South Africa Condemns 'Misinformation' After Trump Freezes Aid

The SA government said South Africa said it 'has taken note' of Trump's executive order but added: 'It is of great concern that the foundational premise of this order lacks factual accuracy and fails to recognise South Africa's profound and painful history of colonialism and apartheid.'

President Cyril Ramaphosa promulgated the full implementation of the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act on 20 December 2024. Picture: Supplied

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa condemned on Saturday US President Donald Trump's decision to freeze aid to the country over a law he alleged allows land to be seized from white farmers.

"We are concerned by what seems to be a campaign of misinformation and propaganda aimed at misrepresenting our great nation," the government said.

"It is disappointing to observe that such narratives seem to have found favour among decision-makers in the United States of America."

The law would "enable the government of South Africa to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners' agricultural property without compensation", Trump alleged in an executive order, which also noted foreign policy clashes between the two countries over the war in Gaza.

South Africa said it "has taken note" of Trump's executive order, but added: "It is of great concern that the foundational premise of this order lacks factual accuracy and fails to recognize South Africa's profound and painful history of colonialism and apartheid."

Land ownership is a contentious issue in South Africa, with most farmland still owned by white people three decades after the end of apartheid and the government under pressure to implement reforms.

SA Ambassador to the US Says SA Should Neither Panic Nor Snub US Over Expropriation Act

Ebrahim Rasool said he believes President Cyril Ramaphosa took the right approach in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday night to assert that South Africa won’t be bullied. 

FILE: Ebrahim Rasool speaks onstage at the Shared Interest 19th Annual Awards Gala on 18 March 2013 in New York City. Picture: Donald Bowers / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

CAPE TOWN - South African ambassador to the United States (US), Ebrahim Rasool says the government should neither panic nor snub the world superpower over the misinformation it issued this week in response to the country’s Expropriation Act. 

He said he’s already met with not only anti-apartheid allies of South Africa but also Republican congresspeople, who have sought clarity on the law. 

Rasool said he believes President Cyril Ramaphosa took the right approach in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday night to assert that South Africa won’t be bullied. 

Rasool said while this has been a tough week for South Africa’s relations with the United States, it’s tested the country’s dignity and ability to stand up for itself. 

“How do we strengthen our resolve to resist false attacks on us, unprecedented and precipitate actions against South Africa without getting on our knees to look for some mercy?”

Describing this week’s social media posts by US President Donald Trump and his secretary of state, Marco Rubio as ‘vicious’, Rasool said the misinformation has been fuelled by the expatriate community in the US, on the back of the grievances of a small, white community in South Africa. 

“How can you condemn a very, very mild Expropriation Act and have a grand act in mind for Greenland, a grand expropriation scheme for Gaza, but you are worried about what you are told would be the expropriation of farms?”

Rasool said he will be working around the clock and meeting with US Congress representatives to set the record straight about South Africa’s laws. 

Solidarity Movement Says its Members Will Remain in SA Despite US Govt Resettlement Offer

The movement was reacting to US President Donald Trump’s executive order to stop funding aid to the country and providing resettlement opportunities for Afrikaners in the country.

JOHANNESBURG - Solidarity Movement, including AfriForum and trade union Solidarity, said their members will remain in South Africa despite an offer for resettlement by the US government.  

The movement was reacting to United States (US) President Donald Trump’s executive order to stop funding aid to the country and provide opportunities for Afrikaners in the country.  

Trump has cited his disapproval of the country's land policy and alleged targeting of minority groups as reasons for the aid halt.  

The order also provides for the resettlement of Afrikaners fleeing alleged government-sponsored race-based discrimination.  

In a media briefing in Centurion on Saturday, Solidarity’s Flip Buys said they welcome Trump’s concerns.

“We welcome the concerns about our situation, but we believe that the solution must be found in South Africa."  

Buys reiterated Solidarity's dedication to South Africa.  

“We reaffirm today our firm commitment to the country and all its people.”  

He added that Solidarity did not, and will not, ask for sanctions against South Africa or for funds for vulnerable people to be cut off by the US government.

SAFEGUARD SA MEMBERSHIP IN AGOA 

Solidarity Movement called on US officials to safeguard South Africa's membership in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).  

The organisation said the removal of South Africa from AGOA would have devastating consequences for farmers and their workers, exacerbating suffering in the country.

Buys said over the past few years, they asked senior US officials not to exclude South Africa from AGOA.

He added that the order by Trump to halt aid to the country is a direct consequence of leadership from the African National Congress (ANC).

“Then we want to state that the order of Mr Trump is the result of reckless policies of the ANC leadership that alienate the superpower and not a so-called disinformation campaign from our side. It is furthermore a product of years of diplomatic neglect by South African diplomats in engagements with the United States on different forums and a variety of wide-ranging issues.”

Why is Trump Punishing South Africa and Who Are the Afrikaners He Wants to Give Refugee Status To?

By GERALD IMRAY

6:01 AM EST, February 8, 2025

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump followed through on his promise to punish South Africa by signing an executive order Friday stopping all aid to the country over what he called a human rights violation against a white minority group.

The Trump administration says a land expropriation law South Africa recently passed was “blatantly” discriminatory against its white Afrikaners, who are descendants of Dutch and other European colonials. The Trump administration said the South African government was allowing violent attacks against Afrikaner farming communities.

It also accused South Africa of supporting “bad actors” in the world, including the militant Palestinian group Hamas, Russia and Iran.

Land distribution in South Africa has been a complicated and highly emotive issue with racial connotations for more than 30 years since the end of the apartheid system of white minority rule in 1994.

It was thrust into the global spotlight after Trump and his South African-born adviser Elon Musk criticized the South African government’s policies as anti-white, sometimes with false statements.

What is the law Trump is referring to?

The new Expropriation Act gives the South African government scope to expropriate land from private parties, but only if it’s in the public interest and under certain conditions. Trump referred to it last Sunday when he first announced his intention to stop funding to South Africa.

He said South Africa’s government was doing “terrible things” and claimed land was being confiscated from “certain classes.” That’s not true, and even groups in South Africa who are challenging the law say no land has been confiscated. The South African government says private property rights are protected and Trump’s description of the law includes misinformation and “distortions.”

However, the law has prompted concern in South Africa, especially from groups representing parts of the white minority, who say it will target them and their land even though race is not mentioned in the law.

The law is tied to the legacy of the racist apartheid system, and colonialism before that, and is part of South Africa’s efforts over decades to try and find a way to right historic wrongs.

Under apartheid, Black people had land taken away from them and were forced to live in designated areas for non-whites. Now, whites make up around 7% of South Africa’s population of 62 million but own approximately 70% of the private farming land, and the government says that inequality needs to be addressed.

Who are Afrikaners?

Afrikaners are a group of white South Africans descended mainly from Dutch settlers who arrived around 370 years ago. They speak Afrikaans, one of South Africa’s 11 official languages, and make up many of South Africa’s rural farming communities.

Afrikaners were at the heart of the apartheid regime, and tensions between some Afrikaner groups and Black political parties have lingered after apartheid, although South Africa has largely been successful in reconciling its many racial groups and most Afrikaners consider themselves part of the new South Africa.

Some examples of Afrikaners who gained international prominence include EFC fighter Dricus du Plessis, golfers Ernie Els and Louis Oosthuizen, and actor Charlize Theron.

Trump’s executive order addresses serious human rights violations in South Africa, according to his administration, and says the South African government has allowed violent attacks on Afrikaner farmers and their families. Trump said the U.S. will establish a plan to resettle white South African farmers and their families as refugees.

How is Elon Musk involved?

The Tesla billionaire and Trump ally was born and raised in South Africa but left after high school in the late 1980s, when South Africa was still under the apartheid regime.

He has for years criticized the current leadership in his homeland, accusing them of anti-white policies and ignoring or even encouraging a “genocide” with regards to the killings of some white farmers. Those killings are at the center of claims by conservative commentators — and now amplified by Trump and Musk — that South Africa is allowing attacks on white farmers as a means to remove them.

The South African government has condemned the killings and says they are part of the country’s desperately high violent crime rates across the board. Experts say there is no evidence of genocide and the killings make up a very small percentage of homicides. For example, a group that records farm attacks says 49 farmers or their families were killed in 2023, while there were more than 27,000 homicides in the country that year.

Musk also accused South Africa this week of having “racist ownership laws,” an apparent reference to his failure to get a license in the country for his Starlink satellite internet service because it doesn’t meet affirmative action criteria.

What does Trump’s order do?

Trump’s order stops hundreds of millions of dollars a year the U.S. gives South Africa, most of it to help its HIV/AIDS response. The U.S. gave South Africa around $440 million last year and funds 17% of South Africa’s HIV program through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

Parts of that funding had already been threatened by Trump’s global aid freeze, but it will now all be stopped in a major blow to South Africa’s health sector. South Africa has around 8 million people living with HIV — with 5.5 million of them receiving antiretroviral medication — and U.S. funding is vital in supporting the largest national HIV/AIDS program in the world.

The executive order also said South Africa had taken an anti-American stance — even “led the charge” — on many issues, accusing it of supporting Hamas, Russia and Iran, and being too close to China’s ruling Communist Party.

South Africa has long been a supporter of Palestinians and a critic of Israel and has maintained close ties to Russia because of its help in fighting apartheid. Trump’s order appears to require a significant shift in South Africa’s foreign policy to allow the aid to start again.

Trump Says Some White South Africans Are Oppressed and Could Be Resettled in the US. They Say No Thanks

By GERALD IMRAY

1:00 PM EST, February 8, 2025

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Groups representing some of South Africa’s white minority responded Saturday to a plan by President Donald Trump to offer them refugee status and resettlement in the United States by saying: thanks, but no thanks.

The plan was detailed in an executive order Trump signed Friday that stopped all aid and financial assistance to South Africa as punishment for what the Trump administration said were “rights violations” by the government against some of its white citizens.

The Trump administration accused the South African government of allowing violent attacks on white Afrikaner farmers and introducing a land expropriation law that enables it to “seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation.”

The South African government has denied there are any concerted attacks on white farmers and has said that Trump’s description of the new land law is full of misinformation and distortions.

Afrikaners are descended from mainly Dutch, but also French and German colonial settlers who first arrived in South Africa more than 300 years ago. They speak Afrikaans, a language derived from Dutch that developed in South Africa, and are distinct from other white South Africans who come from British or other backgrounds.

Together, whites make up around 7% of South Africa’s population of 62 million.

‘We are not going anywhere’

On Saturday, two of the most prominent groups representing Afrikaners said they would not be taking up Trump’s offer of resettlement in the U.S.

“Our members work here, and want to stay here, and they are going to stay here,” said Dirk Hermann, chief executive of the Afrikaner trade union Solidarity, which says it represents around 2 million people. “We are committed to build a future here. We are not going anywhere.”

At the same press conference, Kallie Kriel, the CEO of the Afrikaner lobby group AfriForum, said: “We have to state categorically: We don’t want to move elsewhere.”

Trump’s move to sanction South Africa, a key U.S. trading partner in Africa, came after he and his South African-born adviser Elon Musk have accused its Black leadership of having an anti-white stance. But the portrayal of Afrikaners as a downtrodden group that needed to be saved would surprise most South Africans.

“It is ironic that the executive order makes provision for refugee status in the U.S. for a group in South Africa that remains amongst the most economically privileged,” South Africa’s Foreign Ministry said. It also criticized the Trump administration’s own policies, saying the focus on Afrikaners came “while vulnerable people in the U.S. from other parts of the world are being deported and denied asylum despite real hardship.”

There was “a campaign of misinformation and propaganda” aimed at South Africa, the ministry said.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson said: “South Africa is a constitutional democracy. We value all South Africans, Black and white. The assertion that Afrikaners face arbitrary deprivation and, therefore, need to flee the country of their birth is an assertion devoid of all truth.”

Whites in South Africa still generally have a much better standard of living than Blacks more than 30 years after the end of the apartheid system of white minority rule in 1994. Despite being a small minority, whites own around 70% of South Africa’s private farmland. A study in 2021 by the South Africa Human Rights Commission said 1% of whites were living in poverty compared to 64% of Blacks.

Redressing the wrongs of colonialism

Sithabile Ngidi, a market trader in Johannesburg, said she hadn’t seen white people being mistreated in South Africa.

“He (Trump) should have actually come from America to South Africa to try and see what was happening for himself and not just take the word of an Elon Musk, who hasn’t lived in this country for the longest of time, who doesn’t even relate to South Africans,” Ngidi said.

But Trump’s action against South Africa has given international attention to a sentiment among some white South Africans that they are being discriminated against as a form of payback for apartheid. The leaders of the apartheid government were Afrikaners.

Solidarity, AfriForum and others are strongly opposed to the new land expropriation law, saying it will target land owned by whites who have worked to develop that land for years. They also say an equally contentious language law that’s recently been passed seeks to remove or limit their Afrikaans language in schools, while they have often criticized South Africa’s affirmative action policies in business that promote the interests of Blacks as racist laws.

“This government is allowing a certain section of the population to be targeted,” said AfriForum’s Kriel, who thanked Trump for raising the case of Afrikaners. But Kriel said Afrikaners were committed to South Africa.

The South African government says the laws that have been criticized are aimed at the difficult task of redressing the wrongs of colonialism and then nearly a half-century of apartheid, when Blacks were stripped of their land and almost all their rights.

___

Associated Press journalist Sebabatso Mosamo in Johannesburg contributed to this report.

South African President Rejects Trump’s Threat: We Will Not be Bullied

By Al Mayadeen English

7 Feb 2025 19:50

Ramaphosa has emphasized South Africa's resilience and commitment to defending its sovereignty and democracy.

In his annual address to the nation, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa appeared to respond to US President Donald Trump's threats, asserting that his country would "not be bullied."

Ramaphosa's comment was interpreted as a reaction to Trump's vow to cut all US funding to South Africa over a newly passed land expropriation law, although Ramaphosa did not specifically name Trump.

“We are witnessing the rise of nationalism and protectionism, the pursuit of narrow interests and the decline of common cause,” Ramaphosa stated in Parliament.

“This is the world that we, as a developing economy, must now navigate. But we are not daunted. We will not be deterred. We are a resilient people. We will not be bullied. We will stand together as a united nation and we will speak with one voice in defense of our national interests, our sovereignty and our constitutional democracy,” he added.

His remarks were met with applause from Parliament and the audience.

Why it matters

The statement comes after Trump criticized South Africa on his Truth Social platform, accusing the country of “confiscating land” and committing “massive human rights violations,” without giving specifics. Trump's criticism seemed focused on the land expropriation law passed by South Africa, which allows for the redistribution of land for public good.

Ramaphosa's government has defended the law, emphasizing it targets unused land and includes legal safeguards to prevent arbitrary seizures.

Ramaphosa's spokesperson responded to Trump's accusations and related criticism from Elon Musk, calling them "misinformation". Musk, born in South Africa, has criticized the government, claiming the law unfairly targets the white minority.

Trump’s remarks followed his decision to freeze US aid to South Africa, including a 90-day halt on funding for its large HIV/AIDS program. Ramaphosa expressed concern over the freeze, stating that the country would seek ways to maintain essential services for those affected by HIV/AIDS.

The speech also highlighted South Africa’s domestic agenda, with Ramaphosa announcing a $50 billion investment plan to improve infrastructure over the next three years, including projects for roads, bridges, dams, and modernization of seaports and airports. This initiative, he said, would “power our economy.”

February 20 Marks Official Handover of French Base in Abidjan

By Dominic Wabwireh with Other agencies

On December 31, during his address to the nation, Alassane Ouattara, the Ivorian president, announced the official return of military responsibilities, marking a new phase in the withdrawal of French troops from Africa.

The French military base in Abidjan will officially be handed over to Ivory Coast on February 20 during a ceremony attended by the defense ministers of both countries, according to sources close to the matter.

French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu is expected in Abidjan for the ceremony alongside his Ivorian counterpart, Téné Birahima Ouattara.

Alassane Ouattara, who has been in power in Ivory Coast since 2011, announced the transfer of the 43rd BIMA camp, the marine infantry battalion located in Port-Bouet (a district of Abidjan), on December 31.

Having been expelled from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger by hostile juntas, the French military also had to leave Chad shortly after N'Djamena abruptly terminated the military cooperation agreement at the end of November.

Senegal is also negotiating the withdrawal of French troops by the end of 2025.

In Ivory Coast, the departure is occurring amicably between the two armies: Ivorian paratroopers entered the Port-Bouet camp in January and are now working alongside French soldiers.

Ivory Coast remains a key ally of France in West Africa. Approximately 1,000 soldiers were stationed at the 43rd BIMA, primarily engaged in combating jihadist threats in the Sahel and northern regions of some Gulf of Guinea countries.

However, a contingent of about 80 soldiers will remain at the Port-Bouet camp, which will be renamed Thomas d'Aquin Ouattara.

This move aligns with France's strategy to restructure its military presence in Africa, aiming for a less visible deployment that responds to the needs of the host countries.

EAC and SADC Leaders Meet to Address Great Lakes Conflict

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa is seen with his wife Auxilia Mnangagwa.

By Rédaction Africanews with Isaac Lukando

Leaders from the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have gathered in Dar es Salaam to tackle the ongoing conflict in the Great Lakes region, particularly in eastern DRC.

Ministers and heads of state from SADC’s 16 nations and the EAC’s 8 members aim to revive stalled peace efforts from the Luanda and Nairobi processes. Tanzania and the DRC, the only countries in both blocs, play a crucial role in mediation.

A key focus is restoring dialogue between DRC President Félix Tshisekedi and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, seen as essential for resolving tensions. However, the M23 rebel group, which recently seized Goma and is advancing toward Bukavu, is absent from the talks.

SADC Chairperson President Emmerson Mnangagwa has stressed that engaging M23 is crucial for progress. The UN reports that fighting around Goma, allegedly backed by Rwanda, has caused 3,000 deaths and displaced over a million people. Rwanda denies any involvement.

With worsening humanitarian conditions and damaged infrastructure, the summit’s ability to deliver real solutions remains uncertain.

Energy Secretary Tries to Cool Worries About DOGE Access to Nuclear Secrets

“Nothing to be worried about here,” said the Energy secretary.

Chris Wright testifies during his confirmation hearing.

“I’ve heard these rumors, they’re like seeing our nuclear secrets and all that. None of that is true at all,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC. | Francis Chung/POLITICO

By Kelsey Tamborrino

02/07/2025 02:42 PM EST

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Friday that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency staffers do not have access to secretive information about the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile that is overseen by the department.

His comments in a televised interview follow reports that at least one member of DOGE was provided access this week to the department’s IT systems, despite internal objections. One of the DOGE staffers, Luke Farritor, appears in the department’s registry as an “information engineer,” POLITICO’s E&E News reported this week.

“I’ve heard these rumors, they’re like seeing our nuclear secrets and all that. None of that is true at all,” Wright told CNBC in an interview.

Farritor is one of several engineers that DOGE has deployed across federal agencies, which has prompted concerns that Musk’s team has been given access to sensitive information.

Wright said three members of the DOGE effort have entered the Energy Department to increase efficiency within the department, likening the individuals to “young gun management consultants” that will look at how it can run more efficiently.

The three are part of team assembled by DOGE and part of Musk’s “broader circle,” Wright said, who are “very good at IT and very good at systems” and are doing a “critical evaluation.”

“They don’t have anybody’s proprietary information. I know exactly who they are,” Wright said. “Run through, checked by our security, and they have access to look around, talk to people and give us some good feedback on how things are going.”

“Nothing to be worried about here,” he added.

Since President Donald Trump took office last month, the agency has placed dozens of staff working on diversity, equity and inclusion on administrative leave and has halted all funding actions to conduct a broader review of its spending.

Wright earlier this week called staffers at the department “a gem of the American government.”

The new secretary also addressed concerns about potential tariffs on Canada and the impact to U.S. oil and gasoline prices, stressing that the Canadian energy system is integrated with the U.S. system.

“I don’t think we’re going to see that change,” he said, instead calling the tariff effort one focused on targeting drugs coming across the border.

And Wright also criticized the previous administration’s actions on oil.

“We’ve tried to starve the oil and gas industry globally somehow thinking that’s going to help climate change,” he told CNBC. “There’s been a lot of nonsense, and I think the agenda of this administration, this president is to bring back common sense.”

Treasury Elevates Musk Ally to Lead Government Payment System

The elevation of Tom Krause to a more powerful role at Treasury will likely inflame an ongoing backlash over DOGE.

People protest during a rally against Elon Musk outside the Treasury Department in Washington, Feb. 4, 2025. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has downplayed the extent of DOGE’s access to the payment system. | Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo

By Michael Stratford

02/07/2025 04:34 PM EST

The Trump administration has installed an associate of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency group to oversee the Treasury Department’s massive financial operations, including running the federal payments system and managing the cash and debt that finances the government.

Tom Krause, the CEO of Cloud Software Group who has been leading DOGE’s review of federal payments, is now performing the duties of Treasury’s fiscal assistant secretary, according to the agency’s website.

Krause is taking on the responsibilities that until last week were held by David Lebryk, the longtime fiscal assistant secretary who resigned after a dispute with Trump administration officials over Krause’s access to the payments systems and requests to halt foreign aid payments.

Trump administration officials previously said they hired Krause as a DOGE consultant who is serving as a special government employee of the Treasury Department.

It was not immediately clear when Krause began performing the duties of the fiscal secretary at Treasury, though a different career official was listed on the website earlier this week following Lebryk’s departure.

A Treasury spokesperson did not immediately have more details on the personnel change. The news was first reported by The Washington Post earlier Friday.

The elevation of Krause to a more powerful role at Treasury will likely inflame an ongoing backlash over the DOGE team’s access to the sensitive payments system, which controls the flow of trillions of dollars of Social Security payments, Medicare benefits, tax refunds and other government disbursements.

A federal judge has temporarily ordered Treasury to restrict access to the payment system as part of a lawsuit by federal employee unions that accuse the administration of violating privacy and taxpayer confidentiality laws. New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, is planning to file a similar lawsuit. And Democrats in Congress have demanded investigations into DOGE’s work on the payment system.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) on Friday led a letter requesting that Treasury’s inspectors general investigate the Trump administration’s “conflicting accounts” about the extent of DOGE’s access to the payments system and whether it’s legal.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has downplayed the extent of Krause and DOGE’s access to the payment system and on Thursday defended their work as a serious and overdue examination of how Treasury disburses federal dollars.

“These are highly trained professionals,” Bessent said in an interview with Bloomberg. “This is not some roving band going around doing things. This is methodical and it is going to yield big savings.”

Bessent said in the interview that the DOGE team at his agency consisted of “two Treasury employees,” one of whom he said he personally vetted.

On Thursday, Marko Elez, an engineer who reported to Krause, resigned from his role as a DOGE Treasury staffer after The Wall Street Journal asked the White House about racist posts he made on social media.

“Just for the record, I was racist before it was cool,” Elez’s account posted, according to the Journal. The newspaper also reported that Elez’s X account also posted: “You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity,” and “Normalize Indian hate.”

But, on Friday, Vice President JD Vance called for the Trump administration to take a different approach to Elez, writing on X that he should be reinstated.

“I obviously disagree with some of Elez’s posts, but I don’t think stupid social media activity should ruin a kid’s life,” Vance said. “We shouldn’t reward journalists who try to destroy people. Ever. So I say bring him back.

At a news conference, Trump said he didn’t know about the particulars of the matter but supported Vance’s position. “I’m with the vice president,” Trump said.

“He will be brought back,” Musk said in a post on X. “To err is human, to forgive divine.”

The fiscal assistant secretary is the highest-ranking nonpolitical position at the Treasury Department and oversees the Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Among other things, the fiscal assistant secretary is responsible for forecasting when the government may run out of cash and managing the “extraordinary” steps that Treasury is currently taking to avoid a catastrophic default on the nation’s financial obligations.

Judge Denies Union Demand to Block DOGE’s Access to Labor Department Data

District Judge John Bates said the groups lacked the necessary standing to win a temporary restraining order.

Elon Musk walks at the U.S. Capitol.

Elon Musk arrives before the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 20. | Pool photo by Kevin Lamarque

By Nick Niedzwiadek

02/07/2025 09:42 PM EST

A federal judge on Friday night rejected labor unions’ push to block Elon Musk’s government efficiency team from accessing sensitive data at the Labor Department.

District Judge John Bates, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, said that the groups failed to properly show the standing necessary to win the temporary restraining order they sought against the Department of Government Efficiency, while expressing sympathy for their concerns that the Musk-led effort presents privacy risks.

“This data includes the medical and financial records of millions of Americans,” Bates wrote in a nine-page order. “But on the current record, plaintiffs have failed to establish standing.”

The setback comes as the unions had planned to expand their lawsuit to cover additional agencies beyond DOL that have come under DOGE’s scrutiny.

Democrats Ask for an Investigation into DOGE’s Access to Treasury’s Payment Systems

By JOSH BOAK and FATIMA HUSSEIN

3:09 PM EST, February 7, 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic lawmakers are seeking a Treasury Department investigation of the access that Elon Musk’s team was given to the government’s payment system, citing “threats to the economy and national security, and the potential violation of laws protecting Americans’ privacy and tax data.”

The lawmakers sent letters Friday to Treasury’s deputy inspector general and the acting inspector general for tax administration, in addition to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., writing to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The letters laid out their concerns over a lack of transparency and public accountability about the access being granted to the federal government’s financial plumbing.

The payments system handles trillions of dollars over the course of a year, including tax refunds, Social Security benefits and much more. That raises questions about whether the review by the tech billionaire Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is legal.

The lead writers of the inspectors general letter, Warren and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., have sounded multiple alarms about a review that largely remains shrouded from public scrutiny.

Democrats’ efforts to push back against spending cuts that President Donald Trump is seeking through DOGE could lead to a Washington showdown with possible broader repercussions. Any breakdown in the system could mean missed payments to people or even the sharing of sensitive personal data.

In Warren’s letter to Bessent, she says the secretary has “deflected and avoided key questions” so far and “provided information that appears to be flatly contradicted by new public reports.”

“The American people — including millions of families who are worried that you have jeopardized their Social Security payments, their Medicare payments, their local programs, and their economic security deserve straight answers,” Warren wrote.

A letter requesting an investigation would typically be sent to Treasury’s inspector general. However, Trump’s recent firing of about 17 independent inspectors general at government agencies leaves an oversight hole.

The Treasury Department has maintained that the review is merely about assessing the integrity of the system and that no changes to it are being made. But according to two people familiar with the process, Musk’s team began its inquiry looking for ways to suspend payments made by the U.S. Agency for International Development, which Trump and Musk are attempting to shutter.

Separately, labor unions and advocacy groups have sued to block the payments system review from proceeding because of concerns about its legality. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on Thursday restricted DOGE’s read-only access of Treasury’s payment systems to two workers, one of them Tom Krause, who now appears on the Treasury Department website as performing the functions of fiscal assistant secretary.

Also signing the letters were Democratic Sens. Ruben Gallego of Arizona, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.

For High School Sports, Decisions Loom: Follow Trump or State Law on Transgender Athletes

By STEVE KARNOWSKI

5:46 PM EST, February 7, 2025

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota’s governing body for high school sports says it will follow state law — not President Donald Trump’s executive order — and continue to allow transgender athletes to compete in prep athletics.

Associations in some other states signaled they also may defy the president’s order, but others were taking a wait-and-see approach.

The Minnesota organization said in an email to member schools Thursday that participation by and eligibility of transgender athletes is controlled by the Minnesota Human Rights Act, which contains protections for LGBTQ+ people, and the state constitution.

“The Minnesota State High School League, similar to other youth sports organizations, is subject to state anti-discrimination laws, which prohibit discrimination based on gender identity,” the message said. “Therefore, students in Minnesota are allowed to participate consistent with their gender identity.”

Trump signed the order on Wednesday, giving the federal government wide latitude to pull federal funding from entities that “deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities” by allowing transgender athletes to participate. Legal challenges are expected.

In response to Trump’s order, the NCAA revised its transgender participation policy to limit women’s college sports to athletes assigned as female at birth. The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, a governing body for smaller schools, effectively banned transgender athletes in 2023 from women’s sports.

“My general reaction is just sadness and anger,” said Sawyer Totten, a transgender athlete who competed in cross-country skiing at his Burlington, Vermont, high school. “To see the NCAA almost immediately change its rules to comply with Trump‘s order and try and pass it quietly was sad and heartbreaking.”

The number of transgender athletes competing at the high school and college level is believed to be small, but the topic became a campaign issue for Trump last year as he declared his intent to “keep men out of women’s sports.” NCAA President Charlie Baker, a former Massachusetts governor, has said there are fewer than 10 transgender athletes competing in sports under his purview.

“Trump‘s executive order is going after those athletes,” Totten, who is now in college, said in a text message to The Associated Press. “I had nothing but positive experiences as a trans athlete in Vermont but it’s going to vary state by state. ... I’m glad to see that some states have said that they will not follow Trump‘s executive order, but they will follow their own state laws.”

The California Interscholastic Federation said it complies with a state law that “permits students to participate in school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, consistent with the student’s gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the student’s records,” spokeswoman Rebecca Brutlag said in an email Friday.

New Jersey policy notes that “during gender-separated classes or athletic activities, all students must be allowed to participate in a manner consistent with their gender identity.”

In Colorado, which has a number of trans-friendly laws, the High School Activities Association requires schools to “perform a confidential evaluation to determine the gender assignment” for transgender athletes. The student and their parents must notify the school that the student’s gender identity differs from the one they were assigned at birth.

The New Mexico Activities Association said in a statement that its bylaws say “participating students are required to compete in the gender listed on their original or amended birth certificate.” New Mexico allows anyone over age 18, or parents or guardians on behalf of minors, to change the gender on their birth certificates. The association said it will continue to comply with state law and its bylaws.

The Illinois State High School Association said it was awaiting further guidance. The association said its policy on transgender athletes — it “allows participation by students consistent with their gender identity subject to applicable federal and state laws” — continues to be adapted based on guidance from medical experts and state law.

“We will continue to monitor any state legislation or federal guidance that impacts our policy here in Illinois and work with our Board of Directors to make sure that the IHSA and our member high schools remain in compliance with state and federal law,” Executive Director Craig Anderson said.

The Michigan High School Athletic Association is also “waiting for further clarification on potential conflicts” between the order and the state’s civil rights act, spokesman Geoff Kimmerly said in an email.

The longstanding policy of the Indianapolis-based National Federation of State High School Associations is to leave such decisions up to its state-level affiliates.

“The governance of transgender students’ participation in high school athletics programs is handled on a state-by-state basis. In many cases, state governments have issued rulings on this issue,” the policy states. “The NFHS does, however, support attempts by member state associations to establish policies that seek to offer competition for all students who wish to be involved in high school sports.”

Totten, who started cross-country skiing as a 2-year-old, said competing on his high school team gave him “a sense of belonging and it gave me a place where I could just be myself.”

“My coaches and my teammates were all super supportive of me and I never had any issues when it came to competing,” he said. “That was my experience as a trans male athlete. No two trans people’s journeys are the same.”

___

Associated Press reporters Jimmy Golen in Boston; Amy Taxin in Santa Ana, California; Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Matt Brown in Billings, Montana; Morgan Lee in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Corey Williams in Detroit contributed to this story.

More GOP-led States Seek to Follow Trump’s Lead in Defining Male and Female

By KIM CHANDLER, JOHN HANNA and SAFIYAH RIDDLE

12:17 PM EST, February 7, 2025

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Katherine Bartle said she spent her years growing up in Alabama trying anything to “fix” herself and exist as a man. Eventually she realized it wasn’t possible.

“I am a woman. I assure you that this is not a costume, nor is it by my own choice,” Bartle, 24, of Huntsville, Alabama, told Alabama lawmakers this week as they debated legislation that would define her and other transgender women in Alabama as men based on the sex they were assigned at birth.

The Alabama legislation, which passed the Senate Thursday, would create legal definitions of male and female based on the reproductive organs at birth. At least nine other states have already enacted similar laws.

Now Alabama and a small but growing number of other GOP-led states are pushing to enact more laws this year following President Donald Trump’s executive order declaring there are two sexes and rejecting the idea that people can transition to another gender.

“That provides a framework for the states to be able to enact their own without fear of reprisals from the federal government,” said Nebraska state Sen. Kathleen Kauth, who is sponsoring a measure there.

Republican Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen issued an executive order to impose definitions for male and female, and he is backing Kauth’s bill. The measure also would restrict transgender people’s use of bathrooms and locker rooms. A committee hearing was set for Friday.

Several other GOP-led states are considering similar bills this year.

Trump’s move affects passports, federal prisons and federal funding. State laws affect state-controlled policies.

For example, after Kansas enacted its law in 2023, the state stopped allowing transgender people to change their birth certificates and driver’s licenses so that the listing for “sex” would match their gender identities. Even transgender residents who have had their gender identities reflected on their licenses face having the listing reversed if they have to renew their licenses.

Bills have been proposed in multiple states

Legislation defining male and female passed the Wyoming House last month, and similar proposals have been introduced in Arizona, Indiana, Missouri and South Carolina, according to groups that track measures rolling back transgender rights.

“It’s based on fundamental truths that are as old as the Book of Genesis and as reliable as the sun in the sky. Men are born men, women are born women and one can never become the other,” said Republican Sen. April Weaver, a sponsor of an Alabama proposal. She said a person “can identify as whoever you want to identify as, but this just puts into law what your sex is.”

The Alabama Senate passed the bill with a 26-5 vote, with all five Democrats voting against it. The bill will now move to the Alabama House of Representatives.

Alabama Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, a Democrat, didn’t disagree with the definitions in the bill but questioned its purpose. She said the bill wouldn’t “change the perception about how people feel about themselves,” but instead intended “to change attitudes as people go in to get services, to have people looked at differently, to target, to isolate.”

“I believe people are going to be killed and die behind this,” Coleman-Madison said.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey promised to sign the bill if it reaches her desk.

The bills began popping up in statehouses several years ago, but they gained traction in the last two years.

Kauth said that even five years ago, the definition of male and female seemed fixed in people’s minds. Republicans often describe recognition of transgender people’s gender identities as an ideology being pushed by the political left.

“The intensity of this ideology and the push through society has been pretty extreme, so we need to actually push back on it,” Kauth said.

The American Medical Association and other mainstream medical groups say that extensive research shows that sex and gender are better understood as a spectrum than as an either/or definition. Strict definitions can also leave out a range of variations that include intersex people, who have physical traits that don’t fit typical definitions for male or female categories.

Conservatives pushing the bills often argue that states have an interest in protecting “women-only” spaces such in bathrooms, locker rooms and sport teams and prevent transgender women from accessing them. “It would prevent males who identify as women from claiming that they have an automatic right to access these specific women’s spaces. I believe we as women should be standing up to this,” Alabama’s Weaver said.

Trump boosts the idea that sex is unchangeable

Trump has boosted the idea that there are two unchangeable sexes in a series of executive orders that call for moving transgender women in federal prisons to men’s facilities, barring gender-marker changes on passports, ending federal funding for gender-affirming medical care for transgender people under 19, kicking transgender service members out of the military and removing transgender women and girls from women’s and girls’ sports competitions.

His policies are facing court challenges, with arguments that they are discriminatory and exceed the president’s authority. Some of the orders call on Congress to make laws and agencies to implement regulations –- actions that can take months or years.

“We deserve to be here,” trans people say

Trans people said the bills are an attempt to deny their existence or to capitalize on prejudice for political gain. Several hundred people marched to the Alabama Capitol and Statehouse Wednesday to protest the legislation and other bills that impact LGBTQ people.

“I’m tired of running from the opposition. I’m not going any damn where. You deserve to be here. We deserve to be here,” TC Caldwell told the crowd.

Bartle said she believes the bills are about an attempt to “exert control” over people.

“It’s not for the protection of women or anything of the sort,” she said.

Micah Saunders, a transgender man from Birmingham, Alabama, told lawmakers during a public hearing that they need to think about the implications. He said if the bill were to pass, it would force him as a trans man, who has a “beard and receding hairline,” to use the women’s facilities, and that any woman “not deemed feminine enough could be a target for harassment.”

“This bill will put Alabamians under the threat of violence and harassment. It solves no problems and creates new ones,” Saunders said.

___

Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas.

Judge in Boston to Consider Latest Bid to Block Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order

By MICHAEL CASEY

3:42 PM EST, February 7, 2025

BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge in Boston said on Friday he would take under advisement a request from 18 state attorneys general to block President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship for the children of parents who are in the U.S. illegally.

U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin was the third federal judge this week to hear arguments in lawsuits seeking to block the order. It was unclear when Sorokin, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, would issue a decision on the request but it was not expected to come Friday.

The state attorneys general, along with the cities of San Francisco and Washington, asked Sorokin to issue a preliminary injunction.

“Millions of Americans who were born to immigrant parents and hundreds of millions can trace their citizenship back to immigrant ancestors — ancestors who built our country and fueled our economy under the protections of the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution,” Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell, joined by attorneys general from Connecticut and New Jersey, told reporters ahead of the hearing. “The president cannot change the Constitution with a sharpie or a sham executive order.”

Two other federal judges blocked Trump’s order earlier in the week — first in Maryland, where a judge issued a nationwide pause on the order in a lawsuit brought by immigrant-rights advocacy groups and a handful of expectant mothers; and then in Seattle, where a judge in a separate lawsuit decried what he described as the administration’s treatment of the Constitution, saying Trump was trying to change it with an executive order.

Another challenge, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, goes before a federal judge in New Hampshire on Monday.

In the Boston case, plaintiffs argue that the principle of birthright citizenship is “enshrined in the Constitution” and that Trump does not have the authority to issue the order, which they called a “flagrantly unlawful attempt to strip hundreds of thousands of American-born children of their citizenship based on their parentage.”

They also say Trump’s order would cost states funding they rely on to “provide essential services” — from foster care to health care for low-income children to “early interventions for infants, toddlers, and students with disabilities.”

“This is a case about children born in the United States,” Shankar Duraiswamy, the deputy solicitor general for New Jersey, told the court. “The executive branch has no power to take away their constitutional rights to birthright citizenship because they believe it will disincentivize unlawful entry than they have the power to take away First Amendment rights, their due process rights or equal protection rights.”

Eric Hamilton, arguing for the Department of Justice, contended the states challenging the executive order were “misreading” the 14th Amendment.

The Trump administration has asserted that children of noncitizens are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and therefore not entitled to citizenship.

Sorokin spent much of the hearing probing the potential impacts of the order, including whether it would apply to people previously granted birthright citizenship and the logistics of tracking down people impacted by the executive order.

At the heart of all the lawsuits is the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1868 after the Civil War and the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision, which held that Scott, an enslaved man, wasn’t a citizen despite having lived in a state where slavery was outlawed.

The Trump administration has asserted that children of noncitizens are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and therefore not entitled to citizenship.

Attorneys for the states have argued that it does — and that has been recognized since the amendment’s adoption, notably in an 1898 U.S. Supreme Court decision. That decision, United States v. Wong Kim Ark, held that the only children who did not automatically receive U.S. citizenship upon being born on U.S. soil were children of diplomats, who have allegiance to another government; enemies present in the U.S. during hostile occupation; those born on foreign ships; and those born to members of sovereign Native American tribes.

The U.S. is among about 30 countries where birthright citizenship — the principle of jus soli or “right of the soil” — is applied. Most are in the Americas, and Canada and Mexico are among them.

MICHAEL CASEY

Casey writes about the environment, housing and inequality for The Associated Press. He lives in Boston.

M23 Calls Public Meeting in Captured DRC City as Fighters Advance

By Al Mayadeen English

6 Feb 2025 14:57

The Rwandan-backed M23 rebels held a public meeting after seizing Goma, breaking a ceasefire with a new offensive toward South Kivu's capital, Bukavu.

The Rwandan-backed M23 rebel group convened its first public meeting on Thursday following its capture of Goma, the largest city in Congo's North Kivu province, amid ongoing clashes and a push toward another provincial capital.

After taking control of Goma last week, M23 fighters and Rwandan forces launched a new offensive on Wednesday, targeting the South Kivu town of Nyabibwe, located roughly 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the regional capital Bukavu. This marked a breach of the unilateral humanitarian ceasefire declared earlier by M23, during which the group stated it had "no intention of taking control of Bukavu or other localities."

The United Nations reported on Wednesday that the battle for Goma resulted in at least 2,900 fatalities, a significantly higher toll than previously estimated.

Local and humanitarian sources revealed on Thursday that Congolese forces were preparing for an anticipated assault on Kavumu, a key town approximately 30 kilometers from Bukavu that hosts the province’s airport. Troops and equipment were reportedly being evacuated to avoid capture by advancing M23 and Rwandan forces.

If Kavumu falls, it would represent another major blow to the Congolese government and military, further destabilizing a region plagued by decades of violence involving various armed groups.

In Goma, a city of one million residents, the M23 announced a public meeting at the city stadium on Thursday, with men using loudspeakers instructing the population to attend. An AFP journalist observed businesses being ordered to remain closed during the event.

'Governing differently' 

Thousands gathered outside Goma's stadium on Thursday morning for the public meeting organized by M23, as members regulated entry at the gates. Some attendees wore T-shirts reading "Governing North Kivu Differently."

Since resurfacing in late 2021, M23 has forced the DRC army to retreat, fueling fears of a broader regional conflict. Diplomatic efforts led by Angola and Kenya have yet to yield results, with DRC Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner criticizing the lack of concrete action.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame discussed de-escalation with European Council President Antonio Costa ahead of a regional summit in Tanzania this weekend, which he and DRC President Felix Tshisekedi will attend.

The UN Human Rights Council has scheduled a special session on the crisis, and the International Criminal Court is monitoring the situation.

Africa Female Genital Mutilation Is a Leading Cause of Death for Girls Where It's Practised - New Study

6 February 2025

The Conversation Africa (Johannesburg)

Analysis

By Heather D. Flowe, Arpita Ghosh and James Rockey

Female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C) is a deeply entrenched cultural practice that affects around 200 million women and girls. It's practised in at least 25 African countries, as well as parts of the Middle East and Asia and among immigrant populations globally.

It is a harmful traditional practice that involves removing or damaging female genital tissue. Often it's "justified" by cultural beliefs about controlling female sexuality and marriageability. FGM/C causes immediate and lifelong physical and psychological harm to girls and women, including severe pain, complications during childbirth, infections and trauma.

We brought together our expertise in economics and gender based violence to examine excess mortality (avoidable deaths) due to FGM/C. Our new research now reveals a devastating reality: FGM/C is one of the leading causes of death for girls and young women in countries where it's practised. FGM/C can result in death from severe bleeding, infection, shock, or obstructed labour.

Our study estimates that it causes approximately 44,000 deaths each year across the 15 countries we examined. That is equivalent to a young woman or girl every 12 minutes.

This makes it a more significant cause of death in the countries studied than any other excluding infection, malaria and respiratory infections or tuberculosis. Put differently, it is a bigger cause of death than HIV/Aids, measles, meningitis and many other well-known health threats for young women and girls in these countries.

Prior research has shown that FGM/C leads to severe pain, bleeding and infection. But tracking deaths directly caused by the practice has been nearly impossible. This is partly because FGM/C is illegal in many countries where it occurs, and it typically takes place in non-clinical settings without medical supervision.

Where the crisis is most severe

The practice is particularly prevalent in several African nations. In Guinea, our data show 97% of women and girls have undergone FGM/C, while in Mali the figure stands at 83%, and in Sierra Leone, 90%. The high prevalence rates in Egypt, with 87% of women and girls affected, are a reminder that FGM/C is not confined to sub-Saharan Africa.

For our study, we analysed data from the 15 African countries for which comprehensive "gold standard" FGM/C incidence information is available. Meaning, the data is comprehensive, reliable and widely accepted for research, policymaking and advocacy efforts to combat FGM/C.

We developed a new approach to help overcome previous gaps in data. We matched data on the proportion of girls subjected to FGM/C at different ages with age-specific mortality rates across 15 countries between 1990 and 2020. The age at which FGM occurs varies significantly by country. In Nigeria, 93% of procedures are performed on girls younger than five years old. In contrast, in Sierra Leone, most girls undergo the procedure between the ages of 10 and 14.

Since health conditions vary from place to place and over time, and vary in the same place from one year to the next, we made sure to consider these differences. This helped us figure out if more girls were dying at the ages when FGM/C usually happens in each country.

For example, in Chad, 11.2% of girls undergo FGM/C aged 0-4, 57.2% at 5-9 and 30% at 10-14. We could see how mortality rates changed between these age groups compared to countries with different FGM patterns.

This careful statistical approach helped us identify the excess deaths associated with the practice while accounting for other factors that might affect child mortality.

Striking findings

Our analysis revealed that when the proportion of girls subjected to FGM in a particular age group increases by 50 percentage points, their mortality rate rises by 0.1 percentage points. While this may sound small, when applied across the population of affected countries, it translates to tens of thousands of preventable deaths annually.

The scale is staggering: while armed conflicts in Africa caused approximately 48,000 combat deaths per year between 1995 and 2015, our research suggests FGM/C leads to about 44,000 deaths annually. This places FGM among the most serious public health challenges facing these nations.

Beyond the numbers

These statistics represent real lives cut short. Most FGM/C procedures are performed without anaesthesia, proper medical supervision, or sterile equipment. The resulting complications can include severe bleeding, infection and shock. Even when not immediately fatal, the practice can lead to long-term health problems and increased risks during childbirth.

The impact extends beyond physical health. Survivors often face psychological trauma and social challenges. In many communities, FGM/C is deeply embedded in cultural practices and tied to marriage prospects, making it difficult for families to resist the pressure to continue the tradition.

Urgent crisis

FGM/C is not just a human rights violation - it's a public health crisis demanding urgent attention. While progress has been made in some areas, with some communities abandoning the practice, our research suggests that current efforts to combat FGM/C need to be dramatically scaled up.

The COVID-19 pandemic has potentially worsened the situation, owing to broader impacts of the pandemic on societies, economies and healthcare systems. The UN estimates that the pandemic may have led to 2 million additional cases of FGM/C that could have been prevented. Based on our mortality estimates, this could result in approximately 4,000 additional deaths in the 15 countries we studied.

The way forward

Ending FGM/C requires a multi-faceted approach. Legal reforms are crucial - the practice remains legal in five of the 28 countries where it's most commonly practised. However, laws alone aren't enough. Community engagement, education, and support for grassroots organisations are essential for changing deeply held cultural beliefs and practices.

Previous research has shown that information campaigns and community-led initiatives can be effective. For instance, studies have documented reductions in FGM/C rates following increased social media reach in Egypt and the use of educational films showing different views on FGM/C.

Most importantly, any solution must involve the communities where FGM/C is practised. Our research underscores that this isn't just about changing traditions - it's about saving lives. Every year of delay means tens of thousands more preventable deaths.

Our findings suggest that ending FGM/C should be considered as urgent a priority as combating major infectious diseases. The lives of millions of girls and young women depend on it.

Heather D. Flowe, Professor of Psychology, University of Birmingham

Arpita Ghosh, Lecturer in Economics, University of Exeter

James Rockey, Professor of Economics, University of Birmingham