Russia’s Aerospace Forces Eliminate 51 Ukrainian Military Targets Overnight - Top Brass

Russia’s Armed Forces have eliminated 125 warplanes, 88 helicopters and 383 drones since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov told

Russian Defence Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov Russian Defence Ministry/TASS

MOSCOW, April 3. /TASS/. Russia’s Aerospace Forces have struck 51 Ukrainian military targets overnight, including two artillery clusters and two multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS), Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov told journalists on Sunday.

"During the night, the strategic aviation of Russia’s Aerospace Forces has struck 51 Ukrainian military facilities. They include: four command posts, two launching systems of the Osa-AKM surface-to-air missile systems in the vicinity of the Barvenkovo and Slavyansk communities, two artillery batteries, two multiple-launch rocket systems, four field artillery and missile warehouses in the vicinity of the communities of Konstantinovka and Krestische, as well as 32 defended posts and areas of concentration of the military equipment of the Ukrainian armed forces," he said.

Russia’s Armed Forces have eliminated an oil refinery and three fuel and lubricants depots near Odessa using high-precision sea-and air-launched missiles, Konashenkov told.

"This morning, an oil refinery and three fuel and lubricants depots that were supplying fuel for the group of Ukrainian troops in the Nikolaev direction were eliminated using high-precision sea-and air-launched missiles," he stated.

Russia’s Armed Forces have eliminated 125 warplanes, 88 helicopters and 383 drones since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman told journalists.

"In all, since the beginning of the special military operation, 125 warplanes and 88 helicopters, and 383 unmanned aerial vehicles, 221 surface-to-air missile systems, 1,903 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 207 multiple-launch rocket systems, 805 field artillery armaments and mortars, as well as 1,781 units of special military automotive equipment have been eliminated," he said.

According to him, today the air defense systems of Russia’s Aerospace Forces shot down two Ukrainian drones in the vicinity of the Kudryashovka and Shurovka communities.

Envoy Points to Ukrainian Shelling of Bucha Following Russian Troop Withdrawal

The Russian Defense Ministry has fully rejected these false accusations, Anatoly Antonov pointed out

Russia's Ambassador to the USA Anatoly Antonov Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS

WASHINGTON, April 4. /TASS/. No civilian casualties were reported in the Ukrainian town of Bucha when it was controlled by the Russian Armed Forces, but the US media ignored the Ukrainian military’s shelling of the city, which followed the withdrawal of Russian troops, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said in response to a Newsweek question.

"The Russian Defense Ministry has fully rejected these false accusations," he noted, commenting on reports of Russian troops allegedly killing civilians in Bucha. "I would like to point out that Russian troops left Bucha on March 30. The Ukrainian authorities remained silent all these days, and now they have suddenly posted sensational footage in order to tarnish Russia’s image and make Russia defend itself," Antonov said.

"I would like to emphasize with full responsibility that not a single civilian suffered from violence when the town was controlled by the Russian Armed Forces. On the contrary, our troops delivered 452 tonnes of humanitarian aid for civilians," Antonov stressed. "Meanwhile, the fact that the Ukrainian Armed Forces shelled the town of Bucha right after Russian troops had left was deliberately ignored in the US. This is what could have caused civilian casualties. That said, the Kiev regime is clearly trying to blame its atrocities on Russia," he added.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that the Russian Armed Forces had left Bucha, located in the Kiev region, on March 30, while "the evidence of crimes" emerged only four days later, after Ukrainian Security Service officers had arrived in the town. The ministry stressed that on March 31, the town’s Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk had confirmed in a video address that there were no Russian troops in Bucha. However, he did not say a word about civilians shot dead on the street with their hands tied behind their backs.

NATO Should Not Block Setting Up a New Security Framework in Europe

By Gao Jian

Apr 03, 2022 11:53 AM

NATO Expansion Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

"We have not yet created the security architecture that would address the situation change after the collapse of the Berlin Wall… The war in Ukraine is the consequence of this political failure," said former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder during his recent tour to Turkey. 

Within the framework of "strategic autonomy" of the EU, the biggest challenge for the bloc to establishing a new European security framework is NATO which is currently dominated by the US and the UK. 

Provoking geopolitical crises, hyping up political issues that are legacies of the Cold War, which are based on so-called democratic values, and strengthening the Eastern European countries' hostility against Russia have become the trump cards for NATO in order to maintain its tight grip on European security. As the EU is, thus far, unable to provide the continent with effective security guarantees, relying on the US-dominated NATO has become an inevitable option for most Eastern European countries. 

The US has long sought to infiltrate Central and Eastern European countries ideologically and politically. Meanwhile, the EU lacks political unity. Exploiting this structural weakness within the EU to incite smaller Eastern European countries to disrupt the EU's strategic planning is a tactic often used by the US and the UK governments.   

The UK and the US share a highly consistent stance to weaken the unity of the EU. Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the UK has proactively intervened. It rushed to the forefront, trying hard to incite Central and Eastern European countries such as Poland to provoke a confrontation between Russia and Ukraine with the purpose of inflating the strategic costs of major European countries including Germany and France.    

Therefore, how to deal with diplomatic constraints from Anglo-Saxon countries such as the US and the UK is a core issue for the EU to face when it comes to a European security mechanism. Establishing a new European security framework has become the most urgent strategic task for the EU.

The EU must earnestly strengthen its strategic awareness of independence, and build a strategic framework and create solutions based on both European history and reality, to face potential geopolitical and regional security crises. 

Thirty years have passed since the end of the Cold War, however, the binary opposition in European political culture, "West vs. non-West," still lingers in mainstream political discourse in Europe. However, under the NATO security mechanism, which is dominated by the Cold War narrative, allies often become toxic friends while the EU, from time to time, becomes the scapegoat for bad US foreign policies. The Americanization of political ideology in Europe has led to the fact that political common sense has turned into a scarce resource in EU's foreign policy. 

As far as the Russia-Ukraine conflict is concerned, Russia is not only a neighbor that cannot move away from the EU, but also provides fundamental guarantees to the EU's energy needs and people's livelihoods. Is it so difficult to respect the core interests of Russia, expand the basis of common interests of the two sides, eliminate historical grievances, and offer Europe a future with more choices? 

As it is known, the EU was developed from war-torn European people with the common purpose of pursuing permanent peace under the principle of respecting the principle of national and cultural diversity. Regrettably, in the field of foreign policy, the EU's concept of peaceful coexistence has yet to be strengthened.

If the EU wants to keep the initiative of maintaining regional security firmly in its own hands, simply raising defense spending is not the solution. 

On the one hand, the NATO, as led by the US and the UK, will not allow Europe to go too far on the path of building an EU-oriented security mechanism. Actually, the US has a variety of policy options and means to provoke a security crisis in Europe. Washington still has inestimable political influence in Europe. 

On the other hand, the EU is heavily reliant on the NATO-centered security mechanism. There are fundamental differences when it comes to the interests of different EU member states. In this era of drastic changes, what the EU needs to implement the political will of "strategic autonomy" and establish a new security mechanism for the future is not microphone politicians, but true statesmen who dare to make a difference.

It is hoped that the Russia-Ukraine conflict can serve as a profound warning to European political circles to make a difference before a more fundamental political crisis ensues.

The author is a scholar at Shanghai International Studies University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn

European Energy Crisis Looms amid Russia-Ukraine Tensions, Incurring an Estimated GDP Loss of 1-2% on the Bloc

By GT staff reporters

Apr 03, 2022 02:27 PM

Photo: Xinhua

With Russia's ruble payment for natural gas taking effect on Friday, the clock is ticking for Europe to grapple with the looming gas cutoff threat which would not only make the bloc face an unprecedented full-blown energy crisis but could also create a ripple effect throughout its manufacturing, logistics, and other services sectors, undercutting European GDP by about 1 to 2 percent and even lead to a political crisis, analysts predicted.

Moscow said gas will continue flowing with payments for supply from April 1 due to be paid by the end of the month or early May, giving respite to Europe whose leaders insist they will not comply with the ruble payment decree by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Analysts said the choices left for the bloc are limited, as the alternative LNG shipment from the US cannot cover demand in the short term and Europe is also severely lacking in LNG-receptive infrastructures.

These dire consequences seem to be very ironic, as Washington stands to pocket huge profits from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, while the interests of its European allies are compromised or even sacrificed, observers said, pointing out that Europe could become one of the biggest victims of the US advancing its global hegemony.

Putin announced that the ruble payment for natural gas purchases for "unfriendly" countries took effect on Friday. Under the new rule, foreign buyers will need to open special ruble and foreign currency accounts with Russia's Gazprombank JSC to handle payments.

If account payments are not made, Russia will consider it a default on the part of buyers, and halt supply, Reuters reported.

European leaders have rejected paying with the ruble, which they said violates existing contracts. While Baltic country Lithuania said on Saturday that it has fully abandoned Russian gas imports, other European countries have yet to make clear what their stance or back-up plans are. 

According to a Bloomberg report, European buyers are "looking for clarity on how the new system will work." The German government was reportedly studying details, Denmark condemned the move, and French Ecology Minister Barbara Pompili said she didn't see the request as a breach of contract as companies would still be able to pay in euros.

While the political wrestling would linger and European leaders may align to bolster their hard political stance against Russia, analysts predicted that there may be some easement on actual practices. 

For example, some European countries may apply for exemptions via the EU mechanism, or there may be "some difference" between governments' tough stance and how EU energy firms handle the payment, Cui Hongjian, director of the Department of European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Sunday. 

Looming energy crisis

Russia accounts for over 40 percent of Europe's total natural gas supply and 50 percent of the coal supply used in Europe. The European natural gas price reportedly jumped 34 percent after the ruble payment decree. 

Analysts warned that a further hike in natural gas prices could drive up living costs for ordinary Europeans, further heaping up inflation pressure and even intensifying political crises. 

According to Investec Bank, the UK's cap on energy prices could spike by another 50 percent in October to more than 3,000 pounds per household, driven by fears about disruptions to the European gas supply.

EU economic heavyweight Germany, which relies heavily on Russian energy imports, has seen its March energy price rise 129.5 percent than that of February. In March, German consumers' spending for household energy and fuels grew by 22.5 percent year-on-year, according to data released by the Federal Statistical Office of Germany.

Germany declared an early warning in its national gas emergency plan on Wednesday, urging its people to cut their energy consumption. The country's energy-intensive sectors including steelmaking, papermaking, and logistics have reportedly felt the pinch. Some operations have had to be suspended as they cannot afford the skyrocketing energy price. 

According to media reports, there are three stages in Germany's emergency plan, and the final stage is only activated when "there is exceptionally high demand for gas or significant disruption to gas supply, with all market-based measures implemented and supply still insufficient."

"When the final stage is triggered as energy crisis snowballs, energy consumption will prioritize civilian use, and supply for industrial use could be totally halted in that case, exerting a devastating effect not only on Germany but also the European economy - which has been battered by the pandemic," Cui warned, while estimating that such energy crises could erase Europe's GDP expansion by around 1 to 2 percentage points.

It is projected that the EU economy will grow by 4 percent in 2022, according to a report issued by European Commission on February 10, before signs of an energy crisis manifested. 

Cui said a curb on industrial production also weighs on fiscal government income, which matters to social welfare, resulting in a vicious circle that may even threaten the European bloc's political stability.

No way out

A possible alternative to Russia's natural gas is to import LNG from the US. Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Sunday that US LNG shipment is not "an immediate solution" as the plan cannot be implemented within the next few months due to soaring gas price and limited facilities to accommodate shipment. 

In March, the US and Europe struck a major LNG deal, under which the US will provide the EU with at least 15 billion additional cubic meters of LNG by the end of the year. "From a realistic point of view, US LNG shipments are also unable to fully cover the gap left by Russia's natural gas imports, not to mention higher logistical costs," Lin said.  

US exporters have shipped record volumes of LNG to Europe for three consecutive months, as prices increased10 times more than a year ago, another Reuters report said. 

According to a study by energy research institute Aurora Energy Research, it would cost between 60 and 100 billion euros filling up gasshortage from non-Russian sources.

China Reports Record-high Five-digit Daily Infections with Shanghai Worst Hit, New Variant Found in Suzhou

By Global Times

Apr 03, 2022 11:48 AM

Medical workers work in the quarantine zone at the Shanghai New International Expo Center in east China's Shanghai, April 1, 2022. Photo: Xinhua

The Chinese mainland reported 13,146 local COVID-19 cases on Sunday, including 1,455 confirmed and 11,691 asymptomatic ones, the highest number of daily increase since the latest outbreak, which has already infected over 100,000 people. 

While one of the severest-hit regions in Northeast China's Jilin Province successfully curbed the epidemic, the infection curve has not seen signs of decline, and a new Omicron variant mutation was detected in East China's Jiangsu Province, neighboring Shanghai, where the mass majority of cases in China have been found in recent days. 

Shanghai in particular, reported 438 local confirmed and 7,788 asymptomatic cases on Sunday. Chinese Vice Premier, Sun Chunlan, on Saturday made an official visit to the city to help battle the virus.

Sun stressed that the dynamic zero-COVID strategy must be upheld with resolute and swift action, while recognizing the enormous challenges that the mega city of 25 million faces in both maintaining the normal operation of its core functions and battling the Omicron variant outbreak.

Even with the Omicron variant, as long as we take proactive measures, it still can be brought under control, said Zhang Boli, an academician from the Chinese Academy of Engineering and head of the Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), adding that the high percentage of asymptomatic cases in the current epidemic outbreak is due to the characteristics of the variant itself, but is also tied to the speedy mass testing rollout. 

Zhang also noted that the increase in vaccination rates among residents has boosted herd immunity against the virus, and those who get infected will show lighter or no symptoms. As of Sunday, the Chinese mainland had administered a total of over 3.27 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine, according to health officials. 

Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist of China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Friday that the reason that China reports more asymptomatic cases and fewer severe cases is not the result of the characteristics of Omicron, as foreign countries are reporting even more deaths caused by Omicron compared with that of Delta. 

"It is the result of our effective epidemic prevention work, namely the early identification of the epidemic, timely response, and the whole-process management for all infected people, including the asymptomatic cases, giving them traditional Chinese medicine to improve their immunity and prevent severe infection," Wu said. 

If more asymptomatic cases are to be discovered as the epidemic progresses, there is a possibility that the asymptomatic cases who meet the quarantine conditions can be quarantined at their own homes, Chen Erzhen, the deputy head of Ruijin Hospital in Shanghai, said in an interview with the People's Daily on Friday.

Wu said that epidemic control would be more challenging for a city when infections exceed 10,000 within a short period. For one thing, more patients need to be treated and greater quantities of close contacts need to be quarantined; for another thing, medical staff are put under increased pressure. However, he believed that the Chinese tradition of helping others in need will help regions win this hard battle eventually.

With Shanghai's hospital system on the verge of being overwhelmed, medical teams and supplies from across the country are flooding in to help fight the outbreak, with thousands of medical workers coming from neighboring provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang to assist in nucleic acid testing and the building of makeshift hospitals among other epidemic prevention tasks.

Apart from medical supplies, food and other daily necessities are being sent to Shanghai to ensure local residents maintain a state of normalcy. A total of 10 regions from across China had come to the aid of Shanghai as of Sunday. 

Shanghai has distributed antigen self-testing kits to help with citywide screening. The renowned local infectious disease expert Zhang Wenhong said that through the antigen test, authorities can acquire the basic infection data and contain parts of the infection sources so that they can prevent the transmission in a timely manner. To conduct antigen tests aside from the nucleic acid test can also boost the efficiency, he said. 

Suzhou in East China's Jiangsu Province, which borders Shanghai, discovered a confirmed coronavirus disease patient infected with a mutation VOC/Omicron variant BA.1.1, unidentified in previously found strains worldwide, posing new threats to the already dangerous situation in the region.

Another hard-hit region by the epidemic, Jilin Province, has seen little sign of improvement, recording 4,455 cases on Sunday. Jilin city announced on Sunday that it had successfully curbed the virus. 

Global Times

UN and DRC Pay Tribute to the 8 Peacekeepers Who Died in Helicopter Crash in North Kivu

The memorial service in Goma, eastern Congo, Saturday April 2 2022.

By Camille Pauvarel and Africa News

The Congolese authorities and the United Nations Mission in Congo paid tribute to the eight peacekeepers killed in a helicopter crash in the Democratic Republic of Congo earlier this week. The crash killed six Pakistanis, a Russian and a Serb. The helicopter was on a mission carried out in the North Kivu province, in the east of the country, an area where clashes have taken place in recent days between rebels of the M23 movement and the congolese security forces.

The UN has launched an investigation into the incident as both sides blame eachother.

"As we remember our peacekeepers, we cannot ignore the many soldiers and civilians, including women and children, who have fallen under fire which continue, sadly, to resound in eastern Congo", declared at the ceremony taking place in Goma, Bintou Keita, Representative of the UN Secretary General in the DRC.

"Th\_e determination and will of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and MONUSCO troops in the face of the various losses of human life will be the motivation for the next missions."_, said Gilbert Kabanda, the Congolese minister of Defence.

On Friday, the Rebel group declared a unilateral ceasefire, claiming they were ready to talk with Kinshasa and wished for a "peaceful settlement" of the conflict."We remain faithful to our political line, which is to reach a peaceful settlement of the crisis with the government. The Congolese revolutionary army reserves the right to retaliate vigorously in the event of a new war initiative by the national army or its auxiliaries.", announced Willie Ngoma, M23 spokesperson.

The group was defeated by the national army in 2013 But took up arms again last November asking for the demobilisation and integration of its combatants, as promised they say, by the governement.

The congolese authorities haven't yet reacted to the peace settlement suggestion.

North Kivu Conflict: Congolese Refugees Reluctant to Move Back to Their Villages

Seka Junior received a bullet while working in a village near Runyoni, DRC.

GUERCHOM NDEBO/AFP or licensors

By Camille Pauvarel and Africa News with AFP

After fighting between the national army and M23 rebels erupted earlier this week in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, thousands of congolese fled to neighboring Uganda.

Now, Kinshasa is asking them to regain their villages but people are reluctant fearing for their life. UN High Commissioner for Refugees says about 10,000 people have already crossed the border.

A few days ago, the rebels retreated from positions taken on the road leading from Goma, the capital of North Kivu, to Bunagana, on the Ugandan border. It was near Bunagana that a UN helicopter crashed for reasons that remain unknown on Tuesday, killing eight peacekeepers._"I was living in Bunagana where I was selling hemp. I wanted to go and sell my business in a village near Runyoni, and that's where I was shot, and here I am in this state.", says _Seka Junior, injured in attack and lying in a hospital in Rushuru.

Many other civilians who didn't leave the country rushed to Rutshuru, where they found precarious shelter in schools or churches. "The rebels are still in our villages, it's too complicated to go back because we can't live together, there may be other clashes and we will be victims.", says Bibwesho, displaced in Rutshuru.

On top of the 10,000 refugees already in Uganda, according to the UN, about 36,000 civilians have been displaced within the DRC.

Somaliland Market Fire Losses Estimated at Up to $2 Billion

By OMAR FARUK

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A massive fire in an expansive market in the capital of Somaliland destroyed property worth up to $2 billion, according to local officials in the autonomous region of Somalia.

At least 28 people were wounded in the Friday night fire that ravaged Waheen market, a major source of livelihood for the residents of Hargeisa.

The loss on the eve of the holy month of Ramadan sparked despair among many at home and solidary efforts among outsiders who say they will help Somaliland in rebuilding the market.

A preliminary report released by a national taskforce looking into the fire estimates losses of between $1.5 billion and $2 billion.

The cause of the fire is yet to be determined, but some traders in Hargeisa said they believe a bad electrical connection may have been the cause.

The disaster has united Somalis, with President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed of Somalia reaching out to Somaliland leader Muse Bihi Abdi in a rare phone call between the two. Abdi, who has been Somaliland’s president since 2017, has been pursuing international recognition of his territory’s self-declared independence, which Somalia opposes.

“Saddened to see the aftermath of the fire in Hargeisa with such destruction in the open market that is the economic heart of the city, affecting many small and family enterprises,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Twitter. “Your city will rise again and the UK will do what we can to support Somaliland’s rebuilding effort.”

Some in Hargeisa who spoke to AP said the fire shattered their livelihood.

“It is a major hit on the first day of Ramadan, as so many of us rely on this market (to) make our ends meet,” said businesswoman Hodan Ali, who lost property in the inferno.

She described Waheen market as “a one-stop spot for the needs of” Somalilanders.

Strategically located by the Gulf of Aden, Somaliland’s territory of more than 3 million people broke away from Somalia in 1991 as the country collapsed into warlord-led conflict.

Despite lacking international recognition, Somaliland has maintained its own independent government, currency and security system. The region has largely succeeded in holding regular elections over the years, including parliamentary polls held last year.

Aid Group: More Than 90 Migrants Drowned in Mediterranean

By SAMY MAGDY

CAIRO (AP) — More than 90 people in an overcrowded boat drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, a prominent humanitarian group said, in the latest tragedy involving migrants departing from North Africa to seek a better life in Europe.

Doctors Without Borders said late Saturday the migrants were on a vessel that left Libya last week. It was unclear exactly when the boat ran into trouble, said Juan Matias Gil, the group’s head of mission.

The group, also known by its French acronym MSF, said an oil tanker rescued four migrants early Saturday in international waters. The survivors reported that they were on the boat along with about 100 other migrants, it said.

MSF said the tanker did not respond to its calls not to return the migrants to Libya, where “they will almost certainly face detention, abuse and ill-treatment.”

The group urged Italy and Malta to “assign a place of safety for the survivors before it is too late.” It also called for The European Union border protection agency Frontex and other EU agencies to reveal the details of the incident.

Migrants regularly attempt to cross the Mediterranean from the North African nation in a desperate attempt to reach European shores. The country has emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.

Human traffickers in recent years have benefited from the chaos in Libya, smuggling in migrants across the oil-rich country’s lengthy borders with six nations. The migrants are then typically packed into ill-equipped rubber boats and set off on risky sea voyages.

Around 300 migrants died or were presumed dead along the Central Mediterranean route between Jan. 1 and March 28, according to International Organization for Migration. About 3,100 were intercepted and taken back to Libya.

Once back in Libya, the migrants are typically taken to government-run detention centers rife with abuse and ill-treatment.

In 2021, at least 32,425 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya. At least 1,553 are presumed to have drowned last year, according to IOM.

Investigators commissioned by the United Nations’ top human rights body found evidence of possible crimes against humanity committed in Libya against migrants detained in the country.

People Living Next to Belgorod Oil Depot Allowed to Return to Their Homes

The fire at the oil depot has been localized. There is no threat to life and health of people, Mayor Anton Ivanov wrote in his Telegram channel

MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/. People living near the Belgorod fuel depot, which was hit by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in an airstrike, can return to their homes, Mayor Anton Ivanov wrote in his Telegram channel on Friday.

"The fire at the oil depot has been localized. There is no threat to life and health of people. All the residents can come back to their homes. The group from the Belgorod Arena has already been brought back," he wrote.

It was reported that 43 locals had been evacuated from the residential buildings near the burning oil depot. They were accommodated at the Belgorod Arena and provided with hot meals and drinks. Their pets were also taken care of.

On Friday morning, a fire broke out at a petroleum depot belonging to the Belgorodnefteprodukt company after the Ukrainian Armed Forces had carried out two airstrikes in Belgorod. No one was killed or injured in the incident. Chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin initiated an investigation into the airstrike. On Friday evening, the Russian Emergencies Ministry said that the blaze had been extinguished at the oil depot.

African Refugees See Racial Bias as US Welcomes Ukrainians

By PHILIP MARCELO

April 1, 2022 GMT

Wilfred Tebah, who fled Cameroon during its ongoing conflict, poses for a photo in the backyard of his home, Thursday, March 31, 2022, in Columbus, Ohio. African refugees say the recent decision to grant Ukrainians fleeing war refugee status and other humanitarian protections underscores the racial bias inherent in American immigration policy. Tebah says he and other immigrants from Cameroon have long been deserving of similar humanitarian considerations. (AP Photo/Patrick Orsagos)

Wilfred Tebah doesn’t begrudge the U.S. for swiftly granting humanitarian protections to Ukrainians escaping Russia’s devastating invasion of their homeland.

But the 27-year-old, who fled Cameroon during its ongoing conflict, can’t help but wonder what would happen if the millions fleeing that Eastern Europe nation were a different hue.

As the U.S. prepares to welcome tens of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing war, the country continues to deport scores of African and Caribbean refugees back to unstable and violent homelands where they’ve faced rape, torture, arbitrary arrest and other abuses.

“They do not care about a Black man,” the Columbus, Ohio, resident said, referring to U.S. politicians. “The difference is really clear. They know what is happening over there, and they have decided to close their eyes and ears.”

Tebah’s concerns echo protests against the swift expulsions of Haitian refugees crossing the border this summer without a chance to seek asylum, not to mention the frosty reception African and Middle Eastern refugees have faced in western Europe compared with how those nations have enthusiastically embraced displaced Ukrainians.

In March, when President Joe Biden made a series of announcements welcoming 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, granting Temporary Protected Status to another 30,000 already in the U.S. and halting Ukrainian deportations, two Democratic lawmakers seized on the moment to call for similar humanitarian considerations for Haitians.

“There is every reason to extend the same level of compassion,” U.S. Reps. Ayanna Pressley, of Massachusetts, and Mondaire Jones, of New York, wrote to the administration, noting more than 20,000 Haitians have been deported despite continued instability after the assassination of Haiti’s president and a powerful earthquake this summer.

Cameroonian advocates have similarly ratcheted up their calls for humanitarian relief, protesting in front of the Washington residence of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and the offices of leading members of Congress this month.

Their calls come as hundreds of thousands in Cameroon have been displaced in recent years by the country’s civil war between its French-speaking government and English-speaking separatists, attacks by the terrorist group Boko Haram and other regional conflicts.

The advocacy group Human Rights Watch, in a February report, found many Cameroonians deported from the U.S. suffered persecution and human rights violations upon returning there.

Tebah, who is a leading member of the Cameroon American Council, an advocacy group organizing protests this month, said that’s a fate he hopes to avoid.

Hailing from the country’s English-speaking northwest, he said he was branded a separatist and apprehended by the government because of his activism as a college student. Tebah said he managed to escape, as many Cameroonians have, by flying to Latin America, trekking overland to the U.S.-Mexico border and petitioning for asylum in 2019.

“I will be held in prison, tortured and even killed if I am deported,” he said. “I’m very scared. As a human, my life matters too.”

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees TPS and other humanitarian programs, declined to respond to the complaints of racism in American immigration policy. It also declined to say whether it was weighing granting TPS to Cameroonians or other African nationals, saying in a written statement only that it will “continue to monitor conditions in various countries.”

The agency noted, however, that it has recently issued TPS designations for Haiti, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan — all African or Caribbean nations — as well as to more than 75,000 Afghans living in the U.S. after the Taliban takeover of that Central Asian nation. Haitians are among the largest and longest-tenured beneficiaries of TPS, with more than 40,000 currently on the status.

Other TPS countries include Burma, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen, and the majority of the nearly 320,000 immigrants with Temporary Protected Status hail from El Salvador.

Lisa Parisio, who helped launch Catholics Against Racism in Immigration, argues the program could easily help protect millions more refugees fleeing danger but has historically been underused and overpoliticized.

TPS, which provides a work permit and staves off deportation for up to 18 months, doesn’t have limits for how many countries or people can be placed on it, said Parisio, who is the advocacy director for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network.

Yet former President Donald Trump, in his broader efforts to restrict immigration, pared down TPS, allowing designations for Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea in West Africa to expire.

Although programs like TPS provide critical protections for vulnerable refugees, they can also leave many in legal limbo for years without providing a pathway to citizenship, said Karla Morales, a 24-year-old from El Salvador who has been on TPS nearly her whole life.

“It’s absurd to consider 20 years in this country temporary,” the University of Massachusetts Boston nursing student said. “We need validation that the work we’ve put in is appreciated and that our lives have value.”

At least in the case of Ukraine, Biden appears motivated by broader foreign policy goals in Europe, rather than racial bias, suggests María Cristina García, a history professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, focused on refugees and immigrants.

But Tom Wong, founding director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Center at the University of California, San Diego, said the racial disparities couldn’t be clearer.

“The U.S. has responded without hesitation by extending humanitarian protections to predominately white and European refugees,” he said. “All the while, predominately people of color from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia continue to languish.”

Besides Cameroon, immigrant advocates also argue that Congo and Ethiopia should qualify for humanitarian relief because of their ongoing conflicts, as should Mauritania, since slavery is still practiced there.

And they complain Ukrainian asylum seekers are being exempted from asylum limits meant to prevent the spread of COVID-19 while those from other nations are being turned away.

“Black pain and Black suffering do not get the same attention,” says Sylvie Bello, founder of the D.C.-based Cameroon American Council. “The same anti-Blackness that permeates American life also permeates American immigration policy.”

Vera Arnot, a Ukrainian in Boston who is considering seeking TPS, says she didn’t know much about the special status until the war started and wasn’t aware of the concerns from immigrants of color. But the Berklee College of Music sophomore hopes the relief can be extended to other deserving nations.

Arnot says TPS could help her seek an off-campus job with better pay so she doesn’t have to rely on her family’s support, as most in Ukraine have lost their jobs due to the war.

“Ukrainians as a people aren’t used to relying on others,” she said. “We want to work. We don’t want welfare.”

For Tebah, who is staying with relatives in Ohio, TPS would make it easier for him to open a bank account, get a driver’s license and seek better employment while he awaits a decision on his asylum case.

“We’ll continue to beg, to plead,” Tebah said. “We are in danger. I want to emphasize it. And only TPS for Cameroon will help us be taken out of that danger. It is very necessary.”

___

Associated Press video journalist Patrick Orsagos in Columbus, Ohio contributed to this story.

Ethiopian Premier Renews Push for Fruitful, Inclusive National Dialogue

wendimagegn — April 2, 2022

BY MENGESHA AMARE

ADDIS ABABA- Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) called on fellow citizens from all walks of life to exert utmost effort in making the upcoming National Dialogue successful and effective.

In his recent twitter message, Abiy stated that the National Dialogue has to be well reaped and all Ethiopians have to genuinely assist the process with unequivocal sense of belongingness.

He further said that the National Dialogue will be a helm to transform history and a viable means to lay nation on unwavering foundation if Ethiopians make use the chance and nurture it as diamond.

“We should right now work from dawn to dusk to well exploit the golden chance falls on our palm- the inclusive National Dialogue – which is capable of unraveling all long heaped political challenges rolling for years and reached this time. If we consider this precious opportunity as a trivial incidence, we will lose it at ease and get Ethiopia and citizens’ fate sprinkled in vain.”

In the message, he called on contending parties to be actively participate in the National Dialogue apart from being prime owners of the process to the effort exerted towards making the process a successful and swift one.

The Ethiopian Herald April 2/2022

Sudanese Police Kill One More Protester in Khartoum

A protesters killed by the security forces in Khartoum on March 21, 2022 (ST photo)

March 31, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – A protester was shot in Khartoum on Thursday by the security service in the latest demonstration rejecting the military coup, despite the recent U.S. sanctions against the systematic and widespread use of extreme violence.

In a statement seen by the Sudan Tribune, the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors said that  Assem Hasab Al-Rasoul, in his second decade of life, died after being shot in the chest by the forces on March 31.

“The coup authority is still using deadly violence against the peaceful protesters who are still committed to nonviolence, which has proven its strength against bullets and the security arsenal,” said the pro-democracy medical group.

The death toll from the anti-coup protests until now has risen to 93. The Resistance Committees call for another protest on April 6.

Eyewitnesses told Sudan Tribune that the riot police and the Central Reserve Forces used excessive violence against the demonstrators in central Khartoum city as they fired tear gas and live ammunition to disperse protesters.

The coup leaders say they are willing to hand over power to a civilian government to be formed at the end of an UN-AU-IGAD facilitated process.

The international and regional mediators, in vain, have urged the military authorities to stop violence against protests to create a conducive environment for dialogue.

(ST)

African Countries Respond to Global Inflation

By Ruth LAGO

31/03 - 18:46

In Africa, governments are stepping up their efforts to mitigate the impact of the Russia-Ukraine crisis on their citizens' wallets. According to UNCTAD data, no less than 25 African countries import more than a third of their wheat from Russia and Ukraine; 15 import more than half and two countries, Benin and Somalia, import 100%. So how is Africa trying to limit the impacts of this crisis?

Ghana presents robust digital economy

Ghana has recently embarked on the transformation of several public services. An identity card serves as a biometric passport and tax identification number. In this way, the country intends to mobilise domestic revenue and prosecute all those who evade taxes before the end of the year. This digital policy, which affects all sectors, should be a response to financial exclusion and the predominance of the informal sector.

Burundi coffee sector struggles to rebound

In Burundi, coffee accounts for nearly 40% of export resources, and supports 8 million Burundians. With the failure of the privatisation of the sector, the state has been running the sector since 2019, but production figures remain low, dropping from 34,000 to 6,000 tonnes for the 2021-2022 growing season. Coffee growers' discontent is growing, as well as the lack of traceability of all actors involved in the sector.

Senegal to Face the Netherlands in the Opening Game of the 2022 World Cup

Former Qatari footballer Adel Ahmed MalAllah holds the card showing the name of Senegal during the draw for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar on April 1, 2022.

FRANCOIS-XAVIER MARIT/AFP or licensors

Africa News

Senegalese supporters paid close attention to the 2022 World Cup draw which took place in Doha Friday evening. 32 teams selected were devided into eight groups of four nations. The top two in each group will advance to the knockout rounds.

The African champions will be the ones to kick off the competition against the Netherlands on November 21. If this adversary stands as a tough opponent, Ecuador and the country hosting the competition Qatar also in their group, stand as less insurmountable teams.

"Giving the draw and the fate of the other African teams, I think that Senegal has benefited from a rather merciful draw, commented Mouhamadou Moustapha Gaye in the capital Dakar after the announcement, The fact of playing in group A can allow Aliou Cissé's team to start very easily in the competition, to prepare calmly, to have a good time of recovery. I believe that all this together can give good results." Happy supporters who carry the hope for the Lions of Teranga to do much better than in 2018 and make it through the first round.

Huge Fire Destroys Market in Somaliland Capital

Fire at the Weehan market in Hargeisa, Somaliland.

Africa News

A giant fire broke out in the main market of the city of Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland. The blaze which started on Friday night, injured about two dozen people and destroyed hundreds of businesses, according to the authorities.

Hargeisa's mayor said firefightyers had done their best to contain the fire but struggled to gain access to the market because of the narrow pathways. According to some officials, the fire was largely brought under control by dawn on Saturday, although some small areas were still burning.

An estimated two thousand shops and stalls are located on the Waheen market. Hargeisa chamber of commerce chairman Jamal Aideed said the destruction of the market was a disaster as it accounted for 40 to 50 percent of the city's economy.

"The fire engulfed our businesses unexpectedly. We were not ready. We saw the fire as we were busy in working, then we fled to survive, we lost about $200,000 USD in this fire tragedy.", reported Khadar Ahmed Mohamed, businessman.

Somaliland president Muse Bihi Abdi said the government would be releasing one million dollars to help with the emergency response to the disaster. The cause of the blaze is still unknown.

Somaliland is an unrecognised republic in Somalia which self-declared its independance it 1991.

Nigeria’s Separatist Protests are Reminders of Biafran War

By CHINEDU ASADU

People walk across a normally packed highway during a separatists imposed lockdown in Enugu, Nigeria, Monday Feb. 14, 2022. Large parts of southeastern Nigeria come to a halt each Monday, as a separatist group has ordered all residents to stay at home to show support for their campaign for the region to become an independent country. For more than eight months the Indigenous People of Biafra organisation has directed people to carry out the strikes as they press for the region to break away from Nigeria. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

ENUGU, Nigeria (AP) — Slowly picking clean the beans he is trying to sell, Evaristus Nduka sadly surveys the nearly empty marketplace in Enugu, in southeastern Nigeria.

Mondays are no longer “for business because there is a lockdown,” Nduka says, referring to widespread weekly protests that have closed considerable commercial activity in the region.

A separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra, has ordered residents to stay at home every Monday as they continue their call for Nigeria’s southeast to become an independent country.

For at least eight months the group and its members have imposed the sit-at-home which is also to press for the release of Nnamdi Kanu, their leader being prosecuted for charges of treason and terrorism.

“It has crippled the whole of Mondays,” said Nduka of the protest. Many residents who have dared to go out on Mondays have been attacked and dozens have been killed, as reported over the months by the local media though authorities have not provided estimates. The lockdown is “affecting everything,” Nduka says.

The separatist group’s campaign reminds many of the short-lived Republic of Biafra which fought and lost a civil war from 1967 to 1970 to become independent from Nigeria. An estimated 1 million people died in the war, many of starvation.

More than 50 years later, the new separatist group says the Igbo people, Nigeria’s second-largest ethnic group from the southeast, are still being marginalized and persecuted.

The Igbo, with about 30 million people of Nigeria’s total population of 206 million, are concentrated in five of the country’s 36 states, including Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states.

“What we have decided is any day our leader will appear in court, our people will sit at home in solidarity; to show that they like what the man is doing for them,” said Emma Powerful, a spokesman for the Indigenous People of Biafra.

About 70% of the region’s people stay home on Mondays and when Kanu appears in court, which Ebonyi state governor Dave Umahi said is a result of “fear” that is increasing poverty.

In Orizo town in Ebonyi state, Success Nworie, 19, says no one in her family goes out on Mondays, and “it is causing hunger,” because they mostly live hand to mouth, from one day to the next.

Many government offices in the region are effectively closed on Mondays, despite efforts to keep them open.

The reason is more “a psychological issue” than of support for the Biafran separatist movement and its leader Kanu, said Steve Oruruo, a spokesman for the Enugu state governor.

In addition to the frequent lockdowns, Nigeria’s southeast is also confronted by growing violence in which gunmen often target security facilities, like police stations, jails and military camps.

Although the pro-Biafra group insists its secessionist campaign is peaceful and distances itself from some of the sit-at-home directives, police blame it for several acts of violence including an April 2021 jailbreak in Imo state in which nearly 2,000 inmates were freed.

Nigeria’s southeast, once among the safest in the country, is now battling violence and deepening poverty as the lockdown hits “the entire economy of the people of southeast (and) the day-to-day activities,” said Alex Ogbonnia, a spokesman for Ohanaeze Ndigbo, a cultural group representing the Igbo people.

With even police officers being targeted by the violence, ordinary residents are afraid to go out on Mondays, he said.

After some police stations and the residence of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo president were attacked recently, Nigerian leader President Muhammadu Buhari said “the law and order situation in the entire southeast is being reviewed,” but such statements in the past have not succeeded in restoring stability.

There’s little confidence that order can be reestablished in the southeast by Nigeria’s security forces, which are already overstretched by the 10-year-old revolt by the Boko Haram Islamic extremist rebels in the country’s northeast and rapidly growing communal violence in the northwest.

With another Monday lockdown around the corner, residents fear a continuation of the cycle of violence.

“It is very clear that the police are not enough to meet the security needs of the people,” said Ogbonnia of the Igbo cultural group.

China Warns of Spectre of Trouble for Asia Plotted by US in Light of Ukraine’s Crisis

The Chinese foreign minister said that Beijing’s third point characterizing its position is its opposition to Cold War methods

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi

© AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris

BEIJING, April 1. /TASS/. In light of the Ukrainian crisis, the Chinese authorities fear Asia may face such destabilization along the same lines as a result of Washington’s policy, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

"Since the outbreak of the Ukrainian crisis <...> China has shared its wisdom to overcome it and has made efforts in five areas," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, according to the Foreign Ministry. "Firstly, we assist in promoting peace negotiations. <...> Furthermore, we resolutely support the fundamental principles of the development of international relations."

The top diplomat said that Beijing’s third point characterizing its position is its opposition to Cold War methods. The fourth factor will always be "China’s protection of each state’s legitimate interests," noted Wang Yi.

"Finally, we intend to firmly uphold peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region", the Chinese diplomat stressed. "We fear that the US under the pretext of its so-called Indo-Pacific strategy will seek to create warring blocs in Asia and stir up trouble for the region," he went on to say.

Beijing intends to support the Russian-Ukrainian peace process and at the same time "uphold the Asia Pacific Region’s development process," the Chinese diplomacy chief said. "China will continue to interact with the international community <...> [and] will play a constructive role to maintain peace," Wang Yi concluded.

Putin Directed Defense Ministry to Increase Military Potential on Western Border - Kremlin

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin that military potential on the other side of the border was on the rise

MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/. Russia will reinforce its military potential along the Western border to ensure sufficient security, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Belarus-1 television.

He said Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin that military potential on the other side of the border was on the rise.

"Putin gave orders for Shoigu and our Defense Ministry is now working on this: a plan to react by increasing and reinforcing our military potential along the Western border," Peskov said. "That will be done in such a way that will keep us safe and so that it doesn’t occur to anyone to attack us."

In March, Putin tasked Shoigu with submitting to the Commander-in-Chief proposals on enhancing the Western wing of the Russian Federation’s state borders. At that point, the Russian leader said that those proposals will be discussed "in the near future," and relevant decisions will be made. In response, the defense minister said a plan of strengthening Russia’s western frontier was almost ready.

Earlier, the Russian president pointed out on many occasions that NATO military forces have approached Russian borders to be "at our doorstep.".

Kremlin Strikes Back at Ukrainian Attack on Belgorod Fuel Depot

"Clearly, it’s not what could create conditions for further talks," Dmitry Peskov said, when asked if the incident could be viewed as an escalation of the conflict

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov Mikhail Japaridze/TASS

© Mikhail Japaridze/TASS

MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/. The Ukrainian military’s airstrike on a fuel depot in the Russian city of Belgorod is not creating "conditions for further talks" between Moscow and Kiev, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

"Clearly, it’s not what could create conditions for further talks," he said, when asked if the incident could be viewed as an escalation of the conflict.

Peskov also pointed out that "it’s not for us at the presidential administration to provide assessments, it is professionals and law enforcement agencies that should do that." The Kremlin official noted that Russia’s air superiority in the special military operation in Ukraine "is an absolute fact."

The Kremlin press secretary was also asked to comment on Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s remark that Russian President Vladimir Putin had told him in a phone call that conditions had not been created yet for a ceasefire in Ukraine. "Everything we felt was appropriate to say at the end of the conversation, we outlined in our message. The special operation continues,’ the spokesman stressed.

On Friday, a fire broke out at a petroleum depot belonging to the Belgorodnefteprodukt company after the Ukrainian Armed Forces had carried out two airstrikes. The attack caused no casualties. The subsequent blazes that engulfed the fuel tanks prompted the local authorities to announce an evacuation of residents living on three streets adjacent to the facility.

Putin’s Rubles-for-gas Decree Sets In

© Mikhail Metzel/POOL/TASS

Vedomosti: Putin prohibits Gazprom from accepting euros and dollars from the EU

On March 31, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree turning foreign currency payments for Russian pipeline gas supplies to "unfriendly" countries into rubles. Unfriendly countries include those that placed sanctions on Russia following the launch of the special military operation in Ukraine. According to experts interviewed by Vedomosti, the concept averts fines and speculative risk, as payments may have previously become stranded in a European bank.

Russia will view refusal of paying for gas in rubles as breach of contract — Putin

The document requires unfriendly foreign buyers of pipeline gas (i.e., Gazprom clients) to create accounts in Russian banks beginning April 1 in order to pay for supplies. Under this mechanism, the buyer opens currency and ruble accounts with Gazprombank (GPB), pays for gas supplies via transfer to a foreign currency account, and then the bank exchanges this currency into rubles on the Moscow Exchange and deposits them into the buyer's ruble account, as described by commodity markets analyst at Otkritie investments Oksana Lukicheva. The gas is thus paid for in rubles from the buyer's ruble account.

According to a Gazprombank representative, the bank is Russia's third-largest systemically important bank with an international presence, and has "many years of experience in addressing Gazprom's needs in a wide range of settlements" with clients.

A source familiar with the new mechanism's development told Vedomosti that the presidential order pertains to payment for gas supplied beginning April 1. According to the source, payments for April gas begin in the second part of April in some Gazprom contracts and in May in others.

This is not the mechanism that will lead to the "creation of the ruble as the currency of international settlements," Renaissance Capital's Russia & CIS analyst Sofya Donets noted. Buyers of gas do not need to look for rubles. The concept, however, eliminates the penalties and speculative danger, as payments could have ended up stuck in a European bank before that.

A mechanism that allows formal payment, but makes sure that Russia does not receive it, is now impossible, Director for Analysis of Financial Markets and Macroeconomics at Alfa-Capital Management Company Vladimir Bragin told the newspaper.

Shell Unable to Buy Russian Gas Due to London’s Anti-Russian Stance - Kremlin Spokesman

London wants to be the leader of everything anti-Russian, Dmitry Peskov said

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov Mikhail Metzel/TASS

© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

MOSCOW, April 2. /TASS/. Shell’s inability to buy Russian gas is a side effect of London’s anti-Russian policies, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has told TASS.

"London wants to be the leader of everything anti-Russian, it even wants to be ahead of Washington [in this matter]. Well, here are the side effects," Peskov said, commenting on the fact that, in contrast with other EU countries, the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on Gazprombank and is now unable to pay for Russian gas, even in rubles.

Bloomberg reported on Friday that Shell will most likely be unable to pay for Russian gas this month, because the United Kingdom has imposed sanctions on Gazprombank.

Last week Russian President Vladimir Putin requested moving payments for gas supplies to unfriendly countries to rubles, saying that Moscow would refuse accepting payments on such contracts in discredited currencies, including dollars and euros. He also tasked the government with giving Gazprom an instruction on amending present contracts. On March 31, Putin signed a decree on rules of gas trade with unfriendly countries, which stipulates a new system of contract payment.

The new procedure of payment for Russian pipeline gas in rubles by buyers from unfriendly countries came into force on April 1. Such buyers are required to open special ruble and foreign currency accounts with Gazprombank to pay for gas supplies. Currency conversion will be carried out on Russian exchanges. In case of incomplete payment, the Russian customs is authorized to ban deliveries. The government commission for the control of foreign investment in Russia has the right to issue exceptions to these rules for individual buyers.

Tunisia Parliament Dissolved After MPs Defy President

BBC 

March 31, 2022

Tunisian President Kais Saïed has dissolved parliament, which he suspended eight months ago following mass protests.

It came after MPs convened online on Wednesday and voted to repeal presidential decrees that have given him near total power since last year.

The president termed the parliament's move a "coup attempt".

He said parliament had "lost its legitimacy" and had "betrayed" the nation - and the MPs responsible would be prosecuted.

Mr Saïed suspended parliament, assumed executive powers and moved to rewrite the constitution eight months ago. He has since ruled by decree.

Since then, anger at economic conditions in Tunisia has sparked street protests, some involving clashes with the police.

ANGOLA SUSPENDS PAY FOR STRIKING DOCTORS

"We won't pay the salaries of the striking doctors," Labour Minister Teresa Dias told reporters.

AFP | 

LUANDA - Angola on Thursday suspended the pay of doctors who launched a strike last week to demand better wages and medical supplies.

"We won't pay the salaries of the striking doctors," Labour Minister Teresa Dias told reporters.

Doctors went on strike on March 21, for the second time in four months. The last strike in December lasted five days.

Doctors say government has failed to follow through on promises made after the December protest.

The union called that strike after 20 children died in a single day at Luanda's paediatric hospital.

The union's president Adriano Manuel was sacked for drawing attention to the deaths, which he blamed on inadequate supplies and medicines at the hospital.

The government had agreed to give a 6% raise to basic salaries, expanded overtime and added benefits.

But doctors say they still face acute shortages of medications, and accuse the government of building new facilities without providing staff to run them.

Most of Angola's 5,610 doctors are believed to have joined the strike. About a quarter of them remained at work to maintain minimum staffing to respond to emergencies and tend to critically ill patients.

Miguel Sebastiao, secretary general of the Angolan National Doctors' Union, said the strike would continue despite the suspension of pay.

"As the doctors' union, we're simply calling for better salaries and an improvement in our working conditions," he said.

"The medical corps is still serving essential services -- emergencies, intensive care units and others," he added. "Those services continue to operate."

Resource-rich Angola, a large central African country with 33 million inhabitants, struggles with high poverty rates despite its oil wealth.

The country has fewer doctors as a proportion of its population than impoverished Haiti or war-ravaged Afghanistan, according to the World Bank.

Egypt's Currency Loses 17% of its Value Ahead of Ramadan

Africa News

Prices of food are going up in many countries in North Africa and the Middle East.

In Egypt as Ramadan nears and spending rises the local currency has lost 17% of its value.

"People's joy in welcoming Ramadan is different this year as this is the second Ramadan after Covid-19. Yes some prices are rising a bit and are different from other places, but people are shopping because they are happy that Ramadan is here and that the once a year season has arrived", said Mahmoud Khaled, a resident of Cairo.

Another resident, Dalia Amr, confirmed the increase in food prices.

"Yes, the prices might be higher but the people are shopping (for Ramadan goods) like every year because they like to do something new and be happy as they welcome Ramadan".

Egypt is a leading importer of wheat from Ukraine and Russia. The conflict between the two countries is affecting supplies.

The authorities have started implementing ways of stabilizing the economy.

"The devaluation of the currency to the US Dollar affected us and restricted the sales, as some goods are expensive while other prices are still fine", concluded merchant Sadat El khateeb.

The Egyptian government has already started talks at the IMF over a new assistance package, the third in six years.

The Kuti Family is Taking the Afrobeat Legacy to the US

Africa News

25 years after the death of Nigerian music legend Fela Kuti, his son, Femi, accompanied by his grandson are taking the sounds of Afrobeat to the US.

The new double "Legacy" was nominated for a Grammy. The father and son duo are hoping to win in the Global Music category.

"It's a joint release with my son, which makes it extra, extra special because of the collaboration with my son, him playing on my album because he played bass on my album, saxophone, and then being able to appreciate him doing his work, and then bringing the work out together, I think that was very special for me", admitted 59 year-old Femi Kuti.

The new album is divided into two parts -- one for the father, the other for the son, who plays all the instruments on his section. Dealing with the legacy left by music legend Fela Kuti was the hardest part.

"He has already stood firm to tell everybody, this is "Made Kuti and The Movement", with his first album even. It took me years... Look (laughing) my life was miserable! And to find my feet in such chaos... because my father was huge! Now he has a huge grandfather, a huge father, and then to find himself immediately, that's beautiful" added the son of music legend Fela Kuti.

Another contender for the Grammy is Nigerian afropop star Wizkid.

"I really like some of the ideas of some musicians that are taking, going back culturally, and reintroducing the cultural sounds to the modern scene like The Cavemen with Highlife. Everything is wonderful, Nigeria is a hotspot for creativity, Lagos" said 26 year-old singer and songwriter, Made Kuti.

The new album is a powerful cocktail of repetitive and hypnotic High Life style, Yoruba polyrhythms, jazz and funk.

More Than 400 Civilians Reported Dead as a Result of Fighting in Mali

Thousands of people have left Mali

Africa News

The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Ocha, have announced that violence in northern Mali has led thousands of people to seek refuge in neighbouring Niger.

According to the UN, citing security sources, more than 400 civilians are reported to have been killed during the fighting.

The majority of refugees are settling in localities in the Tahoua region, accoridng to Ocha. Some are already receiving assistance from the World Food Programme (WFP).

Behind the crisis is the deteriorating humanitarian context coupled with a food crisis.

Niger, particularly its western part, is hit by a serious food crisis caused by drought and jihadist violence that has prevented farmers from cultivating their fields, according to the UN and the Nigerien authorities.

Since 2017 that armed groups linked to Al-Qaeda and extremists Islamic State have been active in the region.

In 2021, suspected jihadists committed the worst massacres of civilians in Niger: in January 2021, 100 people were killed in two villages in Tillabéri and in March, 141 were massacred in several villages and camps in Tahoua.

After the Tahoua killings, the government closed a site housing some 20,000 Malian refugees in Intikane, accused of being a hideout for jihadists.

Guinea Ousted Ruling Party Names Ibrahima Kassory Fofana as New Leader

AFP

Africa News

Guinea’s former Prime Minister and leader of the party of former President Alpha Condé has resumed duties of the leading the country's opposition after been appointed as the head of a provisional body to lead his party.

Ibrahima Kassory Fofana was on Thursday appointed as provisional coordinator of the RPG party until a congress.

"When in May 2018, I decided to merge my former party Guinea for all in the RPG rainbow, I wanted to build an alliance that is in my opinion the constancy and in my sense to materialize a will, a direction, a vision, all the values that I shared and I still share with our champion, Professor Alpha Condé." - Ibrahima Kassory Fofana, former Prime Minister provisionally appointed to lead the RPG.

More than 350 delegates from the country and abroad took part at the convention in Conakry. The latest party politics comes amidst the row of a voice recording of Alpha Conde that surfaced last week indicating a leadership quarrel in the party.

"My first major decision is to ask the provisional executive bureau to organise a meeting at the grassroots level in consultation with the militants so that we can draw all the lessons from the past ten years of our governance." the former Prime Minister to delegates at the convention.

Guinea's ousted President Alpha Conde was allowed to leave officially for medical treatment in the United Arab Emirates UAE but he still looms large over the West African nation despite the take over by the army.

Democratic Republic of Congo Joins East African Trade Bloc, Widening the Market

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA

A woman sells fruits at the Virunga market in Goma, eastern Congo, Tuesday March 29, 2022. Congo has joined the East African Community, widening the trade bloc's footprint with the admission of its seventh member. The bloc also includes Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. With Congo's admission, it now commands a market of about 300 million people. Its overall goal is to create a political federation. (AP Photo/Jérome Delay)

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — The central African nation of Congo has joined the East African Community, widening the trade bloc’s footprint with the admission of its seventh member.

Congo applied to join the regional trade bloc, commonly known by its initials as the EAC, in 2019.

President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya announced Congo’s admission on Tuesday, calling it a “historic” moment for a group that originally only included Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.

The bloc also includes Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. With Congo’s admission, it now commands a market of about 300 million people. Its overall goal is to create a political federation.

The bloc’s common market mandates free movement of people, goods and capital, although occasional trade disputes among members have raised questions related to protectionism among local authorities. There also have been political tensions among members that the bloc hasn’t been able to resolve.

Rwanda’s government closed a busy border crossing with Uganda in February 2019 in what Uganda called a trade embargo. Rwanda’s government ordered its citizens not to travel to Uganda, asserting that Rwandan citizens were not safe across the border. The border crossing was only reopened earlier this year.

But South Sudan and Congo, the EAC’s most recent members, were keen to join the bloc.

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said his country is “looking forward to increased intra-EAC trade and reduction of tension” among neighbors, according to a communique announcing Congo’s membership of the bloc.

“It is the desire of (Congo) to see the creation of a new organ in the EAC that is solely focused on mining, natural resources and energy that will be based in Kinshasa,” he said.

Despite its vast size and wealth of natural resources, Congo remains one of the poorest countries in the world.

Eastern Congo is particularly plagued by rebel violence as several armed groups vie for control of its mineral-rich lands.

One armed group, the M23, launched attacks against government troops near the Uganda border on Monday, forcing thousands of civilians to seek temporary shelter in Uganda.

In another part of eastern Congo, Ugandan troops are helping Congolese forces to hunt down rebels linked to an Islamic extremist group.

Medical Charity Says 5 Abducted Workers are Freed in Nigeria

By CARLEY PETESCH

March 31, 2022

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The French medical charity Doctors Without Borders, or MSF, says that five of its employees have been released in Nigeria after being kidnapped last month in neighboring Cameroon.

Armed men kidnapped the MSF employees on Feb. 24 from the group’s base in Cameroon’s Far North region in Fotokol, which is near Nigeria and Chad. Those kidnapped and subsequently released include a Senegalese, Chadian and Franco-Ivorian along with their two Cameroon security guards.

The organization said the workers were released Wednesday in Nigeria and have been “taken to a safe place.”

“We are happy to find our colleagues safe and sound,” said the director general of the organization, Stephen Cornish. “We share the deep relief of their parents and loved ones, who were impatiently awaiting this news.”

The organization did not give details on the condition of the release.

Cheikh Ndiaye, the uncle of the Senegalese humanitarian who was taking hostages expressed his family’s relief.

”They are free. We were told they are in Nigeria. We rejoice and look forward with great relief to his return among us,” he said.

Islamic extremist groups Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province are known to carry out attacks in this region.