More than 300 school children kidnapped by armed men in northwest Nigeria last week have been rescued, The Independent reported Friday, quoting government officials. The boys, whose abduction was claimed by Islamist militant group Boko Haram, were headed back to Katsina, Gov. Aminu Masari said Thursday. But some boys remain unaccounted for, the governor told Nigeria’s state…
Pandemic-Compounded Debt Crisis Zambian President Edgar Lungu unveiled a 2020-2023 economic recovery plan on Thursday as the nation which is hugely dependent on copper — whose price has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, has seen its external debt surge to nearly 12 billion USD this year. Lungu stated that the country would take…
Ten years since the intoxicating early days of Tunisia’s revolution, hopes for a better future lie crushed, and in the rural town where it began, few are celebrating. It was in Sidi Bouzid that Mohamed Bouazizi, a fruit and vegetable salesman angered by police harassment, set himself alight on December 17, 2010. His act sparked…
Nigeria is lifting the closure of borders with neighbouring Benin and Niger which it imposed in August 2019 to curb the smuggling of rice and other commodities, the government said Wednesday. “Four land borders will be reopened immediately while the remaining borders are directed to be reopened on or before 31st of December,” Finance Minister…
Italy and Egypt are set to cut a major military deal, apparently disregarding tensions caused by the murder of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni in Cairo back in 2016. CAIRO — Despite the differences between Egypt and Italy over the case of Giulio Regeni, an Italian student whose body was found in Cairo on Feb. 3, 2016, Italian…
Hundreds of people Tuesday marched through Somalia’s capital Mogadishu to denounce president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, also known as Farmaajo. They accuse him of delaying the country’s legislative elections to aid his re-election bid in 2021. There were reports of clashes between gunmen protecting the protestors and security forces. Disagreements over the composition of the electoral…
Parents of the hundreds of Nigerian schoolboys kidnapped by Boko Haram are growing frustrated at the slow pace of rescue operations. State and federal forces have mounted patrols but there has been no positive news from them so far. “It’s almost three days I’m here. I am here whether I can see my child that…
Armed group claims responsibility for abduction of more than 300 schoolboys in northwest Nigeria, AFP reports. The Boko Haram group has claimed responsibility for the abduction of hundreds of school students in northwest Nigeria, the AFP news agency reported. More than 300 students are missing after gunmen on motorcycles stormed the Government Science School in…
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced the closure of many of the country’s beaches to fight a resurgence of COVID-19 infections in the run up to Christmas. Ramaphosa also announced an extended nighttime curfew and increased restrictions on the sales of alcohol, which will now only be available Monday to Thursday between 10 a.m.…
Monitoring Defense and security from Dec. 7 to 14, 2020-CC