#NAIROBI, October 21. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which take part in the conflict in Sudan, could have downed a cargo #plane, which supposedly carried Russian #citizens, having mistaken it for a military plane, the Sudan War Monitor website reported.

According to the report, one RSF commander said on a video, published by the militia, that it downed an "Egyptian Antonov plane" using "guided missiles." The website points out that, previously, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo accused Egypt of engaging its planes in the conflict - an allegation rejected by Cairo.

The Sudan War Monitor claims that an Il-76 plane was downed instead, with one crew member allegedly having an ID of Viktor Granov - chief engineer or Airline Transport Incorporation FZC, based in the UAE and affiliated with Kyrgyzstan. Another crew member had a Russian passport. No survivors have been reported, and the bulk of the plane has burned, the report says.

Previously, the Russian embassy in Sudan said that it is investigating the circumstances of the crash of a plane that could have potentially carried Russian citizens. According to the embassy, the "situation is complicated by the fact that the crash site is located in the region of Darfur, which is currently engulfed in fighting.".


Post-seen : 133 times

#Ramaphosa orders probe into Guptas' breakfast briefings, which cost the #SABC R20m


Post-seen : 135 times

#Ghana: Youth Harvest Foundation Commissions Borehole for Yikene Community #News #borehole #BoreholeCommissioning #GilbertAzeemTiroog #GNA


Post-seen : 136 times

Kaizer Chiefs' coach Nasreddine Nabi admitted that they weren't at their best in their 4-0 win over #SuperSport United, but got the victory in honour of the club's chairman


Post-seen : 144 times

The DR #Congo government has launched fresh military operations in North Kivu after a potential deal to ease tensions in the province fell through. They are no longer aimed solely at the #M23 rebel group, but also at the Rwandan #FDLR, one of Kinshasa's main allied forces in the conflict


Post-seen : 195 times

Ending conflict in #DRC, #Sudan, lifting sanctions against #Zimbabwe key priorities for #Angola.

It is with a very particular sense of honour that I address you and all the participants in this 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which is taking place within a very worrying international context, where tensions in international relations are worsening due to the multiplicity of conflicts of different natures and intensities in various parts of our planet.

It is understandable, of course, that in an environment of such instability and insecurity, it is much more challenging to achieve the major Sustainable Development Goals and others set by this organisation, so that we can achieve all the goals we have set ourselves.

Since the creation of the United Nations, after the end of the Second World War, the peoples of our planet have longed for peaceful coexistence at a global level, believing that any episodes that could jeopardise harmony, peace and universal security would be the object of careful attention and preventive measures taken within the framework of our organisation, so that they would not degenerate into conflicts and wars that would bring back to life the distressing moments experienced during the period from 1939 to 1945.

Almost eight decades on, the objective observation we can make today is that not only has this perspective not been realised, but we seem to be moving away from the founding purposes of the United Nations.

Faced with this reality, we need to consider where we have failed and what collective measures we should take to make the United Nations' intervention more active in the search for solutions that contribute to conflict prevention, the strengthening of world peace and security, the strengthening of trade and international co-operation, to ensure the prosperity of nations and the wellbeing of the peoples of our planet.

Today we are witnessing an attempt to undermine, ignore or even replace the role and importance of the United Nations in resolving the major issues that afflict humanity, particularly those that have to do with universal peace and security.

In this context, there is no more appropriate stage than this Magna Assembly to reverse this reality and assume the urgent need to reform this institution, placing special emphasis on adapting the Security Council to the realities of the contemporary world.

Its current format and composition still reflect the reality of the post-war period, far outstripped by the time and development of other regions of the planet, many of them colonised countries that are now independent members of the United Nations.

The reform of the United Nations Security Council and of the international financial institutions that emerged from Brettonwoods is urgent and necessary in order to give a voice to the countries of the global south, namely Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and the Indian sub-continent.


Post-seen : 251 times

#Gabon marks the first anniversary of its "liberation coup"


Post-seen : 334 times

Airport workers suspend strike for one week https://citizen.digital/news/airport-w


Post-seen : 335 times

Al-Shabaab turns 18: Why has the #Somalia terror group refused to die?

The United Nations Security Council unanimously voted on 15 August 2024 to extend the mandate of the 12,626 men and women of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (Atmis). The African mission has been stationed in Somalia for the past 17 years to support the government’s battle against the homegrown terrorist group al-Shabaab. Despite recent government successes, fighting continues in Somalia.

Why has al-Shabaab proved such a hard nut to crack?

It’s 18 years since the militant group Harakat al-Shabaab, as al-Shabaab refers to itself, rose out of the disintegrating Somali state. It emerged in 2006 from an existing radical network that lorded it over the capital Mogadishu through sharia courts. Since then it has suffered both battlefield defeats and territorial losses. Yet it remains as strong as ever.

In 2012 it joined the al-Qaeda global terrorist network. Al-Shabaab’s strength is estimated at between 7,000 and 12,000 soldiers, making it numerically the strongest organisation under the al-Qaeda umbrella.

I am a researcher and author who studies the war economy, security, political Islam and religion and development. My area of focus includes the Horn of Africa. My book, Horn, Sahel and Rift, the Faultlines of #African #Jihad, highlights factors that have enabled African jihadists to survive and flourish for decades. Some of these factors apply in the case of al-Shabaab.


Post-seen : 345 times

#Zimbabwe to #deport Ugandan tourist found with sex toy. A Ugandan tourist, who spent 24 days in a Zimbabwean jail for possessing a sex toy is now awaiting deportation after he was acquitted of the charges.

Tom Ssekamwa, 24, was arrested outside a lodge in Masvingo, a city that is 292km south of the capital Harare, alongside Czech tourist Lucas Slavik on August 2.

The two were detained at the height of a government crackdown on dissent ahead of a regional summit that saw over 200 opposition and civil society activists being held for allegedly plotting to disrupt the event.

Mr Ssekamwa was acquitted this week by magistrate Isaac Chikura of the charge of criminal nuisance.

He was also cleared of charges of violating the Censorship Act for being found with a rubber male organ in his bag.


Post-seen : 346 times