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Tag: eastern africa

  • Zambian student who died fighting for Russia in Ukraine laid to rest | CNN

    Zambian student who died fighting for Russia in Ukraine laid to rest | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The Zambian student who died in battle in Ukraine was buried Wednesday in a private ceremony in his home country, a family spokesman told CNN.

    Lemekani Nathan Nyirenda died on the frontlines of the Ukraine war while fighting for Russian mercenary group Wagner in September last year.

    His family representative Dr. Ian Banda spoke to CNN Wednesday morning as the family headed to Nyirenda’s final resting place in his village.

    “We are going to bury him now…. We are in a convoy… His (Nyirenda’s) mother and father are in a vehicle behind me. They are crying right now,” Banda told CNN.

    Nyirenda’s body was returned to Zambia last month. On arrival on December 11, his remains were transported to Zambia’s University Teaching Hospital Mortuary for post-mortem checks in compliance with Zambian laws.

    “The funeral gathering at the Nyirenda family residence, burial and memorial service formalities shall only commence upon completion of the aforementioned mandatory statutory procedures,” a family statement said at the time.

    Banda told CNN forensic investigation carried out on Nyirenda’s body had been “confirmed,” without releasing further details.

    Nyirenda is not the first African student killed in the Ukrainian battlefront fighting for Russia in a development that has sparked fury across the continent.

    A Tanzanian national, identified as Nemes Tarimo by his country’s foreign ministry, was killed last October last while fighting with Wagner in exchange for money and amnesty, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

    Tarimo was a master’s student at the Moscow Technological University, studying Business Informatics before being sent to jail for seven years for undisclosed criminal charges in March last year, the ministry stated, adding that his body had been dispatched from Russia and was expected to arrive in Tanzania soon for burial.

    Nyirenda, 23, was sponsored by the Zambian government to study nuclear engineering at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute but was convicted in 2020 of unspecified crimes in Russia and imprisoned for nine years and six months, Zambia’s foreign ministry said in a statement announcing his death in November.

    In a follow-up statement last month, the ministry explained Nyirenda was pardoned by the Russian government in August “to join a military operation in exchange for amnesty” and “was killed in September 2022 while participating in military activities.”

    Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group admitted to recruiting Nyirenda from a Russian jail, saying he chose to fight to “repay (Africa’s) debts” to Russia and “died a hero.”

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  • US strike kills approximately 30 al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia | CNN Politics

    US strike kills approximately 30 al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The United States carried out a strike in Somalia that killed approximately 30 al-Shabaab fighters, US Africa Command said in a statement Saturday.

    US forces on Friday “conducted a collective self-defense strike” in support of Somalia National Army forces who were “engaged in heavy fighting following a complex, extended, intense attack by more than 100 al-Shabaab fighters,” the statement said, referring to the terror group linked to al Qaeda.

    There were no US military present on the ground when the airstrike occurred, a US defense official said.

    The strike occurred about 260 kilometers northeast of the Somalian capital of Mogadishu, near Galcad. US Africa Command assessed that no civilians were injured or killed due to the remote location.

    The US has provided ongoing support to the Somali government since President Joe Biden approved a Pentagon request to redeploy US troops to the area in an attempt to counter the terrorist group in May 2022. The approval to send fewer than 500 troops was a reversal of former President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw all US troops from the country in 2020.

    “Somalia remains central to stability and security in all of East Africa. U.S. Africa Command’s forces will continue training, advising, and equipping partner forces to help give them the tools they need to defeat al-Shabaab, the largest and most deadly al-Qaeda network in the world,” the US military said in Saturday’s statement.

    In recent months, US forces have conducted numerous strikes in the region that have resulted in dozens of al-Shabaab casualties.

    In October, a US strike killed two al-Shabaab members about 218 kilometers north-northwest of Mogadishu. A subsequent November strike killed 17 al-Shabaab fighters approximately 285 kilometers northeast of Mogadishu. And in late December, another US strike killed six al-Shabaab militants near the city of Cadale, which is about 150 miles northeast of the capital.

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  • Uganda declares end of Ebola outbreak | CNN

    Uganda declares end of Ebola outbreak | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Ugandan authorities have officially declared the end of a recent Ebola outbreak after 42 consecutive days with no new cases.

    A formal declaration was made during a televised ceremony held in the central Mubende district, the epicenter of the outbreak, on Wednesday.

    According to the World Health Organisation, an Ebola outbreak is over if there are no new cases after 42 days, which is twice the incubation period.

    “Today, 11th January 2023 marks 113 days since the start of the Ebola outbreak in Uganda,​” said the health minister Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng Ocero.

    “I urge the population to remain vigilant, implement the standard operating procedures and to report any person in the community that presents with Ebola-like symptoms,” she stressed.

    The outbreak, the eighth in Ugana’s history, killed 55 people, said Aceng Ocero. There were a total 143 confirmed cases and 22 probable cases, she added.

    Ugandan Red Cross workers in Mubende, the epicenter of the outbreak.

    To combat the outbreak, officials launched aggressive contact-tracing to track down relatives and friends who handled the bodies of victims or attended funerals.

    Some escaped from quarantine facilities, others traveled as far as the capital Kampala, and a few visited traditional healers and witchdoctors for treatment instead.

    Cases were eventually confirmed in nine districts, including Kampala, according to the health ministry.

    Contact tracers pictured on October 12.

    The Ebola virus is transmissible – but not as transmissible as some other infectious diseases, like Covid-19. It can spread from person to person through direct contact with blood or other bodily fluids such as saliva, sweat, semen or feces, or through contaminated objects like bedding or needles.

    Ebola symptoms include fever, aches and pains, and fatigue, which then can progress to diarrhea, vomiting and unexplained bleeding.

    In 2012 an outbreak in the Kibaale district in the west of the country led to 17 deaths out of 24 confirmed cases, but was declared over in less than three months.

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  • Prominent Kenyan LGBTQ activist Edwin Chiloba reportedly found dead | CNN

    Prominent Kenyan LGBTQ activist Edwin Chiloba reportedly found dead | CNN

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    Reuters
     — 

    Kenyan police have discovered the body of a prominent LGBTQ rights campaigner stuffed inside a metal box in the west of the country, local media reported on Friday.

    Motorbike taxi riders alerted police after they saw the box dumped by the roadside from a vehicle with a concealed number plate, The Standard and The Daily Nation newspapers reported, quoting police sources.

    Activist Edwin Chiloba’s remains were found on Tuesday near Eldoret town in Uasin Gishu county, where he ran his fashion business, independent rights group the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) said.

    “He was brutally killed & dumped in the area by unknown assailants,” KHRC said on Twitter.

    “It is truly worrisome that we continue to witness escalation in violence targeting LGBTQ+ Kenyans.”

    Research suggests acceptance of homosexuality is gradually increasing in Kenya, but it remains a taboo subject for many. The country’s film board has banned two films for their portrayals of gay lives in recent years.

    Kenya National Police Service spokesperson Resila Onyango said she would comment at a later time. Uasin Gishu County Commander Ayub Gitonga Ali declined to comment.

    “Words cannot even explain how we as a community are feeling right now. Edwin Chiloba was a fighter, fighting relentlessly to change the hearts and minds of society when it came to LGBTQ+ lives,” GALCK, a Kenyan gay rights group, said on Twitter.

    Under a British colonial-era law, gay sex in Kenya is punishable by 14 years in prison. It is rarely enforced but discrimination is common.

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  • Nine suffocate to death in Uganda New Year’s firework crush | CNN

    Nine suffocate to death in Uganda New Year’s firework crush | CNN

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    Reuters
     — 

    At least nine people, including a 10-year-old boy, suffocated to death as crowds rushing to see a New Year’s firework display got stuck in a narrow corridor in a shopping mall near Uganda’s capital, police said.

    People started pushing through a passage in the Freedom City Mall just after clocks struck midnight, the force said.

    “Very many people got stuck as they were entering in large numbers to see fireworks. In doing so, many people suffocated to death. So far nine people are confirmed dead,” the police statement read.

    People had been celebrating the New Year at the mall which is on a highway linking Kampala to Entebbe airport.

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  • US strike kills 6 al-Shabaab militants in Somalia | CNN Politics

    US strike kills 6 al-Shabaab militants in Somalia | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The US carried out a strike in Somalia that killed six al-Shabaab militants on Friday, US Africa Command said in a statement.

    The strike was in “self-defense,” according to the command, or AFRICOM, and it was carried out at the request of the Somali government. According to an initial assessment, no civilians were killed or injured, AFRICOM said.

    It was the third such strike in 10 days, and it occurred in the same area of Somalia near the city of Cadale, about 150 miles northeast of the capital of Mogadishu.

    The first was on December 14, and AFRICOM said seven al-Shabaab militants were killed. The second strike came three days later and killed eight al-Shabaab militants.

    “Al-Shabaab is the largest and most deadly al-Qaeda network in the world and has proven both its will and capability to attack Somali, East African, and American civilians,” AFRICOM said in the statement.

    The US has provided ongoing support to the Somali government since President Joe Biden approved in May a Pentagon request to redeploy US troops to the area in an attempt to counter the terrorist group. The approval to send fewer than 500 troops was a reversal of former President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw all US troops from the country in 2020.

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  • UK’s controversial plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda ruled lawful by court | CNN

    UK’s controversial plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda ruled lawful by court | CNN

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    London
    CNN
     — 

    The UK’s controversial policy to deport some asylum seekers to Rwanda was deemed lawful by the country’s High Court on Monday.

    A group of NGOs, asylum seekers and a civil service trade union had questioned the legality of the scheme, which would see asylum seekers deemed to have entered the UK illegally sent to Rwanda to have their asylum claims processed.

    The court deemed the government is able to make those arrangements. But it also criticized Home Secretary Suella Braverman for failing to properly assess the circumstances surrounding individual people set to be moved under the scheme.

    Braverman “must decide if there is anything about each person’s particular circumstances which means that his asylum claim should be determined in the United Kingdom or whether there are other reasons why he should not be relocated to Rwanda,” Lord Justice Lewis said in his ruling.

    She “has not properly considered the circumstances of the eight individual claimants whose cases we have considered,” the judge continued. Those eight cases will be sent back to the Home Office for Braverman to reassess, he said.

    The UK government’s partnership with the East African country has been the subject of fierce criticism since it was announced by former UK Home Secretary Priti Patel in April.

    It has been backed by ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his successor Liz Truss and current leader Rishi Sunak, along with most of the ruling Conservative party.

    But it has a host of critics, including dozens of refugee rights groups, international agencies, British lawmakers on both sides of the House of Commons, the head of the Anglican church and some Rwandan opposition politicians.

    The first flight to Rwanda was set to take off on June 14, but the European Court of Human Rights stepped in at the eleventh hour, and months of legal challenges have stalled the program in the months since.

    The UK says it will pay Rwanda £120 million ($145 million) over the next five years to finance the scheme. 

    Braverman welcomed the Monday verdict, saying in a statement that she is “committed to making this partnership work.

    “My focus remains on moving ahead with the policy as soon as possible and we stand ready to defend against any further legal challenge,” she said.

    But the ruling was met with disappointment from campaigners, who have long contended that the plan is unethical and ineffective.

    “We are very disappointed in the outcome of this case. If the Government moves ahead with these harmful plans, it would damage the UK’s reputation as a country that values human rights and undermine our commitment to provide safety to those fleeing conflict and oppression, as enshrined in the 1951 Refugee Convention,” Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said in a statement.

    “Treating people who are in search of safety like human cargo and shipping them off to another country is a cruel policy that will cause great human suffering,” Solomon added. “The scheme is wrong in principle and unworkable in practice.”

    The number of people making dangerous journeys across the English Channel in small boats has spiked in recent years, with 2022 once again seeing record highs despite the government insisting that the Rwanda policy would work as a deterrent.

    It remains to be seen whether the policy will now operate effectively; the prospect of individual claims on behalf of migrants still threatens to scupper Sunak’s plans to get the policy off the ground.

    But the ruling will be welcomed by the government, which has sunk in popularity and lost the faith of most voters on a number of issues, according to opinion polls.

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  • Survivor found ‘gasping for life’ among bodies of 27 men dumped on Zambian roadside | CNN

    Survivor found ‘gasping for life’ among bodies of 27 men dumped on Zambian roadside | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Zambia’s police service says it is investigating the deaths of 27 men, all believed to be Ethiopian nationals, whose bodies were found on Sunday “dumped” by the roadside near the capital, Lusaka.

    Police spokesman Danny Mwale said in a statement that a total of 28 victims were found abandoned along Chiminuka road in the Ngwerere area of Lusaka.

    Only one of the men – who were all aged between 20 and 38 years – survived, Mwale said.

    “Out of the 28 persons, one was found gasping for life,” the police statement said, adding that the 27 bodies had been transferred to a Lusaka morgue “awaiting formal identification and postmortem.”

    The sole survivor was taken to a hospital for treatment, the police said.

    Ethiopians are increasingly taking desperate measures to escape Africa’s second most populous country, which has been in the grip of civil war for the past two years.

    Some Ethiopian nationals are lured with promises of job opportunities in South Africa but end up being held in dire conditions, according to immigration officials cited by the Lusaka Times.

    The latest discovery comes less than two months after police in neighboring Malawi found a mass grave that contained the remains of 25 Ethiopians in Malawi’s northern Mzimba district.

    Four more bodies of Ethiopian nationals were found “in a decomposed state” a day after, near the site of the mass grave in Mzimba, Malawi’s police said at the time.

    Just like Malawi, which has increasingly become a popular route for smuggling syndicates, Zambia has been described as both “a transit and destination country” for illegal migrants from the Horn of Africa who pass through the southern African country with the aim of reaching South Africa.

    In July, Zambia’s immigration officials intercepted more than 50 Ethiopians who were believed to have been smuggled into the country on their way to South Africa.

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  • Al-Shabaab terror attack targets Mogadishu hotel frequented by Somali lawmakers, police say | CNN

    Al-Shabaab terror attack targets Mogadishu hotel frequented by Somali lawmakers, police say | CNN

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    Mogadishu
    CNN
     — 

    The al Qaeda linked terror group al-Shabaab has carried out a suicide attack and stormed a central Mogadishu hotel frequented by Somalia’s ministers and members of parliament, Somali police said Sunday.

    Al-Shabaab stormed the Villa Rose hotel near Somalia’s presidential palace following a suicide bombing at the gate at 8 p.m. local time (noon ET), according to police.

    Capt. Bishar Ahmed confirmed to CNN that a major attack occurred at the hotel, which lies in a heavily protected zone in downtown Mogadishu, where the state house, ministries and a high-security intelligence prison are also located.

    Adam Aw Hirsi, the state minister for the environment, said he escaped the attack.

    Police have not released details on the number of casualties. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.

    Somalia’s armed forces, backed by the United States, have been carrying out a military campaign against the group since August in parts of southern and central Somalia.

    In May, US President Joe Biden decided to redeploy troops to Somalia in support of the local government and to counter al-Shabaab. The move reversed a decision by former President Donald Trump to withdraw all US troops from the country.

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  • Uganda’s President Museveni slams ‘Western double standards’ over Germany coal mine plans | CNN

    Uganda’s President Museveni slams ‘Western double standards’ over Germany coal mine plans | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has slammed Western countries over what he calls a “reprehensible double standard” in their response to the energy crisis brought about by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

    In a Twitter post on Sunday, Museveni singled out Germany for demolishing wind turbines to allow for the expansion of a coal-fueled power plant as Europe battles an energy crisis triggered by the Russia/Ukraine war.

    In September, Russia which had come under a raft of Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, halted gas supplies to Europe, leaving the region that was dependent on Russian oil and gas imports scampering for alternatives.

    Germany had proposed phasing out coal-fired power plants by 2030 to reduce carbon emissions. But Europe’s largest economy has now been forced to prioritize energy security over clean energy as gas supplies from Russia froze. Just like Germany, many other European countries are reviving coal projects as alternatives to Russian energy.

    Museveni, 78, says Europe’s switch to coal-based power generation “makes a mockery” of the West’s climate targets.

    “News from Europe that a vast wind farm is being demolished to make way for a new open-pit coal mine is the reprehensible double standard we in Africa have come to expect. It makes a mockery of Western commitments to climate targets,” the Ugandan leader said, while further describing the move as “the purest hypocrisy.”

    CNN has contacted the German Embassy in Uganda for comment.

    In a statement released on his official website, Museveni stated that “Europe’s failure to meet its climate goals should not be Africa’s problem.”

    The African continent has remained the most vulnerable to climate change despite having the lowest emissions and contributing the least to global warming. While wealthy nations (who are the largest emission producers) are better equipped to manage the impacts of climate change, poorer countries like those in Africa are not.

    “We will not accept one rule for them and another rule for us,” said Museveni, who has ruled the east African nation for 36 years.

    Uganda aims to explore its oil reserves at a commercial level in the next three years but a resolution by the European Union parliament in September warned that the project will displace thousands, jeopardize water resources and endanger protected marine areas.

    Museveni reacted to the resolution at the time, insisting that “the project shall proceed,” and threatened to find new contractors if the current handlers of the oil project “choose to listen to the EU Parliament.”

    African leaders have continued to push richer nations for climate adaptation funding at the ongoing COP27 climate summit in Egypt, as many parts of the continent grapple with severe drought, flooding, and other catastrophic effects of climate change.

    Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera, who is attending the COP27 summit, said his country and other poorer nations “continue to carry the weight of carbon emissions from biggest polluters elsewhere.”

    Chakwera said he lobbied in Egypt for more climate funding from wealthier nations, adding: “Despite our marginal contribution to global warming, we continue to bear the brunt of worsening climate change impacts, with 10% of our economic losses being occasioned by disasters.”

    A pledge by developed countries to pay $100 billion every year from 2020 to help the developing world switch from fossil fuels to clean energy has yet to be fulfilled.

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  • Ugandan university drops mandatory pregnancy tests for students after outcry | CNN

    Ugandan university drops mandatory pregnancy tests for students after outcry | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A university in Uganda has withdrawn a requirement for female nursing and midwifery students to take a pregnancy test before sitting their exams, after facing a backlash.

    Kampala International University issued a notice on Tuesday stating: “This is to inform all female nurses and midwives that you are supposed to go to KIU-TH for a pregnancy test at a fee of 5000 UGX paid to hospital accounts office.”

    It added: “Failure to do so, you will not sit for UNMEB (Uganda Nurses and Midwives Examinations Board) exams.”

    The fee of 5,000 Ugandan shillings is about $1.33.

    Epidemiologist Catherine Kyobutungi, executive director of the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), shared a photo of the notice on Twitter on Wednesday and wrote: “This is total hogwash, discriminatory and unacceptable.”

    She added: “Female nursing and midwifery students being asked to take a pregnancy test, at their own cost as a pre-condition for sitting exams is peak nonsense!!!”

    Dr. Githinji Gitahi, CEO of non-profit Amref Health Africa, responded by tweeting: “What? Why? Really? Because pregnancy has what to do with exams? The fetus gives undue advantage in the exam? I am so confused.”

    Women’s rights organization FIDA Uganda posted a photo of a letter it sent to the private university, reminding the institution that Article 33 (3) of the country’s 1995 Constitution “grants protection of women and their rights, taking into account their unique status and natural maternal functions in society and this same article further prohibits discrimination of women and guarantees their full and equal dignity of the person with men.”

    On Thursday, the university reversed its policy.

    “This is to inform you all that the internal memo on pregnancy and pregnancy testing dated 8 November 2022 has been rescinded (withdrawn),” wrote Professor Frank Kaharuza, deputy vice chancellor of the university’s Western Campus, in a statement shared by the university on Twitter.

    “Please focus on getting ready for your UNMEB exams. I wish you all the best in the forthcoming exams,” he continued.

    The university also responded to FIDA Uganda in an email, shared by the rights group on Twitter, confirming that “no student will be stopped from sitting their exams because they have not taken a pregnancy test.”

    FIDA Uganda tweeted: “We are grateful for the cooperation of the office of the vice chancellor and seek to remind all scholarly institutions that any attempts to police the bodies of students represents a discriminatory action against the student body and is a violation of their physical autonomy.”

    CNN has contacted Kampala International University for comment.

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  • Sharon Lokedi and Evans Chebet complete Kenyan double at New York City Marathon | CNN

    Sharon Lokedi and Evans Chebet complete Kenyan double at New York City Marathon | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Kenya’s Sharon Lokedi was a surprise winner of the women’s New York City Marathon on Sunday, while Evans Chebet won the men’s race to complete a Kenyan double.

    Lokedi, competing over the 26.2-mile distance for the first time in her career, pulled away from Israel’s Lonah Chemtai Salpeter in the closing stages, finishing in a time of two hours, 23 minutes and 23 seconds.

    Salpeter finished seven seconds back in second and Ethiopia’s Gotytom Gebreslase, who was crowned marathon world champion earlier this year, was third.

    Hellen Obiri, making her marathon debut and one of the pre-race favorites, struggled in the closing stages and dropped back from the lead pack, eventually finishing sixth.

    The 28-year-old Lokedi is just the eighth athlete in history – male or female – to win in New York on her marathon debut, and she appeared visibly emotional after crossing the finish line in Central Park.

    “I’m out of words, I’m really excited … The course was amazing, the cheers, everything,” she told ESPN. “I’m just thankful”

    In the men’s race, Chebet became the first man to win the New York City and Boston Marathons in the same year since 2011 as he finished in two hours, eight minutes and 41 seconds, 13 seconds ahead of Ethiopia’s Shura Kitata, while the Netherlands’ Abdi Nageeye was more than a minute back in third.

    Chebet’s victory means Kenyan men have won all six of the major city marathons this year. As well as Chebet’s title in Boston, Eliud Kipchoge won in Tokyo and Berlin, Amos Kipruto won in London and Benson Kipruto won in Chicago.

    There were challenging conditions for Sunday’s race as temperatures in New York City hovered around 23 degrees Celsius (73 degrees Farenheit).

    Brazilian Daniel Do Nascimento led the field for much of the men’s race, but he collapsed to the floor and received medical attention in the final stages, handing Chebet the lead.

    Race officials later told CNN that Do Nascimento was okay after dropping out of the race.

    It’s expected that 50,000 runners competed in this year’s NYC Marathon – the first full-capacity race since the Covid-19 pandemic.

    The race, which goes through all five of New York City’s boroughs, was held virtually in 2020 and with a restricted number of competitors in 2021.

    In the men’s race of the wheelchair division, Switzerland’s Marcel Hug claimed the fifth NYC Marathon title of his career in the men’s race.

    The 36-year-old – known as the “Swiss Silver Bullet” – shattered the wheelchair course record by nearly four minutes, finishing in one hour, 25 minutes and 25 seconds.

    That beat Australian Kurt Fearnley’s record of 1:29:22 set in 2006.

    American Susannah Scaroni also set a course record in the women’s race, finishing in one hour, 42 minutes and 43 seconds to break Tatyana McFadden’s previous record.

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  • 19 dead after commercial aircraft crashes into Lake Victoria in Tanzania | CNN

    19 dead after commercial aircraft crashes into Lake Victoria in Tanzania | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A Tanzanian commercial flight operated by Precision Air crash-landed in bad weather in Lake Victoria on Sunday, killing 19 people.

    The country’s Prime Minister, Kassim Majaliwa, said officials believe all bodies have been recovered from the airplane.

    “We’re starting to pull out the luggage and personal items from the aircraft. A team of doctors and security agencies have started the process of identifying the dead and notifying the families,” Majaliwa said.

    The airline confirmed the death toll and amended the number of survivors down to 24 in an updated statement on Sunday evening. Earlier, the carrier as well as local officials had said that 26 of the 43 people on board had been rescued.

    “Precision Air extends its deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the passenger and crew involved in this tragic incident. The company will strive to provide them with information and whatever assistance they will require in their difficult time,” the airline said.

    “The names of passengers and crew on board the aircraft will not be released until all next-of-kin have been notified,” it added.

    The flight, including 39 passengers and four crew members, had taken off from Tanzania’s commercial capital of Dar es Salaam and was headed to the town of Bukoba before it plunged into Lake Victoria as it was preparing to land.

    Video circulating on social media taken by onlookers on the shores of Lake Victoria showed the aircraft submerged in the water with emergency responders coordinating rescue efforts from nearby boats.

    Precision Air CEO Patrick Mwanri appeared visibly distressed while speaking to reporters in Dar es Salaam Sunday.

    Mwanri’s voice broke and he had to pause to wipe away tears as he said the plane had departed around 6 a.m. local and had been expected in the northwestern lakeside town of Bukoba at 8.30 a.m.

    “But at 8.53 a.m. our Operations Control Center got a report that that aircraft had not arrived,” he said in a televised statement.

    The accident is believed to have happened on the final approach to the airport whose runway begins right next to Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest freshwater lake.

    Local officials suggested bad weather may have played a part in the accident, saying the area had been under heavy rainfall and strong winds at the time.

    The regional airline has opened a Crisis Management Center and established information areas in Bukoba and Dar es Salaam to communicate with families of the passengers.

    Following news of the crash, Tanzania’s President took to social media to call for calm while rescuers worked at the site of a downed plane.

    “I have received with sadness the information of the crash of the Precision Air flight at Lake Victoria, in the Kagera region,” President Samia Suluhu Hassan wrote on Twitter Sunday.

    “I send my condolences to all those affected by this incident. Let’s continue to be calm as the rescue operation continues and we pray to God to help us.”

    Precision Air is a Tanzanian airline based out of Dar es Salaam.

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  • Despite faceplant, Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw becomes youngest ever London Marathon winner | CNN

    Despite faceplant, Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw becomes youngest ever London Marathon winner | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    With six miles left, Yalemzerf Yehualaw’s race seemed to have been ruined after the Ethiopian was left sprawled on the road after stumbling over a speed bump.

    The incident caused her to lose time over her rivals and later she admitted the faceplant “hurt.”

    But it didn’t stop the 23-year-old from making history on Sunday as she eventually crossed the line first to become the youngest winner of the London Marathon.

    Her victory, in two hours, 17 minutes and 25 seconds, was the third fastest time ever in the women’s race, the fastest debut time in history and an Ethiopian record.

    Yehualaw, who had only ran her fist competitive marathon in April, made her break with four miles to go and clocked a remarkable 4:43 mile split on mile 24.

    2021 champion Joyciline Jepkosgei finished 41 seconds back in second, while Ethiopia’s Alemu Megertu was third.

    In the men’s race, Kenya’s Amos Kipruto won for the first time, finishing in two hours, four minutes and 39 seconds.

    Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner set new course records as they took the men’s and women’s wheelchair titles respectively.

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  • US airstrikes kill 10 al-Shabaab members in Somalia | CNN Politics

    US airstrikes kill 10 al-Shabaab members in Somalia | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Ten al-Shabaab members were killed by airstrikes conducted by US Africa Command in Somalia in the overnight hours of Saturday, the Defense Department announced.

    “At the request of the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted three collective self-defense airstrikes overnight in a remote area near Afmadow, approximately 105 kilometers north of Kismayo, against al-Shabaab terrorists,” US Africa Command said in a statement Sunday.

    The initial assessment of the Somali National Army and US Africa Command found that 10 members of the terrorist group were killed and there were no civilian casualties, per the statement.

    Al-Shabaab is the largest and most active al Qaeda network in the world, according to the US Africa Command. The group controlled a vast area of Somalia before being pushed back by government counteroffensives last year, according to Reuters.

    However, the militants continue to launch lethal attacks across the country with the aim of toppling the central government and establishing a rule based on its strict interpretation of Islam’s Sharia law.

    In late May, al-Shabaab fighters launched an attack on an African Union military base in Somalia, in which at least 54 Ugandan soldiers were killed, according to Ugandan officials.

    The US has provided ongoing support to the Somali government since President Joe Biden last year approved a Pentagon request to redeploy US troops to the area in an attempt to counter the terrorist group.

    The approval to send fewer than 500 troops was a reversal of former President Donald Trump’s 2020 decision to withdraw nearly all US troops from the country.

    The US has launched a number of strikes against al-Shabaab this year, including one that killed 30 fighters in January and three in February that killed a total of 24 soldiers.

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