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Tag: southern africa

  • Israeli arrested in South Africa with weapons, torture van

    Israeli arrested in South Africa with weapons, torture van

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    South African authorities have arrested a man reputed to be one of Israel’s most wanted gang leaders in a raid on a residence in a posh Johannesburg suburb where they also found guns, drugs, and a van equipped for torture

    JOHANNESBURG — A man reputed to be one of Israel’s most wanted gang leaders was arrested during a raid of a home in a posh Johannesburg suburb where South African authorities said they also found guns, drugs, and a van equipped for torture.

    The 46-year-old Israeli is a member of the Abergil gang, which deals in drug trafficking and extortion, and he is wanted in Israel for several attempted murders, South Africa police Col. Athlenda Mathe said in a statement Thursday.

    The suspect has been on Interpol’s wanted list since 2015 and hid out in South Africa for several years, Mathe said. Seven others were arrested in the raid, according to the statement.

    Authorities said walls 4 meters (13 feet) high surrounded the house. Among the items seized were 19 firearms, including five assault rifles and seven pistols, six motorcycles – three of them reported as stolen, a signal jamming device, four drones fitted with cameras, and eight motor vehicles.

    One of the vehicles was a delivery truck that had been adapted for use by a sniper and had heavy sound insulation and a chair bolted to the floor that was designed to be used for torture, the police statement said.

    The raid was led by Interpol South Africa and special police units.

    According to Israeli authorities, the suspect is wanted for incidents in 2003 and 2004. He is accused of placing an explosive bomb underneath a vehicle of a man in Israel on two separate occasions. As a result of the first explosion, five people sustained serious injuries but all survived.

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  • Kenyans to enter South Africa visa-free from January

    Kenyans to enter South Africa visa-free from January

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    NAIROBI, Kenya — The presidents of South Africa and Kenya said Wednesday they have resolved a long-standing visa dispute and Kenyans will be able to visit South Africa visa-free for up to 90 days in a calendar year.

    South Africans already get free visas on arrival in Kenya, while Kenyans were charged and required to provide proof of sufficient funds and return flight tickets.

    The new agreement is set to take effect on Jan. 1.

    South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was in Kenya on his first official trip to the country.

    He and Kenyan President William Ruto praised the Ethiopia peace agreement signed last week in South Africa and brokered by the African Union.

    They appealed to the parties to “ensure full implementation of the agreement to reach a lasting political settlement.”

    The Kenyan and South African leaders also directed their trade ministers to address barriers that limit trade between the two countries.

    The two nations are among the strongest economies on the African continent.

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  • Peace talks on Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict are extended

    Peace talks on Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict are extended

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    NAIROBI, Kenya — Peace talks between warring sides on Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict have been extended into this week, while the country’s prime minister complained in comments broadcast Monday about “lots of intervention from left and right” in the process.

    An official familiar with the arrangements for the talks confirmed that discussions continued in South Africa between Ethiopia’s federal government and representatives from the northern Tigray region. The first formal peace talks began last week.

    The African Union-led talks seek a cessation of hostilities in a war that the United States asserts has killed up to hundreds of thousands of people, an estimate made by some academics and health workers.

    Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, speaking to the China Global Television Network, said “we’re working towards peace” and asserted that Ethiopians can solve matters by themselves. “Of course, if there are lots of intervention from left and right, it’s very difficult,” he added. He also said Ethiopian forces were in control of the Tigray towns of Shire, Axum and Adwa.

    Neighboring Eritrea, whose forces are fighting alongside Ethiopian ones, is not a party to the peace talks, and it is not clear whether the deeply repressive country will respect any agreement reached. Witnesses have told the AP that Eritreans were killing civilians even after the talks began.

    The fighting, which resumed in August after a monthslong lull, has been marked by guerrilla-style warfare by Tigray forces and drone strikes by Ethiopian ones that witnesses have said have killed civilians.

    According to analysis of satellite imagery taken by Planet Labs PBC of Ethiopia’s Bahir Dar airport south of the Tigray region on Oct. 21, by armaments expert Wim Zwijnenburg of the Dutch peace organization PAX and by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the wingspan, length, shape and other identifying details of two smaller aircraft visible are consistent with those of the Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drone.

    The United Nations-backed International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia has found evidence of the government using drones in the conflict “in an arbitrary and indiscriminate manner,” commission members told journalists last week.

    The commissioners said they have not done a comprehensive analysis of where Ethiopia is obtaining the drones, but they said they had confirmed the drone used in a strike that killed people in a displacement camp early this year came from Turkey.

    The commissioners also warned that “atrocity crimes are imminent” if there is no cessation of hostilities in a conflict with abuses documented on all sides.

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  • Calls grow for Ethiopia peace effort as fighting intensifies

    Calls grow for Ethiopia peace effort as fighting intensifies

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    ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Diplomats are calling on Ethiopia ’s federal authorities and their rivals in the northern region of Tigray to agree to a cease-fire as heavy fighting raises growing humanitarian fears.

    African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat expressed “grave concern” in a statement Sunday over the fighting and called for an “immediate, unconditional cease-fire and the resumption of humanitarian services.”

    AU-led peace talks were due to take place in South Africa earlier this month, but were postponed because of logistical and technical issues.

    The warring parties had said they were ready to participate in the process, even though fighting persists in Tigray.

    “The Chairperson urges the Parties to recommit to dialogue as per their agreement to direct talks to be convened in South Africa by a high-level team led by the AU High Representative for the Horn of Africa, and supported by the international community,” Mahamat said in a statement.

    The AU statement followed one issued late Saturday by a U.N. spokesman who said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “gravely concerned about the escalation of the fighting” and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities.

    Fighting resumed between the Tigray forces and the federal troops in August, bringing an end to a cease-fire in place since March that had allowed much-needed aid to enter the region. Fighting has drawn in forces from Eritrea, on the side of Ethiopia’s federal military.

    USAID Administrator Samantha Power called on Eritrean forces to withdraw from Tigray and urged the parties to observe a cease-fire, warning in a tweet that up to a 1 million people are “teetering on the edge of famine” in the region.

    “The conflict has displaced millions of people, and camps for displaced Ethiopians have also fallen under attack,” said Power, who warned of further bloodshed if Eritrean and Ethiopian federal forces take charge of the camps.

    The cease-fire calls came as heavy clashes were reported near the northwestern Tigray town of Shire, where an attack on Friday killed a International Rescue Committee worker who was distributing aid supplies.

    European Union foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell said he was “horrified by the reports of continuous violence, including the targeting of civilians in Shire.”

    Tigray forces said in a statement that they welcomed the AU’s cease-fire call.

    “We are ready to abide by an immediate cessation of hostilities,” the statement said. Ethiopia’s federal government has yet to respond.

    Aid distributions are being hampered by a lack of fuel and an ongoing communications blackout in Tigray. The Associated Press reported Saturday that a U.N. team found there were “10 starvation-related deaths” at seven camps for internally displaced people in northwestern Tigray, according to an internal document prepared by a humanitarian agency.

    Millions of people in northern Ethiopia, including the neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar, have been uprooted from their homes and tens of thousands of people are believed to have been killed since the conflict broke out in November 2020.

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  • German tourist killed by gunmen near South African game park

    German tourist killed by gunmen near South African game park

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    JOHANNESBURG — South African police have launched a manhunt after a German tourist was shot and killed by gunmen near Kruger National Park in Mpumalanga province.

    The attack on Monday was by gunmen who sped away without taking any belongings from the tourist or three other travelers who were with him.

    The driver of the vehicle carrying the tourists was shot after he locked the vehicle’s doors when the gunmen demanded he open them, according to Mpumalanga police as reported by the News24 website on Tuesday.

    The survivors are now receiving support from the German embassy.

    “Concerning the tragic incident involving the death of a German tourist in Mpumalanga, the embassy is in close contact with the South African authorities. Our consular team is providing consular assistance,” the embassy said in a statement.

    Mpumalanga province attracts many international tourists annually and is home to the Kruger National Park, South Africa’s largest game reserve.

    South Africa’s tourism minister Lindiwe Sisuslu on Tuesday condemned the attack.

    “I also call on law enforcement agencies to leave no stone unturned in bringing to book the perpetrators of this heinous crime,” said Sisulu.

    She lamented that such crime hinders the country’s tourism industry.

    “This high number of tourists is one of the ways in which our tourism sector has been able to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said.

    A 50,000 rand ($2,800) reward for information leading to the arrest and successful prosecution of those involved in the attack has been offered by the Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism.

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  • Namibia can become a green energy exporter, says first lady | CNN Business

    Namibia can become a green energy exporter, says first lady | CNN Business

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    London
    CNN
     — 

    With Europe looking for alternatives to Russian energy, the European Union has set a target to produce 11 million tons of green hydrogen, and import another 11 million tons, by 2030.

    Green hydrogen (hydrogen produced using renewable energy) is being touted as a clean alternative to fossil fuels that could power heavy industry and transport. EU officials said this summer that they hoped to strike a deal to help Namibia develop its green hydrogen sector. The southern African nation is set to open the continent’s first green hydrogen production plant in 2024, operated by French power company HDF Energy.

    Namibia’s first lady, Monica Geingos, has served on policy advisory boards in her country and championed gender equality. CNN’s Melissa Mahtani spoke with Geingos at the UN General Assembly in New York last week, and sent her additional questions by email, about Namibia’s advances in green energy and the role of women in the country’s economic future.

    This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

    Namibia’s first hydrogen power plant is expected to be up and running in 2024, and there’s also a potential plan in place to partner with the EU on green hydrogen. Where do you see sustainable energy in the future of the country’s business landscape?

    Geingos: It is clear that Namibia’s green hydrogen plans extend beyond domestic energy self-sufficiency. It is also about intra-African trade as Namibia has an opportunity to export clean energy into regional power markets. Additionally, there is an opportunity to export clean (energy) to a neighboring country (South Africa) that is also Africa’s largest carbon contributor.

    Namibia has also been identified as a strategic enabler of the European Union’s decarbonization agenda, which facilitates our ability to export energy to Europe. What this means is that Namibia can go beyond the traditional relationship of being an aid recipient to become a strategic trading partner.

    Amongst many other benefits, I am excited about the vibrant economic mobilization that the business sector will benefit from as (Namibia) will be able to deploy its own resources to private-sector investment, which also enables increased risk appetite for sectors that foreign investors traditionally stay away from.

    You were an entrepreneur before becoming first lady. How did that experience prepare you for this role?

    Geingos: My career was in capital markets, corporate finance and private equity so it prepared me well to work under pressure, stand my ground and manage difficult conversations. It also helped me to develop a strong ethics compass which is helpful in navigating gray areas and understanding no-go areas.

    What barriers remain in place when it comes to elevating women to positions of power, especially in business settings?

    Geingos: Namibia’s legislative and policy framework pertaining to gender equality is very progressive. The barriers are unseen and pertain to how women are perceived, spoken about, treated and made to feel when in positions of influence, or when trying to climb the ladder.

    In essence, our mindsets are not as progressive as our laws. While public sector leadership has not reached gender parity, it leads the private sector which still lags far behind in ensuring gender equality. This is an indicator of the gains made in certain sectors but also confirmation of how much work still needs to be done.

    The African Continental Free Trade Area came into effect last year — of which Namibia is a part. How important is it that women take a lead in that, and have a seat at the table when major decisions are being negotiated?

    Geingos: It is of critical importance that women take a seat at any table where consequential decisions are made, as targeting such large opportunities without diverse thinking would be to society’s detriment.

    Women bring differentiated thinking, and capacity to the table. It makes no sense to sit around the table and make major decisions while excluding a portion of your intellectual capital. The easier movement of goods and people to facilitate intra-African trade has risks for women that need to be managed — (for example) human trafficking — but also has significant opportunities. There are bespoke pockets of capital that target women entrepreneurs which can be applied in pursuing expanded market opportunities, which make for exciting times for women entrepreneurs.

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