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☆ It started with an informal pick-up game. Now, this organized soccer club is a lifeline for many asylum-seekers
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-21 | by ( Zoe Sottile | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

But the Newcomers Football Club, an impromptu team made up of asylum-seekers, has helped provide him with a joy that erases his stress. And they were looking for a place to play soccer – an almost universal cornerstone of their daily routines back home. Leonard had never worked with refugees or asylum-seekers before, and he had never played soccer. In the months since, the ad-hoc project has ballooned from an informal pick-up game to an organized club that competes with other New York teams, joining forces with another similar project started by co-organizer Avram Kline. The mixed practices help Newcomers FC members meet new people and practice their English, Leonard says.

Persons: Lukaku, he’s, ”, ” Boubacar, Julian Rigg, Mars Leonard, Leonard, Avram Kline, ” Leonard, “, CNN Lukaku, Eric Adams ’, Bushwick Ayuda, Ibrahima Lô, Andreas, Eric Adams, ” Andreas, CNN Andreas, meanwhile, Andreas said, Helen, Adams, CNN’s, I Organizations: New York CNN, Football, CNN, Stockton House, New, Newcomers FC, United Nations, Amnesty International, Leonard ., FC, Guinean, Senegalese, Mauritanian, Central America, Soccer, Bushwick, ”, Autonomous Football League, Cop Locations: Brooklyn, New York, United States, Guinea, Guinnea, Bissau, Sierra Leone, Bushwick, Stockton, West, Mauritania, Senegal, Morocco, West Africa, Latin America, Williamsburg, Lukaku, Africa, Conakry, Guinea’s, Mali, Burkina Faso, Arizona, Mexico, New, New York City, Jefferson, “, American, South, York, Bushwick Ayuda Mutua, Queens

A Tuareg militant group spokesman said some Malian troops and Russian fighters had also been captured during the battle. According to some unofficial Russian Telegram channels, as many as 80 Russians were killed. The commander – call-sign Rusich – said on Telegram he was trying to convey a message to the Russian Defense Ministry. And in Syria five years ago, a disastrous attack by Russian mercenaries on an oil refinery led to dozens of casualties. One of them was an IED attack on a Russian vehicle in the same region of Mali as the latest devastating assault.

Persons: Nusrat al, JNIM, ”, Andriy Yusov, Yusov, Wagner, Wagner “, –, Sergei Shevchenko, Nikita Fedyanin, “, Korotkov, Africa Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Yunus, Bek, Yevkurov, al Organizations: CNN, Russian, Russian Telegram, Kremlin, Kyiv, Ukraine’s Security, Russian Defense Ministry, Corps, Grey, Russian Ministry of Defense, Russian Federation, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Central African, Wagner PMC, Deputy, SITE Intelligence Group Locations: Mali, Algerian, Islam, Africa, Malian, Russian, London, Syria, Central African Republic, Mozambique, Bakhmut, Ukraine, Niger, Burkina Faso, Moscow, Togo

☆ A Military Leader to His People: ‘Fight or You Disappear’
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-25 | by ( Elian Peltier | Guerchom Ndebo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Young men posed in front of posters of the country’s military leader. Over dinner in restaurants, families watched television monitors showing footage of drone strikes. The event was billed as a national cultural festival in the West African nation of Burkina Faso. But it often resembled a mobilization campaign in the all-out war against the Islamist terrorists who have gradually occupied the country in recent years. “The motherland or death,” Alaila Ilboudo, a spoken word artist, shouted onstage to the cheers of crowds at the festival, held in May in Bobo-Dioulasso, the country’s second largest city.

Persons: ” Alaila, Dioulasso Locations: West African, Burkina Faso, Bobo

☆ Mali junta lifts suspension on political party activities
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-11 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Reuters —Mali’s military junta has lifted a suspension on political party activities meant to safeguard public order, the council of ministers said late on Wednesday. “By taking this deterrent measure, the government was able to contain all the threats of public disorder that hung over this major event,” the council said in a statement. Given the focus was now on implementing the recommendations of the April 13-May 10 peace dialogue, the government will allow political parties to resume their activities, it said. Mali’s junta, which seized power in a second coup in 2021, reneged on a promise to hold elections in February, postponing the vote indefinitely for technical reasons. Political parties and civil society groups at the time reacted with anger to the junta’s decision not to hold the vote and called for a return to constitutional order.

Persons: Reuters — Organizations: Reuters, “, Islamic Locations: West, Central Africa, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, al Qaeda, Islamic State

☆ Three Countries Exit West African Bloc, Shaking a Fragile Region
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-10 | by ( Elian Peltier | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Three West African countries have broken away from a 15-member regional bloc that has long ensured free movement of people and goods among its tightly knit economies, further destabilizing an area that is home to nearly 400 million people and threatened by violent insurgents. The leaders of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger last weekend announced their “irrevocable and immediate” withdrawal from the bloc, the Economic Community of West African States, known as ECOWAS. The three countries, all ruled by military leaders friendly to Russia, span more than half of the bloc’s geographic area and are among its most populous. However, they are not the region’s largest economies, and as landlocked nations, all three depend on access to ports in coastal countries for overseas trade. “Our region is facing the risk of disintegration,” Omar Alieu Touray, the president of ECOWAS’s executive arm, said on Sunday.

Persons: ” Omar Alieu Touray Organizations: Economic, West Locations: Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, West African States, Russia

☆ Mali: Around 40 killed in attack on village in central region
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-03 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Reuters —Unidentified armed men have killed around 40 people in an attack on a village in insurgent-plagued central Mali, local officials said on Tuesday. “It was a very serious attack, armed men surrounded the village and shot at people,” said Bankass Mayor Moulaye Guindo by phone. He was not able to share a death toll, but two local officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said around 40 people were killed. Violence has spiraled in West Africa’s central Sahel region since the insurgencies took root in Mali and spread into neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger, killing thousands of people and displacing millions more. The insecurity has helped spur two coups in Mali, one in Burkina Faso, and one in Niger since 2020.

Persons: ”, Moulaye Guindo Organizations: Reuters, Islamic Locations: Mali, Djiguibombo, Mopti, Mali’s, al Qaeda, Islamic State, West Africa’s, Sahel, Burkina Faso, Niger

☆ US begins pulling military equipment from Niger ahead of withdrawal deadline
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-08 | by ( Anneclaire Stapleton | Oren Liebermann | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The US priority was first to remove sensitive equipment from Niger, a source familiar with the matter said. Much of the US military and equipment has been in Niamey at what’s known as Base 101. A source confirmed this flight was to withdraw military equipment and some personnel. The relationship between the US and the military junta grew increasingly strained as Biden administration officials called for a clear path to free and fair elections. The US was also forced to wait for the Nigerien military junta to approve flight clearances to withdraw personnel and equipment, an agreement which was only reached last month.

Persons: Sergey Lavrov, Michael Langley Organizations: CNN, US Department of Defense, Department of National Defense of, Nigerien, US, Biden, Russia’s Defense, Russian, US Africa Command Locations: Niger, Republic of Niger, Niamey, what’s, US, West African, Kremlin, Russia, Burkina Faso, Mali

☆ Russia will increase the number of military instructors in Burkina Faso, foreign minister says
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-05 | by ( Anneclaire Stapleton | Sebastian Shukla | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Russia will increase the number of military instructors in Burkina Faso, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday during a trip to the West African nation. “Here, Russian instructors are working; their number will increase.”Russia furthermore intends to supply Burkina Faso with military products to strengthen the country’s defense capability, he said. Burkina Faso is currently under military rule after a junta staged a coup d’état in July 2022. Engulfed in violence, Burkina Faso has been named the world’s most neglected displacement crisis for the second year, by the NRC. Burkina Faso was the first country to do this quickly and effectively,” he said.

Persons: Sergey Lavrov, ” Lavrov, Lavrov, Ibrahim Traoré, Yevkurov, Traoré, Thomas Waldhauser, ” Organizations: CNN, Russian, Russian Federation, Russian Deputy Defense, Norwegian Refugee Council, NRC, US Africa Command, Africa Command Locations: Russia, Burkina Faso, West African, Russian, Ouagadougou, “, China, Africa, Ukraine, ”

☆ Dakhla Atlantic Port: How a small, windy city could become a gateway for trade
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-28 | by ( Nell Lewis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Spanning 1,650 hectares, the complex will include a trade port with an oil terminal, a fishing port and a shipyard. “We’re constructing an ecosystem,” Nisrine Iouzzi, the director of construction for the Dakhla Atlantic Port, tells CNN. Gateway to AfricaThe project is part of Morocco’s national port strategy, which aims to modernize and strengthen port infrastructure by 2030, in order to enhance its role in global supply chains. Video Ad Feedback Dakhla Atlantic Port aims to boost trade across West Africa 02:26 - Source: CNNWith the implementation of Africa’s continental free trade agreement, which aims to create a single market for goods and services, the port could encourage the processing of raw materials within the continent. “Local disputes can make developing port infrastructure and reliable logistics much more challenging,” says Mooney.

Persons: CNN —, Nisrine Iouzzi, “, ”, Mounir Houari, Houari, ” Turloch Mooney, Mooney Organizations: CNN, United, United Arab Emirates, Dakhla’s Regional Investment Center, Port, P Global Market Intelligence Locations: Western Sahara, Morocco, Tangier, Mauritania, West Africa, East, Europe, North America, South America, United Arab, Gateway, Africa, Casablanca, Tanger, Med, Agadir, West, Mali, Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, Sahara, ”, “

☆ Burkina Faso extends military rule for five years
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-27 | by ( Martin Goillandeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Burkina Faso’s military regime will extend its rule by five years under a new agreement reached during national consultations on Saturday, the talks’ chairman Colonel Moussa Diallo said on state television. A video of Traore signing the amended accord in front of a cheerful crowd was broadcast on Burkinabè state TV on Saturday. Most political party activities have been suspended in the country under the military rule. Burkina Faso, plagued by recurrent jihadist violence that has claimed thousands of lives for almost a decade, has seen two military coups in 2022. The first one in January brought Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba to power, before being himself overthrown in September of the same year by Captain Traoré.

Persons: Moussa Diallo, Diallo, Captain Ibrahim Traore, Traore, Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba, Captain Traoré Organizations: CNN, Burkina, Agence d’Information du Burkina, AIB Locations: Burkina Faso

☆ Russia's pulling combat forces from another continent to fuel its latest offensive push in Ukraine, Western intel says
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewRussia has moved some combat forces from Africa to help support its latest offensive efforts in northeastern Ukraine, according to a new Western intelligence assessment. The Russian defense ministry created the Africa Corps last year as a way to expand its footprint on the continent and also in the Middle East. Photo by Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty ImagesRussia's defense ministry "almost certainly redeployed detachments from the Africa Corps to the Ukrainian border during April 2024 in preparation for this offensive," the defense ministry said. Other Africa Corps detachments are believed to have deployed to Syria, Libya, Burkina Faso, and Niger, the UK said. French Army via APThe recent deployment of certain Africa Corps units to the Kharkiv region appears to underscore Russia's commitment to its new offensive.

Persons: —, Wagner, Kostiantyn Liberov, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy Organizations: Service, Africa Corps, Business, Nazi, French Army, AP, Libkos, Staff of, Armed Forces, Facebook Locations: Russia, Africa, Ukraine, Moscow, Vovchansk, Ukraine's Kharkiv, Kharkiv, Ukrainian, Syria, Libya, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali

☆ Djibouti fights deadly malaria wave with GMO mosquitoes
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Nimi Princewill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Genetically engineered mosquitoes have been released in the tiny East African country of Djibouti to combat a surge in malaria infections caused by an invasive vector. Unlike most malaria-transmitting mosquitoes in Africa that breed in rural areas, Anopheles Stephensi thrives in urban environments, intensifying the public health challenge for predominantly urban Djibouti. “This mosquito poses a huge threat to our fight against malaria,” said Grey Frandsen, CEO of US-owned biotechnology firm Oxitec, which developed the gene-modified mosquitoes released in Djibouti. ‘Using mosquitoes to fight mosquitoes’Dubbed a method that “uses mosquitoes to fight mosquitoes”, Oxitec’s genetic technology targets female mosquitoes, which are predominantly responsible for malaria transmission. Although the rollout of genetically modified mosquitoes in Djibouti is only the second in Africa, the idea is drawing more interest on the continent.

Persons: Anopheles, Stephensi, ”, Grey Frandsen, “ Anopheles, Ahmed Robleh Abdilleh, Oxitec, ” Abdilleh, Frandsen, Melinda Gates, “, Yoweri Museveni Organizations: CNN, WHO, Melinda Gates Foundation, World Health Organization Locations: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Horn of Africa, Africa, “, Brazil, Burkina Faso

☆ ‘They Shot at Us All’: Burkina Faso Accused of Massacring Civilians
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-11 | by ( Elian Peltier | Christiaan Triebert | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

He lay on top of his young sons, trying to shield them with his body, he said. The military had forced them and dozens of other villagers under a baobab tree. “They shot at us all,” said Daouda, a farmer who had survived for years in jihadist-controlled territory only to be shot at by the military that was supposed to protect him. The mass killings in Daouda’s village and a nearby hamlet in February were among the deadliest in a decade of upheaval in Burkina Faso, a country torn apart by the Islamist insurgencies that have swept across parts of western Africa. Burkina Faso has faced such relentless assaults from extremist groups affiliated with Al Qaeda and the Islamic State that it topped the Global Terrorism Index last year, becoming the nation hardest hit by terrorism in the world.

Persons: ”, Daouda, Al Qaeda Organizations: Al, Islamic Locations: jihadist, Daouda’s, Burkina Faso, Africa, Islamic State

☆ Mali Claims Death of Terrorist Who Helped Lead Deadly Ambush in Niger
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Ruth Maclean | More About Ruth Maclean | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Mali said on Monday that it had killed a high-value Islamist commander who helped lead a 2017 attack in which four American and four Nigerien soldiers were killed alongside an interpreter. The U.S. State Department had put a $5 million bounty on the head of the commander, Abu Huzeifa — a member of an affiliate of the Islamic State — after his participation in an attack in Tongo Tongo, Niger, on American Green Berets and their Nigerien comrades. At that time, the attack was the largest loss of American troops during combat in Africa since the “Black Hawk Down” debacle in Somalia in 1993. In a post on social media on Monday, Mali’s armed forces said that on Sunday they had “neutralized a major terrorist leader of foreign nationality during a large-scale operation in Liptako” — a tri-border region that contains parts of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

Persons: Abu Huzeifa —, — Organizations: Nigerien, U.S . State Department, Islamic, American Green Berets Locations: Mali, Tongo Tongo, Niger, Africa, Somalia, Liptako, Burkina Faso

☆ Burkina Faso army executed over 220 villagers in February, HRW says
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Reuters —Burkina Faso’s military in February summarily executed about 223 villagers, including at least 56 children, as part of a campaign against civilians accused of collaborating with jihadist militants, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday. The spokesperson for the Burkina Faso government did not respond to phone calls seeking comment on the HRW report. Retaliatory attacksRights groups have previously accused the military in junta-ruled Burkina Faso of attacking and killing civilians suspected of collaborating with militants in retaliatory operations. Burkina Faso is one of several Sahel nations that have been struggling to contain Islamist insurgencies linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State that have spread from neighboring Mali since 2012, killing thousands and displacing millions. Frustrations over authorities’ failure to protect civilians have contributed to two coups in Mali, two in Burkina Faso and one in Niger since 2020.

Persons: Witnesses, HRW, Tirana Hassan, Mali’s Organizations: Reuters, Burkina, jihadist, Human Rights Watch, Ouahigouya, HRW, Facebook, Burkina Faso, Authorities, Rights Watch, Burkinabe, African Union, United Nations, Islamic Locations: Burkina Faso’s, Yatenga, Burkina Faso, Komsilga, Burkina, Nodin, Soro, al Qaeda, Islamic State, Mali, Niger

☆ U.S. to Withdraw Troops From Chad, Dealing Another Blow to Africa Policy
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Eric Schmitt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Pentagon will withdraw dozens of Special Operations forces from Chad in the next few days, the second major blow in a week to American security and counterterrorism policy in a volatile swath of West and Central Africa, U.S. officials said on Thursday. The decision to pull out about 75 Army Special Forces personnel working in Ndjamena, Chad’s capital, comes days after the Biden administration said it would withdraw more than 1,000 U.S. military personnel from Niger in the coming months. The Pentagon is being forced to draw down troops in response to the African governments’ demands to renegotiate the rules and conditions under which U.S. military personnel can operate. Both countries want terms that better favor their interests, analysts say. The decision to withdraw from Niger is final, but U.S. officials said they hoped to resume talks on security cooperation after elections in Chad on May 6.

Persons: Biden Organizations: Pentagon, Operations, Special Forces Locations: Chad, West, Central Africa, U.S, Ndjamena, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, United States, Russia, Moscow

☆ African leaders spearhead efforts to tackle terrorism across the continent
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Nimi Princewill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Abuja, Nigeria CNN —African leaders discussed anti-terrorism solutions on the continent during a high-level security summit in the Nigerian capital Abuja Monday amid a rise in terror attacks. According to the African Center for the Study and Research on Terrorism (ACSRT), Africa witnessed an average of eight terror-related incidents and 44 daily casualties in 2023. Nigeria’s National Security Adviser and organizer of the summit, Nuhu Ribadu, emphasized the urgent need to combat terrorism in Africa. Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the chair of the West African regional bloc ECOWAS, urged the proper establishment and strengthening of a regional standby military force. “The moment has come to work out an all-encompassing Continental Strategic Plan of Action to effectively fight against terrorism across Africa,” Faki said.

Persons: Ribadu, ” Ribadu, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Faure Gnassingbe, African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat, ” Faki, Tinubu, Faki, Africa’s Organizations: Nigeria CNN —, African Center, Research, Terrorism, Nigeria’s National Security, West African, ECOWAS, United Nations, African Union Commission Locations: Abuja, Nigeria, Nigerian, Africa, Africa’s, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Togolese

☆ World’s worst polluted cities are in Asia - India’s Begusarai topping IQAir report
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Helen Regan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

“We see that in every part of our lives that air pollution has an impact,” said IQAir Global CEO Frank Hammes. “And it typically, in some of the most polluted countries, is likely shaving off anywhere between three to six years of people’s lives. Central and South Asia were the worst performing regions globally, home to all four of the most polluted countries last year: Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Tajikistan. South Asia is of particular concern, with 29 of the 30 most polluted cities in India, Pakistan or Bangladesh. One bright spot is increasing pressure and civic engagement from communities, NGOs, companies, and scientists to monitor air quality.

Persons: ”, Frank Hammes, Hammes, “ What’s, IQAir, Chiang Mai, that’s, ” Hammes Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Health, IQAir, WHO, Dhaka, CNN, America, Reuters Locations: Hong Kong, Asia, India, India’s Bihar, Guwahati, Assam, Delhi, Mullanpur, Punjab, South Asia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Lahore, New Delhi, Finland, Estonia, Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand, Bermuda, Grenada, Iceland, Mauritius, French Polynesia, Canada, Alberta, United States, Minneapolis, Detroit, Columbus , Ohio, Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, China, Beijing, Hotan, Southeast Asia, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Bangkok, Africa, South America, Burkina Faso, Rwanda, Chad

The intensifying military cooperation between Russia and Niger is central to the dispute between the US and the Nigerien junta, officials said. Russia and Niger agreed to strengthen their military ties in January, Russia’s Defense Ministry said at the time. If the US were forced to withdraw, counterterrorism efforts across the region could take a hit, officials said. In return, Russia is profiting off the region’s natural resources, another official said, including the gold mines in Niger. Several European countries shared this goal, offering a measure of support to the junta, the official noted.

Persons: Michael Langley, Celeste Wallander, Col, Maj, Amadou Abdramane, Langley, Matthew Miller, ” Miller, what’s, Nusrat al, “ Organizations: CNN, US Africa Command, Air Base, American, Nigerien, Russia’s Defense, EU, Pentagon, Kremlin, West, Russian Federation, National Council, Wagner, US Locations: Africa, Russia, Africa . Niger, Niger, United States, America, Nigerien, Sahel, stoking, China, Russian, Central Africa, ”, Niamey, US, Agadez, Mali, Burkina Faso, Abdramane, Western Africa, Northwest Africa

☆ Drones have turned the tables in recent African wars
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-16 | by ( Paul Iddon | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Drones recently supplied to Sudan by Iran are already making an impact in that country's brutal civil war. Similar types of drones played decisive roles in turning the tables in two previous African civil wars in recent years and could do so again. "It should come as no surprise that these drones are being used in wars around the world," Rogers told BI. In this context, drones are useful to achieve specific objectives, but they will not win the war alone," Rogers said. RANE's Dodd also credited Ethiopia's drone procurements for decisively "turning the tide" of the Tigray War.

Persons: —, Remi Dodd, RANE, it's, Dodd, James Patton Rogers, Rogers, Turkey's TB2, Loong, Debretsion Gebremichael, RANE's Dodd Organizations: Service, Business, Sudanese Armed Forces, Rapid Support Forces, United, Ethiopian, Tigray, Libyan National Army, Cornell Brooks Tech, Institute, Cornell University, American Warfare, Anadolu, Getty, Democratic Locations: Sudan, Iran, Iranian, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Libya, Tripoli, Omdurman, Tehran, Red, Yemen, Ukraine, Tigray War, Tigray, Addis Ababa, Ukrainian, New York, Donetsk, Nigeria, DRC, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso

☆ Around 170 ‘executed’ in three Burkina Faso villages, public prosecutor says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Nimi Princewill | Eve Brennan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Around 170 people have been “executed” in attacks on three villages in Burkina Faso’s northern Yatenga province, the regional public prosecutor has said. Aly Benjamin Coulibaly said in a statement on Friday that his office was initially informed of the “massive murderous attacks” in the villages of Komsilga, Nodin and Soroe on February 25. At least 15 Muslims and 15 Catholics were killed when “hordes of terrorists launched simultaneous attacks” on Tankoualou and Essakane villages, the government press agency Agence d’Information du Burkina (AIB) reported last week. Large areas of the north and east of Burkina Faso have become ungovernable since 2018. Millions have fled their homes, fearing further raids by gunmen who frequently descend on rural communities on motorbikes.

Persons: Aly Benjamin Coulibaly, Coulibaly Organizations: CNN, Agence d’Information du Burkina, AIB, European Union, Islamic Locations: Burkina Faso’s, Yatenga province, Komsilga, Soroe, West, Mali, Sahel, Burkina Faso

☆ Russia offering African governments 'regime survival package' in exchange for resources, research says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso - Jan. 20, 2023: A banner of Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen during a protest to support the Burkina Faso President Captain Ibrahim Traore and to demand the departure of France's ambassador and military forces. Russia's military intelligence service is offering African governments a "regime survival package" that provides military and diplomatic support in exchange for access to strategically important natural resources, according to a new report. Russia's Defense Ministry was not available to comment on the report's findings when contacted by CNBC. Wagner has for many years been a key component of the Kremlin's efforts to grow its influence in politically unstable countries across central Africa and the Sahel, including the Central African Republic, Mali, Burkina Faso and Sudan. The report's authors Jack Watling, Oleksandr V Danylyuk and Nick Reynolds explained that the GRU chose to divide Wagner's activities in two.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Captain Ibrahim Traore, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Jack Watling, Oleksandr V Danylyuk, Nick Reynolds Organizations: Royal United Services Institute, Wagner Group, Russia's Defense, CNBC, Central African, Volunteer Corps, Russian Military of Defense Locations: OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso, Africa, Central African Republic, Mali, Sudan, Ukraine

☆ Russia says it has delivered 200,000 tons of grain to African countries
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Nimi Princewill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The Russian Ministry of Agriculture said Tuesday it had shipped 200,000 tons of grain in humanitarian aid to six African nations, fulfilling the Kremlin’s pledge to the continent last July. Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev said late Tuesday that Burkina Faso, Mali, Eritrea, and Zimbabwe each received 25,000 tons of grain while the Central African Republic and Somalia got 50,000 tons each, Russian state news agency TASS reported. Somalia and Eritrea had previously sourced 90-100% of their grain needs from both Russia and Ukraine before the conflict, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). ‘A strategic donation’The Kremlin’s grain initiative has been described by analysts as a “strategic” move as Putin’s African alliance broadens. So, it’s contestation.”Many African states took a neutral stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in perceived loyalty to the Kremlin.

Persons: Dmitry Patrushev, Vladimir Putin, “, ” Patrushev, ”, Godfrey Kanyenze, Kanyenze, they’ve Organizations: CNN, Russian Ministry of Agriculture, Central African, United, Agriculture Organization, FAO, Labor and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe Locations: Burkina Faso, Mali, Eritrea, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic, Somalia, United Nations, Turkey, Africa, St . Petersburg, Russia, Ukraine, rocketing

☆ Navalny's Widow Joins EU Foreign Ministers as Ukraine War Nears Two-Year Mark
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

By Gabriela BaczynskaBRUSSELS (Reuters) - The widow of Alexei Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin's nemesis who died in an Arctic prison last week, joins EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, days before the two-year mark of Russia's war on Ukraine. The Latest Photos From Ukraine View All 91 ImagesNavalny, a 47-year-old former lawyer, rose to prominence campaigning against corruption in Putin's Russia. The ministers are due to discuss military support for Ukraine and what would be the European Union's 13th package of sanctions against Moscow since it unleashed a full-scale invasion of its neighbour on Feb.24, 2022. Inside the EU, Germany has blocked replenishing a military fund used to supply Ukraine saying Berlin was contributing too much compared to other members. One senior EU diplomat said they believed it "will be able to make it in time" and agree the new punitive measures for Feb.24.

Persons: Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS, Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin's, Yulia Navalnaya, Putin, Josep Borrell, Navalnaya's, Donald Trump, Viktor Orban, Gabriela Baczynska, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Ukraine, Moscow, NATO, Kremlin, EU, Washington Locations: Russian, Brussels, Ukraine, Munich, Israel, Gaza, Russia, Putin's Russia, Siberia, United States, Europe, U.S, EU, Germany, Berlin, Hungary, Budapest, Kyiv, London, Sahel, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mauritania

☆ Russia's Wagner Group expands into Africa's Sahel with a new brand
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-12 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Natalia Kolesnikova | Afp | Getty ImagesWagner Group has been replaced by a new entity known as Russia's Africa Corps across its key strongholds in the continent, its new leader has confirmed. The new entity has been subsuming operations in Mali and Libya for several months, and negotiations to establish a Russian military base in the CAR are reportedly underway. watch now"The Africa Corps consists of mercenaries and volunteers, and does not form part of the Russian Armed Forces. It began recruiting in December 2023, and has also included job offers for former Wagner Group mercenaries; it may also recruit local residents," they explained. Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-bek Yevkurov oversaw the creation of the Africa Corps, which is expected to be fully completed by this summer.

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Natalia Kolesnikova, Dmitry Utkin, Anton Yelizarov, Ibrahim Traoré, Piotr Żochowski, Miłosz Bartosiewicz, Yunus, bek Yevkurov, Yevkurov Organizations: Afp, Getty, Wagner, Africa Corps, Central African, Russian National Guard, Russian Federation, Telegram, Centre, Eastern Studies, CAR, Africa, Russian Armed Forces, Wagner Group, CES Locations: MOSCOW, Moscow, Central African Republic, Libya, Mali, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Belarus, Russia, Cossack, Sahel, Russian, Warsaw, Algeria, Africa, Ouagadougou

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