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☆ One peacekeeper killed in Congo after U.N. chopper comes under fire
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo Feb 5 (Reuters) - One U.N. peacekeeper from South Africa was killed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday when a helicopter operated by the peacekeeping force came under fire while in mid-air, the U.N. mission in Congo and South Africa's military said. The helicopter came under fire after taking off from the city of Beni in the early afternoon. The U.N. peacekeeping mission of around 18,200 personnel has been deployed in eastern Congo since taking over from a previous U.N. operation in 2010. Eight peacekeepers were killed last year when their helicopter crashed in a part of North Kivu province, where the Congolese army was fighting a rebel group known as the M23. Reporting by Fiston Mahamba, Erikas Mwisi Kambale, Sonia Rolley Editing by Alessandra Prentice and Lisa ShumakerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Mali says Russia's Lavrov to visit to strengthen defence ties
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BAMAKO, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will pay a two-day visit to Mali this week, the Malian foreign ministry said on Sunday, describing the visit as a reflection of a shared wish to strengthen defence and security ties. "This high-level visit is in line with the political choice made by the Transitional Government to expand and diversify strategic partnerships," the Malian ministry said in a statement. Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Mali that Moscow was committed to strengthening cooperation to help root out the militants. Mali has previously said Russian forces in the country are not mercenaries but trainers helping local troops with equipment bought from Russia. Lavrov is currently in Baghdad for talks on improving bilateral ties and energy cooperation.

☆ Life's no longer rosy at Senegal's Pink Lake after floods
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Ngouda Dione | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] A general view of the submerged tourism businesses at the Pink Lake (Lac Rose), officially known as Lake Retba, after extreme floods washed away salt mounts and contaminated the lake and turned its famous waters from pink to green, in Niaga, near Dakar, Senegal, January 17, 2023. REUTERS/ Zohra BensemraNIAGA, Senegal, Jan 24 (Reuters) - On the shore of Senegal's Pink Lake, salt farmer Pape Sira Ba has raked in what he fears may be his last harvest. Nearby, the new wide channel spewed brownish-green water into the lake whose shore was dotted with dead fish. The flooding destroyed 7,000 tonnes of salt worth around 420 million CFA francs ($696,000), according to the Lake Retba salt extractors association. "The over-salinisation of the water also allowed visitors to float on top of the lake like in the Dead Sea.

☆ Kim Kardashian's Skims campaign with 'The White Lotus' breakout stars shows the power of pop culture in marketing
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Alexandra York | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Kim Kardashian's shapewear brand, Skims, launched a campaign with stars of "The White Lotus." Watson added that with this campaign, Skims is leveraging characters who are both relatable and aspirational to evoke that perception of the products. Here's why the latest Skims campaign works and what other business owners can learn for their brand marketing, according to Watson. For fans of 'The White Lotus,' we feel this source of pride, like 'here's our friend getting a platform.'" "You're not going to be able to emulate the reach of Kim Kardashian overnight," he said.

☆ Rwanda shoots at Congolese military jet over alleged airspace violation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A video shared widely on Congolese social media showed a projectile shooting towards an airborne military plane, before exploding in the air near the plane, which continued to fly. Congo denied Rwanda's accusation that the jet had been in Rwandan airspace - the latest dispute between the two countries whose relationship has been strained by a rebel insurgency. Earlier the Rwandan government said Rwandan forces had fired at the jet after it violated Rwandan airspace in Rubavu - the same area as previous alleged violations, "prompting the government to take defensive measures." Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said last week that the rebels had not fully withdrawn from those areas. In December, Rwanda said another fighter jet from Congo had briefly violated its air space.

Jan 19 (Reuters) - Zambia needs "desperate debt relief" and agreements under a Group of 20 restructuring vehicle are proving difficult, the World Bank's managing director of operations said on Thursday. "In the last two years, we have seen the limitations of the common framework," Axel van Trotsenburg told a panel at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, moderated by Reuters Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni. Zambia has become a test case for the G20-led "Common Framework" restructuring vehicle launched during COVID-19 to streamline debt restructuring efforts as poorer countries buckle under the fallout from the pandemic hit. "Right now we have negotiations where there is not an established debt sustainability framework. What you see in the discussions is that different creditors are challenging all the underlying assumptions," van Trotsenburg added, without specifying which creditors he was referring to.

☆ Davos 2023: China recovery could be very quick -IMF's Gopinath
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 18 (Reuters) - China could see a sharp recovery in economic growth from the second quarter onwards based on current infection trends after the dismantling of most COVID-19 restrictions, IMF Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath said on Wednesday. "We expect growth in China to come back, to rebound," Gopinath told Reuters in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Economists polled by Reuters see Chinese growth in 2023 at around 4.9%, with some of them recently upgrading forecasts to around 5.5%. "But if growth in China comes in much more strongly, which is a possibility, then we could see another spike in oil prices or energy prices," she said. Reporting by Alessandra Galloni and Mark John in Davos; Editing by Catherine EvansOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 17 (Reuters) - A long-running dispute on oil revenue-sharing between Iraq's national government and the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region may be resolved within months with agreement on a hydrocarbons law, Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said on Tuesday. Agreement on regular budget payments from Baghdad would help authorities in the Kurdish Regional Government resolve payment delays to international oil companies in the region, as well as easing a backlog in salary payments for KRG employees. Asked about the timing for agreement on the hydrocarbon law, Barzani said it should be within months. Under the Iraqi constitution, the KRG is entitled to a portion of the national budget. The standoff has affected the KRG's ability to pay international oil companies (IOCs) operating on its territory and to pay thousands of local employees.

☆ Davos 2023: Brazil lacking world aid to fight climate change, Silva says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

She said Brazil has regained the trust of the European Parliament with regards to resistance to the EU trade deal with South America's Mercosur bloc. Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF), Silva said Brazil's new government that took office on Jan. 1, was rebuilding Brazil's environmental agencies and policies that were "completely dismantled" by the previous administration. Silva said President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had offered to hold the COP30 climate summit in the Amazon region in 2025 to show its commitment towards curbing in climate change. Silva and Finance Minister Fernando Haddad represented Brazil at the WEF and discussed the country's economic, social and environmental roadmap in a panel. Reporting by Alessandra Galloni in Davos, Anthony Boadle and Eduardo Simoes in Brazil; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Stars flock to Dakar for All-Africa Music Awards
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DAKAR, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Musical heavyweights gathered in Dakar, Senegal on Sunday for the eighth All-Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) that aim to celebrate and promote the continent's best veteran and cutting-edge musicians. Globally recognised stars including Senegalese maestro Youssou Ndour, and Nigerian artists P-Square and Tiwa Savage are among those set to perform during the main awards ceremony at the 15,000-seat Dakar stadium. Companies are cashing in on rising global interest in African music. Last June, Universal Music Group (UMG.AS) launched a label for independent African labels and artists, while music streaming platforms, including Spotify (SPOT.N), have sought to expand their offerings by African artists. Reporting by Bate Felix and Ngouda Dione Writing by Alessandra Prentice Editing by Christina FincherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Congo beer factory a beacon in region rocked by rebels
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Erikas Mwisi Kambale | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] A general view shows the beer storage warehouse at the Brasimba beer production factory, a subsidiary of the Castel group, in Beni, Democratic Republic of Congo, December 21, 2022. REUTERS/Erikas Mwisi KambaleBENI, Democratic Republic of Congo, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Bottles of beer zip along a conveyor belt in a Brasimba factory which has weathered two deadly Ebola outbreaks and waves of fighting linked to rebel militias active in the nearby forests. After an initial investment of 125 million euros ($134 million), beer output at the plant in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo city of Beni more than tripled to 600,000 hectolitres between 2013 and 2021. Along with warehouse expansion, this should help Brasimba manage supply disruptions as the impoverished province grapples with a major offensive by the M23 rebel group. Brasimba's brewery was founded in 1925 and its Beni factory employs around 130 people and a further 180 temporary workers, providing much-needed income in a country where the World Bank estimates 73% of people live on less than $1.90 a day.

OUIDAH, Benin, Jan 11 (Reuters) - On Benin's national voodoo holiday, performers dressed as guardians of the night swirled in costumes resembling technicolour haystacks, delighting worshippers and tourists alike. [1/7] Devotees perform as they take part in the annual celebration of Voodoo festival in Cotonou, Benin January 10, 2023. REUTERS/ Charles Placide Tossou 1 2 3 4 5"For them, there is a lot of interest in discovering the roots of our ancestors, the African roots," she said. Only around 350,000 tourists visited Benin in 2020, although numbers have been rising steadily since 292,000 visited in 2016, according to the most recent annual data from the World Tourism Organization. French tourist Elodie Wine, 23, said seeing the group dances and fantastical costumes of the Ouidah festival was likely to be the highlight of her trip to Benin.

☆ Parents who say their kids are addicted to Fortnite slam Epic Games with lawsuit — and research shows it's not the only game people are worried about
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Candy Crush and Minecraft are among other video games people are searching for addiction support for, research finds. However, the court didn't agree with the parents' claim that Epic Games deliberately made Fortnite addictive. As part of the class-action, other Fortnite players in Quebec who believe they've experienced symptoms of addiction to the game. In 2019, the World Health Organization officially classified video game addiction as a mental health disorder named "gaming disorder." These include Minecraft (2,800 monthly searches), World of Warcraft (2,620 monthly searches), League of Legends (2,130 monthly searches), and Candy Crush (1,550 monthly searches).

☆ Landslide kills at least 8 people in eastern Congo
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 31 (Reuters) - A landslide crushed at least eight people and seriously injured nine others near an artisanal mine in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday, a local official told Reuters on Saturday. Landslides are relatively common in the hilly slopes of eastern Congo where heavy rains can saturate and loosen soil. But they are more likely to occur if soil has been disturbed by mining, tree-felling or construction. In December, intense rains in Congo's capital Kinshasa caused flooding and landslides that killed around 170 people. Reporting by Crispin Kyalangalilwa; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Alison WilliamsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 'The music stopped': 6 founders tell how they survived this year's bursting VC funding bubble, customers unwilling to spend, and a graveyard of fallen startup peers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( April Joyner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

This year's economic caution marked a huge contrast to 2021's exuberance and record VC funding. Insider spoke with six founders about how they've handled the abrupt switch from market exuberance to economic caution. But at the same time, they said, they've sought to pounce on new opportunities created by the economic downturn. ElektraShifting landscapes, changing prioritiesAfter a year of record venture capital funding, the abrupt shift in investor sentiment hit hard in 2022, founders told Insider. Artificial intelligence startups are the latest beneficiary of VC hype, buoyed by breakthrough software tools such as DALL-E and ChatGPT.

☆ The US may have lost in the World Cup, but soccer is more popular than ever in America
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Harry Enten | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +36 min

The Atlas Lions made history as the first African team to reach a World Cup semifinal. They made history as the first all-female refereeing crew for a men's World Cup match. It was Morocco's first World Cup win since 1998 — and its third-ever at the tournament. Less spoken about is that they also rate better on television than the men do in the World Cup. We’ll just have to wait and see, though with the US, Canada and Mexico hosting the 2026 World Cup, soccer isn’t going away anytime soon.

☆ German aid worker freed after kidnapping four years ago in Niger, says employer
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DAKAR, Dec 10 (Reuters) - A 63-year-old German aid worker, Joerg Lange, has been freed more than four years after he was kidnapped in western Niger near the Malian border, his employer, humanitarian organisation Help, said in a statement on Saturday. "We are very relieved and grateful that our colleague Joerg Lange can return to his family after more than four and a half years," Help Managing Director Bianca Kaltschmitt said. She thanked the German Foreign Office and other German authorities, as well as "authorities and friends in Mali, Niger and neighbouring countries". An engineer by training, Lange had worked in the humanitarian sector for more than thirty years before he was kidnapped. Reporting by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Peter Graff and Jan HarveyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Parents who say their kids won't eat or shower because they're addicted to Fortnite slam Epic Games with lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

We believe the evidence will show that this case is meritless," Epic Games said in a statement. Lussier's Wednesday ruling determined the class-action suit wasn't "frivolous or manifestly ill-founded," according to Global News. However, the court didn't agree with the parents' claim that Epic Games deliberately made Fortnite addictive. Epic Games denied the validity of the suit in a statement obtained by BBC. As part of the class-action, other Fortnite players in Quebec who believe they've experienced symptoms of addiction to the game.

In an Abidjan cafe where people were watching the game and drinking beer to celebrate the win, customer Jules Goule said Ivorians were proud of Morocco's win. "Through Morocco Africa has just shown that it can compete with other continents in football," he said. As the game wound on, Morocco fans screamed "Ole, ole, ole!" In the media box, a security guard, screaming with triumph, hugged a Moroccan journalist who was weeping with happiness. But in Rabat, joyful fans thronged the streets, people poured towards the downtown square where Morocco's victories are celebrated.

ACCRA, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Ghana will launch a domestic debt exchange on Monday, its Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said, expressing confidence that the move would help restore macroeconomic stability and end the West African country's worst economic crisis in a generation. Ofori-Atta said in a video address on Sunday that Ghana's government had finished its debt sustainability analysis, but he did not provide any information on plans for foreign debt that are anxiously awaited by international creditors. The government is in talks with the International Monetary Fund for a support programme to relieve its debt distress. "There was little question that Ghana needed LCY (local currency debt) coupon reductions to restore macro sustainability. Ofori-Atta said the government would set up a financial stability fund with the support of development partners to help domestic financial institutions, including banks and pension funds, weather the swap.

☆ Canada says war, climate concerns show need for supply chain shift
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Steve Scherer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Canada also launched an Indo-Pacific strategy on Sunday meant to counter Chinese power in the region. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is interviewed by Reuters Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni via video link during a Reuters NEXT Newsmaker event in New York City, U.S., November 30, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidChina now dominates the critical-mineral portion of the electric vehicle supply chain. In recent months, Canada has also been reminding its top trading partner, the United States, of its value as a neighbor. "We of course stand with those protesters," Trudeau said.

☆ Italy police arrest woman mafia boss, 48 others in raid outside Milan
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Police arrested 49 suspected mobsters in a raid on the outskirts of Milan on Tuesday, including five women, one of whom is accused of leading a local unit of the fearsome 'Ndrangheta mafia. It's rare for women to have leadership roles in the male-dominated world of the mafia. The woman, accused of ruling a 'Ndrangheta unit in Rho, a town on the outskirts of Milan, was "even more ruthless than the men", Milan prosecutor Alessandra Cerretti said in a news conference, according to local media. In a separate operation, police arrested another 37 people linked to the Camorra mafia in a raid outside the city of Naples, following a three-year investigation into extortion and drug trafficking. Reporting by Agnieszka Flak, editing by Alvise Armellini and Jon BoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Tosca Musk, Elon’s sister, has a business venture of her own – and it’s all about romance and female sexuality
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Faith Karimi Cnn Photographs Austin Steele | Faith Karimi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

It’s their first public film premiere since the pandemic started. Musk, 48, is the force behind Passionflix, which adapts romance novels into movies and streams them to a devoted niche audience. “Passionflix focuses on adapting romance novels exactly as the fan and the author envision it,” Musk says in a separate CNN interview. From left to right: Tosca Musk, Kimbal Musk, mother Maye Musk and Elon Musk at Maye's 50th birthday party in 1998. One of the founding members, she says she spent the pandemic years curled up on her couch, watching Passionflix movies.

☆ U.N. begins talks with Russia on Black Sea grains deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

GENEVA, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Talks between a Russian delegation and senior U.N. officials to address Moscow's grievances about the Black Sea grains export initiative began in Geneva on Friday, a U.N. spokesperson said. The negotiations come just eight days before the deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July is due to be renewed. The accord has helped stave off a global food crisis by allowing the export of food and fertilisers from several of Ukraine's Black Sea ports. Moscow has indicated that it is prepared to quit the deal, which could expire on Nov. 19, if progress is not made on its concerns. It said it was responding to a drone attack on Moscow's fleet in Crimea that it blamed on Ukraine.

☆ Results: Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney loses his bid for reelection against Republican Michael Lawler in New York's 17th Congressional District election
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Hanna Kang | Dorothy Cucci | Nov | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney was defeated by Republican Michael Lawler in New York's 17th Congressional District. The 17th District is located in the lower Hudson Valley. Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney lost his bid for reelection against Republican Michael Lawler in New York's 17th Congressional District. 2022 General EmbedsNew York's 17th Congressional District candidatesMaloney, who was first elected to the US House in 2012 after defeating Republican incumbent Nan Hayworth, serves on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Voting history for New York's 17th Congressional DistrictNew York's 17th Congressional District is located in the lower Hudson Valley and includes Rockland and Putnam counties, parts of Westchester, and three towns in southeast Dutchess County.

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