Monrovia, Liberia | AFP | As UN peacekeepers leave Liberia after 14 years, headway in reforming the security forces is being undermined by lack of progress in tackling the country’s traumatic legacy of war crimes, officials say. Liberia’s 1989-2003 conflict killed around a quarter of a million people, while government forces …
Read More »US says others should pay bigger share of UN peacekeeping bill
United Nations, United States | AFP | US Ambassador Nikki Haley told countries at the United Nations on Wednesday they need to “step up” and pay a bigger share of the multi-billion-dollar bill for peacekeeping operations. The largest financial contributor to UN peacekeeping, the United States last year negotiated a $600 …
Read More »Six killed in DR Congo violence flareup
Bunia, DR Congo | AFP | Six civilians were killed in attacks in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo where violence has claimed at least 130 lives since December, a local official said Saturday. Since late last year, scores of people have been killed in a flareup of clashes involving the …
Read More »Pope Francis discusses peace with South Sudan delegation
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis on Friday met representatives of the South Sudan Council of Churches and discussed how to promote peace in a country ravaged by a bloody four-year civil war. “The Pope holds the suffering people of South Sudan in his heart,” said Council Secretary …
Read More »UN troops find 8 bodies after bloodshed in eastern DR Congo
Bunia, DR Congo | AFP | UN peacekeepers have found eight decomposing bodies in a village in the volatile Ituri province of northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the agency told AFP on Friday. A local official said the eight had been killed during a March 12-13 attack on Djugu area …
Read More »US restricts trade with South Sudanese oil firms
Washington, United States | AFP |The United States imposed restrictions Wednesday on exports of US technical support to the South Sudanese oil industry, warning that it is fuelling the bloody civil war there. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said exporters will henceforth need a license to export, re-export or transfer …
Read More »In Somalia, women defy strict rules to play football
Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Shortly after sunrise, a group of young women arrives at a football pitch in Mogadishu, where they shrug off their hijabs — some changing underneath the billowing veil — to reveal their team kit. Young Somali men stand nearby, some disapproving but all watching closely, as …
Read More »Public smiles, private problems as Saudi prince visits White House
Washington, United States | AFP | Saudi Arabia’s crown prince received an effusive welcome at the White House Tuesday from US President Donald Trump, who hailed a “great friendship” with the kingdom — but made no public mention of the sticking points in the burgeoning alliance. In front of the cameras, …
Read More »Netanyahu says African migrants worse threat than jihadists
Dimona, Israel | AFP | Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that an electronic fence along the Israel-Egypt border has saved the Jewish state from jihadist attacks or what he believes would be worse — a tide of African migrants. “Were it not for the fence, we would be faced …
Read More »Strike on Syria’s Ghouta kills 15 children sheltering in school: monitor
Beirut, Lebanon | AFP | An air strike on a school in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta late Monday killed 15 children and two women who were using its basement as a bomb shelter, a monitor said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the bombing raid hit Arbin, a key town …
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