Final outcome expected after rigging allegations, weeks of protests and crackdown in which dozens have been killed
Mozambique is on edge ahead of a ruling expected on Monday to determine the final results of October’s disputed elections, after allegations of rigging triggered weeks of protests in which security forces have killed dozens of people.
The opposition presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane has threatened “chaos” if the constitutional council confirms the initial election results, which gave the ruling party candidate, Daniel Chapo, 70.7% of the vote and Mondlane 20.3%.
Continue reading...The sinking comes less than four days after another boat capsized in the country’s north-east, leaving 25 people dead
A ferry overloaded with people returning home for Christmas capsized on the Busira River in north-eastern Congo, leaving 38 people confirmed dead and more than 100 others missing, officials and eyewitnesses said on Saturday.
Twenty people have been rescued so far.
Continue reading...French president makes remark when confronted by residents still without water after huge storm last week
Emmanuel Macron swore during a furious exchange with residents of the cyclone-hit islands of Mayotte on Thursday night, telling a jeering crowd in the French territory: “If it wasn’t for France, you’d be 10,000 times deeper in shit.”
Cyclone Chido swept through Mayotte, which lies between Madagascar and Mozambique, on 14 December, destroying vital infrastructure and flattening many of the tin-roofed shacks that make up its large slums. Almost a week after its worst storm in 90 years, France’s poorest territory still has shortages of water.
Continue reading...Torrential rainfall driven by north-east monsoon displaces thousands of people as buildings collapse
Southern Thailand is grappling with severe flooding as torrential rainfall, driven by the north-east monsoon, continues to affect the region. During the north-east monsoon, which runs from November to March, winds from the north-east pick up moisture from the Gulf of Thailand and deposit it as heavy rain across the islands in the gulf and into exposed eastern parts of Thailand’s southern peninsula.
While high rainfall totals in southern Thailand are not unusual at this time of year, this year’s has been significantly above average. Ko Samui, Thailand’s second largest island, has recorded 571mm (22.48in) of rain this month – approximately 375% of the December average – with nearly a third of the month yet to go. In the nearby province of Nakhon Si Thammarat on the mainland, another weather station has surpassed 1009mm, more than four times the December norm.
Continue reading...Deo Kato says journey from Cape Town gave him hope in humanity, despite facing racism from police and passersby on a daily basis
A Ugandan athlete who arrives in London this weekend after running 7,730 miles (12,440km) from South Africa to raise awareness about racism has revealed he suffered repeated abuse on reaching Europe.
Deo Kato set off from Cape Town in July 2023, running steadily north on a 516-day odyssey that has seen him jailed for weeks, laid low with serious illness and having to pass through war zones.
Continue reading...Police arrest eight people after incident at Basorun Islamic high school in Ibadan
At least 35 children have died and six others were seriously injured in a crowd crush at a school fair in Nigeria’s third largest city, Ibadan.
Police said eight people had been arrested “for their various involvements” in the incident. Among those detained was the main sponsor of the event on Wednesday at the Basorun Islamic highschool, which was organised by the Wings Foundation and Agidigbo FM radio.
Continue reading...Trump also warns he would not let a ‘vital national asset’ for the US fall into the ‘wrong hands’
Donald Trump has demanded that the Panama Canal be given back to the US if Panama did not manage the waterway in a fashion that was acceptable to him – and he accused the central American country of charging excessive rates for use of the ocean-connecting ship passage.
“The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the US,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform late Saturday, a little more than a month before the start of his second US presidency. “This complete ‘rip-off’ of our Country will immediately stop….”
Continue reading...Crash in Gramado kills all passengers and crew onboard, with more than a dozen people also injured on the ground
A small plane crashed into a Brazilian town popular with tourists on Sunday, killing all 10 passengers on board and injuring more than a dozen people on the ground, Brazil’s Civil Defense Agency said.
In a post on X, the agency said the plane hit the chimney of a home and then the second floor of a nearby building before crashing into a mobile phone shop in a largely residential neighbourhood of Gramado. More than a dozen people who were on the ground were taken to hospital with injuries including smoke inhalation. Two were said to be in critical condition.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Automatic cameras in the Brazilian rainforest show images of the Massaco people, who are flourishing despite environmental threats
Remarkable images taken by automatic cameras in the Brazilian rainforest reveal an isolated community that appears to be thriving despite pressure from ranchers and illegal encroachment into the Amazon.
The pictures, of a group of men, offer the outside world its first glimpse of the community – and give further evidence the population is growing. The group is known as the Massaco after the river that runs through their lands, but no one knows what they call themselves, while their language, social fabric and beliefs remain a mystery.
Continue reading...Further 13 people taken to hospital after vehicle crashed into lorry then burst into flames
At least 38 people have been killed in a “tragic” traffic collision between a bus and truck in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, the Associated Press reported, citing fire department officials who attended the scene. The death toll had initially been put at 22.
A further 13 people were taken to hospitals near the city of Teófilo Otoni.
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