EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 21/12/2024

 

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 19/12/2024

 

Jesus hat-trick sends Gunners to Carabao Cup semi-final

LONDON,  England 

Gabriel Jesus bagged a second-half hat-trick as Arsenal came from behind to beat Crystal Palace 3-2 and move into the League Cup semi-finals at a wet and windy Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.

Palace had Arsenal reeling in the fourth minute when Jean-Philippe Mateta nudged aside Gunners defender Jakub Kiwior to latch onto a long ball and side-foot home.

But Arsenal thoroughly dominated the second half and Jesus equalised in the 54th minute when Martin Odegaard sent a beautiful through ball into the box and the Brazilian chipped the ball over Dean Henderson.

Jesus netted his second in the 73rd minute when Bukayo Saka slipped the ball through for him to hammer home. 

He completed his hat-trick eight minutes later when he ran onto a ball from Odegaard behind Palace's back line before firing past Henderson.

Eddie Nketiah pulled one back for Palace late on when he leapt high to head home past David Raya.

Leading African countries with the highest level of police professionalism

By Osoro Nyawangah, MWANZA Tanzania 

The professionalism of police forces across Africa has long been a subject of scrutiny, given their critical role in maintaining law and order, enforcing legislation, and protecting citizens’ rights.

Tanzania police thwarted demonstrations that had been planned by country's main opposition  party (Chadema) in 2024.

Despite some progress, many countries continue to grapple with challenges such as corruption, excessive use of force, and lack of accountability, which erode public trust.

However, many African countries face challenges in ensuring that their police services meet international standards of professionalism, which are vital for upholding justice, human rights, and the trust.

One of the key challenges to police professionalism in Africa is corruption.

In several countries, police officers are often seen as part of a larger system of patronage or are expected to accept bribes. 

Consequently, citizens may view the police not as protectors of the law but as part of the problem itself.

Despite challenges, some African police forces have made significant strides toward professionalism.

An Afrobarometer report conducted between 2021 and 2023 revealed that only one in three Africans say their police usually operate in a professional manner and respect citizens’ rights.

The survey covering 39 African countries sheds light on the challenges many Africans face when seeking the protection that law enforcement agencies are supposed to offer.

Among respondents who sought police assistance during the year in review, 54% said it was easy to get the help they needed, but 36% said they had to pay a bribe.

According to the report, Burkina Faso (68%), Morocco (64%), and Benin (61%) score highest on the professionalism dimension while achieving moderate (Burkina Faso and Morocco) to high (Benin) scores on the corruption measure (i.e. moderate to low levels of corruption).

In contrast, Sudan (30%), Sierra Leone (30%), Gabon (29%), and Congo-Brazzaville (28%) score worst on professionalism while also showing moderate to poor scores in terms of corruption and police brutality.

Below are the 10 African countries with the highest level of police professionalism:

Rank	Country	Professionalism
1	Burkina Faso	68%
2	Morocco	64%
3	Benin	61%
4	Mauritius	59%
5	Niger	58%
6	Senegal	56%
7	Mauritania	54%
8	Mali	53%
9	Tanzania	53%
10	Botswana	49%

Barrick Gold seeks arbitration with government over Mali mines dispute

TORONTO, Canada 

Barrick Gold announced on Wednesday that it had submitted a request for arbitration to the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) to resolve disagreements with the Malian government over its Loulo-Gounkoto mine complex.

On Monday, the world’s second-largest gold miner had said it would suspend operations in Mali if gold shipments remain blocked and disputes over a new mining code persist.

The Canadian mining giant has been locked in a months-long dispute with the government over dividing economic benefits from the Loulo-Gounkoto complex, which produced nearly 700,000 ounces of gold last year.

In a statement on Wednesday, Barrick said the request for arbitration reflects its commitment to “adhering to established processes for resolving disputes in a fair and transparent manner.” 

“Over its nearly three decades of operating in Mali, Barrick has consistently demonstrated its long-term commitment to the country and its people. While this process is ongoing, Barrick remains open to continued dialogue with the Government to resolve these issues amicably and ensure the long-term success of the Loulo-Gounkoto complex,” said Mark Bristow, Barrick president and CEO.

Mali, Africa’s second-largest gold producer, has been under military rule since 2021, following the country’s third coup in less than ten years. 

The junta has prioritized restructuring the mining industry, rolling out a new mining code, and conducting audits of operations. 

These changes have led to tense negotiations with foreign operators like Barrick, particularly over tax disputes and the terms of new agreements.

Arrests of staff from Australia’s Resolute Mining and Barrick by military authorities have gathered pace since September. The situation escalated further last week when Malian authorities issued an arrest warrant for Barrick CEO Mark Bristow, citing tax disputes. 

Barrick’s Loulo-Gounkoto complex, developed during Bristow’s tenure as CEO of Randgold before its acquisition by Barrick in 2018, is a cornerstone of Mali’s economy. Over the past 29 years, the company has invested more than $10 billion in the country, contributing between 5% and 10% of Mali’s GDP annually. Last year alone, Barrick injected over $1 billion into the local economy.

The mine complex is also one of Mali’s largest taxpayers and employers, with 97% of its 8,000-strong workforce being Malian nationals. According to Barrick, more than 70% of the economic benefits from the complex have gone directly to the Malian state.

Barrick shares fell as much as 1.4% as of 9:39 a.m. in New York. The company has a market capitalization of $28.25 billion.

Israeli troops to occupy Syria buffer zone indefinitely - Netanyahu

TEL AVIV, Israel 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Tuesday that Israeli forces will remain in the Syrian border buffer zone, invaded after Bashar Assad's ouster, until a new arrangement that guarantees Israel's security.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C-R) and Defense Minister Israel Katz (C-L) stand among Israeli troops at Jabal al-Shaykh or Mount Hermon in the occupied Golan Heights, Syria, Dec. 17, 2024.

Netanyahu made the comments from the summit of Jabal al-Shaykh, also known as, Mount Hermon – the highest peak in the area – inside Syria, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border with the Israel-held Golan Heights.

It appeared to be the first time a sitting Israeli leader had set foot that far into Syria. Netanyahu said he had been on the same mountaintop 53 years ago as a soldier, but the summit’s importance to Israel’s security has only increased given recent events.

Israel invaded a swath of southern Syria along the border with the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights days after Assad was ousted by anti-regime forces last week.

Israel’s capture of the buffer zone, a roughly 400-square-kilometer (155-square-mile) demilitarized area in Syrian territory, has sparked international condemnation, accusing Israel of violating a 1974 cease-fire and possibly exploiting the chaos in Syria in the wake of Assad's ouster to make a land grab.

"We will stay ... until another arrangement is found that ensures Israel’s security," said Netanyahu who had traveled to the buffer zone Tuesday with Defense Minister Israel Katz.

Katz said he instructed the Israeli military to quickly establish a presence, including fortifications, in anticipation of what could be an extended stay in the area.

"The summit of the Hermon is the eyes of the state of Israel to identify our enemies who are nearby and far away," he said.

An Israeli military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations, said there is no plan to evacuate the Syrians living in villages within the buffer zone.

The buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights was created by the U.N. after the 1973 Mideast war. A U.N. force of about 1,100 troops had patrolled the area since then.

A U.N. spokesman said Tuesday that the advance of Israeli troops, however long it lasts, violates the deal that set up the buffer zone.

That agreement "needs to be respected, and occupation is occupation, whether it lasts a week, a month or a year, it remains occupation," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

There was no immediate comment from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the group that led the ouster of Assad, or from Arab states.

Israel still controls the Golan Heights, which it captured from Syria during the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed – a move not recognized by most of the international community.

Jabal al-Shaykh or Mount Hermon's summit is divided between the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, Lebanon and Syria. Only the United States recognizes Israel’s control of the Golan Heights.

Dozens in Mozambique killed by 'intense' cyclone

By Jose Tembe, MAPUTO  Mozambique 

At least 34 people have died following "one of the most intense storms ever recorded" in northern Mozambique, the country's National Institute of Risk and Disaster Management (INGD) has said.

Cyclone Chido made landfall in Mozambique on Sunday, after wreaking havoc in the Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte.

Hundreds are feared dead in Mayotte - a French overseas region - and several people - including more than 200 Red Cross volunteers - are thought to be missing.

The INGD has called the situation in Mozambique "heart-breaking" and warned that the death toll is likely to rise.

More than 34,000 Mozambican families have lost their homes to Chido, which brought winds of around 260km/h (160mph).

Schools, health facilities and fishing boats were also destroyed.

Chido struck northern provinces that are regularly battered by cyclones. The area is also beset by attacks from Islamist militants.

The cyclone made landfall in Cabo Delgado before travelling further inland to Niassa and Nampula, where a three-year-old girl was among the fatalities.

Most of those killed by Chido were hit by falling objects, such as from destroyed brick walls, INGD spokesperson Paulo Tomas said.

Electricity and communications have also been upended - state-owned power company Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) announced that around 200,000 customers are without power.

In Mayotte, widespread damage to infrastructure - with downed power lines and impassable roads - is severely hindering emergency operations.

Chido was the strongest storm to strike the territory in more than 90 years.

The official death toll on the islands has reached 21, but it is thought that hundreds of people may have died.

"We are talking about the entire area, if not the whole island completely destroyed and washed away. What is really scary is the number of people that are still missing," Tommaso Della Longa, a spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross, told journalists.

He added that more than 200 Red Cross volunteers are among those feared missing.

A French MP on the island, Estelle Youssouffa, has said she fears tens of thousands of people have died as a result of the cyclone.

She told journalists that the magnitude of the destruction was hard to comprehend with 90% of the buildings damaged.

The complete death toll may never be fully known, Youssouffa added. With thousands missing mostly in areas where undocumented immigrants were living, "by definition it's a population that is... not on the radar of the administration", she said.

Many of them "refused to go to the shelters because they feared they could be expelled from the island", she added.

The French authorities have imposed a night-time curfew in Mayotte to prevent looting.

Just last year, Mozambique was left reeling from Cyclone Freddy, one of the longest-lived storms ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere, if not the whole world.

More than 180 in the country were killed, the World Meteorological Organization said.

DR Congo files criminal case against Apple over alleged use of "blood minerals"

KINSHASA,  DR Congo 

Multinational tech giant, Apple, is in the spotlight after the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) filed a criminal case against its subsidiaries in Belgium and France.

Kinshasa accuses the company of illegally using what it described as “blood minerals” in its supply chain.

The allegations against Apple reportedly include war crimes, laundering, forgery, and deception.

Lawyers for the Congolese government say Apple has bought contraband supplies from the conflict-ravaged eastern DRC and Rwanda.

Both are zones in which the materials are alleged to be mined illegally.

The DRC government says they were then integrated into global supply chains before ending up in the company’s devices.

United Nations experts and human rights groups say some of the artisanal mines are run by armed groups involved in massacres of civilians, mass rapes, looting, and other crimes.

Kinshasa says this makes Apple complicit in crimes taking place in the east of the country.

The tech giant says it does not source its primary materials directly but that it does carefully verify their origin.

However, the DRC’s lawyers allege Apple units in the two countries deploy deceptive commercial practices to persuade consumers that its supply chains are above board.

Rwanda has also dismissed the allegations against the tech giant as unfounded.

The mineral-rich eastern DRC has been racked by violence between rebel groups and the Congolese army since the 1990s.

Ukraine claims killing of Russian general in Moscow

KYIV,  Ukraine 

Senior Russian general was killed Tuesday by a bomb hidden in a scooter outside his apartment building in Moscow, a day after Ukraine’s security service leveled criminal charges against him.

A Ukrainian official said the service carried out the attack.

Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the chief of the military’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces, was killed as he left for his office.

Kirillov’s assistant also died in the attack.

Kirillov, 54, was under sanctions from several countries, including the U.K. and Canada, for his actions in Russia's special military operation in Ukraine.

On Monday, Ukraine’s Security Service, or SBU, opened a criminal investigation against him, accusing him of directing the use of banned chemical weapons.

An official with the SBU said the agency was behind the attack.

The SBU also said they had recorded more than 4,800 uses of chemical weapons on the battlefield since February 2022, particularly K-1 combat grenades.

In May, the U.S. State Department said that it had recorded the use of chloropicrin, a poison gas first deployed in World War I, against Ukrainian troops.

Russia has denied using any chemical weapons in Ukraine and, in turn, has accused Kyiv of using toxic agents in combat.

Kirillov, who took his current job in 2017, was one of the most high-profile figures to level those accusations.

He held numerous briefings to accuse the Ukrainian military of using toxic agents and planning to launch attacks with radioactive substances — claims that Ukraine and its Western allies rejected as propaganda.

The bomb used in Tuesday's attack was triggered remotely, according to Russian news reports.

Images from the scene showed shattered windows and scorched brickwork.

Russia’s top state investigative agency said it's investigating Kirillov’s death as a case of terrorism, and officials in Moscow vowed to punish Ukraine.

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 18/12/2024