Coal mine explosion kills 90 in China, state media reports

SHANXI, China 

At least 90 people have been killed in a coal mine blast in northern China, according to state media.

The gas explosion at the Liushenyu Coal Mine in Shanxi province is the worst mining disaster in China since 2009.

There were 247 workers reportedly on duty when the blast happened at 19:29 local time on Friday (22:29 GMT), with more than 100 people reportedly pulled to safety and hundreds of rescuers sent to the site.

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for no effort to be spared in efforts to treat the injured and search for survivors, and asked the government to investigate the cause of the blast and hold those responsible to account.

Twenty-seven people remain in a local hospital, with one in critical condition, while the rest have minor injuries. Most were affected after inhaling poisonous gas, according to state media, though it is not clear what type of gas it was.

Wang Yong, an injured miner, told state media that when the incident happened, he did not hear a sound but saw a sudden plume of smoke.

"I smelled sulphur, the same smell you get from blasting. I shouted at people to run. As we were running I could see people collapsing from the fumes. Then I blacked out too," he said.

"I lay there for about an hour or so before I came round on my own. I woke up the person next to me and we got out together."

Some of the management team at the mine have reportedly been detained. The cause of the gas explosion has not yet been revealed, but state media reported that the levels of carbon monoxide - a highly toxic, odourless gas - in the mine were found to have "exceeded limits".

China's Ministry of Emergency Management has sent 345 personnel from six rescue teams to help with the operation.

In 2024, the Liushenyu mine was listed as one of the "severe safety hazards" by the Chinese National Mine Safety Administration.

Tongzhou Group, which runs the mine, has reportedly received two administrative penalties in 2025 for safety issues.

Shanxi province produces more than a quarter of China's total coal output.

This disaster is a reminder of the darkest days of China's coal mining industry.

In the early 2000s, deadly accidents were common in coal mines across the country. Safety standards have been tightened in recent years, and there has also been a crackdown on illegal coal mines, especially in Shanxi.

But accidents still happen.

In 2023, a collapse at an open-pit coal mine in the northern Inner Mongolia region killed 53 people.

And in 2009, an explosion at a mine in Heilongjiang province in the north-east killed more than 100.

China is the world's biggest consumer of coal and the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, even as it installs renewable energy capacity at record speed.

The incident comes just days after high-profile visits by US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin to the country.

Senegal in Turmoil as President Diomaye Faye sacks Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko

By Babacar Dione, DAKAR Senegal 

Senegal ’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has fired Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko after months of simmering tension.

The decision was announced by the secretary general of the government, Oumar Samba Ba, during a late-night broadcast on Friday.

The firing caps a period of open confrontation between the two former allies from the Patriotes Africains du Sénégal pour le Travail, l’Éthique et la Fraternité (Pastef) party, who had defeated the former ruling party in March 2024.

Ba said the sacking of the prime minister led to the resignation of all the members of the government and its dissolution.

The Pastef party had ridden into office after a fierce campaign mounted against the then-ruling party Alliance pour la République following widespread speculation that former President Macky Sall wanted to use a 2016 constitutional change to revise his term in office.

Sall, who led the country between 2012 and 2024, eventually did not contest the election after violence erupted in the West African nation. 

The clashes between the security forces and supporters of Ousmane Sonko, the then-opposition leader, led to at least 16 deaths and left several people injured. Sall’s party lost the election in the first round.

Sonko, who heads the Pastef party, was barred from running after a defamation conviction was upheld by Senegal’s supreme court, and the Constitutional Court dismissed his candidacy. Faye ran instead of Sonko, and Sonko was appointed Prime Minister.

“Praise be to Allah. Tonight I will sleep with a light heart in the Keur Gorgui neighborhood,” Sonko wrote in a short post on X after his dismissal.

The past few months have led to open confrontation between the pair. Earlier this month, Faye said the former prime minister would only keep his job if he did it properly after criticism from Sonko. 

The two disagreed on key policies, including the negotiation of a loan from the International Monetary Fund.

Rio Ferdinand's Tanzania visit becomes 'thorny'

DODOMA, Tanzania 

Rio Ferdinand, former Manchester United and England star, has said his visit to Tanzania has nothing to do with politics, insisting that he does not get involved in political issues anywhere in the world, including his own country.

'I am not a politician, I did not come here to do politics, no one can tell me what to do or not to do." 

Ferdinand said no one has the authority to tell him what to do or not to do, while expressing his delight at being given the honor of being Tanzania's tourism ambassador.

"I am grateful for this honor and I see it as an opportunity to promote Tanzania to the world." He said.

Ferdinand's reaction came after criticism of what youths in Tanzania called "sportswashing" (using sports to clean up the country's image), after he was seen supporting the Tanzanian government.

Ferdinand, 47, was reportedly welcomed on his visit to Tanzania by the Minister of Culture and Sports, Paul Makonda, who was sanctioned by the US government in 2020 for what it described as “gross human rights abuses”.

Makonda is said to be involved in a campaign against homosexuals.

His wife was also reportedly subject to US sanctions.

The US government said: “He has been involved in the suppression of political opposition, the suppression of freedom of expression and association, and the targeting of marginalised people.”

At a reception after Ferdinand arrived in the country, where he was draped in the Tanzanian flag, he was quoted as calling Makonda: “My friend Paul”.

Amnesty International UK's campaigns director, Felix Jakens, told The Times: "Amnesty International has been closely following the extremely worrying human rights situation in Tanzania, where security forces used excessive force against protesters in late 2025, killing and injuring hundreds."

"In light of this, Rio Ferdinand should be speaking out against the abuses taking place there, not offering his profile in support of the government."

"Celebrity visits are not easy - they send a message - and this has all the hallmarks of cleaning up Tanzania's image through sport."

The organisation has urged Ferdinand to use his platform to speak out against alleged human rights abuses rather than appearing to legitimise the government through his fame.

Though he has not posted anything about Tanzania,  the youths in the country have written a lot criticising his support to the the government that massacred hundreds of people last year.

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 23/5/2026

 

Kenyan public transport operators call off strike after president vows to reduce fuel prices

NAIROBI, Kenya 

Kenya’s public transport operators on Friday called off a nationwide strike that had been suspended for a week to allow talks over rising fuel prices.

The strike on Monday and Tuesday triggered protests in which four people were killed and more than 30 others injured after police fired live ammunition at demonstrators.

The operators met with President William Ruto on Friday and announced the strike would not resume after he pledged that diesel prices would be reduced in the upcoming monthly fuel price review in June.

Ruto rejected proposals to lower fuel taxes, arguing that reducing VAT on fuel from 16% to 8% had already caused significant revenue losses and that any further cuts would undermine delivery of government services.

Earlier in the week, thousands of protesters took to the streets, burning tires on major highways and blocking private vehicles from using the roads. 

Businesses and schools remained closed as initial negotiations between the government and transport operators failed.

The strike was temporarily suspended on Tuesday to allow further discussions between the government and fuel sector stakeholders.

Ruto, who had been out of the country during the strike, returned on Thursday and initiated talks that resulted in an agreement to lower fuel prices during the next monthly review.

US imposes sanctions on Tanzania's top cop over alleged rights violations

WASHINGTON, United States 

The United States Department of State has imposed sanctions on Tanzanian Police Force (TPF) Senior Assistant Commissioner Faustine Jackson Mafwele over violations of human rights.

Mafwele was involved in the torture of Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi (R) and his Ugandan counterpart Agather Atuhaire (L) while in Tanzania.

In a statement on Thursday, May 21, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US government has credible information that Mafwele was involved in the torture of Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and his Ugandan counterpart Agather Atuhaire while in Tanzania.

Rubio noted that the senior Tanzanian police official will be barred from entering the US following the sanction.

“The Department of State is designating Tanzanian Police Force (TPF) Senior Assistant Commissioner Faustine Jackson Mafwele under Section 7031(c) based on credible information that he was involved in gross violations of human rights.

“One year ago, members of the TPF detained, tortured, and sexually assaulted Ugandan Agather Atuhaire and Kenyan Boniface Mwangi, who were in Dar es Salaam to observe the judicial trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu. This designation prohibits Mafwele from entering the United States,” read the statement.

Mwangi and Atuhaire had travelled to Tanzania in May 2025 to attend court proceedings of Tundu Lissu, a Tanzanian opposition leader facing treason charges.

The two were arrested from their respective hotel rooms and taken into custody, where they were tortured and sexually assaulted.

Mwangi resurfaced on Thursday, May 22, in Ukunda, Kwale County, after he was deported from Tanzania. The activist was taken to the hospital to receive medical treatment.

Speaking after his release, Mwangi revealed that he was inhumanely tortured during detention.

 “I have gone through four very dark days. I have been tortured very badly. I can barely walk,” Mwangi said.

“We were tortured and told to strip naked and bathe. We couldn’t walk and were told to crawl and wash off the blood.”

Angry crowd sets Ebola hospital tents on fire in DR Congo

By Emery Makumeno, KINSHASA DR Congo 

An angry crowd set alight a section of a hospital at the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after family and friends of a young man thought to have died from the virus were prevented from taking his body away for burial.

"They started throwing projectiles at the hospital. They even set fire to tents that were being used as isolation wards," local politician Luc Malembe Malembe told the reporter about the scene he witnessed at Rwampara General Hospital.

In the chaos, police fired warning shots to disperse the crowd.

The body of a dead Ebola victim is highly infectious and the authorities need to ensure safe burial to stop the spread of the virus.

Medical workers at the Rwampara hospital, located near the city of Bunia in Ituri province, where almost all of the cases have been reported, were placed under military protection as the police moved in to restore order.

A healthcare worker was injured by stone-throwing protesters before law enforcement agents intervened, a hospital worker told the AFP news agency.

The man who died was a popular figure in the local community and those upset by his death did not "grasp the reality of the disease," Jean Claude Mukendi, who is co-ordinating the security response to Ebola in Ituri, told the Associated Press.

Witnesses told Reuters the young man was a footballer who had played with several local teams. His mother told the news agency she believed her son had died of typhoid fever, not Ebola.

Malembe said the crowd did not believe the virus, which has so far killed more than 130 in eastern DR Congo, was real.

"People are not properly informed or sensitised about what is happening. For a certain segment of the population, especially in remote areas, Ebola is an invention by outsiders - it does not exist," the politician said.

"They believe it is the NGOs and hospitals creating this to make money, and this is tragic."

He said two tents had been burned down, along with a body that had been due to be buried.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends "safe and dignified burials" for Ebola victims, with trained teams using protective equipment to handle bodies.

Six patients had been receiving treatment in the tents on the grounds of the hospital - and it was reported they may have fled in the mayhem.

But according to the medical charity Alima, which reportedly ran the tents, they are all accounted for and "are currently being cared for at the hospital".

The unrest came as it was announced that DR Congo's national football team had cancelled its pre-World Cup training camp in the capital, Kinshasa, because of the outbreak.

The WHO has called it a "public health emergency of international concern", but said it was not at pandemic level.

On Wednesday, the WHO said 139 people in DR Congo were thought to have died from Ebola, out of 600 suspected cases.

However, on the same day, Congolese Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba told state broadcaster RTNC TV that authorities had registered 159 deaths.

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 22/5/2026

 

Iran steps up claim to control Strait of Hormuz

TEHRAN, Iran 

Iran has said it is significantly expanding the area around the Strait of Hormuz over which it claims military control in an effort to assert its sovereignty of the key trade route.

A map published by Iran's newly-created "Persian Gulf Strait Authority" claims "Iranian armed forces oversight" across more than 22,000 sq km (8,800 sq miles).

It extends into the territorial waters of Oman and the UAE. The UAE described Iran's claims of control as "nothing but fragments of dreams".

Iran's new authority added that all transit through the strait "requires coordination with and authorization from the Persian Gulf Strait Authority".

The US and Gulf allies have repeatedly rejected Iranian attempts to assert control over the strait. The US has told ships not to comply with Iran's rules.

The diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, Anwar Gargash, said Iran is "trying to consecrate a new reality born from a clear military defeat, but attempts to control the Strait of Hormuz or encroach on the UAE's maritime sovereignty are nothing but fragments of dreams".

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea ships are guaranteed safe passage through another country's waters - but Iran has not ratified this convention.

Media linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) this week published footage showing what it claimed was a "punishment" strike on a tanker in the strait.

Iran's push for greater control over the area around the Strait of Hormuz comes as US forces boarded an Iran-bound oil ‌tanker on Wednesday. The US military's Central Command (Centcom) said it was ⁠suspected of violating the American blockade of Iranian ports.

Footage published by Centcom shows US marines rappelling from a helicopter on to the deck of a ship, said to be the oil tanker Celestial Sea, in the Gulf of Oman.

In a post on social media Centcom said the ship was "suspected of attempting to violate the US blockade by transiting toward an Iranian port".

"US forces subsequently released the vessel after conducting a search and directing the crew to alter course," according to maritime risk management company Vanguard.

Celestial Sea has previously been sanctioned under a previous name by the US for its links with Iran.

Tracking data from MarineTraffic shows the ship is now reporting its destination as the port of Duqm in Oman.

Centcom said on Thursday it had redirected 94 commercial ships and disabled four vessels since the US blockade of Iranian ports came into effect on 13 April.

Donald Trump said on Monday he was holding off a military attack on Iran planned for the following day at the request of Gulf states because "serious negotiations are now taking place".

In a post on Truth Social, the US president said he had been asked to do so by the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Pakistan's military chief is reported to be visiting Tehran on Thursday in an attempt to mediate peace efforts between Iran and the US.

Iranian state media reported Asim Munir will be continuing talks with senior Iranian officials.

The Iranian foreign ministry said it was reviewing the latest proposals from the US on ending the war.

Trump suggested he could wait a few days for Tehran to agree to the new deal but was also willing to resume attacks on the country.

"Believe me, if we don't get the right answers, it goes very quickly. We're all ready to go," the president said.

DR Congo cancels World Cup training camp over Ebola outbreak

KINSHASA, DR Congo 

The Democratic Republic of Congo has cancelled its pre-World Cup training camp in the capital, Kinshasa, because of an Ebola outbreak in the east of the country.

Preparations have been moved to Belgium amid the upsurge, which is thought to have killed more than 130 people.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has called the outbreak a "public health emergency of international concern", but said it was not at pandemic level.

Jerry Kalemo, a spokesperson for the national football team, told international media that pre-tournament games in Europe would go ahead as planned, as the squad gears up for their first World Cup since 1974.

DR Congo are due to play friendly matches against Denmark, on 3 June in Belgium, and Chile, on 9 June in Spain, ahead of the World Cup finals.

They play their first match of the tournament in the US city of Houston on 17 June against Portugal.

A spokesperson for the DR Congo team told the Reuters news agency that the squad's training camp had been cancelled due to travel restrictions imposed by the US, who are hosting the World Cup this summer, along with Mexico and Canada.

The US' public health agency has banned entry from non-Americans who have been in the DR Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days, in response to the Ebola outbreak.

All DR Congo's players, as well as the team's French coach, Sébastien Desabre, are based outside the central African country and will therefore not be affected by the restrictions now the training camp has been cancelled.

Some team staff based in DR Congo left the country on Wednesday, Kalemo told the Associated Press, ahead of the 21-day deadline.

The high-profile event in Kinshasa was supposed to have been attended by fans, along with DR Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi, according to Reuters.

Kinshasa is roughly 1,800 km (1,120m) away from the eastern Ituri province, the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak. There have not yet been any reported cases in the city.

On Wednesday, the WHO said 139 people were thought to have died, out of 600 suspected cases. However, on the same day, Congolese health minister Samuel Roger Kamba told state broadcaster RTNC TV that authorities had registered 159 deaths.

The outbreak has been caused by a rare species of Ebola known as Bundibugyo. There is currently no vaccine for this species and the WHO has said it could take up to nine months for a jab to be ready.

Sierra Leone welcomes first US deportation flight under Trump crackdown

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone 

Sierra Leone has become the latest African nation to receive deportees from the United States as President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign continues to expand, with a first batch of nine migrants landing at Freetown International Airport on Wednesday.

Witnessed by an our journalist, a plane carrying the migrants touched down outside the capital in the morning.

Foreign Minister Timothy Musa Kabba initially stated that 25 people would arrive, but later confirmed: “We have received nine deportees this morning from the US.”

According to authorities, the deportees come from Nigeria, Ghana, Guinea, and Senegal. Among them were seven men and two women, heads bowed as they boarded a minibus under police escort.

Health ministry official Doris Bah described the group’s condition: “All were traumatised due to the months in chains during detention in the US.” She added that most wished to return to their home countries.

“Some of the deportees were arrested on the streets and their place of work, while another was arrested while playing football in the US,” Bah said.

The migrants will be housed in a hotel and are expected to be sent back to their respective nations within two weeks at the latest.

Freetown has agreed to take in up to 300 people annually expelled by the United States, but only nationals from ECOWAS member states.

Some of the deportees hold Sierra Leonean residence permits obtained years ago, Kabba noted, adding that they have the right to stay in the country for 90 days before returning to their country of origin.

A foreign ministry document seen by our journalist shows the United States is providing $1.5 million to support the programme, covering “humanitarian and operational costs linked to this agreement.”

Freetown has not disclosed whether other concessions were made.

A US State Department spokesperson said Wednesday that removing migrants from US territory is a “top priority” but did not explain why Sierra Leone was chosen or what incentives were offered.

Sierra Leone joins a growing list of African countries accepting US deportees, including Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ghana, Rwanda, and South Sudan.

In return, Washington provides financial and logistical support. Some nations, such as the DRC, have even taken in migrants from Latin America.

In September, Human Rights Watch urged African nations to reject such arrangements, arguing that the “opaque deals” were “part of a US policy approach that violated international human rights law.”

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 22/5/2026