Zambian foreign minister resigns over 'Malicious' Claims on business deal

LUSAKA, Zambia

Zambian Foreign Minister, Stanley Kakubo, resigned early this week amidst suspicions surrounding a business deal with a Chinese businessman, according to statements from the presidency of the southern African nation.

Having taken office in September 2021, Mr. Kakubo declared his decision to step down in a letter, citing malicious allegations linked to a business transaction. 

This move followed the circulation of a viral video showing two individuals counting bundles of cash on a table.

Furthermore, an online image of a handwritten and signed note emerged, indicating an exchange of $100,000 between a Chinese mining company and a Zambian mining company. 

While the note featured the names of Mr. Kabuko and a Mr. Zang, additional details were not immediately accessible.

Chinese corporations play a crucial role in Zambia's mining sector, a fundamental component of the former British colony's economy. Beijing serves as a primary importer of Zambian copper.

According to reports from the Chinese Embassy, in 2022, over $3 billion was invested by more than 600 Chinese companies in Zambia. 

Additionally, China played a pivotal role in restructuring Zambia's external debt after the country's default on its sovereign debt in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Families in Burundi begin burying the dead after DRC-Based rebel group attacks

GATUMBA, Burundi

Families in Burundi buried their loved ones on Tuesday following the recent deadly rebel attack on Burundi from neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.

At least 20 people were killed in Burundi following an attack by a rebel group based in the neighboring DRC, a Burundian government spokesman said Saturday.

The burials took place at the St. François Xavier parish church, where a service was held to honor the victims.

"I went out to see my cousin who lives on the third avenue, I found that he had been massacred with his children," said Jean Niyonzima, a relative of a victim.

The attack targeted nine homes on Friday evening in the western town of Vugizo, close to the Lake Tanganyika border with DRC, according to the Burundian government.

"Frankly speaking, this is nothing short of sheer terror. A pregnant woman begged them to spare her life, but in the end it was all in vain," Burundian Minister of Interior Martin Niteretse said on Tuesday.

RED-Tabara, a Burundian armed rebel group based in South Kivu, eastern DRC, claimed responsibility for the attack in a post on the X platform, formerly Twitter.

The group, which denied having targeted civilians, claimed to have killed nine soldiers and a police officer.

Burundian authorities consider RED-Tabara a terrorist movement. The group first appeared in 2011 and has been accused of a string of attacks in Burundi since 2015.

In August last year, Burundi deployed soldiers to eastern DRC as part of a regional force invited by Congo to tackle the resurgence of the M23 rebel group there.

Some observers believed that the Burundi troops from the seven-nation East African Community force would be used to crush RED-Tabara.

However, the East African Regional force is currently being withdrawn in phases from the violence-plagued eastern Congo following complaints from locals and authorities that instead of disarming the rebels, the forces were cohabiting with them.

The Burundi Human Rights Initiative said Burundi had secretly deployed hundreds of troops and militia to the DRC in 2021 to fight RED-Tabara.

The impact of that secret deployment is not clear.

Israel army chief says Gaza war to last 'many more months'

TEL AVIV, Israel

Israel’s Army Chief, Herzi Halevi, has said the war in Gaza will last “many more months” as the military stepped up strikes inside the Gaza Strip, where more than 20,000 people have already been reported killed.

Concerns over a spiralling humanitarian crisis inside the besieged territory have amplified calls for an end to the hostilities, while incidents linked to Iran-backed groups acting in solidarity with Palestine have fanned fears of a wider regional conflict.

Yesterday, the United States reported shooting down a barrage of drones and missiles over the Red Sea fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

But Israel’s leaders have repeatedly vowed to keep up their offensive until Hamas is destroyed, and army chief signalled there would be no quick end to the war.

“This war’s objectives are essential and not simple to achieve,” Halevi said last night.

“Therefore, the war will continue for many more months.”

The conflict erupted when Hamas gunmen attacked Israel on 7 October and killed about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

During the attack – the deadliest in Israel’s history – Hamas also took around 250 hostages, of whom 129 remain inside Gaza, Israel says.

Israel retaliated with a relentless bombardment and a siege followed by a ground invasion. The campaign has killed at least 20,915 people, mostly women and children, according to the latest toll issued by Gaza’s health ministry.

Since the siege went into effect, Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been suffering severe shortages of water, food, fuel and medicine, with only limited aid entering the territory. An estimated 1.9 million Gazans have been displaced, according to the UN.

In the southern city of Rafah, where many displaced people have sought refuge, hundreds turned up at the Abdul Salam Yassin water company yesterday carrying baskets, pulling handcarts and even pushing a wheelchair stacked with bottles to queue for clean water.

“This was my father’s cart,” said Rafah resident Amir al-Zahhar. “He was martyred during the war. He used it to transport and sell fish, and now we are using it to transport fresh water.”

Elsewhere in the city, people split logs and stacked kindling as the lack of fuel forced them to burn wood for cooking and to keep warm.

One woman took advantage of the sunshine yesterday to wash her family’s clothes by hand, telling AFP: “I’ve pleaded with people for water. I have absolutely nothing. I’ve borrowed everything, even the blankets, from others.”

The UN Security Council, in a resolution last week, called for the “safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale”.

It requested the appointment of a UN humanitarian coordinator to oversee and verify third-country aid to Gaza, and yesterday Sigrid Kaag, the outgoing Dutch finance minister, was named to the post.

The resolution, which did not call for an immediate end to the fighting, effectively leaves Israel with operational oversight of aid deliveries.

Israel returned the bodies of 80 Palestinians killed in Gaza after taking them from morgues and graves to check there were no hostages among them, sources in the territory’s health ministry said.

The bodies, which had been transported to Israel, were returned through the Red Cross to Hamas authorities who buried them in a mass grave in Gaza, the sources said.

An AFP photographer saw a digger lowering the blue body bags into a trench in Rafah, in the far south of the territory.

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said yesterday that troops were “fighting in the southern Gaza Strip in the area of Khan Yunis, and we have expanded the combat to the area known as the central camps”.

Three more Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza yesterday, bringing the total to 161 since its ground invasion began on 27 October, the military said.

The UN Human Rights Office said it was “gravely concerned about the continued bombardment of Middle Gaza by Israeli forces”, particularly after the military ordered residents to move to the central and southern regions.

France, a staunch Israeli ally, also said it was concerned by Israel’s vow to intensify and prolong the fighting.

Violence has also flared across the occupied West Bank since the war began.

An Israeli operation in a refugee camp in the north of the West Bank left six people dead early this morning, according to the Palestinian ministry of health.

More than 300 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers since the war erupted, according to the ministry.

DRC Police fire tear gas at banned election protest

KINSHASA, DR Congo

Police in the Democratic Republic of Congo fired tear gas on Wednesday to disperse a protest by opposition supporters in the capital Kinshasa calling for a re-run of last week's chaotic presidential and legislative elections.

The disputed vote threatens to further destabilize poverty-stricken DRC, which is already grappling with a security crisis in the east that has hampered development in the world's top producer of cobalt and other industrial minerals and metals.

Five of President Felix Tshisekedi's challengers in the race called on their supporters to join a march on Wednesday against the poll, which they say was fraudulent and should be annulled.

They vowed to proceed even after the government banned the protest on Tuesday, saying it was intended to undermine the work of the national election commission (CENI) as it compiles results that for now show Tshisekedi with a strong lead.

Police surrounded the headquarters of one of the incumbent's main challengers, Martin Fayulu, where protesters were meant to gather for a scheduled start time of 0900 GMT. Some were in riot gear while others held rifles.

There was no immediate sign of large crowds gathering amid the heavy security presence. But some protesters tried to block roads with burning tires before police intervened with tear gas. People around Fayulu's headquarters also threw rocks at the police, who retaliated in kind.

Tshisekedi "did not win the election, his victory is fraudulent," one protester who gave his name as Jean-Pierre said outside the building.

Government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said the demonstration was banned and that police were taking necessary security measures.

In a sign of tension elsewhere, supporters of a local candidate, who appeared to be losing, briefly blocked roads and disrupted traffic with burning tires in the eastern city of Butembo, before dispersing.

After a sometimes violent campaign, the December 20 vote itself was chaotic, with delayed election kit deliveries, malfunctioning equipment and disorganized voting lists. Violence also disrupted the poll in some places.

The protest organizers have heavily criticized the CENI's decision to extend voting at polling stations that failed to open on election day, calling it unconstitutional and grounds for a full re-run.

Some independent observers have also said the extension undermines the credibility of the poll.

CENI has acknowledged there were delays but has denied that the legitimacy of the election was compromised by extending some voting.

Its latest tally on Tuesday put Tshisekedi well ahead of his 18 challengers, with almost 79% of around 6.1 million votes counted so far.

Around 44 million were registered to vote, although the number of ballots cast remains unknown.

Calls to annul elections in DRC amid allegations of irregularities

KINSHASA, DR Congo

In a press conference held in Kinshasa, representatives from various civil society organizations and presidential candidates are urging the annulment of the December 20, 2023 elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). 

Mino Bopomi, coordinator of the Filimbi citizens' movement, read out a joint statement declaring, "The December 20, 2023 elections must be cancelled in view of the serious irregularities."

The controversy surrounding the elections is underscored by allegations made by Mino Bopomi, who accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) of intentionally extending voting days in violation of electoral law. According to Bopomi, this extension, in conjunction with the inaccessible Carlabella website, raises concerns about potential widespread fraud.

Bopomi suggests that the extended voting period, particularly during the night, might be exploited to manipulate ballot boxes in favor of a specific presidential candidate.

Paul Diakese, the spokesperson for Moïse Katumbi's political party, Ensemble pour la République (Together for the Republic), also voiced rejection of the election results. Diakese stated that the results are perceived as a product of a well-organized fraudulent process, undermining the voice of the sovereign people.

The opposition, including Martin Fayulu and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Denis Mukwege, had initially planned a demonstration to protest the alleged irregularities. However, the government of the DRC, represented by Minister of the Interior Peter Kazadi, declared the protest as illegal, asserting that it aims to disrupt the electoral process.

In a joint statement, the opposition leaders described the elections as a a sham, expressing their intent to protest against the observed irregularities during the voting operations.

Despite the government's prohibition, opposition leaders and representatives of civil society organizations have affirmed their commitment to the planned demonstration on Wednesday. Mino Bopomi of the Filimbi citizens' movement emphasized the peaceful nature of the march, opposing any attempt to intimidate or traumatize the population.

The electoral process has been marred by logistical challenges, leading to an official extension of the quadruple election by one day. The voting continued until Christmas in some remote areas. Preliminary results from the presidential election, released by the Electoral Commission, place the incumbent president, Félix Tshisekedi, at a significant lead with 77.34% of approximately 4.4 million counted votes.

Banker elected leader of Ivory Coast opposition coalition

YAMOUSSOUKRO, Ivory Coast

Ivorian-French banker Tidjane Thiam was Friday elected leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Ivory Coast, a victory which puts him in position to contest the next presidential election in 2025.

Thiam, a former boss of banking giant Credit Suisse, won very comfortably with 96.5 percent of the vote against 3.2 percent for his rival Jean-Marc Yace, the mayor of a commune in the economic hub Abidjan, according to the results announced late Friday.

"It is with great humility that I accept the responsibility that you have decided to entrust to me," Thiam said.

More than 6,000 delegates took part in the vote at a party congress in the capital Yamoussoukro.

Thiam was the favourite and had the support of a large majority of the party's lawmakers.

With this election, the Democratic Party (PDCI) hopes to rejuvenate its image following the death of its former leader Henri Konan Bedie, in early August at the age of 89.

It was once the sole legal party in Ivory Coast and ruled for decades following the country's 1960 independence from France, but lost power after a 1999 coup.

At 61, Thiam is a relatively young top political figure in the West African nation and is returning after more than 20 years abroad.

"Our new president will have to put us back in working order. He will have to give more responsibilities to the young people of the party," said interim party president Philippe Cowppli-Bony, 91.

"We have been treated too much as a party of old people. It's positive to see two young candidates, it's nice," said Ohoueu Assi, a congressman from Guiglo in the west.

The party, which is eyeing a return to power in two years, also proposed supporting Thiam's nomination for the 2025 race.

"2025 will be a crucial electoral year for our party, we must be ready," Thiam said.

"If Thiam is our candidate, which I hope, we will have the capacity to return to power," said Cyprien Koffi, a delegate from San Pedro in the southwest.

"He can breathe new life into it."

Once an ally of President Alassane Ouattara, in power since 2011, the PDCI regained its place in the opposition in 2018 and boycotted the last presidential election.

More than two decades after leaving Ivory Coast following the 1999 coup, Thiam returns after a high-profile business career.

In 1982 he was the first Ivorian to pass the entrance exam for the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, from which he graduated two years later before an initial career as an engineer.

He then spent a few years with consulting firm McKinsey before being tapped by the powers that be in Ivory Coast.

An early career as a government minister was interrupted in 1999 when a coup toppled president Bedie and the PDCI has not regained power since.

He then went into the private sector abroad, first with insurance firm Aviva and then as CEO of Prudential before becoming head of Credit Suisse in 2015.

After leading a restructuring of the bank, his initially praised strategy was criticised after three consecutive years of losses and a fall in its share price.

He stepped down in 2020 after a corporate espionage scandal at the bank, which he denied involvement in.

Thiam is also a great-nephew of Ivory Coast's long-serving first president, and PDCI founder, Felix Houphouet-Boigny.

Iran executes child bride who killed abusive husband

TEHRAN, Iran

An Iranian child bride who was forced to marry at 15 has been hanged in Iran for murdering her husband who had abused her for years. 

Samira Sabzian, 29, who had been in prison for the past decade, was executed at dawn in Ghezel Hesar prison in the Tehran city of Karaj, the Norway-based Iran Human rights group (IHR) said. 

Sabzian, from the city of Khorramabad in western Iran, was forced to marry her husband when she was just 15. In the years that ensued, the girl became the victim of domestic violence, her relatives said. 

After four years of abuse, the mother-of two murdered her husband in 2013 when she was 19 years old and was sent to prison where she remained for ten years.

Today, Sabzian was executed by the Iranian regime - despite pleas from Britain, the UN and international human rights groups to spare the child bride. 

Gaza war 'most dangerous ever' for journalists, says rights group

NEW YORK, USA

The first 10 weeks of the Gaza war have been the deadliest recorded for journalists, with the most journalists killed in a single year in one location, the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said on Thursday.

Most of the journalists and media workers killed in the war - 61 out of 68 - were Palestinian. The report said it was "particularly concerned about an apparent pattern of targeting of journalists and their families by the Israeli military."

Three Lebanese journalists, including Reuters visuals journalist Issam Abdallah, were also killed between October 7 and December 20, CPJ data showed.

The group, a nonprofit organisation that promotes press freedom worldwide, said it was further investigating the circumstances of all journalist deaths. It said such efforts in Gaza were hampered by widespread destruction and by the killing of journalists' family members, who typically serve as sources for investigators looking into how the journalists died.

Reporting in Gaza has been severely restricted under intense Israeli bombardment, with repeated communications blackouts and a lack of food, fuel and housing, said CPJ, adding that foreign journalists have not been able to independently access the strip for most of the war.

"The Israel-Gaza war is the most dangerous situation for journalists we have ever seen, and these figures show that clearly," said Sherif Mansour, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator.

"The Israeli army has killed more journalists in 10 weeks than any other army or entity has in any single year. And with every journalist killed, the war becomes harder to document and to understand."

A May report by CPJ found that Israeli soldiers had killed at least 20 journalists in the last 22 years and none had ever been charged or held accountable.

Earlier this month, a Reuters investigation found an Israeli tank crew killed Abdallah and wounded six reporters in Lebanon on October 13 by firing two shells in quick succession from Israel while the journalists were filming cross-border shelling.

At least 1,200 people were killed in Israel and over 200 were taken hostage on October 7 after Hamas launched a surprise attack, according to Israeli tallies. The group said this came in response to decades of Israeli blockade and aggression.

Israel's relentless bombardment of Gaza has killed 20,000 Palestinians, with thousands more believed lost under rubble.

Guinea-Bissau president sacks newly-appointed Prime Minister

Prime Minister Geraldo Martins

BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau

Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embaló has sacked Prime Minister Geraldo Martins, just a week after reinstating him to the post.

Mr Martins was first appointed PM in August, but lost the position earlier this month when President Embaló dissolved the government following a foiled coup attempt on 1 December.

The president then reappointed Mr Martins as Prime Minister last week.

A presidential decree issued on Wednesday announced that Rui Duarte de Barros, who previously served as the West African nation’s transitional PM between 2012 to 2014, would replace Mr Martins.

Last month, there were clashes between two army factions in the capital Bissau while President Embaló was away at the UN’s COP28 climate conference in Dubai.

Mr Embaló promised “serious consequences” for the perpetrators of the unrest, which he termed a foiled coup – the second against his leadership in under two years.

Kenya anti-corruption arrests former Tourism Minister

NAIROBI, Kenya

Najib Balala, who served as a Tourism Cabinet Secretary under President Uhuru Kenyatta's Cabinet has been arrested alongside other ex-officials from the ministry. 

Detectives from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) on Friday arrested Balala, Leah Gwiyo (Former PS, Tourism), Joseph Odero (Managing Partner, West Consult Engineers) and Flora Ngina (Former ICT Manager, Tourism Fund). 

The four suspects have been arrested over procurement fraud and irregular payment of Ksh.8.5 billion in the construction of the proposed Ronald Ngala Utalii College in Vipingo. 

The commission told Citizen Digital that 12 more suspects in the probe are yet to be arrested. 

"We direct the 12 to immediately report to EACC headquarters or the nearest EACC Regional Office," it stated. 

According to EACC spokesperson Eric Ngumbi, the suspects will be transferred to the anti-corruption court in Malindi for further action. 

Hamas says no more hostage releases until war ends

GAZA, Palestine

Hamas, the group which controls the Gaza Strip, has ruled out any more hostage releases until Israel agrees to a "full cessation of aggression".

Israeli soldiers on patrol in the Gaza Strip.

Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hamas fighters in Gaza since a truce earlier this month when more than 100 hostages were freed.

Around 120 people abducted from Israel on 7 October are believed to be still in captivity in Gaza.

Efforts continue at the United Nations to pass a resolution on the war.

The US has said it still has serious concerns over the draft UN Security Council resolution, with voting now postponed to Friday.

Fighting continues in Gaza, with Israel bombarding the north and south of the territory and Hamas firing rockets at Tel Aviv.

Among the Palestinians reported killed were the director of the police station in the southern city of Khan Younis and a daughter of the head of the Gaza health ministry.

The week-long truce this month brought an increased flow of aid into Gaza, where the UN has warned that the population is at risk of famine if the war between Israel and Hamas continues.

Negotiations on a new truce have been taking place in Cairo, Egypt, though initial talks on Wednesday bore no agreement.

In a statement, Hamas said: "There is a Palestinian national decision that there should be no talk about prisoners or exchange deals except after a full cessation of aggression."

It is unclear to which other Palestinian factions the statement was referring. Islamic Jihad, a smaller group in the Gaza Strip, is among those known to also be holding Israeli hostages.

The Hamas statement puts the Israeli government in a very difficult position.

It has said it thinks the best way to get the release of hostages is military pressure on Hamas and by staging rescue operations.

But so far that approach has not really worked. Only one hostage - Ori Megidish - has actually been rescued.

The government is also under huge pressure from the relatives of the hostages still being held, with some telling it the strategy of force is not working.

Hamas is putting pressure on Israel to stop the war altogether but without any guarantee that the group is going to stop its armed actions.

So the Israeli government is extremely reluctant to stop fighting until it feels it has completely degraded Hamas capability and it has not done that yet.

This will be a huge disappointment for the people of Gaza, who are desperate for this war to stop.

Early on Friday, the territory's Hamas-run health ministry put the overall death toll there since 7 October at 20,057, including at least 8,000 children and 6,200 women.

When Hamas and their allies broke through the heavily guarded perimeter with Israel on 7 October, they killed 1,200 people.

Isabel Dos Santos hit with $733M asset freeze

LONDON, England

Isabel dos Santos, the former president of Angola’s self-exiled billionaire daughter who has long faced claims of corruption, has had £580m of assets frozen by the UK high court.

Dos Santos, Africa’s first female billionaire, is being sued by the Angolan telecoms company Unitel, which she founded during her father’s 38-year reign as president. Jose Eduardo dos Santos ruled Angola until 2017, and died last year.

Unitel asked the high court in London to grant a worldwide freezing order over her assets at a hearing last month, and that order was granted by Judge Robert Bright on Wednesday.

He gave Dos Santos until next month to provide Unitel with a disclosure of her assets, which include property in London, Monaco and Dubai. The businesswoman is thought to own a house in St Mary’s Place, close to the Royal Albert Hall in South Kensington, which is valued at about a £21m.

Dos Santos is being sued over loans made to a separate Dutch company, Unitel International Holdings (UIH), in 2012 and 2013, when she was a Unitel director, to fund UIH’s acquisition of shares in telecoms companies. The loans were not repaid and about £300m is outstanding, according to Unitel.

However, Dos Santos claims to be the victim of a “campaign of oppression” by the Angolan state and accuses Unitel of being itself responsible for UIH’s inability to repay the loans because of its alleged role in Angola’s unlawful seizure of UIH assets.

Unitel denies any involvement in the alleged asset seizure and said at last month’s hearing that Dos Santos was trying to turn the case into “another battle in a PR war against her father’s successor”, João Lourenço.

Concerns about the source of Dos Santos’s wealth were raised by an investigation in 2020 by the Guardian and journalists from partner organisations in 20 countries, which was based on a huge tranche of confidential documents.

The Luanda Leaks investigation, led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, suggested Dos Santos had benefited from extraordinary opportunities afforded to her by her father’s government.

Dos Santos and her husband, the businessman and art collector Sindika Dokolo, said computers belonging to their employees and legal advisers had been hacked and claimed to be subjects of a politically motivated witch-hunt led by Lourenço. 

They rejected any allegation of wrongdoing and denied being financed by state money.

RSF seize another key town in central Sudan

KHARTOUM, Sudan

Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have declared the capture of a new town and military base in Gezira state, marking a significant advancement for the paramilitary group.

In a recent announcement on social media platform X, the RSF claimed to have "liberated the second infantry division" of the Sudanese armed forces in al-Hasaheisa town. This comes just two days after the RSF seized the state's capital, Wad Madani, following intense clashes with the rival Sudanese regular army.

The Preliminary Committee of Sudan Doctors’ Union reported a staggering toll of 300 people killed and tens of others wounded during the fierce military confrontations in Wad Madani city.

The United Nations agency International Organisation for Migration (IOM) estimates that around 300,000 people have fled Wad Madani since the clashes began last week, highlighting the humanitarian impact of the conflict.

The strategic control of Gezira state, situated to the south of Khartoum, positions the RSF to make further advances toward army-controlled states in the east, central, and southeast, according to analysts. 

The situation continues to unfold as the RSF extends its influence, raising concerns about the escalating tensions in the region.

Angola leaves Opec oil cartel in output quota row

LUANDA, Angola

Angola has announced it is leaving the oil producers' organisation Opec over a dispute on output quotas.

It follows last month's decision by the 13-member cartel and 10 allied nations to further slash oil production in 2024 to prop up volatile global prices.

Angola currently produces about 1.1 million barrels per day, of the 30 million from the whole of Opec.

Oil prices fell on the news, with Brent prices down over $1 to $78.5 a barrel by 12:50 GMT, Reuters reports.

Angola's decision to withdraw from Opec came at Thursday's cabinet meeting.

"We feel that at this moment Angola gains nothing by remaining in the organisation and, in defence of its interests, it decided to leave," Mineral Resources and Petroleum Minister Diamantino Azevedo said afterwards.

"If we remained in Opec... Angola would be forced to cut production, and this goes against our policy of avoiding decline and respecting contracts."

The minister added that the decision was not taken lightly.

Angola and Nigeria are the two biggest oil exporters in sub-Saharan Africa.

The AFP news agency reports that both countries have been unhappy at being asked to cut production at a time when they need to increase their foreign currency earnings.

Angola has vast mineral and petroleum reserves, and its economy is among the fastest-growing in the world - but economic growth is highly uneven.

Much of its oil wealth lies in its separate Cabinda province, where a decades-long separatist conflict simmers.

Angola - which had been an Opec member for 16 years - is not the first country to leave the cartel. Ecuador, Indonesia and Qatar have all done the same.

Opec is a grouping of oil producers which decides how much crude oil to sell on the world market, along with an expanded group called Opec+.

Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, oil prices soared, hitting more than $120 a barrel in June last year.

They fell back to a little above $70 a barrel in May this year - but have steadily risen since then as producers have tried to restrict output to support the market and after recent attacks on cargo vessels in the Red Sea.

France plans to close embassy in Niger

By Boureima Balima, NIAMEY Niger

France is planning to close its embassy in Niger for an indefinite period as it is unable to carry out diplomatic tasks due to restrictions imposed by the ruling junta, a French embassy letter to its Niger staff dated Tuesday and seen by our reporter on Thursday showed.

Relations between Niger and France, its former colonial ruler, have broken down since army officers toppled President Mohamed Bazoum and seized power in a coup in July.

Anti-French crisis in Niger has been growing since General Abdourahamane Tchiani took over as the country’s transitional president in early August.

Several anti-French protests were held in the West African nation in September, with the marches attracting thousands of demonstrators.

Following the strategy of juntas in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso, they ordered police to expel France's ambassador Sylvain Itte and called for the departure of French troops from its territory.

France at first ignored the order, but a month later President Emmanuel Macron announced that the ambassador would return to Paris and French troops would leave.

According to the document, shared on social media, Nigerien authorities did not respond favourably to the embassy's request to operate under regular conditions following the coup.

French officials did not confirm or deny the veracity of the document when contacted by the reporter.

They have said, however, that the situation at the embassy has grown difficult since the summer with constraints making it increasingly hard to carry out its operations.