Yearly Archives: 2024

Japan holds Sado mines memorial despite South Korean boycott amid lingering historical tensions

Muhamad Yehia SADO, Japan (AP) — Japanese officials on Sunday paid tribute to workers at the country’s Sado Island Gold Mines but offered no apology over Japan’s brutal wartime use of Korean forced laborers, highlighting lingering tensions between the neighbors over the issue. South Korea a day earlier announced that it was boycotting the …

Read More »

A former staffer exposes how Russia’s disinformation machine worked in Central African Republic

Muhamad Yehia DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — When Ephrem Yalike-Ngonzo was first approached in 2019 by a Russian who suggested he help promote the activities of the Central African Republic’s army and Russian forces in the country, the journalist believed that he was doing the right thing. But he soon realized …

Read More »

Niger junta bans French aid group amid tensions with France

Muhamad Yehia DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Niger’s military junta has banned the French aid group Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development, or Acted, from working in the country amid tensions with France. The Ministry of the Interior signed a decree on Tuesday withdrawing the nonprofit organization’s licence to operate, without …

Read More »

Africa’s junta-led nations use music to push their latest anti-imperialism drive

    Muhamad Yehia NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Thousands from the junta-led countries in Africa’s Sahel region gathered this week in the Nigerien capital of Niamey, with music and cultural displays, to condemn what they called the West’s imperialist agenda and to drive support for their military regimes. Delegates from …

Read More »

As fast fashion’s waste pollutes Africa’s environment, designers in Ghana are finding a solution

Muhamad Yehia ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — In a sprawling secondhand clothing market in Ghana’s capital, early morning shoppers jostle as they search through piles of garments, eager to pluck a bargain or a designer find from the stalls selling used and low-quality apparel imported from the West In the trash …

Read More »

Netanyahu mulls plan to empty northern Gaza of civilians and cut off aid to those left inside

Muhamad Yehia JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is examining a plan to seal off humanitarian aid to northern Gaza in an attempt to starve out Hamas militants, a plan that, if implemented, could trap without food or water hundreds of thousands of Palestinians unwilling or unable to leave their …

Read More »

Israel cracks down on Palestinian citizens who speak out against the war in Gaza

  Muhamad Yehia UMM AL-FAHM, Israel (AP) — Israel’s yearlong crackdown against Palestinian citizens who speak out against the war in Gaza is prompting many to self-censor out of fear of being jailed and further marginalized in society, while some still find ways to dissent — carefully. Ahmed Khalefa’s life turned upside down after he was …

Read More »

Police in Finland arrest five suspects over separatist violence in southeast Nigeria

  Muhamad Yehia HELSINKI, Finland (AP) — Police in Finland said Thursday they had detained five suspects in connection with deadly violence in southeastern Nigeria and were seeking a court extension of the detentions. The police did not identify the suspects, only saying that a dual Finnish-Nigerian citizen, born in the 1980s, …

Read More »

Russia supplied air defense missiles to North Korea in return for its troops, South Korea says

  Muhamad Yehia SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Russia has supplied air defense missile systems to North Korea in exchange for sending its troops to support Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine, a top South Korean official said Friday. The U.S., South Korea and Ukraine say North Korea sent more than 10,000 troops …

Read More »

  Muhamad Yehia JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The South African government said on Friday it has put together a team including mine rescue experts to come up with a plan to bring to surface illegal miners who remain under a disused gold mine. The move signaled the government was taking a more conciliatory …

Read More »