First Independent Mena Newspaper
Despite regular warnings by US military commanders about a possible second Chinese military base in Sub-Saharan Africa and rumors about new footholds in countries like Equatorial Guinea, China’s strategic interest in Africa is relatively low, especially when compared with regions like Southeast Asia and the Middle East, according to a new policy brief published by […]
Foreign ministers from Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali, all of which recently underwent military coups, have called for their reinstatement into the African Union (AU) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) following a trip to the region by Russian envoy Sergey Lavrov. The top diplomats from the three west African countries said in […]
The European Parliament has exposed itself as a corrupt institution full of hypocrites’ intent on outsourcing the blame to clean themselves even at the cost of undermining what used to be a privileged partnership with Morocco. The anti-Morocco resolution- adopted last month and wrongly sugarcoated in press freedom and human rights concerns- is but the […]
France, the former colonial master in the Sahel, is receiving a series of blows as its foothold shrinks on the back of growing anti-French sentiment and increasing Russian incursions. After their retreat from Mali following a ten-year failure to eradicate Jihadist groups, now Burkina Faso asked France to withdraw its troops from the country within […]
Italy has become the latest country to join the US-led Mineral Security Partnership (MSP), announced in June last year, whose aim was to add ethical values to the entire critical minerals and batteries value chain. The announcement was made by the US Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, Jose Fernandez, […]
The lack of employment more than religious belief is what is driving people to join fast-growing extremist groups in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a report by the UN Development Program (UNDP) based on interviews with hundreds of former fighters across East, West and the Horn of Africa. The new UNDP report’s findings thus challenge traditional […]
Dozens of Sudanese protested in the capital Khartoum Monday (6 February) against “normalizing” diplomatic relations with Israel, after last week’s surprise visit by the Israeli foreign minister. The demonstrators held banners blaming Sudanese military leader Abdul Fattah al-Burhan for committing a “betrayal,” chanting “no normalization” with Israel. The protest comes only days after an official […]
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Mali Tuesday (7 February) for talks with its junta leaders who only two days earlier ordered the rights chief with the UN peacekeeping mission in the country to leave for expressing views against Russia’s Wagner Group in Mali. Lavrov’s visit of fewer than 24 hours will be his […]
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to receive Wednesday February 06 in the Ivorian capital of Yamoussoukro the Félix Houphouët-Boigny-UNESCO Peace Prize which she was awarded last year. Audrey Azoulay, Director of UNESCO and Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara will hand the award to the former German state woman during a ceremony, the state-run news […]
Pope Francis has ended his peace mission to South Sudan with an impassioned plea urging the people to resist the “venom of hatred” to achieve the peace, forgiveness and prosperity that have eluded them through years of bloody ethnic conflicts. Reconciliation and mutual forgiveness for past wrongs — these were the main themes woven in […]