WORLD

Elon Musk sticking close to Trump, influencing US transition: Reports
WORLD

Elon Musk sticking close to Trump, influencing US transition: Reports

Tech billionaire Elon Musk is diving even deeper into the world of politics after Donald Trump’s election win, cosying up to the president-elect and offering him input on key administration hires, according to US media reports Musk, who donated $119m to a pro-Trump political action committee and aggressively campaigned for the Republican, has made near-daily visits to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida since Election Day on Tuesday, spending time with the president-elect and his family, CNN reported Kai Trump, Donald Trump’s granddaughter, posted a photo of herself with Musk and his child on social media, joking that the billionaire was “achieving uncle status Musk is making his voice heard on important staffing deliberations, according to CNN, while using the X social ...
COP29 Azerbaijan: What’s at stake at the 2024 global climate summit?
WORLD

COP29 Azerbaijan: What’s at stake at the 2024 global climate summit?

UPDATING Climate action will continue despite Trump’s return, US envoy tells COP29 John Podesta seeks to reassure, countries agree to carbon market rules, and the Taliban is in attendance on first day of climate summit. US climate envoy John Podesta has called on governments to believe in the United States’ clean energy economy, saying President-elect Donald Trump can slow but not stop its climate change pledges. On Monday, during the first day of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan, Podesta told the summit that Trump’s electoral victory last week was “obviously bitterly disappointing he UN annual climate summit is now under way in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku, with thousands of representatives from the world converg...
With Trump election win, Africa braces for US aid cuts, uncertainty
WORLD

With Trump election win, Africa braces for US aid cuts, uncertainty

But it could also force African nations to double down on their shift away from the US, towards Asia and the Middle East, say analysts. As the results of the United States presidential election came in on Wednesday, showing that former President Donald Trump had won, relief took hold more than 11,000 kilometres (7,000 miles) away, in Uganda’s capital Kampala. “The sanctions are gone,” the East African country’s parliamentary speaker, Anitah Among, told parliament, hinting at her expectation of improved ties with the US under Trump. The speaker is one of a series of Ugandan officials who have been barred from entering the US in recent years because of allegations of human rights violations against them. But while some African governments that have faced allegati...
Somalia has hit Ethiopia with a hot slap and the flames inside are getting worse.
WARARKA, WORLD

Somalia has hit Ethiopia with a hot slap and the flames inside are getting worse.

Participating in the new AUSSOM operation was removed from Ethiopia while the diplomatic war that was taken by the government of Somalia became one that confirmed the decision to protect the independence of Somalia. Stability concerns in the Horn of Africa have been getting stronger since the Adisababa attempted to take part in Somali waters. The government of President Hassan Sheikh has achieved a great success in the political war with Ethiopia, which is now left out of the new operation that will change ATMIS, which will start next year 2025. Djibouti, Kenya, Uganda and Burundi are still ready for the new operation of AUSSOM which is part of the request that the government of Somalia submitted by Egypt. Minister of Defense of Somalia, Abdullqaadir Maxamed Nuur (Jaamac) has c...
Year 2024 to be the first to breach 1.5C warming limit: EU climate agency
WORLD

Year 2024 to be the first to breach 1.5C warming limit: EU climate agency

The Copernicus Climate Change Service warning comes days before nations are due to gather for crunch climate talks led by the United Nations. For the first time, the Earth’s temperature in 2024 has risen more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial average, according to the European Union’s climate agency. On Thursday, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said this year is also “virtually certain” to eclipse 2023 as the world’s warmest since records began This marks a new milestone in global temperature records and should serve as a catalyst to raise ambition for the upcoming Climate Change Conference, COP29,” C3S deputy director Samantha Burgess said, days before nations are due to gather for crunch climate talks led b...
Drone strike, intense clashes in West Gojjam’s Durbete town claim civilian lives; residents report militants among dead
WORLD

Drone strike, intense clashes in West Gojjam’s Durbete town claim civilian lives; residents report militants among dead

In a deadly escalation of violence, a drone strike accompanied by intense clashes on 05 November, 2024, in the West Gojjam Zone of the Amhara region left several dead, including militants, according to local residents. Speaking to Addis Standard on the condition of anonymity, these residents reported that the attack took place in the town of Durbete, located within the Achefer district of West Gojjam Zone. One resident of Durbete town told Addis Standard that intense fighting and drone strikes occurred in the town two days prior. “There was heavy fighting that day while airstrikes targeted areas in the town where Fano fighters were undergoing training,” he stated, adding, “Sixteen Fano fighters were killed during their training.” The resident further noted that the airstrikes t...
Americans react as Donald Trump wins US presidential race
WORLD

Americans react as Donald Trump wins US presidential race

Donald Trump has won a sweeping victory in the United States presidential election and will return to the White House as the 47th president. The vote was called in favour of the Republican candidate early on Wednesday, The Associated Press reported Trump made an astonishing political comeback in defeating his rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, who is yet to concede. His victory has been met by international congratulations but is likely to add further uncertainty to a turbulent geopolitical situation. Results showed Trump beating Harris, a Democrat, in a race far less tight than expected as he triumphed in key battleground states Victory in Wisconsin after earlier triumphs in Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania saw the former president clear the threshold of...
At least 25 killed after traffickers capsize boat off Comoros: IOM
WORLD

At least 25 killed after traffickers capsize boat off Comoros: IOM

The UN migration agency says the boat sank on Friday between a Comoros island and the French island of Mayotte. At least 25 people, including women and children, have died after traffickers deliberately capsized their boat off the Indian Ocean nation of Comoros, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) The boat sank late on Friday between the Comoros island of Anjouan, or Ndzuani, and the French island of Mayotte, on an often-used migration route on which thousands of people have lost their lives in recent decades, the IOM said in a statement on Monday Fishermen rescued five survivors on Saturday morning. The survivors said the boat had carried about 30 people of different nationalities, including seven women and at least six young children. “IOM Comoros ...
The world’s oldest termite colony holds secrets – to the past and future
WORLD

The world’s oldest termite colony holds secrets – to the past and future

The discovery of a 34,000-year-old mound in South Africa sheds light on the insects’ role in combating climate change On a cloudless September morning in Buffelsrivier, a desolate corner of Namaqualand some 530km (329 miles) north of Cape Town, Stellenbosch University soil scientists Cathy Clarke and Michele Francis watch as a giant Volvo excavator tears into the dry ochre earth. Over the next five hours the excavator works hard to dig a trench, 60m (197 feet) long and 3m (10 feet) deep, through the heart of a giant, low-slung mound known locally as a heuweltjie or “little hill”. It’s all part of a university project to understand why the groundwater in the area is so salty Once the digger has returned to the nearby town of Springbok, population 12,790, Clarke, Francis, and a bevvy o...
One journalist killed every four days in 2022-23, most cases unpunished: UN
WORLD

One journalist killed every four days in 2022-23, most cases unpunished: UN

The killing of journalists worldwide surged in 2022-23 compared with the previous two years, with a majority of cases unsolved, the United Nations has said. On average, one journalist was killed every four days, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said in a report released on Saturday At 162 deaths, the number of journalists killed while working leaped 38 percent, the report found, calling the increase “alarming”. “In 2022 and 2023, a journalist was killed every four days simply for doing their vital job to pursue truth,” UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said in a statement. She urged countries to “do more to ensure that these crimes never go unpunished Saturday is the UN-recognised International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Jour...