ADF

Ethiopian runner Letesenbet Gidey smashed the women’s half-marathon world record in October 2021 by running 62 minutes and 52 seconds in Valencia, Spain — 70 seconds faster than the old record. The 23-year-old beat the previous 21-kilometer record held by Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich since April 2021. Gidey also holds the world record for 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters. She won a bronze medal in the 10,000 meters in the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2021. It’s quite a turnaround for someone who was expelled from school when she was 13 for refusing to run in physical education classes. “I really…

ADF STAFF Senegal is launching a program to promote transparency in the nation’s fisheries sector to clamp down on illegal fishing. Funded by Oceans 5, a philanthropic organization dedicated to protecting the world’s oceans, the nearly $1.2 million, three-year project with the Environmental Justice Foundation and Trygg Mat Tracking aims to publish up-to-date fishing license lists and vessel registries online. It also will empower artisanal fishermen to play a role in surveillance and monitoring efforts at the port of Dakar and in the government’s fishing-related decision-making processes. More than 30 industrial vessels were charged with illegally fishing in Senegal in…

BBC NEWS AT BBC.CO.UK/NEWS Algeria became the last country on earth to halt the use of leaded gasoline, marking a step forward for global health and safety. The toxic fuel has contaminated air, soil and water for almost a century. It can cause heart disease, cancer and strokes, and it has been linked to problems with brain development in children. Many countries banned the fuel by the 1980s, but it was only in July 2021 that Algeria became the last country to ban it. On the day of the switch-over, Nadil Rachid, president of Algeria’s Authority Regulating Hydrocarbons, said refineries…

THE NEW TIMES Rwanda announced plans to launch two satellite constellations in the next three years. The move further highlighted the country’s goal to become a leader in Africa’s space industry. The Rwanda Space Agency said that it filed a request to acquire two satellite constellations from the International Telecommunication Union. The two-craft fleet has a total of 327,320 satellites. A satellite constellation is a group of satellites working together as a system. Unlike a single satellite, a constellation can provide permanent global or near global coverage. The two constellations will join RwaSat-1, a satellite built by three Rwandan engineers…

ADF STAFF A collaboration of organizations is bringing more data, technology and analytics to the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Global Fishing Watch, the International Monitoring, Control, and Surveillance Network, and Trygg Mat Tracking (TMT) joined forces to establish the Joint Analytical Cell (JAC), which aims to provide lower-income coastal nations greater access to fisheries intelligence, data analysis and capacity-building assistance to tackle sea crimes. TMT, a nonprofit organization that provides fisheries intelligence to countries and organizations, is well-established in West and East Africa, and Global Fishing Watch is committed to building relationships in the region. The International…

ADF STAFF Hostility from Mali’s ruling junta toward the United Nations is making it more difficult for the country’s peacekeeping mission to fulfill its mandate. Mali’s military leaders expelled the spokesman for the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA) for comments he made on Twitter about the arrest of 49 Ivorian Soldiers in the country on July 10. Spokesman Olivier Salgado’s Twitter post stated that the Malian government knew about the arrival of the 49 Soldiers from Côte d’Ivoire ahead of time. He said they were part of a logistics support team, and their deployment is a common practice…

ADF STAFF The violence that engulfed South Africa in July 2021 shocked and traumatized the country. Many fear it could happen again if societal root causes are not addressed. President Cyril Ramaphosa called the wave of violence that hit the country last year an “insurrection” and “a deliberate, coordinated and well-planned attack on our democracy.” He decried “opportunistic acts of looting.” More than 350 people died, thousands were arrested and billions were lost in the economic damage. The arrest and jailing of former president Jacob Zuma after he refused to testify in a corruption investigation was the spark that lit the…

ADF STAFF The list of central Malian towns where massacres have occurred is growing as Russia’s notorious Wagner Group expands its reach in the country. In March it was the towns of Diabaly, Nioni and Moura. In April, Hombori, Boni and Mondoro were added to the list. Witnesses and survivors of joint Malian-Russian operations tell similar stories involving indiscriminate killings, summary executions, torture, theft and rape. Kidnappings often follow and villagers have been forced at gunpoint to dig mass graves. Sahel researcher Yvan Guichaoua, a senior lecturer on international conflict at the University of Kent in England, says abuses are…

ADF STAFF | Photos by U.S. AFRICA COMMAND Niger’s military has launched a program to improve the lives of citizens living in the Agadez region surrounding Nigerien Air Base 201, a United States drone air base. The newly created Action Civil-Militaire (ACM) division of the Forces Armées Nigeriennes (FAN) is conducting humanitarian aid missions. The division has conducted its missions in conjunction with U.S. Civil Affairs teams stationed at the base. Under the program, ACM members select villages to receive aid and execute each mission supported by U.S. Civil Affairs. A separate ACM unit is performing similar missions out of…

ADF STAFF Ghana Armed Forces Soldiers stepped from a helicopter and sprinted toward a simulated enemy with their weapons drawn as a commanding officer barked instructions. It was the opening day of Operation Eagle Claws, an exercise meant to prepare military and emergency response personnel for terrorist threats. The five-day annual exercise included members of the Ghana Police Service, Ghana National Fire Service, National Disaster Management Organization, National Ambulance Service, and other security and intelligence agencies. It concluded in late May 2021. The 2021 Operation Eagle Claws exercise focused on responding to terrorist attacks such as those carried out during…