ADF

ADF STAFF In an operation in northern Mali, French special forces Soldiers killed the founder of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). At the time of his death, Abdelmalek Droukdel was one of the most wanted terrorists in the world. Droukdel was born in Algeria and was one of the main figures responsible for the resurgence of extremism and violence across the Sahel region. He was killed on June 3, 2020, after crossing over from Algeria into Mali.  “This essential fight for peace and stability in the region has just achieved a major success,” French Defense Minister Florence Parly said,…

ADF STAFF The African Union has announced the launch of a one-stop online shop that will help countries buy much-needed medical equipment during the COVID-19 outbreak. The Africa Medical Supplies Platform lists cost-effective testing kits, personal protective equipment, ventilators, patient monitors and disinfectants from certified manufacturers. Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa, who helped develop the platform, said the African Union is getting requests “from other parts of the world to license the concept.” “Africa is leading the way with this online solution to ensure all of our governments get access to personal protective equipment and other urgent medical supplies they need,…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE A Malawian court sentenced members of a trafficking ring to a total of 56 years in prison for selling wildlife parts. The nine convicted traffickers were part of the Lin-Zhang crime syndicate and included seven Chinese nationals. Officials arrested the kingpin, Yunhua Lin, in August 2020 after a three-month manhunt. The court found them guilty of trafficking animal parts such as pangolin scales, rhino horn, ivory and hippo teeth. Malawian Director of Parks and Wildlife Brighton Kumchedwa hailed the convictions. “Malawi is no longer a playground for these wildlife criminals,” he said after the verdict. Authorities believe Lin-Zhang…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Ivoirian forces captured an extremist leader and a large number of fighters responsible for an attack on a border post. Defence Minister Hamed Bakayoko did not name the suspected terrorist but said he was responsible for a June 11, 2020, attack at the border with Burkina Faso that left 14 military personnel dead and six wounded, according to an Al-Jazeera report. The predawn attack has been attributed to the Group to Support Islam and Muslims. It was the first major attack on Ivoirian soil since 2016 and came shortly after a joint Ivoirian-Burkinabe mission to rid the border…

ADF STAFF After a push to recruit and train more female pilots, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) announced it had conducted an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) mission led entirely by a female team. The mission, which used a Beechcraft King Air ISR aircraft, included two female pilots, an onboard technician, a mission operator and a female marshaller. This all-female mission was the first in the history of the NAF. “The NAF’s objective in this regard is to maximize all of the potentials of Nigeria’s vast human resource pool, male and female, to ensure the effective, efficient and timely employment…

VOICE OF AMERICA Shejirina Moni sits beside her children in front of their makeshift home in Juba, South Sudan’s capital. Six of her children have died of various illnesses. She has three surviving. “The first one died at 9 months,” she said. “Another one died at the age of 10 months. Another one died when he was crawling, about 3 months.” Moni’s story highlights a sad fact: Millions of children in South Sudan do not get routine vaccinations. They are vulnerable to preventable illnesses. In addition to dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, the country is battling a severe measles outbreak,…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Dozens of locals line up eagerly as the train heaves to a halt at a station in a remote rural region of South Africa’s coastal Eastern Cape province. The so-called Train of Hope has come to provide COVID-19 screening in one of South Africa’s virus hot spots from aboard a specially equipped mobile clinic. The Eastern Cape in mid-June 2020 accounted for 14% of South Africa’s COVID-19 infections nationwide. Since the first case was reported on March 5, Africa’s most industrialized country has recorded the continent’s highest number of cases. The train previously operated as a general health…

BBC NEWS AT BBC.CO.UK/NEWS Scientists have discovered a microbe that protects mosquitoes from being infected with malaria. Team members in Kenya and the United Kingdom said the finding has “enormous potential” to control the disease. Malaria is spread by the bite of infected mosquitoes, so protecting them could also protect people. The researchers are investigating whether they can release infected mosquitoes into the wild or use spores to suppress the disease. The malaria-blocking bug, Microsporidia MB, was discovered by studying mosquitoes on the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya. It lives in the gut and genitals of the insects. The…

BBC NEWS AT BBC.CO.UK/NEWS Chad is repaying Angola a debt of $100 million with cattle, Angola’s state-run newspaper has reported. The unusual agreement is seen as creating a win-win situation for both nations — Chad is short of cash and Angola needs cattle. More than 1,000 cows arrived by ship in Angola’s capital, Luanda, as the first payment, Jornal de Angola reported. In total, Angola will receive 75,000 cattle over 10 years, meaning it has accepted payment of $1,333 per animal. Chad had proposed repaying the 2017 debt with cattle, and Angola had agreed because it would help the Southern…

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A supercomputer is boosting efforts in East Africa to control locust outbreaks that raise what the United Nations food agency calls “an unprecedented threat” to the region’s food security. The computer, a donation from the United Kingdom, uses satellite data to track locust swarms and predict their next destination. Quickly sharing the locusts’ movements with regional authorities is key to controlling the outbreak because even a small swarm of locusts in a single day can move nearly 100 miles and consume an amount of crops that would otherwise feed 35,000 people. Based in a regional climate center in…