ADF

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE In a crumbling Khartoum sports hall, a dozen Nuba men in sweat-faded singlets practiced wrestling moves under the critical gaze of their Japanese coach, 23-year-old Kosuke Sunagawa. Wrestling has been a part of the religiously and ethnically diverse area around the Nuba Mountains for millennia, and many of the sinewy young athletes entered the ring as soon as they were old enough to walk. But coach Suna, as he is known, a Japanese youth wrestling champion, was tasked by his country’s Khartoum embassy with delivering a first in Nuba history –– building a medal-winning Olympic team in time…

THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION Africa’s most decorated footballer, Samuel Eto’o, is appealing for funding to help people escaping violence in Nigeria and Cameroon, and he warned that the world is neglecting an escalating humanitarian crisis in West Africa. A six-year campaign by militant group Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria has killed thousands, uprooted 2.2 million people within the country, and driven 160,000 Nigerians to seek refuge in Cameroon, Chad and Niger. Yet Eto’o, Cameroon’s record goal scorer, fears the conflict and ensuing displacement are being ignored as global attention remains fixed upon Europe’s burgeoning migration crisis. “There are different classes of…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Tourists perch on a volcano’s edge as smoke swirls from the fiery cauldron of lava in the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Molten rock spurts into the air as one of the world’s largest lava lakes and most active volcanos puts on its mesmerizing show. Eastern DRC has been mired for decades in rebel battles, but such sights are helping bring back tourists to Virunga National Park, which reopened in 2014 as violence receded. Mount Nyiragongo, which is 3,470 meters tall, is part of a chain of volcanoes in one of the world’s most active regions.…

DEFENCEWEB South Africa and France announced an agreement for cooperative patrols in the southern Indian Ocean against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in each country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The EEZ is the area extending 200 nautical miles from the coast. Within the EEZ, a coastal state has sovereign rights in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea over living and nonliving resources of the sea and the seabed. South Africa’s EEZ includes the water next to the African mainland and around the Prince Edward Islands, uninhabited islands 955 kilometers off the coast. The total…

THE EAST AFRICAN In a long-awaited vote, the U.S. Congress moved to extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) by 10 years. “AGOA has been called ‘the cornerstone’ of the U.S.-Africa economic relationship, and on this stone we will build an even more lasting and stronger commitment,” reads a statement issued by U.S. Congresswoman Karen Bass, who is the ranking member of the Africa subcommittee. The House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate voted “overwhelmingly to reauthorize AGOA [in June 2015], sending the legislation to the President and guaranteeing a seamless and long-term extension of this vitally important law,”…

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/ADF STAFF In what is being lauded as a major crackdown on the illegal ivory trade, Tanzanian officials have arrested and charged a Chinese woman, dubbed the “Queen of Ivory,” with smuggling ivory worth $2.7 million. Yang Feng Glan, 66, is among the most prolific traffickers ever brought to justice in the war against elephant poaching. She is believed to be behind a network that trafficked a massive quantity of ivory over the past several years, according to Elephant Action League, a conservation group. “It’s the news that we all have been waiting for, for years,” said Andrea…

DEFENCEWEB The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has asked the South African military to help train Soldiers. It is not a new task for South African Army instructors, who have been training Soldiers from the DRC’s Army for at least four years as part of an agreement. Operation Thebe, as it is known, is separate from South Africa’s involvement in and commitment to the United Nations Mission in the DRC — MONUSCO — and the mission’s Force Intervention Brigade. The issue of more training was raised in August 2015 when Congolese Army commander Gen. Etumba Didier called on South…

DEFENCEWEB The Tunisian Navy has commissioned its first locally built patrol boat, the product of a partnership between the government and a shipbuilding company. The boat, named Al Istiklal (Independence), was launched by Defense Minister Farhat Horchani at a ceremony in the Gulf of Tunis on August 21, 2015. Horchani told guests that the boat was built entirely by Tunisian engineers. He added that the country was the first to develop a successful shipbuilding industry in the Arab world and among the first in Africa. The government partnered with Société de Construction Industrielle et Navale, based in Sfax, to start…

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Benin’s president vowed to contribute 800 troops to a regional force to combat the Nigeria-based Islamic extremist group Boko Haram. Thomas Boni Yayi made the announcement in August 2015 during a visit from Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari that coincided with Benin’s independence celebration. “This is an opportunity for Benin to express solidarity with countries on the front line against the Islamic sect, Boko Haram,” Boni Yayi said. “This solidarity will result in the sending of a contingent of 800 men from Benin’s Army.” At a meeting in Cameroon in February 2015, Nigeria and a group of neighboring…

BBC NEWS AT BBC.CO.UK/NEWS Members of the African Union’s new 25,000-strong multinational standby force gathered in South Africa in October 2015 to begin field training for the first time. The exercises, known as Amani Africa II, aimed to make sure the force was ready by January 2016 to respond to crises across the continent. The force consists of five brigades from Africa’s economic blocs. The logistical base for the African Standby Force (ASF) will be in Douala, Cameroon, after a deal signed in October 2015. The training began at the South African Army Combat Training Centre in Lohatla with an…