AU calls for action to tackle extremist threat in Sahel region

Djibouti's foreign minister and candidate for AU Commission chairperson Mahamoud Ali Youssouf (R) talks to another delegate ahead of the 38th African Union (AU) Summit, where leaders will elect a new head of the AU Commission, at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa on February 15, 2025. (AFP)
Djibouti's foreign minister and candidate for AU Commission chairperson Mahamoud Ali Youssouf (R) talks to another delegate ahead of the 38th African Union (AU) Summit, where leaders will elect a new head of the AU Commission, at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa on February 15, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 27 April 2025
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AU calls for action to tackle extremist threat in Sahel region

AU calls for action to tackle extremist threat in Sahel region
  • The attack “highlights the urgent need for enhanced cooperation between neighboring states to address the growing threat posed by terrorist groups operating in the Sahel,” a statement read

NAIROBI: The African Union hs called for urgent cooperation to tackle extremist violence in the Sahel region, after a recent attack blamed on militants killed 54 soldiers in northern Benin.

The region, which borders both Niger and Burkina Faso, has seen a recent rise in strikes targeting army positions and on April 17, suspected extremists attacked military posts in a national park.

Benin’s government blamed the attacks on a spillover from Niger and Burkina Faso, both ruled by army officers who took power in coups on the promise of quashing the long-running extremist scourge in the Sahel.

The AU commission’s chairman, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, condemned the latest attack and called it “cowardly.”

The attack “highlights the urgent need for enhanced cooperation between neighboring states to address the growing threat posed by terrorist groups operating in the Sahel,” a statement read.

On Wednesday, Benin criticized the lack of cooperation with authorities in Burkina Faso and Niger, which have been hit by violence from armed groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda and Daesh.

Burkina Faso and Niger have turned their backs on the West and accuse Benin of harboring foreign military bases to destabilize them. Benin has denied the accusations.

The April 17 attack was claimed by an Al-Qaeda-affiliated group which claimed that 70 Beninese soldiers were killed.

 


Crowd surge at Hindu temple in northern India leaves at least 6 dead

Crowd surge at Hindu temple in northern India leaves at least 6 dead
Updated 14 sec ago
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Crowd surge at Hindu temple in northern India leaves at least 6 dead

Crowd surge at Hindu temple in northern India leaves at least 6 dead
  • The incident in the pilgrimage city of Haridwar occurred after a high-voltage electric wire fell on a temple path, triggering panic
  • Crowd surges at religious gatherings are not uncommon in India, where massive groups often congregate at temples or pilgrimage sites

LUCKNOW: A crowd surge at a popular Hindu temple in northern India left at least six people dead and dozens injured, local authorities said Sunday.

The incident in the pilgrimage city of Haridwar occurred after a high-voltage electric wire reportedly fell on a temple path, triggering panic among the large crowd of devotees.

Vinay Shankar Pandey, a senior government official in Uttarakhand state where the incident happened, confirmed the deaths and said worshippers scrambled for safety following the incident.

Some 29 people were injured, according to Haridwar city’s senior police official Pramendra Singh Doval.

Thousands of pilgrims had gathered at the Mansa Devi hilltop temple, which is a major site for Hindu devotees, especially on weekends and festival days, local officials said. They were celebrating the holy month of Shravan.

Someone in the crowd shouted about an electric current on the pathway around 9am.

“Since the path is narrow and meant only for foot traffic, confusion and panic spread instantly,” said local priest Ujjwal Pandit.

“A wall along the path is also suspected to have worsened the crowd bottleneck,” he added.

Police and emergency services rushed to the scene and launched a rescue operation. The injured were transported to a nearby hospital, officials said.

“The situation is now under control,” Pandey told the Associated Press by phone from Haridwar. “But the panic led to tragic consequences.”

Authorities are investigating what caused the overhead wire to collapse, and whether proper crowd management protocols were in place.

The town of Haridwar draws millions of visitors each year. The Mansa Devi temple, which is accessible by cable car or foot, is a major pilgrimage site that draws thousands of visitors daily during Shravan.

Crowd surges at religious gatherings are not uncommon in India, where massive groups often congregate at temples or pilgrimage sites, sometimes overwhelming local infrastructure and security measures.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences to the victims and their families in a social media post and wished for a fast recovery for those who were injured.


India nearing free trade deal with Oman, minister says after UK pact

India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal speaks to reporters in New Delhi on July 26, 2025. (X/Piyush Goyal)
India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal speaks to reporters in New Delhi on July 26, 2025. (X/Piyush Goyal)
Updated 27 July 2025
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India nearing free trade deal with Oman, minister says after UK pact

India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal speaks to reporters in New Delhi on July 26, 2025. (X/Piyush Goyal)
  • Negotiations between India and Oman formally began in November 2023— Deal expected to be similar to India’s comprehensive trade agreement with UAE

NEW DELHI: India’s free trade agreement with Oman is almost finalized, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has announced, only days after New Delhi signed a long-awaited trade pact with the UK.

Negotiations between India and Oman on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement formally began in November 2023, with the first round in New Delhi and the second in Muscat.

When the talks concluded in March 2024, Oman sought revisions on market access terms and the final signature was postponed.

“We are in negotiations at an advanced stage with Oman — almost finalized,” Goyal told reporters on Saturday evening, two days after he signed a multibillion-dollar free trade deal with the UK.

“The free trade agreement between India and UK, the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement, clearly reflects the growing relevance and importance of India at the world stage.”

Under the pact, about 99 percent of Indian goods will get duty-free access to the UK market, and bilateral trade is expected to increase by over $34 billion in the next decade from the current $54 billion.

India has free trade agreements with more than 10 countries, including comprehensive economic partnership agreements with South Korea, Japan, and the UAE.

It is also in talks with the EU to conclude an FTA by the end of 2025, and also with Australia, with an interim deal signed in 2022 and a full one under negotiation.

If India finalizes its pact with Oman, it will be its second with a Gulf Cooperation Council country after the 2022 CEPA with the UAE.

While Oman is one of New Delhi’s smaller GCC trading partners — trailing behind the UAE and Saudi Arabia, with bilateral trade volume accounting for about $10 billion — it remains strategically important, particularly in energy and logistics.

The FTA could further deepen these ties, Anil Wadhwa, New Delhi’s former envoy to Muscat, told Arab News.

“India and Oman both are set to benefit a lot from this FTA ... Oman and India have a trade volume between $8 billion and $10 billion annually, and 700 Indian companies have invested in Oman,” he said.

“Oman was keen on an FTA on the lines of the UAE. The main negotiations took less than 90 days. Since then, Oman wanted further concessions in petrochemicals and in marble ... It is understood that these negotiations are now nearing a closure.”

Economic cooperation plays a crucial role in India-GCC relations, with exports to India representing 71 percent of the bloc’s total exports.

India has been pursuing a free trade pact with the whole bloc for the past two decades. A framework agreement on economic cooperation was signed in 2004, but two rounds of negotiations, in 2006 and 2008, were inconclusive.

The agreement would give India access to a large and affluent market for its goods and also concessions on visas in a region, which is a second home for about 9 million Indian expat workers.

In January, GCC Secretary General Jasem Mohammed Al-Budaiwi said that the grouping would look forward to starting free trade negotiations with India in 2025.


At least 21 killed in attack on east Congo church by Islamic State-backed rebels, civil leader says

At least 21 killed in attack on east Congo church by Islamic State-backed rebels, civil leader says
Updated 27 July 2025
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At least 21 killed in attack on east Congo church by Islamic State-backed rebels, civil leader says

At least 21 killed in attack on east Congo church by Islamic State-backed rebels, civil leader says
  • Video footage from the scene shared online appeared to show burning structures and bodies on the floor of the church
  • The attack is believed to have been carried out by members of the Allied Democratic Force (ADF) armed with machetes, who stormed the church premises in Ituri province’s Komanda town

GOMA: At least 21 people were killed on Sunday in an attack on a Catholic church in eastern Congo by Islamic State-backed rebels, according to a civil society leader.

The military confirmed at least 10 fatalities, while local media reports put the death toll at more than 40.

The attack is believed to have been carried out by members of the Allied Democratic Force (ADF) armed with machetes, who stormed the church premises in Ituri province’s Komanda town at around 1 a.m. Several houses and shops were also burnt.

“More than 21 people were shot dead inside and outside and we have recorded at least three charred bodies and several houses burned. But the search is continuing,” Dieudonne Duranthabo, civil society coordinator in Komanda, told The Associated Press.

Lt. Jules Ngongo, a Congolese army spokesperson in Ituri province, confirmed 10 killed in the attack.

Video footage from the scene shared online appeared to show burning structures and bodies on the floor of the church. Those who were able to identify some of the victims wailed while others stood in shock.

A UN-backed radio station said 43 people were killed, citing security sources. It said the attackers came from a stronghold around 12 kilometers (7 miles) from the center of Komanda and fled before security forces could arrive.

Eastern Congo has suffered deadly attacks in recent years by armed groups, including the ADF and Rwanda-backed rebels. The ADF, which has ties to the Islamic State, operates in the borderland between Uganda and Congo and often targets civilians. The group killed dozens of people in Ituri earlier this month in what a United Nations spokesperson described as a bloodbath.

Duranthabo condemned the attack “in a town where all the security officials are present.” He added: “We demand military intervention as soon as possible, since we are told the enemy is still near our town.”

The ADF was formed by disparate small groups in Uganda in the late 1990s following alleged discontent with President Yoweri Museveni.

In 2002, following military assaults by Ugandan forces, the group moved its activities to neighboring Congo and has since been responsible for the killings of thousands of civilians. In 2019, it pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.

The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC), which has long struggled against the rebel group, has been facing attacks since the renewed hostilities between the Rwanda-backed M23.


Trump plays golf in Scotland while protesters take to the streets and decry his visit

Trump plays golf in Scotland while protesters take to the streets and decry his visit
Updated 27 July 2025
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Trump plays golf in Scotland while protesters take to the streets and decry his visit

Trump plays golf in Scotland while protesters take to the streets and decry his visit
  • Hundreds of demonstrators gathered on the cobblestone and tree lined street in front of the US Consulate about 100 miles away in Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital

EDINBURGH: President Donald Trump played golf Saturday at his course on Scotland’s coast while protesters around the country took to the streets to decry his visit and accuse United Kingdom leaders of pandering to the American.

Trump and his son Eric played with the US ambassador to Britain, Warren Stephens, near Turnberry, a historic course that the Trump family’s company took over in 2014. Security was tight, and protesters kept at a distance went unseen by the group during Trump’s round. He was dressed in black, with a white “USA” cap, and was spotted driving a golf cart.

The president appeared to play an opening nine holes, stop for lunch, then head out for nine more. By the middle of the afternoon, plainclothes security officials began leaving, suggesting Trump was done for the day.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered on the cobblestone and tree-lined street in front of the US Consulate about 100 miles (160 kilometers) away in Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital. Speakers told the crowd that Trump was not welcome and criticized British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for striking a recent trade deal to avoid stiff US tariffs on goods imported from the UK

Protests were planned in other cities as environmental activists, opponents of Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza and pro-Ukraine groups loosely formed a “Stop Trump Coalition.” Anita Bhadani, an organizer, said the protests were “kind of like a carnival of resistance.”

Trump’s late mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, was born on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland and the president has suggested he feels at home in the country. But the protesters did their best to change that.

“I don’t think I could just stand by and not do anything,” said Amy White, 15, of Edinburgh, who attended with her parents. She held a cardboard sign that said “We don’t negotiate with fascists.” She said ”so many people here loathe him. We’re not divided. We’re not divided by religion, or race or political allegiance, we’re just here together because we hate him.”

Other demonstrators held signs of pictures with Trump and Jeffrey Epstein as the fervor over files in the case has increasingly frustrated the president.

In the view of Mark Gorman, 63, of Edinburgh, “the vast majority of Scots have this sort of feeling about Trump that, even though he has Scottish roots, he’s a disgrace.” Gorman, who works in advertising, said he came out “because I have deep disdain for Donald Trump and everything that he stands for.”

Saturday’s protests were not nearly as large as the throngs that demonstrated across Scotland when Trump played at Turnberry during his first term in 2018.

But, as bagpipes played, people chanted “Trump Out!” and raised dozens of homemade signs that said things like “No red carpet for dictators,” “We don’t want you here” and “Stop Trump. Migrants welcome.”

One dog had a sign that said “No treats for tyrants.”

Some on the far right took to social media to call for gatherings supporting Trump in places such as Glasgow.

Trump also plans to talk trade with Starmer and Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president. But golf is a major focus.

The family will also visit another Trump course near Aberdeen in northeastern Scotland, before returning to Washington on Tuesday. The Trumps will cut the ribbon and play a new, second course in that area, which officially opens to the public next month.

Scottish First Minister John Swinney, who is also set to meet with Trump during the visit, announced that public money will go to staging the 2025 Nexo Championship, previously known as the Scottish Championship, at Trump’s first course near Aberdeen next month.

“The Scottish Government recognizes the importance and benefits of golf and golf events, including boosting tourism and our economy,” Swinney said.

At a protest Saturday in Aberdeen, Scottish Parliament member Maggie Chapman told the crowd of hundreds: “We stand in solidarity, not only against Trump but against everything he and his politics stand for.”

The president has long lobbied for Turnberry to host the British Open, which it has not done since he took over ownership.

In a social media post Saturday, Trump quoted the retired golfer Gary Player as saying Turnberry was among the “Top Five Greatest Golf Courses” he had played in as a professional. The president, in the post, misspelled the city where his golf course is located.


US passenger plane evacuated in Denver due to brake fire

US passenger plane evacuated in Denver due to brake fire
Updated 27 July 2025
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US passenger plane evacuated in Denver due to brake fire

US passenger plane evacuated in Denver due to brake fire

WASHINGTON: Passengers on a US domestic flight were forced to evacuate onto a runway due to a brake fire just ahead of the plane taking off in Denver, the airline said.

American Airlines Flight 3023 was departing for Miami on Saturday but “experienced a mechanical issue” while accelerating ahead of takeoff at Denver International Airport, the airline told AFP, adding all 173 passengers and six crew “deplaned safely.”

One passenger sustained a minor injury and was taken to a hospital for evaluation, American Airlines said.

Blown tires and the deceleration of the plane while braking resulted in an isolated brake fire, which was extinguished by city firefighters, according to the airline.

Social media videos published by US media outlets showed passengers frantically evacuating an American Airlines plane via an emergency slide as smoke billowed from beneath the aircraft.

A man held a child as they rushed down the slide, stumbling as he hit the ground.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement that the crew onboard the Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane “reported a possible landing gear incident during departure” at around 2:45 p.m. Saturday.

The FAA said it was investigating the incident.

It occurred just a day after a Southwest Airlines flight plunged mid-air to avoid colliding with another aircraft while en route to Las Vegas, injuring two flight attendants.

The latest scare adds to growing concerns over aviation safety in the United States after a string of recent accidents and near misses.

In January, a mid-air collision between a commercial aircraft approaching Ronald Reagan Airport near downtown Washington and a military helicopter killed 67 people.

In May, US President Donald Trump’s administration announced plans to overhaul its “antiquated” air traffic control system, which suffers from a shortage of controllers in FAA-managed towers.

The government has laid off hundreds of FAA employees as part of its plan to slash the federal workforce.