All posts tagged "Africa"

Donald Trump's administration has seemingly changed tack with international diplomacy and struck deals with a series of the world's most brutal leaders, per a report.

Records from the White House, seen by the New York Times, show that American diplomats are straining to strike deals with countries across the world and have put everything on the negotiating table as a result. Included in the possible negotiations were offers to "pay foreign security forces, ease visa restrictions or tariffs, finance public health services, and even reconsider a country’s placement on U.S. watch lists," per the NYT team.

Part of the Trump admin's change has been on how they view immigration as a negotiating tool. The report, seen by Eileen Sullivan, Hamed Aleaziz, Megha Rajagopalan, and Pranav Baskar, notes that some countries could be swayed into making concessions to the US should they be given special treatment. ...

An immigration expert was taken aback by a CNN report that the Trump administration is looking beyond El Salvador for a "safe third country" to ship undocumented migrants.

CNN correspondent Priscilla Alvarez posted to X on Wednesday afternoon, "Trump admin has discussed with Libya and Rwanda the possibility of sending migrants who have criminal records to those two countries, sources tell me + @kylieatwood. Trump officials are also hoping to enter negotiations with Libya to strike a safe third country agreement."

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, an immigration lawyer and senior fellow with the American Immigration Council, responded, "Whoa. Using Libya and Rwanda as a deportation spot for people from the Western Hemisphere would be unprecedented, and declaring LIBYA a 'safe third country' to deport asylum seekers to would be the height of absurdity."...

Several years ago, dozens of elephants mysteriously dropped dead in Zimbabwe, a landlocked country in southern Africa. Now, researchers finally know why. Over several months of 2020, 35 African elephant carcasses were discovered in the Kavango–Zambezi conservation area, which encompasses five countries and is home to Africa’s largest population of elephants. Intriguingly, the carcasses showed no signs of outward trauma or distress; their skin was bite-free, and their tusks were intact, which ruled out predators and poachers as the cause of death. Additionally, their bodies were in “good” condi......

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for an equal partnership with the emerging states of Asia, Africa and Latin America ahead of the G20 summit of major economies in India. "This is also a great ... obligation on our part," the chancellor said in an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio published on Saturday. He emphasized that many Western states have a special responsibility towards countries on these continents because of their colonial history. Germany had colonies in Africa and Asia. This is the moment "that we invest everything for this level playing field," Scholz said. The leaders ......

A delegation of African leaders urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to begin peace talks with Ukraine during a meeting with the Russian leader in St Petersburg. "We would like to encourage you to start negotiations with Ukraine," Azali Assoumani, the president of Comoros and the current chairman of the African Union, told Putin on Saturday, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said, "We are convinced that the time has come for both sides to start negotiations and end this war." Putin, who himself ordered the full-scale military invasion of U......

Washington (AFP) - The United States is preparing long-term assistance for the Ivory Coast, Benin and Togo as concerns rise that jihadist violence in the Sahel could spill into coastal West Africa, officials said. Speaking to AFP, the officials said Western support was also critical to halting Russia's Wagner mercenary group which has made major inroads in violence-torn Sahel countries, including by allying with Mali's military junta. Vice President Kamala Harris, visiting Ghana last month as part of a growing US push in Africa, promised $100 million over 10 years to reinforce resilience in co......