A new report by Lighthouse Reports reveals the European Union is complicit in the abuse and expulsion of migrants in North Africa. The year-long investigation indicates the EU funds and participates in clandestine operations that target Black migrants and refugees. The report details how migrants are rounded up, often through racial profiling, and then dumped in deserts or remote areas near borders. The EU recently signed a migration agreement with Tunisia despite ongoing concerns about human rights abuses. However, the report raises serious questions about the EU's role in managing migration and its commitment to human rights.

African hubs network AfriLabs and UAE-based blockchain company Vault Hill have agreed a partnership the two organisations “sets the stage for a new era of technological empowerment, driving innovation and digital transformation across Africa and the Middle East”. Having recently announced the admission of 16 new hubs, AfriLabs now has a network of 478 hubs across 260 cities in 53 African nations. The UAE-based Vault Hill, meanwhile, is dedicated to revolutionising the way users interact with technology, utilising blockchain to enhance user experiences across various platforms. With a focus on innovation, security, and community, Vault Hill is committed to advancing the blockchain industry and developing technologies that create real value. The partnership will see Vault Hill act as AfriLabs’ strategic partner in the UAE, focused on fostering growth and supporting the ecosystem with advanced AI, blockchain, and immersive technology services.

Norwegian Expands Route Network from Helsinki to North AfricaIntroduction of New RoutesNorwegian Airlines has announced the launch of new scheduled flights from Helsinki Airport to three North African destinations: Marrakech, Agadir, and Hurghada. These new routes will begin operations in the upcoming winter season of 2024, offering travelers weekly flights to these popular destinations. Enhanced ConnectivityFlights to Morocco and EgyptThe new routes will see Norwegian resuming flights to Marrakech and Agadir in Morocco, starting in October and December respectively. Flight SchedulesDetailed OperationsThe flights will operate as follows:Agadir : Starting October 29, 2024, with weekly operations on Tuesdays. Expansion in LaplandAdditional Routes to RovaniemiIn addition to the North African routes, Norwegian will expand its route offerings in Lapland by launching flights from London and Munich to Rovaniemi Airport next winter.

Sub-Saharan and other African migrants traveling to Europe face dire consequences when they leave the North African coast. According to a new report, EU nations are funding these roundups of migrants. The most common route for African migrants trying to make it to Europe is through Italy, with many arriving on the island of Lampedusa. More recently, migrants are being picked up by the Tunisian coast guard and transported to the African desert at Tunisia’s borders with Libya and Algeria. According to the AP, the Tunisian coast guard’s efforts are working, as they have prevented more than 21,000 migration attempts by land or sea this year.

Such operations, it said, were “run thanks to money, vehicles, equipment, intelligence and security forces provided by the EU and European countries”. Tunisia, Morocco and Mauritania use the bloc’s funds to send thousands of people to the desert, says an investigation report“This is a difficult situation. Brussels has given 150 million euros ($160 million) to Tunisia under a recent accord, with more promised. It has also allocated 210 million euros to Mauritania and 624 million euros to Morocco under the cooperation agreements. But it said two EU sources acknowledged it was “impossible” to fully account for how the funding from Brussels was being used.

Ghana will decide by December which company will build its first nuclear power plant, choosing from contenders including French, US, Chinese, Russian and South Korean energy firms. Faced with power shortages, growing calls for environmentally friendly energy solutions and the vulnerability of hydropower to drought, Ghana has been one of the few African countries exploring alternative sources of energy including nuclear power. France’s EDF, US-based NuScale Power and Regnum Technology Group, and China National Nuclear Corporation, South Korea’s Kepco and its subsidiary Korea Hydro Nuclear Power Corporation as well as Russia’s Rosatom have been locked in a race to build the first nuclear power plant in Ghana. The decision on the winning contractor is expected by December, says Robert Sogbadji, the West African country’s deputy director in charge of nuclear and alternative energy. South Africa currently hosts the only nuclear power plant on the continent, yet besides Ghana, also countries like Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda have recently unveiled intentions to venture into nuclear energy development.

BELGRADE, Serbia — A falling tree killed a woman in Serbia in a heavy storm Tuesday that also caused power cuts and pummeled towns with hail. Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said the tree fell on the woman’s car in the northern town of Sombor. Dacic urged caution during extreme weather conditions, which experts say is partly caused by climate change. Earlier, hail and heavy rain fell in western Serbia, briefly cutting electricity in the southwestern town of Novi Pazar. In neighboring Croatia, strong winds and rain felled trees in some areas.

The Swiss government has affirmed that “there is no official representation of the polisario front either at the UN Office in Geneva or to the Federal Council,” dealing another blow to the Algeria-backed separatist group. In a diplomatic note addressed to the Moroccan embassy in Bern, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said “the polisario front office in Geneva enjoys no privileges or immunity in Switzerland,” exposing the separatists’ lies and attempts to deceive the international community. The Swiss authorities have notified and warned the so-called polisario representative in Switzerland against using misleading names and titles suggesting that the separatists have an official representation in Switzerland. The Swiss government clarification is seen a reprobation act and a strong diplomatic warning to the so-called polisario representative in Switzerland, urging him to stop posing as ambassador or face serious consequences. The goal of the Polisario propaganda, paid with Algerian petrol-dollars, is to deceive the Algerian public opinion and the Sahrawis sequestered in Tindouf camps by selling them fictitious diplomatic achievements and an elusive dream amid a growing popular uproar, frustration, resentment, and protests in both Tindouf and Algeria.

The announcements were made at the Huawei Cloud Summit on Tuesday in Cairo. The Cairo region brings Huawei Cloud’s total number of regions to 33 globally. Last September, it opened a cloud data center in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh. In February 2023, the Chinese telecoms giant said it would invest $400 million in the kingdom's Huawei cloud region over the next five years. The automatic speech recognition service supports over 20 Arabic-speaking countries with an accuracy rate of up to 96%, Huawei Cloud said.

As a military historian of what I call the American Ranger tradition, I’ve traced this martial phenomenon from the colonial period to the 21st century. These American troops were then supposed to be sent to units across the United States’ rapidly growing army to share their expertise as new recruits prepared to go to war. The 1st Rangers had done both in Africa, and these new Rangers would be asked to do so as well. Rangers for D-DayLike the rest of the D-Day force, the Rangers prepared for the operation without knowing when or where it would take place. On the fateful morning of the Normandy landings, the Ranger battalions were split into three groups with two distinct assignments.

Gunmen riding motorbikes killed around 40 people in a raid on a mining community in north-central Nigeria, opening fire on residents and torching homes, the local government said on Tuesday. The attack late Monday in Wase district in Plateau state was the latest violence in an area that has long been a flashpoint for disputes over resources and outbreaks of intercommunal clashes. Armed men invaded Zurak community, shooting sporadically and torching houses, Plateau’s state commissioner for information, Musa Ibrahim Ashoms, told AFP by telephone. Zurak is a popular mining community," he said. Parts of northwest and north-central Nigeria have also been terrorized by heavily armed criminal gangs, who raid villages to loot and carry out mass kidnappings for ransom.

The US government has set a timeline of September 15 for the withdrawal of its troops currently stationed in Niger, per a joint statement by the Pentagon and Nigerien defense officials that was published on Sunday. This move comes after months of diplomatic negotiations and rising tensions between the U.S. and Niger’s military junta, which worsened when last month when Niger alleged that US presence is illegal under international law. The withdrawal plan includes the relocation of over 1,000 personnel and the dismantling of military bases. It will also see the expatriation of US weaponry deemed lethal, classified, or hazardous, although some will likely be left behind. It is expected to mark a significant shift in U.S. counterterrorism strategy in the Sahel region, where American forces have been combating extremist groups.

A new report by The Washington Post has revealed that Europe is complicit in the inhumane North African nations’ practice of pushing migrants to the desert. According to the newspaper’s investigation, conducted alongside Lighthouse Reports and other international media houses, the European Union, alongside some individual European countries, finance these inhumane operations that see tens of thousands of migrants detained and subsequently dumped in remote locations, usually desert areas. The investigation revealed that European money were used to train and equip personnel involved in desert dumps and implicated in multiple other human right abuses. The Washington Post report claimed European officers were aware of these practices and have held discussion on them since at least 2019. SOURCE: THE WASHINGTON POSTShare

India's rank on the World Economic Forum's Travel & Tourism Development Index 2024 has risen to 39th place as international tourist arrivals are expected to reach pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024, according to the World Economic Forum. India has the largest Travel & Tourism sector in South Asia and scores as the Travel & Tourism Development Index’s top lower-middle-income economy, the WEF says. The highest-ranked economies in the 2024 TTDI edition are those of the United States, Spain, Japan, France, Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, Italy and Switzerland. Low to upper-middle-income economies accounted for 52 out of the 71 economies that have improved their TTDI scores since 2019. “Countries such as China, Japan and India are home to some of the largest tourism economies in the world and all three rank near the top for natural, cultural and non-leisure assets,” says the report.

Reading Time: < 1 minuteA 47-year-old teacher is expected to appear in the Wolmaranstad Magistrate’s Court in the North West today in connection with the rape of two learners aged 12 and 14. The man, who works at a primary school, is expected to apply for bail. The Department of Education in the province says it will not tolerate misconduct among teachers. Department Spokesperson Mphata Molokwane says, “The suspect’s court appearance emanates from his arrest on Thursday last week at Leeudoringstad after the mother and the principal of two minors aged 12 and 14 registered cases at the local police station.”“It is alleged that the teacher has been sexually harassing these learners. So as the Department of Education, we have taken a stand that we will strongly condemn the occurrence and express sadness that the victims were allegedly abused by someone who was supposed to safeguard them.”VIDEO | Police in the North West say crimes such as rape and murder are very difficult to prevent: