africa
Flooding in Libya leaves 2,000 people feared dead and more missing after storm collapsed dams
Mediterranean storm Daniel caused devastating floods in Libya that broke dams and swept away entire neighborhoods in multiple coastal towns in the east of the North African nation. As many as 2,000 people were feared dead, one of the country's leaders said Monday.
The destruction appeared greatest in Derna, a city formerly held by Islamic extremists in the chaos that has gripped Libya for more than a decade and left it with crumbling and inadequate infrastructure. Libya remains divided between two rival administrations, one in the east and one in the west, each backed by militias and foreign governments.
The confirmed death toll from the weekend flooding stood at 61 as of late Monday, according to health authorities. But the tally did not include Derna, which had become inaccessible, and many of the thousands missing there were believed carried away by waters after two upstream dams burst.
Video by residents of the city posted online showed major devastation. Entire residential areas were erased along a river that runs down from the mountains through the city center. Multistory apartment buildings that once stood well back from the river were partially collapsed into the mud.
READ: Moroccans sleep in the streets for 3rd night following an earthquake that took more than 2,100 lives
In a phone interview with station Monday, Prime Minister Ossama Hamad of the east Libyan government said 2,000 were feared dead in Derna and thousands were believed missing. He said Derna has been declared a disaster zone.
Ahmed al-Mosmari, a spokesman for the country's armed forces based in the east, told a news conference that the death toll in Derna had surpassed 2,000. He said there were between 5,000 and 6,000 reported missing. Al-Mosmari attributed the catastrophe to the collapse of two nearby dams, causing a lethal flash flood.
Since a 2011 uprising that toppled and later killed long-time ruler Moammar Gadhafi, Libya has lacked a central government and the resulting lawlessness has meant dwindling investment in the country's roads and public services and also minimal regulation of private building. The country is now split between rival governments in the east and west, each backed by an array of militias.
Derna itself, along with the city of Sirte, was controlled by extremist groups for years, at one point by those who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, until forces loyal to the east-based government expelled them in 2018.
READ: In ancient cities and mountain towns, rescuers seek survivors from Morocco's quake of the century
At least 46 people were reported dead in the eastern town of Bayda, Abdel-Rahim Mazek, head of the town’s main medical center said. Another seven people were reported dead in the coastal town of Susa in northeastern Libya, according to the Ambulance and Emergency Authority. Seven others were reported dead in the towns of Shahatt and Omar al-Mokhtar, said Ossama Abduljaleel, health minister. One person was reported dead Sunday in the town of Marj.
The Libyan Red Crescent said three of its workers had died while helping families in Derna. Earlier, the group said it lost contact with one of its workers as he attempted to help a stuck family in Bayda. Dozens of others were reported missing, and authorities fear they could have died in the floods that destroyed homes and other properties in several towns in eastern Libya, according to local media.
In Derna, local media said the situation was catastrophic with no electricity or communications.
Essam Abu Zeriba, the interior minister of the east Libya government, said more than 5,000 people were expected to be missing in Derna. He said many of the victims were swept away towards the Mediterranean.
“The situation is tragic,” he declared in a telephone interview on the Saudi-owned satellite news channel Al-Arabiya. He urged urged local and international agencies to rush to help the city.
Georgette Gagnon, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Libya, said early reports showed that dozens of villages and towns were “severely affected ... with widespread flooding, damage to infrastructure, and loss of life.”
READ: Powerful quake in Morocco kills more than 2,000 people and damages historic buildings in Marrakech
“I am deeply saddened by the severe impact of (storm) Daniel on the country ... I call on all local, national, and international partners to join hands to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the people in eastern Libya,” she wrote on X platform, formerly known as Twitter.
In a post on X, the U.S. Embassy in Libya said it was in contact with both the U.N. and Libyan authorities and was determining how to deliver aid to the most affected areas.
Over the weekend, Libyans shared footage on social media showing flooded houses and roads in many areas across eastern Libya. They pleaded for help as floods besieged people inside their homes and in their vehicles.
Ossama Hamad, the prime minister of the east Libya government, declared Derna a disaster zone after heavy rainfall and floods destroyed much of the city which is located in the delta of the small Wadi Derna on Libya’s east coast. The prime minister also announced three days of mourning and ordered flags across the country to be lowered to half-staff.
Controlling eastern and western Libya, Cmdr. Khalifa Hifter deployed troops to help residents in Benghazi and other eastern towns. Ahmed al-Mosmari, a spokesperson for Hifter’s forces, said they lost contact with five troops who were helping besieged families in Bayda.
READ: Powerful quake in Morocco kills more than 1,000 people and damages historic buildings in Marrakech
Foreign governments sent messages of support on Monday evening. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the United Arab Emirates, said his country would send humanitarian assistance and search-and-rescue teams to eastern Libya, according to the UAE’s state-run WAM news agency.
Turkey, which supports the country's Tripoli-based government in the west, also expressed condolences, along with neighboring Algeria and Egypt, and also Iraq.
Storm Daniel is expected to arrive in parts of west Egypt on Monday, and the country’s meteorological authorities warned about possible rain and bad weather.
Moroccans sleep in the streets for 3rd night following an earthquake that took more than 2,100 lives
People in Morocco slept in the streets of Marrakech for a third straight night as soldiers and international aid teams in trucks and helicopters began to fan into remote mountain towns hit hardest by a historic earthquake.
The disaster killed more than 2,100 people — a number that is expected to rise — and the United Nations estimated that 300,000 people were affected by Friday night’s magnitude 6.8 quake.
Amid offers from several countries, including the United States and France, Moroccan officials said Sunday that they are accepting international aid from just four countries: Spain, Qatar, Britain and the United Arab Emirates.
“The Moroccan authorities have carefully assessed the needs on the ground, bearing in mind that a lack of coordination in such cases would be counterproductive,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
While some foreign search-and-rescue teams arrived on Sunday as an aftershock rattled Moroccans already in mourning and shock, other aid teams poised to deploy grew frustrated waiting for the government to officially request assistance.
Read: Powerful quake in Morocco kills more than 2,000 people and damages historic buildings in Marrakech
“We know there is a great urgency to save people and dig under the remains of buildings,” said Arnaud Fraisse, founder of Rescuers Without Borders, who had a team stuck in Paris waiting for the green light. “There are people dying under the rubble, and we cannot do anything to save them.”
Help was slow to arrive in Amizmiz, where a whole chunk of the town of orange and red sandstone brick homes carved into a mountainside appeared to be missing. A mosque's minaret had collapsed.
“It’s a catastrophe,’’ said villager Salah Ancheu, 28. “We don’t know what the future is. The aid remains insufficient.”
Residents swept rubble off the main road into town and people cheered when trucks full of soldiers arrived. But they pleaded for more help.
“There aren’t ambulances, there aren’t police, at least for right now,” Ancheu said, speaking about many parts of the region on Sunday morning.
Those left homeless — or fearing more aftershocks — slept outside Saturday, in the streets of the ancient city of Marrakech or under makeshift canopies in hard-hit Atlas Mountain towns like Moulay Brahim. Both there and in Amizmiz, residents worried most about the damage in hard-to-reach communities. The worst destruction was in rural communities that rely on unpaved roads that snake up the mountainous terrain covered by fallen rocks.
Read: In ancient cities and mountain towns, rescuers seek survivors from Morocco's quake of the century
Those areas were shaken anew Sunday by a magnitude 3.9 aftershock, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It wasn't immediately clear if it caused more damage or casualties, but it was likely strong enough to rattle nerves in areas where damage has left buildings unstable and residents feared aftershocks.
In a region where many build bricks out of mud, Friday's earthquake toppled buildings not strong enough to withstand such a mighty temblor, trapping people in the rubble and sending others fleeing in terror. A total of 2,122 people were confirmed dead and at least 2,421 others were injured — 1,404 of them critically, the Interior Ministry reported.
Most of the dead — 1,351 — were in the Al Haouz district in the High Atlas Mountains, the ministry said.
Flags were lowered across Morocco, as King Mohammed VI ordered three days of national mourning starting Sunday. The army mobilized search and rescue teams, and the king ordered water, food rations and shelters to be sent to those who lost homes.
He also called for mosques to hold prayers Sunday for the victims, many of whom were buried Saturday amid the frenzy of rescue work nearby.
Though it said for the first time Sunday that it would accept aid from four countries, Morocco has not made an international appeal for help like Turkey did in the hours following a massive quake earlier this year, according to aid groups.
Read: Powerful quake in Morocco kills more than 1,000 people and damages historic buildings in Marrakech
Aid offers poured in from around the world, and the U.N. said it had a team in Morocco coordinating international support. About 100 teams made up of a total of 3,500 rescuers are registered with a U.N. platform and ready to deploy in Morocco when asked, Rescuers Without Borders said. Germany had a team of more than 50 rescuers waiting near Cologne-Bonn Airport but sent them home, news agency dpa reported.
A Spanish search-and-rescue team arrived in Marrakech and headed to the rural Talat N’Yaaqoub, according to Spain’s Emergency Military Unit. Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said in a radio interview that Moroccan authorities asked for help. Another rescue team from Nice, France, also was on its way.
Officials in the Czech Republic earlier said the country was sending about 70 members of a rescue team trained in searching through rubble after receiving an official request from the Moroccan government. Czech Defense Minister Jana Cernochova said three military planes were prepared to transport the team.
In France, which has many ties to Morocco and said four of its citizens died in the quake, towns and cities have offered more than 2 million euros ($2.1 million) in aid. Popular performers are collecting donations.
The epicenter of Friday’s quake was near the town of Ighil in Al Haouz Province, about 70 kilometers (44 miles) south of Marrakech. The region is known for scenic villages and valleys tucked in the High Atlas Mountains.
Devastation gripped each town along the High Atlas’ steep and winding switchbacks, with homes folding in on themselves and people crying as boys and helmet-clad police carried the dead through the streets.
”I was asleep when the earthquake struck. I could not escape because the roof fell on me. I was trapped. I was saved by my neighbors who cleared the rubble with their bare hands," said Fatna Bechar in Moulay Brahim. “Now, I am living with them in their house because mine was completely destroyed.”
Read: Flooding in southern Brazil leaves at least 31 dead and 2,300 homeless
There was little time for mourning as survivors tried to salvage anything from damaged homes.
Khadija Fairouje's face was puffy from crying as she joined relatives and neighbors hauling possessions down rock-strewn streets. She had lost her daughter and three grandsons aged 4 to 11 when their home collapsed while they were sleeping less than 48 hours earlier.
“Nothing’s left. Everything fell,” said her sister, Hafida Fairouje.
The Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity was coordinating help for about 15,000 families in Al Haouz province, including food, medical aid, emergency housing and blankets, the state news agency MAP quoted the organization’s head, Youssef Rabouli, as saying after he visited the region.
Rescuers backed by soldiers and police searched collapsed homes in the remote town of Adassil, near the epicenter. Military vehicles brought in bulldozers and other equipment to clear roads, MAP reported. Ambulances took dozens of wounded from the village of Tikht, population 800, to Mohammed VI University Hospital in Marrakech.
In Marrakech, large chunks were missing from a crenelated roof, and warped metal, crumbled concrete and dust were all that remained of a building cordoned off by police.
Tourists and residents lined up to give blood.
“I did not even think about it twice,” Jalila Guerina told The Associated Press, "especially in the conditions where people are dying, especially at this moment when they are needing help, any help.” She cited her duty as a Moroccan citizen.
The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 when it hit at 11:11 p.m., lasting several seconds, the USGS said. A magnitude 4.9 aftershock hit 19 minutes later, it said. The collision of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates occurred at a relatively shallow depth, which makes a quake more dangerous.
It was the strongest earthquake to hit the North African country in over 120 years, according to USGS records dating to 1900, but it was not the deadliest. In 1960, a magnitude 5.8 temblor struck near the city of Agadir, killing at least 12,000. That quake prompted Morocco to change construction rules, but many buildings, especially rural homes, are not built to withstand such tremors.
In 2004, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake near the Mediterranean coastal city of Al Hoceima left more than 600 dead.
Al-Qaida-linked insurgents in Mali kill 49 civilians and 15 soldiers in attacks, military says
Two attacks by al-Qaida linked insurgents in the restive north of Mali on Thursday killed 49 civilians and 15 government soldiers, the country's military junta said.
A passenger boat near the city of Timbuktu on the Niger River and a Malian military position in Bamba further downstream in the Gao region were targeted, according to a statement from the military junta read on state television. It said the attacks have been claimed by JNIM, an umbrella coalition of armed groups aligned with al-Qaida.
The Malian government killed about 50 assailants while responding to the attacks, the announcement said. It said also declared three days of national mourning from Friday to honor the civilians and soldiers killed in the attacks.
Al-Qaida affiliated and Islamic State-linked groups have almost doubled the territory they control in Mali in less than a year, the United Nations said in a report last month, as they take advantage of a weak government and of armed groups that signed a 2015 peace agreement.
Also read: At least 15 people killed and dozens injured in bus crash in Mali
The stalled implementation of the peace deal and sustained attacks on communities have offered the IS group and al-Qaida affiliates a chance "to re-enact the 2012 scenario," they said.
That's the year when a military coup took place in the West African country and rebels in the north formed an Islamic state two months later. The extremist rebels were forced from power in the north with the help of a French-led military operation, but they moved from the arid north to more populated central Mali in 2015 and remain active.
In August 2020, Mali's president was overthrown in a coup that included an army colonel who carried out a second coup and was sworn in as president in June 2021. He developed ties to Russia's military and Russia's Wagner mercenary group whose head, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was killed in a plane crash in Russia on Aug. 23.
Also read: Doctor in embattled Somaliland city says at least 145 dead
Timbuktu has been blockaded by armed groups since late August, when the Malian army deployed reinforcements to the region. The insurgents are preventing the desert city from being supplied with basic goods.
Over 30,000 residents have fled the city and a nearby region, according to an August report by the United Nations' humanitarian agency.
The deadly attacks come as the U.N. prepares to withdraw its 17,000-strong peacekeeping mission MINUSMA from Mali at the government's request. The pullout is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.
The U.N. deployed peacekeepers in 2013 and MINUSMA has become the most dangerous U.N. mission in the world, with more than 300 personnel killed.
The growing insecurity in Mali has increased instability in West Africa's volatile Sahel region. Mali has had two coups since 2020 in which the military vowed to stop the jihadi violence.
A building fire in Johannesburg kills at least 73 people, many of them homeless, authorities say
A nighttime fire ripped through a rundown five-story building in Johannesburg that was occupied by homeless people and squatters, killing at least 73 people early Thursday, emergency services in South Africa's biggest city said.
Some of the people living in the building in South Africa's biggest city threw themselves out of windows to escape the blaze and might have died because of that, a local government official said. Seven of the victims were children, the youngest a 1-year-old, according to an emergency services spokesperson.
As many as 200 people may have been living in the building, witnesses said.
Emergency crews expected to find more victims as they worked their way through the building, a process slowed by the conditions inside. Dozens of bodies were lined up on a nearby side road, some in body bags, and others covered with silver sheets and blankets.
Another 52 people were injured in the blaze, which broke out at about 1 a.m. in the heart of Johannesburg's central business district, Johannesburg Emergency Services Management spokesman Robert Mulaudzi said.
Abandoned and broken-down buildings in the area are common and often taken over by people desperately seeking some form of accommodation. City authorities refer to them as “hijacked buildings."
Read more: 2 found dead in eastern Washington wildfires identified, more than 350 homes confirmed destroyed
Mulaudzi said the death toll was likely to increase and more bodies were likely trapped inside the building. The fire took three hours to contain, he said, and firefighters had only worked their way through three of the building's five floors by mid-morning.
“This is a tragedy for Johannesburg. Over 20 years in the service, I’ve never come across something like this,” Mulaudzi said.
The building's interior was effectively “an informal settlement” where shacks and other structures had been thrown up and people were crammed into rooms, he said. There were “obstructions” everywhere that would have made it very difficult for residents to escape the deadly blaze and which hindered emergency crews trying to work through the site, according to Mulaudzi.
Search teams found 73 bodies. The chance of anyone being found alive hours after the fire broke out was “very slim,” he said.
City officials said 141 families were affected by the tragedy, although they were not able to immediately say how many people were in the building at the time of the blaze. Many of them were believed to be foreign nationals, officials said.
Read more: 18 bodies found in Greece as firefighters battle wind-driven wildfires across the country
A witness who didn't give his name told television news channel eNCA that he lived in a building next door and heard people screaming for help and shouting “We're dying in here” when the fire started.
Mgcini Tshwaku, a local government official, said there were indications that people lit fires inside the building to keep warm in the winter cold. Officials are looking into the cause of the blaze.
Read more:At least 36 killed on Maui as fires burn through Hawaii and thousands race to escape
After the fire was extinguished, smoke still seeped out of windows of the blackened building as daylight broke. Strings of sheets and other material hung out of some of the broken windows. It was not clear if people used those items to try and escape the fire or if they were trying to save their possessions.
Soldiers in Gabon say they’re seizing power days after presidential election
Mutinous soldiers in Gabon said Wednesday they were overturning the results of a presidential election that was to extend the Bongo family’s 55-year hold on power.
The central African country’s election committee announced that President Ali Bongo Ondimba, 64, had won the election with 64% of the vote early Wednesday morning. Within minutes, gunfire was heard in the center of the capital, Libreville.
Read: Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa wins re-election after troubled vote, officials say
A dozen uniformed soldiers appeared on state television later the same morning and announced that they had seized power.
The soldiers intended to “dissolve all institutions of the republic,” said a spokesman for the group, whose members were drawn from the gendarme, the republican guard and other elements of the security forces.
The coup attempt came about one month after mutinous soldiers in Niger seized power from the democratically elected government, and is the latest in a series of coups that have challenged governments with ties to France, the region’s former colonizer.
Unlike Niger and two other West African countries run by military juntas, Gabon hasn’t been wracked by jihadi violence and had been seen as relatively stable.
Read: Niger's neighbours running out of options as defence chiefs meet to discuss potential military force
In his annual Independence Day speech Aug. 17, Bongo said “While our continent has been shaken in recent weeks by violent crises, rest assured that I will never allow you and our country Gabon to be hostages to attempts at destabilization. Never.”
At a time when anti-France sentiment is spreading in many former colonies, the French-educated Bongo met President Emmanuel Macron in Paris in late June and shared photos of them shaking hands.
The coup’s leaders vowed to respect “Gabon’s commitments to the national and international community.”
Bongo was seeking a third term in elections this weekend. He served two terms since coming to power in 2009 after the death of his father, Omar Bongo, who ruled the country for 41 years. Another group of mutinous soldiers attempted a coup in January 2019, while Bongo was in Morocco recovering from a stroke, but they were quickly overpowered.
Read: At least 10 killed in southwest Congo as intercommunal violence worsens over land rights and taxes
In the election, Bongo faced an opposition coalition led by economics professor and former education minister Albert Ondo Ossa, whose surprise nomination came a week before the vote.
There were concerns about post-election violence, due to deep-seated grievances among the population of some 2.5 million. Nearly 40% of Gabonese ages 15-24 were out of work in 2020, according to the World Bank.
After last week’s vote, the Central African nation’s Communications Minister, Rodrigue Mboumba Bissawou, announced a nightly curfew from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., and said internet access was being restricted indefinitely to quell disinformation and calls for violence.
Every vote held in Gabon since the country’s return to a multi-party system in 1990 has ended in violence. Clashes between government forces and protesters following the 2016 election killed four people, according to official figures. The opposition said the death toll was far higher.
Read: 5 killed in Kenya as concerns grow over increasing terror attacks
Fearing violence, many people in the capital went to visit family in other parts of the country before the election or left Gabon altogether. Others stockpiled food or bolstered security in their homes.
Libya’s foreign minister suspended after meeting with Israel’s chief diplomat
One of Libya’s rival prime ministers said Monday he has suspended his foreign minister a day after Israel revealed that its chief diplomat met with her last week — news that prompted scattered street protests in the chaos-stricken North African nation.
Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who heads the government of national unity in the capital, Tripoli, also referred Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush for investigation over the meeting, which was the first ever between top diplomats of Libya and Israel.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Mangoush met in Rome last week. It was a small breakthrough for Israel’s government, whose hard-line policies toward the Palestinians have led to a cooling of its burgeoning ties with the Arab world.
Cohen said they discussed the importance of preserving the heritage of Libya’s former Jewish community, including renovating synagogues and cemeteries. The talks also touched on possible Israeli assistance for humanitarian issues, agriculture and water management, according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry.
The Libyan foreign ministry, meanwhile, sought to downplay the importance of the meeting as “unprepared and an unofficial meeting during a meeting with Italy’s foreign minister. It said in a statement that Mangoush’s encounter with Cohen didn’t include “any talks, agreements or consultations.”
Read: 17-year-old Palestinian killed during Israeli military raid in northern West Bank
Israel’s foreign ministry did not respond to reporters’ questions early Monday, including whether Cohen’s announcement had been coordinated with Libya.
Libya was plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. The oil-rich country has been split between the Western-backed government in Tripoli and a rival administration in the country’s east. Each side has been backed by armed groups and foreign governments. Gadhafi was hostile to Israel and a staunch supporter of the Palestinians, including radical militant groups opposed to peace with Israel.
Sunday’s announcement of the meeting prompted scattered protests in Tripoli and other towns in western Libya. Protesters stormed the foreign ministry headquarters to condemn the meeting, while others attacked and burned a residence for the prime minister in Tripoli, according to local reports.
In the town of Zawiya protesters burned the Israeli flag, while others held the Palestinian flag. There were also protests in the city of Misrata, a stronghold for Dbeibah, according to footage circulated on social media and verified by The Associated Press.
Read: Suspected Palestinian shooting attack at West Bank car wash kills 2 Israelis
Khalid al-Mishri, an Islamist politician who was the chair of the State Council, a Tripoli-based legislative body, condemned the meeting and called for the dismissal of Dbeibah’s government, which is close to the U.S. and the West.
“This government has crossed all prohibited lines and must be brought down,” he wrote on the X platform, previously known as Twitter.
The east-based House of Representatives also slammed the meeting as a “legal and moral crime.” It called for an emergency session Monday in the eastern city of Benghazi.
In Israel, Yair Lapid, a former foreign minister and prime minister, criticized Cohen for going public with the sensitive meeting.
Read more: After Israeli raids, Palestinian police struggle in militant hotbed, reflecting region on the brink
"Countries of the world this morning are looking at the irresponsible leak of the meeting of the Israeli and Libyan foreign minister and asking themselves: is it possible to manage foreign relations with this country? Is it possible to trust this country?” Lapid said in a statement.
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa wins re-election after troubled vote, officials say
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa was re-elected for a second and final five-year term late Saturday in results announced much earlier than expected following another troubled vote in the southern African country with a history of violent and disputed elections.
An opposition party spokesperson said within minutes of Mnangagwa being declared the winner that they would reject the results as “hastily assembled without proper verification.”
Mnangagwa's victory meant the ZANU-PF party retained the governmental leadership it has held for all 43 years of Zimbabwe's history since the nation was re-named following independence from white minority rule in 1980.
Zimbabwe has had just two leaders in that time, long-ruling autocrat Robert Mugabe and Mnangagwa.
The 80-year-old Mnangagwa, who has the nickname “the crocodile” from his days as a guerrilla fighter, won 52.6% of the votes in the midweek election, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said in a late-night announcement in the capital, Harare. The 45-year-old main opposition leader, Nelson Chamisa, got 44%, the commission said.
The results were released around 11.30 p.m., about 48 hours after polls closed.
They likely will be closely scrutinized after international election observers raised questions over the environment in the buildup to the vote and pointed to an atmosphere of intimidation against Chamisa’s supporters.
The observers said they had specific concerns over a ruling party affiliate organization called Forever Associates of Zimbabwe that they said set up tables at polling stations and took details of people walking into voting booths. The head of the African Union mission, former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, said the FAZ activities should be declared “criminal offenses.”
Dzens of local vote monitors also were arrested and taken to court on allegations of subversion that government critics said were trumped-up charges.
And there were problems with the actual vote.
The election had been due to be held on just Wednesday, but voting was extended to Thursday after delays with the printing of ballot papers. Results of the presidential election came a surprising two days after voting closed when the final figures were only expected on Monday or even Tuesday considering the election ran over by a day.
“We reject any results hastily assembled without proper verification,” said Promise Mkwananzi, a spokesperson for Chamisa's Citizens Coalition for Change Party. “We will advise citizens on the next steps as the situation develops.”
Read: Canada's Trudeau wins re-election but faces a divided nation
The result will now extend ZANU-PF''s rule to nearly a half century with Mnangagwa's victory. ZANU-PF also retained its parliamentary majority in the election. Mnangagwa won just over 2.3 million of the 4.4 million votes cast. Chamisa received 1.9 million, the electoral commission said.
“This is a very happy occasion indeed,” said Ziyambi Ziyambi, an election agent for Mnangagwa and a Cabinet minister. “Zimbabweans have shown confidence in our president and ZANU-PF.”
Mnangagwa was a vice president under Mugabe before replacing his former ally after a coup in 2017. Mnangagwa then won a disputed election by a razor-thin margin against Chamisa in 2018, a result that caused unrest and deaths on the streets.
Ahead of Saturday's announcement of the 2023 results, dozens of armed police with water cannons guarded the national results center. It was the scene of deadly violence after the previous election five years ago, when soldiers killed six people during protests over delays in announcing presidential election results.
Voting this time ran over into Thursday after delays in distributing ballot papers in the capital, Harare, and other urban areas prompted Mnangagwa to extend the election by a day. Voters slept outside polling stations in urban areas that are opposition strongholds to cast their ballots.
Read: Indian elections to begin April 11 as Modi seeks re-election
Before the election, Chamisa alleged in an interview with The Associated Press that his party’s rallies had been broken up by police and his supporters had often been intimidated and threatened with violence by ruling party supporters.
International rights groups said there was a crackdown on opposition officials and supporters by ZANU-PF. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch alleged Mnangagwa’s administration used the police and the courts to silence dissent amid rising tensions due to a currency crisis, a sharp hike in food prices, a weakening public health system and inadequate numbers of formal jobs.
Zimbabwe is renowned for having one of the world's worst economic meltdowns, when hyperinflation in 2007-2009 led to the country abandoning its currency.
Many people in the country of 15 million are sure to view the result with suspicion, although the opposition CCC party didn't immediately say what its next move would be.
Streets in Harare that would normally be bustling with late-night vendors were empty as people were digesting the results.
“It's done. It never changes,” said Gerald Chosawa, a security guard at a grocery store. “I had some hope.”
“Now it's better to prepare to join the others who have left the country. That's the best option.”
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Russia's Putin attends BRICS summit in South Africa remotely while facing war crimes warrant
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping were both absent as leaders from the BRICS group of emerging economies started a three-day summit in South Africa on Tuesday.
Putin's travel to Johannesburg was complicated by an outstanding International Criminal Court warrant for his arrest over the abduction of children from Ukraine. His participation as the bloc named for member nations Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa opened its first in-person meeting since before the COVID-19 pandemic came in the form of a 17-minute prerecorded speech.
Xi, who was in South Africa and held a bilateral morning meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa, did not join his host and the leaders of Brazil and India for a business forum at the primary summit venue. No reason was given for his absence, and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao read Xi's speech.
Also read: PM Hasina reaches Johannesburg to attend BRICS summit
The summit's main session in Johannesburg's financial district of Sandton is scheduled for Wednesday, when Xi, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ramaphosa were expected to meet as BRICS mulls a possible expansion.
The bloc already is home to 40% of the world's population and responsible for more than 30% of global economic output, and more than 20 nations have applied to join, according to South African officials, including Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi planned to attend the summit.
Also read: BRICS leaders to discuss expansion as Global South countries line up to join
The five current member countries will have to agree on the criteria for new members before any countries are admitted, but a bigger BRICS is seen as a policy favored by China and Russia amid their deteriorating relations with the West.
Brazil, Russia, India and China formed the bloc in 2009. South Africa was added in 2010.
While Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was representing Russia in Johannesburg, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that Putin would fully engage in the summit while participating remotely.
Local officials said Putin would "virtually" attend a Tuesday welcome dinner hosted by South Africa. The agenda also lists him as giving a speech via video link on Wednesday.
Also read: Russia, China look to advance agendas at BRICS summit of developing countries in South Africa
Overall, around 1,200 delegates from the five BRICS nations and dozens of other developing countries are are in South Africa's biggest city, and more than 40 heads of state were expected to take part in some of the summit meetings, according to Ramaphosa.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres also was expected to attend.
On Tuesday's opening day, there were calls for more economic cooperation and collaboration in areas such as health, education and climate change while reflecting a growing sentiment in some parts of the world that institutions seen as Western-led, including the the U.N., the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, do not serve developing nations.
Also read: BRICS Summit 2023 unveils potential geopolitical paradigm shift: Modern Diplomacy
While in South Africa's capital, Pretoria, earlier Tuesday for his meeting with Xi, Ramaphosa said he was seeking "Chinese support for South Africa and Africa's call for the reform of global governance institutions, notably the United Nations Security Council."
Africa and South America have no permanent representatives on the Security Council despite being home to nearly 2 billion people.
Xi, who has gradually resumed foreign travel after the lifting of his country's strict COVID-19 restrictions, joined Ramaphosa to watch a ceremonial parade by soldiers at the Union Buildings, the official seat of the South African government.
Xi made brief comments at the event, saying China was ready for more cooperation with Africa's most advanced economy "to take our comprehensive strategic partnerships to new heights."
BRICS officials have pushed back at suggestions the the bloc is taking an anti-West turn under the influence of China and Russia, saying it is rather looking out for the interests of the Global South.
But the BRICS stance is at odds with the United States and its Western allies on a number of issues, not least over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The European Union called on Xi, Lula, Modi and Ramaphosa to use this week's gathering to condemn Russia and Putin for the war in Ukraine, but that's unlikely to happen.
If anything, BRICS has been a forum for Russia to express its anti-Western rhetoric, with Lavrov using a BRICS foreign ministers meeting in June to lambast the West for its "hegemony" and using "financial blackmail" to serve its "selfish interests."
A small protest against Russia's invasion of Ukraine was held Tuesday at a public park more than 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the summit venue.
The U.S. and EU will be closely monitoring events in Johannesburg, with the long list of countries lining up to join BRICS suggesting that the bloc's calls for a reorganization of the global governance structure might be hitting home with many.
Pet carnival held in Egypt to raise animal protection awareness
In a joyful atmosphere, hundreds of pet lovers gathered in Egypt's Mediterranean North Coast in the Matrouh Governorate for an annual pet carnival.
Aleef is a pet Carnival that is usually held in Egypt's capital Cairo. Being the country's largest of its kind, it provides pet lovers and owners a chance to meet experts in pet care, breeding, and nutrition.
"We have been holding this event for 12 years, but this is the first time to organize it in the North Coast, which is a plus for us," said Nadine Hamdy, marketing manager of the carnival.
Read: Coup leaders appear to have gained the upper hand in Niger, analysts say
A number of veterinarians, pet nutritionists, and pet trainers participated in the event, which took place on Saturday. It includes activities of pets medication and training and offers a number of recreational activities for pets, such as swimming trainings and shows.
Such event would help people better get along with animals, Hamdy said.
For Adam Kilani, a visitor from neighboring Alexandria Governorate, the event is an unforgettable experience for him, as his five-year-old pet dog Gawaher had learnt to swim for the first time in a year.
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"It is a great chance for me to learn about pet care in an amusing way," Kilani said, as he watched his dog swim.
Holding such events, especially in tourist resorts during the summer, will significantly promote the culture of pet ownership in Egypt, said Kilani.
"I have seen people here who have never touched a dog, but they were very happy to play with Gawaher. Some of them said they would love to keep a dog at home soon," Kilany said.
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Lina Kamal, who brought her three-year-old dog to the carnival, said the event was important because it raised the issue of stray animals and offered solutions to their plight.
"We should have stronger awareness to protect animals...this is one of the things that the carnival advocates," said Kamal.
Niger's neighbours running out of options as defence chiefs meet to discuss potential military force
West African defense chiefs met Thursday to discuss the crisis in Niger after coup leaders there ignored their deadline to step down, leaving the region's countries with few options in their effort to restore democratic rule.
Niger's democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, was overthrown in July and remains under house arrest with his wife and son in the capital, Niamey.
Defence chiefs from the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, were meeting Thursday in Ghana to discuss next steps in their stated goal of restoring Bazoum. Coup leaders in Niger already have ignored a deadline to restate him or face military intervention.
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This is the first meeting since ECOWAS ordered the deployment of a “standby force” last week to restore constitutional rule in the country. It’s unclear if or when troops would intervene. A force would likely consist of several thousands soldiers from Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Benin and could take weeks or months to prepare, say conflict experts.
ECOWAS has a poor track record in stemming the region’s rampant coups: neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali have each had two within three years. Niger's coup was seen by the international community and ECOWAS as one too many and in addition to threatening a military invasion, the bloc has imposed severe economic and travel sanctions.
But as time drags on with no military action and a standstill in negotiations, the junta is entrenching its power, leaving ECOWAS with few choices.
“ECOWAS has few good options ... particularly as the (junta) seems unwilling for the moment to cede to outside pressure," said Andrew Lebovich, a research fellow with the Clingendael Institute, a think tank.
"An intervention could backfire and damage the organization in numerous ways, while a failure to extract major concessions from the (junta) could weaken the organization politically at an already fragile time," he said.
The top security body of the African Union met Monday to consider whether it would support military intervention but has yet to make public its decision.
The AU's Peace and Security Council could overrule a military intervention if it felt that wider stability on the continent was threatened by it. If it rejects the use of force, there are few grounds under which ECOWAS could claim legal justification, said Lebovich.
But on Thursday, Abdel-Fatau Musah, the ECOWAS commissioner for peace and security, told reporters that the bloc was working with the United Nations on Niger's situation and didn't “need any approval from the Security Council to find a solution to the crisis."
In recent years, Western countries have poured hundreds of millions of dollars of aid into Niger, which was seen as one of the last democratic countries in the Sahel region south of the Sahara Desert that it could partner with to beat back a growing jihadi insurgency linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. France and the United States have approximately 2,500 military personnel in the country, which trained soldiers and, in the case of France, conducted joint operations.
Since the coup, both countries have suspended military operations, which Sahel experts say is leading to an increase in attacks.
On Tuesday, at least 17 Nigerien soldiers were killed and nearly two dozen wounded in the Tillaberi region in the biggest attack by jihadis in six months. Former militants have told The AP that active jihadis would leverage the coup to move around more freely and plan further violence while Niger's security forces are distracted in Niamey and Western assistance has halted.
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Displaced people who fled jihadi violence and are now living in makeshift huts in Niamey say they've suffered enough from the extremists. They don't want more problems from their neighbors.
“I ask God not to bring (ECOWAS). We lost more than 600 people (from jihadi violence). I support the military, and God curse anyone who doesn’t love Niger,” said Daouda Mounkaila. Last year he, his wife and their 11 children were chased from their home in Tillaberi, one of the hardest-hit regions in the country.
Others in the capital are trying to cope with the impact of the ECOWAS sanctions.
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Niger relies on neighboring Nigeria for up to 90% of its energy, which has in part been cut off. The streets are littered with generators powering shops. Restaurant owners say they can't keep their fridges cold and have lost customers.
The sanctions are making it hard for aid groups to get food and supplies in. Before the coup, more than 4 million people in Niger — a country of some 25 million — were in need of humanitarian assistance, a number that's now expected to surge, say aid groups.
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Trucks are stuck at the borders with Benin and Nigeria. Routes through countries that have ignored the sanctions, such as Burkina Faso, are dangerous because they're infiltrated with extremists.
“With the closure of land and air borders, it’s hard to bring aid into the country,” said Louise Aubin, the U.N. resident coordinator in Niger. Supplies such as food and vaccines could run out. It’s unclear how long the current stock will last, she said.