At least 70 people have died in north-central Nigeria after a gasoline tanker exploded, the country’s emergency response agency said. The blast happened in the early hours of Saturday near the Suleja area of Niger state after individuals attempted to transfer gasoline from one tanker into another truck using a generator. The fuel transfer sparked the explosion, resulting in the deaths of those transferring the gasoline and bystanders, Hussaini Isah, of the National Emergency Management Agency, told the Associated Press. Search and rescue operations were underway, Isah said. With the absence of an efficient railway system to transport cargo, fatal truck accidents are common along most of the major roads in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country.r Read: Over 100 killed as gasoline tanker explodes in Nigeria In September, an explosion killed at least 48 people in Niger state after gasoline tanker collided with another truck conveying cattle. There were 1,531 gasoline tanker crashes in 2020 resulting in 535 fatalities and 1,142 injuries, according to Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps.

Nigeria has been accepted as a "partner country" of the BRICS group of emerging economies, as confirmed by Brazil, the current chair of the bloc, reports AP. Established in 2009 by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, BRICS expanded in 2010 to include South Africa, positioning itself as a counterbalance to the Group of Seven leading industrialised nations. Russia will help Vietnam to join BRICS bloc of developing nations In the previous year, the bloc welcomed Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia has been extended an invitation to join, while Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Malaysia have submitted formal membership applications. Several other nations have also shown interest. Nigeria is now the ninth partner country in BRICS, joining Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda, and Uzbekistan. “With the world’s sixth-largest population, Africa’s largest, and as one of the continent’s leading economies, Nigeria shares aligned interests with other BRICS members,” Brazil’s government stated on Friday. “It actively contributes to advancing South-South cooperation and reforming global governance, which are key priorities under Brazil’s current presidency.” Indonesia becomes full member of BRICS Last year, President-elect Donald Trump warned of imposing 100% tariffs on BRICS nations if they attempted to weaken the U.S. dollar. In response, BRICS leaders have reiterated their commitment to developing an alternative payment system independent of the dollar.

Dozens of men sat and lay together in small caves, some so shallow they couldn’t stand up. The air was wet and stuffy, and wracking coughs echoed in the confined space. Bodies wrapped in fabric and twine were set aside in rows nearby. Bad odors permeated everything, so it was hard to distinguish what smells were coming from the dead versus the unwashed bodies or the damp rock. The miners were emaciated from lack of food, which was hard to come by since police cracked down on their illegal mining and for a time halted the supply deliveries. Usually the men would eat meat, bread, and porridge cooked over camp stoves run by propane, but all of these had run out. With no mining work to distract them, they smoked cigarettes and marijuana for a while, when they still had it. The description, from a miner and from cellphone videos sent to the surface earlier this month, sheds some light on the horror hundreds of men suffered deep underground in an abandoned mine in South Africa, after a police operation cut off food and supplies to “smoke them out” because they were digging illegally for gold. The videos were released publicly by a group representing the miners. Police finally launched a rescue effort earlier this week, under court order, and said no one was left underground. Dozens of bodies were pulled out and at least 87 confirmed dead. The miner, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals, said he surfaced on Christmas Day after entering the shaft in July, spending months underground where he experienced extreme hunger and saw many of his fellow diggers dying from starvation and illnesses. He is one of nearly 2,000 illegal miners who have surfaced from the mine near the town of Stilfontein since August last year when police targeted it as part of an operation that aims to tackle the widespread illicit mining trade. The trade bled the South African economy of more than $3 billion last year, according to the mines minister. At the worst of times, said the miner, they ate rough salt, the only thing leftover to stanch the hunger. “I felt like I have some bad luck because I had only been underground for two weeks when the operation started. That is when things started going bad, we stopped receiving food and we lost contact with the outside world, that could only mean that the police have arrived and probably arrested or scared off the people lowering the food,” he said. The miner said the months that followed were horrendous. “By September, things were really bad. People started getting hungry, they started getting sick, some started dying. We started having dead bodies. There is nothing worse than seeing somebody die and there is nothing you can do about it,” he said. The miner, a 40-year-old father of six children, exited the mine in December through a separate shaft that had steel stairs. It is extremely difficult to navigate, and he bruised his hands badly on his way out. “As we were climbing out, we saw dead bodies of other guys who had attempted to exit the same way. Others had fallen down, others were full corpses but there were also lots of bones, almost like skeletons. It’s not easy to exit there, many people died trying to do that,” he said. So why do the miners go into this subterranean purgatory in the first place? It mostly comes down to money. Illegal mining is one of the biggest sources of income for poor households in townships located near an estimated 6,100 disused mines around the country where illegal mining is rife. The miner said he was told he could earn about $5,300 for working for a few weeks to a month in one of the country's deepest gold mines, where there are no longer any official operations. It's a huge sum in South Africa, which has deep inequality and one of the highest unemployment rates in the world. Many other miners come looking for work from neighboring countries like Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Malawi and Congo, and children are sometimes roped in. There were 13 children among those who came out of the Stilfontein mine last year. Mmastona Mbizana, a community member of Khumo township, told The Associated Press that two of her sons were involved in illegal mining because of unemployment and poverty. Her 22-year-old son was arrested after coming out of the mine during the police operation in December and is currently out on bail. "I heard from somebody in the neighborhood that he had gone underground. His father died last year and he was not even here for the funeral because he was underground for months. They say they are doing it because of the situation here at home, things are tough,” said Mbizana. Mbizana's other son, Lucky, was arrested at the same mine while working as a runner on the surface sending food and other supplies down to the miners. Walking on crutches, he said he had been convicted for involvement in illegal mining. “Out of the blue the police came, firing rubber bullets and teargas. The teargas blinded me and I fell, broke my leg and collapsed," he said. Lucky said he used to make $424 a month for lowering food and other parcels into the shaft daily, including tinned vegetables and fish, loaves of brown bread, porridge, meat, cigarettes and liquor. Activists blame the South African government for the loss of lives that occurred at Stilfontein, saying authorities should have acted earlier. However, the government has maintained that while the deaths were a tragedy, illegal mining is a criminal activity that is detrimental to the country’s economy. Illegal mining in South Africa is known to cause far-reaching problems for nearby communities, including violent crime and destruction of community infrastructure. Community members also speak of hearing gun battles between rival mining groups. “The people who must take responsibility for the deaths that have happened here are those who are benefitting from illegal mining," Mines Minister Gwede Mantashe said in Stilfontein this week. According to South African Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, authorities are investigating the entire value chain of illegal mining, including who the main beneficiaries are. “Where these products go is a subject of our investigation," said Mchunu, adding illegal mining is "robbing South Africa of a lot of money.”    

The death toll in a monthslong standoff between police and miners trapped while working illegally in an abandoned gold mine in South Africa has risen to at least 87, police said Thursday as they wound down a rescue operation that has pulled more than 240 survivors out from deep underground. National police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said that 78 bodies were retrieved from the mine in an official rescue operation that began Monday, while another nine had been recovered previously. She did not give details on how those other bodies were retrieved. Community groups have said they launched their own rescue attempts when authorities said last year they would not help the hundreds of miners because they were “criminals.” The miners are suspected to have died of starvation and dehydration, although no causes of death have been released. South African authorities have been criticized for their approach, having cut off food and supplies to the miners for a period of time last year in an attempt, as one Cabinet minister said, to “smoke them out” of the Buffelsfontein Gold Mine. That tactic has been called “horrific” by one of South Africa's biggest trade unions. Police and the mine owners are also accused by community members and civic groups of taking away ropes and dismantling a pulley system the miners used to enter the mine through one shaft and send supplies down from the surface. A court ordered authorities last year to allow food and water to be sent down to the miners, while another court ruling last week forced the government to launch a rescue operation. Many say the unfolding disaster underground was clear weeks ago, when community members sporadically pulled decomposing bodies out of the mine, some with notes attached pleading for food to be sent down. “If the police had acted earlier, we would not be in this situation, with bodies piling up," said Johannes Qankase, a local community leader. “It is a disgrace for a constitutional democracy like ours. Somebody needs to account for what has happened here.” He said he was saddened “seeing so many pathology vans coming to get bodies of dead people.” South Africa's second biggest political party, which is part of a government coalition, called for President Cyril Ramaphosa to establish an independent inquiry to find out “why the situation was allowed to get so badly out of hand.” “The scale of the disaster underground at Buffelsfontein is rapidly proving to be as bad as feared,” the Democratic Alliance party said. Authorities now believe that nearly 2,000 miners were underground working illegally at the mine near the town of Stilfontein, southwest of Johannesburg, since August last year. Many of them resurfaced on their own over the last few months, police said, and all the survivors have been arrested, even as some of them emerged appearing badly emaciated and barely able to walk as they were helped to ambulances. Mathe said at least 13 children had also come out of the mine before the official rescue operation, which authorities had declined to launch for months. Police announced Wednesday that they were ending that rescue operation after three days and believed no one else was underground. A camera would be sent down on Thursday in a cage that has been used to pull out survivors and bodies to make certain no one was still down there, Mathe said. The mine is one of the deepest in South Africa and is a maze of tunnels and levels and has several shafts leading into it. The miners were working up to 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) underground in different groups. Police have maintained that the miners were able to come out through several different shafts but refused out of fear of being arrested. That’s been disputed by groups representing the miners, who say hundreds were trapped and left starving in grim conditions underground with decomposing bodies around them. The initial police operation last year to force the miners to come out and give themselves up for arrest was part of a larger nationwide clampdown on illegal mining called Vala Umgodi, or Close the Hole. Illegal mining is often in the news in South Africa and a major problem for authorities as large groups go into mines that have been shut down by companies to extract any leftover deposits. The miners, known as “zama zamas” — "hustlers" or “chancers” in the Zulu language — are often armed and part of criminal syndicates, the government says, and they rob South Africa of more than $1 billion a year in gold deposits. They are often undocumented foreign nationals and authorities said Thursday that the vast majority of miners who came out of the Buffelsfontein mine were from Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Lesotho and in South Africa illegally. Police said they seized gold, explosives, firearms and more than $2 million in cash from the miners and have defended their hardline approach. “By providing food, water and necessities to these illegal miners, it would be the police entertaining and allowing criminality to thrive,” Mathe said Wednesday. And while the police operation has been condemned by civic groups and others, the disaster hasn't provoked a strong outpouring of anger across South Africa, where the zama zamas have long been considered especially troublesome in a country that struggles with high rates of violent crime.  

Rescuers and volunteers have pulled at least 78 dead miners and more than 160 survivors from an abandoned South African gold mine, where they have languished for over two months during a standoff with authorities who demanded they surrender to police because they were mining illegally. Hundreds are still believed to be trapped Wednesday and the death toll is expected to rise in a disaster that has focused criticism on the South African government’s decision to try to “smoke them out” by cutting off food and other supplies for a time. Civic groups claim authorities also removed the ropes and pulley systems that the miners used to enter and exit at least one shaft and send down supplies. The groups say the government's weekslong refusal to stage a rescue effectively left scores of miners to die of starvation or dehydration. A rescue is now underway — after a court order — but only a few miners can be pulled up at a time, and the operation could take 10 days. South African authorities have argued that the miners were always able to exit through another shaft at Buffelsfontein Gold Mine, one of the deepest in the mineral-rich country. But activists said that would involve a dangerous trek underground that could take days for some, and many became too weak or ill after months underground with little food and water. Police contend some miners refused to come out. Rescuers attempt to free survivors from trapped South African miners Authorities ordered to launch a rescue operation In response to a request by a relative of one of the miners, a court last week ordered a rescue operation, which began Monday. A specialist mining rescue company has been dropping a small cage thousands of meters (feet) into the mine to retrieve survivors and bodies. But no personnel from the company entered the shaft because they consider it too dangerous — instead community volunteers headed down in the cage to help the miners out. Police first tried to force the miners out of the closed mine near the town of Stilfontein, southwest of Johannesburg, in November by cutting off their supplies. The move, part of a larger crackdown on illegal mining, began a standoff between authorities and the miners and members of the community. A court ruled that authorities had to allow supplies in — but civic groups argue that officials needed to do more at that point because even without police interference the miners weren't able to get enough food and water into the mine and the situation was becoming dire. The mine is 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) deep with multiple shafts, many levels and a maze of tunnels. A group representing the miners said there are numerous groups in various parts of the mine and estimated that more than 500 miners were underground when the rescue started. It's unclear exactly how long they've been underground, but relatives say some of them have been there since July. Chinese gold mining endangers Congo's protected UN heritage site A rising death toll Police said Wednesday that 78 bodies have been recovered so far, and 166 survivors brought out since the official rescue operation began. A community group says another nine bodies were recovered on Friday and an unconfirmed number in the previous weeks after members of the community attempted to rescue miners themselves. Civic groups representing the miners say at least 100 have died. The official rescue is now proceeding slowly because only a few people can fit in the cage at a time and because the shaft is so deep. Authorities have argued that the miners could have exited if they wanted to — and police say more than 1,000 did before the rescue operation — but they didn't because they feared arrest. Police say they have arrested everyone who has surfaced both before and after the rescue operation. They will face charges of illegal mining and trespassing. Authorities seized gold, explosives, firearms and more than $2 million in cash from the miners.

Efforts are underway to rescue survivors from one of South Africa’s deepest mines, where hundreds of illegal miners have been trapped underground for months. A cage-like structure was sent down to the Buffelsfontein Gold Mine in a bid to bring out the survivors. Authorities believe over 100 miners have died from starvation or dehydration, AP reports. Since Friday, 18 bodies and 26 survivors have been recovered from the mine. However, more than 500 miners are feared to still be trapped underground. While police are uncertain about the exact number, it is estimated that hundreds remain inside. The mine, located near Stilfontein, southwest of Johannesburg, has been at the center of a standoff between miners, police, and local communities since November. The conflict began when authorities launched an operation to remove illegal miners. Some miners have reportedly been underground since July or August of the previous year. Chinese gold mining endangers Congo's protected UN heritage site Authorities insist the miners are refusing to leave, but rights organizations have contested this claim. They have criticized police for cutting off food and water supplies to force the miners out. Activists argue that many miners are unable to climb out because the shaft is too steep, and the ropes and pulley systems they used to enter have been removed. Illegal mining is widespread in South Africa, especially in abandoned, gold-rich mines. Miners often stay underground for months, relying on supplies sent from the surface by others. Some miners have escaped since November, but many fear arrest if they emerge. Rights groups say the miners’ only escape route is a dangerous journey to another shaft, a trek that can take days. The mine, 2.5 kilometers deep, is a maze of tunnels and multiple shafts. In December, a mining advocacy group took authorities to court to ensure food, water, and medicine were delivered to the trapped miners. Two cellphone videos released by the group show emaciated miners and numerous dead bodies. South African authorities continue to face scrutiny for their response to the crisis.

Egypt unveiled several discoveries near the famed city of Luxor on Wednesday, including ancient rock-cut tombs and burial shafts dating back 3,600 years. They were unearthed at the causeway of Queen Hatshepsut’s funerary temple at Deir al-Bahri on the Nile’s West Bank, according to a statement released by Zahi Hawass Foundation for Antiquities & Heritage. It said it worked in tandem with the Supreme Council of Antiquities on the site since September 2022. Artifacts found at the tombs included bronze coins with the image of Alexander the Great dating to the Time of Ptolemy I (367-283), children’s toys made of clay, cartonnage and funerary masks that covered mummies, winged scarabs, beads and funerary amulets. Hawass told reporters that the discoveries could “reconstruct history” and offer an understanding of the type of programs ancient Egyptians designed inside a temple. The archaeologists also found the remains of Queen Hatshepsut’s Valley Temple, rock-cut tombs dating back to the Middle Kingdom (1938 B.C. - 1630 B.C.), burial shafts from the 17th dynasty, the tomb of Djehuti-Mes and part of the Assassif Ptolemaic Necropolis. The rock-cut tombs had been previously robbed during the Ptolemaic period and later. Still, the Egyptian teams uncovered some artifacts such as pottery tables that were used to offer bread, wine and meat. A grand museum displaying Egypt's ancient treasures is opening for a trial run Inside the burial shafts dating back to 1580 B.C. - 1550 B.C., anthropoid wooden coffins were found, including one that belonged to a young child. It remained intact since its burial some 3,600 years ago. War archery bows were also found inside the burial chamber, indicating that those who owned the tombs had military backgrounds and fought to liberate Egypt from the Hyksos. Not many artifacts from Djehuti Mes’s tomb were found, but the tomb itself reveals more about Djehuti Mes, who oversaw Queen Teti Sheri’s palace. The date engraved on the Djehuti Mes’ funerary stelae indicates that the tomb goes back to the 9th year of King Ahmose I’s reign (1550 B.C. - 1525 B.C.). Part of the extended Ptolemaic necropolis that occupied the site of the causeway and the Valley Temple was also uncovered. The tombs in the cemetery were built of mud bricks over the remains of Queen Hatshepsut’s temple. A large part of the necropolis was unearthed earlier in the 20th century but wasn’t properly documented. Egypt’s currency edges higher against the US dollar after price hikes In November, Egyptian and American archaeologists excavated an ancient tomb with 11 sealed burials near Luxor. The tomb, which dates to the Middle Kingdom, was found in the South Asasif necropolis, next to the Temple of Hatshepsut.

John Mahama was sworn in as president of Ghana for a third time Tuesday against the backdrop of the country’s worst economic crisis in a generation. Thousands of Ghanaians from all walks of life attended the ceremony in the capital. Mahama, the opposition leader who started his political career as the communications minister, won the presidential election late last year after pledging to tackle the economic crisis, corruption and unemployment. Mahama, 66, who was previously Ghana's president between July 2012 and January 2017, will replace current President Nana Akufo-Addo. Mahama was first sworn in as president when President John Evans Atta Mills died in July 2012. He served the rest of that term and then won an election in 2012. Mahama promised to “reset” the country on various fronts during a campaign that prioritized the economy and largely appealed to young Ghanaians who saw the vote as a way out of the country’s economic crisis. “There is a seismic shift happening within the system of global economic dominance,” he said Tuesday in his address at the Independence Square in Accra. ”Now more than ever before, we need to strengthen our ties with our neighbors to ensure that we are working together to keep our sub-region safe.” The ceremony was attended by several African leaders, including Rwanda's Paul Kagame, Kenya's William Ruto, Congo's Felix Tshisekedi and Burkina Faso's Capt. Ibrahim Traore. Dhaka seeks enhanced trade, economic cooperation with Ghana In his address, Mahama said he will focus on economic restoration and stabilization of the macroeconomic environment, as well as on good governance and the fight against corruption. The election in December for both president and members of parliament was held against the backdrop of the country’s worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation and was seen as a litmus test for democracy in a region shaken by extremist violence and coups. West Africa’s regional bloc of ECOWAS said the election was generally peaceful, a continuing trend in Ghana. Andrew Takyi, founder of a local fintech company, Zee Pay, told The Associated Press: “l am hopeful that President Mahama will use the 24-hour economy he campaigned on to improve the country. He can use that to widen the tax base of small and medium enterprises to improve revenue.” Innocent Appiah, a senior media research officer at the Precious Minerals Marketing Company, said he expects the Mahama administration to “prioritize transparency and accountability in the extractive industry, ensuring that the PMMC plays a more effective role in regulating and monitoring the sector.” Visiting Ghanaian foreign minister meets her Bangladeshi counterpart “I anticipate policies that promote value addition, local content development and community engagement, ultimately leading to increased revenue generation and socio-economic benefits for Ghanaians,” he said. Enyonam Agble, a trader attending the inauguration, said: “There was so much corruption under President Akufo-Addo and all we want is the recovery of all that had been stolen to rebuild the country.”

Ivory Coast announced on Tuesday that French troops will leave the country after a decadeslong military presence, the latest African nation to downscale military ties with its former colonial power. Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara said the pullout would begin in January 2025. France has had up to 600 troops in Ivory Coast. “We have decided on the concerted and organized withdrawal of French forces in Ivory Coast,” he said, adding that the military infantry battalion of Port Bouét that is run by the French army will be handed over to Ivorian troops. Outtara's announcement follows that of other leaders across West Africa, where France’s militaries are being asked to leave. Analysts have described the requests for French troops to leave Africa as part of the wider structural transformation in the region’s engagement with Paris. France has suffered similar setbacks in several West African countries in recent years, including Chad, Niger and Burkina Faso, where French troops that have been on the ground for many years have been kicked out. Several West African nations — including coup-hit Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger — have recently asked the French to leave. Among them are also most recently Senegal, and Chad, considered France’s most stable and loyal partner in Africa. Read: At least 24 killed by flooding, landslides after days of heavy rains in Ivory Coast’s largest city The downscaling of military ties comes as France has been making efforts to revive its waning political and military influence on the continent by devising a new military strategy that would sharply reduce its permanent troop presence in Africa. France has now been kicked out of more than 70% of African countries where it had a troop presence since ending its colonial rule. The French remain only in Djibouti, with 1,500 soldiers, and Gabon, with 350 troops. Analysts have described the developments as part of the wider structural transformation in the region’s engagement with Paris amid growing local sentiments against France, especially in coup-hit countries. After expelling French troops, military leaders of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have moved closer to Russia, which has mercenaries deployed across the Sahel who have been accused of abuses against civilians. Read more: Ivory Coast issues arrest warrant for presidential candidate However, the security situation has worsened in those countries, with increasing numbers of extremist attacks and civilian deaths from both armed groups and government forces.

The death toll from stampedes during two Christmas charity events in Nigeria has increased from 13 to 32, police said Sunday. The victims, including at least four children, collapsed during crowd surges as people grew desperate for food items while the country grapples with the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation. The dead included 22 people in southeastern Anambra state’s Okija town, where a philanthropist on Saturday organized a food distribution, local police spokesman Tochukwu Ikenga said. Ten others died in the capital, Abuja, during a church-organized similar charity event. Police said they were investigating the two incidents, only days after another stampede in which several children were killed. Gunmen kidnap some 50 people in Nigeria Africa’s most populous country is seeing a growing trend by local organizations, churches and individuals to organize charity events ahead of Christmas to ease economic hardship caused by a cost-of-living crisis. Witnesses of the Abuja stampede told The Associated Press there was a crowd surge at one of the church gates, as dozens tried to enter the premises at around 4 a.m., hours before gift items were to be shared. South Africa refuses aid for thousands of illegal miners trapped Some of them, including older people, waited overnight to get food, said Loveth Inyang, who rescued one baby from the crush. The stampedes prompted growing calls for authorities to enforce safety measures at such events. Nigerian police also mandated that organizers obtain prior permission.