NPR News -Africa

Congo says at least 129 people died during an attempted jailbreak

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September 3, 20245:25 AM ET
This image made from video shows state security forces outside Makala prison in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, following an attempted jailbreak in Congo’s main prison on Sept. 2, 2024.

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KINSHASA, Congo — An attempted jailbreak in Congo’s main prison in the capital left at least 129 people dead, most of them in a stampede, authorities said Tuesday.
A provisional assessment showed that 24 inmates were shot dead by “warning” gunshots as they tried to escape from the overcrowded Makala Central Prison in Kinshasa early Monday, Congolese Interior Minister Jacquemin Shabani said on the social platform X.
“There are also 59 injured people taken into care by the government, as well as some cases of women raped,” he said, adding that order has been restored at the prison, part of which was burned in the attack.

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Makala, Congo’s largest penitentiary with ..

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The biggest diamond in over a century is found in Botswana — a whopping 2,492 carats

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August 23, 20241:23 AM ET
Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi holds the 2,492-carat diamond that was unearthed at one of its mines and will be put on show, on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Gaborone.

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GABORONE, Botswana — The largest diamond found in more than a century has been unearthed at a mine in Botswana, and the country’s president showed off the fist-sized stone to the world at a viewing ceremony Thursday.
The Botswana government says the huge 2,492-carat diamond is the second-biggest ever discovered in a mine. It’s the biggest diamond found since 1905.
The as-yet-unnamed diamond was presented to the world at the office of Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi. It weighs approximately half a kilogram and Masisi was one of the first to get to hold it.
“It is overwhelming,” Masisi said. “I am lucky to have seen it in my time.” He gasped and said “wow” before calling senior government officials over to ..

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Yes there is famine in Sudan. So why isn’t ‘famine’ being declared?

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August 21, 20241:04 PM ET
Hawa Miso, 70, collects leaves to use as vegetables on the hillside near the Rabang camp for internally displaced persons in Rabang, in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains. Approximately 10 million Sudanese have been displaced by the civil war that broke out in 2023. A team of experts backed by the United Nations believes the country is experiencing famine. But the government does not agree.

Guy Peterson/AFP via Getty Images

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Is there famine in Sudan?
This month a group of United Nations-backed experts looked at the data and concluded the answer is yes.
But no official declaration of famine has been made.
As it turns out, making such a pronouncement comes with its own set of rules and regulations.
So … what constitutes a famineLet’s start with a definition.
In the 1980s, a series of devastating famines struck several countries in Africa — including the infamous famine in Ethiopia in..

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The Urgency of the Situation in Sudan

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August 19, 202410:40 AM ET

Some 12 million people are displaced in Sudan as the military government battles a powerful paramilitary group. There is acute hunger and risk of famine for many. Peace talks hoping to resolve the crisis are being held in Geneva this week. We hear about the chances that those talks will succeed and details about conditions on the ground in Sudan.

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