The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Djibouti

  • Dozens dead, missing after boats capsize off Djibouti

    Dozens dead, missing after boats capsize off Djibouti

    Dozens of people are feared dead after two migrant boats overturned off the coast of Djibouti, according to the United Nations.

    The boats left Yemen with 310 people on board, the UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said in a post on social media platform X on Tuesday.

    So far, 45 people have been confirmed dead and at least 32 people have been rescued, the IOM said.

    It gave no further details as it assisted authorities of the East African country with the rescue work.

    Read Also: JUST IN: 150 missing as boat capsizes in Niger

    Migrants from Ethiopia and Somalia repeatedly make the dangerous journey across the coast of Djibouti to Yemen in the hope of a better life.

    They usually want to make their way to Saudi Arabia or other Gulf states in search of work.

    However, they often get stuck in poor and dangerous conditions in Yemen and attempt to return. (dpa/NAN)

  • 43 migrants dead after 2 boats capsize near Djibouti

    At least 43 migrants have drowned after two boats capsized off the coast of Djibouti, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Wednesday.

    The UN organisation had previously counted only 28 recovered bodies.

    “We are expecting the death toll to be much higher than that,” IOM spokesman, Joel Millman, said.

    More than 130 migrants were on the boats when they overturned on Tuesday off Godoria, in the north-east of the small Horn of Africa nation, according to the IOM.

    Read Also: 117 people feared dead after migrant boat sinks off Libya

    Millman said the two boats that set off from the port of Obock were probably carrying mostly Ethiopians and were likely headed to Yemen.

    Djibouti has become a major migration route, and thousands of irregular migrants use it as both a country of destination and transit on their journey to the Arabian Peninsula, according to the IOM.

    More than 700 migrants have died in the past five years during boat journeys from the Horn of African to Yemen, according to the UN organisation. (dpa/NAN)

  • Four dead in U.S. Marine Corps helicopter crash

    All four crew members in a U.S. Marine Corps helicopter are presumed dead after it crashed during a training flight in southern California, an official said.

    The crash occurred on Tuesday afternoon at 2:35 pm (2135 GMT) near El Centro, according to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, a unit of the U.S. Marine Corps stationed in Miramar north of San Diego.

    The cause of the crash is still being investigated and the identity of the crew members is being withheld for 24 hours until their family are notified.

    The helicopter involved was a Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion.

    The 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing is the largest unit of the U.S. Marine Corps on the West Coast.

    The crash would be the deadliest for the Marines since a July crash in the Mississippi Delta, which killed all 16 aboard.

    Earlier Tuesday, a Marine Corps Harrier jet crashed in the East African nation of Djibouti. According to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command based in Bahrain, the pilot ejected shortly after takeoff and was in stable condition.

    dpa/NAN

  • China/Africa trade investment ‘off to a flying start’ in 2017

    China’s trade with African countries rose nearly one-fifth in the first quarter from a year earlier, while its direct investment in the continent soared 64 percent, the Chinese commerce ministry said on Thursday.

    Sun Jiwen, spokesperson at the ministry said trade cooperation between China and Africa is “off to a flying start” in 2017, thanks to policy benefits from a cooperative framework laid down by the Chinese and African leaders in South Africa in 2015.

    China has a relationship with Africa which pre-dates its current resource-hungry economic boom.

    In previous decades, China’s Communist leaders supported national liberation movements and newly independent states across the continent.

    Chinese President Xi Jinping announced plans to plough 60 billion dollars into African development projects at a summit in Johannesburg in 2015, saying it would boost agriculture, build roads, ports and railways and cancel some debt.

    Sun said China’s total trade with Africa rose 16.8 per cent to 38.8 billion dollars in the first quarter, its first quarterly increase on a yearly basis since 2015.

    “That’s mainly thanks to a 46 per cent year-on-year jump in imports from Africa in the first quarter with agricultural imports rising 18 per cent, while Chinese exports recorded a smaller fall of one per cent from a year earlier,” Sun said.

    China’s non-financial direct investment to the continent also jumped 64 per cent in the quarter, as countries such as Djibouti, Senegal and South Africa all saw a more than 100 per cent rise in the quarter.

    China’s growing investment in the region is also likely to have been buoyed by its ambitious global trading strategy known as the Belt and Road Initiative, which appeared to be gaining traction recently, particularly in parts of East Africa where major infrastructure and defence projects are being built.

    China’s trade relations with African countries are often dominated by big natural resource deals, triggering criticism from some quarters that China is only interested in the continent’s mineral and energy wealth

    Africans broadly see China as a healthy counterbalance to Western influence but, as ties mature, there are growing calls from policymakers and economists for more balanced trade relations.

  • Africa unites over Quadri’s feat at Olympics

    Africa unites over Quadri’s feat at Olympics

    The heroic feat of Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri at the ongoing Rio 2016 Olympic Games has united African teams in Brazil as the success of the table tennis star continues to dominate global media.

    Quadri was in superb form when he edged out former world number one and tournament’s number 10 seed, Germany’s Timo Boll 4-2 in the fourth rou8nd match played late on Monday.

    From Egypt, Mauritius, Algeria, Djibouti, South Africa, Botswana, Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria, Quadri’s feat as the first African to qualify for the quarterfinal round of the table tennis event at the Olympic Games has become the talk of the town across the continent.

    From the President of the African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), Khaled El-Salhy to the Vice President of the South Africa Olympic Committee (SAOC), Hajera Kajee as well as the former President of Djibouti Table Tennis Association and Executive member of ATTF, Farah Hassan Farah, Quadri has now put the continent on the global map with all eyes on Africa now at ITTF.

    Excited ATTF boss said: “I am so happy with Quadri Aruna of Nigeria flies high in the prospect of Rio Olympic Games by qualifying to the quarter-final of the Men’s Single as the first precedent for African Table Tennis players in Olympics. Congratulation to Africa, ATTF, NTTF and all Table Tennis fans in our continent and I am still hungry for much more tomorrow Inshallah.”

    “It is indeed a great moment for Nigeria and our Continent Africa. Viva Africa,” said Kajee.

    Well done!! Kudos to Aruna Quadri and his team, Nigeria Table Tennis Federation and of course the continent should celebrate this outstanding performance,” said Farah.

    For the Vice President of ATTF, Olabanji Oladapo, the feat achieved by the Nigerian is a plus to Africa. I join millions of African all over the world in congratulating Aruna Quadri, Nigeria and President of African Table Tennis Federation. I believe we are gradually moving closer to our goal of breaking into the medal table in any ITTF competition. It will be sooner than later. African will be on the podium. Best of luck to all the African players at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Brazil.”

    Even some of the upcoming players in Africa were not left out of the celebration as Africa’s U-21 champion; Shady Magdy praised the achievement of Quadri, whom he said has opened doors for African players at global level.

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