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Africa at a glance

Wednesday June 12 2019
ivory

Elephants at a watering hole near the Ivory Lodge Campsite, on the outskirts of Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has demanded it be allowed to sell a stockpile of ivory estimated to be worth $300 million to fund game reserves. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

By AFRICAREVIEW.COM

  • Sudan rivals agree to new talks as protest strike ends: mediator

Protest leaders have agreed to end a campaign of civil disobedience and to resume talks with Sudan's ruling generals.

Mahmoud Drir, who has been mediating between the two sides since Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visited Khartoum last week gave no timeline beyond "soon."

The protest movement itself said it had ended the civil disobedience and asked people "to resume work from Wednesday".

The UN Security Council also managed to push through a resolution that had been blocked by Russia and China last week calling for no attacks on civilians and upholding of human rights.

  • Police release Ghana opposition leader in Canadians' kidnap probe
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Police in Ghana have released the the chairman of the largest opposition party who they had arrested in connection with the spate of kidnappings in the West African country.

Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, national chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), is a former member of parliament and government minister.

His arrest came one week after the abduction of two Canadian women, who remain missing. Ofosu-Ampofo will report back to investigators on Thursday.

  • Liberia president offers talks after protests

Liberian President George Weah has invited opponents to "round table" talks to seek solutions to the country's economic woes, four days after thousands protested against rising prices and corruption.

Weah made his offer to "leaders of political parties, civil society groups, elders, religious leaders, our traditional leaders, student leaders and the business community," in a speech aired on national radio.

The protest coalition seeks action on human rights abuses and corruption as well as the prosecution of Finance Minister Samuel Tweah and Central Bank Governor Nathaniel Patray over economic mismanagement.

  • Nine in ten internet users fall prey to fake news

Eighty-six percent of internet users have been duped by fake news, most of it spread on Facebook, according to a global survey published Tuesday.

The 25,000 respondents from 25 countries demanded governments and social media companies crack down on falsehoods which are negatively impacting economies and political discourse.

Most of the fake news the survey found came from the US, Russia and China with Egyptians the most gullible and Pakistanis the most discerning.

Facebook was the top medium for spreading lies followed by YouTube, blogs and Twitter, the pollsters found.

  • Zimbabwe demands right to sell $300 mn of ivory to fund game reserves

Zimbabwe has demanded the right to sell its stockpile of ivory to raise money for conservation joining other southern African nations in calling for the global ban on the trade in tusks to be relaxed.

Wildlife authorities estimate the country's decades-old hoard of ivory is worth around $300 million, which they say would help plug funding gaps for game reserves.

The proposal has put it on a collision course with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which prohibits the sale of ivory to curb poaching, ahead of its summit in Sri Lanka in October.

Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia have cited the growing number of elephants in some regions in their bid to have the restrictions relaxed.

  • Rise in carbon emissions unsustainable - BP

Global carbon emissions grew by two percent last year, the highest rate since 2010-2011, a review by energy giant BP said Tuesday.

It said the trend was "unsustainable" pointing to a widening mismatch between demands for action on climate change and energy needs driving carbon emissions.

The BP Statistical Review of World Energy found global energy demand grew by 2.9 percent.

Renewable forms of energy grew by 14.5 percent in 2018 but they were just a third of the total rise in power generation last year.

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