Southern African #troops have started evacuating the eastern Democratic Republic of #Congo where they had been stranded since a January offensive by the #M23 armed group.

Death toll rises to 26 in Nigerian artisanal mining site attack.

#LAGOS — The death toll from a raid by gunmen on an artisanal gold mining site in northwestern Nigeria has risen to 26, Amnesty International told AFP on Saturday.

The additional victims were villagers who tried to escape during the attack, said Amnesty’s Nigeria’s country director, Isa Sanusi.

Mining union official Yahaya Adamu Gobirawa told AFP that bandits using “heavy guns” had attacked the site in Gobirawar Chali village, in Zamfara State’s Maru local government area on Thursday.

Police did not confirm the attack, saying they were still investigating.

Zamfara is one of several states in northwestern and central Nigeria terrorised by criminal gangs, called bandits by local people.

They raid villages, kill and abduct residents across the country’s rural hinterlands, where government presence, infrastructure, and security are thin.

Gobirawa described the attack as “unprovoked”. The assailants had first raided the site on Tuesday “but were repelled”, he added.

On Thursday, “they returned in much larger numbers and overwhelmed the miners and the vigilantes”, he said.

“The bandits were better armed because they were using heavy guns.”

Last year, the Zamfara state government set up the 5,200-strong Zamfara Community Guards in a bid to keep communities safe.

#Rwanda was not allowed to mention FDLR but to Leave DRC unconditionally.

President Cyril #Ramaphosa said that during his closed discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, his counterpart affirmed his readiness to pursue an unconditional ceasefire amid the ongoing conflict with #Russia.

Men posing as women offering ‘relaxing massage’ arrested for robbing client Ksh.280K during session.#Kenya

President Ruto urges new CSs and PSs to focus on service delivery, avoid distractions

#DRC Boulos Refused to Buy FDLR's Cards

Kim Jong Un's powerful sister slammed US-led efforts to take away North Korea's nuclear weapons, saying the idea of denuclearising the country was a "daydream".

Another point of contention between GNU partners – the ANC and DA – is brewing as the DA lobbies the public to object the draft regulations for the private security industry that Police Minister Senzo Mchunu has recently published for comment.

#NASA seeks proposals for two private #astronaut missions to ISS .
NASA’s latest call for proposals to conduct private astronaut missions to the International Space Station opens the door to having those missions commanded by someone other than a former NASA astronaut.

NASA announced April 2 it issued a solicitation for the next two private astronaut missions, or PAMs, to the ISS. These will be the fifth and sixth such missions to the ISS, part of a broader low Earth orbit commercialization effort by NASA with the ultimate goal of replacing the ISS with one or more commercial stations.

The PAMs support that effort “by leveraging our decades of expertise to help industry gain the experience needed to train and manage crews, conduct research, and develop future destinations,” Dana Weigel, NASA ISS program manager, said in a statement. “Private astronaut missions are a key part of this effort, providing companies with hands-on opportunities to refine their capabilities and build partnerships that will shape the future of low Earth #orbit.”