ECOWAS solicits stakeholders collaboration on subregional tourism

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has solicited the collaboration of stakeholders in the tourism sector to bolster the sector for economic growth.

ECOWAS Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, Mrs Massandje Toure-Litse, made this known at a four-day workshop in Abuja, aimed at strengthening subregional cooperation and networking opportunities in tourism.

The event also aims to improve the capacity and operations of tourism within the subregion.

Toure-Litse, who was represented by ECOWAS Director, Private Sector, Dr Tony Elumelu, emphasised that the workshop also aimed to harmonise regulatory framework in the sector.

According to her, it will also build a sustainable foundation for growth and unparalleled regional collaboration.

The commissioner noted that by integrating tourism into the African Continental Free Trade Authority (AfCFTA’s) trade-in services agenda, ECOWAS envisioned a future, where West Africa would stand as a premier tourism destination.

She further said this would go a long way to promote regional integration, foster innovation and drive economic resilience across the bloc’s member states.

Toure-Litse said the meeting sought to achieve the aforementioned outcomes, improve compliance with tourism regulations and policies, enhance regional tourism cooperation and capacity building to implement the ECOTOUR 19-29.

She also noted that the event was a landmark effort towards elevating the tourism sector, besides building the capacity of tourism officials and regulators.

UN peacekeepers guard Congolese farmers working their fields

The U.N. mission has fallen under increasing scrutiny over the years as the eastern conflict between rebel groups, self defence forces and other militias has raged.

But in this corner of Djugu territory in the village of Dhendro, farmers are unequivocal in their support for the U.N. force known by the acronym MONUSCO.

The farmers, many displaced from their homes by the conflict, shelter in camps near the U.N. bases.

MONUSCO has been deployed in Congo since 2010, when it took over from an earlier U.N. operation to secure the troubled eastern region that borders Rwanda.

The operation to guard farmers who grow corn, beans, potatoes and manioc is known as “Secure Harvest” and it aims to allow them to work freely during the harvesting season and provide protection from militia groups who steal produce and kill people.

At UN, Blinken tells states backing Sudan’s warring parties Enough.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday had a blunt message for countries providing military support to Sudan’s warring parties or profiting from the conflict: Enough.

Blinken told the United Nations Security Council that use your resources to ease Sudanese suffering, not deepen it. Use your influence to end the war, not perpetuate it. Don’t just claim to be concerned about Sudan’s future, prove it.

The war erupted in April 2023 amid a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, triggering the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis.

The United Arab Emirates has denied giving military support to the RSF. Independent U.N. experts found the reports credible.
The Sudanese army has acquired Iranian-made drones, sources have told Reuters. The army denied getting weapons from Iran.

Russia has provided diplomatic support to the Sudanese authorities, vetoing a Security Council resolution on Sudan last month that both disagreed with.

Burkina Faso frees four French spies after Moroccan mediation

Four French nationals held in Burkina Faso for a year have been released following mediation from Morocco, France and Morocco said on Thursday, resolving a diplomatic row over their detention.

The head of France’s foreign intelligence agency, the DGSE, has previously said, opens new tabthat they were spies.

A spokesperson for the French military, which oversees the DGSE, and the DGSE did not respond to a request for comment.

They had been held in Ouagadougou since December 2023.

The French presidency said in statement that President Emmanuel Macron had on Wednesday thanked Morocco’s King Mohammed for his mediation “which made possible the liberation of our four countrymen who had been held in Burkina Faso for a year”.

Morocco’s foreign ministry also praised King Mohammed and Burkina Faso’s President Ibrahim Traore and said “this humanitarian act” was made possible due to the good relations between their countries.

Biden to report to US Congress on UAE assurance it is not supplying weapons to Sudan RSF

President Joe Biden’s administration will provide U.S. lawmakers an assessment by Jan. 17 on the credibility of assurances by the United Arab Emirates that it is not providing – and will not provide – weapons to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan.

The letter came from Brett McGurk, Biden’s coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa.

The White House has been under pressure from fellow Democrats to halt weapons sales to the UAE until the U.S. certifies it is not arming the RSF, one of the parties in a brutal civil war that has killed tens of thousands.

U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen and Representative Sara Jacobs filed legislation in the Senate and House last month that would have halted the weapons sales.

“Despite reports we have received suggesting the contrary has occurred to date, the UAE has informed the Administration that it is not now transferring any weapons to the RSF and will not do so going forward,” McGurk wrote.

The administration would “monitor for indicators of the credibility of these assurances provided by the UAE,” he wrote.

He added that by Jan. 17, “I commit to providing you with the executive branch’s up-to-date assessment in that regard.”

U.S. law requires congressional review of major arms deals. Senators can force votes on resolutions of disapproval that would block such sales.

US bans drones in parts of New Jersey and New York

US aviation authorities have banned the use of drones in 22 infrastructure sites in New Jersey and another 29 in New York state for 30 days after a spike in drone sightings in the eastern US.

The measures allow the government to use “deadly force” against unmanned aircraft if they pose an “imminent security threat”.

Pilots operating in restricted zones risk being intercepted and detained by law enforcement, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement.

The move comes after weeks of mysterious drone sightings across New Jersey and other states, leading to concern from residents and prompting a number of conspiracy theories online about foreign involvement.

Authorities have not given many definitive answers, but President Joe Biden said the drone sightings were “nothing nefarious”.

Russia hit military targets in Ukraine in response to attack with Western missiles

Russian forces hit military targets in Ukraine with long-range high-precision weapons on Friday in response to an attack on Russia’s Rostov region this week in which Ukraine used U.S.- and British-supplied missiles.

Russia said that Ukraine had launched six U.S.-made long-range ATACMs missiles and four British-made Storm Shadow missiles at Russia’s southern Rostov region a day earlier.

Ukrainian officials said the Russian missile attack on Friday had killed one person and damaged buildings across Kyiv after explosions were heard in Ukraine’s capital.

The Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement that it had struck a command centre belonging to Ukraine’s SBU intelligence agency, the Luch design bureau in Kyiv which it said was involved with designing and making missiles, as well as a U.S.-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile system.

Greek coastguard recovers bodies of eight migrants off Rhodes

Greece has recovered the bodies of eight migrants who fell in the sea after their boat performed dangerous manoeuvres off the island of Rhodes.

The Greek coastguard said in a statement that so far 18 people have been rescued and a search operation in the area is ongoing.

Ukraine collects vast war data trove to train AI models

As the future of warfare pivots towards artificial intelligence, Ukraine is sitting on a valuable resource: millions of hours of footage from drones which can be used to train AI models to make decisions on the battlefield.

AI has been deployed by both sides on the battlefield during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to identify targets, scanning images far quicker than a human can.

Oleksandr Dmitriev, founder of OCHI, a non-profit Ukrainian digital system which centralises and analyses video feeds from over 15,000 drone crews working on the frontlines, told Reuters his system had collected 2 million hours, or 228 years, of battlefield video from drones since 2022.

According to Dmitriev, the footage can be used to train AI models in combat tactics, spotting targets and assessing the effectiveness of weapons systems.

“It is essentially experience which can be turned into mathematics,” he said, adding that an AI program can study the trajectories and angles at which weapons are most effective.

The system was originally made in 2022 to give military commanders an overview of their areas of the battlefield by showing them drone footage from all nearby crews side by side on one screen.

After the system was rolled out, the team running it realised that video being sent back by drones could prove useful as a record of the war – so they began to store it.

rump-backed spending deal fails in House, shutdown approaches

A spending bill backed by Donald Trump failed in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday as dozens of Republicans defied the president-elect, leaving Congress with no clear plan to avert a fast-approaching government shutdown that could disrupt Christmas travel.

The vote laid bare fault lines in Trump’s Republican Party that could surface again next year when they control the White House and both chambers of Congress.

Trump had pressured lawmakers to tie up loose ends before he takes office on Jan. 20, but members of the party’s right flank refused to support a package that would increase spending and clear the way for a plan that would add trillions more to the federal government’s $36 trillion in debt.

The package failed by a vote of 174-235 just hours after it was hastily assembled by Republican leaders seeking to comply with Trump’s demands.

A prior bipartisan deal was scuttled after Trump and the world’s richest person Elon Musk came out against it on Wednesday.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson provided no details when reporters asked him about next steps after the failed vote.