AFRICA

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Mansa Musa also known as Musa I of Mali, was one of the most significant rulers of the Mali Empire. He reigned from around 1312 to 1337 CE and is renowned for his wealth, piety and expansion of the Mali Empire.

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Central Mali has been plagued by violence and insecurity caused by numerous armed groups that operate in the region. In the past week, the situation has escalated as around a hundred civilians traveling in at least three buses were taken hostage by armed men. The hostages were taken into a forest located between Bandiagara and Bankass, which is a central region of the country.

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A tragic incident has occurred in Kenya where approximately 50 individuals have lost their lives due to the bursting of a dam that resulted in heavy rains and flooding. The disaster occurred in villages near Mai Mahiu, which is located about 60 km (37 miles) from the capital city of Nairobi. The incident occurred while the people were sleeping, and the floodwaters swept them away. The rescue operations are still underway, and there is a possibility that the death toll may rise further. In the last month, more than 100 people have lost their lives due to the floods that have devastated parts of Kenya.

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Tragedy struck off the coast of Djibouti, claiming the lives of at least 21 people in a fatal migrant boat disaster. This marks the second such disaster in two weeks off the Horn of Africa nation, which is located on the perilous Eastern Migration Route from Africa to the Middle East. The vessel was carrying mainly Ethiopian migrants from Yemen when it went down on Monday night off Godoria in northeastern Djibouti.

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On Friday, Sierra Leone's Energy Minister Kanja Sesay resigned, taking full responsibility for the power crisis.It was not immediately clear whether Sesay’s resignation was related to the payments. The same day, the government announced that it had paid some of the tens of millions of dollars it owed to energy providers, including Turkey's Karpowership, which supplies electricity to Freetown.After two months of outages, power was restored in Freetown after the payments were announced.

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Kenyan residents in various parts of the country are suffering heavy losses due to ongoing floods destroying their properties. The Kenyan government sounded an alarm last week after water from Masinga Dam spilled out, which is the largest water reservoir for power production in the country. The dam has surpassed its capacity of 1056.5 cubic meters.

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In a bold move that has stirred international controversy, Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Masisi has threatened to send 20,000 elephants to Germany amidst a heated dispute over the import of hunting trophies. The African leader has criticized the German government, particularly the environment ministry, for its stance on trophy imports, citing Botswana's & "overpopulation" of elephants as justification for his threat.