The building of the Mauritania’s Train du Desert which was completed in 1963 must have been brutal. The train system operates a daily service from the port at Nouadhibou on the Atlantic coast to the iron ore mines in Zouerat. A full journey runs along the border of the disputed territory of Western Sahara and takes around 20 hours. The train is made up of three or four diesel locomotives, one passenger carriage, and between 200 and 210 freight cars.
Mauritania became an independent nation in 1960.
March 31, 2023
Pirates have abandoned Monjasa Reformer, a Danish-owned ship hijacked in the Gulf of Guinea last week, but have taken some crew members with them. Ransom demands expected shortly.
April 6, 2023
Gunmen in Nigeria's northern Kaduna state kidnapped eight school kids while Nigeria's military fights a long-running Islamist insurgency in the northeast. I know it's sounds like same old sh^t but it serves as a reminder.
May 8, 2023
Rumors of Russian paramilitary group Wagner looking to supply weapons to the RSF in Sudan in exchange for RSF-controlled gold mining resources.
June 4, 2023
Turkey, which sent forces to help the government in Tripoli ward off an assault by eastern forces in 2020, has previously deployed drones from bases in western Libya. Ankara has not commented the June 2 drone strikes by Libya's Government on the western regions of Zawia, Zuwara, Ajeelat, and Maya. What are Ergodan and Libya's GNU goals?
BTW, this started me thinking about Hannibal fleeing to what is now modern day Turkey. Yes, I know Carthage, Hannibal's base, is in modern day Tunisia.
July 23, 2023
Morocco considers Western Sahara its own territory, but Algeria isn't happy and many some Algerians prefer WS to be an independent state. Is war coming?
July 28, 2023
On-going coup of Bazoum in Niger. Some folks outside the National Assembly waved Russian flags and chanted anti-French slogans.
Sept 8, 2023
Jihad steps up attacks in Mali while UN works on its exit.
Oct 14, 2023
UN forces exit Mali -Fighting intensifies-no surprise- between the army and separatist insurgents in Mali.
Oct 23, 2023
Elsewhere in Africa: Moroccan police seized 1.37 tons of cocaine in Casablanca. It was concealed in a cargo of imported frozen fish found at a distribution company and was imported from a Latin American country via Spain, the Moroccan police. Where's Bogey.
EU sanctions the junta in Niger.
Nov 21, 2023
Malawi President Chakwera suspended all foreign trips by government officials, including himself. Let's see how long this lasts.
Dec 2, 2023
Biden promised to visit Angola. He hopes to discuss the Artemis Accords, a pact designed to shape the rules for space exploration with Angola, which has a satellite program that has benefited from Russian support. Angola and Russia have not signed up.
Jan 2, 2024
Landlocked Ethiopia signed a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland, a breakaway enclave of Somalia, which give it access to the Red Sea.
Ethiopia has offered the region a stake in Ethiopian Airlines and will officially recognize it as a sovereign state. Somaliland declared its independence in 1991.
Feb 25, 2024
Canada pledges $59M for the deployment of a Kenya-led multinational mission to support Haitian police in its battle to contain criminal gangs. Quite a path!
April 15, 2024
Sunak, Brit PM, is ready to exit ECHR if his Rwanda Scheme passes in Parliament. It paves the way for asylum seekers to be deported to Rwanda.
Rwanda needs to be treated by British judges as a safe destination, and it will also limit individuals' options for an appeal to only exceptional cases.
April 27, 2024
A portion of the USA. troops in Chad will move to Germany for now, but it's a temporary step. Hey, Pentagon spokesperson Major General Patrick Ryder hints they may return after the country's May 6 presidential election, and it sounds like they're sure Deby will win.
Older blog:
https://vaporvents.blogspot.com/2020/10/africa-those-darn-wigs-and-gowns.html
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