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News Hub, News Hub, Lusaka (2025)

21/08/2024

Plane Crushes into lake Malawi

A small plane crashed into Lake Malawi on Tuesday with three people on board, a Malawian official said. A Dutch passenger survived and was rescued by fishermen, but another passenger and the pilot are missing.

Malawi's Information Minister Moses Kumkuyu said in a statement that the rescued passenger was a woman, but did not give her age. She suffered minor injuries and was being treated at a hospital, he added.

The plane crashed near the shore of Lake Malawi in shallow water, Kumkuyu said. He said the plane had been located and a rescue operation was underway.

The plane was a Cessna C210, which can usually carry six people, flying from the central lakeside town of Nkhotakota to the southern town of Liwonde. It was operated by charter airline Nyasa Express, the statement said.

Lake Malawi is the third largest lake in Africa and is approximately 580 kilometres (360 miles) long, more than half the length of the country.

Africanews

(Photo for illustrative purposes)

21/08/2024

EU to Introduce €7 Visa for Non-EU members

The EU is planning to introduce a €7 (£6) EU visa waiver for some non-EU citizens, including Britons, by summer 2025.

Under new rules, visitors from a list of non-EU countries, including the UK, will need to apply for a waiver, similar to a US Esta, before travelling to 30 countries in Europe.

The waiver will cover travel to the Schengen area, which includes every EU state except for Ireland and Cyprus, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

Here's what you need to know about how the new scheme will operate and when it will start.

How does the EU visa waiver scheme work?

The new scheme will be called the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (Etias).
Currently, visitors from the UK can visit the EU's borderless Schengen area for up to 90 days every 180 days without a visa.

This is also the case for citizens of more than 60 non-EU countries, including the US, Japan and Australia.
Under the Etias scheme, this will change.

Visitors from the non-EU countries on the list will need to apply for a visa waiver to travel to the EU for the same duration of 90 days every 180 days. Longer stays will require a visa.

The document will be checked by border guards when crossing the EU border.
The full list of non-EU countries eligible for Etias is published by the EU.

The visa waiver will last for three years and allow an unlimited number of visits.
It will be linked to your passport, so if your passport expires in less than three years, you will need to apply for a new Etias when you get a new one.

How much will the Etias cost?

The waiver will cost €7 for most people, which the EU Commission says is "way cheaper" than the US Esta, which costs $14 (€12.50; £10.75).

The fee will apply to anyone between the ages of 18 and 70.
The waiver will be free for children and the over-70s.

When will the Etias scheme start?

The EU has not announced a firm start date for the waiver scheme yet.
Its website says it will start in "the first half of 2025".
The EU says the Etias requirement will not be enforced for a period of "at least six months" at first, although it recommends all visitors apply for a visa waiver.

A Home Office spokesperson said the UK expects the EU to provide more information on the rollout of the scheme "in due course".

How will waiver applications work?

Passengers will need to apply online or via a mobile app. The form - which the EU describes as a "necessary and small procedural step" - will take around 10 minutes to complete, authorities say.

The details needed for the application form will include passport information as well as background questions about criminal records and medical conditions.

More than 95% of applications will be approved automatically within minutes, the EU says. However, it warns that in some cases may take up to 72 hours.
Applications may also be denied or take up to four weeks to process in exceptional circumstances.

Why is the scheme being introduced?

The EU has decided to bring in more border controls as a response to the migrant crisis and concerns over terrorism.

It says the Etias system will "strengthen security checks on those persons who travel visa-free to the EU".
According to the EU website, the Etias will help EU states "assess potential risks" posed by people entering their borders.
It is aimed at preventing "cross-border crime and terrorism," the website says.

What is the EES?

Another EU border scheme, called the Entry/Exit System (ESS), is launching on 10 November after a series of delays.

Commissioner Johansson says the EES system will mean strict digital border controls at "every single airport," "harbour" and "road into Europe".

The rules will mean "we will know if people stay too long" and "will make it harder for criminals, terrorists or Russian spies to use fake passports," she says.
Under the EES scheme, people entering the EU will have to register fingerprints, a photo and passport details.

That initial registration will be valid for three years, during which time it will need to be validated every time someone crosses the border. This will replace passport stamping.

However, long queues have been predicted, with experts warning the EES could add at least two minutes processing time per passenger, compared with the current 45 seconds.

BBC

21/08/2024

20 Dead while hundreds missing in DRC boat accident:

A boat accident on the Lukeni River in western Congo this weekend has left at least 20 people dead and hundreds missing, a local official said Tuesday.

It is the latest fatal boat accident in the central African country, where overloading is often the problem, notably in June when an overloaded boat sank near the capital and 80 passengers died.

The motorized wooden boat was carrying about 300 passengers and was sailing at night when it collided with a sunken barge, Kutu territory administrator Jacques Nzenza Mongie told a news conference.

At least 20 bodies were found during the search Tuesday, Mongie told The Associated Press. Another 46 people have been rescued and hundreds are still missing, he said.

Night navigation is illegal in Congo, and a provincial commission is currently at the site of the accident to determine who is responsible, Governor Lebon Nkoso Kevan of Mai-Ndombe province said Tuesday.

Congolese authorities have often warned against overloading and promised to punish those who violate maritime transport safety measures.

Africanews

21/08/2024

Israeli strikes kill dozens in Gaza

Israeli airstrikes across Gaza killed at least 50 Palestinians in the past 24 hours, Palestinian health authorities said on Wednesday, as the military said troops continued to target militants and seize weapons and ammunition.

As last-ditch diplomatic efforts continued to halt the 10-month-old war between Israel and Hamas, the Israeli military said jets hit around 30 targets throughout the Gaza Strip including tunnels, launch sites and an observation post.

It said troops killed dozens of armed fighters and captured weapons including explosives, grenades and automatic rifles.

The military issued new evacuation orders in the heavily overcrowded area of Deir Al-Balah, in central Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by the fighting have sought shelter.

The evacuation orders, which the military said were needed to clear civilians from what had become "a dangerous combat zone", were soon followed by tank fire with at least one person killed and several wounded by machine gun fire, medics and residents said.

The conflict churned on as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken ended his latest visit to the Middle East with no clear sign over whether a deal to end the fighting is in sight.

At stake in the talks Blinken had with leaders of ceasefire mediators, Egypt and Qatar, as well as in Israel, is the fate of tiny, crowded Gaza, where Israel's military campaign has killed more than 40,000 people since October according to Palestinian health authorities, and of the remaining hostages being held there.

The war in Gaza began on Oct. 7 last year when Hamas gunmen stormed into Israeli communities and military bases, killing around 1,200 people and abducting about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

For the displaced left exposed in Deir Al-Balah, the lack of progress towards a ceasefire compounded the misery as they searched for space away from the fighting.

"Where will we go? Where will we go?" said Aburakan, 55, a displaced person from Gaza City in the territory's north who has had to change refuge five times since October.

"We feel they are closing in. I live a few hundred meters from the threatened areas, and I have been searching since the early morning in vain for a space in western Deir Al-Balah, Khan Younis, or Nuseirat," he told Reuters via a chat app.
"Unfortunately, we may die before we see an end to this war. All ceasefire talk is a lie."

Palestinian and United Nations officials say most of the 2.3 million population have become internally displaced by Israel's ongoing military offensive and bombardment that have also flattened swathes of built-up areas across the enclave.

Reuters

21/08/2024

Ukraine attacks Moscow:

Ukraine attacked Moscow on Wednesday with at least 11 drones that were shot down by air defences in what Russian officials called one of the biggest drone strikes on the capital since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022.

The war, largely a grinding artillery and drone battle across the fields, forests and villages of eastern Ukraine, escalated on Aug. 6 when Ukraine sent thousands of soldiers over the border into Russia's western Kursk region.

For months, Ukraine has also fought an increasingly damaging drone war against the refineries and airfields of Russia, the world's second largest oil exporter, though major drone attacks on the Moscow region - with a population of over 21 million - have been rarer.

Russia's defence ministry said its air defences destroyed a total of 45 drones over Russian territory, including 11 over the Moscow region, 23 over the border region of Bryansk, six over the Belgorod region, three over the Kaluga region and two over the Kursk region.

Some of the drones were shot down over the city of Podolsk, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. The city in the Moscow region is some 38 km (24 miles) south of the Kremlin.

"This is one of the largest attempts to attack Moscow using drones ever," Sobyanin said on the Telegram messaging app in the early hours of Wednesday. "The layered defence of Moscow that was created made it possible to successfully repel all the attacks from the enemy UAVs."

Along Moscow's boulevards, the cafes, restaurants and shops of the capital - which has been carefully insulated from the war - were crowded with little sign of concern, while President Vladimir Putin met Chinese premier Li Qiang in the Kremlin.

Two Russian citizens who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said the foiled drone attack simply showed how well defended Moscow now was, and that Ukraine was "playing with fire" by attacking Russia both in Kursk and in Moscow.

Russia meanwhile is advancing in eastern Ukraine, where it controls about 18% of the territory, and battling to repel Ukraine's incursion into the Kursk region, the biggest foreign attack on Russian territory since World War Two.

Russian media showed unverified footage of drones whirring over the dawn sky of the Moscow region and then being shot down in a ball of flame by air defences.
Moscow's airports, Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky, limited flights for four hours but restarted normal operations from 0330 GMT, Russia's aviation watchdog said.

Sobyanin said that according to preliminary information, there were no injuries or damage reported in the aftermath of the attacks. There were also no casualties or damage reported following the attack on Bryansk in Russia's southwest, the governor of the region, Alexander Bogomaz, wrote on Telegram.

Russia's RIA state news agency reported that two drones were destroyed over the Tula region, which borders the Moscow region to its north. Vasily Golubev, governor of the Rostov region in Russia's southwest, said air defence forces destroyed a Ukraine-launched missile over the region, with no injuries reported.

The Russian defence ministry did not mention either Tula or Rostov in its statement listing destroyed Ukrainian air weapons. Ukraine's military said on Wednesday it overnight struck an S-300 anti-aircraft missile system based in the Rostov region.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports.
The drone attack on Moscow was on a par with a May 2023 attack when at least eight drones were destroyed over the capital, a strike Putin said was a Ukrainian attempt to scare and provoke Russia.

In Kursk, Russian war bloggers said intense battles were ongoing along the front in the region where Ukraine has carved out at least 450 square km (175 square miles) of Russian territory.

Reuters

20/08/2024

Kenya's top court suspends judgment nullifying 2023 finance law:

Kenya's top court on Tuesday suspended a lower court's ruling that the 2023 finance law was unconstitutional, saying it was important to preserve stability in the budget until the merits of the government's appeal are heard next month.

The finance bills, presented to parliament at the start of every financial year, are the main vehicle for the government to set out its revenue-raising measures including tax hikes.

The Court of Appeal's judgment late last month that last year's Finance Act was unconstitutional was a blow to the government of President William Ruto, who withdrew this year's finance bill in June in the face of youth-led protests, the biggest challenge of his two-year presidency.

Ruto has been caught between the competing demands of Kenya's hard-pressed citizens and of lenders such as the International Monetary Fund.
He has argued that tax increases are necessary to help fund development programmes and pay off a heavy public debt load.

"We find that public interest tilts in favour of granting conservatory and stay orders to ... maintain stability in the budget and appropriation process pending the determination of this appeal," Kenya's Supreme Court said in its ruling.

The Supreme Court will hold hearings on Sept. 10 and 11 on whether the 2023 law is constitutional.

The government, which has been relying on the 2023 finance law to continue collecting taxes after Ruto withdrew this year's bill, did not immediately comment.

The 2023 version was challenged in court following a round of violent street protests last year led by opposition parties.

Ruto's government used the 2023 law to double the value-added tax on fuel, introduce a housing tax and raise the top personal income tax rate.

Source: Reuters

20/08/2024

Harris' election effort raises around $500 million in a month, sources say:

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris' election effort has raised around $500 million since she became the Democratic presidential candidate, sources told Reuters, an unprecedented money haul that reflects donor enthusiasm going into the Nov. 5 election.
Four sources familiar with the fundraising effort told Reuters that figure had been banked for Harris in the four weeks since she jumped into the race on July 21.

Campaign cash is critical for advertising and get-out-the-vote efforts that help bring people to the polls and persuade undecided voters to swing a candidate's way.
Harris entered the fray after President Joe Biden stepped aside from the top of the Democratic ticket, unleashing floods of funding that had dried up in the weeks after Biden's disastrous debate against Republican Donald Trump.

Harris raised $200 million in the first week of her campaign while she quickly wrapped up support to become the party's nominee.
Harris' team raised $310 million in July, bringing the total amount of money raised by her and Biden before he dropped out to more than $1 billion, the most rapid crossing of that fundraising threshold in history, according to the campaign.

Trump's campaign said it raised $138.7 million in July and had cash on hand of $327 million. The former president's campaign outraised Biden in the second quarter.

Enthusiasm for Harris, whose July cash on hand came in at $377 million, has continued into August, manifested by donations from small-dollar donors as thousands of people show up to her rallies in political swing states across the country.

Biden's campaign committee raised $1.04 billion in the 2020 election cycle or $1.62 billion when combined with outside groups, according to OpenSecrets, a group that tracks money in politics.

Harris lauded Biden on Monday on the first night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where the president, in his own remarks, touted his record and urged voters to back Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, in November.
Former President Barack Obama, who is also a big fundraising draw, addresses the convention on Tuesday night, while Harris rallies voters in nearby Wisconsin.

Obama attended two high-profile fundraisers with Biden and has offered to help Harris with more.
Harris has repeatedly called herself an underdog in the race against Trump, in the hopes of preventing complacency among her voting and donor base.

Source: Reuters

11/03/2024

If our leaders could only try to be human for once and put politics aside, such developments make sad reading and actually make me emotional. Like for women to get to this point it really shows how bad things have become, this shouldn’t be something that excites every well meaning Zambian. I am embarrassed and sad at the same time, a whole bag of mixed emotions.

26/01/2024

I’ve always said people respond positively to negative news to put it plainly we are much more excited by scandalous headlines than we are to constructive news. So I woke up to yet another news story about a man from a named church organization who took advantage of his relative from a church organized program and because I am a person who looks beyond most public perceptions my interest is not in the particular events that unfolded but rather in what our media outlets choose to publish. I am in no way trying to defend any organization‘s misgivings neither am I operating with a bias of being a church leader but I am just someone with a analytical eye. See when a church does so many good things supplementing govt efforts of charity that rarely gets as much traction as it’s perceived as their moral duty but should one member fall short of that standard suddenly the entire church is a problem. Case in point the SDA‘s scandals, the Catholic Church‘s position on same s*x marriages, SCOAN(TB Joshua), now I am not coming to the defense of any of the mentioned organizations but my question is why didn’t the BBC ever make a documentary of the good TB Joshua did during his time? Why doesn’t the media talk about the good the SDA, Catholic, Pentecost or all these organizations do in society? The simple answer is that we love bad news more than good, this explains why an American Philanthropist came to Zambia, sunk boreholes, provided electricity to some villages, received zero coverage and yet our media was preoccupied about a certain couple breaking up or whatever irrelevant things were happening at the time. Pano panshi tapaba ba lungami napita mukwai.

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