00:07As Ebola spreads in eastern DR Congo, the EU has pledged $5 million to set up diagnostic centers in affected
00:15areas.
00:18360 people abducted by Boko Haram in southern Nigeria have been freed by the National Army.
00:27The U.S. President is eyeing the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, with the Trump administration reportedly considering the
00:34purchase of its main island.
00:38Hello and welcome to Africa News Today.
00:40The European Union has sent its Commissioner for Crisis Management to Bunia, the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak in DR
00:47Congo.
00:48After airlifting 100 tons of humanitarian aid to Ituri province on Sunday, the bloc has reinforced its response with an
00:55additional $5 million in funding.
00:58The European Union's Crisis Commissioner, Hadja Lahbib, arrived in Bunia on Sunday, capital of Ituri province and the epicenter of
01:07eastern DR Congo's ongoing Ebola outbreak.
01:11Bunia also serves as a logistics hub for the emergency response.
01:15The European Union takes this emergency very seriously.
01:20As soon as the outbreak began, we sprang into action and were on the ground very quickly to step up
01:26our support, and that commitment continues today.
01:30I've brought an additional €5 million to set up regional diagnostic centers in the province's hardest hit, to provide faster
01:38and more reliable testing where it's most needed.
01:42In an updated toll on Sunday, Kinshasa said the country had 488 confirmed cases and 86 deaths in the epidemic,
01:51which it announced on May 15th.
01:54As I told you, two weeks ago, a humanitarian flight delivered nearly 100 tons of supplies to eastern DRC, medicines,
02:02tents and protective equipment.
02:05Five more flights are scheduled for Bunia, and I believe another flight has even landed today.
02:10Ituri province is hard to access because of poor roads and insecurity due to armed groups operating in the area.
02:19Lahbib called for humanitarian and health workers to be guaranteed access to people in need.
02:29Nigeria's army has rescued hundreds of people, including children, who were abducted from several communities in Borno State.
02:36The operation was carried out in the Mandara Mountains, one of Boko Haram's strongholds.
02:42Nigeria's army says it's freed 360 people abducted by Boko Haram in southern Borno.
02:49The operation took place in the Mandara Mountains, part of the militant group's stronghold.
02:55Two infants succumbed to exhaustion due to the challenging terrain and hardship they endured during captivity, the army said in
03:02a statement on Sunday.
03:05The remaining abductees have been evacuated to safe locations for medical and humanitarian support, the statement said,
03:12calling the operation a major success and significant setback for the militants.
03:19Nigeria is facing a complex security crisis in the north, including a more than decade-long insurgency and kidnappings by
03:28armed groups for ransom.
03:30The insurgency has killed thousands of people and displaced millions.
03:38After blocking the handover agreement between the United Kingdom and Mauritius,
03:42the United States is considering buying the main island of the Chagos Archipelago.
03:46Known as Diego Garcia, the territory hosts a joint U.S.-U.K. military base.
03:51The United States is considering a plan to buy the Chagos Islands from Mauritius, according to a report in the
03:58Telegraph newspaper.
03:59The Chagos are a British overseas territory and include the island of Diego Garcia, home to a joint U.S.-U
04:07.K. airbase and a key strategic military asset.
04:11Britain has said it will cede sovereignty to Mauritius in accordance with a number of recent international rulings.
04:18Under the agreement, Britain would then lease Diego Garcia and maintain control of the airbase for 99 years.
04:26The rumored U.S. plan would see Washington bypass Britain and make its own deal to buy Diego Garcia once
04:33it's returned to Mauritius.
04:35Talks on the possible deal come amid the U.S.-Israel war in Iran.
04:41Located in the Indian Ocean, Diego Garcia is a critical overseas base for the U.S.
04:47and serves as a hub for bombing operations, naval deployments and intelligence missions.
04:54South Africa's Haoteng province recorded more than 400 malaria cases and 11 related deaths during the first three months of
05:032026.
05:04The worrying increase threatens the country's goal of eliminating the disease by 2029.
05:12Pumalanga is one of three provinces in South Africa's so-called malaria belt.
05:17The region is experiencing changing rain patterns and rising temperatures that favor mosquito breeding.
05:24As a result, malaria cases have exploded, forcing disease control teams into action.
05:31Today, they are spraying anti-mosquito insect site in Polinam Longo's house.
05:37So that man was not bitten by mosquitoes while here.
05:42He was at work somewhere.
05:44And the problem is that it took a while to detect that it was indeed malaria.
05:50Because of that, it got a bit severe.
05:52But he recovered.
05:56Malaria cases in Pumalanga jumped fourfold in January compared with a year earlier.
06:01According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases,
06:05experts blamed the jump in cases on extreme weather in southern Africa.
06:10Flood hit Mozambique recorded more than 1.3 million cases in the first six weeks of the year,
06:17up 55 percent alongside dozens of deaths.
06:21This issue of climate change is a complex thing to deal with.
06:26Because honestly, when you plan as department or as a program,
06:31you need to be able to anticipate that we'll be coming on your way for you to plan properly.
06:38But with climate change, everything is just unfolding.
06:41For health officials, the shifting weather patterns are forcing a riffing of malaria planning
06:47beyond traditional hot spots and seasons.
06:53A key event for Central Africa's creative industry,
06:56the International Fashion Carousel is now in its 13th edition.
07:00Held in Point Noir, the event showcased textiles from different communities
07:05and highlighted the stories behind these cultural legacies.
07:09Young dancers in rapier skirts open the show.
07:13African textiles take center stage in Point Noir.
07:16From June 4th to 7th, the economic capital of Congo-Brazzaville
07:20hosted the 13th edition of the Carousel Internacional de la Mode,
07:24a festival that has established itself over the past decade
07:28as a must-attend event for the creative industry in Central Africa.
07:34This year's theme, African textiles from heritage to global value,
07:38captures the very essence of our goal.
07:40For every participant coming from their home country to discover
07:44and share their textiles with the public and fellow participants.
07:48We know our own fabrics, but we don't necessarily know those of other countries.
07:52When we move from personal heritage to global value,
07:55we introduce our traditional cloth, our fabrics, to the rest of the world.
08:03Responding to this call, Congolese designer Marco N.N.N.,
08:07founder of the Haute Couture House Marco Fashion in Kinshasa,
08:11presented a collection made entirely from fabrics from the DLC.
08:16I thought to myself, why not work with the fabrics we make ourselves back home?
08:20I thought of Cuba fabrics and raffia,
08:23which are truly native to our region, raw, untreated, in their natural state.
08:28I'm originally originally from the Haute Couture House,
08:29and I worked on the fabric of Cuba and raffia,
08:31which is raw, which is not worked, which is not treated.
08:34Tiny Tickney Wembe took a similar approach,
08:37coming from Cameroon with a collection called L'Unité,
08:40woven from three traditional Cameroonian loincloths,
08:43a textile manifesto for the cohesion of a country with 250 ethnic.
08:48After 13 editions,
08:49the Carousel Internationale de la Mourde
08:52has transformed Juan Moir into a leading creative hub
08:55for Central African fashion.
09:00And as every week on African News Today,
09:02it's time for our weekly agenda.
09:05The 2026 FIFA World Cup gets underway on Thursday, June 11,
09:10with hosts Mexico taking on South Africa.
09:12Ahead of the match,
09:13an opening ceremony at Mexico City's Azteca Stadium
09:16will bring together 14,000 spectators.
09:19Leaders of the G7 countries and the European Union
09:23will gather in Evian from June 15 to 17.
09:26South African President Cyril Ramaphosa,
09:29a regular participant at the event,
09:31has been excluded from the summit
09:32following threats by U.S. President Donald Trump
09:35to boycott the meeting if South Africa were invited.
09:39Kenyan President William Ruto has been invited instead.
09:45That's all for Africa News Today.
09:47Join us again next week for a new edition.
09:49For more updates,
09:50stay with Africa News and africanews.com.
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