You are watching Africa 54, your daily news and feature magazine-style program, from the Voice of America. Managing editor Vincent Makori and a team of correspondents zero in on the big stories making news on the continent and around the world with context and analysis.

Thousands of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo fled their homes to escape lava flows from an erupting volcano near Goma. While most of the city was spared, those who returned to the outskirts Goma Sunday found their homes destroyed. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more.

The U.S. government on Sunday said it was imposing wide-ranging restrictions on economic and security assistance to Ethiopia over the atrocities in Tigray. Along with that will be visa restrictions barring current or former Ethiopian or Eritrean government officials deemed responsible for the crisis. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the actions by the United States are to press for the resolution of the crisis.

An Egyptian court on Sunday rejected a complaint by the Japanese owner of a container ship that blocked traffic in the Suez Canal for six days in March against the vessel's continued detention by canal authorities, according to a lawyer. The Ever Given, one of the world's largest container ships, became jammed across the canal in high winds on March 23, halting traffic in both directions and disrupting global trade. The complaint was attached to a case at the economic court in Ismailia in which the Suez Canal Authority sought $916 million dollars in compensation from the Ever Given's owner Shoei Kisen.

The International Criminal Court will hold a hearing on Monday at the Hague, to confirm charges against alleged Darfur militia leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, commonly known as Ali Koshayb. Al-Rahman, the first Sudanese suspect in ICC custody, faces charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity after surrendering in the Central African Republic in June. The charges include his alleged responsibility for rapes, destruction of property, and attacks and killing of civilians in four villages in West Darfur in 2003 and 2004.

French Foreign Affairs minister Jean-Yves Le Drian confirmed on Sunday that a French journalist who disappeared last month in Mali's northern city of Gao had probably been taken hostage by Islamist militants in West Africa's arid Sahel region.Olivier Dubois this month appeared in a video appealing to authorities to do everything they can to free him from the -al Qaeda North Africa -holding him. French authorities have previously only confirmed Dubois' disappearance.

The Ivory Coast resort town of Grand-Bassam is known for its beaches and French colonial architecture. Recent flooding and the passage of time have taken a toll on the city’s historic buildings. Now, some people are determined to fix things – as Yassin Ciyow found in this report, narrated by Carol Guensberg.

A Western Sahara independence leader at the center of a diplomatic dispute between Morocco and Spain must answer legal charges in Spain before leaving the country. Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez GLaya, Polisario Front leader Brahim Ghali faces a court summons in Spain in a war crimes case against him, although Spain's High Court has rejected a request by plaintiffs in the case to arrest him. Spain’s Foreign Minister said last month that Ghali had arrived in Spain from Algeria for medical treatment. .....

It was a full weekend of play at the Basketball Africa League tournament in Kigali as teams battled for spots in this week's playoffs. Our Jackson Mvunganyi has the action.

Campaigners say that eight executives and investors in companies making coronavirus vaccines have become billionaires in the last year thanks to the patents on their inoculations – and are calling for the pharmaceutical firms to share their technology so that global production of vaccines can be quickly increased, as infections continue to surge in many poorer nations. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.

With domestic vaccine needs largely fulfilled, the Biden administration is ramping up efforts to help vaccinate the world. How would the U.S. global pandemic response be different than the so-called “vaccine diplomacy” of China and Russia? White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this report.

After more than a year in isolation and fear amid the coronavirus pandemic, many Americans are beginning to be vaccinated and thinking about their hopes for their lives moving forward. Esha Sarai and Vero Balderas spoke with Americans about what they've learned over the past year. In this segment of Alone Together, produced by Jacquelyn DePhillips and Esha Sarai, some Americans discuss what they're hoping to see and do after a year of trauma.

#Congo #Morocco #Spain #ICC #France #Ivorycost #Western Sahara

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