Hunger in Tigray pushing women and girls into sex work

People in Ethiopian region turn to desperate measures after authorities stop 6 million people accessing their own money

Hunger in the besieged region of Tigray is pushing people to increasingly desperate measures as the authorities are systematically blocking and confiscating remittances needed by millions of people.

Banking services and all communications have been cut off to the state by the Ethiopian administration since last year, with 6 million people denied access to their own money.

Continue reading...

Sudan’s new community squad sparks fears of a return to ‘morality policing’

Fears the unit will enforce public order laws limiting women’s rights and freedoms amid crackdown since military coup

Human rights campaigners in Sudan fear the launch of a new police squad will herald the return of “morality policing” in the country.

The government has announced the creation of the community police unit to “reaffirm the relationships between people and the police” and ensure security.

Continue reading...

Police in Nigeria find 20 mummified bodies in ‘suspected ritual shrine’

Three men arrested after bodies including those of children discovered during raid of building in Benin City

Police in Nigeria have discovered 20 mummified bodies including those of children in a building in Benin City, in a case that has shocked the country.

Three suspects were arrested during the raid in southern Nigeria, Jennifer Iwegbu, a police spokesperson said in a statement late Wednesday. Armed police officers raided the building in Benin City, the capital of Edo state, acting on intelligence that it was a “suspected ritual shrine”, she said.

Continue reading...

At least 38 people killed as ‘tornado of fire’ rages in northern Algeria

Hundreds forced to flee homes and at least 200 injured as firefighters battle string of blazes in El Tarf province

Algerian firefighters were on Thursday battling a string of blazes, fanned by drought and a blistering heatwave, that have killed at least 38 people and left destruction in their wake.

Deadly forest fires have become an annual scourge in the north African country, where the climate crisis is turning large areas into a tinderbox.

Continue reading...

Kilimanjaro gets high-speed internet so climbers can tweet or Instagram ascent

Tanzanian minister hails move and says connectivity will also improve safety of porters and visitors

Tanzania has installed high-speed internet services on the slopes of Kilimanjaro, allowing anyone with a smartphone to tweet, Instagram or WhatsApp their ascent up Africa’s highest mountain.

The state-owned Tanzania Telecommunications Corporation set up the broadband network on Tuesday at an altitude of 3,720 metres (12,200ft), with the country’s information minister, Nape Nnauye, calling the event historic.

Continue reading...

‘Colour of the skin’: WHO chief hits out over Tigray crisis indifference

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says world ignoring disaster being inflicted on 6 million people by Ethiopian government

The head of the World Health Organization has returned to his suggestion that racism may be driving the lack of international interest in the ongoing war in Ethiopia.

Civil war broke out in November 2020 and has pitted Tigrayan forces against federal Ethiopian forces, also drawing in Eritrean troops, in fighting that has triggered a serious humanitarian crisis.

Continue reading...

Foreign Office official raised ‘stark’ criticisms of Rwanda plan, court hears

Guardian, BBC and Times seek release of documents about policy of sending asylum seekers abroad

A Foreign Office official raised concerns about plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, citing state surveillance, arbitrary detention, torture and killings by the country’s government, the high court has heard.

The court has been asked to consider an application by the foreign secretary to keep parts of certain government documents secret for fear the contents could damage international relations and threaten national security.

Continue reading...

Kenya opposition leader rejects election result as ‘null and void’

Raila Odinga’s comments on poll he was declared to have lost come after some officials disown final tally

The Kenyan opposition leader, Raila Odinga, has rejected as “null and void” the result of a presidential election that he was declared to have lost, and pledged to challenge the outcome with “all constitutional and legal options”.

Odinga said he would channel his complaints through “appropriate authorities”, in his first comments since William Ruto, the deputy president, was declared the winner with 50.49% of the vote by the electoral commission chair, Wafula Chebukati, on Monday.

Continue reading...

William Ruto declared winner of Kenya presidential election amid dispute

Electoral commission chair declares deputy president winner of tight race as other senior officials disown results

William Ruto has been declared the winner of Kenya’s presidential election, amid last-minute chaos as four senior election officials denounced the week-long count and disowned the result.

Official results showed that Ruto, the current deputy president, won 50.5% of the vote, beating the longtime opposition leader Raila Odinga and narrowly avoiding a run-off.

Continue reading...

At least 41 people killed in Egypt church fire, say officials

Security sources say majority of dead are children after blaze breaks out at Coptic Abu Sifin church in Giza

A fire sparked by an electrical fault at a packed church in a working-class district of Greater Cairo has killed at least 41 people and injured another 45, Egyptian officials have said.

About 5,000 people had gathered at the Coptic Abu Sifin church in Imbaba, Giza, for Sunday morning services, when a fire broke out just before 9am local time (7am BST).

Continue reading...

Police chief quit after abuse by British colonial troops in Kenya covered up

Documentary reveals how Britain was not only involved in rape and torture but tried to suppress evidence

A former police commissioner resigned after attempts to expose rape and torture by British colonial forces in Kenya during the Mau Mau uprising were covered up, a documentary shows.

During the 1950s, Britain fought a war in Kenya against the Mau Mau, a movement that fought for independence from colonial rule. The movement was brutally suppressed through the use of widespread detention camps and systemic violence.

Continue reading...

Mali’s prime minister, Choguel Maïga, ‘ordered to rest’ by doctor

Politician’s office says move comes after ‘intense exertion’, while adviser denies reports of a stroke

The prime minister of Mali, Choguel Maïga, has been ordered by his doctor to rest after months of intense exertion, his office said on Saturday, while an adviser denied media reports that he had been hospitalised after having a stroke.

“After 14 months of working without a break, the prime minister, head of government, Choguel Kokalla Maïga was placed on forced rest by his doctor,” his office said on its Facebook page. “He will resume his activities next week, God willing.”

Continue reading...

Kenya presidential election: Raila Odinga slightly ahead in early results

Odinga has 52.54% of the vote against 46.76% for William Ruto, as country waits for final count

Kenya’s one-time opposition leader Raila Odinga is slightly ahead in the race for the presidency against the incumbent deputy president, William Ruto, partial official results showed.

Odinga has 52.54% of the vote against 46.76% for Ruto, according to figures issued by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission in the early afternoon based on results from about 30% of polling stations.

Continue reading...

Count for Kenya’s presidential election enters fourth day

Head of election commission blames slow progress on political parties treating process like a ‘forensic audit’

Kenya’s election count has dragged into its fourth day, after an election this week that pitted former prime minister Raila Odinga against the deputy president, William Ruto.

On Friday, the head of Kenya’s election commission blamed the slow progress on disruptions by political parties, who he said were treating the process like a “forensic audit”.

Continue reading...

Sierra Leone rocked by deadly violence at cost of living protests

Six police officers and at least 21 civilians killed, as hundreds take to streets in frustration at economic hardship and rising prices

At least 27 people have died in anti-government protests in Sierra Leone, police and other sources said on Thursday, sharply raising the death toll from the previous day’s clashes as shocked citizens stayed mostly behind closed doors in the capital, Freetown.

Six police officers and at least 21 civilians were killed, the sources said, as hundreds took to the streets in frustration at economic hardship and a perceived failure by the government to cushion the impact of rising prices.

Continue reading...

Blinken raises concerns over Hotel Rwanda dissident trial with Kagame

US secretary of state on last stop of African tour has been clear about US misgivings related to Paul Rusesabagina’s conviction

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has raised US concerns about the trial of the jailed dissident Paul Rusesabagina with Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda, and other senior Rwandan officials during a visit to the capital Kigali.

Blinken is in Kigali on the last stop of a tour of sub-Saharan Africa that aims to regain the diplomatic initiative across a continent that received little attention under the Trump administration.

Continue reading...

Kenya elections: Raila Odinga and William Ruto in tight race for president

Analysts say result too close to call, with poor turnout amid cost of living crisis and soaring unemployment

Kenya’s veteran opposition politician Raila Odinga and the deputy president, William Ruto, are locked in a tight race for the country’s highest office, according to early results from Tuesday’s election.

National media updates put Ruto in the lead, at roughly 52%, with Odinga a close second at 47%. The deputy president is performing better than polls had predicted, with a number having placed Odinga in both clear and marginal leads.

Continue reading...

US and DRC to work together on protection of rainforest and peatlands

Antony Blinken announces formal working group during Kinshasa visit, while voicing concerns over auction of oil and gas permits

The US and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have agreed to form a working group to protect the enormous Congo basin rainforest and peatlands, which are threatened by oil and gas exploration.

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, made the announcement in Kinshasa on Tuesday while expressing his concern over the sale of dozens of oil and gas permits in the DRC that included blocks in Virunga national park and the Cuvette Centrale tropical peatlands, part of an area described as “the worst place on the planet” to drill for oil and gas.

Continue reading...

Kenyans go to polls against backdrop of soaring cost of living

Tough economic realities have pushed campaigns beyond ethnic and personality-driven politics

Millions of Kenyans have been voting in an election that pits the longtime opposition politician Raila Odinga against the deputy president, William Ruto.

In Kayole, a poor neighbourhood in the capital, Nairobi, residents woke up to the sound of vuvuzelas and whistles from 4am – a rallying call to get out and vote.

Continue reading...

Kenya election: shifting alliances and economic woe to fore

Raila Odinga is leading William Ruto in the polls but the latter hopes his ‘hustler’ image will win him votes among the poor

Kenyans are heading to the ballot box on Tuesday after a campaign season marked by a shift in ethnic alliances and two big-ticket issues: the cost of living crisis and high unemployment.

The race pits presidential frontrunners Raila Odinga, the former prime minister, and deputy president William Ruto against each other in a hotly contested race. Polls place Odinga in the lead.

Continue reading...