Authorities say 19 more were seriously injured in blasts at wedding, hospital and funeral in country’s north-east
At least 18 people have been killed and 19 seriously injured in suicide attacks targeting a wedding, a hospital and a funeral in north-east Nigeria, authorities have said.
In one of three blasts on Saturday in the town of Gwoza, a woman with a baby strapped to her back detonated explosives in the middle of a wedding ceremony, according to state police.
Continue reading...Costs of trying to deport asylum seekers cannot be recovered if Labour wins and disbands policy
More than £320m spent by the government on the controversial scheme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is likely to be lost if the Conservatives are voted out of power at Thursday’s general election.
The sum has been spent on economic development money for Rwanda, along with set-up costs for the scheme, which cannot be recovered if it does not go ahead.
Continue reading...Man-made crises in Gaza and Sudan leaving millions of people at risk, says retiring British diplomat Martin Griffiths
Sudan is facing horror “beyond imagination”, the outgoing UN aid chief has warned, with 750,000 people under imminent threat of famine and with conditions in danger of worsening even further.
The British diplomat Martin Griffiths will retire from his job as the UN’s undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs at a time when famine on a historic scale is looming over Sudan and Gaza.
Continue reading...Rwandan-backed rebels seize Kanyabayonga, says official, already home to thousands driven from their homes by conflict
Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have seized a strategic town in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s volatile east, a local official said.
“Kanyabayonga has been in the hands of the M23 since Friday evening,” the administrative official said, under condition of anonymity.
Continue reading...Mohamed Ould Ghazouani expected to be re-elected in region of Africa where coups have been commonplace
An estimated 2 million people are expected to vote in the presidential election in Mauritania in what could be the desert nation’s first civilian-to-civilian transition.
After independence from France in 1960, the west African state experienced multiple coups in the following years. The fledging democracy has been somewhat stable since 2019, when Mohamed Ould Ghazouani was elected president.
Continue reading...President’s decision to drop finance bill after deadly violence leaves protesters divided over how to achieve broader goals
Kenya’s youth-driven, leaderless protest movement finds itself at a crossroads this weekend, buoyed up by President William Ruto’s surprise decision on Wednesday to abandon a finance bill containing planned tax rises even as it mourns those killed in deadly violence the day before.
The movement that brought thousands of people out on to the streets in recent weeks, against the backdrop of a cost of a living crisis that has left many young people feeling hopeless, has little precedence in Kenya where protests are traditionally elite-led.
Continue reading...Higher incidence of damage to hips, jaws and thumbs reveals their writing efforts may have taken a toll
From bad backs to eye strain, office work can take its toll on the body.
But it seems such perils are nothing new: researchers have found Egyptian scribes experienced damage to their hips, jaws and thumbs as a result of their efforts.
Continue reading...Deo Kato detained by security services for three weeks after being arrested near Juba on run from South Africa to UK
A Ugandan-born Londoner on a 9,000-mile run from South Africa to London has been released from jail in South Sudan, his partner has told the Guardian.
Deo Kato had already run more than the length of Africa – the equivalent of more than 200 marathons – when he was arrested near Juba, the capital of South Sudan, on 2 June. His partner and project manager, Alice Light, had no idea where he was, only discovering he was in prison on 17 June.
Continue reading...State not acting fast enough to build desalination stations to deal with dwindling rainfall and resulting drought, say critics
On 8 June, anger over months of water rationing spilled over in the drought-stricken central Algerian town of Tiaret, where balaclava-wearing demonstrators barricaded roads and burned tyres.
Rationing had been introduced to deal with a drought in parts of Algeria and neighbouring Morocco where the amount of rainfall that had historically replenished critical reservoirs was much reduced. Taps had been running dry for months, forcing people in the region – a semi-arid, high-desert plateau increasingly plagued by extreme heat – to queue to access water.
Continue reading...Special rapporteurs working for UN warn famine is imminent and over 25 million people need urgent help
Human rights experts working for the United Nations have accused Sudan’s warring parties of using starvation as a war weapon, amid mounting warnings of imminent famine in the African country.
Sudan plunged into chaos in April last year when simmering tensions between the country’s military and a notorious paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country.
Continue reading...William Ruto says he has listened to the people of Kenya, who gathered across the country to oppose the law
The Kenyan president, William Ruto, has withdrawn a bill to raise taxes a day after violent protests erupted around the country following its approval by parliament.
Ruto’s surprise decision not to sign the finance bill came after violent clashes between police and protesters at the Kenyan assembly and across the country left at least 23 people dead and scores wounded, according to medics.
Continue reading...Alarm over high mortality and miscarriage rates as mutated virus spreads in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
A dangerous strain of mpox that is killing children and causing miscarriages in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the most transmissible yet and could spread internationally, scientists have warned.
The virus appears to be spreading from person to person via both sexual and non-sexual contact, in places ranging from brothels to schools.
Continue reading...At least five people reportedly shot dead at rally against legislation to raise taxes during cost of living crisis
Police have opened fire on protesters outside the Kenyan parliament as they attempted to storm the building in Nairobi while MPs inside passed legislation to raise taxes.
At least five people were shot dead, according to Reuters, amid chaotic scenes in which police started shooting after teargas and water cannon failed to disperse a crowd of thousands who had overwhelmed officers. Flames could be seen coming from inside the building.
Continue reading...The movement is more than double that of east Africa’s renowned ‘great migration’ and has continued despite decades of war and instability
An extensive aerial survey in South Sudan has revealed an enormous migration of 6 million antelope – the largest migration of land mammals anywhere on Earth. It is more than double the size of the celebrated annual “great migration” between Tanzania and Kenya, which involves about 2 million wildebeest, zebra and gazelle.
“The migration in South Sudan blows any other migration we know of out the water,” said David Simpson, wildlife NGO African Parks’ park manager for Boma and Badingilo national parks, which the migration moves between and around. “The estimates indicate the vast herds of antelope species … are almost three times larger than east Africa’s great migration. The scale is truly awe-inspiring.”
Continue reading...Study identifies 16,825 sites around the world where prioritising conservation would prevent extinction of thousands of unique species
Protecting just 1.2% of the Earth’s surface for nature would be enough to prevent the extinction of the world’s most threatened species, according to a new study.
Analysis published in the journal Frontiers in Science has found that the targeted expansion of protected areas on land would be enough to prevent the loss of thousands of the mammals, birds, amphibians and plants that are closest to disappearing.
Continue reading...‘Unfair’ rejection rates of up to 70% harm cultural diversity and create a ‘global apartheid’, say promoters and musicians
Musicians, authors, producers and festival managers have hit out at “humiliating” and costly visa-rejection rates for African and Asian artists visiting Britain and European Union countries, saying it is having a chilling impact on cultural diversity.
Analysis shows the UK last year raised £44m in fees for visa applications that were then rejected, mainly coming from low- and middle-income countries. The EU made €130m (£110m).
Continue reading...Zambia’s Mubita Nawa, who is on shortlist for top job, is accused of involvement in an attempted extortion in 2022
A candidate to be the next head of Interpol has been accused of involvement in the kidnap, detention, assault and attempted extortion of two Indian businessmen.
Lawyers for Vinod and Uddit Sadhu have written to Interpol saying the allegations against Mubita Nawa, a deputy commissioner of police in Zambia, suggest he is “plainly unsuitable” to be its next secretary general.
Continue reading...Exclusive UK accused of trying to head off condemnation of Gulf ally over alleged aid to forces accused of genocide in Darfur
UK government officials attempted to suppress criticism of the United Arab Emirates and its alleged role in supplying arms to a notorious militia waging a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Sudan, sources have told the Guardian.
Claims that Foreign Office officials put pressure on African diplomats to avoid criticising the UAE over its alleged military support for Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) will intensify scrutiny of the UK’s relationship with the Gulf state.
Continue reading...Victory for LGBTQ+ campaigners who say ban contributes to discrimination and violence by police
Namibia’s high court has overturned a law that criminalised gay sex in a victory for LGBTQ+ campaigners after a number of setbacks in the battle for rights in African countries in recent years.
Namibia inherited a law banning “sodomy” and “unnatural offences” when it gained independence from South Africa in 1990. While the ban was rarely enforced, activists said it contributed to discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, including violence by the police.
Continue reading...Renaldo Gouws suspended days after white-led party joined coalition government with ANC
A South African MP has been suspended by the Democratic Alliance (DA) for racist comments, less than a week after the white-led party formed a coalition government with the African National Congress.
A clip of Renaldo Gouws saying “Kill all the kaffirs” – a racial slur for black people – and then repeating the phrase using a swear word and the N-word, has gone viral online.
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