Category Archives: Africa

UN warns of ‘epic suffering’ in Sudan and appeals for $4bn in aid

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Ten months of armed conflict in the country has displaced nearly 11 million people and left half the population facing hunger

There is “epic suffering” in Sudan says the UN, where fighting between rival military factions since April has created the world’s biggest internal displacement crisis and raised fears of state failure.

On Wednesday, the UN appealed for $4.1bn (£3. 25bn) to meet humanitarian needs, amid warnings by the UN’s World Food Programme that people are starving to death in areas cut off by fighting.

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Anti-FGM caravan embarks on 7,400-mile campaign to end cutting in Africa

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Activists will cross the continent visiting areas where the practice is prevalent to revive progress in protecting women and girls

African female genital mutilation survivors will lead thousands of campaigners in a two-year “caravan campaign” across the continent, calling for an end to the practice.

Organised by #FrontlineEndingFGM, a group of grassroots activists and organisations in Africa will cover about 7,400 miles (12,000km) across 20 countries, including Nigeria, Sudan and Cameroon.

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Ukrainian special forces ‘in Sudan operating against Russian mercenaries’

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Video reportedly from Ukrainian intelligence shows captured Russian saying he is from Wagner group

Ukrainian special forces are reportedly operating in Sudan in support of the country’s army against Russian Wagner mercenaries aligned with the rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to a video released on Monday.

The Kyiv Post released a short film which it said came from sources within Ukrainian military intelligence, responsible for covert operations, showing a captured Russian prisoner being interrogated alongside two African men.

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Sunak ‘out of touch’ for betting £1,000 on Rwanda plan’s success, says Labour

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PM also criticised for saying ‘the facts speak for themselves’ when asked if Keir Starmer was a terrorist sympathiser

Rishi Sunak has been called “out of touch” after taking a £1,000 bet with Piers Morgan on whether deportation flights to Rwanda will take off before the general election.

Morgan said to the prime minister on TalkTV: “I’ll bet you £1,000 to a refugee charity you don’t get anybody on those planes before the election. Will you take that bet?”

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Senegal riot police fire teargas to break up protests over postponed election

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Mobile internet access has also been restricted, as parliament begins debate on bill to extend Macky Sall’s presidency

Riot police fired teargas to break up crowds trying to gather outside Senegal’s national assembly on Monday to protest against the president’s abrupt postponement of elections over the weekend.

As protesters shouted slogans, parliament began debating a bill that would reschedule the 25 February vote for 25 August and extend Macky Sall’s mandate as president until his successor is installed.

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We must act on Ethiopia food crisis, says UK minister

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Andrew Mitchell warns of ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ triggered by El Niño-driven drought and conflict

The risk of a humanitarian catastrophe in northern Ethiopia is growing, Andrew Mitchell, the UK’s Africa minister, said on his return from a two-day trip to the region.

“We have an opportunity to stop a looming humanitarian catastrophe in its tracks. But we must act and act now,” Mitchell said on Monday.

The country is suffering from the impacts of long-term El Niño-driven drought and brutal conflict, including the two-year war in the northern region of Tigray that ended in November 2022.

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Hage Geingob, Namibia’s president, dies aged 82 after cancer treatment

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First prime minister after independence from South Africa went on to become third president in 2014 and won re-election in 2019

Namibia’s president, Hage Geingob, died early on Sunday in a hospital in the capital, Windhoek, the presidential office said in a statement. He was 82.

First elected president in 2014, Geingob was Namibia’s longest serving prime minister and third president. Namibia is to hold presidential and national assembly elections towards the end of the year.

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Senegal president postpones election hours before official campaign start

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Macky Sall cites dispute between national assembly and the constitutional court over rejection of candidates as reason for delay

Senegal’s president, Macky Sall, has announced the indefinite postponement of a presidential election scheduled for 25 February a few hours before official campaigning was due to start, provoking anger from opposition figures and a ministerial resignation.

In an address to the nation on Saturday, Sall said he had postponed the vote that would have decided his successor because of a dispute between the national assembly and constitutional court over the rejection of candidates.

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Nigerian traditional monarch shot dead and wife kidnapped from palace

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Police launch investigation after attack on home of Oba Aremu Olusegun Cole in south-western Kwara state

Gunmen killed a Nigerian traditional monarch and kidnapped his wife after raiding his palace, police said, as outrage grows over a spate of abductions across the country.

Attackers stormed the palace of Oba Aremu Olusegun Cole in south-western Kwara state, shot him dead and abducted his wife and another person on Thursday.

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DRC’s worst floods in decades leave tens of thousands in temporary shelter

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People in affected areas say they are still waiting for government help after more than 300 deaths and widespread devastation

Tens of thousands of people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are living in temporary accommodation and waiting for government help after the country experienced its worst flooding in six decades.

More than 300 people have died and 280,000 households in more than half the country have been forced to leave their homes since heavy rains started at the end of November. More than 1,500 schools, 267 health centres, 211 markets and 146 roads have been damaged.

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Kenya gas explosion kills at least three and injures hundreds

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More than 280 taken to hospital after truck blast on gas storage site that had unsuccessfully applied for permit to operate

A lorry loaded with liquid petroleum gas cylinders exploded and set off a late-night inferno that burned homes and warehouses in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, killing at least three people and injuring more than 280. The death toll is expected to increase.

At least 24 people were critically injured, the Kenya Red Cross said, after a huge fireball erupted from the gas depot. Some gas cylinders were thrown hundreds of metres, sparking several separate fires.

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Three girls die after FGM rituals in Sierra Leone

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Children’s parents and those who performed the procedure are in police custody, according to local reports

Police in Sierra Leone are investigating the deaths of three girls who underwent female genital mutilation (FGM).

Adamsay Sesay, 12; Salamatu Jalloh, 13; and Kadiatu Bangura, 17, died during initiation ceremonies in the country’s North West province last month, according to local reports.

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UK manufacturers hit by Red Sea disruption and rising shipping costs

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Supply chain difficulties have led to job losses and cuts in purchasing and stocks, S&P Global poll shows

Britain’s factories have been hit by disruption caused by Houthi rebel attacks in the Red Sea that led to shipping delays and contributed to rising costs, as the boss of Adidas warned about “exploding” global freight rates.

UK manufacturers have experienced growing supply chain difficulties, as the Red Sea crisis led to the rerouting of deliveries of raw materials, components and other goods away from the Suez Canal, a survey has shown.

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Number of people arriving by boat in Canaries from west Africa jumps 1,000%

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Atlantic route to chain of islands is deadliest migration passage to Spain with 6,007 people dying last year

The number of people from west Africa who braved the sea in boats to reach Spain’s Canary Islands jumped more than 1,000% in January from a year before, according to data released by the country’s interior ministry.

A total of 7,270 people reached the archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean between 1 January and 31 January, a nearly 13-fold increase from 566 people in the same month in 2023, the ministry said on Thursday.

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Refugee files complaint to UN against Spain over 2014 border deaths

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Country accused of violating torture convention in hope of finding justice decade after incident in which at least 15 people died

A 25-year-old from Cameroon has filed a complaint to the UN against Spain, accusing the country of multiple violations of the convention against torture in hope of seeking justice after an incident in 2014 during which at least 15 people died while trying to enter Spanish territory from Morocco.

“A decade has passed and still not a single person has been held accountable for the death and injury of so many,” said the man, who asked to be identified by the pseudonym Ludovic.

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Ethiopia hails return of its first plane, stolen by Mussolini in 1930s

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Red two-seater named after Emperor Haile Selassie’s daughter abandoned in 1936 after Italy invaded country

Almost nine decades after it was stolen by Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime, the Italian government has officially returned Ethiopia’s first plane.

The official handover of the aircraft, named Tsehay in honour of the princess daughter of Emperor Haile Selassie, was celebrated on Tuesday by the Ethiopian prime minister, Abiy Ahmed.

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South Sudan flooding hampers efforts to contain hepatitis E outbreak

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MSF begins vaccine drive against incurable disease, which is spread via dirty water and kills thousands of pregnant women

A push to tackle an outbreak of hepatitis E in South Sudan is being hampered by flooding that has isolated populations and turned villages into islands.

A pioneering vaccination drive has begun to protect people against a spate of cases but the true scale of the disease outbreak is unknown.

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Somalia to launch its first current affairs TV show led by women

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New show will follow Question Time format answering audience questions on taboo subjects from periods to women in politics

Somalia’s only all-female media team, Bilan, is launching the country’s first TV current affairs show to be hosted by a woman.

The debate show, which plans to address some taboo subjects, will also be the first programme on Somali television to have a panel of at least 50% women, and the first to broach contentious topics, such as a critical shortage of female teachers and the challenges faced by women trying to get into politics, as well as environmental issues.

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African Union Commission calls for ‘paradigm shift’ at Italy-Africa summit

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Moussa Faki welcomes Giorgia Meloni’s plan to strengthen relations but says ‘we are not beggars’

The chair of the African Union Commission has said “we are not beggars” as the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, outlined a plan aimed at helping African countries to prosper in return for curbing illegal immigration.

Speaking at the much anticipated Italy-Africa summit in Rome, Moussa Faki welcomed Italy’s overtures for a mutually beneficial strengthening of relations with the African continent, but said: “We cannot be satisfied with mere promises that can’t be kept.”

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Ursula von der Leyen says Africa and Europe’s ‘interests are aligned more than ever before’ – as it happened

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European Commission president says this is ‘moment of intense cooperation’ at Italy-Africa summit as Meloni announces plans. This live blog is now closed

Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairman of the African Union Commission, said at the Italy-Africa summit today that partnership is based on liberty and consensus, with no side imposing anything.

Africa engages in partnership based on mutual advantages, he added.

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