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Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno widely expected to win poll as observers voice doubts over electoral processChad goes to the polls on Monday in its first presidential election in three decades without Idriss Déby, the former president, in contention.Ten men will be on the ballot, but Déby’s son, Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, who seized power at the head of a junta on the day rebels...

The UN says two camps for displaced people were hit near the city of Goma where thousands are seeking refuge from fighting in surrounding areasBomb attacks on two camps for displaced people in eastern Congo have killed at least 12 people, including children, according to the UN.The bombs hit the camps in Lac Vert and Mugunga, near the city of Goma, the UN said...

Russians in separate compound and do not have access to US forces or equipment, says defence secretaryUkraine war – live updatesThe US secretary of defence, Lloyd Austin, has confirmed Russian security forces have been deployed to the same airbase as American troops in the Nigerien capital, Niamey.It remains unclear when the Russian troops, who have been in Niger for weeks, were deployed to Airbase...

Move comes after west African country’s military government had told US to withdraw its troopsRussian military personnel have entered an airbase in Niger that is hosting American troops, after a decision by Niger’s junta to expel US forces from the country.The military officers ruling the west African country have told the US to withdraw its nearly 1,000 military personnel, which until a coup last...

The population of El Fasher, which includes thousands of displaced people, is in ‘dire need of food, medicine and water’Water, food and fuel supplies for people in the largest city in the Darfur region of Sudan are being choked off as fighting intensifies, according to reports.El Fasher has been encircled by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group over recent weeks, besieging the population...

Birthplace and parents’ names are being removed from passports and birth certificates as Mauritius stakes claim to the islandExiled islanders from the disputed British-owned Chagos Islands are finding their heritage has been removed from new identity documents in an apparent move by Mauritius to stake its claim to the territory.British ownership of the Chagos Islands has long been challenged by Mauritius, where most islanders...

François Bozizé is wanted by special criminal court over alleged crimes including murder and tortureA UN-backed court has issued an arrest warrant for the Central African Republic’s former president François Bozizé over possible crimes against humanity committed by the nation’s military between 2009 and 2013.The alleged crimes include murder, enforced disappearance, torture, rape and other inhumane acts, according to the special criminal court (CPS),...

Malian state forces confirm death of Abu Huzeifa, who was believed to have helped carry out 2017 attackA senior Islamic State group commander, wanted in connection with the deaths of US forces in Niger, has been killed in an operation by Malian state forces, the country’s army said.Abu Huzeifa, known by the alias Higgo, was a commander in the group known as the Islamic...

Nine people rescued from boat sailing perilous Atlantic route that reportedly left Senegal with 60 people onboard nine days agoAt least 50 people are feared to have drowned after a boat sailing the perilous Atlantic route from west Africa to Europe began to sink 60 miles south of the Canary island of El Hierro.Nine people were rescued from the craft early on Monday after...

Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza says her banning shows Rwandan government does not adhere to international lawA Rwandan opposition leader who has been banned from standing for election has cast doubt on whether her government will stick to the terms of the deportation deal agreed with Rishi Sunak.Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza told the Guardian that the Rwandan government’s refusal to allow her to stand or leave the...

The Guardian and Le Monde among latest outlets blocked, following on from BBC and VOA last weekAuthorities in Burkina Faso have suspended further foreign media over their reporting of an alleged massacre of hundreds of civilians by the Burkinabe army.The decision was announced in a statement over the weekend, days after the military government suspended the BBC, Voice of America and the international watchdog...

Houses washed away and road cut off as dam collapses amid heavy rains and floods across countryAt least 45 people died when a makeshift dam burst its banks near a southern town in Kenya’s Rift valley in the early hours of Monday, police said, as torrential rains and floods hit the country.The disaster raises the total death toll over the March-May wet season in...

Tim Loughton had sanctions imposed on him in 2021 by Beijing, which has close ties to east African countryA former government minister who has had sanctions imposed on him by China has said he was detained and deported by Djibouti as a “direct consequence” of the east African country’s close ties with Beijing.Tim Loughton, the Conservative MP for East Worthing and Shoreham since 1997,...

Polls predict ANC likely to lose parliamentary majority, due to high unemployment and wealth inequalitySouth Africa marked 30 years since the end of apartheid and the birth of its democracy with a ceremony in the capital that included a 21-gun salute and the waving of the country’s multicoloured flag.Any sense of celebration on the momentous anniversary was however set against a growing discontent with...

Rain in Kenya, Tanzania and Burundi has damaged farmland and infrastructureEastern Africa has experienced heavy rain in recent weeks, with Kenya, Tanzania and Burundi experiencing flooding. About 100,000 people have been displaced or otherwise affected in each country, with reported deaths reaching 32 in Kenya and 58 in Tanzania, alongside damage to farmland and infrastructure.There are also fears that large areas of standing water...

Few economic and social benefits will come to Africans if processing is all done overseas, says Wanjira MathaiAfrica must take greater control in the industries it supplies with raw materials to lift its people from poverty and seize its own destiny in a low-carbon world, one of the continent’s leading environmentalists has urged.Wanjira Mathai, the managing director for Africa and global partnerships at the...

Human Rights Watch demands investigation into killings in two villages just weeks after Russian troops fly in, amid intensifying conflictBurkina Faso’s military summarily executed 223 civilians, including at least 56 children, in a single day in late February, according to an investigation into one of the worst abuses by the country’s armed forces for years.The mass killings have been linked to a widening military...

The African country accounted for two-thirds of the additional 13.5m people needing urgent help as displacement drove food insecurity globallySudan had the world’s largest number of people facing extreme food shortages in 2023 as conflict and displacement drove food insecurity globally, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).The war between rival generals meant Sudan accounted for two-thirds of the additional 13.5 million...

Children among those killed in second fatal incident in two weeks close to the Horn of Africa, says UN agencyAt least 21 people have died after a boat capsized off the coast of Djibouti, the UN’s migration agency has said.It was the second fatal maritime accident in two weeks off the Horn of Africa nation, which lies on the perilous so-called eastern migration route...

In today’s newsletter: After months of wrangling, Parliament passed the government’s controversial plan to tackle small boats• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First Edition Continue reading...

Plan to expand Ruaha national park has been beset by allegations of abuse, leading bank to withhold final $50m of $150m budgetThe World Bank has suspended financing intended to develop tourism in southern Tanzania after allegations of killings, rape and forced evictions.The bank began investigating last year after being accused of enabling abuses around Ruaha national park, which was due to double in size...

While conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine have captured global attention, the civil war in Sudan has been largely ignored. That can’t be allowed to continue, says the Guardian’s Nesrine MalikWith so much of the world’s attention on the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, one of the worst humanitarian crises of recent times is playing out almost unnoticed. Sudan’s civil war erupted in April 2023...

Lydia Simon, recovered along with three children born in captivity, was one of 276 schoolgirls taken in 2014Nigerian troops have rescued a pregnant woman and her three children 10 years after she was abducted by Boko Haram militants when she was a schoolgirl in the town of Chibok.Lydia Simon was rescued in Gwoza council area, about 95 miles (150km) east of Chibok, from where...

Adding another insecticide to the protective netting has proved effective in fight against the disease that killed 600,000 in 2022Two new types of mosquito bed nets have been found to reduce cases of malaria by up to a half, raising hopes of combating the disease, which is becoming increasingly resistant to treatments and prevention efforts.Nets treated with two types of insecticide rather than one...