~theguardian-world | Bookmarks (37)

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...

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...

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...

Satellite data indicates growing number of airstrikes on settlements, in a war that has already killed thousandsThe number of villages in Sudan that have been destroyed or severely damaged by fire has risen sharply in recent weeks, suggesting the country’s conflict is intensifying as it enters its second year.Satellite data revealed the number of Sudanese settlements set on fire in March increased to 30,...

The court will investigate crimes against humanity committed during the African country’s two civil wars between 1989 and 2003Senators in Liberia have voted overwhelmingly to establish a war crimes court, two decades after civil conflict ended in the west African country.The new court will investigate and try crimes against humanity and corruption committed during Liberia’s two civil wars between 1989 and 2003, which killed...

Exclusive: Rights groups denounce negotiations with Rapid Support Forces, accused of ethnic cleansing and war crimesInside South Sudan’s worsening refugee crisis – in picturesForeign Office officials are holding secret talks with the paramilitary group that has been waging a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Sudan for the past year.News that the British government and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are engaged in clandestine negotiations...

Some people in Ambelia camp waiting for treatment to wounds resulting from ethnic violence last yearHundreds of displaced Sudanese people living in a refugee camp across the border in Chad have been unable to access vital medical care for injuries sustained during fierce battles in the Sudanese city of Geneina in the past year.Some of those in the vast Ambelia camp near the city...

Rights groups condemn arrest of Macmillan Mhone, who was charged with ‘publication of news likely to cause fear and alarm’Human rights watchdogs have condemned the arrest of a journalist in Malawi in connection with an article accusing a wealthy businessman of corruption.Police in Blantyre detained Macmillan Mhone on Monday over a story that was published online last August on the Malawi 24 news site....

Semi-autonomous state of Puntland refuses to recognise changes to the fragile country’s constitution and has withdrawn from the federal systemAn overhaul of Somalia’s constitution, scrapping its power-sharing system and handing the president increased control, is threatening to destabilise the fragile country, as its wealthiest and most stable state refuses to recognise the changes.The amendments risk worsening violence, the information minister from the semi-autonomous state...

Investigation reveals reports of miscarriages, infections and birth defects among women and girls in mining communitiesWomen and girls living in cobalt-mining communities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are reporting a “staggering” rise in serious reproductive health issues, including miscarriages and birth defects, according to a new report.An investigation published by the UK-based human rights group Rights & Accountability in Development (Raid) and...

African nurse leaders say poorer nations face severe shortages despite rules intended to stop wealthy countries poaching staffThe UK and other wealthy countries have been accused of adopting a “new form of colonialism” in recruiting huge numbers of nurses from poorer nations to fill their own staffing gaps.International nursing leaders said the trend was leading to worse patient care in developing nations, which were...

Committee will examine for at least three months a bill proposing repeal of ban on female genital mutilation A decision on whether to overturn a ban on female genital mutilation (FGM) in the Gambia has been postponed for three months after MPs called for more consultation.FGM was outlawed in the country eight years ago and is punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment. Continue...

Paris Club of creditor nations agree cancellation as Mogadishu moves towards financial normalisation amid ongoing conflictThe Paris Club, a collection of some of the world’s wealthiest creditor nations, has announced the cancellation of 99% of Somalia’s debt, in a major boost as the country continues its fragile economic recovery from an ongoing three-decade conflict.In a statement released by the Paris Club, which is run...

Group on outskirts of Geneina share stories from November when RSF and allied militias unleashed wave of sexual violenceTwice a week, a group of women gather together in a nondescript house in Ardamata, on the outskirts of Geneina in Sudan’s West Darfur state, to tell their stories to each other, cry, and drink coffee.The women, who work or used to work in education, are...

Progress to prevent female genital mutilation needs to be ‘27 times faster’, says UNThe number of girls and women who have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) has increased by 15% in the past eight years according to new data.Figures released by the UN children’s agency, Unicef, show that more than 230 million girls and women alive today have undergone FGM, compared with 200 million...

Activists welcome sanction on Sarah Achieng Opendi and other legislators against a backdrop of anti-LGBTQ+ oppression in AfricaThe Ugandan MP Sarah Achieng Opendi, who called for homosexuals to be castrated during a parliamentary debate on the world’s harshest anti-LGBTQ+ laws has been denied a visa to attend a UN meeting in New York next week.Opendi expressed “shock” after the US embassy in Kampala rejected...

People in West Darfur’s capital still step over residue from the bodies of some of the 10,000 dead, and thousands have fledGeneina, the capital of West Darfur state in Sudan, can feel like two cities in one. There are mass graves, abandoned armoured vehicles and homeless children, but also newly opened restaurants, bustling markets and factory-fresh Toyotas, nicknamed Kenjcanjia – meaning stolen in the...

Antoine Galindo is accused of conspiring with rebels, but press freedom groups say no evidence has been found and call for his immediate releaseEthiopian authorities have detained a visiting French journalist for being part of a “conspiracy to create chaos” in the east African country.Antoine Galindo, a reporter for the Paris-based Africa Intelligence (AI) news website, was arrested by plainclothes security officers at the...

The suspension of a Congolese player for a gun gesture referring to conflict in DRC raises questions over government’s refugee policyWhen a Congolese footballer made a brief gesture after scoring in an east African league match last weekend, it felt like little more than a talking point among the spectators.Yet the gesture by midfielder Héritier Luvumbu at the game in Kigali has prompted a...

Shipments of food and medical supplies from Asia are having to take longer, more expensive routes to avoid seaborne assaultsAttacks by Houthi forces against ships in the Red Sea are holding up shipments of vital aid to Sudan and driving up costs for cash-strapped humanitarian agencies in the east African country, where conflict has put millions at risk of famine.The attacks mean ships carrying...

The animal translocation scheme by wildlife NGOs including African Parks, once headed by the royal, has been dogged by controversyFour more people have died after an elephant translocation overseen by two wildlife organisations, including one that was headed by Prince Harry, in a protected area in Malawi. The recent deaths bring the total fatalities connected to the relocated elephants to seven.In July 2022, more...

Police name husbands as suspects in separate deaths of women, two of whom were pregnantThe deaths of three women in one week, all allegedly murdered by their husbands, has caused outrage in Somalia and sparked days of protests over the country’s femicide rates.Police have named the suspects in all three killings, which took place in the first week of February, as the dead women’s...