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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...

Lawyers prepare for legal battles on behalf of individual asylum seekers challenging removal to east AfricaHow the UK government’s Rwanda deportation plan was fought in courtRishi Sunak’s Rwanda deportation bill will become law after peers eventually backed down on amending it, opening the way for legal battles over the potential removal of dozens of people seeking asylum.After a marathon battle of “ping pong” over...

Saleh Ahmed Handule Ali, now 33, had indefinite leave to remain in UK, but Home Office failed to keep a recordA refugee who left the UK on holiday as a teenager in 2008 has been stranded in east Africa for the last 16 years in a case that senior judges have described as “extraordinary”.Saleh Ahmed Handule Ali, now 33, arrived in the UK at...

Biden administration to rethink counter-terrorism strategy after breakdown of pact allowing US forces on soil to fight jihadistsThe US will withdraw more than 1,000 military personnel from Niger in a move that will force the Biden administration to rethink its counter-terrorism strategy and amounts to a strategic victory for Russia.The decision comes a month after the west African country’s ruling military junta revoked a...

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...

Deaths from record temperatures in Mali reportedly led to full morgues turning away bodies this monthThe deadly protracted heatwave that filled hospitals and mortuaries in the Sahel region of Africa earlier this month would have been impossible without human-caused climate disruption, a new analysis has revealed.Mali registered the hottest day in its history on 3 April as temperatures hit 48.5C in the south-western city...

Paul Kagame flew to UK for Champions League match while national police told citizens to restrict activities including footballThe president of Rwanda, whose police force has asked the country’s people to restrict football-related activities during the 30-year anniversary of the Rwanda massacre, is facing questions after flying to the UK and watching Arsenal play Bayern Munich.Paul Kagame visited on Tuesday 9 April to watch...

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,...

Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister, says ‘every life counts equally, whether in Ukraine, in Gaza, or in Sudan’The UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, has warned of a further escalation in violence in Sudan.“The Sudanese people have been subjected to untold suffering during the conflict which has been marked by indiscriminate attacks in densely populated areas, ethnically-motivated attacks, and a high...

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...

West African state turned to Russia to help in fight against insurgents throwing into doubt future of operations with USRussian military trainers have arrived to reinforce Niger’s air defenses as the west African country pulls away from close cooperation with the US in counterterrorism efforts, turning instead to Moscow for help as it fights Islamist insurgents.State television in the country broadcast footage of Russian...

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....

Repealing ban would mean return of ‘one of the most pernicious forms of violence committed against women and children’A team of UN experts has urged Gambian lawmakers not to repeal a ban on female genital mutilation, saying such a move would set a dangerous global precedent.In a letter dated 8 April and made public on Thursday, the experts, led by Reem Alsalem, the UN...

Endurance athlete from Worthing says he is ‘just trying to soak it all in’ after completing 352-day, 9,940-mile runAfter sinking a strawberry daiquiri and a few beers and enjoying a reunion with his girlfriend after more than a year apart, Russ Cook, AKA the “Hardest Geezer”, who completed his 9,940-mile (16,000km) run along the entire length of Africa on Sunday, woke up feeling “a...

Most passengers heading for island off Nampula province were trying to escape mainland due to panic over cholera outbreak, official saysAt least 94 people have died and 26 are missing after an overcrowded makeshift ferry sank off the north coast of Mozambique, authorities say.The converted fishing boat, carrying about 130 people, ran into trouble as it tried to reach an island off Nampula province,...

Boy who took his own life allegedly told to pay $500 to stop personal photos being shared with family and friendsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastTwo men in Nigeria have been charged over an alleged sextortion case that led to a teenage Australian boy taking his own life.The boy...

Russ Cook from Worthing reaches Ras Angela, Tunisia, after covering more than 9,900 miles in 352 daysAfter more than 9,940 miles (16,000km) over 352 days across 16 countries, Russ Cook, aka the “Hardest Geezer”, has completed the mammoth challenge of running the length of Africa.The 27-year-old endurance athlete from Worthing, West Sussex, crossed the finish line in Tunisia on Sunday afternoon, and planned to...

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...

French president marks 30th anniversary with video, airing Sunday, saying international community lacked will to stop the slaughterThe French president, Emmanuel Macron, has said France and its western and African allies “could have stopped” Rwanda’s 1994 genocide but did not have the will to halt the slaughter of an estimated 800,000 people, mostly ethnic Tutsis.In a video message to be published on Sunday to...