World

Heavy rains across the Gaza Strip have flooded more displacement sites, damaged buildings in Jabalya and Gaza City, and caused further casualties, including children.

The draft resolution, introduced by Norway alongside more than a dozen other countries, was supported by 139 member states. 12 nations voted against it while 19 chose to abstain.

UN chief Antonio Guterres expressed concern over what he described as “renewed tensions” and urged both countries to step back from hostile actions.

Interpol’s Operation Thunder 2025 seized thousands of protected plants, animals and timber across 134 countries, exposing global wildlife crime networks and rising trafficking in bushmeat, marine species and exotic arthropods.

Ghana's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, welcomed the decision, thanking his ECOWAS counterparts for what he described as a strong vote of confidence in Ghana's leadership and pan-African credentials.

However, IGAD noted with concern that since rejoining in 2023, Eritrea has not participated in any IGAD meetings, programmes, or activities. The Secretariat said it had remained patient throughout this period while keeping communication channels open.

Eritrea recalled that it “played a pivotal role when IGAD was revitalised in 1993,” contributing alongside other member states to strengthen the body as “the primary vehicle for the enhancement of regional peace and stability” and as a foundation for economic integration.

Save the Children says an estimated eight million babies were born in 2025 into conflict, climate disaster and humanitarian crises, mostly in under-resourced settings, warning of preventable risks to mothers and newborns.

Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov said the decision to step down was a response to the “voice of the people” and the need to uphold democratic values.

Foreign direct investment to Africa fell 42 per cent to $28 billion in early 2025. Business leaders urge faster reforms on payments, integration and local capital to unlock the continent’s investment potential.

Heavy rains are flooding Gaza displacement camps, killing a baby and forcing thousands to move. Officials warn of an imminent humanitarian disaster amid severe shelter and aid shortages.

According to senior Beninese officials who spoke to Reuters, Tigri and four other soldiers are hiding in Lome's Lome 2 neighbourhood, which also houses the residence of Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe.

Simultaneously, WHO is launching a global traditional medicine library — the first-of-its-kind digital platform with over 1.6 million scientific records on the topic, a traditional medicine data network and a Framework on Indigenous Knowledge, Biodiversity and Health, among other initiatives.

Iran Human Rights director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam condemned the initial amount as punitive and discriminatory.

Accra said it had been "compelled to retaliate", framing the episode as a defence of the dignity of its nationals.

Unveiled on Tuesday, the 29-article charter lays out the rules for the one-year transition.

With this recognition, Diwali becomes the 16th Indian tradition to join UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

Escalating clashes along the Thailand–Cambodia border have displaced over 500,000 people and killed at least 13, as shelling and air raids hit multiple provinces for a third straight day.

A new report warns biometric digital-ID systems across ten African countries are blocking millions from voting, healthcare and social protection, amid weak legal safeguards and rising fears over data misuse.

The UN warns global human rights are under growing threat in 2025, citing funding cuts, escalating conflicts and attacks on defenders, even as youth-led activism from Kenya to Peru pushes back.

Ghana has protested to Israel after seven citizens, including MPs, were detained and some deported at Ben Gurion Airport, calling the treatment humiliating and warning of possible reciprocal action.

The UN has rejected Israel’s proposed ‘yellow line’ Gaza border, saying it violates the ceasefire, as Egypt also dismisses US ideas for a foreign-backed interim administration in the territory.

Soldiers tried to seize Benin’s state broadcaster in a failed coup, citing security and political grievances. The mutiny was crushed, but analysts warn it exposes rising tensions and regional democratic backsliding.

A new study of African coups from 2001–2022 finds the AU firmly sanctions most military takeovers but rarely confronts leaders who rig constitutions or refuse to concede defeat, raising stability concerns.

The move follows long-standing concerns from parents and lawmakers about social media's effects on young people's mental health.

According to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Israel broke international law by storming the compound and interfering with UN property and operations.

Hamilton, a Scottish zoologist and a pioneering figure in elephant research, transformed the way the world understands African elephants.

A CIVICUS report says at least 180 journalists were detained across sub-Saharan Africa in 2025, with Somalia and Kenya leading arrests and deadly crackdowns on protests shrinking civic and media space.

The Confederation of Sahel States (AES), comprising Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, confirmed the development in a statement, noting that the plane, which landed in Bobo-Dioulasso, did not have authorisation to enter the country.

The Benin incident is the latest in a series of attempted power grabs across West Africa, often triggered by contested elections, constitutional disputes and public frustration.

The children were among 315 pupils and staff who were kidnapped from a Catholic boarding school in late November.

Troops drawn from Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone will be deployed to assist Benin's authorities in safeguarding constitutional order and territorial integrity, ECOWAS said in a statement.

China’s Shenzhou-20 capsule is returning to Earth without crew after a window was damaged by tiny space debris, highlighting rising orbital congestion, safety risks and gaps in global space governance.

Egypt’s foreign minister has rejected a US-backed interim administration for Gaza, insisting Palestinians must govern themselves and urging open crossings, peacekeepers along the Yellow Line, and no displacement via Rafah.

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu confirms troops were sent to Benin at the government’s request after a failed coup, as ECOWAS deploys a regional force to help preserve constitutional order.

The decision marks a shift from earlier guidelines that only restricted certain types of filming.

A study finds more than 60,000 African penguins died in South Africa between 2004 and 2012 after sardines crashed, highlighting climate and overfishing threats to this now critically endangered species.

A Nigerian court’s terrorism conviction and life sentence for Biafra leader Nnamdi Kanu ends a decade-long case but leaves core Igbo grievances and rising south-east insecurity unresolved.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres reaffirmed in New York that he will keep pushing for a Palestine two-state solution, criticising a paralysed Security Council and warning of rising global conflicts and climate risks.

Benin’s government says it foiled an attempted coup in Cotonou after soldiers briefly claimed to oust President Patrice Talon, highlighting growing instability across Africa’s expanding ‘coup belt’.

The African Union has condemned a failed coup attempt in Benin, led by Lt-Col Pascal Tigri, backing President Patrice Talon and urging an immediate return to constitutional order and military barracks.

Hospitals in Gaza report 54 per cent of essential medicines and 40 per cent of surgery drugs are unavailable, as Israel allows only five medical supply trucks weekly, leaving patients without vital treatment.

Authorities have urged citizens to remain calm as operations continue to stabilise the capital following the failed coup attempt.

His life in music represented a struggle against narrow, oppressive definitions of race, instrumental appropriateness and musical genre.

Africa is the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, despite its limited contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.

Opposition coalitions such as the Union for Democratic Change (UAD) and the Union for Democratic Movements (UMD) face significant constraints.

Identifying themselves as the Military Committee for Refoundation, the soldiers declared on Sunday that they had removed the president and disbanded all state institutions.

In Tubas, wide-ranging raids, curfews and bulldozer activity caused extensive damage to homes, roads and water networks, displacing families and cutting water supplies to nearly 17,000 people.

A new study finds more than 60,000 African penguins vanished as sardines declined off South Africa, driving a 95% collapse on two islands and leaving the species critically endangered.

Lamola issued an open letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken after the latter criticised South Africa's domestic policies and its G20 stewardship in a Substack post on Wednesday.

The impact has been devastating: premature births have risen sharply, along with miscarriages and stillbirths linked to severe malnutrition, exhaustion and constant fear.