Global Pulse

标签： Africa

非洲

  • Ndileka Mandela on anti-migrant protests: ‘Grandad wanted rule of law not mob justice’

    Ndileka Mandela on anti-migrant protests: ‘Grandad wanted rule of law not mob justice’

    As South Africa grapples with rising tensions over immigration and a wave of violent anti-migrant protests across the nation, a prominent member of the Mandela family has stepped forward to reaffirm the core values that defined the country’s iconic anti-apartheid leader. Ndileka Mandela, granddaughter of Nelson Mandela, the nation’s first post-apartheid president, has publicly pushed back against the vigilantism driving recent unrest, arguing that her grandfather would never have backed the mob justice that has swept through communities targeting foreign-born residents.

    In her statement addressing the unrest, Ndileka Mandela clarified that while the late statesman would have backed sensible, rights-respecting policy to govern immigration and protect national border integrity, he never would have condoned extrajudicial violence or collective targeting of migrant groups. Her intervention comes at a moment of deep national debate, as anti-migrant sentiment has spilled over into public disorder, stoked by economic grievances and inflammatory rhetoric that scapegoats foreign nationals for the country’s ongoing socioeconomic challenges, including high unemployment and limited access to basic services.

    By grounding her criticism of the protests in the legacy of the man who led South Africa’s transition to inclusive democracy, Ndileka Mandela has added a high-profile moral voice to calls for calm and for policymakers to address the root causes of anti-migrant tension through lawful, inclusive policy rather than violence. Her comments highlight a growing divide between those who embrace populist, exclusionary approaches to immigration and those who uphold the founding democratic principles of equal rights and the rule of law that Nelson Mandela spent his life advancing.

  • Zuma showing South Africa ‘middle finger’ by meeting Gupta brother – minister

    Zuma showing South Africa ‘middle finger’ by meeting Gupta brother – minister

    A recently surfaced photograph of former South African President Jacob Zuma alongside Ajay Gupta, one of the brothers at the center of the country’s infamous “state capture” corruption scandal, has ignited fierce political backlash and reignited questions about Zuma’s ongoing ambitions to return to power. The image, published this week by Indian media, captures the pair at a Hindu temple in India, and has drawn sharp condemnation from sitting members of South Africa’s cabinet. The long-running controversy around the Gupta family stretches back more than a decade, when the wealthy business clan was accused of leveraging their close personal relationship with then-President Zuma to siphon off state funds, manipulate cabinet appointments, and skew national policy for private profit. The Guptas have consistently rejected all allegations of wrongdoing, but the pressure mounted in 2018 when a judicial inquiry was launched into the so-called “state capture” scheme, a scandal that has been estimated to cost South African taxpayers billions of rand. Facing investigation, the entire Gupta family fled South Africa that same year. South African authorities withdrew Ajay Gupta’s arrest warrant in 2019, while his two younger brothers Atul and Rajesh relocated to the United Arab Emirates. In 2023, an Emirati court rejected South Africa’s formal extradition request for the pair, leaving the brothers outside the reach of South African judicial process. Zuma, who was the head of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and South African president from 2009 to 2018, was forced to resign from office amid the overwhelming weight of the state capture allegations and a cascade of other corruption claims. Like the Guptas, he has never admitted any wrongdoing. After splitting from the ANC, Zuma now leads the newly formed opposition uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, and multiple reports confirm he told associates after the temple meeting that he intends to run for president in South Africa’s upcoming national elections. Cabinet Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni launched a scathing attack on Zuma in a press briefing held Friday, calling the meeting a deliberate insult to South Africans who suffered financial harm from the alleged state capture scheme. “It is very disturbing that a former state president openly and unapologetically shows the middle finger to South Africans who have lost a lot of money through the Gupta brothers’ shenanigans,” Ntshavheni said, adding that Zuma’s announcement of a new presidential bid is just another example of his disregard for public accountability. Ntshavheni also condemned the involvement of Anil Sooklal, South Africa’s sitting high commissioner to India, who accompanied Zuma to the meeting with Gupta, calling Sooklal’s presence a “disgrace”. In a separate announcement, South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola confirmed that the national government would launch a formal investigation into the meeting and Sooklal’s role in it. Lamola also argued that Zuma’s independent meeting with a figure wanted by South African judicial authorities amounts to the former president running an unofficial parallel diplomatic agenda that undermines the elected government’s authority. As South Africa prepares for upcoming national elections, the controversy has thrust the long-simmering state capture scandal back into the national spotlight, setting the stage for a fiery political battle over accountability and Zuma’s political future.

  • US withdraws troops from Nigeria after Islamic State mission

    US withdraws troops from Nigeria after Islamic State mission

    The United States has completed the withdrawal of the majority of its troops deployed to Nigeria earlier this year as part of a joint campaign against Islamist extremist groups in the West African nation, US military officials confirmed this week.

    The joint counter-terrorism initiative traces back to December, when US and Nigerian forces launched a coordinated offensive in the volatile Lake Chad Basin. The operation opened with targeted strikes against militant positions on Christmas Day, followed by the deployment of roughly 200 US military personnel to the region two months later to support local counter-insurgency efforts. Over the course of the months-long mission, senior Islamic State (IS) leader Abu-Bilal al-Minuki was killed in action.

    On Thursday, US Air Forces Africa Commander General Dagvin Anderson announced the drawdown of troops, framing the mission as a clear success. Anderson emphasized that the joint operation had “significantly degraded” IS leadership structures in Nigeria, disrupting both the group’s local command network and its connections to the global IS extremist apparatus. This disruption, he added, has severely limited the organization’s ability to coordinate communication and plan attacks across the region.

    Nigerian military officials have sought to reassure the public that the US troop withdrawal will not undermine ongoing counter-insurgency progress. “The departure of US soldiers will not affect our momentum in any way,” Maj-Gen Michael Onoja, a spokesperson for the Nigerian military, told the BBC. Both Nigerian and US officials confirmed that bilateral intelligence-sharing partnerships, a core component of the counter-terrorism cooperation, will remain fully in place following the drawdown. Additional US military personnel that were stationed in Nigeria prior to the Lake Chad Basin operation will also remain in the country, Nigerian military spokesperson Major General Samaila Uba confirmed.

    The deepened security cooperation between the two nations emerged after a period of diplomatic tension: Washington previously criticized Nigerian authorities for failing to adequately protect vulnerable populations from extremist violence, and went so far as to allege a “Christian genocide” was unfolding in the country. Nigerian officials flatly rejected the accusation, arguing that the country’s ongoing violence stems from complex, multifaceted security issues that impact all religious and ethnic communities equally. Independent organizations that monitor political violence in Nigeria back this framing, noting that the majority of IS-linked attacks in the country target Muslim communities, as the group’s most active operating regions are in Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim northern states.

    When the 200 US troops were deployed earlier this year, US officials stressed from the outset that the deployed personnel would not participate in direct frontline ground combat, serving only in a support capacity.

    Regional security analysts point out that the threat landscape from IS has shifted dramatically over the past decade, with an estimated 90% of all global IS attacks now occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. Of these, the Nigeria-based IS faction is the most active and deadly across the continent. Even with the successful targeting of senior leadership, jihadist groups continue to carry out regular attacks across northeastern Nigeria, and the country faces a cascade of overlapping security challenges that extend beyond Islamist insurgency. Widespread banditry and organized criminal violence, long concentrated in the north, have spread into central and parts of southern Nigeria, worsening the country’s overall security crisis.

    More reporting on Nigerian and African news is available at BBCAfrica.com, and audiences can follow BBC Africa’s coverage across social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

  • Can Girmay recreate past Tour de France glories with new team?

    Can Girmay recreate past Tour de France glories with new team?

    Tour de France history-maker Biniam Girmay is gearing up for another run at cycling’s most prestigious sprint title, bringing fresh ambition, a new squad, and the backing of football World Cup champion Andres Iniesta to this year’s race.

    It has been two years since the 26-year-old Eritrean cyclist etched his name into the record books at the 2024 Tour de France, when he became the first black African rider to claim a stage victory, then went on to secure the event’s green jersey — cycling’s top honor for sprinters — as the first African rider ever to win the classification. After five seasons with Belgium’s Intermarche-Wanty team, Girmay made a high-profile move last December, signing a three-year deal with NSN Cycling, a squad co-founded by former Spanish international and Barcelona icon Iniesta, who lifted the 2010 FIFA World Cup trophy with his national side.

    “I am super happy and super motivated to start, to go for stage wins, and chase the green jersey,” Girmay told BBC Sport Africa. “This has been our main goal since the beginning of this season. I have stronger team-mates and a stronger lead-out compared to last year. That is why my results are better. We have worked so hard for this event and we want to achieve what we have planned.”

    This year’s Tour kicks off with a blistering 20km team time trial in the searing heat of Barcelona, followed by a third stage that cuts across the Pyrenees — a tough opening that will test specialist sprinters from the very first day. But Girmay, who grew up in East Africa, says the hot, harsh conditions may work to his advantage. “If you look at my best sprint performances, they were in the 2024 Tour de France, and we had two super hard and hot stages to start in Italy. That’s harder for the others – this is potentially also a benefit for me this year, as I can survive the heat better. We have hot and hard stages to begin right after the team time trial.”

    Backed by a joint venture between Swiss investment firm Stoneweg and Iniesta’s Never Say Never sports promotion company, NSN Cycling boasts a far larger budget and stronger resource pool than Girmay’s former team, and the early returns on the move have already been positive. Ahead of this year’s Tour, Girmay has notched three wins at UCI-sanctioned races, and claimed the overall green points classification at the Volta Comunitat Valenciana. After taking third in the green jersey standings at last year’s Tour, he is confident his new setup puts him in position to compete for the top prize once again.

    “I’ve had enough preparation for this year’s race, especially compared to previous years,” he said. “We also have everybody more or less in the same shape. That also makes a big difference because, as a team, we need to have everybody at the same level.”

    All eyes will be on Girmay when the race reaches its first dedicated sprint stages. Most cycling analysts peg the fifth stage, which runs from Lannemezan to Pau in southwestern France, as his first real opportunity to showcase his speed. NSN’s tactical team will be keeping close tabs on his main rivals: Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Premier Tech and Tim Merlier of Soudal-QuickStep, the two other top sprinters in this year’s field. Even earlier, Girmay could make an impact on the grueling 195.9km third stage, which ends with a 1.7km climb at a 7% gradient — a challenge that should play to his strengths as the strongest climber among the race’s top sprinters.

    As the only African rider competing in this year’s Tour, Girmay carries the hopes of his home continent on his shoulders, but he says the next generation of Eritrean cycling talent is already on track to join him at cycling’s biggest event. He singled out 20-year-old Milkias Maekele, a fellow sprinter who claimed a dominant solo victory at the Eritrean National Road Championships last month. A product of the same Asmara-based As.Be.Co development program that launched Girmay’s career, Maekele spent 2025 with Germany’s UCI Continental Team Bike Aid — a squad with a long track record of supporting emerging African talent — and earned a promotion to the development team of top-tier World Tour squad Netcompany Ineos after just one standout season.

    Girmay says the 6-foot-tall young sprinter has all the makings of a future star. “He has a strong mind for racing, a truly winning mentality. I am super happy for him for winning the national championships. He really deserved it as he raced very well.”

    Eritrea already stands as Africa’s most successful cycling nation, with four other Eritrean riders competing at the World Tour level, including fan-favorites Henok Mulubrhan of XDS Astana and Natnael Tesfatsion of Movistar. But Girmay remains the undisputed face of African cycling, and a second green jersey win would only cement his legacy. For the coming weeks of the Tour, expect to see hundreds of Eritrean flags waving at every sprint finish as the history-making rider chases another milestone.

  • Argentina v Cape Verde: Breaking down biggest World Cup knockout mismatch

    Argentina v Cape Verde: Breaking down biggest World Cup knockout mismatch

    When football fans around the world began making their predictions for the 2026 FIFA World Cup knockout stage, few could have imagined the mouthwatering underdog story that would dominate pre-match hype: Lionel Messi, widely regarded as the greatest player to ever step onto a football pitch, preparing to face 40-year-old Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha in one of the most lopsided but anticipated matchups in modern tournament history.

    The game will kick off Friday at Miami Stadium, kicking off what is already being framed as a classic meeting between tournament powerhouse Argentina and the smallest nation ever to reach a World Cup knockout round: first-time qualifier Cape Verde. What makes the matchup so captivating is not just the gulf in experience and resources between the two sides, but the incredible underdog journey that brought the African side to this point, a run that has already secured their place in World Cup folklore.

    Few gave Cape Verde any chance of progressing out of their group, even before they faced off against defending European champions Spain. But the Blue Sharks held the giants to a shock 0-0 draw, a result that already ranked among the biggest upsets in modern World Cup history – even without a win. Back-to-back draws against two-time winners Uruguay and Saudi Arabia followed, enough to secure a second-place group finish and a historic ticket to the round of 32. Their reward? A clash with the current world champions.

    On paper, it looks like one of the biggest mismatches World Cup football has ever seen. Argentina is one of the most storied national teams in the sport, with a legacy stretching back to the very first World Cup in 1930, where they finished as runners-up. The side has won the World Cup three times: first in 1978 with a 3-1 final victory over the Netherlands, again in 1986 against West Germany, and most recently in 2022 in Qatar, where they defeated France on penalties after a thrilling 3-3 draw. Beyond global success, Argentina hold the record for most Copa America titles with 16 wins, including the last two consecutive tournaments, and have ranked among the top three in the FIFA world rankings since March 2022, holding the number one spot for two years before France claimed the top position last year.

    Cape Verde’s football origin story could not be more different. The nation only gained independence from Portugal in 1975, its national football federation was founded in 1982, and it only accepted FIFA membership in 1986 – the same year Argentina lifted their second World Cup trophy. The Blue Sharks first entered World Cup qualifying in 2002, and did not come close to qualification until the 2022 cycle, when they missed out on Qatar by just one point, falling short after a 1-1 draw with Nigeria in their final group match. For 2026, despite being drawn into a qualifying group with eight-time qualifier Cameroon, Cape Verde finished top of the group with just one loss from 10 matches to secure their first ever World Cup berth.

    At the continental level, Cape Verde only made their first Africa Cup of Nations appearance in 2013, where they reached the quarter-finals, and have since qualified for three more tournaments, including another quarter-final run in 2023. They currently sit 64th in the FIFA world rankings, having hovered between 60th and 80th for the last nine years.

    Much of Cape Verde’s recent progress can be traced back to a 2010 strategic shift, when then-manager Joao de Deus began tapping into the nation’s large global diaspora to strengthen the national squad, a common tactic for small nations in modern international football. Today, 12 members of the 2026 World Cup squad were born in Cape Verde – including Kevin Pina, who scored the nation’s first ever World Cup goal in their 2-2 draw with Uruguay – but the side relies heavily on diaspora talent, with five players born in the Netherlands, three in France and three in Portugal. No players currently play in Cape Verde’s semi-pro domestic league, with 23 plying their trade across Europe. Only one, Villarreal defender Logan Costa, plays in one of Europe’s top five leagues.

    The squad’s surprise star, 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha, is currently an official free agent after his contract with Portuguese second division side Chaves expired earlier this week. Vozinha is one of seven squad members playing in Portugal, with only full-back Sidny Lopes Cabral, who is set to join Turkey’s Trabzonspor after leaving Benfica, playing at a top-tier club.

    The gap in squad value between the two sides is staggering. According to transfer market data site Transfermarkt, Cape Verde’s entire squad has a combined market value of just €54.5 million (£46.8 million), putting them in the bottom nine of the 48 teams at the 2026 tournament. Argentina, by comparison, boast a squad valued at €807.5 million (£693.7 million), the seventh most valuable squad in the tournament, with only 16-time winners France ranking higher. When comparing projected starting lineups, Argentina’s first XI carries a combined value of £360.3 million – more than 18 times the £19.77 million total value of Cape Verde’s entire matchday squad. Five individual Argentine players are each worth more than the entirety of the Cape Verde squad, with Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez the nation’s most valuable player at £77.4 million.

    Beyond market value, the gulf in silverware is just as stark. Sixteen members of Argentina’s current squad are already World Cup winners, with countless domestic and continental titles across Europe’s top leagues between them. For Cape Verde, most of their players’ title success has come in lower-tier European leagues or smaller national competitions, with the highest profile honors being Jovane Cabral’s 2020-21 Portuguese league title with Sporting CP and Kevin Pina’s 2024-25 Russian Premier League title with Krasnodar.

    Even off the pitch, the gap between the two nations is almost impossible to overstate. Cape Verde is a 10-island archipelago in the central Atlantic, 450 kilometers off the west coast of Africa, with a total land area of just 4,033 square kilometers and a population of roughly 530,000 – smaller than the population of every U.S. state. It is the third-smallest nation ever to qualify for a World Cup, and now holds the record for the smallest nation to ever reach the knockout rounds, breaking a 68-year record held by Northern Ireland. Argentina, by contrast, is the eighth largest country in the world by area, with a population of 46 million and a GDP of $683 billion, compared to Cape Verde’s $3 billion GDP.

    For all the lopsided statistics on paper, though, Cape Verde has already defied every expectation placed on them at this tournament. Friday’s clash will not just be a game between the world champion and the debutant underdog: it will be a chance for the Blue Shores to write another shocking new chapter in World Cup history, with Vozinha set to take center stage against the greatest player of his generation. Football fans around the world will be tuning in to see if the ultimate underdogs can pull off one more upset.

  • UN human rights chief sounds ‘red alert’ over violence around Sudan’s el-Obeid city

    UN human rights chief sounds ‘red alert’ over violence around Sudan’s el-Obeid city

    GENEVA — The United Nations’ top human rights official has issued an urgent “red alert” warning the global community of a looming humanitarian catastrophe in and around the strategic central Sudanese city of el-Obeid, where fighting between Sudan’s national army and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has pushed half a million trapped civilians to the brink of mass atrocity crimes.

    Addressing the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva Friday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk emphasized that warning signs of an unfolding human rights disaster in el-Obeid are unambiguous. His urgent call to action came as the 47-member UN human rights body convened an emergency debate to address rising diplomatic and advocacy group concerns over a potential new wave of civilian harm in Sudan’s 2-year-long civil conflict.

    “This is not a drill. It is a red alert that needs to land on the desks of heads of state and government around the world,” Türk stressed. He added that global leaders must prioritize urgent diplomatic action in the coming weeks, stepping up engagement to prevent mass atrocities across el-Obeid and other at-risk regions of Kordofan.

    Türk detailed the catastrophic conditions facing el-Obeid’s civilian population, who have endured 18 months of siege-like conditions amid relentless drone strikes as the two warring factions battle for control of key territory surrounding the city. In February 2025, Sudan’s national military broke an RSF siege of el-Obeid that had stood for more than a year, but the paramilitary group has since launched repeated multi-pronged offensives to reimpose the blockade. Recent RSF attacks on critical infrastructure have left residents facing catastrophic shortages of food, clean water, fuel, medical care and public transportation, according to updates from Türk’s office.

    The UN Human Rights Council was weighing a draft resolution put forward by Britain, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Norway during the urgent debate. The draft singles out the RSF and its affiliated forces for condemnation over escalating violence in and around el-Obeid, calls for expanded financial and logistical support for neighboring nations hosting Sudanese refugees, and denounces all forms of external interference in the Sudanese conflict, among other provisions.

    Sudan’s civil war first erupted in April 2023, rooted in decades of festering tensions between the country’s formal military leadership and the RSF paramilitary group. The conflict has already left at least 59,000 people dead, displaced more than 13 million Sudanese from their homes, and pushed vast swathes of the country into catastrophic famine conditions. UN data estimates that more than 30 million Sudanese currently require life-saving humanitarian assistance to survive.

  • Mahrez retires from Algeria duty after World Cup exit

    Mahrez retires from Algeria duty after World Cup exit

    One of the most decorated figures in Algerian football history has closed the book on his 12-year national team career. Riyad Mahrez, the long-serving captain of Algeria’s men’s national side, has formally announced his retirement from international football, just hours after his team crashed out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup with a 2-0 round of 32 defeat to Switzerland in Vancouver.

    At 35 years old, the winger made the confirmation directly to reporters following the final whistle, bringing an end to a storied international career that included 120 senior appearances and 40 goals for the North African side, nicknamed the Desert Foxes. Reflecting on the match that marked his final outing, Mahrez acknowledged that uncharacteristic errors cost his side a result they believed was well within their grasp. “The goal was to progress, and I think it was a game that was within our reach,” Mahrez said. “We conceded two goals on mistakes, and at this level, we pay dearly for that.” When pressed on whether the Vancouver clash would be his last World Cup appearance, he made his retirement clear: “It’s my last appearance even with the national team. It was my last game.”

    Mahrez leaves international football as one of the most statistically accomplished players in Algeria’s men’s football history. His 120 caps rank him second on the nation’s all-time appearance list, only three behind his current national team teammate Aissa Mandi, who has 123. On the scoring charts, his 40 international goals also place him second, just nine goals behind Islam Slimani’s all-time record of 49.

    The high point of Mahrez’s captaincy came at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, where he led Algeria to their first continental title in nearly three decades. His performance in that tournament remains one of the most iconic moments in Algerian sport: he scored a dramatic stoppage-time free-kick to defeat Nigeria in the semi-final, before the side overcame Senegal in the final to lift the trophy. It stands as the crowning achievement of his international career.

    Even in his final World Cup campaign, Mahrez turned in a record-breaking performance for Algeria. This tournament marked his most productive World Cup outing ever, with three direct goal contributions across four matches: two goals against Austria and one assist against Jordan. No other Algerian player has ever notched more goal involvements in a single World Cup edition. He also earned a place in the history books as the second-oldest African player to ever start a World Cup knockout stage match, with only Senegal’s Idrissa Gueye recording an older starting appearance earlier in this same tournament.

    Born and raised in France, Mahrez made the decision to represent his ancestral Algeria at the international level back in 2013. He earned his first senior cap for the side in early 2014, just ahead of that year’s World Cup in Brazil, where he helped Algeria reach the round of 16. Over the following 12 years, he cemented his status as one of the greatest footballers to ever wear the Algerian national jersey, becoming one of just a small group of Algerian players to hit the 100-cap milestone for his country. Off the international pitch, Mahrez also built a legendary club career in the English Premier League, winning a league title with Leicester City in 2016 before claiming multiple domestic and European honours during a spell at Manchester City. He currently plays for Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli.

  • Ebola treatments trial begins in the Democratic Republic of Congo

    Ebola treatments trial begins in the Democratic Republic of Congo

    The ongoing cross-border Ebola outbreak that first emerged in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda back in May has entered a new phase of response, after the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the launch of clinical trials for untested, potentially life-saving treatments for the rare virus strain driving the current spread.

    WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed Thursday that the first patient has already been enrolled in the trial at a treatment site in the DRC, marking a critical milestone in the global fight against the outbreak, which the WHO previously designated a public health emergency of international concern.

    As of the end of June, official WHO data puts the total confirmed case count at 1,406 in the DRC alone, with an additional 301 suspected cases and 438 recorded deaths across the Central African nation. The outbreak has since spread beyond DRC borders: Uganda has reported 20 confirmed cases and two deaths as of July 1, while one imported confirmed case has been detected in France.

    What makes this outbreak particularly challenging for global health authorities is that it is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola – one of six known Ebola species, for which there are currently no globally approved vaccines or specific treatments. Bundibugyo is a highly infectious strain that, like other Ebola variants, targets the body’s immune system and vital organs, often leading to severe complications and death if left untreated.

    The multi-institutional trial is led by the WHO, with on-the-ground coordination and research support from three leading scientific bodies: the DRC’s own Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale, Belgium’s Institute of Tropical Medicine, and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. The trial will evaluate the safety and efficacy of two separate therapeutic candidates for treating Bundibugyo Ebola infections.

    Addressing reporters at WHO headquarters in Geneva on Thursday, Tedros emphasized that even in the absence of approved targeted treatments, some patients have already recovered from the current outbreak. However, he added that access to proven, safe interventions would drastically reduce mortality from the disease.

    “Even without approved therapeutics, people are recovering from this disease, but of course, we could save many more lives with safe and effective therapeutics in our toolkit,” Tedros told reporters.

    Ebola, which originates in animal populations primarily carried by fruit bats, typically spills over to humans when people handle infected animal carcasses. Human-to-human transmission only occurs once an infected person develops symptoms, with an incubation period ranging from two to 21 days. Early symptoms mirror common tropical illnesses like influenza and malaria, starting with sudden onset of fever, headache, and fatigue, which can make early diagnosis challenging. Because Ebola strains are genetically distinct, vaccine and treatment development must be done separately for each variant to ensure effectiveness.

  • Killers of British couple in South Africa sentenced to life

    Killers of British couple in South Africa sentenced to life

    Six years after a British-South African botanist couple was kidnapped and murdered while conducting field research in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, three perpetrators have received the maximum penalty for their crimes. In a ruling delivered Thursday at the KwaZulu-Natal division of Durban High Court, the three convicted individuals were each sentenced to two consecutive life terms for the 2018 killings of 64-year-old Rachel Saunders and 73-year-old Rodney Saunders.

    The Saunders, who held dual South African and British citizenship, ran a specialized seed business based in Cape Town. In February 2018, the pair traveled north to KwaZulu-Natal to collect indigenous plant and seed samples, carrying research equipment and camping supplies for their field trip. They were last seen alive on February 10 in Ngoye Forest, a protected reserve roughly 93 miles north of the coastal port city of Durban, when they were abducted by the three perpetrators.

    Days after the couple went missing, searchers found their abandoned vehicle covered in blood evidence. Investigators later confirmed that the suspects drained roughly 734,000 South African rand, equivalent to around $44,700, from the couple’s bank accounts. They also used the couple’s stolen bank cards to buy goods in areas surrounding Durban. Rodney Saunders’ body was recovered by fishermen in the Tugela River several weeks after the abduction, while Rachel Saunders’ remains were not identified until June 13, 2018.

    The three convicted are 46-year-old Saffydeen Aslam del Vecchio, his 35-year-old wife Fatima Patel, and Malawian national Ahmad Mussa. All three were found guilty of murder, aggravated robbery, and theft last month, following a years-long legal process. Law enforcement took del Vecchio and Patel into custody just five days after the Saunders disappeared, when a search of their property turned up multiple personal items belonging to the slain couple. Mussa was arrested three weeks later.

    Alongside the life sentences for murder, the court added 15 years of imprisonment for aggravated robbery and four years for theft for each defendant. Del Vecchio received an additional five-year sentence for an unrelated charge of malicious damage to property. All sentences will run concurrently. The case carries additional context: Patel was previously detained in a 2016 anti-terrorism raid near Johannesburg alongside her brother, though no charges were filed in that incident. Court documents also allege that del Vecchio and Patel raised an Islamic State group flag at the Ngoye Forest reserve the same year the Saunders were killed.

  • UN experts report widespread peace deal violations in eastern Congo

    UN experts report widespread peace deal violations in eastern Congo

    In a newly published UN expert report obtained exclusively by the Associated Press in Dakar, Senegal, all belligerent parties involved in the escalating conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been found to systematically breach the terms of a regional peace agreement and perpetrate widespread human rights abuses across the volatile region.

    The December 2020 accord, brokered by the Trump administration, was designed to de-escalate a conflict that has stretched across decades in the mineral-rich eastern DRC. However, the UN panel of experts confirms that every major faction has failed to meet their core commitments under the agreement.

    On one hand, the Congolese national army has continued its long-running collaboration with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Hutu rebel group whose ranks include perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide who fled across the border into the DRC after the mass killings. Under the terms of the December peace deal, the Kinshasa government explicitly pledged to cut all operational ties with the rebel faction.

    On the opposing side, Rwandan military forces continue to deploy thousands of troops inside the DRC to back the M23 rebel movement, despite repeated denials from Kigali. Rwanda has long justified its cross-border military activity by claiming it is targeting FDLR fighters to protect Rwandan national security, a narrative that the DRC government and the U.S. have rejected. Both accuse Rwanda of using counter-insurgency as a cover to seize control of the eastern DRC’s vast reserves of valuable minerals, including gold, coltan and tin that power global tech supply chains.

    M23, which launched a lightning offensive in early 2023 that captured the major eastern city of Goma and multiple other urban centers, also failed to honor its agreement to withdraw from occupied territories. Instead of drawing down, the rebel group has repositioned its forces tactically and retained its core goal of toppling the national government in Kinshasa.

    Today, M23 controls large swathes of territory across the DRC’s North and South Kivu provinces, and the report identifies the Rwanda-backed movement as the leading perpetrator of conflict-related sexual violence in the region. The UN panel estimates that between 14,000 and 18,000 Rwandan military personnel remain deployed inside the DRC as of late 2024, with no indication of a meaningful drawdown in violation of the 2020 accord. Rwanda maintains full operational control over the M23 insurgency, the experts added.

    The illicit smuggling of Congolese minerals from occupied mining areas continues to fund the conflict, the report confirms. M23 operates a parallel shadow economy in territories it controls, where minerals extracted from sites like Rubaya in Masisi territory are smuggled across the border into Rwanda and exported by Rwandan-affiliated companies.

    In recent diplomatic developments, the DRC last week filed a formal case against Rwanda at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), holding Kigali legally responsible for the widespread violence that has displaced millions of people and created what the UN has described as one of the world’s worst and most long-running humanitarian crises. Hours after the report’s findings emerged, the U.S. imposed new sanctions on Rwanda-based Gasabo Gold Refinery, accusing the facility of being part of an illicit network operating in coordination with M23. U.S. officials noted the sanctions are aligned with ongoing peace efforts led by the U.S. and Qatar to resolve the conflict.