Blog

Osama Almasri Najim was arrested in Italy in January on an ICC warrant, only to be released and flown back to LibyaA Libyan general wanted by the international criminal court (ICC) for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity has been arrested in Tripoli.Osama Almasri Najim, the former chief of Libya’s judicial police, was arrested over allegations of torturing prisoners, leading to the death of one, at Tripoli’s main prison, […]

A Sudanese massacre foretold. Plus Margaret Atwood on our dystopian worldGet the Guardian Weekly delivered to your home addressFor some time now, El Fasher in Sudan has been a city beyond the reach of journalists. But the haunting satellite image on our cover this week, of smoke billowing from fires near El Fasher’s airport, told its own story as starkly as anything that could be reported from the ground.Other satellite […]

After it was found most offsets did not represent real carbon reductions, the money dried up. But successful schemes such as Kasigau in Kenya now face a stark futureSolomon Morris Makau checks the fallen tree for snakes before he wraps a tape measure around the trunk. The early morning sun is overwhelming in the dryland forests of the Kasigau corridor, which separates the east and west Tsavo national parks in […]

Ugandans react with joy after Kampala-born Mamdani’s victory during a trying time for democracy in east AfricaUgandans reacted with joy and hope to the news that Kampala-born Zohran Mamdani had been elected mayor of New York City, amid a stormy democratic and rights environment in east Africa.Mamdani, who was born in Uganda 34 years ago to a family of Indian origin, on Tuesday defeated former governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican […]

Project in southern Nigeria to honour the city’s centuries-old artistic traditions and bring a new audience to contemporary artFor weeks, residents of Iyekogba in Benin City have seen a 15-metre-high tower rising up in the middle of their quiet, residential neighbourhood. On 8 November, the building, a domed bamboo pavilion, will finally be unveiled at the start of Nigeria’s inaugural Black Muse art festival.Designed by the renowned Nigerian architect James […]

South Sudanese people with temporary protected status now have 60 days to leaveThe US is ending temporary deportation protection for South Sudanese nationals, which for more than a decade allowed people from the east African country to stay in the US after escaping conflict.In a notice published on Wednesday, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said conditions in South Sudan no longer met the statutory requirements for temporary protected […]

Men aged 20 to 39 ‘lured to join mercenary force’ in Donbas region have requested assistance to return homeSouth Africa is launching an investigation into how 17 of its citizens ended up in the war-torn region of Donbas in eastern Ukraine.The office of the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, said it had received distress calls from 17 men, aged between 20 and 39, who had been “lured to join mercenary […]

International mediators broker three-month halt to civil war as further evidence emerges of mass civilian killingsA Sudanese paramilitary group accused of killing thousands of unarmed civilians in an ethnically motivated massacre has agreed to a truce.The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which is facing mounting criticism over apparent war crimes committed by its fighters in the city of El Fasher last month, said it had agreed to a “humanitarian ceasefire” put […]

What does the fall of El Fasher mean for the future of Sudan? Kaamil Ahmed reportsBy the time Mohamed Douda arrived in El Fasher, a city in the Darfur region of Sudan, the battle between the Sudanese armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was already under way.Over the following months, as the RSF tightened their siege on the city, Douda, a community spokesperson and local activist, updated the […]

Exclusive: British government adopted ‘least ambitious’ option months before RSF’s massacres in El FasherBritain rejected atrocity prevention plans for Sudan despite intelligence warnings that the city of El Fasher would fall amid a wave of ethnic cleansing and possible genocide, according to a report seen by the Guardian.Government officials turned down the plans six months into the 18-month siege of El Fasher in favour of the “least ambitious” option of […]