Morocco intercepts boat with 141 people as numbers of West African migrants to Spain rise
Spain’s Interior Ministry reported 11,704 migrants had arrived to the Canaries as of February 15 – more than a sixfold increase from a year earlier.
Details emerge of how Israel is planning Rafah attacks, dismembering Hamas before pausing
Military chiefs believe they can significantly damage Hamas’ remaining capabilities in that time, paving the way for a shift to a lower-intensity phase of targeted airstrikes and special forces operations, according to the two Israeli and two regional officials who asked to remain anonymous to speak freely.
Rwanda rejects calls to withdraw from Congo, questions US’ ability ‘to serve as a credible mediator’
The US State Department in a statement on Saturday criticised the worsening violence caused by M23, describing it as a “Rwanda-backed” armed group. That statement also urged Rwanda “to immediately withdraw all Rwanda Defence Force personnel from the (Congo) and remove its surface-to-air missile systems.”
Bayern’s ‘horror film’ puts boss Tuchel in precarious position as his job slips out of his hands
Bayern were already poor enough not to win the league last season, but somehow fluked another championship when Borussia Dortmund threw it all away with a draw at home against Mainz on the final day.
Despite spirited push to incentivise local sugarcane growing, farmers in western Kenya are ditching the ‘lazy man’s’ crop for coffee
Despite the government in the past two years trying to assuage sugarcane farmers by paying them for raw material deliveries that been pending for years, continued interest and investment in “lazy man’s crop” – as sugar cane is derided by agricultural experts and economists – has waned significantly in the sugar-belt.
How arbitrary tax led to rise of Mobondo militia that is killing Teke tribesmen in western Congo
Teke people own much of the land in Kwamouth. Communities from neighbouring provinces – who are considered “non-native” – have historically provided agricultural labour. Some have also settled on the land as farmers, and are taxed in-kind by Teke customary chiefs.
Mexico report sharp rise number of illegal migrants from Africa and Venezuela in 2023
Mexico’s Interior Department said year-end figures showed that nine times more migrants from Africa entered Mexico in 2023, with numbers rising from 6,672 in 2022, to 59,834 in 2023.
Russia security detains 400 people since death of iconic opposition leader Navalny and Putin’s fiercest rival
The death of Navalny robs the disparate Russian opposition of its most prominent leader as Putin prepares for the March presidential election – a rubber-stamp vote set to keep the former KGB spy in power until at least 2030.
White House announces US President Biden will host Kenya’s President Ruto in May
Word of Ruto’s visit comes after Haiti announced this week that it is working on an official agreement with Kenyan officials to secure the long-awaited deployment of Kenyan police forces there. High-ranking officials from both countries recently met in the US for three days to draft a memorandum of understanding and set a deadline for the arrival of forces in Haiti from the east African country.
World Court to hear arguments on Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories
The General Assembly also asked the ICJ’s 15-judge panel to advise on how those policies and practices “affect the legal status of the occupation” and what legal consequences arise for all countries and the United Nations from this status.
