Politics or banditry: Speculation rife as Kenya’s military chief dies in suspect helicopter crash

Politics or banditry: Speculation rife as Kenya’s military chief dies in suspect helicopter crash

Gen Ogolla, 61, was on a tour of the country’s troubled western region that has seen frequent attacks by local bandits. He was appointed Kenya’s Chief of Defence Forces in April last year after Gen Robert Kibochi retired.

Read more
Explainer: How UN food security agency uses deaths and malnutrition to declare famine

Explainer: How UN food security agency uses deaths and malnutrition to declare famine

In the 21st century, climate-related famines have largely been averted thanks to an innovative tool to track acute hunger, developed during the crisis in Somalia in 2004 by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and now used by humanitarian agencies worldwide. This initiative is called the Integrated Security Phase Classification or IPC.

Read more
Power blackouts hit Tanzania as Cyclone Hidaya intensifies towards the country’s coastline

Power blackouts hit Tanzania as Cyclone Hidaya intensifies towards the country’s coastline

Heavy rainfall and strong winds have been reported in the coastal areas of Mtwara and Lindi, with forecasts saying that Tanzania’s commercial hub, Dar es Salaam, may be affected.

Read more
Balkan gangsters piggybacked on South America’s exports, are now biggest ‘locomotive’ driving Europe’s booming cocaine trade

Balkan gangsters piggybacked on South America’s exports, are now biggest ‘locomotive’ driving Europe’s booming cocaine trade

Despite some takedowns of major Balkan traffickers, they continue to flood Europe with cocaine due to their ever-evolving tactics, officials said. Custodio, the Brazilian detective who led the Aleksandar Nesic probe, said Balkan gangs used to create dummy companies to facilitate the movement of their drugs, but are now acquiring legitimate exporters.

Read more
Narcotics trade: To oust Latin America cocaine crowd, Balkan cartels settled in South America, made roots, married local women  

Narcotics trade: To oust Latin America cocaine crowd, Balkan cartels settled in South America, made roots, married local women  

Balkan traffickers bribe or threaten Balkan sailors to tamper with shipping containers, stash cocaine in their belongings, or haul it onto their vessels from smaller boats while out at sea. Back on land, criminals within Europe’s Balkan diaspora community have provided distribution and retail infrastructure for street sales, giving the Balkan Cartel a presence along the entire supply chain, authorities said.

Read more
How Balkan gangsters orchestrated cocaine smuggling revolution in Europe, became drug lords

How Balkan gangsters orchestrated cocaine smuggling revolution in Europe, became drug lords

Balkan trafficking outfits have eschewed the top-down, territorial structure of cartels from Mexico and Colombia, working instead in small cells that are highly mobile, secretive and capable of moving astonishingly large loads of cocaine, counter-narcotics officials said.

Read more
Investigations reveal ‘Biden says he told Nigeria to kill fewer civilians, but Nigeria keeps killing lots of civilians’

Investigations reveal ‘Biden says he told Nigeria to kill fewer civilians, but Nigeria keeps killing lots of civilians’

Between 2000 and 2022, the US provided, facilitated or approved more than $2 billion in security aid, including weapons and equipment sales to Nigeria, according to report by Brown University’s Centre for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies and the Security Assistance Monitor at the Centre for International Policy, a Washington think-tank. Over that time, the US also carried out more than 41,000 training courses for Nigerian military personnel.

Read more
Eight national army soldiers sentenced to death for cowardice by Congolese martial court

Eight national army soldiers sentenced to death for cowardice by Congolese martial court

The decades-long conflict in eastern Congo has produced one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with over 200 armed groups fighting in the region, most for land and control of mines with valuable minerals.

Read more
Man City boss Guardiola has seen it all, done it all, won it all – is there anything more to fight for in Premier League?

Man City boss Guardiola has seen it all, done it all, won it all – is there anything more to fight for in Premier League?

In terms of Guardiola’s legacy, there are more risks from staying on. If Arsenal continue to be City’s main challenger next year and pips them to the title, there would be a certain dissatisfaction in Guardiola being beaten by his former assistant. On the other hand, if Guardiola were to resign, City were to fall away and Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal were to triumph, that would actually reflect well on his legacy.

Read more
UN humanitarian agency estimates 10,000 people are buried under rubble in Gaza

UN humanitarian agency estimates 10,000 people are buried under rubble in Gaza

Nearly all of the 600,000 children now sheltering in the southern border city of Rafah are “injured, sick or malnourished”, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) chief said in a video post on X on Wednesday.

Read more
Kenya postpones school reopening a second time as flood-related death toll exceeds 210

Kenya postpones school reopening a second time as flood-related death toll exceeds 210

The government has ordered people living near 178 dams and reservoirs that are either full or nearly full to evacuate or be forcefully moved. Water levels at two major hydroelectric dams have reached historic highs and the government has warned those living downstream along the Tana River.

Read more
Elections security gets top priority as South Africa turns to 350 private firms to assist police

Elections security gets top priority as South Africa turns to 350 private firms to assist police

Police and voting stations have received threats and intimidation before Election Day

Read more