Alliance announces fall of Goma city to rebels in eastern Congo as regional war looms
Well-trained and professionally armed, M23 – the latest in a long line of Tutsi-led rebel movements – says it exists to protect Congo’s ethnic Tutsi population.
M23 rebels order UN peacekeepers and national army in eastern Congo to surrender, say they will seize Goma city overnight
The rapidly deepening conflict is aggravating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises and has raised fears the fighting could spill over into a broader regional war.
Civilians flee Goma as UN predicts imminent fall of the eastern Congo capital to M23 rebels
Three years into their current insurgency, the rebels, who the United Nations says receive backing from neighbouring Rwanda, now control more Congolese territory than ever before. Kigali denies supporting the group.
Ex-Ambazonian separatist: I fought to close schools in Cameroon; now I teach to open people’s minds
The Ambazonian rebel group believed that destroying schools would weaken the government’s control over the region, a strategy that left a deep scar on the educational landscape. Armed groups enforced boycotts, burned classrooms and killed teachers who defied their orders. Nearly 488,000 children in the affected regions were out of school in 2024, according to UNICEF.
Rwanda-backed M23 rebels kill least 14 foreign peacekeepers as they advance towards Goma city in eastern Congo
On Saturday, Congo’s army said it fended off an M23 offensive towards Goma with the help of its allied forces, including UN troops and soldiers from the Southern African Development Community Mission, also known as SAMIDRC.
WHO chief accuses rebel Rapid Support Forces of killing 70, injuring 19 people in attack on hospital in Sudan’s Darfur region
Officials and others in the capital of North Darfur province had cited a similar figure on Saturday, but Ghebreyesus is the first international source to provide a casualty number. Reporting on Sudan is incredibly difficult given communication challenges, the indiscriminate violence faced by civilians and exaggerations by both the RSF and the Sudanese military.
How and why Benin’s Voodoo Festival is gaining popularity as Africa’s mecca of divine spirits, attracting foreigners and adherents
The festival gained popularity over the years from within and outside Africa, organisers say, and attracts thousands of locals and foreigners who flock to the Atlantic coast town to experience one of the world’s oldest religions.
Trump’s second coming dashes hopes of Somali refugees in sprawling Daadab camp in Kenya to live in US
Refugee admission quotas overall were also slashed. Tough new security checks meant the numbers of arriving refugees tumbled from the 84,994 recorded during Barack Obama’s last year in office to a record low of 11,814 in 2020 – although the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic also affected numbers.
Israel and Hamas swap hostages and prisoners in second phase of ceasefire deal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Palestinians in Gaza will not be allowed to cross back to the northern part of the territory until the issue is resolved. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had been displaced from northern Gaza during the war and many were expecting to return from Sunday.
Eastern Congo capital, Goma, braces for M23 militia assault as UN warns of imminent biting humanitarian emergency
Since the UN peacekeeping Mission, MONUSCO, withdrew from South Kivu in June 2024, peacekeepers have defended key positions in North Kivu, including Goma and Sake, where clashes between the M23, the Congolese Armed Forces and many other armed groups have continued.
