World News

Nigeria must urgently address its failure to protect and provide education to an entire generation of children in the Northeast, a region devastated by years of Boko Haram atrocities and gross violations by the military, Amnesty International warned today in a chilling new report. The 91-page report, ‘We dried our tears’: Addressing the toll on children of Northeast Nigeria’s conflict, ...

The UN says at least 38 people have been killed by an armed group in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. They were killed in a series of attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in the provinces of Ituri and North Kivu. A local monitoring groups says nearly 500 civilians have been killed by the ADF since ...

In Malawi, where children with albinism face attacks, and even ritual killings, going to school can expose them to life-threatening dangers. The UN is helping to make schools safer for these vulnerable students.  Chinsisi Jafali, a 14-year-old with albinism, knows that going to school is a risky prospect, but it’s a risk he’s prepared to take. “I have six siblings ...

The World Health Organization is warning Africa against relaxing its testing efforts on Covid-19. So far Africa has recorded over 115,000 cases of coronavirus with deaths just a little over 3,400 as at May 26. Despite Africa’s case count still low compared to other continents, the WHO says that could be the case due to limited testing in some African ...

Teachers in South Africa want the planned reopening of schools on 1 June halted, Independent Online news website reports. Educators Union of SA (Eusa) general secretary Siphiwe Mpungose is quoted as saying that they will file a court application on Monday against the Department of Basic Education (DBE). The DBE had announced that Grade 7 and Grade 12 will reopen ...

Hong Kong needs a controversial new security law to tackle “growing terrorism”, the territory’s security chief has said. John Lee said the city had become “shrouded in the shadow of violence”. After months of quiet, this weekend saw a fresh surge of protest after the government in Beijing proposed a security law that would radically change Hong Kong’s unique status. ...

Foreign visitors to Spain will no longer have to undergo a two-week quarantine from 1 July, the government has announced. It said the measure had been finalised in a cabinet meeting on Monday. Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya had previously said the requirement would be lifted in July, without giving a date. The news comes as the UK government prepares ...

Lufthansa has agreed a rescue deal worth €9bn (£8bn) with the German government that saves it from collapse. The German airline has been severely affected by a decline in travel due to the coronavirus and closed its budget airline Germanwings in April. The German government will take a 20% stake in the firm, which it intends to sell by the end ...

Negotiations remain the only way to overcome the ongoing political deadlock in Venezuela, especially given the potentially far-reaching impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior UN official told the Security Council on Wednesday. “Venezuela is mired in a deepening protracted crisis that only Venezuelans can resolve,” said Rosemary A. DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs. Despite significant international facilitation ...

Zimbabwe’s justice minister has threatened to prosecute three female opposition members who allege they were arrested and then abducted from police custody and sexually assaulted. They say they were beaten and forced to drink each other’s urine. The three, including an MP, are being treated in hospital for their injuries. Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said the women made up the ...