World News

After nearly two weeks of fighting in northeast Syria, the UN’s humanitarian wing has estimated that around 180,000 have been forced to leave their homes or shelters, including 80,000 children, all in desperate need of humanitarian assistance. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Tuesday that despite a shaky five-day ceasefire, airstrikes and a ground offensive launched ...

New legislation in Qatar which will allow foreign workers to freely change jobs and leave the country without the approval of their employers, has been praised by the International Labour Organization (ILO) as “a momentous step forward in upholding the rights of migrant workers.” The UN agency said the reforms, which will enter into force by January, mark the end ...

A staggering 1.5 million people died from tuberculosis (TB) last year, the UN health agency said on Thursday, in an appeal for far greater funding and political support to eradicate the curable and preventable disease. Caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis, TB commonly causes persistent coughing, fatigue and weight loss. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and its latest ...

The US has imposed sanctions on Turkish ministries and senior government officials in response to the country’s military offensive in northern Syria. President Donald Trump also phoned his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to demand an immediate truce, Vice-President Mike Pence said. Mr Pence said he would travel to the region “as quickly as possible”. The move comes after criticism ...

The African continent cannot continue to rely on foreign aid to finance its transformation, President Paul Kagame has said. Kagame was speaking in Abidjan at the 8th CGECI (Confédération Générale des Entreprises de Côte d’Ivoire) Academy, the largest annual gathering of Private Sector in the West African country. The summit brings together the private sector of the West African countries ...

West African politicians and film stars are among thousands calling for action following a BBC report into sexual harassment at top universities. A year-long investigation by BBC Africa Eye, released on Monday, explored student harassment at the University of Lagos and the University of Ghana. The film showed lecturers propositioning undercover journalists. Three of the men featured, two in Ghana ...

Following the revelation in the ‘Sex for Grade’ documentary video released by BBC Africa Eye, the University of Lagos has shut-down the ‘Cold Room’, where lecturers allegedly sexually assaulted students. The development was announced on Monday by the Principal Assistant Registrar (Communication Unit) of the university, Taiwo Oloyede. The ‘Cold Room’ was mentioned by a lecturer of the school, Boniface ...

Advances in weaponry have made the world smaller, which means leaders are not only responsible for the fate of their citizens but of everyone else on the planet, the President of Ukraine told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said ongoing conflict in places such Syria and Yemen, and his own country, reveal that war is the biggest threat to ...

Our oceans and frozen spaces have been “taking the heat” for global warming for decades, climate experts said on Wednesday, warning that without a radical change in human behaviour, hundreds of millions of people could suffer from rising sea levels, frequent natural disasters and food shortages. “The ocean is warmer, more acidic and less productive”, the report by the Intergovernmental Panel ...

A special climate summit organised by UN Secretary General António Guterres is set to open in New York, but some key world leaders, including Donald Trump, will not take part. Mr Guterres expects leaders to come with new and ambitious plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Youth activists, including Greta Thunberg, will address delegates. Ahead of the one-day summit, scientists ...