Home
Nigeria floods kill 500, displace 1.4 million people
- Details
- Written by northsouth
- Category: Africa
- Hits: 523
ABUJA - About 500 people have died in Nigeria's worst floods in a decade and 1.4 million others been displaced from their homes since the start of the rainy season, the government has said.
Floods caused by abundant rains and poor infrastructure have affected vast swathes of Africa's most populous country sparking fears they could worsen food insecurity and inflation.
Nigeria's Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs said that "over 1.4 million persons were displaced, about 500 persons have been reported dead... and 1,546 persons were injured".
"Similarly, 45,249 houses were totally damaged... while 70,566 hectares of farmlands were completely destroyed," the statement from the ministry's Deputy Director Information, Rhoda Ishaku Iliya.
National Emergency Management Agency spokesman Manzo Ezekiel told AFP on Wednesday the latest figures were from last weekend.
Most deaths
While the rainy season usually begins around June, most deaths and displacements started "around August and September" Ezekiel added.
"We are taking all the necessary actions to bring relief to the people affected by the flood," humanitarian affairs ministry official Nasir Sani-Gwarzo said.
Fuel scarcity caused long queues at petrol stations in the capital Abuja this week after tankers were blocked by floods in neighbouring states.
In southern Anambra state, 76 people died when a boat capsized last Friday during flooding of the Niger River.
More abundant rains are expected in the coming weeks and months -- the rainy season typically ends in November in northern states and in December in the south.
Until Thursday, "heavy rainfall is anticipated over parts of Taraba, Ebonyi, Benue and Cross Rivers State," the Meteorological Agency said on Facebook, adding that "flash flooding is likely".
Floods were also caused by the release of water from several damns, a process that was meant to prevent excessive flooding.
The high level of damage caused is also because "people violate regional planning (rules), constructing (houses and buildings) near waterways," said Ezekiel.
In 2012, 363 people died and more than 2.1 million were displaced from flooding.
Russia-Ukraine war
Sub-Saharan Africa is disproportionately affected by climate change and many of its economies are already struggling from ripple effects of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Rice producers have warned that the devastating floods could impact prices in the country of some 200 million people where rice imports are banned to stimulate local production.
The World Food Programme and the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization said last month that Nigeria was among six countries facing a high risk of catastrophic levels of hunger.
European force battling extremists withdraws from Mali
- Details
- Written by northsouth
- Category: Africa
- Hits: 577
By ANGELA CHARLTON
PARIS — A European military task force that helped Mali’s government fight Islamic extremists has formally withdrawn from the West African country amid tensions with its ruling military junta.
The French military, which spearheaded the Takuba task force, announced Friday that it officially ended its work Thursday. The move was tied to France’s decision earlier this year to withdraw troops from Mali after nine years helping Malian forces fight violent extremists who had threatened to seize power.
The European departure comes after at least 132 people were killed in several villages in central Mali in recent weeks in attacks blamed on jihadi rebels linked to al-Qaida, and after a contractor for the U.N. peacekeeping force in Mali was killed Thursday.
It also comes as Mali’s junta has grown closer to Russia, as Moscow has looked to build alliances and gain sway in Africa.
The European Takuba force was composed of several hundred special forces troops from 10 countries: Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, and Sweden. It aimed at training and protecting Malian combat forces.
Despite the withdrawal, the French military called the force a “strategic and tactical success” and an example of “what Europeans are able to achieve together in complex security environments,” saying that lessons learned from Takuba could be used in future joint operations.
In announcing its pullout, France accused Mali’s authorities of neglecting the fight against Islamic extremists. France is maintaining a military presence in neighboring West African nations facing similar threats.
Insurgents remain active in Mali, and extremist groups affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have moved from the arid north to more populated central Mali, stoking animosity and violence between ethnic groups in the region.
The recent attacks on villages in central Mali were the deadliest since mutinous soldiers toppled the president in 2020.
Then on Thursday, a Malian contractor for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali was killed by armed militants on a motorcycle in the city of Menaka. The U.N. force MINUSMA said he was in route to see his hospitalized wife when he was killed, denouncing the killing as a “cowardly and barbaric act.”
The U.N. Security Council voted Wednesday to maintain the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali, while condemning its military rulers for using mercenaries who are accused of committing human rights and humanitarian violations.
The junta has hired mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group, which has been accused by the European Union and human rights groups of violating human rights and international humanitarian law. While the Kremlin denies links to the company, Western analysts call it a tool of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russia and China abstained from the French-drafted U.N. resolution, which extends the mandate of the mission until June 30, 2023, with its current ceiling of 13,289 military personnel and 1,920 international police.
Officials say more than 270 peacekeepers have died in Mali, making it the U.N.’s deadliest peacekeeping mission.
Israel at the African Union: Not in, but not out
- Details
- Written by northsouth
- Category: Africa
- Hits: 661
By Suraya Dadoo, writer based in Johannesburg
ADDIS ABABA - Frantic lobbying, leaders more concerned about watching the AFCON final, and head-spinning back-tracking characterised discussions on Israel’s accreditation to the African Union (AU) when leaders gathered at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa on 5-6 February during the continental body’s Heads of State summit.
A 22 July decision by AU Commission chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, to unilaterally accredit Israel has split the AU. South Africa and Algeria are leading opposition to Israel’s accreditation, while most west and east African nations have defended Mahamat’s Israel accreditation.
Those fault lines are now cracking open, and the issue of Israel’s accreditation risks tearing the AU apart and permanently damaging its integrity.
Israel's accreditation suspended
In October, the AU’s executive committee postponed a decision about Israel’s accreditation until the heads of state meeting. On Sunday morning, debate and voting about the divisive issue were suspended out of fear that it could collapse the entire summit – the first in-person meeting of African leaders since the Covid-19 pandemic began two years ago.
Instead, delegates unanimously agreed to appoint a committee to investigate Mahamat’s decision to grant Israel accreditation.
The committee would consist of South Africa, Algeria, and Nigeria – all opposed to Israel’s accreditation – and Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Cameroon, all pro-Israel. The new AU chairperson and Senegalese president, Macky Sall, who is also pro-Israel, will co-ordinate the committee.
The meeting also agreed that until the committee makes its final recommendations, Mahamat’s decision to accredit Israel would be suspended. It was a principled, sensible conclusion, reached through consensus - the AU’s preferred method of decision-making.
Crucially, it also helped avoid a split in the AU. The issue was, by all accounts, resolved. The decision would be drafted and a resolution presented in the afternoon.
The Palestinian delegation at the AU was informed, and by lunchtime, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press release welcoming the decision and declaring it a ‘victory’ for Palestinians. Other Palestinian political factions, such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, also released similar statements.
South African minister of international relations, Naledi Pandor, even confirmed to South African journalists that Mahamat’s decision “is suspended and it will not be implemented.” Both Israeli and Palestinian media soon began reporting that Israel’s accreditation to the AU had been suspended.
Israel's lunchtime lobbying
Israeli delegates, however, used the lunch break to frantically lobby members to re-open discussion on the issue.
Sources who were at the AU summit confirmed to The New Arab that Israel had promised additional military, surveillance, and intelligence assistance to several African leaders in the hopes that they would demand the issue of its accreditation be revisited in the afternoon.
Israel’s back-channel diplomacy was successful, and the matter was tabled for debate again - betraying the spirit of consensus-based decision-making at the AU.
Chaotic final session
The issue of contention was not the establishment of the committee, but the suspension of Mahamat’s decision. Under the chairmanship of Macky Sall, the ensuing debate that took place was seen as shameful by many.
Sall and other leaders called, on more than one occasion, for the discussion to be curtailed so they could watch the AFCON final.
Delegates from South Africa, Algeria, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Libya, Nigeria, Tunisia, Namibia and several other nations argued strongly that the earlier decision should stand, and that Israel’s accreditation be suspended.
However, Morocco, Senegal, Uganda, Rwanda, Cameroon, Chad and the DRC, amongst others, argued that Israel’s observer status should remain valid.
Shockingly, Sall suddenly ended the meeting with a declaration that Mahamat’s decision to accredit Israel be upheld, pending the deliberations of the committee.
Palestine: A foreign issue?
“Africa should not be divided by something even which is foreign to Africa,” Sall said in response to a question on the status of Israel’s accreditation from the South African Broadcasting Corporation during the final press briefing soon after the chaotic debate ended. It’s an assertion that African activists have strongly rejected.
“How can Israel’s occupation of Palestine and Zionism be regarded as a ‘foreign issue’ when the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) explicitly makes fighting Zionism an AU responsibility?” asked Dialo Diop of the Pan-African Palestine Solidarity Network (PAPSN) - a coalition of African civil society groups from across the continent mobilising support for Palestine.
Dialo is correct. Allowing Israel to be accredited to the AU actually contravenes the continental body’s own guiding document, the Constitutive Act. The Constitutive Act commits the AU to “promote and protect human and peoples’ right in accordance with the ACHPR.”
The African Charter itself makes a commitment on behalf of Africans to “eliminate colonialism, neo-colonialism, apartheid, [and] Zionism”. Far from being ‘foreign’, Israel and its occupation of Palestine is a part of the African Union’s DNA.
Perhaps a more pertinent question for African diplomats lobbying for Israel’s accreditation is this: how is it possible to give Israel observer status when the AU is supposed to be committed to opposing Zionism - the foundational political ideology of that state?
Shouldn't we be discussing the coups?
During the discussion on Israel’s accreditation, some pro-Israel delegates argued that it was a waste of time spending energy discussing Israel’s AU accreditation when Africa has - in the time since Africa’s leaders last gathered physically at the AU - experienced six coups or attempted coups. “This is something which isn’t even an internal issue,” lamented Sall.
But Israel is very much an African problem – particularly its supply of weapons and spyware to some of Africa’s most brutal regimes.
In the last decade, Israeli military exports to Africa have increased by 309%. Israel’s Ministry of Defence allows the export of invasive spyware to several authoritarian regimes in Africa – to be used against their own citizens and even against other heads of state.
Israel: Not in, but not out
The Israeli government, meanwhile, has been reluctant to celebrate Sunday’s debacle at the AU as a victory. Although Mahamat’s decision to accredit Israel still stands, the vote to confirm its observer status at the AU didn’t happen. So, for the time being, Israel isn’t out of the AU. But it’s not officially in either.
With no official confirmation of its accreditation, Israel still has not entered into a formal relationship with the AU. More importantly for Tel Aviv, though, is that as the apartheid label is increasingly used to describe Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians, the political and diplomatic recognition that comes with attaining observer status at the AU still eludes it.
The fallout continues
The acrimony from the discussions around Israel’s accreditation has continued long after diplomats returned home.
In Addis Ababa, Mahamat defended his decision to grant Israel observer status. One of the reasons he provided was that 44 out of the 55 AU member states have relations with Israel.
Calling it a “double standard”, Mahamat said he found it difficult to understand the rejection of Israel’s observer status by AU members who have representation in Tel Aviv “and which hoists, in the heart of its own capital, the Israeli flag while organising in its honour a grand ceremony of presentation of credentials.”
This was a thinly-veiled reference to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent acceptance of credentials from the Israeli ambassador to South Africa – a move that angered Palestine solidarity activists in South Africa.
Mahamat’s remarks were not well-received in Pretoria.
On Tuesday, South Africa’s Parliament said that its international relations committee will be meeting with South African Foreign Minister, Naledi Pandor, to address some of the statements about South Africa contained in Mahamat’s speech at the AU.
“This issue can divide us… Africa cannot be divided,” Sall told journalists on Sunday night. But many would argue that Israel’s back-channel diplomacy has already undermined Africa’s fragile unity.
Either way, African leaders squandered a valuable opportunity to show that they really are in solidarity with Palestine and are committed to fighting colonialism and apartheid. In doing so, they also missed a chance to present themselves as principled and consistent.
Insecurity a top issue as African leaders meet in Ethiopia
- Details
- Written by northsouth
- Category: Africa
- Hits: 694
ADDIS ABABA — African leaders are meeting Saturday at a summit that is expected to discuss the continent’s most pressing challenges, including a new wave of coups in West Africa and a slow response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, is also expected to gather support for Africa’s push toward permanent representation on the United Nations Security Council.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in his opening remarks called for cooperation among African nations in demanding two permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council.
“Today, more than seven decades after the creation of the United Nations, Africa remains a junior partner, without a meaningful input or role within the system of international governance,” Abiy said.
“We should collectively insist that Africa’s reasonable request for no less than two permanent seats and five non-permanent seats in the U.N. Security Council be adopted.”
Speaking via video link, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said cooperation between the the U.N. and the African Union “is stronger than ever.” Guterres noted that “injustice is deeply embedded in global systems,” with Africans “paying the heaviest price.”
“The unethical inequalities that suffocate Africa fuel armed conflict, political, economic, ethnic and social tensions, human rights abuses, violence against women, terrorism, military coups and a sentiment of impunity,” he said.
Most of the summit’s sessions will be held behind closed doors.
The African Union, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary in July, has often been criticized for its apparent inconsistencies in responding to sporadic crises on the continent of 1.3 billion people.
Ahead of the summit, the bloc’s most recent major decision was to suspend Burkina Faso after mutinous soldiers ousted democratically elected President Roch Marc Christian Kabore in a coup, citing his inability to stem Islamic extremist violence. That decision came after the West African regional bloc ECOWAS had suspended Burkina Faso.
West Africa’s new wave of coups began in 2020 in Mali, followed by another in Guinea the following year, and then Burkina Faso in late January. Just a week later, gunmen tried and failed to overthrow the president of Guinea-Bissau.
Elsewhere, there are deadly conflicts in countries ranging from Mozambique to Ethiopia.
The International Crisis Group said in a statement that securing a cease-fire in Ethiopia, supporting dialogue in the Sahel and reforming the African Union Mission in Somalia should be among the African Union’s priorities this year.
“It has been a turbulent year for Africa: tens of thousands killed in wars in the Horn of Africa, countries falling back under military rule, and struggles with faltering transitions and Islamist militancy,” the group said ahead of the Summit. “The (African Union’s) institutions must be able to tackle these problems, as well as climate change-related security threats.”
Human Rights Watch urged President Macky Sall of Senegal to focus on civilian protection, justice and accountability as he takes up the presidency of the African Union.
“Despite the challenges, Sall has an opportunity to demonstrate the AU’s leadership and commitment to its founding principles by taking bold, uncompromising stances against state-sponsored abuses, responding to victims’ calls for protection and justice, and pressing for equal and fair multilateral relations with the Global North,” Carine Kaneza Nantulya, Africa advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
The African Union summit should prioritize addressing the rampant abuses occurring in the conflict in Ethiopia between fighters loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and the Ethiopian federal government and its allies, including Eritrea, the rights group said.
Main News
latest news
- Google sacks 28 employees over Israel protest
- Kyiv opens string of new Africa embassies, in diplomatic push
- Nigeria strikes deal with Shell to supply $3.8bn methanol project
- Tunisia jails journalist Mohamed Boughalleb for six months
- Deadly heat in West Africa warns of climate change, report
- After COVID, WHO defines disease spread 'through air'
- Reuters' Med Salem wins 2024 World Press Photo of the Year award
- Flooded UAE counts cost of epic rainstorm
- MERA25 condemns Germany’s ban on Yanis Varoufakis
- Pentagon Recognizes “Officially” that Israel is a Nuclear Power. Declassified Document
- Germany confirms collaboration with genocide by Shutting down Palestine Conference
- Germany buries evidence of complicity in Gaza genocide: Nicaragua exposes it
- EU lobby register not properly enforced, warns watchdog
- Majority of Gaza’s frozen embryos destroyed in Israeli strike
- At least 17 killed in Russian strike in Kharkiv
- Russian missiles slam into a Ukrainian city and kill 8 people
- UK inflation falls by less than forecast to 3.2%
- Israel speeds up settlement-building in East Jerusalem since Gaza war
- IMF: World economy ‘resilient’ but conflict risks food and energy price hikes
- EasyJet cancels all flights to Israel for six months
- Iran shuts nuclear facilities amid fears of Israeli attack
- Undersea ‘hybrid warfare’ threatens security of 1bn, Nato
- Iran says any action against its interests will get a severe response
- 10 African countries with the strongest currencies in 2024
- Rwanda scheme ‘could cost UK nearly £5bn in first five years’ for 30,000 migrants
Europe
MERA25 condemns Germany’s ban on Yanis Varoufakis
Germany confirms collaboration with genocide by Shutting down Palestine Conference
Germany buries evidence of complicity in Gaza genocide: Nicaragua exposes it
EU lobby register not properly enforced, warns watchdog
At least 17 killed in Russian strike in Kharkiv
Russian missiles slam into a Ukrainian city and kill 8 people
UK inflation falls by less than forecast to 3.2%
Undersea ‘hybrid warfare’ threatens security of 1bn, Nato
Rwanda scheme ‘could cost UK nearly £5bn in first five years’ for 30,000 migrants
Attendance down at PM Eid party amid reports of boycott over Gaza
RAF jets downed attack drones in Iranian assault on Israel, Sunak
Poland: Vote to amend law step towards access to safe and legal abortion
Eurojust tackles fraud of EUR 645 million with medicinal cannabis plants
DiEM25 and MERA25 condemn Germany’s ban of Palestine Congress in Berlin
Yanis Varoufakis banned from political activity in Germany
Five criminals behind multi-million pound benefit fraud convicted in the UK
EU passes asylum and migration pact after eight years of deadlock
Ukraine developing ‘unstoppable’ AI-powered attack drone with Western backing
Germany says 'history' drives Israel aid in ICJ case
Ukraine developing ‘unstoppable’ AI-powered attack drone with Western backing
Spain axes 'golden visa' popular with British expats
UN warns of ‘nuclear accident’ after drone attacks on Russia-held Zaporizhzhia power plant
Civil servants threaten action over UK arms sales to Israel
Lebanon’s billionaire PM denies allegations of money laundering in France
A drone attack kills 4 people in Ukraine’s second-largest city
Asia
In Modi’s India, opponents and journalists squeezed ahead of election
Vietnamese billionaire sentenced to death for $44 billion fraud
People blown from apartments as typhoon-like winds ravage southern China
North Korea says it tested a new hypersonic intermediate-range missile
Strongest earthquake in 25 years rocks Taiwan, killing 9 people
India rejects China's renaming of 30 places in Himalayan border state
An Indian court sends opposition leader, Arvind Kejriwal, to jail until April 15
Pakistan court grants Imran Khan appeal of graft conviction, sentence suspended
India's Modi questions rival Congress about island ceded to Sri Lanka
India opposition unites over pre-election arrest, blames PM Modi
India advances controversial anti-Muslim citizenship law
Philippines' Marcos vows countermeasures in response to Chinese 'attacks'
Pakistan’s jurists accuse intelligence agency ISI of intimidation
India: Authorities Revoke Visa Privileges of Diaspora Critics
China vows to safeguard its territorial integrity after South China Sea incident
At least 40 fires set in night of arson across Thailand's south
Vietnam's president resigns, raising questions over stability
India’s new citizenship law excludes Muslims. Why?
Chinese Nobel-winning author targeted in patriotic lawsuit
Chinese military to boost strategic capabilities in areas such as AI, unmanned tech
Indonesia floods, landslide kill 19, with seven missing
China discovers oil field of proven reserve of 102 million tons in South China Sea
Philippine president alarmed by Chinese attack in South China Sea
EU-IFAD launch new initiative to boost digital remittances in Central Asia
China raises defence budget by 7.2%
Africa
Kyiv opens string of new Africa embassies, in diplomatic push
Nigeria strikes deal with Shell to supply $3.8bn methanol project
Deadly heat in West Africa warns of climate change, report
10 African countries with the strongest currencies in 2024
World paid little attention to Sudan’s war for a year
Global community response to Sudan conflict remains woefully inadequate
Tanzania is wooing Chinese tourists with a new documentary
The rate of growth in new and active mobile money accounts in 2023 slowed down
Ethiopia bets on property ownership offer to attract foreign investors
South Africa’s coal closure delay could result in air pollution-related deaths
Senegal’s Economy growing at a much slower rate
Somalia closed Ethiopian consulates and returned the country’s ambassador
Zambia’s economy grew by 5.8% last year
Ethiopia repatriates 70,000 nationals from Saudi Arabia
Kenya plans Chinese, Japanese bonds to fund $2.5 billion deficit
Ethiopia repatriates 70,000 nationals from Saudi Arabia
Ethiopia repatriates 70,000 nationals from Saudi Arabia
Ethiopia repatriates 70,000 nationals from Saudi Arabia
Kenya plans Chinese, Japanese bonds to fund $2.5 billiondeficit
Somalia and IFAD sign new financial agreement to strengthen food security
Sudan suspends work of Al Arabiya, Al Hadath and Sky News Arabia channels
Senegal President Faye appoints ally Sonko as prime minister
Hunger grips southern Africa as Zimbabwe declares drought a disaster
Morocco hosts one of Africa’s first exhibitions of Cuban art
At least 12 killed, 15 children missing in South Sudan attack
Americas
Google sacks 28 employees over Israel protest
Pentagon Recognizes “Officially” that Israel is a Nuclear Power. Declassified Document
IMF: World economy ‘resilient’ but conflict risks food and energy price hikes
Biden agrees to provide $6.4 billion to Samsung for making computer chips in Texas
Pope Francis sides with Peruvian villagers
Multiple people shot during Eid festival in Philadelphia
Biden to consider Australia's request to drop prosecution of Wikileaks founder Assange
Brazil: New IFAD-funded project to promote payment for environmental services
US flags Kenya over bribes, extortion in public tenders
At least 241 people have died in El Salvador’s prisons during the ‘war on gangs’
World Central Kitchen founder says staff 'deliberately targeted' while delivering aid
Forbes’ rich list gains $2 trillion as Taylor Swift and Altman become billionaires
World Central Kitchen is saving lives with food but paying a price in blood
Famine 'quite possibly' in some areas of north Gaza, US official
Pro-Palestine protesters disrupt Biden’s star-studded fundraiser
Most Americans disapprove of Israel’s actions in Gaza: Poll
US and EU breaking taboos to restrain Israel
Trump wins pause of $454 million civil fraud ruling, averting asset seizures
Netanyahu cancels Washington visit after US abstains on Gaza ceasefire vote at UN
Canadian students hunger-strike for college to divest from Israel-linked firms
UN Security Council to vote Friday on US resolution on Gaza ceasefire
Trump’s invite to major donors prioritizes committee paying his legal bills over RNC
Gaza’s waterfront property could be ‘very valuable’, Jared Kushner
US approves possible Javelin missile sale to Morocco, Pentagon
Biden says Schumer’s call for new Israeli elections was ‘a good speech’
Australia & Pacific
Sydney rocked by second mass stabbing as knifeman attacks bishop
Three dead, 1,000 homes destroyed in Papua New Guinea quake
Australia and UK sign defense and security treaty
Australia tightens student visa rules as migration hits record high
Global food crisis and the effects of climate change need urgent action, IFAD
Indonesia, Australia to sign defence pact within months
Australia to ban doxxing after pro-Palestinians publish information about hundreds of Jews
Australia launches inquiry into why Cabinet documents relating to Iraq war remain secret
Australia says AI will help track Chinese submarines under new Aukus plan
China warns Australia to act prudently in naval operations in South China Sea
Christopher Luxon sworn in as new prime minister of New Zealand
Australian Intelligence Report Identifies China as Major Backer of Cyber Crime
Thousands in Australia join pro-Palestinian march over Gaza
Australia rejects Indigenous referendum in setback for reconciliation
Qatar Airways CEO says Australian decision to block flights ‘very unfair’
Moroccan Othmane El Goumri wins Sydney marathon
More than half of Australians oppose Indigenous panel in constitution, poll
Three US Marines die in 'tragic' Australia helicopter crash
Australian bus carrying wedding guests rolls over killing 10 and injuring 25
Guam, where America’s next war may begin
Women most victims of islamophobia in Australia
Time to step up investments in rural communities in the Pacific islands
Australia’s ‘quiet diplomacy’ approach to human rights in India has failed
Public support high in Australia and NZ to accept more Rohingya
Australia to honour Aboriginal peoples instead of UK monarchy
MENA
Tunisia jails journalist Mohamed Boughalleb for six months
Reuters' Med Salem wins 2024 World Press Photo of the Year award
Flooded UAE counts cost of epic rainstorm
Majority of Gaza’s frozen embryos destroyed in Israeli strike
Israel speeds up settlement-building in East Jerusalem since Gaza war
EasyJet cancels all flights to Israel for six months
Iran shuts nuclear facilities amid fears of Israeli attack
Iran says any action against its interests will get a severe response
Israel quiet on next move against Iran
Why has Iran attacked Israel?
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh says three sons killed in Gaza strike
Israel's Gaza withdrawal hints at what comes next
How much could it cost to rebuild Gaza after Israel's war with Hamas?
Israel purchases 40,000 tents for Rafah evacuation, Israeli media
Hezbollah commando leader assassinated in Israeli air strike
Aid workers killed: Drone pilots could have swerved bombs away, but chose not to
Israel used AI to identify 37,000 Hamas targets
Israeli airstrike killing aid workers in Gaza threatens much-needed food deliveries
Israeli airstrike on Gaza kills seven working for food aid NGO
Iran vows revenge on Israel after Damascus embassy attack
In Gaza, Palestinians risk death in desperate rush for aid
Egypt's Sisi: Authoritarian leader with penchant for bridges
Destruction of Gaza's Shifa Hospital rips heart out of health system, WHO says
Israeli airstrike on Iran's consulate in Syria killed two generals, officials report
three Brits among seven dead in Israeli strike in Gaza
Videos
-
Future of car-plane, see it to believe it
-
Mehdi Hasan: Islam is a peaceful religion
-
Python swallows antelope whole in under an hour
-
Sangoku dance
-
flying 3 kites wonder!
-
Korea has talent
-
Paul Potts sings Nessun Dorma
-
Susan Boyle - Britain's Got Talent
-
Twist and Pulse - Britain's Got Talent
-
Shaheen Jafargholi (HQ) Britain's Got Talent
High-Quality clip of 12-year-old singer Shaheen Jafargholi auditioning on Britain's Got Talent 2009. First he sings Valerie by The Zutons, as performed by Amy Winehouse, but, after Simon interrupts him and asks for a different song, he just blew everyone away. -
David Calvo juggles and solves Rubik's Cubes
-
Outdoor 'bubble pod' hotel unveiled