WHO Launches Five-Year Strategy to Detect Health Threats Faster The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a new five-year strategy to help every country detect and understand emerging health threats within 24 hours of their appearance by 2030. The strategy builds on the work of the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, established in 2021…
139 Dead, 84 Missing After Migrant Boat Capsizes off Djibouti At least 139 migrants have died, and 84 remain missing after a boat carrying 305 people from Djibouti to Yemen capsized near Obock. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said about 82 people survived. Search and rescue operations continue. The agency described the incident as one of the…
Home Affairs Withdraws Asylum Directive After Soweto, Durban Unrest The Department of Home Affairs has withdrawn a directive on the intake of asylum applications following violent anti-immigration protests in Soweto and Durban, where at least 24 vehicles were torched and foreign-owned businesses were looted. The directive was introduced after a July Constitutional Court ruling that allowed…
10 Quarantined After Kenya’s First Ebola Case Kenya is facing its first confirmed Ebola case after a man who travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo died in a Nairobi hospital. Health officials have quarantined ten people who came into contact with him, while tracing 57 others who may have been exposed. Concern is…
Mali Army Retakes Kidal With Russian Support Mali’s army, backed by Russian paramilitary forces, has retaken the northern town of Kidal after Tuareg separatists announced a “strategic and controlled withdrawal” from the area. The Azawad Liberation Front said its forces withdrew without direct fighting, attributing the move to what it described as the disproportionate…
Nigeria Orders Probe into Tragic Ondo Military Plane Crash Nigerian authorities are investigating the crash of a Nigerian Air Force ATR-42 aircraft near a naval base in Igbokoda, Ondo State, which had 25 passengers and seven crew members on board. The aircraft was travelling from Benin to Lagos on a routine mission when it crashed into…
Tigray Rebels Withdraw From Mekelle as Fighting Intensifies Rebel forces in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region have temporarily withdrawn from the regional capital, Mekelle, as fighting with government forces moves closer to the city. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front said it relocated its fighters to reduce risks to civilians. The residents said that pro-government forces…
Ramaphosa Unveils 90-Day Plan to Tackle South Africa’s Gender-Based Violence South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a national emergency response and a clean-up of high-risk areas following the discovery of the bodies of 12 women east of Johannesburg over two months. Four people have been arrested, but Ramaphosa said police have found no…
