By Elis Gjevori and AFP June 29, 2026 Turkiye has condemned Israel’s attacks in Syria, calling them a violation of international law. A man stands near an unexploded artillery shell that fell during an overnight Israeli attack that hit the village of Abdin in Syria's southwestern Deraa province, close to the occupied Golan Heights, on June 29, 2026 [File: AFP] The Syrian government has condemned overnight Israeli attacks in southern Syria, as residents near the occupied Golan Heights were forced to flee their homes. The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday firmly condemned “the Israeli aggressions”, calling them “a flagrant violation of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”. The latest attack took place on Sunday in Abdin, a village in western Deraa province, where residents attempted to block the advance of an Israeli army unit. Israeli forces then fired shells close to civilian homes, with families fleeing to neighbouring villages during the night. “Shells [then] fell near the houses,” Mahmoud Mouaffak, a village notable, told AFP. Israeli forces withdrew, allowing “a return to calm and the return of residents on Monday morning”, he added. An AFP photographer saw one resident inspecting an unexploded shell close to his home. Growing Israeli attacks Israel has intensified its attacks and incursions into southern Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in late 2024. It has moved troops into the United Nations-monitored buffer zone separating Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel since 1967, and deeper inside Syrian territory. Israel has intensified military operations in Deraa and Quneitra in recent weeks. The Syrian Sijil Center, which monitors Israeli activity in Syria, recorded nearly 300 operations or violations by Israel in Deraa and Quneitra in June, including 107 incursions and raids. Israel said on Sunday that it had killed “several armed terrorists” a day earlier, without giving a number, specifying the location or any evidence. Israel routinely describes Syrians resisting its occupation as “terrorists”. Meanwhile, Israeli leaders have openly boasted of their plans to maintain and expand their military occupation beyond the Golan Heights. On Thursday last week, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel intended to keep its troops in the sector it occupies in Syria “for an indefinite period”, as it has done in Lebanon and Gaza. Israel captured most of the Golan Heights during the 1967 war with several Arab states, before illegally annexing the territory in 1981. The move was rejected by most of the international community. The Israeli assaults in southern Syria are viewed as creating instability in the country, which is still recovering from 13 years of war. Turkiye, which is considered close to the current Syrian government, condemned Israel’s latest attacks on Monday. “We strongly condemn the Israeli attacks on Quneitra and Deraa, which violate the territorial integrity, unity and sovereignty of Syria. These attacks, which trample on the lives and property of the Syrian people and make life for civilians in the region increasingly difficult, constitute a flagrant violation of international law,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. “We reiterate our call to the international community to fulfil its obligations and put an end to these attacks,” it added. © 2026 Al Jazeera Media Network

Kaleb Moges BBC Africa Abiy Ahmed says he is transforming the economy of Africa's second most-populous nation. Image by Reuters Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is the big winner following the country's general election as his party has retained its overwhelming parliamentary majority, despite the poll being overshadowed by conflict, accusations of repression and little participation by opposition parties. The Prosperity Party, which won 438 of the 501 contested seats, will form the new government with Abiy set to be sworn in for another term at the beginning of October. It is a boon for Abiy's supporters, who believe he will continue with the economic gains he has overseen. But others fear the internal divisions and security challenges facing Africa's second most-populous country are only going to get worse with Abiy at the helm. The 49-year-old first came to power amid anti-government protests in 2018, and he was at first hailed for his campaign to heal divisions - though he upset politicians from the northern region of Tigray who had dominated the government for more than two decades. Just a year later he won the Nobel Peace Prize, mainly for his efforts in ending hostilities with Ethiopia's northern neighbour Eritrea. But security experts fear the country could be heading back to war, while the violent and deadly insurgencies in Ethiopia's Amhara and Oromia regions show no sign of ending. Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa - where these people waited to vote on 1 June - has been undergoing a rapid transformation. AFP viaGetty Images On election day, 143 polling stations failed to open in the country's two most-populous regions because of safety concerns caused by armed groups fighting the government. The Fano militias in Amhara and the proscribed Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) in Oromia, which both want greater autonomy, rejected the election and its results. The situation is also troubling in Tigray, which is still recovering from a two-year civil war that only ended in 2022. The region and its six million inhabitants, comprising 38 constituencies, were completely excluded from the poll amid rising fears that fighting could break out once more. Tigray borders Eritrea and during the war, its troops were allied with Ethiopian government forces. They were accused of widespread atrocities against Tigrayan civilians, which were denied. But since the conflict ended, relations between Addis Ababa and Asmara have sharply deteriorated. Eritrea, with its 1,350km (840-mile) coastline, accuses landlocked Ethiopia of having imperial ambitions. Over the last three years Abiy has repeatedly spoken of his country's need to regain access to a Red Sea port, which it lost when Eritrea became independent in 1993. In a dramatic about-turn, Asmara has now allied itself with Tigray's leaders - and should any new conflict erupt, it is likely that Eritrea would side with Tigrayan forces and vice-versa. Addis Ababa has also been accused of involvement in the civil war in Sudan, which borders both Ethiopia and Eritrea. Multiple reports have alleged that Addis Ababa has supported one of Sudan's warring factions, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), although Ethiopia has repeatedly denied this. While Eritrea and Tigrayan forces have long been understood to have close links to the Sudanese military, which is fighting the RSF. It all makes for a toxic cocktail which could potentially spread across the region - and it does not look like Abiy is about to play peacemaker. The enmity between Abiy's government and the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the dominant party in the region, was supposed to have ended with the peace deal signed in November 2022. But both sides accuse each other of violating that agreement. The conflict was one of the most deadly this century, with the African Union's mediator estimating some 600,000 people had died as the fighting drove the region to the precipice of famine. The government was accused of blocking food aid to the region - an allegation it denied. "The risks are real and are driven by both sides," Cameron Hudson, an Africa analyst who once worked for the US State Department, told the BBC. Shewit Wudassie Just before the election, the TPLF restored its pre-war administration, disbanding an interim one appointed by Prime Minister Abiy. "The Tigrayans bear responsibility for the growing tensions and they've been making moves and statements that suggest that they are preparing for a renewal of fighting," said Hudson. There are reports that the TPLF is forcibly recruiting young men to join its forces. Shewit Wudassie, a member of Salsay Weyane, an opposition political party operating in Tigray, told the BBC: "People in Tigray are worried as many youths are being recruited to join the military." A young man in the town of Adwa told BBC Tigrinya how armed men in civilian clothes had gone to his home and "told us that they were detaining us to join the armed struggle". Is Ethiopia heading back to war in Tigray? Abiy Ahmed: The Nobel Peace Prize winner who went to war The local authorities have denied there is any "forced recruitment". "The youths are simply getting training to defend themselves," said Tesfaye Abadi, head of security in north-western Tigray. However, Hudson says these actions by the TPLF have also been driven by Abiy, who has "moved away from the agreement and made threatening moves towards the Tigrayans". Unlike the support show in the early days of the civil war, there is little appetite for a return to war in Tigray. AFP via Getty Images The European Union recently issued a warning and called for "an immediate de-escalation" in northern Ethiopia. The US - a key driver behind the 2022 peace deal - this week announced targeted visa restrictions on "hardline members of the TPLF and their immediate family members". It did not name them but said they were "individuals who are responsible for, or complicit in, undermining resolution to the crisis in the Tigray region". Magnus Taylor, a Horn of Africa analyst at the International Crisis Group think-tank, does not believe there will be an immediate return to war. But he says the continuing low-level tension is "a dangerous scenario". "With this very polarised, poisonous regional politics in which Addis Ababa believes that TPLF is siding with Ethiopia's enemies, there is more chance it might escalate into a regional conflict centred on Tigray," he told the BBC. For Shewit, the opposition politician in Tigray, the problem is that each side is stubborn and neither is willing "to address their differences through negotiations". "I believe they are waiting for the perfect timing to assert power. And this could lead to fighting." According to Hudson, the coming months could decide Ethiopia's future. "I think there's a legitimate concern that many of us have that [Abiy] uses his consolidation of political power to once and for all end or address the conflict and in Tigray." Copyright 2026 BBC. All rights reserved.

By Pari Saikia July 2, 2026 Rounded up in raids and with no access to lawyers, 22 women including trafficking victims and refugees speak of filthy conditions and beatings while stuck in legal limbo Mary, who is being held indefinitely in an immigrant detention centre in India. Credit: The Guardian Nine months without the antiretroviral drugs that keep her alive has caused Mary’s* health to decline. For 29 years, the Kenyan mother of four had managed her HIV. Now she is being held indefinitely in an immigrant detention centre in India, it is becoming a death sentence. Her legs are swollen and distended, her blood pressure has soared, and she has collapsed from weakness. “If I don’t get my tablets, I may become bedridden. And then no airline will take me home,” Mary says, speaking by phone from inside the facility. She was running a pavement clothing stall in the Kenyan city of Kisumu, earning a few shillings a day to feed her four children. One day three years ago, a woman began chatting to her. She offered the widowed mother the opportunity of well-paid work in India. All Mary had to do was carry a bag on a flight to Delhi, so the 55-year-old boarded her first international flight in September 2023. On landing in Bengaluru, she was intercepted by an anti-narcotics team. The bag contained cocaine. Mary, who is living with HIV/Aids and is afraid she will never get home to Kenya. Credit: The Guardian “If I had known what was inside that bag, I never would have left Kenya,” Mary says. After serving a two-year sentence, she was not released or deported but transferred to the foreigners’ detention centre last September. She describes a life of neglect and fear inside. Three months ago, she says, a 36-year-old Ugandan woman with HIV, a trafficking victim, died in the same centre. Mary is terrified of a similar fate. “Sometimes I cry alone. I just pray for a miracle,” she says. Across India, the foreign national detention system is absorbing entire families, including children. The Guardian has interviewed 22 women in three such detention centres who allege they are being detained indefinitely in poor and abusive conditions. Many are victims of trafficking, who have ended up in foreigners’ detention centres after being picked up by police for visa infractions. They, and sometimes their children, are held for months or years with no timeline for release. Lily with her two-year-old son, who also lives in the centre. She is a survivor of sex trafficking. Credit: The Guardian Mary has no access to her legal documents and no idea about the status of her case. Peace*, her daughter, says attempts to seek help from the Kenyan high commission in Delhi and the Indian foreigners registration office (FRRO) have gone unanswered. Peace and her siblings are struggling to survive. “I feel so depressed. Sometimes I just cry because she’s the only one we have after we lost our father,” Peace says over the phone. Lily*, 27, a Ugandan survivor of sex-trafficking, has been held since she was arrested in a police raid in April 2025. At 3am, Lily and her sons, aged two and four, were woken by banging on the door. “My children woke up terrified. Before I could respond, nine policemen broke the lock and stormed in,” says Lily. The officers said her visa was invalid and put the family into a van. “Three hours later, they dropped us at a detention centre near Bengaluru,” says Lily, speaking from the centre, where she is still being held more than a year later. Her sons live with filth and constant mosquito bites, she says. Their playmates are the children of other African mothers awaiting deportation, from Uganda, Nigeria and Tanzania. “Instead of being in schools, they are growing up in a cage. They need to read books, play games in the open and be children,” says Lily. Lily was lured from the Ugandan capital of Kampala by the promise of a job, and trafficked into the sex trade in Karnataka in 2019, she says. After she escaped, she says she tried to live quietly with her children. When African nationals are detained, the assumption is they are illegal migrants … the trafficking is not properly investigated Liyi Marli Noshi, lawyer Lily has no way to contact officials to challenge her arrest or seek bail. Her passport remains confiscated and she has no access to her legal paperwork. “Lawyers demand huge fees for empty promises of freedom, only to disappear. I have no income, no financial support and no family to turn to. I am all alone, and the thought of my children’s health and future terrifies me,” says Lily. In 2025, a coordinated series of police crackdowns, called Operation Clean Sweep, began targeting African nationals including children in Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad and other states. According to human rights activists, many of those held are long-term victims of human trafficking, refugees or people with pending legal cases who are now locked in a system where missing documentationleads to lengthy imprisonment. Liyi Marli Noshi, a lawyer who works on cases involving foreign nationals in India, says the legal system often fails to recognise “victims as victims”. “When African nationals are detained, the first assumption is that they are illegal migrants who have overstayed their visas or are living without valid documents. The trafficking element is not properly investigated. Once this framing is established, it is incredibly difficult to shift the legal narrative back to victimhood or exploitation,” Noshi says. Lily’s son shows a wound on his elbow. She says her children live with filth and constant mosquito bites. Credit: The Guardian According to Nirmala Walter, founder of the Delhi-based anti-trafficking organisation Manobal, women who survive trafficking – and their children born in India – face deep prejudice, a lack of documentation, limited healthcare and social exclusion. “These children are losing their basic right to education and instead inheriting the consequences of human trafficking,” says Walter. The Guardian has sought comment on the detained and deported, particularly African nationals, from the FRRO, the home affairs and external affairs ministries, the Ugandan high commission and the Delhi police. To date, there has been no response from any of the agencies. In a Delhi detention centre, Yuvi*, a 24-year-old Nigerian, waits for news that never comes. What began as a promise of work and a better future unravelled into trafficking, sexual exploitation and indefinite detention. A Nigerian woman lured her to India in September 2024 with the promise of a hairdressing job. Instead, she was forced into sex work and told she owed a “ransom” for her life. “I had to pay 3.5m naira [£1,900] to her for my freedom,” Yuvi says. “After leaving that place, I finally started working as a hairdresser, hoping to build a new life.” However, in May last year. Police stopped her while she was walking to buy water, asked for her documents and found her visa had expired. “They put me inside a car, took me to the hospital for medical tests and then dropped me at this camp,” Yuvi says. According to Yuvi, officials say only those with return tickets to their countries will be permitted to leave detention, otherwise they face indefinite incarceration. She says she was cheated into paying 20,000 rupees (£160) to a centre officer after being promised assistance with a ticket home, but is still stranded months later. The same officer beat her with a stick, she says, showing photographs of her injuries. “I’m tired and frustrated. All we hear now is that we will be sent home,” Yuvi says, “but no one can tell us when. I have no money now. I keep thinking of killing myself.” * Names have been changed to protect their identities © 2026 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. (dcr)

Descendants of enslaved Africans say symbolic apologies cannot repair generations of loss and injustice. Performers re-enact the transatlantic slave trade at Christiansborg Castle, a former slave post, during a conference on follow-up to a UN resolution on trafficking of enslaved Africans, in Accra, Ghana. File Photo: Francis Kokoroko/Reuters. By Dwomoh-Doyen Benjamin Published On 12 Jul 202612 Jul 2026 Accra, Ghana – For many descendants of enslaved Africans, a formal apology for the transatlantic slave trade is not justice. As calls for reparations gather momentum, they say acknowledgement without meaningful action cannot undo generations of loss, displacement and exploitation. The debate gained renewed attention after the three-day “Next Steps” conference on slavery and reparatory justice, held in Accra from June 17 to 19, brought together heads of state, policymakers, legal experts, civil society groups and representatives of the African diaspora. The gathering came months after the United Nations General Assembly adopted a landmark resolution, backed by 123 countries, recognising the transatlantic slave trade as among the gravest crimes against humanity. Participants adopted a 19-point framework calling for formal apologies from countries and institutions that profited from slavery, alongside reparations mechanisms, debt relief, the return of cultural artefacts and human remains, educational initiatives and stronger international cooperation. But for many descendants of enslaved Africans, an apology, however formal, is nowhere near enough. “I am not too eager to accept apology for egregious crimes committed against humanity,” Yaw Owusu Akyeaw of African Diaspora 126+ told Al Jazeera. The organisation is a lobbying group that facilitates pathways to Ghanaian residency and citizenship for members of the diaspora. “A verbal apology is a symbolic way to acknowledge a wrong while doing nothing tangible for repairing the damage or compensating those affected by the wrong done,” Akyeaw said. “A serial killer will gladly offer an apology, if by doing so, he will spend less time or no time in prison. This type of apology is considered by some people as a public relations ploy to avoid penance, negotiate compensation or exculpate punishment for the wrong done.” Marvin Walker, a Guyanese entrepreneur who recently moved to Ghana to reconnect with his ancestral roots and invest in the country, echoed similar sentiments. “Such apology can be seen as a shallow gesture, not a genuine expression of a change of heart or any deeply felt regret,” Walker told Al Jazeera. More than those who were taken The transatlantic slave trade did not only devastate those who were taken across the Atlantic. It also tore families apart, destabilised communities and deprived Africa of generations of people, labour and knowledge. David Adofo of the African Chamber of Content Producers (ACCP), a pan-African organisation with observer status at the African Union’s Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC), said the trauma experienced by those left behind has also been passed down through generations. “Slavery did not only affect those who were taken away, but those who were left behind, as they lost loved ones, they lost trust in humanity, passing that sentiment to generations. It also interrupted Africa’s growing civilisation at the time,” Adofo told Al Jazeera. Performers present a reenactment of the transatlantic slave trade at the Christiansborg Castle, a former slave post, during a high-level consultative conference on the next steps to the landmark United Nations resolution on the trafficking of enslaved Africans, in Accra, Ghana [Francis Kokoroko/Reuters] “The best of Africa was taken out of the continent to help grow the civilisation of the new world.” Adofo pointed to colonial-era programmes such as the Bantu Educational Kinema Experiment (BEKE), arguing that the legacy of colonial indoctrination continues to shape African societies. “Programmes like BEKE, which was initiated by the colonial office to brainwash Africans, have left damage that investment in intentional educational content production to reorient the people will be a worthy investment,” he said. The Bantu Educational Kinema Experiment (BEKE) was a British colonial film initiative carried out in East and Central Africa between 1935 and 1937. It produced instructional films intended to promote what colonial authorities described as the “educational and cultural adjustment of Africans to Western society”, reinforcing colonial values through highly paternalistic portrayals of African life that served imperial economic interests. “An investment of that nature should be fully funded by the West and developed by Africans to shape mindsets and push the horrors of slavery behind us,” Adofo added. A legacy that still lives For some descendants of enslaved Africans, the wounds run so deep that no apology can ever provide closure. A descendant of enslaved labourers who were left behind after the abolition of slavery and who could not return because they had lost all links to their origins spoke to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity because discussing servile ancestry remains highly sensitive in his community. “I have no clue where I am originally from,” he said. “No amount of apology will give me any closure.” The National Monument to Slavery stands in the Oosterpark in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. File Photo: REMKO DE WAAL/EPA-EFE. Historical records show that captives from present-day Ghana and other parts of West Africa were forced through inland trading routes to the coast. From centres such as Salaga and Pikworo, they marched hundreds of kilometres to slave forts including Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Castle. At Assin Manso, many took what became known as their “last bath” before the final journey to the coast and transportation across the Atlantic. Today, in communities across Ghana’s Central Region, including Assin Manso, Cape Coast and Elmina, silence still surrounds families descended from those left behind after slavery. Many younger people choose not to discuss their family histories because of longstanding taboos surrounding servile ancestry. Beyond symbolism The debate about whether an apology is enough reflects a wider divide within the global reparations movement. While some see formal acknowledgement as an essential first step, others argue it has little meaning without measures that address the enduring consequences of slavery. Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama, a key architect of the UN resolution, said the conference was intended to move the conversation beyond symbolism and towards concrete action. He announced the creation of three international bodies focused on reparatory justice, cultural restitution and legal affairs. For many descendants, however, justice will not be measured by official statements alone. “We’ve suffered loss of identity. We were separated from our ancestral land, our spirituality replaced with their religion. They can keep their apology and give us what is morally owed with a side of compensation.”

By Al Jazeera Staff and AFP July 5, 2026 Yemeni minister says more than 50 Houthi fighters were killed in the Hodeidah clashes. Yemenis fire a heavy machinegun during a rally in solidarity with Lebanon and Iran on the outskirts of the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa on July 2, 2026. Credit: Al Jazeera, AFP Sixteen government troops have been killed in by Houthi rebels in western Yemen’s Hodeidah governorate, officials and medics say, in the most violent clashes in years. Walid al-Qudaimi, a minister of state and cabinet member aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognised government, said on Saturday evening that the soldiers from the Tihama region died during fighting in the Jabal Dabbas area, as violence escalates along the country’s western coast. In a post on X, al-Qudaimi said the troops were killed “defending their land and dignity” during the battle. Medical sources told AFP that hospitals in the area on the Red Sea coast received 16 dead from pro-government forces and 22 wounded. An officer with the government-aligned forces in Jabal Dubas told AFP that the Houthis briefly seized pro-government positions after launching the attack late on Friday, before government-aligned forces mounted a counterattack and retook the sites by dawn on Saturday. “This was the deadliest Houthi attack in years,” the officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. He said Houthi fighters used snipers, which caused most of the casualties, before firing drones and mortars at the positions. Another military official told AFP that pro-government forces had repelled the Houthi attack in “clashes lasting several hours”. He said the Houthis also suffered casualties without specifying the number killed or wounded. The Houthis have fought Yemen’s internationally recognised government since 2015. The group controls the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen, including the port city of Hodeidah on the country’s western Red Sea coast. The government, based in Aden, holds large parts of the south. Front lines have remained largely frozen since a United Nations-brokered truce in 2022, though sporadic violence has continued. The latest fighting came after the Houthis threatened airports and key facilities in Saudi Arabia, which backs Yemen’s government. © 2026 Al Jazeera Media Network

It’s not the first time the two African giants have gone head-to-head over attacks on their nationals. South Africans protest against undocumented immigration, in Johannesburg, South Africa, April 29, 2026 File Photo: Themba Hadebe/AP Nigeria has threatened retaliatory measures against South Africa after Abuja began repatriating hundreds of Nigerians from South Africa this week amid alleged xenophobic attacks by South African protesters. Diplomatic tensions between the two countries have spiked since the latest wave of violent anti-immigration protests by thousands of South Africans calling for strict, mass deportation measures. South Africa has long attracted migrants from across the continent, entering the country both legally and illegally. Statistics South Africa put the number of foreign nationals at 2.4 million in 2022, about 3.7 percent of the total population of 65 million. However, many South Africans claim that high numbers of undocumented migrants contribute to unemployment and place pressure on public services. There have been three waves of anti-immigration protests since 2008, all turning violent and resulting in casualties and the looting of shops and other property. Much of the anger has targeted, in particular, nationals from Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi, as well as Nigeria and Ghana. South Africans protest against undocumented migration, in Johannesburg, South Africa, April 29, 2026. File Photo: Themba Hadebe/AP Why is Nigeria’s government angry? On Monday, Nigerian Foreign Minister Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu accused South Africa’s government of failing to forcefully denounce violence against Nigerian nationals in South Africa. She said this had damaged the bond the two countries have enjoyed since the solidarity Nigeria showed during South Africa’s fight against apartheid. At least two Nigerian men died in April during the latest wave of violence. One of the men, Amaramiro Emmanuel, was killed after being beaten by officers from the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) on April 20, according to a statement by the Nigerian consul-general, Ninikanwa Okey-Uche. The other, Ekpenyong Andrew, was arrested in Pretoria before being found dead at a mortuary. Odumegwu-Ojukwu said Nigerians are being “harassed” in South Africa despite having legal status, countering claims by South African citizen groups that attacks have targeted only undocumented residents. Legitimate businesses are being “looted” while children are forced to stay away from school, she said. “The police refused to do anything,” the minister added. “Nigeria is not happy because Nigeria has sacrificed much for the South African independence struggle,” Odumegwu-Ojukwu told journalists on Monday. “My own generation, we carried placards, we demonstrated in front of South African assets, sometimes we even got arrested.” At least 1,000 Nigerians were initially scheduled for repatriation this week, but Abuja says the number of people wishing to return home is rising.

The hostages were taken from three separate schools in the southwestern state of Oyo in May. On May 15, 46 students and staff were kidnapped from two primary schools and one secondary school in Oyo File Photo: Sodiq Adelakun/Reuters. Two months after they were abducted in southwestern Nigeria, dozens of students and teachers have been rescued, the presidency says. In a statement on Friday, President Bola Tinubu said he was “profoundly happy” that Nigeria’s security agencies had rescued the students and teachers, 56 days after they were kidnapped from three schools in the southwestern state of Oyo. Eight of the assailants have been arrested and an unspecified number have been killed, Tinubu added. On May 15, 46 students and staff were kidnapped from two primary schools and one secondary school. The government has blamed the kidnappings on Boko Haram. The youngest child taken was aged two, while the oldest was 16. One of the teachers was killed shortly after the abduction. In a post on X, presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said all of the students and teachers had been rescued. School kidnappings have become common in Nigeria, as armed groups seek large ransoms from the government and citizens. The situation has been worsened by a security crisis, partly fuelled by the Boko Haram rebellion in the country’s northeast. In 2024, gunmen earned more than $1.6m in ransom payments, according to SBM Intelligence. “This successful military operation has ended the siege and standoff of over 50 days and has brought relief to the entire nation and the affected families in particular,” Tinubu said in his statement. “On behalf of the country, I express my gratitude to the officers and men of our armed forces, the intelligence agencies and the police for the safe rescue of the children and their teachers.” Prior to the May 15 attack, the majority of school kidnappings had taken place in northern Nigeria. The abductions in Oyo, in the southwest, have prompted concerns that the security crisis could be worsening. It is not clear exactly how the students and staff were rescued, but Onanuga said there “was no quid pro quo in the rescue”. Earlier this week, Defence Minister Christopher Musa said the assailants planned to use the hostages as leverage to pressure the government to release some of their commanders from prison.

by: Said Yusuf Warsame | 11 July 2026 16:29 Photo of Darul Amiin camp in Baidoa. Photo: Nuurto Mohamed Hussein Mogadishu, Somalia (Horn Observer) In recent years, drought and climate change have been widely recognized as the primary drivers of hunger in Somalia. However, the current situation suggests that armed conflict—whether stemming from clan disputes or insurgent violence—is increasingly becoming the greater obstacle to food security and recovery. This year, as the Gu planting season begins, reports from across Somalia indicate that insecurity is preventing farmers from cultivating their land, despite the arrival of seasonal rains. While drought has displaced hundreds of thousands of people from rural areas, ongoing violence is denying them the opportunity to return home, rebuild their livelihoods, and resume agricultural production. Thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) living in camps in Mogadishu, Baidoa, and other towns originally fled because of severe drought and livestock losses. Yet their prospects of returning remain bleak due to persistent insecurity. Humanitarian agencies continue to warn that displacement is becoming increasingly protracted as conflict blocks durable solutions. In Lower Shabelle,recurring clashes between two clans have severely disrupted farming activities. The rival groups have reportedly destroyed irrigation canals that sustain agricultural land, damaging infrastructure that is essential for crop production. The fighting comes at a critical time when farmers would normally be planting crops to benefit from seasonal rainfall after enduring prolonged drought. Instead, agricultural recovery has been delayed, increasing the risk of food shortages later in the year. The Bay and Bakool regions face multiple layers of insecurity. Besides the long-running conflict between Al-Shabaab and government forces, armed groups aligned with former South West State President Abdiaziz Laftagareen have launched repeated attacks around Baidoa, creating further instability. The overlap of political violence and insurgency has made farming, trade, and humanitarian access increasingly difficult. Al-Shabaab has also intensified attacks against Somali government and allied forces. On 11 July, the group reportedly attacked Ethiopian troops stationed at Wajid Airport in Bakool while a military aircraft was unloading supplies. Earlier, on 9 July, militants launched a heavy overnight assault on a Somali army base in the Birbiraha area of Luuq district in Gedo region. Such attacks illustrate the continuing volatility across southern Somalia and their impact on civilian life and local economies. In northern Somalia, clan violence has also intensified. In Sanaag region, renewed fighting between two clans in the Burkumaris area marked the latest outbreak in a long-running dispute over land and resources. Despite previous mediation efforts, recurring clashes continue to undermine local stability and livelihoods. Meanwhile, Al-Shabaab continues to conduct attacks in Lower Shabelle targeting government forces, contributing to a climate of insecurity that discourages civilians from returning to their farms or investing in agricultural production. Taken together, these developments demonstrate that conflict is now reinforcing—and in many cases surpassing—the impact of drought. Although rainfall may provide favorable conditions for cultivation, insecurity prevents communities from taking advantage of improved weather. Instead of returning home, many displaced families remain in camps, while others are newly displaced by violence. The scale of Somalia's humanitarian crisis is reflected in recent warnings issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the World Food Programme (WFP). The agencies estimate that between April and June 2026, nearly 6 million people—about 31 percent of Somalia's population—will experience Crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or higher). They also warn that Somalia is facing one of the world's most severe child malnutrition crises, with approximately 1.9 million children suffering from acute malnutrition. Of these, around 493,000 are expected to face severe acute malnutrition, a life-threatening condition that leaves children up to 12 times more Ultimately, Somalia's climate crisis cannot be viewed separately from its security crisis. Drought and erratic rainfall continue to threaten livelihoods, but conflict has become the principal factor preventing recovery. As long as civilians cannot safely return to their farms, rehabilitate irrigation systems, or access their land, improvements in rainfall alone will not translate into improved food production. Without sustained security and political stability, humanitarian assistance will remain focused on emergency relief rather than long-term recovery. The combination of armed conflict, repeated displacement, and climate shocks risks trapping millions of Somalis in chronic food insecurity, making conflict not merely a consequence of humanitarian crisis but one of its primary drivers. Copyright © 2015 - 2026 Horn Observer All Rights Reserved.

Maya Ixil women lead thousands of people marching for democracy in Guatemala City. Sandra Cuffe Source: Truthout Guatemala´s Indigenous Mayan Communities: Displacement, Cultural Destruction, and the Question of Genocide By Laura Rodriguez Martin, Genocide Watch, June 2026 For over four decades, Guatemala´s Mayan Indigenous communities have been displaced from their ancestral lands, first through massacre and scorched-earth warfare, and more recently through mining concessions, hydroelectric dams, and violent evictions. Guatemala´s own truth commission, the Commission for Historical Clarification, found that genocide occurred against Mayan communities between 1981 and 1983. This report asks a harder question: does the pattern of land dispossession and cultural destruction that has continued since then still meet the legal definition of genocide today, and if not genocide, what does it amount to, and what should be done about it? The History of Violence Against the Mayan Indigenous Peoples Guatemala´s internal armed conflict lasted from 1960 to 1996. At its peak, between 1981 and 1983, the army carried out a scorched-earth campaign against Mayan communities in the country´s highlands and northern regions. Guatemala´s Commission for Historical Clarification (CEH), a body set up after the war to establish the truth about what happened, concluded that the army committed genocide against Mayan groups during this specific period. Whole villages were destroyed, religious and community leaders were deliberately targeted, sacred ceremonial sites were destroyed, and traditional burial practices were banned. The CEH found that this was not incidental violence: it was conduct aimed at the physical and spiritual destruction of Mayan communities as such. That history matters because Guatemala already carries a confirmed genocide finding. The question this report focuses on is what has happened since. Displacement of Mayan Indigenous Peoples since the Civil War When the 1996 Peace Accords ended the armed conflict, the violence took a different form, but the underlying pressure on Mayan land did not go away. In the decades since, three forces have driven a new wave of displacement: hydroelectric dams, mining concessions, and the expansion of large-scale monoculture (palm oil and sugar). Today, roughly 78% of Guatemala´s agricultural land is held by just 2% of landowners, a concentration of land that falls overwhelmingly on Indigenous communities that depend on that land for food, water, and their way of life. Several recent episodes illustrate the pattern: In 2011, security forces violently evicted 769 Q´eqchi´ families in the Valle del Polochic to make way for sugarcane plantations. Since then, the Renace and Oxec hydroelectric complexes have diverted the Cahabón river, a river sacred to the Q´eqchi´ Peoples, cutting communities off from the thirteen Tzuultaq´a mountains that organize Q´eqchi´ spiritual and community life and disrupting the passing of ceremonial knowledge from one generation to the next. In 2022, communities were forcibly evicted from the Sierra de las Minas region.. In December 2023, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled against Guatemala in the case of the Maya Q´eqchi´ community of Agua Caliente, finding that the community´s territorial rights had been violated by a nickel mine operating near El Estor since the 1980s, meaning the harm in that case had gone unaddressed for over forty years. Today, Indigenous Peoples in Guatemala experience poverty at a rate of roughly 79%, and extreme poverty at roughly 40%, both far higher than the national average, and a direct legacy of being pushed off the land that once sustained them. Guatemalan Indigenous Peoples Guatemala is home to 22 distinct Mayan peoples, who together make up at least 41.66% of the national population according to official census figures, though Indigenous representative organizations argue the real figure is closer to 60%. The communities most directly affected by the dispossession described above are the Q´eqchi´ and Poqomchi´ peoples of Guatemala´s northern lowlands, where most of the mining and hydroelectric activity is concentrated, and the Maya Achí, whose community at Plan de Sánchez was the site of a 1982 massacre later found by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to have caused lasting collective psychological harm passed down across generations. International Law Standards The 1948 Genocide Convention defines genocide. Articles II(b) and (c) of the Convention´s definition are especially relevant to Guatemala´s Mayan communities. Cutting off the means of survival. Article II(c) of the Convention prohibits deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to destroy a group, even where no single act is itself lethal. International courts and tribunals have made clear that taking away a community´s food, water, or land, its means of physical survival, can meet this standard, provided it is assessed cumulatively, looking at the whole pattern rather than any one incident. For Indigenous Peoples, ancestral land is frequently the only source of food, water, and medicine, so removing a community from that land can strike directly at its physical survival, not just its way of life. Forced removal of a population from a territory, which is often referred to as ethnic cleansing, is not, by itself, automatically genocide. But where that removal also destroys the resources a group needs to survive, the line between the two can become very thin. Destroying a people´s culture and identity. Article II(b) of the Convention prohibits causing serious mental harm to a protected group. International courts and tribunals have set a high bar for this: the harm must be grave and long-lasting, seriously damaging a person´s ability to lead a normal life, not just any distress. But destroying a Peoples´ cultural and spiritual foundations can meet that bar. The Inter-American Court already found that the destruction of Maya Achí spiritual and ceremonial structures at Plan de Sánchez caused collective psychological harm lasting across generations, and the CEH found that targeting Mayan religious leaders, banning ritual burial, and destroying ceremonial sites caused serious mental harm intended to damage Mayan communities both physically and spiritually. The ongoing loss of the Cahabón river and the Tzuultaq´a mountains for Q´eqchi´ communities continues that same kind of harm into the present. Land rights don´t depend on a government deed. Under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Peoples´ rights to their land come from their traditional occupation and use of it, not from whether the state has formally registered a title. Guatemala, like other states, ought to recognize, demarcate, and protect Indigenous land on that basis. Intent doesn´t need a written order. To prove genocide, prosecutors must show a specific intent to destroy a group. Courts have held that this intent doesn´t need to be stated outright in a policy document; it can be inferred from a consistent pattern of conduct, as long as no other reasonable explanation fits that pattern. Guatemala´s CEH already drew that inference for 1981-1983. Whether the post-1996 pattern of dispossession is part of a continuation of that same intent, or instead amounts to a related but distinct violation, ethnic cleansing, or a serious breach of international human rights law, is a harder legal question, but in either case, the underlying conduct is unlawful and demands a response. Ten Stages of Genocide Genocide Watch´s Ten Stages of Genocide framework, developed by Dr. Gregory Stanton, describes ten processes that drive a society toward genocide: Classification, Symbolization, Discrimination, Dehumanization, Organization, Polarization, Preparation, Persecution, Extermination, and Denial. These stages don´t happen one after another in a straight line. They operate together and can continue at the same time, even after a society has already passed through a stage of mass killing. In the case of Guatemala, classification and symbolization are long-standing; Guatemalan society distinguishes sharply between Indigenous Mayan and non- Indigenous (Ladino) identity, reflected even in the dispute over how many Mayan people the country actually has. Discrimination is reflected in the stark poverty gap facing Indigenous communities. Dehumanization was starkly visible in the 1981-1983 campaign, where Mayan spiritual leaders and practices were treated as threats to be eliminated, and echoes persist in how Indigenous land claims are characterized today. Organization is visible in the coordinated involvement of state security forces and private companies in carrying out evictions. Preparation and Persecution are active right now, in the legal and physical mechanisms used to clear communities from contested land and in the documented violence against the people who defend it. Extermination, the stage international law treats as genocide proper, was already found by the CEH to have occurred in 1981-1983. Whether the post-1996 pattern of dispossession represents its continuation, in a different form, is the central legal question this report has examined. Denial is visible in the decades-long absence of accountability for the historical genocide finding, and in how long it has taken international bodies to recognize and remedy ongoing harms. Genocide Watch recommends: 1. The Guatemalan government should fully comply with the Inter-American Court´s December 2023 judgment in Agua Caliente v Guatemala, including territorial restitution and full reparations to the affected Q´eqchi´ community. 2. Guatemala should suspend further mining and hydroelectric concessions on Indigenous territory, including along the Cahabón river, until genuine free, prior, and informed consent processes are completed with affected communities. 3. Guatemala should establish a formal process to demarcate and title Mayan ancestral lands based on traditional occupation and use, consistent with its obligations under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Inter-American Court rulings. 4. UN member states and international development banks should condition any financing for mining, hydroelectric, or agribusiness projects in Guatemala on independently verified compliance with Indigenous consultation and land rights standards. 5. Guatemala, with international support, should establish a dedicated reparations and accountability program addressing the CEH´s 1981-1983 genocide finding, including prosecution of still-unpunished perpetrators. 6. UN member states and international human rights bodies should maintain sustained, independent monitoring of land evictions and displacement affecting Mayan communities, to track whether the ongoing pattern continues to engage the protections of the Genocide Convention.

Anti-immigrant protesters march in Johannesburg on Thursday after the passing of an unofficial June 30 deadline set for undocumented migrants to leave South Africa. File Photo: Oupa Nkosi/Reuters Anti-migrant protests are continuing across South Africa, with humanitarian groups and regional countries on alert as vigilantes search for undocumented migrants. On Thursday, anti-migrant activists in Johannesburg went door-to-door in search of people living in the country without permission, handing those they found over to the police, according to Reuters journalists who saw what happened. Anti-migrant demonstrators set an informal deadline for all undocumented migrants to leave the country by the end of last month, and have promised to hold weekly protests every Thursday until their demands are met. South Africa has one of the world’s highest unemployment rates. Many anti-migrant protesters blame foreigners for the lack of jobs and rising crime rates. The government has come under increasing criticism from African countries and human rights groups for failing to prevent the rise in xenophobic violence, which has killed several people. Documented migrants also targeted International medical NGO, Doctors Without Borders (known by its French initials, MSF), warned on Thursday of growing humanitarian needs and disruption to healthcare following the violence and displacement of “tens of thousands of people”. MSF said it had launched an emergency response to assist those who have been unable to access medical care as a consequence of xenophobic violence and intimidation. The NGO said that while the protesters claim to target only “undocumented” migrants, some of its patients reported that refugees, asylum seekers and documented migrants had also been targeted by anti-migrant groups. “We are deeply saddened to see people fleeing harassment and violence and we stand in solidarity with affected communities who have had their rights to health and dignity undermined,” said Claire Waterhouse, an MSF Emergency Coordinator. “Our priority is to address disrupted access to healthcare for those most at risk, regardless of who they are or where they come from.” A 49-year-old Malawian man living in Lenasia, south of Johannesburg, told MSF that he was refused medical help after anti-migrant protesters came to his house during a door-to-door campaign, stealing all of his money, laptop and other valuable possessions, the NGO said. “Blood was coming from in my mouth and out of my eyes. [Someone working at the clinic] said, ‘You are a foreigner, we can’t help you. You must go to your country. I don’t want foreigners here. If you sit here, I can call the people, and they will come here and beat you again’,” the man said, according to testimony cited by MSF. In Johannesburg’s Alexandra township on Thursday, a Reuters reporter saw protesters breaking down doors and entering houses where they believed undocumented immigrants were hiding. They escorted the people to police vans ⁠⁠⁠⁠where they were taken away, including a woman and a small child from Malawi. Another man who was apprehended by the marchers told Reuters he was in the country legally. In Soweto, south of Johannesburg, anti-migrant protesters marched through the township wielding sticks and flags, with plans to search for undocumented immigrants. Another demonstration was held in the eastern city of Durban, around 600km (373 miles) from Johannesburg. Tens of thousands of foreigners have returned to their home countries in recent weeks. Malawi says more than 38,000 of its citizens have returned, while over 60,000 Zimbabweans have followed suit. Hundreds of Nigerians have also been repatriated. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has acknowledged public concerns over illegal immigration, but has warned protesters against taking the law into their own hands.

Australia, Fiji sign mutual defence pact to boost Pacific security. FIle Photo: The Fiji Times The Australian Centre for International Justice (ACIJ) has raised concerns over the newly announced Australia-Fiji mutual defence treaty, saying the expanded security partnership should not proceed without stronger human rights safeguards. In a statement, the organisation acknowledged the signing of the Ocean of Peace Alliance and the broader Fiji-Australia Vuvale Union, which will deepen defence cooperation and deliver more than A$1 billion in Australian support over the next decade. However, ACIJ said it was “deeply concerned” that the expanded defence relationship had been announced despite what it described as unresolved allegations of torture, ill-treatment and custodial violence involving members of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces. “Australia cannot credibly champion human rights in the region while failing to ensure that its own defence cooperation reflects those same principles.” The organisation said its concerns were based on its representation of a Fijian torture survivor who it says was subjected to torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by members of the Fijian military in Suva. The organisation also pointed to recent allegations of custodial violence in Fiji, including the deaths of Jone Vakarisi and Sakiasi Radravu, saying the incidents highlight the need for greater accountability. ACIJ said defence cooperation with countries facing credible allegations of serious human rights abuses should be subject to strict safeguards. “Where there are credible concerns that a state’s security forces have committed serious human rights violations, defence cooperation should be subject to robust human rights conditions, including independent vetting, ongoing monitoring and accountability safeguards.” The organisation noted that, unlike the United States’ Leahy Law, Australia does not have legislation requiring human rights vetting before providing security assistance to foreign military units. ACIJ is calling on the Australian Government to establish a transparent, independent and legislated human rights vetting system covering all forms of defence cooperation with foreign security forces. It also urged Canberra not to deepen defence cooperation where there are credible allegations of torture or other serious human rights violations unless appropriate vetting has been completed and any allegations that fall under Australian law have been properly assessed and investigated. “Australia must ensure that any mutual defence assistance it provides does not legitimise alleged perpetrators, undermine accountability, or risk contributing to future human rights violations.”

Genocide Watch The Women, Life, Freedom Movement emerged in Iran in 2022, in response to government crackdown on women refusing to wear a hijab in public. This movement arose largely as a result of the death of Mahsa/Zhina Amini, a Kurdish woman who was arrested and tortured in police custody for refusing to wear a hijab in public. This injustice propelled thousands of men and women alike to protest through the streets against governmental oppression of women. At least 551 protestors were killed by police during these protests between 2022 and 2024, while thousands were unjustly detained or imprisoned. Protest against the Iranian regime following the death of Jina Mahsa Amini in custody of Iran's Gasht-e Ershad (Guidance Patrol; also called “morality police”), Berlin, October 22, 2022. Markus Schreiber—AP/Shutterstock.com Women in Iran have been oppressed throughout the last century, both before the Iranian revolution in 1979, and after, when hijabs became mandatory. Neither regime was committed to progressing women’s norms purely for women’s sake but they were motivated at times by a desire to change the national image. Under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, women gained the right to vote (1963) and enjoyed improved legal protection as a result of the Family Protection Laws (1967, 1975). Yet the improvements were not motivated by the Shah’s progressive views. Rather, they were motivated by the state’s desire to consolidate political power. Within the past couple of decades, women in Iran have started several protest movements which have been repressed by the government through torture and unjust imprisonment at the hands of the “morality police.” The Women, Life, Freedom movement united Iranians in urban and rural areas in support of women’s rights. Ethnic minorities such as Kurdish, Baluch, Azerbaijani Turks, and Ahwazi Arab women have joined the movement, in the face of intersectional discrimination by the Iranian government, to educate their communities about the discrimination women face and how individuals can act to combat it. This movement also crosses professions because students and professors, along with blue collar workers and professionals, protest and use social media to draw attention to the cause. This has been referred to as a non-movement because of the wide variety of identities that these protestors possess. There is no clear demand from the protestors, but overwhelming action to upend the current political norms through strong acts of defiance, such as burning hijabs. Despite the unity of Iranian communities, women still face oppression, as the government has encouraged businesses, including pharmacies, to refuse service to women not adhering to the hijab law. Yet protests persist today. Some of the most influential activists are musicians and dancers who write protest music and share dance videos on social media. Dancing and singing in public have been forbidden for women since 1979. In the past decade, however, dance has become a crucial part of women’s protests in Iran, emphasizing the right to bodily autonomy and asserting embodied power against a patriarchal government. One example of this are the videos created by the “Ekbatan Girls,” a group of several young women whose video dancing unveiled went viral. The authorities detained them for several days. These teenagers were pressured to release a video confession apologizing for their actions. Women, Life, Freedom is resistance through defiant action, originating from the brave actions of many women who began the movement and faced unjust consequences because of it. This defiance inspired many to continue the revolutionary movement, even when governmental threats were weaponized against them. The protestors of Women, Life, Freedom brought the reality they demanded into existence through breaking morality laws, and they empowered women across Iran to partake in acts of defiance, sparking a united response from diverse factions of Iranians.