In the news

The leader of the Russian Wagner mercenaries, Yevgeny Prigojine, published this Monday, his first video since he took the lead of a short-lived mutiny at the end of June. He appears in a recording – probably shot in Africa – on Telegram channels affiliated with the Wagner Group. We can …

Leaders of the BRICS nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – converged on Johannesburg on Tuesday for a summit where they will weigh expanding the bloc as some members push to forge it into a counterweight to the West, Reuters reported. Heightened global tensions provoked by the …

The Supreme Court in Central African Republic has approved the outcome of the July referendum that increases the length of a presidential term to seven years, but allows the president to run for office as many times as they like. The court declared that an overwhelming majority of 95% approved …

Authorities in Saudi Arabia have dismissed a Human Rights Watch report detailing the systematic killing by border guards of hundreds of Ethiopian migrants on the Kingdom’s border with Yemen. A Saudi official said the report – based on interviews with survivors – was not reliable. The rights group said at …

King Mohammed VI of Morocco has pardoned more than 650 people convicted of various crimes, some of them terrorist-related, local media reported. The Moroccan Ministry of Justice has released the list of those who have benefited from royal pardon this year. Those pardoned include 16 people who had been convicted …

Human Rights Watch has accused Saudi Arabian border guards of systematically killing hundreds of Ethiopian economic migrants trying to cross from war-torn Yemen, the BBC reported. The rights group said at least 655 people have been killed by guards since early last year. Some were shot, others killed or maimed …

A bus carrying Corinthians fans overturned early Sunday in a winding descent from a highway near Belo Horizonte, in the state of Minas Gerais in southeastern Brazil, leaving seven dead and several injured. “There were seven dead and 27 people were taken to hospitals in the region,” Minas Gerais state …

The Somali government on Sunday decreed a ban on TikTok, Telegram and an online betting site claiming that these platforms were used by “terrorists” for propaganda purposes. This decision comes as the second phase of the military offensive against radical Al-Shabaab Islamists, who have been leading a bloody insurrection against …

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has once again declared that his country will not be drawn into global power dynamics, local media reported. Mr Ramaphosa’s televised address came ahead of the meeting of the Brics nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – in Johannesburg on Tuesday. “We …

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has rejected the Nigerien coup leader’s plan to lead the country for three years before restoring civilian rule. The organisation’s political commissioner, Abdel-Fatau Musa, said the timetable was unacceptable. On Saturday, Gen Abdourahamane Tchiani said a national dialogue was needed to lay …