Politics and society

The World Bank has announced the suspension of new loans to Uganda following the enactment of the anti-homosexuality law in the country. President Yoweri Museveni signed the anti-LGBT law in May, which imposes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality” and a 20-year prison sentence for “promoting” homosexuality. The World Bank …

Around 13,000 people have been called to temporarily leave their homes in a district of Düsseldorf, in western Germany, after the discovery of an American bomb dating from the Second World War, the city’s firefighters said. The American bomb which weighs one ton must be defused overnight from Monday to …

After 18 years of operating in Kampala, the UN’s human rights mission will close on Saturday because the Ugandan government has ended its mandate. Sub-offices in Gulu and Moroto, in northern Uganda, have already closed. It comes after Uganda passed some of the world’s harshest anti-LGBT laws against the advice …

An opposition supporter in Zimbabwe has been killed while travelling to an election rally, according to the main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), local media reported. The death comes during an increasingly contentious and violent campaign period. CCC spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere said Tinashe Chitsunge was among a group of …

Senegalese authorities announced the suspension of the social network TikTok, claiming that citizens are using it to spread hateful messages, threatening the stability of the country. The information was brought to the public by the Ministry of Communication, Telecommunications and the Digital Economy. According to the statement, “TikTok is the …

The Islamic State (IS) jihadist group announced in an audio recording posted on Telegram, the death of its leader, Abu Al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurachi. According to initial reports, he was killed in clashes with the jihadist formation Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in northwestern Syria.

A Moroccan man accused of criticising the country’s king on social media has been sentenced to five years in prison local media reported, citing his lawyer. Said Boukioud was charged with “undermining the monarchy” for comments he posted on Facebook in 2020 criticising Morocco’s normalisation of ties with Israel. He …

Kenya’s interior ministry said on Wednesday that it had suspended the local activities of cryptocurrency project Worldcoin while government agencies assess potential risks to public safety, Reuters reported. The project founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman launched last week. It requires users to give their iris scans in exchange for …

Meta Group began blocking Canadians’ access to media content on Facebook and Instagram on Tuesday (August 1) in response to a new law forcing digital giants to pay publishers. Links and content posted by Canadian and foreign media “will no longer be visible to people in Canada,” Meta said, stressing …

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has fleshed out the details of a raft of measures to tackle the rising cost of living, which has prompted civil unrest and looting. In a televised address to the nation, Mr Tinubu said he had ordered the release of 200,000 tonnes of grain from strategic …