The Africa Edition©️Monday 07 July 2025
The Africa Edition: News That Matters to Africa - “Overlooked and Misunderstood”©️
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“God created war so that Americans would learn geography.”
TOP NEWS
EASTERN AFRICA
WEST AFRICA
SOUTHERN AFRICA
NORTH AFRICA
AFRICA-WIDE ISSUES
UN AFFAIRS
EASTERN AFRICA
DR CONGO
Rwanda exercises command and control over M23 rebels, say UN experts
Rwanda has exercised command and control over M23 rebels during their advance in eastern Congo, gaining political influence and access to mineral-rich territory, according to a confidential report by a group of United Nations experts. The report obtained by Reuters details training which the experts say Rwanda has provided to M23 recruits and military equipment they say Rwanda has deployed - notably "high-tech systems capable of neutralizing air assets" - to give the rebels "a decisive tactical advantage" over Congo's beleaguered army. The report was submitted to the U.N. Security Council sanctions committee for Congo in early May and is due to be published shortly, said diplomats. M23 has advanced in eastern Congo, seizing the region's two largest cities, Goma and Bukavu, in January and February. Congo, the United Nations and Western powers say Rwanda is supporting M23 by sending troops and arms. Rwanda has long denied helping M23 and says its forces are acting in self-defence against Congo's army and ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, including the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
ETHIOPIA
Ethiopia completes controversial Nile dam, escalating dispute with Egypt
Ethiopia’s prime minister said on Thursday the contested Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Nile is complete, a key step in a dispute with Egypt over water rights. Egypt has long opposed the dam because of concerns it would deplete its share of Nile River waters. Egypt has referred to the dam, known as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, as an existential threat because the Arab world’s most populous country relies almost entirely on the Nile to supply water for agriculture and its more than 100 million people. Negotiations between Ethiopia and Egypt over the years have not led to a pact, and questions remain about how much water Ethiopia will release downstream if a drought occurs. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in his address to lawmakers Thursday, said his government is “preparing for its official inauguration" in September. “While there are those who believe it should be disrupted before that moment, we reaffirm our commitment: the dam will be inaugurated,” he said. Abiy said his country “remains committed to ensuring that our growth does not come at the expense of our Egyptian and Sudanese brothers and sisters". “We believe in shared progress, shared energy, and shared water,” he said. “Prosperity for one should mean prosperity for all.” Ethiopia and Egypt have been trying to find an agreement for years over the $4 billion dam, which Ethiopia began building in 2011. Tensions over the dam, the largest in Africa, once were so high that some observers feared the two countries might go to war over it.
KENYA
“Military on standby as Kenyans brace for ‘Saba Saba’ showdown”
A major showdown is looming between government security apparatus and frustrated Kenyans as they prepare to mark 35 years since the inaugural ‘Saba Saba’ (07-07) day. The government is planning to deploy Kenya’s most elite military unit — the Kenya Defence Forces’ Green Berets — ahead of planned ‘Saba Saba’ demonstrations, in a dramatic escalation of security preparations reflecting the government’s deep anxiety over intensifying dissent. During the June Gen Z protests, the government deployed the military “to support police efforts in the streets.” Authorities cited article 241(3) of the constitution as the reason behind the deployment. Critics counter that article 241(b) of the constitution, says the “Defense Forces shall assist and cooperate with other authorities in situations of emergency or disaster and report to the National Assembly whenever deployed in such circumstances”. Clause c of the same article clarifies that “the Defense Forces may be deployed to restore peace in any part of Kenya affected by unrest or instability only with the approval of the National Assembly”.This brings to question the constitutionality of last June’s deployment where elements of the military were deployed to handle civilians in Nairobi yet they had not received a go ahead from Parliament and did not report their activities to the National Assembly which at the time was under siege by Gen Z protesters.
RWANDA
Kagame unsure whether peace deal with Congo will hold
Rwandan President Paul Kagame said on Friday he was unsure whether a U.S.- brokered peace deal would hold with Democratic Republic of Congo and warned he would respond to any "tricks" from his neighbour. The agreement signed last week calls for Rwandan troops to withdraw within 90 days from eastern Congo, where the United Nations says they are supporting M23 rebels who seized the region's two largest cities earlier this year. Rwanda denies helping M23 and says its forces are acting in self-defence against Congo's army and ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, including from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). Kagame told reporters in Kigali that Rwanda was committed to implementing the deal, but that it could fail if Congo did not live up to its promises to neutralise the FDLR. "If the side that we are working with plays tricks and takes us back to the problem, then we deal with the problem like we have been dealing with it," Kagame said.
SOMALIA
Video: Somalia: America's secret war
SOUTH SUDAN/DJIBOUTI
US Court lets Trump deport 8 migrants to South Sudan
The Trump administration has deported to South Sudan eight migrants who had been held for more than a month by the U.S. at a military base in Djibouti, the Department of Homeland Security said on Saturday, after the migrants lost a last-ditch effort to halt their transfer to the politically unstable country. The men were deported on Friday, the July 4 Independence Day holiday in the U.S. The fate of the migrants had become a flashpoint in the fight over the legality of the Trump administration's campaign to deter immigration through high-profile deportations to so-called "third countries" where migrants say they face safety concerns, which has already gone from lower courts to the Supreme Court twice. South Sudan has long been dangerous even for local residents. The U.S. State Department advises citizens not to travel there due to violent crime and armed conflict. The United Nations has said the African country's political crisis could reignite a brutal civil war that ended in 2018. The eight men, who according to their lawyers are from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Sudan and Vietnam, had argued their deportations to South Sudan would violate the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.
UGANDA/SOMALIA
Ugandan military confirms 5 killed in helicopter crash in Mogadishu
Five Ugandan soldiers were killed when a military helicopter serving the African Union (AU) peacekeeping mission in Somalia crashed Wednesday at an airport in the capital, Mogadishu, according to Ugandan authorities. Its military confirmed that three crew members survived the crash. The Mi-24 helicopter was arriving from an airfield in the Lower Shabelle region with eight people on board at the time of the crash. It originally belonged to the Ugandan Air Force but was being operated by the AU peacekeeping mission. Uganda’s military said in a statement that the helicopter was on “a routine combat escort mission,” and the pilot, co-pilot and flight engineer survived the crash with serious injuries and burns.
WEST AFRICA
GHANA
x-Arsenal mid-fielder Thomas Partey charged with five counts of rape
Ghanaian International and former Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey has been charged with five counts of rape, British police said on Friday. The 32-year-old also faces one count of sexual assault relating to an alleged offence that took place between 2021 and 2022. Police said the investigation was opened in February 2022 when it first received a report of rape. The five rape charges relate to two different women. The sexual assault charge relates to a third woman. Partey is a free agent after his Arsenal contract expired at the end of last season. He joined the Premier League club in 2020 for $61.8 million from Spanish team Atletico Madrid. “Our priority remains providing support to the women who have come forward,” Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy of the Metropolitan Police said. Partey is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on 5 August, police said.
GUINEA
Military Govt wants to extend presidential term to 7 years
Guinea’s ruling junta wants to extend presidential terms from five to seven years, with a two-term limit, according to a draft constitution due to be put to a referendum in September. The draft was presented last Thursday to General Mamadi Doumbouya, head of the junta that ousted President Alpha Conde in 2021 — one in a series of military coups in west Africa. It did not specify whether Doumbouya would be able to run for president when the country returns to democratic elections. The upcoming referendum is meant to pave the way for a return to constitutional rule in the country, where the junta has placed sharp curbs on citizens’ freedoms since taking power. Doumbouya initially pledged not to run in a future presidential vote, and a road map set out by the junta in the aftermath of the coup barred its members from running. But a series of high-profile figures close to the junta have recently said they would support his candidacy…The junta had initially vowed under international pressure to return the country to elected civilian rule by the end of last year.
NIGERIA
UAE blocks visas, demands Nigerians show $60,000 bank history for entry
Thousands of Nigerians are reportedly being barred from securing transit or tourist visas to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to an unverified yet widely enforced requirement: maintaining a minimum monthly bank balance of $10,000 for six consecutive months, totalling $60,000. While UAE authorities have denied implementing such financial requirements, pointing instead to standard criteria such as a passport, a photo, travel insurance, and a return ticket, travel agents and visa processing intermediaries continue to demand them. Applicants are also being asked to pay a non-refundable processing fee of ₦640,000 (approx. $1,500), further compounding the burden. These practices appear to be selectively applied. There is no indication that other West African nationals, including Ghanaians or Côte d’Ivoire, face the same restrictions, raising serious concerns that Nigerians are being deliberately singled out and financially profiled.
SENEGAL
Senegal’s top court upholds PM’s defamation conviction
Senegal’s Supreme Court has upheld a defamation conviction against Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, validating a verdict which had prevented him from running for president in the country’s last election. The top court had already in January 2024 upheld Sonko’s six-month suspended sentence for defamation and insults against a tourism minister. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that decision, rejecting Sonko’s request for an appeal that was based on formal technicalities. Sonko for his part said in a video Tuesday evening that the matter was “not yet over” and added that “if I don’t participate in an election, it would be of my own free will because nothing can prevent me from being a candidate.” However, according to multiple legal experts, the Supreme Court’s latest decision definitively closes the case. The minister had accused Sonko of defaming him in relation to his management of a community agriculture programme. Sonko is implicated in several other legal cases, which he has denounced as plots aimed at removing him from the country’s presidential election in March 2024.
Akon's futuristic $6bn city project in Senegal abandoned
Plans for a futuristic city in Senegal dreamt up by the singer Akon have been scrapped and instead he will work on something more realistic, officials say. "The Akon City project no longer exists," announced Serigne Mamadou Mboup, the head of Senegal's tourism development body, Sapco. "Fortunately, an agreement has been reached between Sapco and the entrepreneur Alioune Badara Thiam [aka Akon]. What he's preparing with us is a realistic project, which Sapco will fully support." Known for his string of noughties chart hits, Akon - who was born in the US but partly raised in Senegal - announced two ambitious projects in 2018 that were supposed to represent the future of African society. The first was Akon City - reportedly costed at $6bn (£5bn). It was to run on the second initiative - a brand new cryptocurrency called Akoin. But after five years of setbacks, the 800-hectare site in Mbodiène - south of Dakar - remains mostly empty. There are no roads, no housing, no power grid. Meanwhile the star's Akoin cryptocurrency has struggled to repay its investors over the years. There had also been questions over whether it would even be legal for Akoin to operate as the primary payment method for would-be residents of Akon City.
SOUTHERN AFRICA
MOZAMBIQUE
State sues 31 police officers for brutality on post-election protests
The Attorney General in Mozambique opened legal proceedings on Friday against 31 police officers for their alleged roles in post-election violence following the disputed presidential elections last year. The election monitoring organization, Platform Decide, said police shot and killed at least 400 demonstrators, and injured 600 others, after presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane called for mass demonstrations to protest the results of the “sham” October 2024 elections. Beatriz Jonas, a prosecutor with the Attorney General’s Office, said the proceedings are aimed at holding the officers responsible for acts they committed during the violence at protests. There have been rising calls from international human rights organizations for the government to bring to justice the officers who orchestrated the “brutal attacks” against civilians. Parliament enacted a new law on national dialogue and reconciliation following months of unrest after the presidential results.
NAMIBIA
State halts all state funerals amid criticism of the high cost
The Namibian government has announced a temporary ban on state funerals amid criticism over the rising costs of these burials. Only President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has the power to exempt funerals from the moratorium, the government said. Minister of Information and Communication Technology Emma Theofelus made the announcement following a Cabinet meeting earlier this week. She said the moratorium would last until April 2026, while a review committee looks into the "criteria and processes associated with bestowing official funerals".
The government has not said whether the decision was related to mounting criticism of the increasing costs of the numerous state funerals as reported by local media. Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare, earlier this year, revealed that official funerals had cost the government 38.4m Namibian dollars ($2.2m; £1.6m) in the 2024/2025 financial year. By comparison, only 2.1m Namibian dollars was spent on 23 funerals during the 2022/2023 financial year, according to the news site. The state had spent 30m Namibian dollars just to transport the body of founding President Sam Nujoma around the country ahead of his state funeral in February this year.
SOUTH AFRICA
President says national dialogue will continue without coalition partner
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Friday that a national dialogue aimed at uniting the country after last year's election would continue without his party's main coalition partner. The Democratic Alliance (DA), the second-biggest party in the coalition government after Ramaphosa's African National Congress (ANC), pulled out of the process last week after Ramaphosa fired a deputy minister from the party. The DA stopped short of leaving the governing coalition. The parties have clashed repeatedly since the coalition was formed a year ago, with the DA accusing the ANC of acting without proper consultation. Financial markets have been on edge over signs of tension between the two partners in the broad multiparty government, though the consensus among political analysts is the fractious coalition will survive for now. DA leader John Steenhuisen told reporters moments later that the dialogue would be a waste of time and state resources. The national dialogue is an initiative by Ramaphosa to try to come up with solutions to some of the country's most pressing challenges, like high levels of poverty, unemployment and crime.
ZIMBABWE
Editor Faith Zaba released on bail after arrest for satire
Zimbabwe Independent editor Faith Zaba, who had been arrested and detained in the country’s capital on 1 July on allegations of undermining the authority of, or insulting the president, was granted bail on Friday, 4 July, after having been compelled to spend another night in police cells after the magistrate handling the matter said he had failed to type the ruling due to a power cut. Ordinarily, a magistrate can verbally pronounce their ruling and then have the clerks type it out, but Magistrate Vakayi Chikwekwe stunned many who had gathered at the Harare Magistrates’ Court when he announced bail of $200 with conditions including that she must report to police once a week. The state had indicated that it was not opposing Zaba’s bail application, following her lawyer’s submission that she was currently of ill health and had been detained after having voluntarily presented herself to the police from a hospital bed where she had been receiving medical attention. Zaba was arrested following the publication of an article in a regular satirical column that has run in her paper for several decades. She is one of a handful of women who hold senior positions in the country’s media sector, which is hobbled by years of cyclic economic problems plus the global advances in information and communication technologies that are presenting problems to legacy media.
NORTH AFRICA
EGYPT
Egypt hosts secret talks between Sudan's Burhan and Libya's Haftar in bid to mend ties
Egypt hosted direct talks between Sudan’s army chief and de-facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Libya’s eastern commander Khalifa Haftar this week, in a bid to mediate between two allies on opposing sides of Sudan’s war, according to multiple sources. Burhan and Haftar, along with their delegations, held face-to-face talks as part of an effort by Sisi to manage tricky relations between two important partners. Egypt backs both Burhan, who is fighting a brutal war against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and Haftar, the commander who controls eastern Libya. According to a Sudanese intelligence source, the meeting between the two leaders did not go well. Extremely worried by the prospect of Sudan’s war spilling over into Egypt and by the disruption of trade in the volatile triangle border region that takes in Libya, Sudan and Egypt, Sisi was hoping to broker a peace deal between Burhan and Haftar. Instead, the Sudanese army chief accused the eastern Libyan commander of smuggling weapons to the RSF, and of working with the United Arab Emirates to assist the paramilitary of General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo in other ways, the sources said. Haftar, who had one of his sons with him, denied the accusations. Burhan told him that he was not being honest, and that the Sudanese had proof of his involvement. The Sudanese delegation mentioned that Sadeeq Haftar, Khalifa’s son, had been in Sudan before the war began in April 2023, and had met with Dagalo, the RSF chief better known as Hemeti.
Ancient Egyptian history may be rewritten by DNA bone test
A DNA bone test on a man who lived 4,500 years ago in the Nile Valley has shed new light on the rise of the Ancient Egyptian civilisation. An analysis of his skeleton shows he was 60 years old and possibly worked as a potter, but also that a fifth of his DNA came from ancestors living 1,500km away in the other great civilisation of the time, in Mesopotamia or modern day Iraq. He died between 4,500 and 4,800 years ago, a transformational moment in the emergence of Egypt and Mesopotamia. It is the first biological evidence of links between the two and could help explain how Egypt was transformed from a disparate collection of farming communities to one of the mightiest civilisations on Earth. The findings lend new weight to the view that writing and agriculture arose through the exchange of people and ideas between these two ancient worlds. "If we get more DNA information and put it side by side with what we know from archaeological, cultural, and written information we have from the time, it will be very exciting," said lead researcher, Prof Pontus Skoglund. Our understanding of our past is drawn in part from written records, which is often an account by the rich and powerful, mostly about the rich and powerful. Biological methods are giving historians and scientists a new tool to view history through the eyes of ordinary people.
LIBYA
Military build-up in Tripoli as human rights group warns of ceasefire collapse
Military movements in and around the Libyan capital, Tripoli, have escalated sharply, raising fears over the stability of the fragile security situation and the possible return of armed clashes, according to both local and international warnings. A prominent human rights organisation expressed concern about what it described as a clear threat to stability and a serious indication of a potential resurgence of armed violence in the city. In its statement, the organisation stressed that any breach of the ceasefire or the current truce would pose a severe risk to the safety and lives of civilians, and undermine national reconciliation efforts and the path towards lasting peace in Libya.” The statement called for full commitment to the ceasefire agreement and respect for the security arrangements put in place by the Libyan Presidential Council. It also warned that renewed clashes could have grave humanitarian consequences, particularly for civilians and vital infrastructure.
MOROCCO
Fuelling the ‘machinery of genocide’: Morocco’s backdoor support for Israel’s war on Gaza
Morocco has become a crucial location on the arms route that facilitates shipments of military cargo to Israel, especially through Maersk - the Danish shipping company. This includes components of F-35 jets, which have fuelled Israel’s attacks on Palestinians. A recent report by Declassified UK and the Irish investigative news outlet ‘The Ditch’ delved into Morocco’s role in transferring the components of F-35 fighter jets via Maersk. The report specified a shipment in April, saying the jet equipment set sail from the port of Houston, in the United States. Two weeks later, the US-flagged Maersk Detroit arrived in Tangier, Morocco, where the cargo was transferred onto another container ship named Nexoe Maersk. The shipment travelled through the Mediterranean Sea before arriving at the Israeli port of Haifa. The military cargo was then transported to the Nevatim air base, a key launchpad for the Israeli air force to bomb Gaza. When the allegations were made in April, public outrage in Morocco spread. Protesters turned out in the thousands at the ports of Casablanca and Tanger Med, while at least eight dock workers resigned over the contested Maersk shipments. Moroccan ports became an attractive option on the transfer route after two Maersk cargos were prevented from docking in Spain in November due to suspicions that they were carrying weapons to Israel. Instead, they docked at the Tanger Med port, which also triggered protests in Morocco. Morocco has stayed silent on its involvement in arms transfers to Israel. For many observers, this silence itself on the topic is suspicious.
REGION
OpEd: Why western visions for a 'new Middle East' are irrelevant
The time has come for Arab nations to pursue a vision for a truly new regional order: one that serves Arab interests first
AFRICA-WIDE ISSUES
*Trump to host five African leaders next week to discuss 'commercial opportunities'* U.S. President Donald Trump will host leaders from five African nations in Washington next week to discuss "commercial opportunities," a White House official said. Trump will host leaders from Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal for a discussion and lunch at the White House on July 9, the official said. "President Trump believes that African countries offer incredible commercial opportunities which benefit both the American people and our African partners," the official said, referring to the reasons why the meeting was arranged. The Trump administration has axed swaths of U.S. foreign aid for Africa as part of a plan to curb spending it considers wasteful and not aligned with Trump's "America First" policies. It says it wants to focus on trade and investment and to drive mutual prosperity. On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. was abandoning was what he called a charity-based foreign aid model and will favor those nations that demonstrate "both the ability and willingness to help themselves." U.S. envoys in Africa will be rated on commercial deals struck, African Affairs senior bureau official Troy Fitrel said in May, describing it as the new strategy for support on the continent.
As U.S. retreats, the world fights an uphill battle against inequality
While about 50 world leaders attended an international summit in Spain on alleviating global poverty, President Donald Trump had other priorities. On Tuesday, he opened a new migrant detention center surrounded by swamp in the Everglades that he dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.” Also Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the official end of USAID, the decades-old aid and development agency that Trump set about gutting after starting his second term in January. The cuts to USAID, cancellation of its many programs and ensuing stop-work orders around the world have had cascading effects that could cost lives. Journalist Katharine Houreld recently reported from war-torn Sudan, where the evaporation of USAID funds has shuttered clinics and led to the disappearance of critical medicines and food aid. A surge in deaths related to child malnutrition, cholera and other maladies has followed. The British medical journal Lancet this week published a study that estimated the ending of USAID could lead to more than 14 million additional deaths globally during the next five years. That might be immaterial to a Trump administration that cast USAID as a font of waste and “left-wing” policies, but the ripple effects of the move to dismantle the agency will be felt for years.
How simple solutions could save thousands of African children in comas
For the hundreds of children who arrive every day at hospitals in parts of Africa unconscious and unresponsive, their survival chances have remained unchanged for nearly 50 years. But new research has suggested that a different – and simpler – approach could improve those chances. Despite huge strides in healthcare and vaccination rates for children in sub Saharan Africa, the odds remain poor for those who become so ill they fall into a coma. Depending on the cause, between 17% and 45% are expected to die. Many more will be left with disabilities. Now researchers have found that giving antibiotics immediately a child arrives at hospital could save tens of thousands of lives a year – and getting them to specialist care quickly could also reduce deaths and disability... most of these children have a complication of malaria, called cerebral malaria. A second study by the same team, focusing on Queen Elizabeth hospital in Blantyre, found that one in four children hospitalised in a coma with malaria also had bacterial infection. “You treat the malarial parasites as the cause of the coma, and then actually that becomes a risk factor for dying from a bacterial underlying infection that has been untreated … we need to just make sure everyone that comes in with febrile coma gets antibiotics, as well as antimalarials. Making that standard practice could change how 2.3 million children a year in Africa are treated and save more than 20,000 lives”, Dr Stephen Ray of the Oxford Vaccine Group.
Africa's battle against cholera
Over 40 countries reported outbreaks last year alone, continuing a trend that resumed in 2021. Various studies peg the number of cholera cases at 1.3 to 4 million annually, with up to 143,000 deaths. WHO warns that a billion people are at direct risk of contracting cholera, with endemicity being the highest in areas riddled with poverty, poor sanitation and climate-related disasters. "Cholera isn't just a health crisis; it's a symptom of inequality," says Dr Philippe Barboza, WHO's team lead for cholera and epidemic diarrhoeal diseases. "Where clean water is scarce and sanitation systems fail, cholera follows." In sub-Saharan Africa, where recent outbreaks have tested the fragile healthcare systems, the focus is now on tackling the root cause of the problem. A $392,000-project backed by WHO in the Haut-Katanga region of the DRC has significantly reduced cholera risks. The initiative entails training health workers, installing rehydration points and setting up treatment centres. Angola has mobilised rapid response teams, launched a vaccination campaign and started water-source mapping – supported by WHO and UNICEF – to combat the disease. Since January this year, the Central African country has reported 14,000 cases and 505 deaths, with half of these patients being under 20.
OpEd: Has Trump taken leadership lessons from cold war-era Africa?
“...Viewing Trump as a westernised version of one of Africa’s dictators may seem jarring. (However) I’ve found it increasingly difficult not to see striking parallels between recent events in the US and the rise of cold war-era dictatorships in Africa... Anti-intellectualism, egomania and delusions of grandeur were hallmarks of dictatorships in Africa... But once the comparison between Trump and a cold war dictator is made, it becomes hard to unsee. And it shouldn’t surprise us. The postcolonial dictator was, to a significant degree, an American creation. Sooner or later, it had to come home.”
UN-AFFAIRS
UNAids chief ‘shaken and disgusted’ by US cuts that will mean millions more deaths
The head of the global agency tackling Aids says she expects HIV rates to soar and deaths to multiply in the next four years as a direct impact of the “seismic” US cuts to aid spending.
Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of UNAids, said that if the funding permanently disappeared, the world faced an additional 6 million HIV infections and 4 million Aids-related deaths by 2029. “It is a deadly funding crisis, a global response knocked totally off course. This is a pandemic, and pandemics have no borders,” she said in an interview at the UN international development funding summit this week in Seville, Spain. Byanyima, a Ugandan aeronautical engineer and politician who has led UNAids since 2019, said seeing the impact of Donald Trump’s cuts had been the worst experience of her life. “Personally I am devastated. Appalled. Shaken and disgusted. I don’t have the English words to use,” she said, admitting that the sheer scale of the challenge in the face of such massive cuts had made her consider resigning from her role. “But I can’t run away. I told myself I’m going to fix it. I need to take my gloves off.”
US, UN announce separate diplomatic pushes to end Sudan war
The United States and the United Nations are launching separate diplomatic initiatives to end the war in Sudan, officials said, reflecting intensifying international urgency to resolve the conflict…Massad Boulos, an advisor to [U.S. President Donald Trump] on African affairs, told Asharq TV news channel in an interview broadcast on Wednesday that the U.S., Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt would meet in Washington to revive the “Quartet” initiative. “Washington is in direct and indirect contact with the two warring parties,” Boulos said, adding there could be “no military solution in the country.” The U.S. announcement came a day after the United Nations detailed its own mediation efforts. The U.N. Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, is working to scale up “unified diplomatic efforts by the international community to end the war,” U.N. Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters in a briefing on Tuesday. Lamamra’s team is organising a Consultative Group meeting with the African Union in Addis Ababa and is also trying to launch talks between the Sudanese parties on civilian protection, Dujarric said. The aim is to move to “proximity talks as soon as feasibly possible.”