Author: Mohammad Adamu

A wave of new and strengthened anti-LGBTQ+ legislation is sweeping West Africa, driven by domestic political calculation and reinforced by international conservative networks, activists and researchers say. Senegal in March doubled the maximum sentence for homosexuality to 10 years and outlawed the “promotion” of same-sex relationships. Niger criminalised same-sex intimacy for the first time in February. Mali and Burkina Faso have done the same within the past two years — all three now under military rule. Ghana’s parliament passed a bill in June targeting LGBTQ+ “activities,” though the president has yet to sign it. Anthony Oluoch of Pan Africa ILGA…

Kyiv’s forces struck targets far beyond the front line this week, with several attacks landing hundreds of kilometres inside Russian territory. The escalation comes as both Moscow and Kyiv have stepped up strikes on one another in recent months, while US-brokered negotiations to end the war remain stalled. Ukraine, which has consistently denied targeting civilians, argues its cross-border strikes are a proportionate response to Russia’s own bombardment of Ukrainian territory, and are intended to push Moscow toward the negotiating table. Shelling in Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, killed three people, regional officials reported. A separate drone strike further afield,…

A unit of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) surrendered to the army on Friday, handing over its personnel and full military equipment, the state-run Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reported. SUNA said the force belonged to the RSF’s “Group 26” but did not disclose the number of fighters involved or the type of equipment surrendered.The group was received by Al-Nour Ahmed Adam, known as Al-Nour al-Qubba, alongside senior officers from the Sudanese army and the General Intelligence Service. Al-Nour al-Qubba, a founding member of the RSF, defected to the army in April after previously serving as one of the paramilitary’s…

South Sudan’s government is developing plans to digitize its civil registration system and integrate it with the national ID system, aiming to streamline the issuance of legal identity documents. The reform will enable real-time birth registration, allowing hospitals and health facilities to notify civil registry authorities as soon as a child is born, rather than requiring separate declaration processes. Maj. Gen. Elia Costa, Director General of the Civil Registry, Nationality, Passport and Immigration, disclosed the plans after attending a meeting of civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) experts in Zimbabwe. He said the reform would align South Sudan with international…

Nigerian Afrobeats star David Adeleke, known as Davido, has released his sixth studio album, ORIADÉ, which he describes as the start of a new phase in a music career spanning 15 years. The 13-track project features collaborations with African and international acts including Leon Thomas, Black Sherif, Aya Nakamura, Mayorkun, FOLA, Llona, NO11, JAZZWRLD and GL_Ceejay. It marks a departure from the 17-track format he maintained across his previous five studio albums, making ORIADÉ his shortest to date. The album is expected to launch another major phase of his career, with a world tour planned to follow its release and…

Nigeria’s athletics team produced one of its finest showings at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on Friday, with Goodness Nwachukwu breaking her own world record to retain her title, Chukwuebuka Enekwechi winning a historic first Commonwealth gold in the men’s shot put, and Tobi Amusan claiming bronze in the women’s 100m hurdles despite injury. Para-athlete Nwachukwu produced a final-round throw of 39.66 metres to break her own world record and defend her women’s F42 discus title. The 27-year-old, who first made her mark at the Birmingham 2022 Games by breaking the world record twice, improved her previous best by…

1,500Singapore-based Hilleman Laboratories announced Thursday it will advance development of an Ebola vaccine described by World Health Organization experts as the “most promising” candidate against a deadly outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nearly 1,500 people have died in the country from the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which no vaccines or treatments currently exist. Several efforts are underway to develop a vaccine for the previously rare strain as the outbreak worsens. WHO experts have pointed to a single-dose vaccine built on the rVSV platform as the leading candidate, since it uses the same technology as Ervebo, the only…

Rescue teams in Japan continued combing through the wreckage of a collapsed shopping mall on Thursday, as the death toll from Tuesday’s 7.1-magnitude earthquake climbed to 34 amid a punishing heatwave that has left tens of thousands without electricity. Authorities in Kumamoto said seven bodies had been pulled from the ruins of the Aeon mall, which was destroyed in what is believed to have been a gas explosion following the quake. Eight more people were confirmed dead at a Nippon Paper Industries plant in Yatsushiro, where a section of a large smokestack came down. Five people remain in critical condition.…

Oil prices jumped more than three percent in early Asian trade on Wednesday, after the US military confirmed it had intercepted multiple missiles launched by Iran. At around 0015 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate rose 3.67 percent to $82.17 a barrel, while North Sea Brent crude gained 3.39 percent to $86.94. Speaking aboard Air Force One, President Trump expressed hope that renewed diplomacy could bring an end to the conflict, which began in late February. “I have a lot of patience… We’ll see what happens,” he said, adding, “I think there is a good chance that something could happen.”…

Iran, Oman, and Saudi Arabia have agreed to intensify diplomatic engagement and cooperation aimed at safeguarding the security of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said. In a statement on Tuesday, the ministry said the agreement was reached during separate telephone conversations on Monday between Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi and his Omani and Saudi counterparts, Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi and Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. The ministers stressed the importance of closer cooperation and coordinated diplomatic efforts to promote regional stability and strengthen security in the strategic waterway. The calls followed bilateral talks between…