EU Parliament Calls for Terrorist Listing of Sudan’s RSF over El-Obeid Siege
The European Parliament on Thursday adopted a resolution calling on the European Union to designate the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) as a terrorist organization and to impose sanctions on individuals responsible for attacks on civilians in Sudan, as well as a United Arab Emirates-based company. The resolution, approved by 476 votes in favour and 28 against, with 96 abstentions, highlighted escalating violations of international humanitarian law during the ongoing siege of El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state. The EU already imposes sanctions on 18 individuals, including RSF deputy commander Abdelrahim Dagalo, and eight entities. These measures include asset freezes, travel bans to EU countries, and prohibitions on providing funds and resources. … The resolution urged the warring parties to halt attacks on civilians, including sexual violence, and end the resulting man-made famine. It condemned any foreign interference fueling the war and demanded that countries cease all support to the RSF, particularly the supply of weapons. Sudan Tribune
ICC Official Says Breakthrough Made in Darfur Investigations
A “breakthrough” has been made in the investigation into crimes committed during Sudan’s war in the Darfur region allowing prosecutors to link them to leadership, a senior International Criminal Court official told Reuters. The ICC is investigating attacks on the cities of al-Geneina, in 2023, and al-Fashir last year, where UN experts say forces from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces committed crimes that bear the “hallmarks of genocide” against people from non-Arab tribes. “We have got additional evidence, strong evidence, linking what is occurring in Darfur with leadership levels. And we are very, very pleased to say that this is a breakthrough for us,” deputy prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan told Reuters, following a visit to eastern Chad to meet victims of the attacks. She did not specify the forces the leadership belong to and could not, according to ICC rules, say whether warrants had been or would be applied for. … Sudan is not a party to the Rome Statute, and therefore not a member of the ICC, but the U.N Security Council gave the court jurisdiction over atrocity crimes committed in Darfur from 2005 onwards. Reuters
Convoy Carrying Russian Fighters Attacked in Mali, Sources Say
A convoy carrying Malian soldiers and fighters from the Russian paramilitary Africa Corps came under attack in northern Mali on Thursday, three security sources and a spokesperson for an armed group said. One of the sources said the convoy was ferrying more than 200 Russian fighters and more than 100 Malian soldiers. A similar attack hit another military convoy headed north earlier this week, the same person said. … Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) and the Tuareg-led rebel group the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) staged attacks on army positions across Mali on Saturday, July 4. The convoy was heading towards the northern town of Anefis, where fighting has persisted since then, when it came under fire early on Thursday, the sources said. A spokesperson for the FLA claimed responsibility for the attack. It is unclear whether JNIM was also involved. Reuters
Africa CDC Reports Progress, Warns Ebola Outbreak Outpacing Response in DR Congo
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has reported progress in efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), but warned that rising infections continue to outpace the response. The Head of the Continental Incident Management Support Team for the Ebola response, Wessam Mankoula, disclosed this on Thursday during a webinar on the outbreak. Mr. Mankoula stated that the continental Incident Management Support Team is now operational in Uganda, coordinating the Ebola response with support from partners across Africa. He noted that the DRC and Uganda have also made progress in implementing a memorandum of understanding aimed at strengthening cross-border Ebola surveillance and response. According to him, laboratory capacity has improved significantly, with health authorities now able to conduct more than 2,000 Ebola tests daily across affected areas. He added that clinical trials evaluating Ebola therapeutics have commenced, marking another milestone in efforts to improve treatment outcomes. Despite these gains, Mr. Mankoula said confirmed Ebola cases increased by 25 percent over the past week, raising concerns about sustained transmission. Premium Times
How Rebels in Congo Could Use Ebola to Consolidate Their Power
The deadly Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is moving faster than efforts to contain it, raising fears about what might happen if it explodes in highly populated areas held by M23, the powerful rebel group that seized vast swaths of territory last year. Ebola cases have already been reported in the rebel zone, including one infection in the city of Goma, the rebel headquarters. Transmission for the moment appears to be low there, according to figures released by Congo’s health ministry, but hot spots are getting closer and closer to occupied areas, moving south from the epicenter in the province of Ituri. … Congolese health officials have hardly any visibility into what is happening in rebel territory beyond a few basic numbers about infections, contact tracing and deaths that cannot be independently verified. Dieudonné Kazadi, the director of Congo’s National Institute of Public Health, said he had no information about what was happening in rebel-held areas. “I can’t give you the situation in the territories occupied by M23 because I don’t have access,” he said. … Dr. Jean Kaseya, the head of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an interview that verifying virus reports in rebel territory was currently impossible. “Independent people don’t get access there,” he said. Trying to contain an outbreak across rebel lines requires careful diplomacy, he added. The New York Times
Tanzania Arrests 130 People as Government Cracks down on Dissent
Tanzanian police have arrested 130 people for “inciting criminal acts”, they said on Thursday, as part of efforts to contain dissent after a ban on all political rallies. Police said in a statement that they were working to track down other suspects. Before the ban on rallies, announced by the interior minister on June 26, protesters had planned to gather on the July 7 public holiday to call for democratic reforms and justice for people killed in election violence last year. Heavy security deployments prevented the protests from happening. A government-appointed commission of inquiry said in April that at least 518 people were killed in the election violence, which was driven by the exclusion of leading opposition candidates. Tanzanian authorities have denied allegations by human rights groups that the security services used excessive force during the election unrest. Reuters
Zimbabwe’s Ruling Party Accused of Hollowing Out Parliamentary Oversight
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has signed into law constitutional changes extending his time in office from 2028 to 2030. The legislation, known as CAB3, also allows parliament, rather than a public vote, to elect future presidents. … Reactions began circulating on social media with some welcoming the news, while others questioned the impact and lawfulness of the change. … MP Fortune Daniel Molokele told RFI: “This new law is an assault on democracy. It’s taking away the power of the electorate and allocating it to a few political elite.” … A bicameral legislature, comprising an upper and lower house, is often intended to provide checks and balances within the legislative process, improve oversight of legislation, and ensure broader representation of different interests or regions. In Zimbabwe’s case, parliament is supposed to provide that oversight. “But when parliament itself elects the president, that oversight becomes circular and weak,” notes [Makomborero Haruzivishe, spokesperson for the Constitution Defenders Forum (CDF) International]. RFI
Nigeria Insecurity: Senate approves ₦403 billion Police Trust Fund for 2025, 2026
The Senate on Thursday approved the 2025 and 2026 budgets of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund (NPTF), authorising a total expenditure of ₦403.1 billion for the two fiscal years. … The approval followed the consideration of a report presented by the senator representing Oyo Central, Yunus Akintunde, on behalf of the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Abdulhamid Madori. Presenting the report, Mr Akintunde, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and vice chairman of the committee, said the panel was satisfied that the proposed budgets would enable the Trust Fund to effectively discharge its statutory responsibilities, particularly in strengthening the operational capacity of the Nigeria Police Force. He said the funds would be used to procure operational vehicles and equipment, rehabilitate police barracks and stations, train and retrain personnel, and implement other intervention programmes aimed at improving policing nationwide. Premium Times
Senegal Judges Reject Constitutional Change that Would Reduce Presidential Powers
Senegal’s top judicial body rejected a constitutional amendment aimed at expanding the role of parliament and reducing presidential powers. The new law was passed last month, but the government said it would be put to a referendum. President Bassirou Diomaye Faye had challenged the legality of the procedure and requested an emergency review at the Constitutional Council. The council on Thursday evening ruled the law was unconstitutional, effectively halting one of the parliamentary majority’s cornerstone projects. The debate over constitutional reform comes as political tensions have risen between Faye and his former prime minister, Ousmane Sonko. Sonko was dismissed and elected as the president of the National Assembly earlier this year. Their alliance, which had brought them to power in March 2024, gradually disintegrated. A new prime minister has since been appointed, and the formation of a new government is expected. … Sonko welcomed the decision by the council, saying it is binding. “This cycle reminds us that in a democracy, when institutions play their role, each within its sphere of influence, no crisis can arise,” he said. AP
Humanitarians Look to Put the AI in Aid
[A]t the AI for Good summit in Geneva this week, a handful of humanitarian-focused displays emphasised the technology’s positive potential. Parked in one corner of a vast hall at the Palexpo conference centre was a giant white SHERP vehicle, resembling a hulking Martian rover, decked out with cameras and sensors and a drone landing-pad on the roof. Made in Ukraine, SHERPs are amphibious vehicles that can float on water, drive through swamps and flooded rivers with their giant wheels, and climb over obstacles up to one metre (3.3 feet) high. The UN’s World Food Programme is preparing to begin field-testing a version of the AI-enabled truck that can be steered remotely through the most dangerous and difficult terrain to reach people in need. … WFP already has drivers using SHERPs to deliver aid in Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda. But after numerous heartbreaking losses of drivers, it tasked the German Aerospace Center (DLR) to help equip the vehicles with AI and other technologies, making it possible to control them remotely through particularly dangerous terrain. … One project uses AI analysis of anonymised mobile phone data to spot mass-population movements during disasters, determining where people are fleeing, to help humanitarians better tailor their response. Another uses AI for rapid analysis of satellite images taken before and after disasters like last month’s earthquakes in Venezuela to determine building damage. AFP
Africa’s New Middle Class Is Putting down Roots in the Suburbs
By 2050 the number of African megacities (those with at least 10m people) will rise from three to 17, the second-most of any continent, forecasts Africapolis, an initiative of the Sahel and West Africa Club, a group affiliated with the OECD, a club mainly of rich countries. … Much of the growth will be beyond current boundaries, as the city absorbs once-rural areas. These are not suburbs typical of the West. An idiosyncratic, African suburbia is taking shape—and reshaping the continent. … Over the next 25 years urban Africa will more or less double its footprint. … Thousands of new towns and cities will pop up; many will be like tiny stars in galaxies of mega-agglomerations such as Dar es Salaam, Lagos and Nairobi. This should be a boon for Africa. Bigger cities means bigger markets, a greater density of talent and broader tax bases. Yet the correlation between urbanisation and GDP per person is weaker in Africa than in Asia, argues Kurt Lockhart of the Africa Urban Lab (AUL), a group at the African School of Economics in Tanzania. … Patrick Lamson-Hall, who leads the urban expansion programme at AUL, says that African cities that work are doing what American and European cities did in the 19th century: predicting growth, providing a basic framework (arterial roads and housing plots), and letting the city grow organically. The Economist
‘You Made Us Proud’: Egypt Gives Heroes’ Welcome to World Cup Team
Waving flags, singing patriotic songs and carrying banners proclaiming “Egypt’s men made us proud”, thousands of supporters welcomed Egypt’s national football team home on Friday after the Pharaohs produced the finest World Cup campaign in the country’s history. Crowds gathered outside Alamein International Airport on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast to greet the players and coaching staff after their return from North America, where Egypt won at the World Cup for the first time in four attempts and reached the last 16. Fans also held pictures of captain Mohamed Salah bearing the words “Thank you”. … The homecoming came despite a heartbreaking 3-2 defeat by Lionel Messi’s Argentina in the last 16. Egypt led 2-0 until the closing stages before conceding three goals in the final 11 minutes, but still returned home with pride after its best-ever World Cup run, having beaten New Zealand in the group stage and Australia on penalties in the round of 32. Reuters