G7 Urges Halt to Attacks in Sudan’s El-Obeid, Calls for Wider Arms Embargo
G7 foreign ministers and the European Union’s foreign policy chief on Wednesday urged Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces and allied armed groups to stop all actions that could lead to further atrocities or endanger civilians in El-Obeid. They also called on all parties, including the Sudanese army, to cease hostilities, allow aid access and engage in good-faith talks. In a joint statement, they backed United Nations’ efforts to de-escalate the crisis, called on the UN Security Council to expand the Darfur arms embargo to all of Sudan, urged external actors to halt military and financial support to the warring sides, and vowed to promote accountability for violations while supporting Sudan’s unity and democratic aspirations. Reuters
RSF Accepts Truce but Rejects Withdrawal in Response to U.S. Sudan Peace Plan
The Sudan Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have submitted their response to peace proposals presented by U.S. Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos, outlining conditions for a political settlement while rejecting demands to withdraw from captured territories. The paramilitary group’s response comes as Washington tries to broker a ceasefire to end more than three years of conflict. Sudan’s Security and Defence Council, chaired by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, said on July 12 it had also submitted its own response to mediators. … On Monday, Boulos sought to manage expectations regarding the ongoing negotiations, cautioning against premature reports of a breakthrough. … According to the envoy, the United States’ primary focus remains on facilitating serious and constructive dialogue. He reiterated that Washington is committed to delivering a humanitarian truce, along with a plan for comprehensive, lasting peace and a political transition in Sudan. The proposals, first presented by Boulos in June, call for a 90-day humanitarian truce, a political process, a comprehensive ceasefire, and the start of reconstruction. Sudan Tribune
UN Warns Terrorist Threat Is Spreading across West Africa and the Sahel
The United Nations has warned that terrorist groups are expanding their reach across West Africa and the Sahel, using increasingly sophisticated methods and threatening the stability of coastal states in the Gulf of Guinea. Briefing the UN Security Council, Leonardo Santos Simão, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel, said armed groups continue to pose a serious security challenge, particularly in the central Sahel and northern Nigeria. “On the security situation, the threat posed by terrorist and other non-state armed groups remains acute, especially in the central Sahel and northern Nigeria, rapidly targeting coastal states in the Gulf of Guinea. These groups are adapting their tactics, increasingly using advanced technology, such as drones, means of communication and cryptocurrencies.” Simão also warned that drug trafficking is becoming increasingly intertwined with terrorism, while humanitarian access remains severely restricted in many conflict-affected areas. He said women, children and young people continue to bear the brunt of the violence, with attacks on schools threatening the future of entire communities. Africanews
Nigeria to Lead Humanitarian Response as UN Support Evolves, Minister Says
Nigeria plans to take on a bigger role in coordinating humanitarian responses inside the country, as it shifts away from a system led largely by international donors and U.N. agencies, officials said on Tuesday. The move was outlined at a joint transition workshop in the capital of Abuja, where the Nigerian government and the United Nations began talks on transferring greater responsibility for planning, coordination, and financing of operations to national institutions. Nigeria’s humanitarian minister Bernard Doro said the move was not a withdrawal of international support but a transition to government-led coordination that would continue to receive technical backing from the U.N. and other partners. U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Mohamed Fall said the decision was not about reducing support, but to shift to a new model that takes advantage of more government and private-sector funding to drive humanitarian response. Reuters
Boss of Fake Government Agency Arrested in Nigeria after Weeks on the Run
The head of a bogus government agency set up in the Nigerian president’s office has been arrested after weeks in hiding. Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, who called himself director general of the purported Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), was detained in the south-western state of Osun State. His arrest followed a warrant issued on Tuesday by the Federal High Court in the capital, Abuja, after he failed to appear at a hearing to face charges of forgery and impersonation. The case has gripped Nigeria since President Bola Tinubu ordered a corruption investigation into the fictitious agency last week. … Tinubu’s office said an official-looking letter creating the agency was fake. Police forensic analysis had confirmed the signature of the president’s chief of staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, on the disputed appointment letter had been forged, the presidency said. The scandal has prompted calls for an independent inquiry from civil society groups, opposition politicians and senior lawyers. BBC
As War Fears Grow in Ethiopia, Women Soldiers Recount the Sexual Violence They Experienced
As the fear of war returns to northern Ethiopia, with the regional authorities urging former Tigray Defence Force (TDF) fighters to re-enlist, women who served are speaking out about the sexual abuse they experienced at the hands of their own commanders during the 2020-2022 conflict. Much of the focus on rights violations during the war has centred on the atrocities perpetrated by Ethiopian forces, and their Eritrean and Amhara allies, as they moved to crush a rebellion by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) party, and the TDF militia that had emerged to defend their homeland. … The New Humanitarian spoke to roughly two dozen TDF veterans to discuss the extent of sexual violence during the 2020-2022 conflict, and how the abuse was largely ignored by a high command that believed admitting such crimes would undermine the war effort. … The abuse was especially galling as so many women had joined the TDF for protection from wartime sexual violence. Women comprised an estimated 30% of the TDF, making it one of the most gender inclusive armed forces in the world, yet despite their numbers, they found themselves in a “hostile environment”, acknowledged Rahwa, a high-ranking female TDF member. The New Humanitarian
Sierra Leone Drops Treason Charge against Ex-president over Attempted Coup
Sierra Leone’s government has dropped its charges against ex-President Ernest Bai Koroma, who was arrested in connection with an attempted coup nearly three years ago. In its statement, the government did not say why it had dismissed the charges, which included treason. The 72-year-old former president has always denied involvement in the November 2023 attempted coup when gunmen broke into a military armoury and several prisons, freeing almost 2,000 inmates. … In his statement on Tuesday, Koroma also expressed gratitude towards Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and the West African regional bloc Ecowas for their support. After Koroma was charged and placed under house arrest, Ecowas brokered a deal with the government of Sierra Leone, allowing the former president to go into exile in Nigeria and seek medical attention there. He was now free to return to his home country, the office of Sierra Leone’s attorney general said on Tuesday. … Around 20 people were killed in the attempted coup, which came five months after a disputed election which saw President Bio narrowly re-elected for a second term. The results were rejected by Koroma’s All People’s Congress. International observers also criticised the elections, highlighting a lack of transparency in the count. BBC
Congo Forms New Council in Push for War Crimes Justice
Democratic Republic of Congo has formed a new advisory council that includes senior war crimes lawyers from the United States and Europe to support its push for accountability for atrocities committed in the country’s conflict-ridden east. The move comes as Congo’s government pursues an increasingly ambitious campaign for international justice in connection with the fighting, a decades-old struggle involving dozens of armed groups and competition for mineral resources, in which millions are estimated to have died. … Fighting in eastern Congo intensified last year when the AFC/M23 rebel group, which the United Nations and Western governments say is backed by Rwanda, seized large swathes of eastern Congo. Kigali denies backing the rebels. The new advisory council, known as the Council for the Examination of Atrocities in the DRC, will advise two Congolese state institutions as they seek recognition of crimes and push for reparations for victims. It is co-chaired by Congolese human rights activist Julienne Lusenge and Howard Morrison, a British lawyer and former judge at the International Criminal Court and the U.N. tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Reuters
Maternal Mortality Doubles in Ebola Outbreak Zone as Mothers Avoid Hospitals
The number of women dying in childbirth has doubled in the region at the centre of the Ebola outbreak as expectant mothers avoid hospitals, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has said. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates. In Ituri province, the epicentre of the current outbreak of Ebola, 3.1 mothers died on average a week before the outbreak. Since the start of the outbreak in May, the rate has doubled to 6.2 women. The UNFPA has said that 63,700 pregnant women are due to give birth in the DRC in the midst of this outbreak, and doctors on the frontline warn that a strained healthcare system combined with fear of the disease is causing women to give birth at home. It is not just mothers who are avoiding hospitals. “We are having a lot of community deaths,” Marie Belizaire, the WHO incident manager in Bunia said. “It means that the community is self medicating. They are not going to clinical care, they are not accessing the health system.” Telegraph
Egypt’s Parliament Formalises Economic Powers of Military-linked Body
Egypt’s parliament gave final approval on Tuesday to a law that formalises the rapid expansion of the military-linked Future of Egypt Authority into the country’s most powerful economic body and places it under direct presidential oversight. The legislation cements the authority’s rise under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi from a land reclamation project launched in 2017 into a sprawling state entity with responsibilities spanning strategic commodity imports, agriculture, fisheries, real estate and investments. The move comes as the International Monetary Fund continues to call on Egypt to level the playing field for the private sector and reduce the role of state- and military-owned companies, which benefit from preferential treatment including tax exemptions, access to prime land and cheap labour. … The bill concentrates planning, licensing, land allocation, investment, asset management, oversight and revenue-collection powers within a single body, while exempting it from several laws. Reuters
South African Court Pushes Kemi Seba Extradition Case to August 11
Pan-African activist Kemi Seba will remain in custody after a South African court postponed proceedings in his extradition case until August 11. Benin is seeking his extradition over allegations of incitement to rebellion following the failed coup attempt of December 2025. South African judicial authorities have once again delayed proceedings in the case involving Kemi Seba, extending uncertainty over the activist’s legal future. The hearing, initially scheduled for this week, was postponed to August 11, 2026, according to local media reports. Until then, Seba will remain in pretrial detention while the extradition process continues. The case centers on an extradition request submitted by the Beninese authorities. Benin is seeking Seba’s return to face allegations of incitement to rebellion linked to the aftermath of the failed coup attempt in December 2025. South African courts are examining the legal and procedural aspects of the request before deciding whether the extradition can proceed. The legal proceedings began after Seba was arrested in Pretoria on April 13, 2026, alongside his son and a South African national. Africanews
Former President Sall to Visit Senegal as He Campaigns for UN Chief Post
Former Senegalese President Macky Sall will travel to Senegal on Friday, his first public visit to the country since leaving office as he campaigns for the post of U.N. secretary-general. Sall remains a divisive figure in Senegal following his unsuccessful attempt to postpone the 2024 presidential election, a move that triggered deadly protests and was ultimately struck down by the Constitutional Council. Senegal’s Court of Auditors said Sall’s government understated debt and deficit figures, implying about $7 billion in hidden borrowing, a number that later ballooned and was estimated by S&P Global Ratings at about $13 billion as of last July, a quarter of the country’s $40 billion economy. Sall denies any wrongdoing. He is due to meet President Bassirou Diomaye Faye before leaving Dakar immediately afterwards, he said on X. He said the visit was “part of the consultations and visits I have undertaken in connection with my candidacy”. … The U.N. is due to choose its 10th secretary-general this year for a five-year term beginning January 1, 2027. Sall is among five candidates so far. Reuters