A Campaign of Disappearances: Inside the Killings, Abductions and Surveillance of Mozambique’s Government Critics
For five months, more than 30 journalists from 10 media organizations collaborated to expose the state-sponsored machinery of repression [in Mozambique]. The consortium’s reporting suggests [there is a] pattern of political persecution, with dozens of cases pointing to opposition members being targeted by actors linked to FRELIMO and Mozambique’s security forces, particularly in the aftermath of the October 2024 general elections. … Since the 2024 elections, more than 400 [supporters of Venâncio Mondlane, head of the opposition party National Alliance for a Free and Autonomous Mozambique (ANAMOLA) and former presidential candidate,] have reportedly been subjected to violence, including 55 who were killed. … Complaints filed by Mondlane with Mozambique’s Attorney General’s Office, reviewed by Forbidden Stories, describe authorities and police units committing extrajudicial killings, severe injuries, mutilations, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and the destruction of property against Mondlane’s supporters. … [Disappearances] have become common in Mozambique, where an anti-terror law passed in 2020 permits suspects to be detained for up to 16 months without charge. … According to sources, many of those abducted are held incommunicado in improvised detention centers whose location is unknown to the general public. Forbidden Stories
Yale Report Reveals Ethiopian Base Weaponizing Civilian Vehicles for Sudan’s RSF
A new investigation by the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) has exposed an active military logistics chain inside an Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) base, where civilian vehicles are systematically modified, armed, and painted to supply Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The report, based on satellite imagery analyzed between March 29 and May 21, 2026, reveals a large-scale refitting operation at the ENDF base in Asosa, Ethiopia. … According to the findings, the base serves as a modification hub where light commercial vehicles, originally white or light-coloured, are repainted in dark colours matching the distinctive livery used by the RSF on the frontlines of Blue Nile State. … Beyond cosmetic changes, the Asosa base is being used to weaponize these civilian transports into lethal “light technical vehicles”. Analysts repeatedly identified clusters of narrow, dark objects approximately 1.6 meters long, situated next to vehicles with mounting equipment in their beds. Based on the exact dimensions and positioning, the report assesses with high confidence that these objects are heavy machine guns, consistent with 50-calibre barrels, being affixed to the modified trucks. … The report also highlights a significant shift in operational patterns within the base, suggesting an effort to hide the pipeline from international scrutiny. Sudan Tribune
Nigeria: Court Jails Five Men for 25 Years over Arms Supply to Suspected Boko Haram Network
The Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced five men to 25 years’ imprisonment each for providing logistical and arms support to Boko Haram terrorists operating in Niger State, North-central Nigeria. … Judge Binta Nyako handed down the verdict on Thursday after the convicts pleaded guilty to four charges of terrorism, unlawful possession of firearms, and providing support to a terrorist organisation. … Prosecutors said the 15 AK-103 rifles and 1,434 rounds of ammunition were concealed inside sacks of dried fish and loaded into a blue Volkswagen Golf 3. … Security reports have repeatedly shown that arms traffickers across the Sahel often conceal weapons in commercial goods to evade detection along informal border routes. … A case summary stated that the defendants were arrested following intelligence on a plan to move weapons from Niger Republic into a suspected terrorist enclave in Borgu LGA. Investigators said the second and third defendants received the consignment in Diffa before it was intercepted en route to Nigeria, while the first and fourth defendants allegedly travelled from Borgu to Zaria to receive and deliver the weapons to the suspected operative in a forest hideout. Premium Times
Nigeria Lawmakers Advance State Police Reform to Curb Insecurity
Nigeria’s parliament passed a constitutional bill on Thursday paving the way for each of its 36 states to establish and run its own police force alongside the federal Nigeria Police Force, a long-debated reform aimed at tackling worsening insecurity. The move brings decentralised policing closer to reality, as authorities seek to address diverse security crises that have stretched the centrally controlled system beyond its limits. A decentralised model is seen by supporters, including President Bola Tinubu, as critical to improving local responses to violence ranging from insurgency to mass kidnappings and communal clashes, which have spread across much of Nigeria. Lawmakers in the House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted for the constitutional bill while the Senate was also expected to adopt it later on Thursday. It is a major step toward allowing Nigeria’s 36 state governments to establish and manage police forces alongside the existing federal force. The bill, which enjoys cross-party support, must still be approved by at least two-thirds of all state assemblies before taking effect. Reuters
DRC Referendum Bill Intensifies Constitutional Standoff
On June 9, the National Assembly passed a bill to organize referendums — legislation that would be pivotal to any constitutional revision as President Felix Tshisekedi’s second and final term expires in 2028. The vote took place without opposition lawmakers, who have boycotted parliament for weeks in protest against the initiative. Tshisekedi has signaled openness to a scenario that could lead to a third term through constitutional revision and even a potential postponement of elections. … Opposition leaders argue that the referendum law is designed to bypass entrenched term limits. … The reform push has unified a fragmented opposition. At the end of May, figures including Katumbi, Martin Fayulu, Matata Ponyo and Jean-Marc Kabund — alongside civil society groups — launched the “Article 64 Coalition for the Defense of Constitutional Order” (C64). … Public protests are also gaining momentum. A nationwide “ville morte” (ghost town) strike on June 3 was widely observed in Kinshasa and other cities. Further demonstrations, including sit-ins outside parliament, are planned. DW
Ebola Testing Stalled in Three Congo Labs Due to Shortages, Says WHO
Three laboratories in Democratic Republic of Congo have run out of supplies to test for Ebola, the World Health Organization said, as the outbreak of the dangerous Bundibugyo species of the virus continues to grow. In the latest situation report, dated June 7 and released on Tuesday night, the agency said laboratories in Bukavu and Lwiro in South Kivu province, and Goma in North Kivu, had run out of stock. It said that the labs were awaiting the arrival of reagents – substances required to run the tests – to resume work on backlogged samples. … Testing began slowly because the widely available Ebola tests did not detect the Bundibugyo virus. But it has ramped up since, led by experts at the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale in Kinshasa, although challenges with access remain due to insecurity and armed conflict in the worst-hit provinces. Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, director of INRB, said that testing capacity was now much improved, increasingly available in regional laboratories, which were able to report results on the same day. Reuters
Electoral Framework Talks for Libya Underway in Tunisia
The work of the “4+4” restricted dialogue committee has resumed in Tunisia under the auspices of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). The aim is to keep the electoral legislation firmly on the agenda and defining a consensual framework for the organisation of future national elections in Libya. According to UNSMIL, participants in the new meeting of the “4+4” committee in Tunisia are reviewing the legal provisions governing the Libyan electoral process as well as an implementation timeline that could secure the backing of the various Libyan stakeholders involved. The committee brings together representatives from Libya’s main institutions and political actors. The talks include members of the High Council of State, representatives of the Government of National Unity (GNU) based in Tripoli, as well as delegates from the rival eastern administration backed by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. … The talks are part of a broader process launched several months ago to break Libya’s political deadlock, which has prevented the holding of national elections. APA
Iran War Disrupts Phone Shipments to Africa
Disruption caused by the Iran war is weakening smartphone availability in Africa and making handsets more expensive, shipment tracking data to the continent showed. Rising costs of components, supply chain constraints, and weaker consumer demand that are all partly linked to the Iran war have depressed smartphone sales in much of the continent, resulting in the slowest growth of shipments to Africa in two years, research firm Omdia said. Transsion, the Chinese firm that is the continent’s top smartphone seller and specializes in the sub-$200 category of devices that dominate African markets, shipped roughly the same volume in this year’s first quarter compared to last. But that market for low-cost phones in Africa is “entering a structurally more challenging phase” with thinner margins this year, Omdia said, due to supply chain costs that, among other factors, stem from a two-year shortage of memory chips that has been made worse by the Middle East crisis. Semafor
Niger Criminalises Same-sex Relations with Jail Terms
Military-run Niger has enacted a new penal code criminalising same-sex relations with heavy jail sentences, following several other west African countries which have recently adopted tough anti-LGBTQ legislation. Although a taboo subject, same-sex relations had not been a criminal offence in Muslim-majority Niger. … Under Niger’s new law, same-sex relations will be punishable by a jail term of between five and 10 years and a fine. … The penal code reform was initiated under Niger’s previous civilian president Mohamed Bazoum under pressure from Muslim groups and lawmakers. Bazoum was overthrown in the 2023 coup. … Since last year, Burkina Faso has punished same-sex relations with five years in prison. Ghana in recent weeks has adopted the sentence of three years in prison, and Senegal last month doubled the maximum penalty for same-sex relations. AFP
3 Red Cards Mar Opening World Cup Match between Mexico and South Africa
The opening match of the World Cup delivered a rarity in international soccer: three players sent off with red cards. No World Cup match has had that many players ejected since a 2006 game between Portugal and the Netherlands, when four players received red cards — a World Cup record. The last World Cup in Qatar in 2022 had only four red cards in the entire tournament. On Thursday at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane were sent off for South Africa while César Montes was shown a red card for the tournament co-host. It’s the first time three players have been sent off in the opening match of a World Cup – and all three were straight red cards, meaning none of the ejected players were given two yellows. Mexico won the match 2-0. … The red cards mean the three players will be suspended for at least one more match. South Africa’s next match is against the Czech Republic and Mexico next faces South Korea in Guadalajara. AP