Disinformation and Deepfakes Emerge as Silent Killers in Sudan’s Digital War
In Sudan’s devastating war, flying projectiles and drones are not the only weapons claiming lives and destroying cities. … Disinformation and fabricated news broadcast by specialized digital platforms and media rooms are being deployed by both warring factions. The rival forces use these networks as a systematic strategy to control the flow of information, engineer alternative narratives, and wage psychological warfare. … The digital rumours in Sudan’s conflict extend beyond local panic to grand propaganda utilizing artificial intelligence and deepfake technologies. … Rights organizations report that tactical rumours have triggered mass displacement from areas that had not seen active combat. … “Since the outbreak of the April 15 war, the military confrontation has expanded into the media and digital platforms,” said Mohamed al-Hadi, a journalist specializing in content creation and countering hate speech. “A parallel war over public consciousness has emerged, which can be described as a ‘war of narratives’.” … Investigative findings and political sources indicate the digital media landscape is funded and managed through a complex network. Sources report that some media rooms receive financial and logistical support directly from the warring parties or via platforms managed from regional countries to purchase sponsored ads and back specific influencers. The pro-army digital apparatus operates from temporary administrative centres in Port Sudan, anchoring its narrative on state sovereignty and institutional legitimacy. … Conversely, the RSF manages a wide network of digital platforms, with much of its technical administration located outside Sudan, alongside field centres in cities such as Nyala and Ed Damazin. Sudan Tribune
More than 215 Civilians Die in South Darfur Detention Centre, Sudan Doctors Say
More than 215 civilians detained at a major detention centre in Sudan’s South Darfur state have died over the past two months due to torture and disease outbreaks, the Sudan Doctors Network said on Wednesday. The fatalities at the Daqrees prison in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, occurred during May and June. Human rights and humanitarian organizations describe the facility as one of the largest detention centres in the Darfur region, housing large numbers of civilians detained since the war broke out in April 2023. The Sudanese doctors’ group said field sources reported that the deaths resulted from a lack of healthcare, mistreatment, torture, and the spread of epidemics. Humanitarian and medical organizations face severe challenges accessing the detainees due to tight restrictions, the group added. … The Sudan Doctors Network condemned the abuses and called for an immediate halt to forced detentions. It demanded that international medical and humanitarian organizations be granted immediate access to all detention facilities in Darfur. Sudan Tribune
Chad Sees Influx of Drone Victims from Sudan
According to the UN human rights agency, more than 1,000 civilians were killed in drone strikes in Sudan in the first five months of this year. The Zaghawa people, the ethnic majority in the western Darfur region, are being particularly targeted by the RSF. “The expanding use of drones has fundamentally transformed the security landscape in Sudan,” the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, an NGO, said last week. “In recent months, such strikes have intensified dramatically and demonstrated increasing precision for targeting civilian spaces, including markets, residential neighbourhoods, hospitals and essential civilian infrastructure,” it added. “Since early May, drone strikes have intensified around Tina, a city on the Sudanese side of the Chad–Sudan border,” said medical charity Doctors Without Borders, which is known by its French acronym, MSF. This has led to repeated influxes of wounded patients arriving at Tine hospital in Chad. MSF supports the hospital and since it opened at the end of February, of the nearly 300 people admitted to the surgery department, more than 90 percent have been victims of drones, its manager, Malachie Mbairamadji, estimated. AFP
Latest Niamey Airport Attack Tests Niger Junta as Terror Groups ‘Adapt’
The latest assault on Niamey International Airport claimed the lives of 11 soldiers and two civilians, following an attack in January when terrorists arrived on motorbikes. This time, the attackers tried to gain access by deception, posing as passengers and reportedly using vehicles including taxis and minibuses. The change made detection and prevention more difficult, Brimaka Abdoul Azizou Garba – who teaches at the Louvain-Europe Institute of Political Science in Belgium and has served as a special adviser to ousted President Mohamed Bazoum – told RFI. “This second attack on Niamey airport shows that terrorism is not abating; it is adapting to security measures and changing its modus operandi,” Garba said. Security was strengthened in and around the airport after the January attack, but that did not deter the attackers, Garba said. He said they may have infiltrated the capital to observe the security arrangements and exploit weaknesses. The recent demolition of neighbourhoods around the airport by Niger’s military rulers may also have shaped the attackers’ approach. Garba said the measures appeared to have reduced congestion by clearing nearby areas, but added that such moves were likely being watched from inside the capital. RFI
Nigeria: Senate Passes State Police Bill, Empowers Governors to Appoint Police Commissioners, Give Directives
The Senate on Wednesday passed the bill seeking to establish state police in Nigeria. … The legislation seeks to establish a state policing structure that would operate concurrently with the existing federal police system. However, Clause 17 of the bill, which deals with appointment, command, direction and tenure, provides that while the Federal Police Service shall be headed by the Inspector-General of Police, the State Police Service shall be headed by a Commissioner of Police appointed by the governor of the state, subject to confirmation by the state’s House of Assembly. … Section 17(7) further provides that the Commissioner of Police of a state shall not arrest, detain, investigate or deploy force against any person, political party or group for criticising the government except in accordance with the law. This provision is intended to prevent the misuse of state police against political opponents or critics, ensuring that any action taken against such individuals or groups complies with due process and existing laws. Premium Times
Zimbabwe’s Senate Approves Bill to Delay the Presidential Election and Overhaul the Vote
Zimbabwe’s Senate on Wednesday approved constitutional amendments that would remove direct presidential elections, delay the next one and extend the tenure of the country’s 83-year-old leader, whose signature is the final step for them to become law. Seventy-five senators voted in favor of the bill that would postpone elections scheduled for 2028 to 2030 and extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s term by two years. Four senators opposed the measure, with some lawmakers from the fractured opposition joining ruling party colleagues in backing the changes. The bill overhauls the way presidents are chosen, replacing direct popular elections with selection by lawmakers. It also extends the terms of the president and members of parliament to seven years from five. Critics, including human rights lawyers, activists and some opposition figures, argue that extending presidential terms requires approval through a referendum. … The proposed amendments have heightened political tensions in Zimbabwe. Critics of the bill have faced arrest and detention, while others have alleged harassment and intimidation. The southern African country’s courts are yet to rule on several legal challenges to the proposal. AP
US Releases Experimental Ebola Drug for DR Congo Outbreak Trials
The US Department of Health and Human Services confirmed it will provide doses of MBP134, an antibody drug developed by California-based Mapp Biopharmaceutical, for compassionate use in the DRC and to support a clinical trial in the outbreak region. … Trial data could help support future regulatory review and possible US approval, the spokesperson added, declining to say how many doses were being provided. … Shipments of MBP134 and other treatments intended for trials are already on their way, the WHO said. The agency is working with health partners to prepare trial enrolment at treatment facilities in the affected region. Trials of the Mapp drug and two antivirals developed by US pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences are due to begin in the coming weeks, according to information provided by the WHO and scientists involved in the testing. MBP134 will be tested both on its own and alongside Gilead’s remdesivir, also known as Veklury, which was widely used during the Covid-19 pandemic. A second Gilead drug, obeldesivir, will be tested as a possible preventive treatment. … Running trials and delivering care in the eastern DRC will be difficult, global health officials said. Disease testing and contact tracing are challenging, supply chains have been disrupted, mistrust is widespread and health workers have faced attacks. RFI
France Confirms First Ebola Case in Doctor Who Had Worked in DRC
The first case of Ebola has been confirmed in France, the country’s health ministry has said, in a doctor who had returned from a humanitarian mission to an area affected by the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The patient was transferred to a specialist facility and was in a stable condition, the ministry said in a statement. “All precautionary measures, including the patient’s isolation, were taken upon his arrival in the country, with transfer to the hospital under secure conditions to prevent any risk of contamination.” Authorities are tracing the patient’s contacts, who will have to isolate at home for 21 days. The ministry said the risk to the general European public was very low. The outbreak is centred on Ituri province in north-eastern DRC, where authorities are battling to contain the spread of the virus. The Guardian and Reuters
Kenya Police in Massive Show of Force on Protest Anniversary
Kenyan police put on a massive show of force Thursday in a bid to prevent protests marking two years since a landmark Gen Z uprising. Thousands of Kenyans took to the streets in June 2024 against economic hardship and corruption, eventually storming parliament to force the cancellation of new taxes. It was a watershed moment with young Kenyans ignoring traditional ethnic dividing lines, and June 25 has become an annual day of protest as frustration continues with the government of President William Ruto. But they paid a heavy price, with at least 127 people killed across the two years of protests, according to a police watchdog, as security forces shot people with near-total impunity. … Ruto said this week that Kenyans had a right to demonstrate, but warned against anyone “mobilised to destroy property or cause chaos”. Yet politicians have frequently deployed masses of hired “goons” — armed men sent to attack opponents — who are blamed for most of the looting and robberies during protests. AFP saw scores of them operating alongside police during last year’s protests, and they have recently been used to attack everything from opposition rallies to civil rights meetings in churches. AFP
Inside EAC’S New Spending Plan
The East African Community (EAC) has tabled a budget of $110.9 million for the 2026/27 financial year, the first to be prepared under a new financing formula that will require member states with larger economies to contribute more. Chairperson of the EAC Council of Ministers Rebecca Kadaga presented the $110,863,576 spending plan to the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala). The proposed budget is slightly lower than the $113.9 million approved for 2025/26. The new formula, which takes effect on July 1, 2026, requires partner states to finance 50 percent of the budget through equal contributions, while the remaining 50 percent will be assessed according to each country’s economic size. … Ms Kadaga said the budget was designed to support partner states’ efforts to deepen regional integration and economic resilience through improved security, domestic revenue mobilisation and digital transformation. The East African
Municipal Misery Weighs on Looming South African Elections
Mounds of garbage, potholed roads and sewage spills: grim conditions like these led voters near Johannesburg to abandon their long-time loyalty to the ANC and hand the rival DA its first black township ward in South Africa. For the Democratic Alliance, the country’s second-largest party, its recent by-election victory in Evaton West is a sign it may finally be shedding its white identity and winning more black support. The loss for the African National Congress — South Africa’s historic anti-apartheid movement — in a former stronghold may be no predictor of the outcome of key municipal elections in November. But analysts say it highlights how frustration over municipal-level failures may prompt voters to break from traditional loyalties. … The DA -– formed in 2000 as a merger of three mostly white parties -– took just over 32 percent in the May by-election, double its score at the previous local elections in 2021. The ANC took just under 32 percent, down from more than 50 percent in 2021. … The collapse in services that prompted the voter shift is reported across South Africa, where the ANC won majorities in 161 of 213 councils in 2021. AFP
South Africa: Bafana Bafana Qualify for the World Cup Knockout round for the First Time Ever
Hugo Broos has guided Bafana Bafana to the knockout stage of the Fifa World Cup for the first time in the team’s history. A goal from Cyprus-based winger Thapelo Maseko on 63 minutes secured a historic 1-0 for the South Africans at Monterrey Stadium in Guadalupe. This means that in their fourth World Cup appearance, the team has finally been able to reach what has been an elusive stage of the tournament. It also means Broos, who is set to step down as Bafana Bafana coach after the tournament, will be in charge for another match at least. Bafana will face Canada next, after finishing second in the Group on four points. Mexico topped Group A with nine points after beating Czechia 3-0 in their final match. Daily Maverick