First Independent Mena Newspaper
Angola’s presidency confirmed that peace talks between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government and the M23 rebel group will proceed as planned in Luanda, despite the rebels’ withdrawal from the negotiations. The M23 announced on Monday (17 March) they were pulling out due to sanctions imposed by the European Union on several Rwandan officials, […]
Border communities in northern Côte d’Ivoire find themselves increasingly vulnerable as counterterrorism funding crucial to preventing extremist expansion has been suspended. The $20 million US-funded initiative, which supported dozens of villages like Kimbirila-Nord, looking like a front line of the global fight against extremism, has ended amid sweeping foreign aid cuts, leaving residents concerned about […]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is calling for an investigation into a brutal massacre in Burkina Faso, where dozens of civilians were reportedly killed by government-aligned militias. The attack occurred in the western city of Solenzo, with video footage circulating on social media showing bodies of ethnic Fulani civilians, including women, children and elderly, bound and […]
The head of UNICEF, Catherine Russell, has revealed on March 13 that 16 million children in Sudan are suffering immensely due to the ongoing civil war, facing daily threats of violence, starvation, disease, and sexual assault. Speaking at a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Thursday, Russell described how the conflict is occurring right […]
The Dakhla-based International Center for Research on the Prevention of Child Recruitment (IRCPCS) issued an urgent call in Geneva on Thursday for global mobilization to ensure the immediate and safe return of children forcibly recruited by armed groups, including the polisario. This appeal was made during a conference on “Children of North Africa: Access to […]
Africa’s Sahel region has become the global epicenter of terrorism, with extremist groups now responsible for over half of all terror-related deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the latest Global Terrorism Index (GTI). This marks a significant shift from previous years, as the region’s death toll rose to 3,885, accounting for 51% of the global […]
Direct peace talks between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government and the M23 rebel group are scheduled to begin in Angola’s capital city Luanda on 18 March, as announced by Angola’s presidency. This marks a significant development after months of escalating conflict in the volatile eastern DRC, where the M23 rebels, widely believed to […]
A new report by Drone Wars UK has highlighted the alarming rise of military drone strikes across Africa, resulting in nearly 1,000 civilian deaths over the past three years. The report, titled ‘Death on Delivery’, warns that the uncontrolled spread of armed drones, primarily imported from countries like Turkey, China, and Iran, is exacerbating civilian […]
The African Network of National Human Rights Institutions (NANHRI), which convened its General Assembly on Monday at Geneva’s Palais des Nations, officially endorsed the candidacy of the President of the Moroccan National Council for Human Rights (CNDH), Amina Bouayach, to chair the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI). Ms. Bouayach’s candidacy has garnered […]
The East African Community (EAC) is grappling with a severe financial crisis, with member states failing to remit over $62 million in contributions for the 2024/25 financial year. The bloc, which comprises Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya, has seen its programs delayed, while salaries for staff […]