Category: Int’l News
Uganda judges push back against lawyers’ bid to scrap ‘colonial titles’
Uganda’s judiciary has pushed back against a directive by the country’s lawyers’ association instructing its members to stop addressing judges as “My Lord” or “My Lady” and to abandon the longstanding practice of bowing before them. In the directive, the Uganda Law Society (ULS) said such “feudal and colonial honorifics” elevate judicial officers above citizens,…
Tensions erupt in Indian state after 11-year-old raped and murdered
The Indian state of West Bengal has been on the boil for the past few days over the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl. The body of the child was fished out from a pond on Sunday – a day after her family reported her missing. The incident in Surjyapur village in Baruipur, on…
The African fishermen who blame Chinese trawlers for their woes
The villagers are shouting as they haul on the ropes to pull the net in from the sea. It takes a big collective effort of a dozen or more people to drag the wriggling mass of snapper, mackerel, barracuda, rays, and many more fish besides, onto the beach. Shore fishing like this is a tradition…
South African leader warns anti-migrant protesters ahead of unofficial deadline
People intending to protest against migrants should do so without “intimidation, threats or ultimatums”, President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned on the eve of an unofficial deadline for undocumented foreigners to leave South Africa. Several thousand citizens of other African countries have already left the country in recent weeks fearing violence. One undocumented Malawian told the…
Mum rescued from Venezuela rubble with newborn baby tells BBC how he helped her survive
A mother who was pulled from the rubble of her wrecked home in Venezuela with her 18-day-old baby has told the BBC of how her son helped keep her alive. Dayana Patino said her son Juan David gave her “motivation to be awake and alert”. “As long as he was alive, I was going to…
Police seal off key roads in Nairobi as Kenyans march to remember protest victims
Police in Kenya have sealed off key roads leading into central Nairobi ahead of planned nationwide protests marking two years since deadly Gen-Z-led anti-government demonstrations. Protesters say they are demanding justice for more than 80 people killed and dozens more injured during the 2024 anti-tax demonstrations and anniversary protests last year. There have been pockets…
Venezuelan Red Cross ‘operational and responding’ as UN urges ‘massive collective effort’
Both the Red Cross and the United Nations have mobilised assistance for Venezuela following the earthquakes. The Red Cross says that “full human impact” of the Venezuelan earthquakes is not yet known, adding that its Venezuelan branch is “operational and responding”. In a statement online, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies…
Twins marry twins in joyous Nigerian joint wedding
When guests gathered at a church in the south-west Nigerian city of Ibadan at the weekend, they knew they were witnessing something rare. A pair of twin brothers – Taiwo and Kehinde Oguntoye – were marrying twin sisters Taiwo and Kehinde Adediran in a joyous joint ceremony. The Yoruba people, who predominate in south-west Nigeria,…
Burnham sworn in as MP after Starmer announces resignation
Shortly after 10 o’clock this morning Andy Burnham finally confirmed what had been obvious for days – that he would stand to be the next Labour leader and therefore the UK’s next prime minister. The new MP for Makerfield, while on a train headed from Manchester to London, took to social media to say: “I…
MSF staff abused Sudanese refugees in sex-for-food scandal
Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) admits its staff were accused of sexually abusing at least 59 Sudanese refugees who had fled the civil war in search of safety. Young girls were exploited in some cases, and often food or jobs were offered in exchange for sex. The offences were committed in eastern Chad and…