UN pleads for Equatorial Guinea not to send US asylum seekers to their home countries: 'Their life would be in danger'Human rights experts make rare public appeal as US deportees describe being held in 'prison-like' conditionsHuman rights experts at the United Nations issued a rare public appeal to Equatorial Guinea, urging the central African country to halt its plans to return US deportees to their home countries, where they face political violence, torture and death.The statement, co-signed by a representative of the African Commission on Human and People's Rights, adds diplomatic pressure on Equatorial Guinea, one of the world's most repressive regimes, to comply with international human rights standards and avoid refoulement, or the expulsion of people to countries where they face persecution. Continue reading...
Remains of second US soldier who went missing in Morocco recoveredMariyah Symone Collington and Kendrick Lamont Key Jr, who also died, had fallen off a cliff during an off-duty hikeThe remains of the second US army soldier who went missing during military exercises in Morocco have been recovered, the army said on Wednesday, ending a multinational search operation that deployed air, naval and artificial intelligence assets.The soldier was identified as Spc Mariyah Symone Collington of Taveres, Florida, the US Army Europe and Africa said in a statement. She was 19 years old. Continue reading...
'Blatant disregard for rights': concern grows over Gabon's social media clampdownActivists claim use of laws to curtail internet freedoms part of well-documented history of cracking down on dissentWhen Gabon's media regulator indefinitely suspended major social media platforms in February, citing security concerns during anti-government protests, it became the talk of town - literally.Within weeks of the announcement, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to bypass the restrictions surged in the central African country. When gendarmerie began stopping young men at road checkpoints in the capital Libreville and other urban centres to confiscate mobile phones with VPNs installed or detain the owners, warnings spread by word of mouth. Activists and opposition members said their accounts were also suspended due to efforts of state officials. Continue reading...
Internal displacements caused by violence or conflict at record high in 2025The 32.3m surpasses those caused by disasters for the first time, as 82.2m people displaced in total around worldThe number of internal displacements triggered by conflict or violence around the world reached a record high in 2025, surpassing the number of disaster-driven internal displacements for the first time.A report published by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) shows that by the end of 2025 there were 32.3m conflict-driven internal displacements. That is 60% higher than those recorded the previous year, and - for the first time since data collection began in 2008 - above displacements driven by natural disasters, which reached 29.9m in 2025. Continue reading...
CIA director has met officials in Havana for talks, Cuba claimsVisit comes after US-Cuba relations deteriorated significantly, with Washington imposing a fuel blockade on the island in JanuaryCIA director John Ratcliffe met Cuban officials in Havana on Thursday as a way to improve dialogue between the US and the communist-run island, the Cuban government said.The meeting took place "in a context marked by the complexity of bilateral relations, with the aim of contributing to the political dialogue between both nations", a statement said. Continue reading...
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