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 At least 72 people, including nine soldiers and a soldier's wife, were killed when armed men attacked a village in western Congo, local authorities said, as violence intensifies between rival communities. Saturday's attack took place in the village of Kinsele, around 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Kinshasa, the capital. Because of insecurity and poor infrastructure in the region, attacks can take days to be reported. Kinsele is in the Kwamouth territory, where conflict has raged for two years between the Teke and Yaka communities, leading to hundreds of civilian deaths. The attackers were with the Mobondo militia, a group presenting itself as defenders of the Yaka people. “The search continues to find other bodies in the bush,” David Bisaka, the provincial deputy for the Kwamouth territory, told The Associated Press in a phone interview. He added that the army had "succeeded in routing this militia” for the second time in a week. The Mobondo militia first tried to attack the village on Friday. Following Saturday’s attack, the dead included nine soldiers and the wife of a soldier, the head of a nearby village, Stanys Liby, told U.N.-funded Radio Okapi. The conflict over land and customary claims in the Kwamouth territory erupted in June 2022 between so-called “native” and “non-native” communities, according to the advocacy group Human Rights Watch. Tensions flared between the Teke, historical inhabitants of the region, and farmers from various other ethnic groups including the Yaka, who settled near the Congo River more recently. Despite a cease-fire in April 2024 in the presence of Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi, clashes between the communities have continued and even intensified in recent weeks. Congo's defense minister, Guy Kabombo Muadiamvita, on Monday visited Kwango province, where the attacked village is located, to “feel the reality on the ground,” the ministry said on social media platform X. “The province of Kwango is the last security barrier to access the city province of Kinshasa,” the ministry said, adding that the minister “promised to spare no effort” against the militia. Congo's army also struggles to contain more widespread violence in the vast country's east, which has seen decades of fighting between government forces and more than 120 armed groups. Many seek a share of the region’s gold and other resources. Violence in the east has worsened in recent months. Earlier this month, a militia attack on a gold mine in northeastern Congo killed six Chinese miners and two Congolese soldiers.

Nearly 1,000 homes in informal settlements in Cape Town, South Africa, have been destroyed by gale-force winds, displacing around 4,000 people, authorities and an aid organization said as the city braces for a week of damaging storms. South African weather authorities said Monday that Cape Town and surrounding areas are expected to be hit by multiple cold fronts until at least Friday, bringing torrential rain, strong winds, flooding and possible mudslides. City authorities also warned of storm surges and high waves along the coastline and asked people to stay away from the beachfront. Cape Town's disaster coordination team has been on alert since last Thursday, when the first front arrived. The worst-hit areas are expected to be the poor, informal settlements on the edge of South Africa's second biggest city. Thousands have been displaced in the township of Khayelitsha on the outskirts of Cape Town after strong winds destroyed homes and other structures. The Gift of the Givers local aid organization said it provided 10,000 meals and 3,000 blankets to displaced people in Khayelitsha over the weekend. “The city is doing all it can to address the impacts as quickly as possible,” the City of Cape Town said. Other areas have been flooded and the weather has caused power outages in more than 30 suburbs, the city said. It said it is monitoring dam levels to ensure they don't overflow and would consider a controlled release of some water with more heavy rain expected this week. Cape Town, on the southwest tip of Africa, is often hit by cold fronts coming in from the Atlantic Ocean during its winter months in the middle of the year. They are especially damaging for informal settlements.

With dismay, Martha Waema and her husband surveyed their farm that was submerged by weeks of relentless rainfall across Kenya. Water levels would rise to shoulder height after only a night of heavy downpour. The couple had expected a return of 200,000 shillings ($1,500) from their three acres after investing 80,000 shillings ($613) in maize, peas, cabbages, tomatoes and kale. But their hopes have been uprooted and destroyed. "I have been farming for 38 years, but I have never encountered losses of this magnitude," said the 62-year-old mother of 10. Their financial security and optimism have been shaken by what Kenya's government has called "a clear manifestation of the erratic weather patterns caused by climate change." The rains that started in mid-March have posed immediate dangers and left others to come. They have killed nearly 300 people, left dams at historically high levels and led the government to order residents to evacuate flood-prone areas — and bulldoze the homes of those who don't. Now a food security crisis lies ahead, along with even higher prices in a country whose president had sought to make agriculture an even greater engine of the economy. Kenya's government says the flooding has destroyed crops on more than 168,000 acres (67,987 hectares) of land, or less than 1% of Kenya's agricultural land. As farmers count their losses — a total yet unknown — the deluge has exposed what opposition politicians call Kenya's ill preparedness for climate change and related disasters and the need for sustainable land management and better weather forecasting. Waema now digs trenches in an effort to protect what's left of the farm on a plain in the farthest outskirts of the capital, Nairobi, in Machakos County. Not everyone is grieving, including farmers who prepared for climate shocks. About 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Waema's farm, 65-year-old farmer James Tobiko Tipis and his 16-acre farm have escaped the flooding in Olokirikirai. He said he had been proactive in the area that's prone to landslides by terracing crops. "We used to lose topsoil and whatever we were planting," he said. Experts said more Kenyan farmers must protect their farms against soil erosion that likely will be worsened by further climate shocks. Jane Kirui, an agricultural officer in Narok County, emphasized the importance of terracing and other measures such as cover crops that will allow water to be absorbed. In Kenya's rural areas, experts say efforts to conserve water resources remain inadequate despite the current plentiful rainfall. At Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, professor John Gathenya recommended practices such as diversifying crops and emphasizing the soil's natural water retention capacity. "The soil remains the biggest reservoir for water," he said, asserting that using it wisely requires much less of an investment than large infrastructure projects such as dams. But soil needs to be protected with practices that include limiting the deforestation that has exposed parts of Kenyan land to severe runoff. "We are opening land in new fragile environments where we need to be even more careful the way we farm," Gathenya said. "In our pursuit for more and more food, we are pressing into the more fragile areas but not with the same intensity of soil conservation that we had 50 years back."  

Some 66.7 million people in the Greater Horn of Africa region are highly food insecure, according to a new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) released on Wednesday. Out of the total, 39.1 million were from six of the eight IGAD member states, the FAO and IGAD said in the June report. These are Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda. Other countries where people are food insecure in the region are Burundi, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The number of food-insecure people in June, 66.7 million, fell almost 11 percent from the previous month's 74.9 million, according to the two institutions. "Conflict, inflation, disease outbreaks and poor access to nutritious diets and safe water continue to severely impact the state of food security and nutrition in Eastern Africa," the report said. Countries like Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan experienced heavy rainfall, as flooding exacerbated by lingering effects of previous droughts heightened severe levels of food insecurity, according to the two institutions. The report said that the East and Central Africa region hosts a substantial number of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), especially in countries such as Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia, where people grapple with food insecurity due to restricted access to essential resources and limited livelihood opportunities. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, severe climate events such as flooding and drought, conflicts and disease outbreaks are continuing to cause displacements and push millions of people into acute food insecurity.

 Female suicide bombers targeted a wedding, a funeral and a hospital in coordinated attacks in northern Nigeria that killed at least 18 people, local authorities said Sunday. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the the attacks in Borno state, which has been heavily affected by the insurgency launched in 2009 by Boko Haram. The extremist group previously has used women and girls in suicide bombings, prompting suspicions that some attackers come from the many thousands of people the militants have kidnapped over the years, including schoolchildren. The first suicide bomber detonated a device during a marriage celebration in the northeastern town of Gwoza, Barkindo Saidu, director-general of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency, told reporters. “Minutes later, another blast occurred near General Hospital,” Saidu said, and the third bomber at the funeral service was disguised as a mourner. Children and pregnant women were among those killed. At least 30 others were wounded, and Saidu said that injuries included abdominal ruptures and skull fractures. Russian bombers fly over Belarus amid Ukraine tensions Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said in a statement that the attacks were “desperate acts of terror” and “an isolated episode." The insurgency, which has spilled across borders around Lake Chad, has killed more than 35,000 people, displaced 2.6 million others and created a humanitarian crisis. Boko Haram, with one branch allied to the Islamic State group, wants to install an Islamic state in Nigeria, West Africa’s oil giant of 170 million people divided almost equally between a mainly Christian south and a predominantly Muslim north. US says drone kills IS bombers targeting Kabul airport The resurgence of suicide bombings in Borno raised significant concerns about the security situation in the region. Authorities imposed a curfew in the city. Gwoza is near Chibok, where 276 schoolgirls were abducted in 2014. Nearly 100 of the girls are still in captivity. Since then, at least 1,500 students have been kidnapped across Nigeria as armed groups find the practice a lucrative way to fund their criminal activities and take control of villages. 3 dead US fire bombers retrieved from Australian forest

Female suicide bombers targeted a wedding, a funeral and a hospital in coordinated attacks in northern Nigeria that killed at least 18 people, local authorities said Sunday. The first bomber detonated during a marriage celebration in the northeastern town of Gwoza, Barkindo Saidu, director-general of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency, told reporters. “Minutes later, another blast occurred near General Hospital,” Saidu said, and the third bomber at the funeral service was disguised as a mourner. Children and pregnant women were among those killed. At least 30 others were wounded, and Saidu said injuries included abdominal ruptures and skull fractures. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the the attacks. Borno state has been heavily affected by the insurgency launched in 2009 by the Boko Haram Islamic extremist group. In the past, Boko Haram has used women and girls in suicide bombings, prompting suspicions that some attackers come from the many thousands of people the extremists have kidnapped over the years, including schoolchildren. Nigerian President Bola Tinubu in a statement called the attacks “desperate acts of terror” and “an isolated episode." The insurgency, which has spilled across borders around Lake Chad, has killed over 35,000 people, displaced over 2.6 million and created a massive humanitarian crisis. Boko Haram, with one branch allied to the Islamic State group, wants to install an Islamic state in Nigeria, West Africa’s oil giant of 170 million people divided almost equally between a mainly Christian south and a predominantly Muslim north. The resurgence of suicide bombings in Borno raised significant concerns about the security situation in the region. Authorities imposed a curfew in the city. Gwoza is a few kilometers from Chibok, where 276 schoolgirls were abducted in 2014. Nearly 100 of the girls are still in captivity. Since then, at least 1,500 students have been kidnapped across Nigeria as armed groups find the practice a lucrative way to fund their criminal activities and take control of villages.

Mauritanians went to the polls on Saturday to elect their next president, with the incumbent Mohamed Ould Ghazouani widely expected to win after positioning Mauritania as a strategic ally of the West in a region swept by coups and violence. Ghazouni, who is seeking reelection on the pledge of providing security and economic growth, is a former army chief and the current president of the African Union. He came to power in 2019 following the first democratic transition in the country’s history, and on Saturday promised to respect the results of the vote. “The last word belongs to the Mauritanian voters," Ghazouni said after voting in Ksar, the suburb of the capital. “I commit myself to respecting their choice.” Although his opponents accused him of corruption and mismanagement, he remains popular among Mauritanians who see him as a beacon of stability. The vote is taking place in a particularly tense regional climate, with Mauritania’s neighboring countries shaken by military coups and jihadi violence. Iran to hold runoff election with reformist Pezeshkian and hard-liner Jalili after low-turnout vote “We must not let ourselves be fooled by the slogans of the candidates who are not reassuring,” said Marième Brahim, a 38-year-old company executive, who voted for Ghazouni. “Mauritania must vote for continuity and stability and its security in a troubled environment and it is not these candidates without experience in governance who will give us confidence.” Two million people are eligible to vote in a nation of 5 million. Ghazouani is facing six opponents, including an anti-slavery activist, leaders of several opposition parties and a neurosurgeon, who accused the government of corruption and clientelism. Mauritania is rich in natural resources such as iron ore, copper, zinc, phosphate, gold, oil and natural gas. It is poised to become a gas producer by the end of the year, with the planned launch of the BP-operated Greater Tortue Ahmeyin offshore gas project at the border with Senegal. Yet almost 60% of the population live in poverty, according to the United Nations, working as farmers or employed in the informal sector. With few economic opportunities for young people at home, many are attempting to cross the Atlantic to reach Europe, and some are even trying to get to the United States through Mexico. Macron dissolves the French parliament and calls a snap election after defeat in EU vote Mohamed Lemine Ould Moktar, 45, who voted for an opposition candidate, has two young sons who remain unemployed despite having university diplomas. ″I just voted for change, we have had enough of identical regimes which squander the people’s assets and maintain corruption," said Ould Moktar. “Just look at more than 40,000 young Mauritanians take the path of immigration to the United States by jumping the border wall between Mexico and the United States. This is why I am voting for change.” Saturday's vote was unfolding peacefully, according to observers, with the polls due to close at 7 p.m. Partial results were expected on Sunday. “We have not noticed any anomalies or problems," declared Taghiyouallah Ould Ledhem, spokesman for CENI, the independent electoral commission. "People are voting smoothly and easily, we have not received any complaints so far.” Modi’s narrow win suggests Indian voters saw through religious rhetoric, opting instead to curtail his political power

Egypt and the European Union on Saturday opened a two-day investment conference to advance the implementation of their strategic partnership agreement that includes a 7.4 billion-euro ($8 billion) aid package for the cash-strapped Middle Eastern nation. The March aid package includes both grants and loans over the next three years for the Arab world’s most populous country. Most of the funds — 5 billion euros ($5.4 billion) — are macro-financial assistance to help Egypt shore up its economy, which is hit by a staggering shortage of foreign currency and soaring inflation. In his opening remarks, President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said the conference “sends a powerful message of confidence and support from the European Union for the Egyptian economy and the economic reform measures implemented over the past 10 years.” The EU, represented by Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis, and Egypt will sign a memorandum of understanding for the short-term macro-financial assistance of up to €1 billion ($1.07 billion) to support Egypt’s economic reform program, the EU mission in Cairo said in a statement. Other investment deals worth 40 billion euros ($42.8 billion) are scheduled to be signed with European companies as well as bilateral cooperation agreements with the EU to advance employment and skills, vaccines manufacturing, food security and sustainable development, it said. Egypt agrees to send aid trucks through Israeli crossing to Gaza but impact is unclear “In just 100 days, we have already brought new energy into our partnership. And this is just the beginning,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who attended the conference, said. “We are backing our new partnership with substantial public investments. But what truly makes a difference is that the private sector is also on board.” El-Sissi’ government embarked on a massive reform program in 2016 in return for loans from the International Monetary Fund. The reform has centered on floating the local currency, substantial cuts in state subsidies on basic goods, reducing public investment and allowing the private sector to become the engine of growth. Most recently, the government once again floated the pound and sharply increased the main interest rate in March. Commercial banks are now trading the U.S. currency at more than 47 pounds, up from about 31 pounds. The measures are meant to combat ballooning inflation and attract foreign investment. They were also needed to meet IMF demands in order to increase its bailout loan from $3 billion to $8 billion. Israeli forces take control of the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt The currency devaluation and subsidies cuts have inflicted further pain on Egyptians already struggling with skyrocketing prices over the past years. Nearly 30% of Egyptians live in poverty, according to official figures. The EU deal, which has drawn criticism from rights groups over Egypt’s human rights record, came as concerns grow that economic pressure on Egypt and conflicts in neighboring countries could drive more migrants to European shores. Over a dozen rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, urged the EU in a letter earlier this month to ensure that its bailout package "secures concrete, measurable, structural, and timebound human rights progress and reforms in the country.” Biden urges Egypt, Qatar leaders to press Hamas to come to agreement for Israeli hostages in Gaza Egyptian authorities have carried out a relentless crackdown on dissent for a decade, and rights groups have repeatedly called for Western governments to link improving rights conditions to financial assistance.

Edith Wanjiku holds onto one of the few photos she’s left with of her teenage son Ibrahim Kamau. His life was cut short by two gunshot wounds to his neck that were sustained during Kenya’s deadly protests on Tuesday in which more than 20 people were killed. The 19-year-old Kamau was among thousands of protesters who stormed parliament while calling for legislators to vote against a finance bill that would increase taxes. Police opened fire and several people were killed on the spot. Kamau had just completed high school and planned to study electrical works. “He was operating a motorcycle taxi while he waits to join college,” Wanjiku told The Associated Press during her son’s funeral on Friday. Kamau was the first victim of Tuesday's protests to be buried in a Muslim ceremony that was attended by hundreds, including the area's member of parliament, Yusuf Hassan. As Wanjiku stood outside the Muslim cemetery in Nairobi’s Kariakor neighborhood, she was overwhelmed by emotions and had to be whisked away to sit down. “It is so painful. I’m still in disbelief and keep hoping he will wake up,” she says. The mother of four struggled to educate Kamau and his older sister by doing menial work while living in Nairobi’s Biafra slum. “I don’t even have many photos of him, because I lost them when our house burned down some years back,” she says. Tuesday’s deadly protests were called by young people who felt let down by legislators who voted for a controversial finance bill during its second reading. They had hoped to convince the legislators not to pass the bill in the final vote and when it sailed through, they stormed into parliament and burnt part of the building. Human rights groups have accused police of brutality and killings during the protests. The policing oversight body IPOA on Wednesday released preliminary findings on investigations into police conduct during the protests that showed plainclothes officers shooting at protesters. The body has summoned some officers to record statements.

In a country where racial segregation was once brutally enforced, South Africa's new coalition government has brought a Black president and a white opposition leader together in an image of unity. Yet the power-sharing agreement sealed a week ago between President Cyril Ramaphosa's African National Congress party and the Democratic Alliance, one of South Africa's few white-led parties, has unwittingly renewed some racial rifts. Many Black South Africans have expressed discomfort with a white-led party being back in power, even in a coalition. The country is haunted by the apartheid system of white minority rule that ended 30 years ago but is still felt by millions among the Black majority who were ruthlessly oppressed by a white government and remain affected by unresolved issues of poverty and inequality. South Africa is now faced with the likelihood of seeing more white people in senior government positions than ever since apartheid ended. White people make up around 7% of the country’s population of 62 million. The ANC liberated South Africa from apartheid in 1994 under Nelson Mandela, the country's first Black president. Its three-decade political dominance ended in the landmark May 29 election, forcing it to form a coalition. The DA, with its roots in liberal white parties that stood against apartheid, won the second largest share of votes. Both have promoted their coming together in a multi-party coalition as a new unity desperately needed in a country with vast socioeconomic problems. But history lingers. The DA suspended one of its white lawmakers Thursday, days after being sworn into Parliament, over racist slurs he made in a social media video more than a decade ago. Renaldo Gouws — reportedly a student in his 20s at the time — used an especially offensive term for Black people that was infamous during apartheid and is now considered hate speech. Gouws faces disciplinary action from his party, and the South African Human Rights Commission said it will take him to court. The DA, which previously fended off allegations of favoring whites, is again under scrutiny. The Congress of South African Trade Unions, an important political ally of the ANC, asserted that Gouws’ outburst was symptomatic of a DA that is “soft on racists.” The DA “needs to reflect on and address this if it wants to be accepted as a partner in the government of national unity by ordinary South Africans,” it said. DA leader John Steenhuisen denied in a television interview that his party is dedicated only to white interests, saying it wouldn’t have won the second largest share of votes in a Black majority country if it was. The DA has Black and white lawmakers and supporters, but its only Black leader left the party in 2019, questioning its commitment to Black South Africans. Political analyst Angelo Fick said the DA does have a “sense of whiteness” in the eyes of many South Africans and has created that by being “utterly disinterested in speaking to the concerns about race from Black South Africans.” Shortly before Gouws' case, racially charged language came from another direction when the MK Party of former President Jacob Zuma — once an ANC leader — called Ramaphosa a “house negro” for entering into the agreement with the DA. Zuma's party also referred to white DA chairperson Helen Zille as Ramaphosa's “slave master.” The MK Party and the Economic Freedom Fighters — the third and fourth biggest parties in Parliament — have refused to join what the ANC calls a government of national unity open to all. They said the fundamental reason is the DA, which they say is committed only to the well-being of South Africa's white minority. “We do not agree to this marriage of convenience to consolidate the white monopoly power over the economy,” EFF leader Julius Malema said. Malema has sometimes provoked racial tensions in demanding change, once saying, “We are not calling for the slaughtering of white people, at least for now,” and that South Africa’s “white man has been too comfortable for too long.” He now says his party is not against white people but against a perceived “white privilege” that leaves 64% of Black people in poverty compared with 1% of white people, according to a 2021 report by the South African Human Rights Commission. Malema represents a new opposition to the ANC by many Black South Africans frustrated over the race-based inequality that's evident after 30 years of freedom. White people generally live in posh neighborhoods. Millions of Black people live in impoverished townships on the outskirts. That frustration led many voters to give up on the ANC. The concerns about teaming up with the DA could weaken the party even further. In his inauguration speech Wednesday, Ramaphosa recognized the “toxic” divisions that remain decades after Mandela preached racial reconciliation. “Our society remains deeply unequal and highly polarized,” Ramaphosa said. The ANC is trying to use the coalition as a kind of reboot of Mandela's ideals. “To us, it doesn’t matter whether the cat is black or white," ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula said of the agreement with the DA. Mandela had used the phrase to signal he was open to all races serving in South Africa's government. “Fundamentally," Mbalula said, “the question is how do we move the country forward.”