allAfrica
[Daily Maverick] As members of Cape Town's municipal planning tribunal can now effectively serve for life (as revealed in Part 1 of this series), Daily Maverick interrogates the tribunal's lack of official employment records, the basis of its apparent property 'development-above-all-else' policy, and why it is withholding a critical legal opinion for which ordinary Capetonians have paid.
[UN News] Global forced displacement has decreased for the first time in a decade, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) reported on Thursday, though the figure remains unacceptably high and tens of millions of people are still trapped in prolonged exile with little prospect of rebuilding their lives.
Africanews
Iran is closing the Strait of Hormuz to all traffic, including oil tankers and commercial ships, the country’s state media announced on Thursday.
[allAfrica]
[Vanguard] South African government has slammed a five-year travel ban on the 268 Nigerians cleared for repatriation after declaring them illegal residents.
Pope Leo XIV blesses Sagrada Familia’s new tower in Barcelona, now the world’s tallest church, in a mass marking 100 years since Antoni Gaudí’s death.
[Nyasa Times] A dark cloud of grief has descended on Malawi following the tragic death of former Mr Malawi, Tadeo Banda, who was among 12 people killed in a brutal mass shooting in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Tuesday.
[DW] Nairobi -- LGBTQ+ organizations in Kenya are struggling: Deep funding cuts, not just during Pride, have forced layoffs, shrinking services and tough choices. But organizations that serve queer communities are adapting.
[HRW] Effective Health Response Needs Transparency, Limited Role for Security Forces
[Capital FM] Nairobi -- Kenya's opposition coalition under the United Alternative Government banner has sharply criticised President William Ruto's administration ahead of the presentation of the 2026/2027 national budget, accusing the government of pursuing policies that are deepening the country's debt crisis and worsening the burden on ordinary citizens.
[HRW] Drop Charges, Release Detained Journalists
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni says the "fire of Ebola has started going down" in an address to the nation. Museveni and officials state there have been "no new cases" for five days, with the president calling the outbreak "easy to stop."
[Nile Post] The Governments of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are planning to establish joint medical camps on the Congolese side of the border as part of efforts to strengthen the fight against Ebola and ensure suspected patients receive timely treatment.
[Nile Post] Lawyers representing opposition figure Kizza Besigye and his co-accused Obeid Lutale have accused Luzira Prison authorities of obstructing preparations for an upcoming court hearing by denying them access to key materials needed to review the prosecution's evidence.
[SAnews.gov.za] The Acting National Commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS), Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane, has directed the deployment of additional national specialised capabilities to augment provincial teams in the investigation of the Cleveland shooting incident.
[Nile Post] Uganda has not registered any new Ebola cases in the past five days, providing an encouraging sign for health authorities working to contain the outbreak and prevent further transmission.
[Vanguard] A 23-year-old female Libya returnee, Endurance Daniel, on Wednesday recounted how she and other migrants drank their urine to survive due to lack of water in the desert.
[This Day] The Senate on Wednesday took a decisive step towards overhauling Nigeria's overburdened judiciary, passing for second reading two landmark bills that would expand the bench of the Court of Appeal from 70 to 110 justices and raise the strength of the Federal High Court from 70 to 90 judges.
[Unicef] Nairobi -- Statement by UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa Etleva Kadilli
[263Chat] Seven children have died after a commuter omnibus carrying pupils from Matongo Primary School caught fire in Gweru on Wednesday afternoon, police have said.
