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Egypt has been certified malaria-free by the World Health Organization (WHO) – an achievement hailed by the UN public health agency as “truly historic”. “Malaria is as old as Egyptian civilization itself, but the disease that plagued pharaohs now belongs to its history,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Egyptian authorities launched their first efforts […]
Losing a deputy just two years after being elected on a joint ticket could be seen as a big blow for a president, but not this time in Kenya. As soon as Rigathi Gachagua was seen to be undermining William Ruto, he moved swiftly to remove his second-in-command. He had seen for himself how a […]
A British national has told the BBC that he and several Turkish citizens were abducted in the Kenyan capital Nairobi by masked men on Friday, with four of the Turkish citizens still missing. Necdet Seyitoğlu, who lived in the UK for 18 years before moving to Kenya two years ago, said he was released after […]
Water from a polluted river in Ghana was so thick and discoloured that an artist was able to use it as paint to depict the environmental devastation caused by the illegal gold mining that has spread like wildfire in the resource-rich West African state. Mercury is increasingly being used to extract gold by miners digging […]
Children as young as 10 can soon be jailed once again in Australia’s Northern Territory (NT), after the government there lowered the age of criminal responsibility. Australian states and territories have been under pressure to raise it, from 10 to 14, in line with other developed countries and UN advice. Last year the NT became […]
China’s economy expanded in the third quarter at the slowest pace since early last year, as the country struggles to boost flagging growth. On an annual basis, gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 4.6% in the three months to the end of September, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics. That is less than the […]
There was a time when an invitation to a party hosted by Sean “Diddy” Combs was one of the most sought-after tickets in the entertainment industry. With guest lists that included Justin Bieber, Mariah Carey, Paris Hilton and Jennifer Lopez, it was a chance to rub shoulders with some of the biggest celebrities. Jay-Z and […]
Israeli troops had for more than a year hunted the leader of Hamas, who disappeared in Gaza soon after masterminding the 7 October attacks. Yahya Sinwar, 61, was said to have spent much of his time hiding in the tunnels under the Strip, along with a cadre of bodyguards and a “human shield” of hostages […]
Walking through the ruins of what used to be his home, 29-year-old Ahmad Musa al-Qumbar always feared the Jerusalem city authorities would come after him. The married Palestinian father-of-four built the modest single-storey building seven years ago, on land he owns and where his family have lived for generations. But Ahmad never actually had a […]
Russia’s army is forming a unit of some 3,000 North Koreans, a Ukrainian military intelligence source has told the BBC, in the latest report suggesting that Pyongyang is forming a close military alliance with the Kremlin. So far the BBC has yet to see any sign of such a large unit being formed in Russia’s […]