Fifty years ago, the Igbo people of southeast Nigeria seceded, declaring an independent Republic of Biafra and sparking a brutal civil war that left about one million people dead. On May 30, 1967, the military head of Nigeria’s eastern region, Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, declares “the independent Republic of Biafra”. His move comes two days after … Read more
Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) charity says that in the past three days 25,000 South Sudanese have been displaced by intense fighting around the northern town of Kodok. MSF said aid organisations have suspended operations due to the insecurity. The UN says the government launched a new offensive in the area, against Agwelek rebel … Read more
Driven back by police batons and snarling dogs, or beaten and robbed by the smugglers they relied on, migrants caught in Serbia have regularly been victims of violence as they struggle to reach Europe. About 8,000 migrants have been trapped in the country since the European Union closed its borders, hoping to block the so-called … Read more
Thousands of people in northeastern Nigeria remain beyond the reach of aid, Doctors Without Borders said. Many of them have been trapped between Boko Haram Islamist insurgents and counter-insurgency operations that have left many without food or work. The general director of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Switzerland, Bruno Jochum, said those who reached health centres … Read more
In November 2014, Salome Karwah of Liberia graced the cover of Time magazine as a symbol of strength and humanity after surviving Ebola and using her experience to help others with the virus. But last month, Karwah died shortly after giving birth to her fourth child — and her husband blames the stigma attached to … Read more
Around 15 Boko Haram fighters were killed when the jihadists attacked a town in northeastern Nigeria, two days after the air force accidentally killed dozens of people there, local and military officials said. On Tuesday, the air force said it had bombed Rann in Borno state, epicenter of Boko Haram’s seven-year-long attempt to create an … Read more
Nigeria’s air force killed 50 people and injured 120 in an air strike on a refugee camp in the northeast on Tuesday, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said. The military said the strike had targeted Boko Haram. MSF said the strike occurred in Rann in Borno state, the epicenter of the jihadist group’s seven-year-old bid to … Read more
Four years ago, a business consultant from Project Peanut Butter (PPB) walked into my Department of Commerce office in Arlington, Virginia and showed me a 60 Minutes news clip called “Plumpynut: The Miracle Food”. It described a ready-to-use therapeutic formula (RUTF) that treats a malnourished child in a number of weeks, and is a much … Read more
Women and girls in several camps in the Nigerian town of Maiduguri are being sexually abused by officials, a rights group says. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it had spoken to 43 victims who had been raped or sexually exploited by vigilante groups and security officials. The president has ordered an investigation into the alleged … Read more
About 6,500 migrants have been rescued off Libya, the Italian coastguard says, in one of the biggest operations of its kind to date. Some 40 co-ordinated rescue missions took place about 20km (12 miles) off the Libyan town of Sabratha, it added. Video footage shows migrants, said to be from Eritrea and Somalia, cheering and … Read more
Sierra Leone’s proposed countrywide “lockdown” will not help control an Ebola outbreak and could lead to the disease spreading further as cases are concealed, medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Saturday. The government plans to order citizens not to leave the areas around their homes for three days from Sept. 19 in a … Read more
(South Sudan,Médecins Sans Frontières) A significant decline in the number of new cholera cases in South Sudan in recent weeks has prompted the international medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to scale down its cholera operations. Instead it will redirect resources towards other unmet health needs in the country, where more than 1.7 million people … Read more
A United Nations cargo helicopter crashed Tuesday in the north part of South Sudan, killing three crew members and injuring another, a UN spokesman told reporters here. “The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has confirmed that three crew members of a helicopter contracted by the United Nations died today when it crashed near … Read more