CAIRO, Egypt / JUBA, South Sudan, May 12 (IPS) - Events in Sudan have been a constant topic of conversation in Cairo's coffee houses since the violence erupted there four weeks ago. The images of almost 30 Egyptian soldiers briefly detained in Sudan by Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militias and the death of an Egyptian diplomat in Khartoum caused a stir in Egypt.

UNITED NATIONS, May 12 (IPS) - The world’s news media -- both under authoritarian regimes and democratic governments-- continue to come under relentless attacks and political harassment.

Raising concerns on Friday about fresh restrictions on migrants and refugees following the United States’ lifting of a COVID-19 pandemic-era measure known as Title 42, UN agencies called for great multilateral action to regularize movement across the continent.

There are “strong indications” that more than 500 people were killed – the vast majority summarily executed – by Malian troops and foreign military personnel during a five-day operation in the village of Moura in central Mali in March 2022.

UN agencies spent Friday buckling down with communities across Bangladesh and Myanmar, bracing for Cyclone Mocha, which is expected to hit the region by the weekend.

A declaration by Sudan’s warring parties committing to protect civilians is an “important first step”, after more than three weeks of heavy fighting, the UN’s top official in the African nation said on Friday.

JOHANNESBURG, May 11 (IPS) - In the deep rural village of Jekezi in South Africa's Eastern Cape, most young and able-bodied people have fled the area, leaving behind people with disabilities, the elderly, and children.

BANJUL, The Gambia, May 11 (IPS) - In the heart of The Gambia, an intrepid young woman called Fatou Juka Darbor is blazing a trail for women fuelled by her fiery passion for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

The UN-brokered Black Sea Initiative, aimed at ensuring the flow of grain, foodstuffs and fertilizer amid global shortages exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, has now allowed the safe export of more than 30 million tonnes, since it first began in July last year.

New technology and strategies are helping to deliver justice to victims of grave violations of human rights in Libya, including fresh arrest warrants, but “we can do better”, the chief prosecutor of the UN-backed International Criminal Court (ICC) told the Security Council on Thursday.