News

Human activity is continuing to drive what conservation charity the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) calls a “catastrophic” loss of species. From elephants in tropical forests to hawksbill turtles off the Great Barrier Reef, populations are plummeting, according to a stocktake of the world’s wildlife. The Living Planet Report, a comprehensive overview of the […]

A Rwandan YouTuber has been sentenced to seven years in prison for breaching the country’s laws on genocide denial. Rashid Hakuzimana, who was arrested in 2021, denied all the charges, which also included inciting ethnic division and spreading false information for claiming that anyone who dares to challenge President Paul Kagame in elections is jailed. […]

Tributes are pouring in for the widely admired but controversial founder of the Rhema Bible Church South Africa, Ray McCauley, who has died aged 75. “Pastor Ray has gone to be with the Lord peacefully at his home, surrounded by his family and loved ones,” his son said in a statement. President Cyril Ramaphosa extended […]

Residents of a town in north-western Nigeria are celebrating after a rare but feared hippo – along with its calf – was killed by rice farmers and fishermen in a hunt lasting several weeks. People in Yauri, in Kebbi state, have been terrified of the hippo after she killed a fisherman who worked for the […]

A Spanish couple on their honeymoon in Singapore have been detained after protesting against the Singaporean owner of the football club they support. Dani Cuesta posted photographs of himself outside the home of Peter Lim, the billionaire owner of Valencia CF, holding a banner criticising the business magnate. Mr Cuesta and his partner Mireia Sáez […]

More than a dozen states in the US have sued TikTok, accusing the social media platform of helping to drive a mental health crisis among teenagers. A bipartisan group of 14 attorneys general from across the country allege that the company uses addictive features to hook children to the app and that it has intentionally […]

Brazil’s Supreme Court has said it is lifting a ban on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. In his decision, Justice Alexandre de Moraes said that he authorised the “immediate return” of X’s activities in the country after it paid hefty fines and blocked accounts accused of spreading misinformation. According to a […]

The main suspect in the disappearance of three-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann, has been cleared of a series of sexual offences in an unrelated trial. Christian Brückner, 47, who is already serving a seven-year jail term in Germany for rape, was acquitted of carrying out three rapes and two instances of sexual abuse in Portugal […]

A French-Cameroonian writer, Charles Onana, is due to go on trial in Paris accused of complicity in contesting the 1994 Rwandan genocide. About 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed within 100 days. In a book published five years ago, Mr Onana described the idea that the Hutu government had planned a genocide in Rwanda […]

Ethiopia’s parliament has approved the appointment of a new president to replace the country’s first female head of state, Sahle-Work Zewde. Taye Astike Selassie, foreign minister since February, has taken up the largely ceremonial role. In Ethiopia, political power lies with the prime minister – currently Abiy Ahmed. Sahle-Work had reportedly fallen out with Abiy […]