Nigeria's opposition leaders form alliance in effort to unseat the ruling party in 2027
The Africa Democratic Congress coalition, challenging President Bola Tinubu's All Progressives Congress party, is led by Abubakar Atiku and Peter Obi, both runners-up in the last presidential vote. They are joined by other top figures, including former federal lawmakers and former governors from the ruling party.
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an hour ago
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Trump's Foreign Aid Cuts Are Ruining Ethiopia's Progress on Maternal Mortality
And enabling the country's anti-abortion movement. Since January, Donald Trump has–surprise!–inflicted an innumerable amount of devastation on reproductive rights and maternal health. If you're a regular Jezebel reader, you know this is nothing new. But a new report by the Independent reveals the wickedness isn't just barbaric–it's global. The article focuses on Ethiopia, how it once 'won the battle against its maternal deaths crisis,' and well, how Trump's foreign aid cuts might just ruin the progress. In 2005, the country repealed its draconian abortion ban, which only permitted the procedure to save the mother's life or her health (sound familiar?). In the two decades since, abortion has been legal in cases of rape, incest, fetal abnormalities, among other exceptions. The progress thereafter was significant. A paper published in May 2024 revealed that during the first 20 years of the 21st century, the country had slashed its maternal death rate by 72% and neonatal death rate by 44%—an impressive feat compared to other governments in sub-Saharan Africa. Most Popular George Clooney Sounds Like a Lovely House Husband Ohio Woman Faces 'Abuse of a Corpse' Charge for Miscarriage in Another Post-Roe Nightmare Abortion Access Will, Once Again, Be Decided by the Supreme Court But between canceling 83% of USAID programs in March and slashing away billions of aid through the One Big Beautiful (I-am-so-sick-and-tired-of-this) Bill, legislators have essentially deserted aid organizations around the world and left thousands to cope without life-saving treatments. For Ethiopia, one of the largest beneficiaries of U.S. aid dollars, it has also meant shutting down healthcare providers. Funding cuts have 'significantly affected accessibility of services including family planning, maternal health services, even newborn, child health, adolescent, and youth health services,' Dr. Hailemariam Segni, the president of the Ethiopian Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, explained to the outlet. Still, he predicts that 'the number of pregnancies will increase'—and with it, so will the complications. The Independent writes: With the dust settling after Trump ordered all foreign aid work to stop in January of this year, Ethiopia has come out as one of the biggest losers in the cuts. By March, the country had seen the second biggest cut by dollar amount, tied with the Democratic Republic of Congo and exceeded only by funding cuts to Ukraine, according to the Center for Global Development. Dr Shibru says 85 per cent of NGOs, crucial in the delivery of many of the country's health services, had stopped work or were shuttered. A quick refresher that foreign aid cuts aren't just sadistic and cruel, they're unnecessary. It's not about 'fiscal conservatism': the federal government spends just a paltry 1% of its budget on foreign aid—a literal drip in the bucket. It's not 'America First': it's a huge erosion of U.S. influence and a huge shake-up to the very institutions it set up in the first place (not that any said institutions are perfect–but that's a fight for another time). And any reproductive health or family planning organization abroad that so much as whispers the word 'abortion' gets its funding slashed by Trump's global gag rule. So much for the party of 'family values. Unfortunately, funding cuts are just the tip of the iceberg. Conceringly, there's a growing 'resurgent anti-rights movement' that wants to roll back the country's 2005 law–and with it, access to safe abortion. Because of this, fewer Ethiopians are accessing abortions through public facilities, according to data collected by the country's Ministry of Health, That's right, anti-abortionists in America are enabling a global ripple effect. And because aid cuts are creating a vacuum, another doctor explains, anti-abortion groups are getting new energy—and the opportunity—to step in. Even if Ethiopia manages to stave off its anti-abortionists, none of the cuts bode well for a country whose maternal mortality rate was steadily decreasing up until now. So well done, America. You've not just managed to up your own maternal death crisis–but you've sabotaged others', too. Yay. Like what you just read? You've got great taste. Subscribe to Jezebel, and for $5 a month or $50 a year, you'll get access to a bunch of subscriber benefits, including getting to read the next article (and all the ones after that) ad-free. Plus, you'll be supporting independent journalism—which, can you even imagine not supporting independent journalism in times like these? Yikes.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Sudan army torturing people to death, claims rights group
A prominent Sudanese human rights group has accused the country's army and security forces of torturing people to death and operating "execution chambers". The Emergency Lawyers group said it had documented hundreds of arrests in the capital Khartoum. It said that in the "worst cases", some captives had later been found dead with evidence of torture. The Sudanese army recaptured the city from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in March, against which it is fighting a bitter civil war that has killed tens of thousands in two years. The army did not respond to the BBC's request for comment on Sunday. Throughout the war, the Emergency Lawyers group has documented atrocities by both the army and the RSF. Sudan war: A simple guide to what is happening 'Tortured and terrified' - BBC witnesses the battle for Khartoum In a statement on social media platform X, Emergency Lawyers said it had observed a "dangerous escalation in violations". Some detainees were arrested at random and taken to large detention centres, the group alleged. "Their fates range from continued detention in inhumane conditions, trials conducted by security agencies that lack the most basic standards of justice, or release in poor health," the statement said. "In the worst cases, some are found dead after being killed or declared dead as a result of torture." The use of torture was common during the oppressive rule of president Omar al-Bashir. Throughout the current war, the RSF have also been found to have abused and executed prisoners. The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan said in March that both sides were responsible for "a widespread pattern of arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment of detainees". It said both both the RSF and the army had used "rape and other forms of sexual violence, arbitrary arrest and detention, as well as torture and ill-treatment". The fighting has sparked one of the world's worst humanitarian crises - 12 million people have been forced from their homes and famine has been declared in parts of the country. Last week, medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said the war has fuelled the worst cholera outbreak the country has seen in years. There have been nearly 100,000 cases of the disease and 2,470 deaths over the past year. More BBC stories on the war in Sudan: 'Our children are dying': Rare footage shows plight of civilians in besieged Sudan city Oil-rich Sudanese region becomes new focus of war between army and rival forces The two generals at the heart of the conflict Go to for more news from the African continent. Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica BBC Africa podcasts Africa Daily Focus on Africa
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
In their words: Israeli leaders support the mass relocation of Palestinians from Gaza
President Donald Trump has said little about his idea of relocating many of the Gaza Strip's 2 million Palestinians to other countries since he stunned the world by announcing it in February. But Israel's leaders have run with it, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at one point listed it as a condition for ending the 22-month war sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack. He and other Israeli officials present it as a humanitarian measure allowing Palestinians to flee war and hardship, and say it should be voluntary. Israel has been in talks with African countries — many of which are themselves wracked by war and at risk of famine — about taking Palestinians in. Palestinians say there would be nothing voluntary about leaving part of their homeland with no guarantee of return after an occupying power has rendered much of it uninhabitable. Rights groups and much of the international community say it would amount to forcible expulsion in violation of international law. The issue is likely to take on greater urgency as Israel widens its military campaign to the last parts of Gaza that it hasn't taken over and largely flattened, and as large numbers of Palestinians flee once again. 'This is our land, there is no other place for us to go,' said Ismail Zaydah, whose family has remained in Gaza City throughout the war, even after much of their neighborhood and part of their home was destroyed. 'We are not surrendering,' he said. 'We were born here, and here we die.' Here's what Israel's leaders have said, in their own words. Defense Minister Israel Katz, in a Feb. 6 post on X 'I have instructed the (Israeli military) to prepare a plan that will allow any resident of Gaza who wishes to leave to do so, to any country willing to receive them. ... The plan will include exit options via land crossings, as well as special arrangements for departure by sea and air.' Netanyahu, addressing a Cabinet meeting on March 30 'Hamas will lay down its weapons. Its leaders will be allowed to leave. We will see to the general security in the Gaza Strip and will allow the realization of the Trump plan for voluntary migration. This is the plan. We are not hiding this and are ready to discuss it at any time.' Netanyahu, in a public address May 21 Israel will create "a sterile zone in the southern Strip to which the civilian population will be evacuated from the combat areas, for the purpose of defending it. In this zone, which will be Hamas-free, the residents of Gaza will receive full humanitarian assistance.' 'I am ready to end the war — according to clear conditions that will ensure the security of Israel. All of the hostages will return home. Hamas will lay down its weapons, leave power, its leadership, whoever is left, will be exiled from the Strip, Gaza will be completely demilitarized, and we will carry out the Trump plan, which is so correct and so revolutionary, and it says something simple: The residents of Gaza who wish to leave — will be able to leave.' Netanyahu, in an interview with Israeli media on Aug. 12 'I think that the right thing to do, even according to the laws of war as I know them, is to allow the population to leave, and then you go in with all your might against the enemy who remains there.' 'Give them the opportunity to leave! First, from combat zones, and also from the Strip if they want. We will allow this, first of all inside Gaza during the fighting, and we will also allow them to leave Gaza. We are not pushing them out but allowing them to leave.' ___ Follow AP's war coverage at Solve the daily Crossword
