16 h. ago Three countries boost family planning funding in ‘powerful shift from dependency’ in Africa after aid cuts

Zambia, Zimbabwe and DRC take steps to protect decades of progress in reproductive health, as donor fatigue leads to steep cuts in aidSeveral African governments are boosting funding for family planning programmes as cuts in foreign aid threaten decades of reproductive health progress and access to birth control for millions of women and girls.Zambia, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are the latest to announce increased budgets for family planning supplies and services. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Businessman who blew the whistle on a South African government bribery scandal gets plea deal

A businessman who confessed to being a fixer who delivered bribes to South African government officials, lawmakers and others in a corruption scheme that enraged the nation has avoided jail time in a plea deal announced by state prosecutors

Economics

6 d. ago South Africa investigates how 17 men were duped into joining mercenaries in the Russia

The South African government says it will investigate how 17 of its citizens were tricked into fighting as mercenaries in the Russia-Ukraine war after they asked for help to escape the conflict in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region

Events

6 d. ago Tragic last hours of girl, 2, left to die in hot car as dad due to be jailed dies

Christopher Scholtes was found dead at a Phoenix home this morning on the day he was due to turn himself in as part of a plea deal over the death of his daughter, Parker

Events

8 d. ago More than $70tn of inherited wealth over next decade will widen inequality, economists warn

Expert panel says report on gap in global wealth between rich and poor highlights need for intervention by G20More than $70tn (£53tn) of inherited wealth will pass down the generations across the world over the next decade, widening inequality and highlighting the need for intervention by the G20 group of leading nations, a group of economists and campaigners have warned.In a report ahead of the G20 meetings in Johannesburg, hosted by the South African government later this month, the expert panel said the gap in global wealth between rich and poor will widen over the next decade without a permanent monitoring group such as the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Judge rejects plea deal for funeral home owner accused of stashing nearly 190 decaying bodies

Jon Hallford withdrew his guilty plea and is scheduled for trial

Events

9 d. ago Why is Donald Trump threatening military intervention in Nigeria?

US president’s remarks about alleged persecution of Christians seemingly in response to pressure from his evangelical baseDonald Trump has threatened to launch a “guns-a-blazing” US military intervention in Nigeria, claiming that the west African country’s government has failed to prevent attacks on Christians.Here’s what we know so far about the unfolding situation. Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Pregnant UK teenager Bella May Culley freed from Georgian jail

Culley, 19, who was arrested on drug-smuggling charges in May, is released after plea dealThe pregnant British teenager Bella Culley has been released from a Georgian prison, where she had been held for six months on drug-smuggling charges after a plea deal.Culley, 19, who is pregnant, was arrested in May at Tbilisi airport and accused of attempting to smuggle 12kg (26.5lbs) of marijuana and 2kg (4.4lbs) of hashish into the country. She was found guilty by a Georgian court on Monday and sentenced to five months and 25 days in prison, the total time she had already spent in custody. Her family also paid a 500,000 lari (about £137,000) fine as part of a plea deal. Culley and her mother, Lyanne Kennedy, both cried as the verdict was read out. Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Judge to weigh plea deal of funeral home owner accused of stashing nearly 190 decaying bodies

A Colorado funeral home owner has taken a plea deal after stashing nearly 190 decaying bodies in a bug-infested building

Events

1 week ago Tanzania’s Hassan declared landslide winner in election that triggered violent protests

The result hands Hassan, who took power in 2021, a five-year term following opposition repressionTanzania’s president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, has been declared the winner of the country’s disputed election with more than 97% of the vote following violent protests across the country earlier in the week.The landslide result announced by Tanzania’s electoral commission hands Hassan, who took power in 2021 after the death in office of her predecessor, a five-year term to govern the east African country of 68 million people. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Bella Culley could be released from jail before she gives birth after plea deal

Bella Culley's lawyers are understood to be exploring the idea of applying for a presidential pardon, which if granted would see her immediately leave Georgia

Economics

2 w. ago Jailed 'drug mule' Bella Culley could be freed before giving birth despite plea deal

Student nurse Bella Culley was arrested in Tbilisi in May after 11kg of cannabis and over 400g of hashish, a highly potent form of cannabis, were found in her luggage

Events

2 w. ago Pregnant teen drug mule to serve 2 years in Georgia jail after plea deal

The British student nurse was arrested in Tbilisi in May after 11kg of cannabis and over 400g of hashish, a highly potent form of cannabis, were found in her luggage.

Events

2 w. ago Bella Culley to serve 2 years in Georgia jail after 'drug mule' plea deal

The pregnant student nurse, aged 19, was arrested in Tbilisi in May after 11kg of cannabis and over 400g of hashish, a highly potent form of cannabis, were found in her luggage

Events

2 w. ago The new shepherds of Spain: African migrants take up a neglected rural trade

A government program in Spain is training African migrants as shepherds to tackle rural depopulation and job shortages

Events

3 w. ago Alexander Acosta said putting Epstein on trial would’ve been a gamble, transcript shows

Former prosecutor testified before House committee on hurdles that prosecution of convicted sex offender would have facedAlexander Acosta, the former US attorney for the southern district of Florida who negotiated a plea deal in 2008 with Jeffrey Epstein, testified before the House oversight committee last month that going to trial would have been a “crapshoot” due to lack of cooperation from victims.In a transcript of the six-hour interview released on Friday, the former prosecutor, who later served in the first Trump administration, described the evidentiary hurdles Epstein’s federal prosecution would have faced, and why his office turned the case over to Florida state prosecutors that resulted in the disgraced financier pleading guilty to charges of soliciting sex from a minor. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Couple accused of keeping sexually abused girl, 6, in pit alongside sister's body set to be offered plea deals

Daniel Callihan stabbed Callie Brunett more than 50 times before he kidnapped her daughters. He then drove the sisters to Mississippi where he kept the six-year-old as a 'sex slave.'

Economics

4 w. ago Reform candidate rants about Huw Edwards and political scandals in rambling answer about bribery scandal MEP

Llŷr Powell said it 'was really low' to be asked a question about his former boss and ex-Reform politician Nathan Gill pleading guilty to taking bribes to speak in favour of Russia

Politics