Two men, one of them an Egyptian and the other a Libyan, have been arrested and charged in Italy as investigators look into the deaths of 26 Nigerian women and girls, who are suspected to have been murdered while attempting to cross the Mediterranean. The bodies of the women were brought to the southern Italian port of Salerno by the …

The African Union says it has commenced the downsizing of troops from Somalia in line with decisions taken by the AU and UN Security Council to hand over security responsibilities to the Somali Army. The head of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) Francisco Madeiro told the media in the capital Mogadishu on Tuesday that a thousand soldiers will …

Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Tuesday said democracy in the West African country was being threatened, a day after the Supreme Court put a presidential runoff on hold over fraud allegations. Former footballer George Weah was initially set to face Vice-President Joseph Boakai on Tuesday to determine who will replace the former Nobel Peace Prize laureate. A successful vote …

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria has been appointed into the United Nations High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation along with 17 other current and former global leaders. UN Secretary-General, Antonio Gutierrez, had in September announced the establishment of the board to provide him with advice on mediation initiatives and back specific mediation efforts around the world. The Board is composed …

The remains of 26 Nigerian women believed to be migrants have been recovered from a Spanish warship in the Italian coast city of Salerno. A report by the British Broadcasting Corporation on Monday said a Spanish warship, Cantabria, which docked in the city, was found to be carrying 375 rescued migrants and the dead women. According to the report, 23 …

The Catalonian leader Carles Puigdemont and four associates have turned themselves into Belgian police. It follows an international arrest warrant issued by spain for sedition, rebellion, misuse of public funds and breach of trust in relation to Catalonia’s independence campaign. A spokesman for the prosecutor, Gilles Dejemeppe said the five handed themselves in to the authorities at the main police …

A British woman has been imprisoned in Egypt after flying into the country with painkillers. Laura Plummer, from Hull, was arrested at an Egyptian airport after authorities found 290 tramadol tablets and some naproxen for her husband’s sore back. It is understood she signed her name below a 38-page statement in Arabic, believing she would be able to leave the …

What happens when officials refuse an applicant’s request for asylum? In Germany, applicants have recourse to administrative courts and can even approach the European Court of Human Rights. Here is a short explanation. Types of rejection The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees or BAMF can reject applications for asylum if its officials believe that the individual concerned does not …

Thousands of people have sought refuge in Nigeria after fleeing the Anglophone regions of Cameroon due to new violence there, according to UN Refugee Agency UNHCR. The UNHCR is collaborating with local authorities in Nigeria to “provide assistance to asylum and protection seekers from Cameroon, who have arrived in Southeastern Nigeria in the past month”. “Thousands have fled to Nigeria …

The number of asylum cases being dealt with by German courts has risen by almost 500 percent in the past year, according to a report. Courts are said to have been overwhelmed by the volume of cases. The number of cases being heard in Germany’s administrative courts rose to about 320,000 in the first half of this year, from just …

Wydad Casablanca of Morocco became African champions for a second time when they defeated Al Ahly of Egypt 1-0 Saturday in the second leg of the CAF Champions League final. Walid El Karty nodded the lone goal on 69 minutes to give the home team a 2-1 aggregate triumph at the Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca after they forced a 1-1 draw …

Within a few years, the Sahel has become a region characterized by a dangerous entanglement of fundamentalist religion, terrorism and politics. From 13 – 19 November, the tenth edition of AFRIKAMERA – Latest Cinema from Africa presents a selection of current feature and documentary films addressing the political and societal challenges of the region in West Africa against this socio-political …

The work of Aka Teraka, a Nigerian poet living in Germany, is an eclectic mix of music, poetry and novellas. Aka Teraka writes in three languages, English, Igbo and German, simultaneously projecting three– different paced and distinct voices in his work. This conflict is aptly captured in the poem Language from the artist’s anthology, Softly, it Rained. In a foreign …

The signatories to the landmark Paris climate treaty will meet for two weeks in Germany beginning tomorrow to prepare discussions on how to implement their promises. The 2017 UN Climate Change Conference opens on Monday (6 November) in the western German city of Bonn, with the aim of launching nations towards the next level of ambition needed to tackle global …

Nigerian militant group Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) said on Friday its ceasefire on attacks in the country’s southern oil-rich region was at an end. “We can assure you that every oil installation in our region will feel the warmth of the wrath of the Niger Delta Avengers,” the group said in a statement on its website. The NDA took the …

Eritreans living abroad have staged protests decrying the human rights situation back home. The protests held on Friday were originally planned for Washington, London and Stockholm. It comes in the wake of Tuesday’s rare protest in the streets of the capital Asmara against the government. Security forces used gunfire to disperse students who reportedly demanded the release of a school …

Liberia’s apex court has reserved ruling on the challenge to the presidential run-off election for Monday after listening to submissions by aspirant and leader of the Liberty Party, Charles Brumskine. Brumskine, who finished third in the 10 October poll, petitioned the court alleging fraud in the conduct of the election. His party said widespread fraud had marred the outcome of …

Threats, name-calling and a whole lot of dramatic posturing: talks among four fractious parties to form a new government under German Chancellor Angela Merkel have proved more fiery than fruitful so far. September’s inconclusive general election left the camps, which span the political spectrum, scrambling to form a stable government under Merkel, with the outcome of negotiations highly uncertain. “We …

Opposition leader Raila Odinga has rejected the result of the presidential election rerun of 26 October, which gave a landslide victory to President Uhuru Kenyatta. The veteran politician has vowed to challenge the legitimacy of Kenyatta’s presidency. Sekou Toure Otondi of the University of Nairobi argues that Odinga’s resistance to the government could in the long run benefit democratic development …

The German government has admitted that it does not always know the whereabouts of rejected asylum seekers, but argues that the number doesn’t tell the whole truth. The government’s asylum agency faces a file backlog. Ben Knight reports. Around 30,000 rejected asylum seekers have simply disappeared from Germany’s records, a German newspaper has claimed, though the government and refugee organizations …