WORLD

Germany has threatened to end development aid to countries that refuse to take back rejected asylum seekers, a response to failings which kept the suspected Berlin attacker from being deported. “Those who do not cooperate sufficiently cannot hope to benefit from our development aid,” Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel told Der Spiegel in an interview published at the weekend. German Interior …

Representatives of two indigenous groups have filed a class action suit in New York against Germany seeking reparations for an alleged genocide of their peoples by German colonial rulers over a century ago in what is now Namibia. The suit filed by the Ovaherero and Nama people on Thursday in New York also demands that their representatives be included in …

Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American legislator has officially been sworn into office on Tuesday, 3 January. Ms Omar, who wears the hijab, the head gear for Muslim women, made history by winning in a State House of Representatives race to serve the people of Minnesota last November. She stood on the ticket of the Democratic Farmer Labour (DFL) – affiliated …

The trial has begun in Paris of the son of Equatorial Guinea’s president, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, who is accused of using money plundered from his native country to buy lavish properties, cars and other goods in France. It’s the first case to come to court, of several being investigated by French authorities into allegedly illegal acquisitions by African leaders …

Antonio Guterres replaced Ban Ki-moon as UN Secretary-General on New Year day. In his first address to the international community, Guterres, a former prime minister of Portugal, pledged to make 2017 a year to “put peace first.” The ninth UN chief, 67, said in a message that he would be working to resolve wars and other violent conflicts in countries …

The corruption trial of Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, the eldest son of Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, opened Monday, 2 January in Paris. Obiang, who is his country’s vice president, is accused of amassing millions of dollars through “bribes and kickbacks”. As the US authorities forced him to hand over property worth millions of dollars in a settlement …

Refugees arriving in Europe via the Mediterranean should be sent back to Africa, and the current migrant policy must end, Bavaria’s Christian Social Union (CSU), a junior partner in German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition, demanded in a leaked policy paper. “The existing policy of automatically bringing to Europe all people rescued in the Mediterranean must be broken,” urged in an …

More than 5,000 migrants are thought to have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea in 2016, a record figure described as “a devastating milestone” by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). On Thursday, 23 December alone, some 100 mainly West Africans were feared to have perished making the treacherous crossing to Europe. To save lives, the UNHCR says legal entry for those …

A prototype vaccine for Ebola has proven effective in Guinea, according to the World Health Organization. It hopes fast-track approval will emerge by 2018. The hemorrhagic virus killed 11,300 people in western Africa. WHO assistant director-general Marie-Paule Kieny wrote in the medical journal “The Lancet” that an “effective vaccine” for Ebola, dubbed rVSV-ZEBOV should be 80 percent effective in a fully-fledged …

Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani reports on the trafficking of young women from Nigeria to Italy which, according to international migration organisations, has significantly increased in the past two years. The report, sponsored by Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters that covers humanitarian news, women’s rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change, exposes the intricacies of the sex trade. EDO, …

Berlin-based daily newspaper TAZ claims that European industrial and arms companies will be among the beneficiaries of plans to grant financial aid to African countries that  keep migrants away from Europe, take back failed asylum-seekers and introduce biometric controls at their borders. “The funds which African countries have been promised to help them fight migration will find their way, first …

At least 12 people have been killed and dozens injured after a truck rammed into a Berlin Christmas market. Authorities are investigating the incident as a possible terrorist attack. A truck slammed into a crowded Christmas market in central Berlin on Monday night, killing at least 12 people and wounding 48, in what authorities are investigating as a possible terrorist …

An extra-ordinary meeting of Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Worldwide, consisting of its chapters in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas, took place on 4 December. The meeting evaluated the current efforts to establish a Diaspora Commission and offers its views on this development. Below is the communiqué issued at the end of the meeting: ——————————————– Nigerians In Diaspora Organisation Continues …

New UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday announced the appointment of Nigeria’s Amina Mohammed as Deputy Secretary-General. “I am pleased to announce that I will be appointing Ms Amina J. Mohammed of Nigeria as my Deputy Secretary-General, and Ms Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti of Brazil as my Chef De Cabinet. I also intend to create the position of Special Advisor …

Reuters – The European Union, under an agreement published on Monday, will provide funds to Mali to help it create jobs and strengthen border management in return for the African country’s aid in fighting people smugglers and accepting deportees from Europe. The Mali agreement comes as the EU is stepping up migration collaboration with countries of origin and transit in …

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Friday named a Nigerian, Adebayo Ogunlesi, as a member of an advisory council that will help the incoming president implement “his plan to bring back jobs and Make America Great Again.” Ogunlesi is the Chairman and Managing Partner, Global Infrastructure Partners, a private equity firm with more than $35bn in assets under management. He has …

"I have tiny arms – they did not develop properly during my mother’s pregnancy. But even as a kid I was aware that my disability would not hold me back – on the contrary it would be the engine to push me forward."

World AIDS Day, marked on 1 December every year since 1988, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection, and mourning those who have died of the disease. Government and health officials, non-governmental organizations and individuals around the world observe the day, often with education on AIDS prevention and control. Here are …

A landmark HIV vaccine trial was launched in South Africa on the eve of World AIDS Day on 1 December. Scientists hope it will help eradicate the disease. Science has been trying in vain for 30 years to find a vaccine for HIV. But for the first time since the virus was identified in 1983, there is hope that a …

For granting visa-on-arrival to all Africans in their respective countries, Ghana’s President John Mahama and Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame have been bestowed an award for African Leadership and Excellence by Humanitas Afrika. According to the African-Czech organisation based in Prague, “Boundaries and borders barricading African countries into sovereign states as in present-day Africa is no doubt a legacy borne out …