Author: Brian S

Voters in Guinea-Bissau have approved a new constitution that significantly expands presidential powers ahead of a general election later this year. The referendum was organised by the military government that seized power in the West African nation last November following a disputed election. Voters have agreed to sweeping reforms allowing the president to appoint and dismiss the ​prime minister and cabinet, create or abolish ministries and dissolve parliament in ⁠the event of a grave political crisis. The main opposition party boycotted the vote, saying the process lacked adequate political and institutional safeguards and threatened the country’s transition back to democracy.…

Landslides triggered by one of the strongest storms in decades have killed at least 15 people in the southern Philippines, as parts of East Asia brace themselves for the looming storm. Typhoon Bavi, which spans 1,000km (620 miles) at its widest point – roughly the width of France – is sweeping across the Pacific towards Taiwan. It is expected to dump rain on Taiwan’s north and east, and on a chain of remote Japanese islands, before making landfall in south-eastern China on Saturday. Dozens of flights have been cancelled while schools have suspended classes across the region. Supermarket shelves have…

Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo are celebrating after five patients, who had Ebola and now recovered, were allowed to leave hospital. The current outbreak is suspected to have killed almost 250 people. But those infected can get better and officials stress that people should seek medical help if they believe they have contracted the virus. On Sunday, there was a ceremony for a group of four nurses who were discharged from a hospital in Bunia, the provincial capital of Ituri, the epicentre of the outbreak. “You are living stories that this outbreak can be stopped,” World Health…

Three new vaccines are being developed to tackle the rare species of Ebola that has already killed nearly 250 people. The International Aids Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), which is working on one vaccine, said the outbreak was threatening to be the worst ever. The University of Oxford and the pharma company Moderna are also researching vaccines against the Bundibugyo species. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Cepi), which is providing funding to each group, said “every day counts”. There are now more than 1,000 suspected cases in the DR Congo with nine confirmed cases in neighbouring Uganda. There is growing concern…

Long-awaited documents published by the government have revealed messages between Lord Mandelson and ministers strongly criticising the prime minister, No 10 and Labour MPs. The 1,500 pages cover communications about the appointment of Lord Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the US – a role he was later sacked from due to his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In one message, Lord Mandelson described No 10 as “beleaguered and bereft” and in need of a “complete revamp”. In another exchange, minister Pat McFadden appeared to complain about Labour backbenchers saying: “Every meeting I have is ‘who can we tax…

Italians have reacted with bemusement to the restoration of a famous bull mosaic in Milan, with some wondering what has happened to the animal’s “lucky-charm” testicles. Work to repair the small crater formed by tourists grinding their heels on the bull’s private parts began last week and local Milan councillor Marco Granelli said over the weekend that the mosaic had been “completely restored”. This sparked much online commentary, with users saying the bull’s testicles had been erased – some joking it appeared to have been”castrated”. In their defence, Milan’s city council said the project – at the city’s historic 19th-Century…

Iran has warned that Israeli attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon could threaten Tehran’s ceasefire with the US, after Israel’s prime minister ordered strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the agreement with the US was “unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts, including in Lebanon” and that “its violation on one front is a violation of the ceasefire on all fronts”. Earlier Benjamin Netanyahu said “terror targets” in Beirut’s Dahieh would be hit in response to rocket and drone attacks by Iran-backed Hezbollah. In subsequent social media posts, Donald Trump insisted that talks with Iran were continuing at…

Senegal’s former Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, who was dramatically sacked on Friday by the president, has been elected Speaker of the national parliament setting up a possible source of conflict at the top of Senegalese politics. The West African nation’s current crisis follows months of tension between Sonko and his one-time ally President Bassirou Diomaye Faye. Parliament’s previous Speaker stepped down on Sunday to make way for the former prime minister, who is a popular figure and whose Pastef party has a majority of the seats in the National Assembly. On Monday, Faye appointed economist Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo to…

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has started a legal challenge against a report commissioned by parliament that has paved the way for MPs to once again consider impeachment proceedings against him. In 2022, an independent panel said Ramaphosa might have committed serious misconduct relating to the theft of large sums of cash hidden in a sofa at his private farm. The president denied any wrongdoing. Earlier this month a Constitutional Court ruling said parliament had acted unconstitutionally when four years ago it voted against establishing an impeachment inquiry following the report. At that time Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC) party had…

Ghana has welcomed Pope Leo XIV’s apology for the Catholic Church’s historic role in slavery, describing it as an “act of moral courage” that was important in the global pursuit of “truth, human dignity and justice”. The Pope issued the clearest apology yet for the Church’s involvement in legitimising slavery and its delay in condemning it for centuries. The apology was published on Monday in the Pope’s first major teaching document of his papacy, which also focused on the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI). Ghana was a major hub for the transatlantic slave trade when millions of people were captured and…