Rain in Kenya, Tanzania and Burundi kills at least 90 people and damages farmland and infrastructure Eastern Africa has experienced heavy rain in recent weeks, with flooding in Kenya, Tanzania and Burundi. About 100,000 people have been displaced or otherwise affected in each country, with 32 reported deaths in Kenya and 58 in Tanzania, alongside damage to farmland and infrastructure. There are also fears that large areas of standing water could give rise to outbreaks of waterborne diseases ..read more

Micheál Martin says UK asylum seekers fearful of being removed to Rwanda are seeking sanctuary in Ireland The UK government’s Rwanda policy has been described as a “kneejerk reaction” to migration by Ireland’s deputy prime minister and said an influx of asylum seekers could arrive in Ireland as a result. Micheál Martin, Ireland’s Tánaiste, reportedly said asylum seekers fearful of being removed from the UK to Rwanda are seeking sanctuary in Ireland ..read more

In April 1994, the country held its first all-race, democratic elections. See how the Guardian reported events By David Beresford in Johannesburg 27 April 1994 ..read more

Few economic and social benefits will come to Africans if processing is all done overseas, says Wanjira Mathai Africa must take greater control in the industries it supplies with raw materials to lift its people from poverty and seize its own destiny in a low-carbon world, one of the continent’s leading environmentalists has urged. Wanjira Mathai, the managing director for Africa and global partnerships at the World Resources Institute thinktank, said much more of what the continent produced must be processed and made use of close to where it is produced, if the world is to shift to a low-carb ..read more

Human Rights Watch demands investigation into killings in two villages just weeks after Russian troops fly in, amid intensifying conflict Burkina Faso’s military summarily executed 223 civilians, including at least 56 children, in a single day in late February, according to an investigation into one of the worst abuses by the country’s armed forces for years. The mass killings have been linked to a widening military campaign to tackle jihadist violence and happened weeks after Russian troops landed in the west African country to help improve security ..read more

Home secretary visits Lampedusa in Italy as National Audit Office says scheme could surpass £580m by 2030 Several flights a month will deport asylum seekers to Rwanda “indefinitely”, the home secretary has said, as he argued that the £1.8m a person cost of the scheme was justified. James Cleverly, in his first interview since the government’s plan was approved by parliament on Monday, said he had booked a succession of initial flights and was preparing to order the detention of people seeking refuge in the UK so they could be sent to east Africa ..read more

Colin Montgomery, Daniel Fenton, Federico Moscogiuri, Alwyn Jones and Martin Coult on small boats, deaths in the Channel and the passing of the safety of Rwanda bill Daniel Boffey’s account of those desperate souls attempting to cross the Channel – where five people drowned this week – was one of the most powerful pieces of journalism I’ve read for a long time (‘England is hope’: some say they will try again – despite Channel deaths, 23 April). That it was published on the same day as Rafael Behr’s equally incisive take on the matter (Starmer must drain the poison from the immigration debate ..read more

Government U-turn as PM Mia Mottley acknowledges anger from reparations movement over plan to buy Barbados land from Dorset MP Richard Drax The prime minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, has halted plans for a multi-million-pound payout to the British Conservative MP Richard Drax for the purchase of 53 acres of the Drax Hall plantation, which he owns. As revealed in the Observer last Sunday, the payout plan had angered those involved in the Caribbean reparations movement, who said Drax, the MP for South Dorset, should hand over all or part of the 617-acre plantation to the people of Barbados ..read more

The African country accounted for two-thirds of the additional 13.5m people needing urgent help as displacement drove food insecurity globally Sudan had the world’s largest number of people facing extreme food shortages in 2023 as conflict and displacement drove food insecurity globally, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). The war between rival generals meant Sudan accounted for two-thirds of the additional 13.5 million people needing urgent help last year, while conflict also plunged Gaza into the world’s most severe food crisis with its entire population facing hig ..read more

Rights chief also warns Britain will be ‘judged harshly by history for its failure to help prevent civilian slaughter in Gaza’ The UK has been accused by Amnesty International of “deliberately destabilising” human rights on the global stage for its own political ends. In its annual global report, released today, the organisation said Britain was weakening human rights protections nationally and globally, amid a near-breakdown of international law ..read more