Africa

The rulings allow the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status for nationals of the two countries.

Two federal judges have cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s administration to end temporary protections from deportation for people who have come to the United States from South Sudan and Myanmar.

Judges in Boston, Massachusetts and Chicago, Illinois on Friday rejected last-ditch efforts by immigrant-rights advocates to maintain the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations for the two countries after the US Supreme Court in June allowed the administration to end similar protections for thousands of people from Haiti and Syria.

TPS shields people from deportation and grants work authorisation when their home countries are affected by armed conflict, natural disasters or other extraordinary conditions. The terminations would end protections for about 232 South Sudanese nationals and roughly 4,000 people from Myanmar, according to the Reuters news agency.

The Supreme Court decision had limited lower courts’ ability to block the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) efforts to end TPS for people from roughly a dozen countries, arguing the executive branch maintained broad authority to make decisions on the programme.

After the Supreme Court’s ruling, immigrant-rights lawyers made a new challenge, arguing that DHS lacked the authority to terminate TPS.

But US District Judge Patti Saris in Boston rejected the argument, saying it would not only call into question DHS authority to end TPS but also its longstanding authority to extend the protections.

Judge Matthew Kennelly in Chicago made a similar conclusion in the Myanmar case hours later.

Advocates have warned the rulings leave TPS recipients, who had been given an “administrative stay” amid the ongoing legal battle that allowed them to continue to work and live in the US, exposed to possible deportation to countries still gripped by conflict and instability.

DHS had moved in November 2025 to end TPS for South Sudan, which has held the designation since 2011 amid ongoing conflict, and Myanmar, in political turmoil since a 2021 military coup.

James Percival, General Counsel of DHS, said the new rulings leave only TPS terminations for Ethiopian and Somalian nationals, which are still blocked by courts.

“Every day these ‘administrative stays’ are in effect is a day the American people are denied what they voted for,” he wrote on X.

ICRC facilitates first known transfer of detainees between Congolese government and M23 rebels in North Kivu.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has released 15 prisoners and handed them over to rebels from ⁠the Congo River Alliance/March 23 movement (AFC/M23) in the east of the country.

The release was announced by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which facilitated this first known transfer of prisoners under last year’s Qatar-mediated deal to end the fighting in the region.

The handover happened on Thursday and Friday after months of talks thrashing out the names of detainees to be freed.

An ICRC statement said the 15 prisoners agreed to be transferred before leaving the government-held eastern Congolese city of Beni in a convoy on Thursday evening.

The journey continued through Uganda before the convoy arrived in Rutshuru Territory in DRC’s North Kivu province, where the prisoners were ⁠⁠handed over to AFC/M23 on Friday, the statement added.

M23 seized the regional capitals in North and South Kivu from the Congolese government’s control in early 2025.

Stephanie Eller, head of ICRC operations in the capital ‌Kinshasa, said she hoped the transfer would pave the way for more releases.

“We hope that this ⁠operation will help bring relief ⁠to families who have been separated from their loved ones for a long time,” Eller said.

The release of detainees was one of the conditions in the Qatari-mediated agreement signed by the Congolese government and AFC/M23 in September.

Qatar welcomed the releases on Friday.

“The release of the detained persons represents an important step towards enhancing confidence between the parties and creating favourable conditions for further progress towards reaching peaceful and sustainable solutions,” Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

It added that Qatar “expresses its hope that this step will serve as an impetus for further measures that enhance confidence-building between the parties and meet the aspirations of the Congolese people for peace, development and prosperity”.

DRC, the United Nations and Western powers have repeatedly accused neighbouring Rwanda of supporting the M23 with its ‌own ‌troops and weapons as the armed group has advanced in the east, a charge Rwanda denies.

Authorities say they broke up one of the largest criminal networks running migrant smuggling in the Western Mediterranean.

Spanish authorities, working with Europol and police in France, Portugal and Poland, have dismantled what they say is one of the largest criminal networks for migrant smuggling, illegal drugs and weapons trafficking across the Western Mediterranean.

Launched by Spain’s Civil Guard and National Police in 2023, the operation culminated in an “action day” on June 16, Europol said on Friday, leading to 78 arrests and the seizure of assets, including 18 high-speed boats.

Officials described the crossings as extremely dangerous, with migrants crammed into overcrowded boats travelling at high speed through rough seas, often without lighting or life jackets.

Authorities said passengers were sometimes tied down to keep them from falling overboard, and that the organisation used extraordinary violence against migrants, its own members and police.

The operation “successfully dismantled one of the ⁠most complex, active and dangerous transnational criminal networks detected to date in the Mediterranean,” Spain’s Civil Guard said in a statement.

Of those detained, 77 were arrested in Spain and one in Algeria, including three high-value targets. Most were Algerian nationals with ties to criminal groups in France, Belgium, Portugal, Italy and Poland.

As part of the operation, 17 locations were searched in Spain, including in Alicante, Almeria, Cartagena and Murcia.

The announcement on Friday comes a week after a mass migrant surge into Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta drew international attention to migration pressures in the region.

The criminal network, described as operating like a logistics company for organised crime groups, managed two-way maritime smuggling routes between Europe and Algeria, according to Europol.

The network allegedly moved synthetic drugs southward and migrants northward to Spain’s southeastern coast and the island of Ibiza.

Investigators say the network carried out at least 64 migrant-smuggling operations, bringing more than 2,000 people into Spain and generating over €24 million ($27m) in profits, charging as much as €12,000 ($13,800) per migrant and packing up to 50 people onto a single boat.

Authorities also found that the network provided a wide range of services to other criminal organisations, including vessel storage, transportation, refuelling, maritime transfers, boat maintenance and counter-surveillance.

The network reportedly moved money through informal hawala networks, making it difficult for investigators to trace illicit funds.

A chapbook by Henry Opeyemi 

Publisher: Felis Catus Press

“The purpose of literature is to turn blood into ink.”

T.S. Eliot

Henry Opeyemi is an oracle, and this chapbook is a miracle of sorts; it is a prayer of consolation, a hymn, a psalm, a song that gives birth to awakening after awakening, enlightenment after enlightenment. It starts with conscientising and ends by raising a phoenix-like awareness of boyhood and its challenges on the African continent. Where Rumi, Khalil Gibran, Weldon Kees, Mzi Mahola, and Ken Saro-Wiwa walked, where Rethabile Masilo walks, now Henry Opeyemi walks alongside these giants. There was Derek Walcott, Langston Hughes, those constellations feeding galaxies, and now there is Henry Opeyemi.

Perhaps all poets have an innate sense of clairvoyance. They can recognise the pains of the land, the masculine and feminine pains of the vessel of an African body, the psychological torment, the mental despair, the stigmatized struggle, the social alienation, the estrangement from the land of our ancestors, and the unbearable loneliness that every waking moment a poet experiences, lives with, suffers from, and the devastation of the internal landscape of the wounded children of Africa. Yes, yes, yes. Henry Opeyemi has turned blood into ink, and the veins are enriched with shelter.

These poems, each one “peeling itself into joy” (from the poem, Wanderers on pg.5).

This manuscript cleanses like the sea. Writing is a spiritual act, a spiritual dance. It is meditative and comes with instructions. It is sacred. When the hand of God moves through the pen, the poet must obey, and Henry Opeyemi has obeyed. The title of this chapbook speaks about black vulnerability, black stigma, the rallying cry of injustice and inequality, systemic racism, the undertow of the vision of poverty-stricken, disenfranchised and marginalised Africa. Henry Opeyemi writes about miracles in the same breath that he confronts suicide ideation, and when he writes, as he does in his dedication, “of the land of his youth”, he is addressing the social ills of the day, he is speaking to every man, woman, youth and child on the African continent. 

The dedication is a searing polemic, a testimony to a time that came before, and that sadly, heartwrenchingly still exists. The bittersweet river of the sands of time through the hourglass, the tapestry of exile, the memory of the silent witness, the memory of the historian and recorder and poet, the novel dispensation that we are living and co-existing in with the pains of a wandering soul, and history, have not erased anything. We, as African poets, living on the African continent beset with problems of despair and conflict, a continent ravaged by “hungry bowls” as the poet writes, we are the angry souls, the grief, heartbreak and emptiness of our rages.

There is beauty in the poetic sense and sensibility of Henry Opeyemi, and a sense of isolation. Every poet from this continent writes about what we have faced, endured, survived (colonialism, liberation, independence, civil war), and the terrible price we have had to pay, the debts of love of our mothers, the considerable debts of love of the maternal figures in our lives. There is the moral distress, the psychiatric distress, and cry of the poet, the language of moral decay in these verses, and the injury, the sickness, the mental tension, the utter mental turmoil and devastation, and the moral distress of the decay of the mind, of the psychological framework, of the alienation, the social ineptitude and isolation, the rejection from the church, from the community, from society who has labeled the citizens and inhabitants of African descent as interlopers, from the immediate and maternal and paternal family of the individual, of the poet.

Henry Opeyemi is the poetic version of Moses Molelekwa, and in his verses abound “genes and spirits”, ancestral kingdoms and bloodlines.

Every African writer, every African novelist and African poet who lives on the continent and finds themselves elsewhere in the world, writes about stigma, whether they acknowledge this consciously or subconsciously. It is written on the blueprint of our consciousness. Henry Opeyemi (remember this name) writes about the wounded child, the boy, the youth’s fractured sense of self and the youth’s spoiled identity, marginalised identity, wanting to seek validation and approval from the powers that be, from the same gender parent, from adult supervision, from their contemporaries, from leaders, from mentors. Every poet is a wanderer, a directionless nomad, a seeker, a believer if he has found the certainty of faith, of religious instructions and meditative practices. When I write, I write as an African, who lives on the African continent first and foremost; secondly, I write as a woman.

On these pages, a particular tenderness is personified in the writing. The wound is sacred and as omnipresent as the omega, and the grief our mothers have carried is a sacred kind of grief that their cells carried when they were in the womb of the maternal grandmother. The mother-figure is the portal, the origin of humanity. It is where the tension and spark of history coincide with the psychological repair, release and repair of life. 

The poet serves grief, heartbreak, their loneliness on a silver platter to humanity, like a beacon, an anchor, a lighthouse in the storm, like the being of light, like daybreak, like an oyster it is consumed, eaten, studied, investigated, and it is this noble endeavour, the practice of writing poetry about grief, heartbreak, and loneliness, that serves us, our collective humanity, exile and history, that is a remainder of colonialism that will last the test of time, that will serve as proof of evidence that we existed, that we were here, that this was our collective emotional pain on the face of the African continent.

The grief of Africa is, unfortunately, not bloodless. Even her tears are, in fact, tears of blood, of war, of strife, of conflict, of genocide. Poetry is our only method of self-defence. It is the survival, coping and defence mechanism of the novelist, the journalist, the filmmaker, the editor, most of all, the poet. It always has been since the onset of slavery and colonialism and independence. Henry Opeyemi does what poets have done before and after colonialism, he discusses emancipation, personal freedom, personal growth, missionary education, liberation, self-improvement, his youth, his Africa, he addresses the ritual of bone, blood, bowl, the question of God and religion, yes, how immortal religion defies and defines us, guides and interrogates us, he mentions the roles of Big Pharma, and the use of pharmaceuticals in society, are they of help or hindrance? He speaks about the mother-figure, the abandonment of Eve, the resurrection of Lady Macbeth on these pages. The mosque becomes an education, the mind of the young intellectual like a feverish young tree, eager for verdant-green growth, branches like limbs, eager to be acknowledged in a garden of other poets, all vying for attention and literary prizes, or, or, humility, imaginative grace, which is, to all intents and purposes more powerful than attention and literary prizes. 

Creative writing, the practice of writing poetry, is an intellectual pursuit. It is the cultural endeavour of the modern-day philosopher, and all poets are wanderers for an eternity of time.

Sidenote: Henry Opeyemi, welcome to the African Renaissance. May you mentor other poets, you, young poet, young leader, young intellectual. Africa is in good hands. Be, go forth, onwards and upwards; be as all princes from this continent who write poetry; be King of the World. Take the empire back. Build your own empires of gold from the dust of the colonial masters, from the powers that be.

Rear Admiral Abdullah bin Salem Al-Shehri will lead the multinational coalition’s naval defence to protect trade, energy routes.

Saudi Arabia has announced the appointment of a commander for a multinational maritime defence alliance to protect freedom of navigation through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The Saudi Ministry of Defence said in a statement on Thursday that Rear Admiral Abdullah bin Salem Al-Shehri has been appointed commander of the coalition a week after its establishment.

Al-Shehri will oversee joint naval defence, coordinate with member states and other maritime coalitions, and carry out missions under the coalition’s charter, it added on X.

Bahrain, Bangladesh, the Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Turkiye and Yemen announced the formation of the coalition on July 30.

More countries are completing the procedures to join the coalition with some having already signed the joint declaration and others preparing to sign the declaration and charter before their formal accession as founding members, the Saudi statement said.

The ministry described the coalition as “an open international coalition that welcomes the accession of all countries that align with its goals and principles”, adding that it continues to receive new membership applications.

The coalition will hold a planning meeting August 12-13 to finalise its institutional framework and pave the way for more countries to join, according to the ministry.

The 14 countries that announced the formation of the Multinational Maritime Defence Coalition declared their intent to protect freedom of navigation and secure international trade routes and energy supply routes in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, which form a strategic maritime corridor linking the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean.

This comes as the United States-Israel war on Iran has become focused on the Strait of Hormuz. The virtual closure of the route, through which about 20 percent of global oil and gas supplies transited before the conflict, is weighing heavily on the global economy.

SC Villa captain and Ugandan international David Owori was found unconscious by passers-by, but later pronounced dead.

Uganda international ‌David Owori, captain of one of the country’s ⁠biggest football clubs, ⁠has died after an assault in the capital Kampala, police said.

The 28-year-old, who was captain of Uganda’s record-breaking champions SC Villa, was ⁠critically injured by unidentified assailants in a suburb of Kampala on Tuesday, police spokesperson Racheal Kawala said.

His death comes only weeks after the killing of Rugby international Sydney Gongodyo in the Ugandan capital.

Owori was found unconscious ⁠by passers-by, who took him to a nearby hospital. He was transferred to another hospital where he was later pronounced dead, Kawala said.

“David was not just a footballer. He was both a leader ‌and an inspiration to a generation. As Captain of SC Villa, he led with courage, humility and passion. In the Uganda Cranes jersey, he carried the hopes of a nation,” the Federation of Uganda Football Associations said in a statement.

Crime is rampant in the capital of the East ⁠African country and many Ugandans expressed outrage ⁠at his death on X. They also condemned what some said was the inability of the authorities to tackle crime.

Owori’s death follows that of Gongodyo’s, who in June died after he was assaulted by a ⁠mob in Kampala after he was apparently ⁠mistaken for a thief, according to police.

“Sadly, Ugandan sport has been hit with many such tragedies lately, and we hope for justice and a lasting solution,” ‌the state-run National Council of Sports Uganda said.

Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa asked authorities to address the wider security challenges in ‌the ‌country, according to a statement on parliament’s website.

SC Villa extended a 20-year wait for the Uganda league title last season, when Owori lifted the trophy as captain.

It was their record-extending 17th Uganda league crown.

Banjul, The Gambia – At dawn, before the heat settles over the coast, Fatou Jarjue waits for the tide to retreat.

She pulls on her gloves and socks, steps into the muddy edge of the Tanbi Wetland and pushes her wooden canoe through narrow channels surrounded by tangled mangrove roots. Inside the canoe sit empty pans waiting to be filled, not with oysters today, but with crabs hiding beneath the surface.

The life of this mother of one is inseparable from the wetland she navigates each day. The mangroves – salt-tolerant coastal trees that protect shorelines from erosion and flooding – provide the oysters, crabs and fish that sustain her family’s livelihood while serving as a natural barrier against erosion and flooding for her coastal community.

Her brother, Musa, trails behind in a smaller canoe whenever he can, keeping watch as she moves deeper into the mangrove channels. On days when he is busy elsewhere, Jarjue ventures into the wetland alone.

For generations, women around the Tanbi Wetland have depended on these waters for survival. Jarjue still does. But unlike previous generations, she also spends part of her time restoring the ecosystem that has sustained her family for decades.

Only months earlier, these waterways were filled with women collecting oysters attached to mangrove roots. With the arrival of The Gambia’s rainy season, oyster harvesting pauses, forcing many women to turn to crabs and fishing until the shellfish season reopens.

For the 34-year-old, the change in her daily catch is temporary. Her commitment to restoring the mangroves is not.

“I have restored more than 5,000 mangroves since last year,” she told Al Jazeera.

Raised in the mangroves

Jarjue grew up in Ndangan, a small settlement of about 300 people located roughly 2km (1.2 miles)  from Banjul, the capital of The Gambia. Like many children in the community, she grew up with the rhythms of the wetland.

At just 12 years old, she began following her mother into the mangroves, learning how to harvest oysters and catch crabs and fish.

The forest was both a classroom and a source of income.

Over the years, Jarjue watched the environment around her change. Rising seas, coastal erosion and changing weather patterns began threatening the coastline her community depends on.

Instead of only taking from the wetland, she decided to help rebuild it.

Today, she returns regularly not only to harvest but also to inspect young seedlings, replace damaged plants and monitor areas where restoration is needed.

“The mangroves are part of our lives,” she said.

For Jarjue, conservation is not separate from survival. The healthier the mangroves become, the stronger the future of her community.

A season’s wait

As Jarjue paddles deeper into the wetland, oysters cling to the roots of the mangroves. They are large, growing and ready for harvest in another season. She leaves them untouched.

She points towards them proudly, knowing that protecting them now will mean a better harvest later.

Although crab harvesting provides income during the rainy season, oysters remain the more profitable catch. A milk-can measure of oysters sells for about 100 dalasis ($1.34), and demand at local markets is higher.

“Oysters are difficult to harvest,” Jarjue explained. “But that is where the money is.”

The annual closure of oyster harvesting during the rainy season is sometimes misunderstood as a warning that oysters become poisonous at that time of year.

But marine scientist Dawda Saine says the reason is more complex and is rooted in conservation, ecology and food safety.

The closure forms part of The Gambia’s Oyster and Cockle Co-management Plan, which allows oyster stocks time to regenerate, reproduce and grow while reducing pressure on the resource.

“We don’t close the season because oysters are poisonous,” Saine told Al Jazeera. “We close it to protect the resource and because, during the rains, oysters filter everything in the water, including increased run-off, which can affect their quality, taste and safety.”

During the rainy season, increased run-off can carry waste and other materials into waterways where oysters feed by filtering water. Allowing them to remain undisturbed helps protect both the ecosystem and consumers.

For women like Jarjue, respecting the closure is an investment in the future.

Roots of survival

Jarjue is among several women in Ndangan who have become guardians of the ecosystem they depend on.

For 48-year-old Sussan Colley, the difference is visible every time she enters the wetland.

Colley has harvested oysters, fished and collected crabs since she was a teenager. She remembers when declining mangrove cover began affecting the community’s catches.

There were fewer oysters. Harvests became smaller. Families who depended on the wetland faced increasing uncertainty.

As restoration efforts expanded, Colley began noticing changes beneath the roots.

The oysters returned. They grew faster and larger. The wetland became productive again.

“The mangroves are changing our lives for the better,” she told Al Jazeera.

For Colley, restoration is also about preparing the next generation. She is teaching her children the skills she inherited from her parents while passing on another lesson: People must protect the natural systems that sustain them.

“I want them to make a livelihood from this,” she said, “but also understand the importance of the mangroves and the role they play in our lives.”

Jarjue and other women received training in mangrove restoration through a local conservation initiative supporting coastal communities in The Gambia. The programme equipped them with the skills to restore degraded mangroves, protect the ecosystems that support fisheries and strengthen their communities’ resilience to climate change.

For the women of Ndangan, the training changed how they viewed the forest, not only as a place to harvest, but also as something they have a responsibility to protect.

Banjul’s last shield

The work happening in Ndangan carries significance far beyond the settlement.

Banjul, The Gambia’s capital, is a low-lying island city facing growing threats from rising seas, coastal erosion and flooding. Experts have warned that a 1-metre (3ft-4-inch) rise in global sea levels could inundate parts of the city, increasing the urgency of protecting its remaining natural barriers.

The threat is not only a future concern. In 2022, severe flooding affected thousands of people across The Gambia, exposing the vulnerability of communities living along the coast.

For settlements surrounding the Tanbi Wetland, mangroves are more than an environmental resource. They are a natural defence system.

Rohey Malick Lowe, the mayor of Banjul, says the future of the capital is closely tied to the survival of its mangroves.

“Banjul is an island,” she told Al Jazeera. “If the mangroves disappear, it goes with the city.”

The mayor said the Banjul City Council is working to protect the capital from climate threats but acknowledged that challenges remain, including the degradation of parts of the wetland through human activities.

Supporting women like Jarjue, she said, is not just about protecting their incomes but also strengthening the city’s resilience.

“They are not only protecting their livelihoods,” Lowe said. “They are helping to protect Banjul.”

Roots of resilience

Despite their contribution, women in Ndangan still face challenges. Without reliable electricity, preserving oysters and crabs remains difficult, especially when market demand is low and harvests cannot be sold immediately.

But each day, Jarjue returns to the mangroves.

Sometimes she goes to harvest. Other times, she goes simply to check whether the trees she planted are surviving.

The work is slow. A mangrove seedling does not transform a coastline overnight. But for Jarjue, every new root represents a future she is helping build.

As the tide slowly rises, she guides her canoe back towards shore, leaving behind thousands of young mangroves she helped plant.

Months from now, she will return to harvest oysters from the same roots she is protecting today. Until then, she is content watching the forest grow.

Every new seedling is a quiet act of hope, not only for her family, but also for a city increasingly vulnerable to the rising sea.

Jarjue pauses before stepping onto dry land and looks back at the green canopy stretching across the wetland.

“Every morning I wake up and see the mangroves growing,” she said. “That gives me peace. If the mangroves disappear one day, our lives will disappear with them.”

Kidnapping for ransom by armed groups and bandits has become a major crisis in Nigeria.

More than 300 people who had been kidnapped across Nigeria have been freed in an intelligence and security operation, the government has announced.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu warmly welcomes the successful rescue of 308 Nigerian citizens who were abducted in different attacks in Niger and Kwara states,” Bayo Onanuga, a special adviser to Nigeria’s president, said in a statement.

The statement said that 163 of those rescued were abducted from the Woro Community in Kaiama Local Government Area in Kwara State, and 145 were taken from Niger State.

“The victims were rescued from the Kainji Lake National Park Forest in New Bussa Local Government Area of Niger State”, according to the statement, as a result of a “coordinated, intelligence-driven operation”. The operation was carried out by the country’s National Counter Terrorism Centre, involving members of the armed forces, the police force and the Department of State Services.

“It was the largest rescue operation ever carried out on the same day by Nigeria’s joint security team,” the statement added.

The government in Kwara State, near the border with Benin, welcomed the rescue in a social media post, local channel Arise News reported.

“Kudos to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, security forces, and everyone who played a role in this huge feat. We are grateful!”, said the Kwara government statement, announcing the release of those abducted during the February 3 attack on local communities in Kaiama.

At least 200 people were killed in the attack, when suspected Boko Haram-linked fighters launched a coordinated assault that lasted several hours, according to the Nigeria-based Punch website.

Kidnapping for ransom by criminal groups, Boko Haram-linked fighters and gangs known as bandits has become a major crisis in Nigeria, especially in areas with little state presence.

Soft targets, including schools, churches and mosques, particularly in vulnerable rural communities with limited state security, have been particularly at risk.

On January 18, 177 people were abducted from three churches in the village of Kurmin Wali in Kaduna State.

Last month, security services freed at least 40 students and teachers kidnapped in May from the southern state of Oyo.

In June, the president announced that the military had “neutralised” more than 13,000 “terrorists” in the past year. The army also said it had rescued 360 people abducted by Boko Haram, which has spread across parts of the country from Borno State, once considered the centre of its operations.

“The successful execution of this intelligence-led operation demonstrates the growing efficiency and collaboration among our security services. I commend our gallant men and women in uniform for their bravery and unwavering commitment to safeguarding Nigerian lives,” the president said in his latest statement.

Chad le Clos says his apartment in South Africa was destroyed by a fatal fire – the night after the swimmer became the most decorated athlete in Commonwealth Games history.

Le Clos picked up his 21st medal to overtake Australia’s Emma McKeon as the athlete with the most medals in Commonwealths history, when South Africa took bronze in the men’s 4x100m medley relay in Glasgow last week.

It was the 34-year-old’s third medal of the 2026 Games, having won silver in the mixed 4×100 ⁠medley and bronze in the men’s 4×100 freestyle relays.

Only days later, Le Clos has revealed that a fire destroyed his home of more than a decade in Sea Point, Cape Town and killed one of his neighbours.

“It has taken me a while to process this heartbreaking tragedy,” the 2012 Olympic gold medallist wrote on Instagram, external.

“On the evening of 30 July, amid breaking the all-time Commonwealth record, a fire started in my apartment block, which quickly spread to my home. Sadly my home, where I’ve lived for more than a decade, burnt down and there is nothing left to salvage.”

In the post, Le Clos also paid tribute to his “neighbour of many years” who died in the fire, offering his “deepest and most sincere condolences” to the victim’s family and friends.

“No words can truly ease a loss like this, but I hope the family knows that the thoughts of an entire community are with them,” the Durban-born swimmer said.

According to reports, external, a 93-year-old resident died in the incident.

Le Clos added: “To my fellow neighbours whose homes and lives have been severely affected by this fire, please know that you are not alone. This is a tight-knit community and it is in moments like these that we lean on one another.”

Le Clos, who famously beat Michael Phelps to win 200m butterfly gold at the London Olympics in 2012, said he has launched a fundraising campaign to help his neighbours affected by the blaze.

Phelps was a 14-time Olympic champion and had not lost in the event since 2001 when the United States icon was beaten by Le Clos.

The South African won his first Commonwealth medal in Delhi in 2010 at the age of 18 and now has seven gold, five silver and nine bronze medals across five editions of the Games.

Over his career, he has won four Olympic medals, 16 world titles, seven Commonwealth golds and 10 African titles.

Thousands of migrants entered the Spanish city of Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco on July 31, bringing renewed attention to one of Europe’s most unusual borders.

Although Ceuta lies on the northern coast of Africa and is surrounded by Moroccan territory, it is administered by Spain and forms part of the European Union. Together with nearby Melilla, it forms the EU’s only land border with Africa, making both cities recurring flashpoints for migration and diplomatic tensions between Madrid and Rabat.

The latest crossing has once again highlighted border security and irregular migration, but it has also drawn attention to a broader question: why do these small Spanish territories on the African continent continue to generate recurring political crises between Spain and Morocco?

Understanding the latest tensions requires looking at three connected issues: migration pressures, the cities’ legal status, and Morocco’s long-standing claim over their sovereignty.

Why has the crisis resurfaced now?

The latest crossing reflects continued pressure along one of Europe’s most sensitive migration routes. Because Ceuta and Melilla are Spanish territory, entering either city means entering the European Union.

For some migrants travelling through North Africa, the two cities are among the few places where EU territory can be reached by land, making them recurring focal points during periods of increased migration towards Europe.

The timing of the latest surge has also been linked to a recent ruling by Spain’s Supreme Court on the treatment of migrants attempting to reach Ceuta and Melilla by sea. The court ruled that Spain’s “hot return” procedure, which allows certain immediate returns at the border, could not be applied to migrants intercepted at sea while attempting to swim into the enclaves. The judges found that the procedure applies to people who cross physical border barriers, such as fences, rather than those intercepted at sea.

The ruling did not create an automatic right to remain in Spain or legalise irregular entry. However, it was interpreted by some migrants as making immediate return more difficult if they reached Spanish territory by sea. Spanish and Moroccan officials pointed to the ruling as one factor that may have influenced the latest surge, while migration experts also cited broader migration pressures and misinformation circulating among migrants and smuggling networks.

The episode showed how legal decisions affecting border procedures can quickly influence perceptions on one of Europe’s most heavily monitored frontiers.

Migration cooperation has long been closely linked to the wider relationship between Spain and Morocco. Madrid relies heavily on cooperation with Rabat to manage migration routes, while Morocco’s role in controlling movement towards Europe has made border management an important element of its relationship with both Spain and the EU.

That dynamic became particularly clear in 2021, when thousands of migrants entered Ceuta during a period of heightened tensions after Spain allowed Brahim Ghali, the leader of the Polisario Front, to receive medical treatment in Spain.

The Polisario Front seeks independence for Western Sahara, which Morocco considers part of its territory and which has its final status unresolved under a United Nations-led political process. Rabat viewed Spain’s decision to host Ghali as a diplomatic setback, while Madrid said the decision was based on humanitarian grounds.

Spain accused Morocco of easing border controls during the crisis, while Moroccan officials rejected the suggestion that Morocco should act as Europe’s border guard. The episode demonstrated how migration cooperation can become entangled with broader political disputes between the two countries.

What is the legal status of Ceuta and Melilla?

Under the current international legal framework, Ceuta and Melilla are Spanish territories under Spain’s sovereignty. Spain exercises full administrative and governmental authority over the two cities, and they are represented in Spain’s political system and form part of the EU.

They are not listed by the UN as Non-Self-Governing Territories, a category that applies to territories whose people have not yet exercised the right to self-determination through decolonisation. Because Ceuta and Melilla are not on that list, they are not part of a UN decolonisation process.

There has also been no international court ruling or UN decision determining sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla. The dispute remains a political disagreement between Spain and Morocco rather than a sovereignty dispute currently being adjudicated through an international legal process.

This is one of the key differences between Ceuta and Melilla and Western Sahara. Western Sahara remains on the UN list of Non-Self-Governing Territories and is the subject of a separate UN-backed political process over its future status, while Ceuta and Melilla are treated internationally as territories under Spanish sovereignty.

This is the basis of Madrid’s position that the sovereignty question is settled. Spain argues that the two cities are not colonial possessions but fully integrated parts of the Spanish state, governed under Spanish law and protected as Spanish territory.

Morocco disputes that interpretation, arguing that the cities’ location on the African continent and their historical connection to North Africa mean they should be viewed differently from other Spanish cities.

Why does Morocco continue to claim the two cities?

The dispute is rooted in the long history of the western Mediterranean.

The Strait of Gibraltar has historically connected Europe and Africa rather than separating them. Armies, merchants, cultures and religions moved across it for centuries.

During the medieval period, Muslim dynasties based in present-day Morocco, including the Almoravids and Almohads, ruled large parts of the Iberian Peninsula. Their influence remains visible today in Spain’s architecture, language and cultural heritage.

Later, Portugal and Spain established footholds along the North African coast as European powers expanded their influence overseas.

Portugal captured Ceuta in 1415. After the Iberian Union between Spain and Portugal ended in 1640, Ceuta remained under Spanish rule. Spain has administered the city ever since.

Melilla has been under Spanish control since 1497.

Spain points to this long history of administration, together with citizenship and constitutional integration, as evidence that the two cities are fully part of Spain.

Morocco views the same history through a different lens, arguing that European-controlled territories on the African mainland remain a historical legacy of European expansion.

Why do the cities matter beyond Spain and Morocco?

The importance of Ceuta and Melilla extends far beyond their size.

For Spain, the cities are sovereign territory and a direct extension of the Spanish state into North Africa.

For the European Union, they represent its only land borders with Africa and are therefore central to debates over migration, border security and cooperation with neighbouring countries.

For Morocco, the cities remain linked to a broader question of territorial sovereignty, even as Rabat maintains close cooperation with Spain on migration, trade and security.

This combination of interests means that developments in Ceuta and Melilla can quickly become issues of regional significance.

Could the dispute be resolved?

There is little indication that either Spain or Morocco is seeking to reopen formal negotiations over sovereignty.

Spain maintains that Ceuta and Melilla are integral parts of the country and that their status is not negotiable.

Morocco continues to maintain its claim, but in recent years has generally prioritised practical cooperation with Spain over direct confrontation on the issue.

As a result, the dispute tends to reappear indirectly during periods of political tension, diplomatic disagreements or increased migration pressure.

What does the latest crossing reveal?

The immediate challenge remains humanitarian: managing migration while protecting the rights and safety of people attempting to reach Europe.

But the events in Ceuta also show why the city repeatedly returns to international headlines. Migration may trigger the immediate crisis, but the response is shaped by border policy, Spain-Morocco relations, legal developments and a sovereignty dispute that continues to influence relations between the two countries.

Ceuta and Melilla remain unusual because they are geographically part of Africa but politically part of Europe. As long as migration pressures and sovereignty disputes persist, they are likely to remain among the Mediterranean’s most sensitive border flashpoints.

Charity warns that shrinking humanitarian support could threaten efforts to support communities trying to rebuild lives after 1,200 days of conflict.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has called for greater international support for Sudan, saying humanitarian needs are escalating while funding falls far short.

“Sudan is one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, yet it is also one of its most overlooked” IFRC Special Envoy for Sudan, Derk Segaar, told reporters in Geneva after returning from the Sudan.

Sudan plunged into all-out war in April 2023 between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese military, leading to the deaths of at least 59,000 people, according to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, a conflict monitoring group.

Aid groups say the figure is an undercount and the true number could be many times higher.

Segaar said while some aid is trickling into Kordofan and Darfur regions, the whole of Sudan has been devastated by the war, including Khartoum, where millions lack reliable electricity, clean water and healthcare, as cholera, malnutrition and floods pose additional risks.

He said 35 million people require humanitarian assistance, more than 9 million are internally displaced, and fighting has driven 4.5 million people out of Sudan.

Fighting

Speaking before a gathering of soldiers, Sudanese Army Lieutenant-General Yasser al-Atta on Monday said the military is advancing on all fronts with the aim of eliminating the RSF before the end of the year.

The location of the gathering was not specified.

“We are implementing the theory of advancing in all directions, with all fronts moving simultaneously, as happened during the recapture of Khartoum state,” al-Atta said.

“Before the end of this year, there will not be a single Janjaweed fighter,” he said, using a term to refer to the RSF, “or a foreign fighter, and we are determined to achieve that”.

Al-Atta’s remarks came days after the army and allied forces carried out a rapid operation in which they seized Bara, Jabra al-Sheikh, Um Sayala and other positions along a key road connecting Omdurman with el-Obeid in North Kordofan.

Sudan’s three Kordofan states – North, West and South – have witnessed continued fighting between the army and the RSF since October 2025.

Diplomacy

Meanwhile, the United Nations is ramping up efforts to get the stalled political process on track.

The UN says representatives from five international organisations, including the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the European Union and the League of Arab States held talks with Sudanese political parties on Monday.

“Building on exploratory consultations held in Addis Ababa in June, the Quintet engaged Sudanese civilian political leaders in recent days. Discussions continued on proposals and perspectives for advancing the political process, including through the establishment of confidence-building measures,” said UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq.

The UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Sudan, Pekka Haavisto, is also talking with RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo to discuss reducing escalation.

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso – Captain Ibrahim Traore, a 38-year-old army officer who seized power in a 2022 coup, has become one of Africa’s most recognisable leaders, hailed by supporters as a symbol of sovereignty and resistance to foreign influence.

But while his image has grown across the continent, his rule has also been marked by increasing restrictions on political activity, persistent insecurity and questions over whether his message of national renewal can translate into lasting change.

In April, Traore told Burkinabe people to “forget about democracy”, arguing that the country was in a revolutionary phase rather than a democratic one. The remark came after his government extended the military-led transition and dissolved political parties, signalling that a return to civilian rule was no longer an immediate priority.

The contrast between Traore’s growing international reputation and the realities inside Burkina Faso has become one of the defining questions of his presidency.

Burkina Faso has been at the centre of the Sahel’s security crisis for nearly a decade, with armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) expanding across large parts of the country and overwhelming successive governments.

Why has Traore become so popular?

Traore’s appeal extends well beyond Burkina Faso because he has tapped into wider frustration across parts of Africa over foreign military intervention, economic dependence and political elites seen as disconnected from citizens.

Since taking power in a coup in September 2022, he has expelled French troops, strengthened ties with Russia, promoted local industry and agriculture, and presented economic self-reliance as a national priority. His government has joined other military-led governments in the Sahel region moving away from traditional Western security partnerships.

His speeches frequently invoke the legacy of former revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara, who ruled Burkina Faso from 1983 until his assassination in 1987 and who remains a symbol of anti-imperialism and self-reliance across Africa.

Supporters argue that Traore has restored national pride and challenged a system in which Burkina Faso remained politically and economically dependent on external powers.

“What’s happening in Burkina Faso is a genuine decoupling of legitimacy from performance,” Kabir Adamu, a security analyst and founder of Beacon Consulting Limited in Nigeria, told Al Jazeera. “Traore has restructured the security architecture around sovereignty rather than efficacy.”

Adamu said measures such as the creation of the Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland, Burkina Faso’s withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and closer security ties with Russia have resonated with a population exhausted by years of foreign-backed military efforts that failed to stop the spread of armed groups.

A Burkinabe diplomat based in Ghana, who requested anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly, said Traore’s appeal reflects a desire among some citizens for a leader who appears less influenced by external powers.

“I have followed the speeches of Western leaders for decades,” the diplomat told Al Jazeera. “Traore is the first leader in years who looks like he isn’t reading from their script.”

The diplomat said some supporters view criticism from Western governments as evidence that Burkina Faso’s attempt to pursue a more independent path challenges established relationships.

What has changed under his government?

Traore has sought to turn his sovereignty message into policy, with his government prioritising local production, state control of strategic sectors and reduced dependence on foreign partners.

Officials say Burkina Faso has increased investment in agriculture, particularly in staple crops such as rice and maize, while encouraging local manufacturing and processing industries. The government has also promoted infrastructure projects and sought greater national involvement in strategic economic sectors.

Supporters argue that these measures are laying the foundations for greater economic independence and ensuring that national resources are directed towards domestic development rather than external interests.

The government has also expanded the Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland programme, a government-backed civilian force created to support the military in areas where the state has struggled to maintain security.

Has security improved?

This remains the central test of Traore’s presidency.

He came to power promising to reverse the deterioration in security that had plagued Burkina Faso for years. Successive governments struggled to contain armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) that expanded across the Sahel following instability in neighbouring Mali.

Since 2022, the military has intensified operations across the country and repeatedly announced the recapture of towns and strategic positions. Government officials say security has improved in several areas and that the state has regained ground previously controlled by armed groups.

“Traore’s presidency is ultimately judged by whether security has improved,” Mustapha Bature Sallama told Al Jazeera. He is a private investigator and security and intelligence specialist from Ghana who is based near the Ghana–Burkina Faso border.

Sallama said Burkina Faso continues to face serious threats from armed groups linked to Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), al-Qaeda’s affiliate in the Sahel, and ISIL’s West Africa Province (ISWAP), with millions of people requiring humanitarian assistance, more than two million displaced and limited independent verification of official security claims.

He added that Burkina Faso and Ghana maintain intelligence cooperation to monitor cross-border threats and prevent the spread of armed group violence into the region.

Despite government claims of progress, Burkina Faso remains one of the countries most affected by armed group violence. Attacks continue across multiple regions, civilians are regularly killed and humanitarian organisations report that millions of people require assistance.

More than two million people remain displaced and access to many affected areas is limited. Independent verification of military claims has also become increasingly difficult as access for journalists, researchers and humanitarian groups has narrowed.

What about political freedoms?

Traore’s government has increasingly moved beyond a military transition towards a broader consolidation of power.

In January, authorities dissolved political parties and suspended political activities, arguing that they fuelled division during a period of national crisis. The move followed an earlier extension of the military transition, effectively postponing a return to electoral politics.

The tightening of state control has also extended beyond politics. Last month, Traore publicly declared that “the battle has begun” against Muslim scholars he accused of promoting religious extremism, following the adoption of a new Religious Freedoms Law and the arrest of several prominent Sunni clerics.

The confrontation was significant because many Muslim leaders had previously been viewed as part of Traore’s support base. Critics warned that the measures risked weakening religious independence and freedom of expression, while authorities argued that extraordinary steps were necessary during a national security emergency.

Rights groups have also raised concerns over restrictions affecting political parties, journalists and civil society organisations.

So does the record match the reputation?

Traore’s rise has been built on a powerful message: that Burkina Faso should have greater control over its security, resources and political direction.

For many supporters, he represents a generation of African leaders willing to challenge former colonial powers, reject Western security frameworks and demand greater control over national resources. In a region where frustration with foreign intervention has been growing, that message has resonated strongly.

But the strength of Traore’s image has also created a difficult test: whether symbolic victories can translate into improvements in people’s daily lives.

If the measure is sovereignty, political messaging and the ability to inspire supporters, Traore has achieved remarkable influence in a short period and become one of Africa’s most recognisable political figures.

If the measure is security, humanitarian conditions and political freedoms inside Burkina Faso, the picture is far more complicated. Armed violence continues, displacement remains widespread and questions remain over whether military rule can deliver lasting stability.

Traore has proved highly effective at turning sovereignty into a powerful political message. The question now is whether that message can deliver the security and justice that many Burkinabe people expect.

“We are proud to see a leader who stands up to the West and wears our traditional clothes. That pride is real,” a youth leader in Ouagadougou, who requested anonymity because of concerns for their safety, told Al Jazeera.

“But pride doesn’t feed a family, and it doesn’t protect a village. We want Captain Traore to be a symbol of strength, but we also need him to be a symbol of safety and justice here at home.”

Migrant children in Ceuta suffer loss, hunger in hope of a safer life in mainland Europe.

Hundreds of unaccompanied minors are stranded in Ceuta in North Africa, following the massive surge of migrants who swam around the border fence with Morocco to reach the Spanish territory.

Some of the children are traumatised after witnessing family members drown in the Mediterranean Sea, as tens of thousands left Morocco in search of better opportunities.

An estimated 3,000 to 5,000 migrants, of the roughly 60,000 who arrived in Ceuta on Thursday, have avoided expulsion.

More than 800 unaccompanied minors are among the remaining migrants and face an uncertain future.

A 17-year-old girl from Tangier told the Associated Press she saw Spanish police pulling the body of her eight-year-old brother from the sea when she made it to shore. She was also separated from her mother during the journey.

“I saw people stepping on the dead,” she said through a translator. “Now we are children begging on the street.”

After finding a government facility for youths in need full, she is now relying on locals for food and shelter.

Minors must be cared for under Spanish law

Spanish law says adult migrants can apply for asylum, but the bar is normally set very high for Moroccans to be granted humanitarian protection. If rejected, they will face expulsion procedures.

Article 35 of Spain’s 2000 law on foreigners’ rights states that when police identify young children and teenage migrants who are unaccompanied by adults, the minors must be granted protection and receive “immediate attention’ from Spanish child protection services.

An AP journalist saw Spanish soldiers escorting an unaccompanied Moroccan boy who was crying and begging not to be sent back. Due to pressure from local residents who insisted he was a minor, the boy was transferred to the Spanish Civil Guard instead of being repatriated.

Most of the Moroccan adults who arrived last week have either voluntarily gone home or were pushed back by Spanish police. Among the remaining in Ceuta are significant numbers of people from other countries, including Sudanese fleeing their war-torn country, Palestinians from Gaza, Afghans and people from several African nations.

The city’s migrant centre is full — it has a capacity for 600 people. Food is scarce among the migrants, according to reporting by AP and AFP.

Many are sleeping outside or resting on the beach or on the hills surrounding Ceuta. In the hazy distance, mainland Europe, their ultimate goal, lies across the sea.

Spain’s two tiny enclaves on the north coast of Africa have long been a flashpoint in its relationship with Morocco, which the territories border.

The only such European territories on African soil, they include the autonomous city enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, as well as Plazas de Soberanía – a group of rocky islands off the Moroccan coast, which include the Chafarinas Islands, Alhucemas Islands and Penon de Velez de la Gomera.

While Spain says it owns these enclaves, Morocco does not recognise Spain’s sovereignty over them and has been demanding their return since independence from France in 1956.

The territorial dispute has resulted in long-standing political tensions between Spain and Morocco.

Last week, after more than 50,000 migrants surged over the border into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, those tensions between Madrid and Rabat intensified. While most have since returned to Morocco, several thousand remain in Ceuta this week.

So why does Spain have these territories at all and what does their future hold?

Here’s what we know:

Why does Spain have enclaves in North Africa?

The enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, along with a few islets off the coast of Morocco, constitute the last vestiges of the Spanish colonial empire.

Ceuta first came under Portuguese rule in 1415 before becoming part of Spain in 1580, while Melilla was conquered by a Spanish nobleman in 1497. Ceuta remained under Spanish control after Portugal regained independence in 1640 following a long war.

“Spain reached its greatest extent in Latin America, and with the loss of Cuba, Costa Rica and the Philippines in 1898, it shifted its influence to Africa, although most European colonial powers had already divided it among themselves,” explained Yolanda Aixelà Cabré, an anthropologist at IMF-CSIC in Barcelona.

After the decolonisation of Africa in the last century, Ceuta and Melilla remained the only European-held territories on the African mainland. Although geographically in Africa, the enclaves are considered Spanish territory and form part of the EU’s external border.

“For Spain, maintaining these enclaves [on the northern coast of Africa] is fundamental on a symbolic level because they reinforce Spanish grandeur, its imperial past which the State continues to consider a bearer of civilisation in contrast to barbarism, a notion perfectly encapsulated by the repetitive discourse that [Christopher] Columbus, representing the Catholic Monarchs, ‘discovered’ America,” she said.

Why didn’t the enclaves pass to Morocco on independence?

Selim Balouati Lakhloufi is a historian and researcher specialising in the history of North Africa and the Rif mountainous region in northern Morocco, which stretches along the Mediterranean coast from Tangier to the border with Algeria. He said Ceuta and Melilla continue to exist as separate territories because their origins “predate modern Morocco”.

“They are enclaves that have been occupied for centuries,” he told Al Jazeera.

But since gaining independence from France in 1956 – which Spain recognised while retaining its enclaves – Morocco has consistently maintained that the territories of Ceuta and Melilla, which it calls “Sebtah and Melilah”, and the Plazas de Soberanía, are part of its territory and has been demanding their return.

“This has always been used by the Moroccan political class as a point of criticism against Spain,” Lakhloufi said.

Samir Bennis, a Washington, DC-based senior political adviser who is also the co-founder of Morocco World News and an expert on Morocco’s foreign policy, said since independence, Morocco’s territorial claims over Ceuta and Melilla have frequently been at the centre of tricky relations between Spain and Morocco.

“Perhaps this issue would not have had the same detrimental effect on bilateral relations had Moroccan leaders shown greater determination in the early 1960s, during the height of the decolonisation period, to bring the matter before the United Nations and seek recognition of these two cities as colonial territories that should be liberated from any foreign presence,” he said.

He explained that there are, however, two important factors which led the Moroccan authorities to refrain from pursuing this course in their efforts to restore the country’s territorial integrity.

“The first was the sheer scale of the territorial disputes between Spain and Morocco. Given the difficulty Morocco faced in simultaneously contesting Spanish control over several territories, the Moroccan government decided to proceed gradually in its efforts to recover the parts of Moroccan territory that remained under Spanish rule.”

“The second factor that led the Moroccan leadership to postpone addressing the question of Ceuta and Melilla was the willingness shown by the Spanish authorities to resolve their territorial disputes with Morocco progressively. In the end, this strategy proved highly beneficial for safeguarding Spain’s interests in the two cities,” Bennis added.

How strong is Morocco’s claim to these enclaves?

Morocco’s claim to the territories is relatively weak, Bennis said. But “the country can invoke a range of historical, geographical and human arguments that cast doubt on Spain’s position”.

Jamie Trinidad, a fellow and director of studies in law at Wolfson College, Cambridge University, also said that Morocco’s claim to the territories is weak under international law. “It is a political, rather than a legal, claim, similar to Spain’s claim to Gibraltar, which lies across the strait from Ceuta,” he said. Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory.

“In the 1970s, Morocco asked the UN to include the territories on the list of ‘Non-Self-Governing Territories’ overseen by the UN’s Special Committee on Decolonisation, but the Moroccan request was ignored by the UN,” he added.

What do people living in these enclaves want?

Around 84,000 people live in Ceuta and 86,000 in Melilla.

In Spanish possession since 1580, Ceuta is home to a mixed population of Christian and Muslim, Spanish and Moroccan residents and day workers who live and work in relative harmony.

But after more than 50,000 migrants entered Ceuta illegally last week, divisions and tensions in the enclave have risen.

Hundreds of residents rallied on Sunday – two days after the surge of migrants to Ceuta – to oppose a planned far-right anti-migrant rally, forcing organisers to cancel the event.

“I am half Christian, half Muslim, as many in Ceuta are. We live peacefully together. But the numbers this time were scary,” Ceuta resident Isabel told Al Jazeera over the weekend.

Melilla, which has been in Spanish possession since 1497, is also home to Spanish and Moroccan residents, as well as small Jewish and Sindhi communities, the latter a diaspora of Hindu merchants who arrived following the 1947 partition of India.

The Plazas de Soberania is mainly populated by Spanish military personnel.

Lakhloufi noted that polling shows an overwhelming majority of people living in Ceuta and Melilla wish to remain part of Spain.

“This has been reflected consistently in public opinion and in the absence of any significant political movement advocating a change in sovereignty,” he said. “Even the population with Moroccan origin want to stay as Spanish and European. This is because the social welfare difference between Morocco and the cities it’s really high,” he said.

“At the same time, both cities maintain strong historical, cultural and economic ties with Morocco, making cooperation across the border an important aspect of daily life,” he added.

According to the Spanish government, Ceuta and Melilla are part of the Schengen area, which guarantees freedom of movement within the EU, but are subject to a special Schengen regime. People travelling between the enclaves and mainland Spain undergo separate border checks.

“Schengen checks are carried out on exit by sea or air, the only two routes available. Therefore, no one can travel from Ceuta or Melilla to mainland Spain without being identified by the National Police at the port or the airport. In addition, ferry operators and airlines are required to verify travel documents,” a Spanish government document states.

Will Spain give up these enclaves?

Analysts are divided.

In March 2022, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote to the Moroccan king, confirming Spanish support for Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara, which Spain gave up control of in 1975. Sanchez said this was “the most serious, realistic and credible” initiative for resolving the decades-long dispute over the vast African territory and declared “a new stage” in Spain’s strained relations with Morocco.

Cabre said, therefore, that after last week’s overwhelming migrant influx into Ceuta, Spain could ultimately cede sovereignty to Morocco.

“Their [the enclaves] mere presence is an unsustainable historical anomaly at a time when the decolonisation of European states is being promoted at all levels, like European countries returning of items stolen during colonialism and recognising the citizenship rights of their former colonies,” she said.

But Lakhloufi does not expect a fundamental change in Spain’s policy on the enclaves.

“What may change is the way Spain manages its relationship with Morocco, particularly regarding border management, migration and security cooperation. However, tactical adjustments should not be confused with a shift in Spain’s long-standing position on sovereignty. It’s usually Morocco that puts pressure on the borders, not Spain,” he said.

Maasai Mara, Kenya – The Maasai Mara, Kenya’s most famous wildlife reserve, is one of Africa’s best-known safari destinations. Every year, hundreds of thousands of visitors travel to the reserve, generating millions of dollars for Kenya’s economy and supporting jobs, businesses and local communities.

But as luxury camps and lodges spread across the reserve, concerns are growing over the environmental cost of tourism. Conservationists warn that unchecked development is damaging wildlife habitats and threatening one of the world’s greatest natural spectacles, the annual migration of wildebeest, zebras and gazelles between Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park and Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve.

The debate has now reached Kenya’s courts.

A legal battle over the Mara

The future of the Maasai Mara is increasingly being contested in court. Conservation groups have filed several cases challenging the construction and expansion of tourist camps inside and around the reserve, arguing that some developments were approved without adequate environmental safeguards.

The latest petition, filed by the East Africa Law Society, Natural Justice, JustAct and the Africa Centre for Peace and Human Rights, seeks conservatory orders to halt the construction and expansion of accommodation facilities in the Maasai Mara National Reserve pending the hearing of the case.

The petition names the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Marriott International, Lazizi Mara Limited, the Narok County government, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), the attorney general, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), The Safari Collection Ltd and Minor Hotels Ltd.

Court documents filed by advocate Gichohi Waweru challenge the construction and operation of the Ritz-Carlton Maasai Mara Safari Camp, alleging that it was built in a protected ecological zone despite a 2023 moratorium on new tourism accommodation in sensitive areas of the reserve under the Maasai Mara Management Plan 2023-32.

The petition also claims that the camp lacks a valid environmental impact assessment licence and sits along a key wildebeest migration corridor.

The petitioners are seeking an audit of all lodges in protected zones, warning that continued development could cause irreversible damage to the Mara ecosystem.

The legal battle has become a test of whether Kenya can balance conservation with tourism, one of the country’s most important economic sectors.

Kelvin Kubai, an advocate at the High Court of Kenya, told Al Jazeera that tourism should never come at the expense of wildlife and the environment.

“When the interests of wildlife and nature conflict with tourism, the rights of nature are supreme. Any interaction between tourists, wild animals and the environment should not come at the expense of the animals. The rights of human beings in the Mara are not above those of animals and nature,” he said.

The disappearing migration

Every year, more than a million wildebeest, zebras and gazelles move between the Serengeti and the Maasai Mara in search of fresh grazing land. The migration sustains predators, attracts visitors from around the world and plays a crucial role in maintaining the health of the ecosystem.

Kenya has, however, seen a significant decline in the number of wildebeest making the journey into the Maasai Mara. Conservationists say that construction, vehicle traffic and human activity near migration routes are disrupting animal movements and placing additional pressure on wildlife already affected by climate change.

According to a Kenyan government wildlife survey whose findings were released after fieldwork conducted between June 2024 and August 2025, populations of several species, including lions, buffalo, hirola antelope and wildebeest, have fallen sharply. Wildebeest numbers declined from 58,000 to 34,200 between 2023 and 2025.

Scientific data released in early 2026 showed that the number of wildebeest using one of the key migration routes in the Greater Mara ecosystem had fallen by almost 90 percent in just five years.

The pressure from tourism development has become a central concern. Despite the 2023 moratorium on new tourism accommodation in sensitive parts of the reserve, conservationists say new camps have continued to emerge while existing facilities have sought to expand.

The moratorium was introduced to curb overdevelopment, reduce pressure on wildlife habitats and protect migration corridors, but conservationists argue that enforcement has been weak.

Samwel Odhiambo, a climate activist and founder of the Climate Awareness Defenders community-based organisation, told Al Jazeera that conservation must take precedence over commercial interests.

“The government must rein in investors who do not really care about conservation because everyone has a responsibility to the environment and the animals. What we are seeing today is a result of developments that are profit-driven, to the point where lodges are built on riverbanks, too close to animals, and on migration routes, affecting especially female animals as they lose their habitats for nurturing and delivering their babies.”

Odhiambo argued that the same level of environmental protection applied along Kenya’s coast should be extended to the Mara.

“Kenya’s coast at times generates more tourism revenue than the Maasai Mara, but you will not find developers building on the beach or in the waters,” he said.

Maps published in December 2025 by ecologists at the Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in the Atlas of Ungulate Migration showed that migration routes supporting more than 100,000 wildebeest as recently as 2020 now support fewer than 30,000.

The report estimated that the wildebeest population, which numbered between 120,000 and 150,000 in the 1970s, had fallen to about 26,700 by 2024. Settlement and fencing across the Loita Plains and northern Mara Plains have severely restricted migration, confining surviving herds to a patchwork of conservancies surrounding the reserve.

Although these figures come from different wildlife surveys and migration studies, they all point to a sharp decline in wildebeest numbers and movements across the Greater Mara ecosystem.

When tourism threatens itself

For decades, the Maasai Mara has been Kenya’s premier tourism destination, earning billions of shillings annually and supporting thousands of jobs, from safari guides and hotel workers to transport operators, craft sellers and Maasai communities.

But conservationists and tourism analysts warn that overdevelopment could begin undermining the very industry that depends on the reserve’s wildlife and wilderness.

Tourism operators say overcrowding, rising park fees and increasing competition from other regional destinations have made the safari market more competitive. Conservation groups argue that continued habitat loss and pressure on wildlife corridors could further erode the Mara’s appeal to visitors seeking intact wilderness and abundant wildlife.

Al Jazeera contacted Marriott International, Lazizi Mara Limited, the Narok County Government, NEMA and KWS for comment. Marriott and Lazizi have previously said the Ritz-Carlton Maasai Mara Safari Camp received the necessary approvals and complied with Kenyan environmental and planning requirements, while Kenyan authorities have defended the project as being located in a designated tourism investment zone under the Maasai Mara Management Plan 2023-32.

Wangari Kebuchi, an economist and managing director of Expertise Global, told Al Jazeera that the conservancy model offered the most viable path forward, provided it was accompanied by stronger oversight.

“The Maasai Mara is one of Kenya’s biggest economic assets and a major source of foreign exchange, but Narok County depends too heavily on it for revenue. If wildlife numbers decline because of overdevelopment, tourism demand will eventually fall. The conservancy model will help by protecting wildlife corridors and limiting visitor numbers, but it needs stronger oversight. Future tourism growth should be guided by ecological limits, not commercial demand, so the Mara remains both environmentally healthy and economically sustainable,” Kebuchi said.

For conservationists, the court cases are about far more than a single luxury camp. They could determine whether Kenya is willing to enforce ecological limits in one of Africa’s most celebrated landscapes.

As the legal battle unfolds, the question is whether the Maasai Mara can remain both a thriving wildlife ecosystem and a sustainable source of livelihoods and tourism revenue.

“Future tourism growth should be guided by ecological limits, not commercial demand, so the Mara remains both environmentally healthy and economically sustainable,” Kebuchi said.

Harare, Zimbabwe – Harare’s streets have been quieter than usual as residents wait to see whether a call for a nationwide shutdown against constitutional changes would lead to protests.

The first thing that stood out was the traffic.

Cars on the roads leading into the city centre on Friday were fewer than usual. The morning rush hour that normally fills the capital’s streets was missing, and the journey into Harare’s central business district was quicker than expected.

For a normal working day in Zimbabwe, the difference was noticeable.

Police were deployed across Harare as opposition groups and civil society activists called for a nationwide shutdown over constitutional changes. Critics said the amendments could extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s time in office until 2030.

Across the city, the security presence was difficult to miss.

Police blocked access to a popular park where people often gather, making it clear that no one would be allowed inside. Nearby, water cannon trucks were parked in an open space that has been used for previous demonstrations.

An uneasy morning

By about 8:30am (06:30 GMT), parts of Harare’s central business district were slowly coming to life.

In areas where taxis operate and small businesses line the streets, some shops had opened while others remained closed.

The heavy police presence showed that authorities were prepared for possible demonstrations, which police have banned.

In Zimbabwe, public gatherings require police approval, and opposition groups have repeatedly criticised restrictions on protests.

As the day continued, Harare remained calm.

The dispute behind the shutdown

The shutdown call followed constitutional amendments approved by Zimbabwe’s Parliament and signed into law in July.

The changes move the next presidential election from 2028 to 2030 and extend presidential and parliamentary terms from five years to seven.

They also change how future presidents are chosen, replacing a direct presidential election by voters with a system in which the president would be elected by parliament.

Mnangagwa came to power in 2017 after longtime leader Robert Mugabe was removed from office.

He won elections in 2018 and 2023 and was previously expected to leave office at the end of his second term in 2028.

The amendments have drawn criticism from opposition groups and civil society organisations that argue they could allow Mnangagwa to remain in office beyond 2028.

The government has defended the changes, saying they are aimed at reducing political tensions and creating greater stability.

A fight over the liberation legacy

For Godfrey Gurira, who fought in Zimbabwe’s liberation war, the constitutional changes represent a betrayal of the ideals he fought for.

“When we went to war, we were fighting for the people,” he told Al Jazeera.

“We were fighting for one man, one vote. That’s what we want to see happening. We were not fighting for a dynasty or anything along those lines.”

The ruling ZANU-PF party has governed Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. The party has rejected accusations that the amendments are designed to extend Mnangagwa’s time in office.

The government’s defence

Farai Marapira, the ZANU-PF’s information and publicity director, told Al Jazeera that the constitutional changes were intended to address political tensions linked to Zimbabwe’s electoral cycle.

“We have noted that there is a sequence which follows a five-year electoral cycle,” he said.

“Within the first two years, there is contestation of the previous election. In the third year, there is mobilisation for the next election.”

Marapira said the changes would reduce periods of heightened political tension before elections.

Opposition groups disagreed, saying the amendments weaken democratic accountability.

A quiet day, but the dispute continues

The shutdown call did not lead to widespread disruptions in Harare.

As the day continued, the city gradually returned to its normal rhythm.

More shops opened. Taxis returned to the streets. Traffic increased.

But the constitutional amendments that triggered the shutdown call remain contentious.

Opposition groups and activists are challenging the changes in the Constitutional Court while the government continues to defend them.

By the afternoon, Harare had largely returned to its normal weekday routine. But the dispute that brought police onto the streets and prompted the shutdown call is not over.

Bunia, Democratic Republic of the Congo – As Ebola cases continue to emerge in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Virunga National Park – Africa’s oldest – is strengthening health measures to protect communities and the endangered mountain gorillas living in it.

The measures are part of the park’s emergency response after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and neighbouring Uganda a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in May.

“It is a terrible disease and one that poses a threat first and foremost to human populations. Protected areas such as Virunga National Park are vast natural spaces where there are no human populations. They act as barriers to the spread of the disease,” Emmanuel de Merode, director-general of Virunga National Park, told Al Jazeera.

Virunga previously supported efforts to contain the DRC’s 10th Ebola outbreak between 2018 and 2020, which killed nearly 2,300 people in North Kivu and Ituri provinces. De Merode believes the park can again contribute to slowing transmission during the country’s 17th outbreak, which has killed more than 1,400 people, according to Congolese health authorities.

Rangers and health workers join the response

The park has established six health checkpoints within and around its territory, a 300km (186-mile) stretch of protected forest that park officials describe as a natural barrier across North Kivu. It has also deployed 40 paramedics alongside 80 rangers as part of an initial six-month emergency response.

De Merode told Al Jazeera the checkpoints on roads crossing the park allow authorities to monitor movement through the protected area.

“We are setting up checkpoints, which act as roadblocks, together with health units for handwashing and temperature screening, and a first-level isolation centre next to each checkpoint,” he said.

In Ituri province, the epicentre of the outbreak, checkpoints north and south of Bunia, the provincial capital, are screening travellers arriving from areas affected by Ebola.

“We have supported the health service with protective equipment, body bags, thermometers and vehicles because, when the disease first broke out, the health services faced real difficulties, particularly in North Kivu,” de Merode said.

Virunga, a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site since 1980, is located in a region that has experienced more than two decades of armed conflict. More than 800 rangers protect the park, which is home to a number of the world’s most threatened species.

A wider role in the Ebola response

De Merode said experience from previous outbreaks has strengthened cooperation between Virunga and Congolese health authorities, particularly in surveillance and early detection.

Reflecting on the 2018-2020 Ebola response, he said members of the outbreak response committee considered Virunga an important factor in limiting the spread of the virus.

“The response committee at the time noted that the fact the disease never widely spread to Goma or to other parts of the country was also due to Virunga National Park, which was considered a major factor in preventing the disease from spreading southwards or eastwards,” he said.

De Merode stressed that Virunga remains only one part of a wider response led by Congolese health authorities and supported by technical and financial partners.

“All the information collected at our checkpoints is immediately transmitted to the Congolese National Institute of Public Health for follow-up,” he said.

In Ituri province, three checkpoints managed by the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation within Virunga are screening travellers arriving from areas most exposed to Ebola.

Park officials say two suspected cases have been identified at the checkpoints and referred to public health authorities for monitoring.

“If, unfortunately, cases do arise beyond the checkpoint, we are able to trace them and all the contacts who were travelling with them, and this enables us to monitor any potential cases that may be on the move,” de Merode said.

The threat to the world’s remaining mountain gorillas

Mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) are among Virunga National Park’s most iconic species. Classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), their population is estimated at just above 1,000 across the Greater Virunga Landscape, which spans the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda.

The DRC is home to a significant share of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas, with Virunga protecting one of the last populations of these great apes.

Eddy Syaluha, a veterinarian with Gorilla Doctors, a conservation organisation working to protect the health of great apes in the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda, told Al Jazeera that the close biological relationship between humans and mountain gorillas makes them vulnerable to diseases carried by people.

“Mountain gorillas share more than 90 percent of their DNA with humans, which means they are susceptible to many of the same infectious diseases, including Ebola and respiratory illnesses,” he said.

Syaluha said the risks underline the importance of a One Health approach, which recognises that human, animal and environmental health are interconnected.

Keeping Ebola away from the forest

Despite repeated Ebola outbreaks in the region over the past five decades, Syaluha said no mountain gorilla has ever been infected with the virus in Virunga National Park or elsewhere in the DRC.

He said conservation teams continue to monitor gorilla health and screen visitors to reduce the risk of human-to-animal transmission. Previous Ebola outbreaks have shown the devastating impact the virus can have on great apes, with some studies documenting mortality rates above 90 percent among western lowland gorilla populations in Central Africa.

Syaluha said the close relationship between humans and great apes makes prevention and surveillance essential to keeping Ebola away from Virunga’s gorillas.

“We are doing everything we can to ensure that what happened in other countries does not happen to our gorillas here,” he said.

“We are focusing primarily on preventive measures centred on humans to prevent transmission to our gorillas. We regularly monitor the health of our gorillas to remain on high alert.”

Clashes near Sheraro mark one of the most serious threats yet to the fragile 2022 Pretoria peace deal.

Fighting has broken out in western Tigray, in one of the most serious breaches yet of the three-year-old peace deal between Ethiopia’s federal government and fighters in the northern region.

Tigray’s regional government said in a statement from Mekelle, the Tigrayan capital, that federal forces opened the assault at dawn on Saturday, advancing from the direction of Sheraro, near the Sudanese border.

Abraham Belay, a government minister who led Tigray’s transitional government during the war, confirmed the clashes but accused Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) chairman Debretsion Gebremichael’s forces of starting them.

“Enough war! Let us resolve our differences through dialogue,” he said in a post on Facebook.

The fighting follows months of deteriorating relations between Addis Ababa and the TPLF, the party that ruled Ethiopia for nearly three decades before Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018.

Both sides have accused each other of failing to implement the provisions of the 2022 peace agreement.

Tigrayan authorities said Ethiopia’s ruling Prosperity Party has waged a long blockade and drone campaign against the region, adding that this had now escalated into full-scale war.

The regional government urged Tigrayan forces, civil society and religious institutions to prepare for a struggle it called one of national survival, using the slogan “No to National Destruction”.

Getachew Reda, a former TPLF spokesman who now advises Abiy, separately urged the Tigray Defence Forces commanders to abandon Debretsion, accusing him of relying on Eritrea and Amhara’s Fano militia to force his way back to power.

Reda and Redwan Hussein, Ethiopia’s intelligence chief, who signed the Pretoria deal for TPLF and the federal government respectively in 2022, co-wrote an Al Jazeera op-ed in June warning that war was imminent.

Kjetil Tronvoll, an Ethiopia specialist at Oslo New University College, told Al Jazeera that the fighting marked the “most serious incident” since the 2022 peace deal. The deal, Tronvoll added, halted the war between the two parties but left “the core reasons of conflict between Mekelle and Addis” unresolved.

In the days running up to the armed clashes, Ethiopian state media ran a campaign accusing Debretsion by name of rallying Tigrayans toward war.

The fighting caps months of escalating confrontation since the Pretoria Agreement of November 2022, which ended a war that began two years earlier and killed hundreds of thousands, but left unresolved deeper disputes over disarmament and the TPLF’s legal status.

In June, the United States imposed visa restrictions on what it said were TPLF “hardliners” accused of blocking peace. The TPLF described it as being based on an “incomplete and imbalanced” picture of the standoff.

By mid-July, TPLF had declared the Pretoria agreement “effectively dead”, even as US Ambassador Ervin Massinga travelled to Mekelle to try to preserve the deal.

Faisal Roble, a regional analyst, told Al Jazeera that the beginning of the fighting was a sign that efforts to resolve the dispute between the parties by the US had not succeeded.

“Without a powerful international intervention,” he said, “we could be heading to a much larger war.”

JOHANNESBURG — Oprah Winfrey says she will close the school for underprivileged girls she set up in South Africa two decades ago at the end of next year.

Winfrey opened the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in 2007 after being inspired by conversations with former South African President Nelson Mandela about the transformative power of educating girls. He was among the guests at the school’s opening ceremony.

Winfrey’s charitable foundation ran and funded the school, but it was always part of the agreement that the academy campus near Johannesburg be ultimately handed over to the provincial education department, the academy said.

“The dream was never simply to build a school,” Winfrey said in a statement issued by the academy on Wednesday. “It was to invest in the limitless potential of young women. That mission doesn’t end with one campus. It continues in every girl whose future can be transformed through education.”

The academy said Winfrey’s commitment to educating South African girls would continue through an expanded national scholarship program supporting academically talented girls at leading schools across the country.

More than 500 girls have graduated from the academy and some have attended top universities in South Africa, the United States and Europe, according to the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation.

The Gauteng provincial government will take over the 52-acre academy campus, which has 21 classrooms, six science and computer laboratories, a 10,000-volume library and a 600-seat theater. It did not immediately say what the plans for the property were.

Gauteng Provincial Minister for Education Lebogang Maile said those currently enrolled in the school will be able to complete their education with uninterrupted financial support.

The academy drew international attention shortly after opening in 2007 when several students accused a dormitory matron of physically and sexually abusing them.

Winfrey traveled to South Africa to meet with students and parents, publicly apologized, and commissioned an independent investigation.

The matron was acquitted of criminal charges in 2010.

Gumede writes for the Associated Press.

Officials declare the outbreak the fastest spreading ever, warning the world to ‘pay much more attention’.

More than 3,500 people have been infected with the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), making it the world’s second largest outbreak on record.

Confirmed cases have reached 3,532, the DRC Ministry of Communication and Media said in a statement on Friday. The data show that the current outbreak has surpassed the country’s 10th on record, which ran from August 2018 to June 2020 and saw roughly 3,470 cases recorded.

“It’s the fastest spreading Ebola epidemic that we have ever seen,” Carl Skau, acting head of the United Nations World Food Programme, told the Reuters news agency. “The world needs to pay much more attention.”

A total of 1,556 people have died from the virus, bringing the case fatality rate to 44.1 percent, data compiled by the Ministry of Public Health showed.

A reported 807 patients remain in isolation or hospital while 626 have recovered.

Less than three months since the outbreak began, the disease has killed five times as many people as previous outbreaks had by the same stage, according to Africa’s top public health agency, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

The latest figures indicated that only the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa was bigger with 28,616 cases and 11,310 deaths recorded across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The DRC outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, which has no approved vaccine or treatment.

Medical personnel are also battling a lack of security and attacks on health facilities across the eastern DRC, where dozens of armed groups operate, while contending with significant foreign aid cuts that have stretched resources.

A lack of trust in authorities and education among the population is also creating hurdles to bringing the outbreak under control.

Angele Gapio, head of emergencies for the Caritas charity in the northeastern city of Bunia, said awareness campaigns were failing and front-line responders were exhausted.

“The disease has now settled in the community,” she told the Reuters news agency. “People continue to seek treatment from traditional healers, and the chain of transmission continues.”

The WHO said this month that the true scale of the outbreak could be up to four times higher than official figures suggest.

The Africa CDC said in June that it would require $1.4bn to contain the outbreak, three times its earlier estimate.

The virus has affected five provinces across the DRC: Haut-Uele, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu and Tshopo.

There’s still no vaccine for the Bundibugyo strain of the virus as the country struggles for control in infected areas.

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has killed more than 1,500 people, as the spread of the virus continues to outpace response efforts, new statistics have revealed.

DRC has now recorded 3,442 cases of the virus and 1,521 deaths, a government update said on Thursday. The data marks a 50 percent increase in the death toll over the past week, with authorities continuing to struggle to rein in the outbreak in the east of the country, where decades of conflict with rebel groups have left government control and infrastructure lax or absent.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said that the sharp rise since last week partly reflects a backlog of cases and deaths that had not yet been confirmed or recorded.

The lack of a proven vaccine for Bundibugyo, which is the rarest of the four variants of Ebola known to affect humans, and the fact the epidemic is unfolding in an area of active hostilities between armed groups, producing a shortage of public health resources, has helped to allow the virus to spread “like wildfire”, a public health consultant who helped establish Africa CDC told Al Jazeera earlier this month.

Africa CDC added that delays in contact tracing, difficulties accessing affected areas, and mistrust from communities have hindered an effective response.

The outbreak is mostly concentrated in eastern Congo’s remote Ituri province, which accounts for nearly 90 percent of cases, but five other provinces have confirmed cases, including one of the country’s largest cities, Kisangani.

Neighbouring Uganda declared itself free of Ebola on Tuesday following the discharge of the country’s last patient in mid-June.

Africa CDC Director-General Dr Jean Kaseya said 63 percent of confirmed deaths in the last two weeks occurred outside treatment centres.

This is largely due to the “unsafe handling of infected bodies” by residents, including touching the remains of the deceased, whose bodies remain highly infectious.

Earlier this month, some healthcare workers in Ituri went on strike over unpaid wages and unsafe working conditions, which has also impeded efforts to hold back the disease’s rapid spread.

In Ituri’s Nyakunde health zone, international partners supporting the Ebola response had to temporarily relocate after a July 15 attack on a hospital and a treatment centre, prompted by a patient’s death. Officials said this disrupted surveillance, contact tracing and supplies.

Despite the accelerated death toll in DRC, the World Health Organization has said the risk of a global spread remains low because Ebola does not travel through the air, making it much harder to spread than respiratory viruses.

Cases detected outside the DRC have so far been quickly identified and contained without leading to sustained transmission, the agency said.