Category World News

Around four million people are now displaced across Africa’s Sahel region, the United Nations has said, with violence and insecurity driving a growing number of people from their homes.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) called for greater international support on Friday, saying the affected countries could not deal with the situation alone.

“About four million people are now displaced across Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and neighbouring countries – around two-thirds more than five years ago – reflecting insecurity, limited access to services and livelihoods, and the effects of climate change,” said Abdouraouf Gnon-Konde, UNHCR’s regional director for West and Central Africa.

Do not forget about the Sahel.

About 4 million people are now displaced across Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and neighbouring countries.

That’s 2/3 more than five years ago. pic.twitter.com/TO9u952dSG

While 75 percent of those displaced remain within their own countries, cross-border movements are on the rise, putting pressure on host communities with “scant assistance” available, he told reporters in Geneva.

Women and children represent 80 percent of forcibly displaced people in the Sahel, Gnon-Konde said, adding the number of people impacted by pervasive gender-based violence had “significantly increased” this year.

“The insecurity across the region is exposing people to violence, forced recruitment, movement restrictions and arbitrary detention,” he said.

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have been hit by violence from armed groups linked to al-Qaeda or the ISIL (ISIS) group for more than a decade.

Those three countries – all run by military governments – quit the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) at the beginning of the year, accusing the regional bloc of failing in the fight against armed groups.

They have formed their own Alliance of Sahel States (AES), turning away from former colonial power France and pivoting towards Russia.

Human Rights Watch and other rights groups have accused the fighters, the military and partner forces of Burkina Faso and Mali of possible atrocities.

Meanwhile, Gnon-Konde said food insecurity was increasingly pushing people to flee, while climate shocks were intensifying competition for scarce resources such as water, fuelling friction between communities.

Nearly 15,000 schools had closed in the region by mid-2025 as well as more than 900 health facilities.

UNHCR needs $409.7m to cover humanitarian needs in the Sahel, but has only received 32 percent of the total, Gnon-Konde said.

The lack of funds has “drastically impacted” activities such as refugee registration and documentation, and the provision of education, health and shelter, he added.

More than 212,000 refugees and asylum seekers in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger are not yet registered, limiting their access to services and heightening their risks of arbitrary detention, he said.

President Vladimir Putin has said Russia is developing new strategic weapons, while noting that an arms race is already in progress.

Speaking to reporters at a summit in Tajikistan on Friday, the Russian leader said it would not be critical for Moscow if the United States declined to extend the warhead limits set out in a nuclear arms treaty that expires next year.

Putin said it would, however, be a shame if nothing remained of the arms control framework between the two countries, which have by far the world’s biggest nuclear arsenals.

Russia has said it is willing to voluntarily extend the warhead limits defined in the New START treaty, which expires in February, if the US is willing to do the same. Washington has not yet formally agreed to the proposal.

The pact limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers.

“Will these few months be enough to make a decision on an extension? I think it will be enough if there is goodwill to extend these agreements. And if the Americans decide they don’t need it, that’s not a big deal for us,” Putin told reporters.

The New START Treaty, which came into force in February 2011, is the last major arms control agreement between Moscow and Washington.

The treaty was signed in 2010, limiting the number of strategic nuclear warheads the two countries can deploy.

Putin added that Russia was continuing to develop and test new-generation nuclear weapons.

“We’re ready to negotiate if it’s acceptable and useful for the Americans. If not, then no, but that would be a shame, because then there would be nothing left in terms of deterrence in the area of ​​strategic offensive weapons.”

‘Some countries’ thinking about conducting nuclear tests

For the second time in a week, Putin referred to the possibility that other countries, which he did not name, might carry out a nuclear test – something only North Korea has done this century.

He said Russia would also perform a test if this happens.

“There’s always a temptation to test the effectiveness of the same fuel that’s been in missiles for many, many years. All of this is being simulated on computers, and experts believe that is sufficient, but some of these same experts believe repeat tests are necessary,” Putin said.

“So some countries are thinking about it; as far as I know, they’re even preparing, and that’s why I said that if they do it, we’ll do the same.”

That would be good from a security perspective, but bad from the point of view of curbing the arms race, he said.

United States President Donald Trump is heading to the Middle East on Sunday as he looks to assert his perceived role as a peacemaker in the region after the Gaza ceasefire deal.

The visit would come days after the Nobel Peace Prize committee overlooked Trump’s public campaigning for the award and handed it to right-wing Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.

The White House has bemoaned the snub, accusing the Norwegian Nobel Committee of putting “place politics over peace”.

But in the Middle East, Trump is likely to be showered with praise from his hosts and credited with securing an end to the war in Gaza and the release of Israeli captives in the territory.

The White House said on Friday that Trump will depart for the Middle East on Sunday night, according to Al Jazeera correspondent Alan Fisher. The US president will first arrive in Israel, where he will make an address on Monday, before continuing on to Egypt for an official signing ceremony on the Gaza deal, Fisher reported from Washington DC.

Israel and Hamas have already lauded Trump’s role in the negotiations.

But analysts stress that for the deal to turn into long-term peace in Gaza, rather than another brief truce, the US president must pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against restarting the bombardment after the Israeli captives are released.

“I think that Donald Trump wants to oversee this very closely, and I think he wants to continue to send the message to Netanyahu that this is it. At least, that’s what I’m hoping,” said Mohamad Elmasry, a professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.

“I assume he’s going to go and say very nice things about Benjamin Netanyahu; that’s what he always does publicly. But let’s hope, let’s hope, that he’s going to apply pressure.”

While Trump is taking much of the credit for the deal, experts say other factors pushed the truce over the line, more than two years into the brutal Israeli assault that United Nations investigators have concluded is a genocide.

Yousef Munayyer, head of the Palestine/Israel programme at the Arab Center Washington DC, said after destroying more than 80 percent of the buildings in Gaza while failing to free the captives, Israel was getting “diminishing returns” from its campaign in the territory.

“Israel is facing growing isolation and costs for continuing down this road. And I think there are also Israeli domestic political factors that influenced the timing of this as well,” Munayyer told Al Jazeera.

Similar proposals to the Trump plan have been on the table for the past two years, but Netanyahu has insisted on continuing the war.

However, the latest ceasefire comes at a time when countries across the world, including some of Israel’s Western allies, are condemning its blockade on Gaza and belligerence across the region, including its attack on Qatar last month.

Despite the international outrage, Israel has continued to receive military and diplomatic support from the US.

Not only did the Trump administration fail to denounce Israel’s policy of imposed starvation in Gaza, it also backed the GHF aid scheme to militarise humanitarian assistance, which killed hundreds of aid seekers.

As Trump celebrates his version of peace in the Middle East, rights advocates say there can be no true stability in the region without ending the occupation and ensuring accountability for the genocide in Gaza.

Nancy Okail, head of the Center for International Policy (CIP) think tank, warned that normalising the horrific abuses in Gaza could lead to the collapse of international institutions.

The Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns met in a sold-out preseason game in Macau on Friday as fans cheered the NBA’s return to China after a six-year absence prompted by a pro-democracy tweet.

The first of two matches in Macau capped the NBA’s bid to mend fences with China, a lucrative market where an estimated 125 million people play basketball.

“The atmosphere is amazing. I’ve been a Suns fan for a long time,” said David Jin, 26, who took a day trip from the nearby Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen.

“The NBA should come to mainland China more often. If it’s on my doorstep, I’ll show up to give my support,” Jin said, adding he spent about 5,000 yuan ($700) for tickets and travel.

Fans in the packed Venetian Arena gave four-time NBA All-Star Devin Booker a roaring reception and also particularly looked forward to seeing China’s 22-year-old debutant Nets forward Zeng Fanbo.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said on Thursday that “there’s tremendous interest in the NBA throughout China.”

Building on the charm offensive, Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez said the China trip was in part an opportunity visit and to learn about a new culture.

“We are told that we get support from China, a lot of fans watching our games. But the reality is you don’t know until you come here,” he said.

Also speaking before the game, Suns head coach Jordan Ott said many of his players were travelling to China for the first time.

“Just that excitement when they walk out tonight – we know it’s a packed house – would be a really cool experience for all of us to remember,” Ott said.

The Chinese Basketball Association announced a strategic partnership with the NBA on Friday, which includes providing opportunities for Chinese teams to take part in the NBA Summer League and WNBA preseason games in the United States, according to state media.

The NBA’s popularity in China took off during the 2000s with the Yao Ming craze, but the relationship soured markedly after a team official tweeted his support for the 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

The NBA was frozen out of China, and this was the league taking its tentative first steps back in.

Qin Junhong, a 19-year-old studying in Macau, said he remembered little about the dispute and was just “excited” to attend the game with his friends.

“There were so many people rushing for tickets,” Qin told the AFP news agency.

Friday’s game is part of a multimillion-dollar deal to stage NBA preseason matches at the Venetian Arena, part of the Las Vegas Sands conglomerate controlled by the Adelson family, who are the majority ownership group in the Dallas Mavericks.

Macau, the only place in China where casino gambling is legal, is a special administrative region of China close to Hong Kong.

Experts say that playing the first NBA games since 2019 in Macau was something of a “soft landing”, rather than playing in mainland China.

Before the game, crowds took selfies at NBA-themed booths and shops in a convention hall, with large signs showing the logos of the league’s Chinese brand partners.