DAKAR – Above-average rainfall and devastating flooding across West and Central Africa has affected five million people in 19 countries across the region, claiming hundreds of lives, upending livelihoods, displacing tens of thousands from their homes and decimating over a million hectares of cropland – in a region already in the grips of an unprecedented hunger crisis. This climate-related disaster

The U.N. secretary-general warned Monday that the situation in northern Ethiopia is “spiraling out of control” and he sees no military solution to the conflict. “Violence and destruction have reached alarming levels; the social fabric is being ripped apart,” Antonio Guterres told reporters at U.N. headquarters. “Hostilities in the Tigray region of Ethiopia must end now – including the immediate

The United States is expanding its fight against al-Qaida’s affiliate in Somalia, adding a new, expansive round of sanctions to drone strikes and military advice from U.S. forces on the ground. The Treasury Department Monday unveiled sanctions targeting four senior al-Shabab leaders as well as five operatives, all said to be key players in a network charged with raising money,