The South American country has begun exploration in its Atlantic waters, with experts warning it is endangering livelihoods, marine life and climate goals

When he hears the news, the only words that fisher Francisco Méndez can use are those of war. “What they are planning to do is like dropping a bomb – and when you drop the bomb, everything dies,” says the 41-year-old father of five.

For 22 years, Méndez has sailed into the Atlantic Ocean, fishing for brotula and striped weakfish alongside his father, brothers and uncles. He is also joined, occasionally, by dolphins and whales, curious about his white and orange vessel. But now Méndez fears his family’s way of life and livelihood are under threat.

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© Illustration: X/The Guardian

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© Illustration: X/The Guardian

Abrupt decision to pause all foreign aid could exacerbate violence in region already struggling with organized crime

The Trump administration’s abrupt decision to immediately pause all US foreign aid programmes could exacerbate violence in Latin America, driving more migration from a region already struggling with the rise of organised crime, experts have warned.

The world’s largest aid provider by far, the US disbursed $1.5bn (£1.2bn) to South American countries in the 2023 financial year, funding a broad range of projects, including humanitarian, military, environmental and economic aid.

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© Photograph: Marco Bello/Reuters

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© Photograph: Marco Bello/Reuters

Kizza Besigye, veteran opponent of President Yoweri Museveni, may face death penalty but will not get justice in military court, warns Winnie Byanyima, UNAids chief

It was a message from her sister-in-law asking where he was that made Winnie Byanyima start worrying about her husband, Dr Kizza Besigye, a prominent Ugandan opposition leader. Byanyima, head of UNAids, had just returned from Malawi to Geneva, where the UN programme on HIV/Aids is based, in November. She rang Besigye’s phone – it was off.

She made some calls and learned that he had gone from Uganda to neighbouring Kenya to attend a book launch. Then a journalist told her he believed Besigye was now being held in a military prison in Kampala, Uganda’s capital.

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© Photograph: James Akena/Reuters

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© Photograph: James Akena/Reuters

Western resource-hunger has fuelled a vast humanitarian crisis. Donors must now press Rwanda to pull back from this war

There are bodies on the streets, hundreds of thousands of civilians fleeing and overwhelmed hospitals draining fuel from ambulances to keep respirators running. The rapidly escalating conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) – which has seen rocketing sexual violence, the execution of children and the displacement of 400,000 people this year alone – has just exploded with the M23 rebel  group’s seizure of Goma, in the east.

Their advance comes thanks to backing from Rwanda, despite the coyness of the Rwandan president, Paul Kagame. Mr Kagame suggests that M23 is defending the country’s Tutsis, victims of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, against an armed group set up by former genocidal killers. But the threat those fighters pose appears greatly exaggerated: analysts believe the real aim is to seize mineral-rich territory. There is a striking parallel with Russia’s tactics in eastern Ukraine in 2014. On Wednesday, Rwandan troops were seen heading towards Bukavu, another key city, with the M23 fighters.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

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© Photograph: Moise Niyonzima/EPA

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© Photograph: Moise Niyonzima/EPA

Ubuntu’s key developers have agreed to switch to Matrix as the primary platform for real-time development communications involving the distro. From March, Matrix will replace IRC as the place where critical Ubuntu development conversations, requests, meetings, and other vital chatter must take place. Developers asked to ensure they have a presence on the platform so they are reachable. Only the current #ubuntu-devel and #ubuntu-release Libera IRC channels are moving to Matrix, but other Ubuntu development-related channels can choose to move –officially, given some projects were using Matrix over IRC already. As a result, any major requests to/of the key Ubuntu […]

You're reading Confirmed: Ubuntu Dev Discussions Moving to Matrix, a blog post from OMG! Ubuntu. Do not reproduce elsewhere without permission.

The internal conflict raging since 2023 has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and forced more than 11 million people from their homes. The UN has described it as ‘one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history’. Photographer Sergio Ramazzotti travelled to Khartoum state and witnessed the aftermath of the fighting between government troops and Rapid Support Forces (RSF)

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© Photograph: Sergio Ramazzotti

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© Photograph: Sergio Ramazzotti

After a brush with death pushed Othuke Ominiabohs to self-publish his novels, he realised there was a gap in the market for fresh African writing

In a hospital bed fearing his death was imminent, English teacher Othuke Ominiabohs thought ruefully of his four unpublished novels. “My biggest regret was I was going to die, and no one would see my work,” says Ominiabohs. “When I got better, I decided to self-publish and put those books out there for the rest of the world to read.”

His kidney failure was later cured by a transplant, and his literary ambitions led him to found Masobe Books, one of Nigeria’s fastest-growing independent publishers.

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© Photograph: Courtesy of Othuke Ominiabohs

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© Photograph: Courtesy of Othuke Ominiabohs

Many of the frozen programs are aimed at alleviating disease and malnutrition, but even security programs with U.S. funding are shutting down.

© Getty Images

The Trump administration’s orders have sent a chill through humanitarian organizations in Ukraine, which depend heavily on such assistance.

© Nicole Tung for The New York Times

Rome’s Samifo Centre helps asylum seekers and refugees who have experienced torture, persecution or violence

Tucked away in a tangle of streets around Rome’s Termini station is a clinic that sharply contrasts with the hardline, anti-migrant stance of Italian politicians.

The Samifo Centre is described by the people behind it as Europe’s – and perhaps the world’s – only publicly funded service aimed at treating post-traumatic stress disorder and trauma among asylum seekers and refugees.

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© Photograph: LaPresse/Alamy

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© Photograph: LaPresse/Alamy

An email to the aid agency’s employees cited actions “that appear to be designed to circumvent” an executive order by President Trump.

© Marco Bello/Reuters

Border walls and fences around European countries have grown by 75% in just 10 years and EU leaders have increasingly been open to making deals with autocrats, creating a virtual border across the Mediterranean to stop migrants arriving on their shores.

The Guardian's senior global development reporter Mark Townsend looks back at a decade in which Europe has become a fortress, militarising its borders and moving away from the commitment to human rights on which it was founded

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© Photograph: Guardian Design

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© Photograph: Guardian Design