Friday, October 9, 2026
Former UN human rights chief, wins Nobel Peace Prize
OSLO, Norway
Former UN human rights chief and International Court of Justice judge Navi Pillay has been awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize.
The South African judge was recognised "for her efforts to promote peace and international law", which paved the way for a "more comprehensive global legal order", the Nobel committee said.
Pillay, 85, has taken part in high-profile work considering allegations of human rights violations during a decades-long career, including in Rwanda, Myanmar and Gaza.
Her early work included defending anti-apartheid activists in South Africa, and on Friday she became the country's fifth Peace Prize winner - following in the footsteps of Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Pillay's work had been "instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide are prosecuted", said the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Jørgen Watne Frydnes.
"Navi Pillay's commitment to universal legal principles and her firm moral compass are constants in a long career," he said.
"At a time of existential challenges - including more wars and conflicts than the world has seen in a long time - international law is no longer just a supplement to peace and security. It is an absolute necessity."
Frydnes said the committee had not been able to notify Pillay that she had won in advance, "so my message to her would be 'if you see a Norwegian number calling, please pick up'".
Shortly afterwards, Pillay reacted to the news from Nuremberg's Palace of Justice by saying "it must be a joke" and thanked those who had gathered to applaud her.
"If you clap a little bit more I may share this prize with Trump," she joked. Last year's winner, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, gave her medal to the US president in January as "recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom".
Thursday, October 8, 2026
Venezuela's ex-leader Nicolás Maduro charged with conspiracy to commit torture
BROOKLYN, United States
Prosecutors in the United States have accused Venezuela's former leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, of conspiracy to commit torture.
The fresh charges against the couple were made public on Thursday and are in addition to the drug-trafficking and weapons charges already brought against them, which they have denied.
Maduro, 63, and Flores, 69, have been in custody since January in a detention centre in Brooklyn, where they were taken after US forces seized them in a pre-dawn raid on their compound in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.
Barry J Pollack, Maduro's attorney, said his client denies the new charges and looks forward to his day in court.
Federal prosecutors also announced on Thursday that Flores was added to the earlier narco-terrorism charge.
The trial for both Maduro and Flores is set to begin in June 2027.
Both are being held in a detention centre in Brooklyn and are expected to remain there after Flores's request to be moved to house arrest was denied by a judge on Thursday.
The new accusations relate to the alleged torture of US citizens who were being held in Venezuela while Maduro was in power.
The superseding indictment unsealed on Thursday accuses the former presidential couple of "entrenching themselves in power" by presiding "over a system of repression that relied on violence against political opposition, arbitrary detention, and the torture of detainees, including United States citizens".
According to the indictment, the torture included "electric shock, asphyxiation, rape, forced nudity, prolonged isolation, starvation, punishment cells, and psychological torture".
The prosecutors allege that the psychological torture included threats to kill victims' families, including children.
"All of this was done to ensure that Maduro and Flores retained their power," prosecutors said outside the courthouse on Thursday.
"This conduct, we allege, has caused significant harm to Americans, to US citizens", prosecutors said, calling it "the epitome of corruption".
The prosecution accuses Flores of having played a key role in the development of the repressive system, ordering that individuals be tortured and even receiving updates on the torture of specific prisoners.
The court document alleges that she did so in order to protect members of her family who were involved in illegal activities.
The allegations contained in the superseding indictment echo many of the accusations long made by prisoners who have been released from detention in Venezuela.
African Union peace facilitators demand strict respect for ceasefire in DR Congo
By James Tasamba, GOMA DR Congo
African Union peace facilitators on Wednesday called on warring parties in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to strictly respect ceasefire commitments and refrain from actions that could undermine the country's peace process.
The facilitators made the call amid renewed clashes, days after visiting Congo to discuss military de-escalation and relaunching the peace process with AFC/M23 rebel group leaders in Goma.
In a statement, the panel reiterated that lasting peace requires political dialogue and encouraged continued engagement in good faith in the Doha process.
The panel "called for strict respect for ceasefire commitments, full cooperation with verification mechanisms and restraint from actions that could undermine the peace process," the statement said.
It stressed the "urgent need to protect civilians, particularly women and girls, prevent sexual and gender-based violence, and ensure accountability for violations."
While in Congo, the delegation also met with representatives of the UN peacekeeping mission in the country before visiting Nyiragongo territory to assess the humanitarian situation of internally displaced people.
The panel called on the warring parties to ensure safe and unhindered humanitarian access and protect essential services and educational facilities.
Reaffirming its commitment to Congo's sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, the panel said commitments must translate into tangible improvements for affected communities.
In August, Congo and AFC/M23 rebels agreed in Switzerland to develop a roadmap setting out sequenced steps and timelines for peace negotiations under the Doha Framework Agreement signed last year.
The facilitators' visit came as fighting continued in eastern Congo between the AFC/M23 rebel group and government forces, with both sides accusing each other of ceasefire violations.
The M23 rebels have been at the center of the conflict in eastern Congo.
The group, allegedly supported by neighboring Rwanda, controls significant territory in eastern Congo, including the provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu, which it seized in early 2025.
Congo, the UN and Western nations accuse Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebel group. Kigali denies the accusations.
From Congo, the delegation, led by former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, traveled Wednesday to Kigali, Rwanda, where it met Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe.
Wednesday, October 7, 2026
After Kenya, Uganda opens Dangote refinery IPO to domestic investors
KAMPALA, Uganda
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has opened nearly $300.4 million, or almost 20 per cent, of its $1.6 billion initial public offering (IPO) to investors in East Africa, in a move that could deepen the regional ownership of Africa’s biggest refinery.
The development followed regulatory approvals in Kenya and Uganda allowing eligible investors in the two countries to participate in the share sale, with the East African portion of the offer structured through Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) to be listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
A Global Depository Receipt (GDR) is a negotiable financial certificate issued by a depositary bank that represents a specific number of shares in a foreign company.
An information memorandum released yesterday showed that the regional offer comprises about 729 million GDRs, priced at 53.50 Kenyan shillings each, with the offer capable of raising about 39 billion Kenyan shillings, equivalent to approximately $300.4 million, if fully subscribed.
Each GDR represents one underlying share in Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE.
The East African offer represents almost 20 per cent of the refinery’s broader IPO target of at least $1.6 billion, which was launched by Aliko Dangote in September to raise funds for the planned doubling of the refinery’s capacity from 700,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day.
The IPO, which Dangote has branded a “people’s IPO”, is expected to be Africa’s largest, further extending the refinery’s ownership beyond its existing Nigerian base.
Uganda’s Capital Markets Authority said that it had approved investors in the country to participate in the offer of securities under the IPO of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE.
Similarly, Kenya had earlier approved a GDR route that allows eligible Kenyan investors to access the IPO through negotiable certificates representing shares in the Nigerian company.
Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority also required Dangote Petroleum to maintain a minimum public free float of 15 per cent of the total issued GDR pool among investors in the country.
The GDR offer is scheduled to close on October 13, with allotments expected around November 12 and listing to take place 15 business days after the allotment.
The minimum subscription is 2,000 GDRs and thereafter in multiples of 100, while the minimum success threshold for the GDR offer is 50 million Kenyan shillings.
The Kenyan offer is being jointly advised by Renaissance Capital (Kenya) Limited and Lagos-based Renaissance Capital Africa, while Stanbic Bank is serving as custodian and receiving bank, it was learnt.
The expansion of the Dangote refinery’s ownership to East African investors comes as the group simultaneously pushes into the region with plans to replicate its Lagos refining project in Kenya.
At the groundbreaking of the proposed Kenyan refinery on September 30, Dangote offered East African countries a combined 30 per cent equity stake in the planned project, which is estimated to cost about $17 billion.
The proposed Kenyan refinery is expected to take approximately five years to complete and could provide East African investors with access to about $1.5 billion worth of equity in the project.
David Ndii, economic adviser to Kenyan President William Ruto, had disclosed at a capital markets forum in Nairobi that Kenya would take a 10 per cent stake, while Ethiopia and Rwanda had also expressed interest in participating.
The East African IPO offer comes at a time when Dangote is seeking to establish a broader regional investor and commercial base for its refining business.
The Lagos refinery, built by the Dangote Group over about 10 years at an estimated cost of $20 billion, currently has a processing capacity of 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
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