Special Reports

In Africa, terrorism undermines state institutions and impedes economic development. The continent is especially vulnerable because terrorism is not limited to attacks but includes the use of African territories for training, radicalisation and mobilisation of resources through both legitimate and criminal channels. The ISS aims to strengthen policy and capacity in states and regional organisations to investigate, prosecute and adjudicate terrorist cases in line with human ri

Over 30,000 people in South Sudan's war-zone regions face death by starvation, the United Nations said Thursday, warning that "tens of thousands" more are on the "brink of famine." While an official famine has not been declared, the report describes the worst conditions yet seen in a 22-month civil war marked by atrocities and accusations of war crimes, including the blockading of food supplies. "At least 30,000 people are living in extreme conditions and are facing starvatio

The United States government accidentally gave $50 million to a group of criminals this year. Hackers successfully filed thousands of fraudulent tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which issued refunds for at least 15,000 of those returns to about 5,000 bank accounts. We’ve written at length about the data breach and described how most of the criminal operation worked. We know the hackers used a large set of personal data, stolen from elsewhere, to log into the

Lake Volta, in the eastern part of Ghana, has long been a center of endemic child slavery: trafficked children are abducted from their homes and employed in the local fishing industry, where they are exploited, working up to 19 hours a day performing hard and dangerous tasks. There are relief organizations that want to help put an end to these practices. But it’s hard to tackle a problem when you don’t know how big it is. According to the International Labor Organization (pdf

It has been a barn-burner of an election campaign in Tanzania. We’ve seen high profile cross-party defections, dueling op-eds in the foreign press, mudslinging on Whatsapp, push-ups on the campaign trail, andmuch more. It has been the most vibrant campaign season since the onset of multiparty democracy in 1995. All this comes to an end on Sunday (Oct. 25), as voters will elect new leaders to govern the country for the next five years. The question for the electorate is whethe

Egyptian security forces have arrested Hassan Malik, a leader of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, security officials said, part of a sustained crackdown on Islamists. “He was arrested in Cairo on charges of funding a group that promotes violence,” said one of the officials. Malik, a businessman, was one of the few prominent Brotherhood members to escape the toughest crackdown on Islamists in Egypt’s modern history. Security forces have killed hundreds of Islamists and a

At least 13 people were killed in a week of violence in Guinea before and after its contested presidential election, with the security forces responsible for the deaths of unarmed civilians, Amnesty International said in a report published Thursday. The toll covers the period October 8-13, the days surrounding the October 11 vote which, according to the country's Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), handed victory and another five-year term to incumbent Alpha Con

The voluntary withdrawal of Ugandan troops from South Sudan is a demonstration of the government’s commitment to fully implement the peace agreement signed between President Salva Kiir and former vice president Riek Machar, according to presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny. He says the pullout of troops from the Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF) from South Sudan will be completed within the first week in November. The withdrawal was a key demand of rebels loyal to for

A Congo Republic opposition leader said late on Thursday that forces from leader Denis Sassou Nguesso's presidential guard were surrounding his house, detaining him and three allies opposed to a vote on extending term limits. A referendum on Sunday will determine whether 71-year-old Sassou Nguesso can legally stand for a third consecutive term in next year's election. The president, who has ruled for 31 of the past 36 years, is currently barred from running on account of both

Seeing the economic vitality in Côte d’Ivoire, you could almost forget that this country was ever embroiled in a vicious conflict with undercurrents of xenophobia and ethnic hate. Yet when Alassane Ouattara—the runaway favorite to win a second term in this coming weekend’s presidential election—took office in May 2011, it was after five months of post-election violence in which 3,000 people had died, and Côte d’Ivoire was still suffering the aftermath of its 2002-03 civil war