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  • Women sexually assaulted during Nigerian fertility festival The FRANCE 24 Observers
    Several women were sexually assaulted during a traditional festival in Nigeria’s Delta state in March 2026. The Alue-do fertility festival is celebrated by members of the Oramudu community to help married women having trouble getting pregnant. At certain points, the ritual calls for single women to stay inside. Community leaders said the event was “hijacked by hoodlums” from outside who didn’t understand the tradition and began assaulting women in the streets.
     

Women sexually assaulted during Nigerian fertility festival

30 April 2026 at 10:14
Several women were sexually assaulted during a traditional festival in Nigeria’s Delta state in March 2026. The Alue-do fertility festival is celebrated by members of the Oramudu community to help married women having trouble getting pregnant. At certain points, the ritual calls for single women to stay inside. Community leaders said the event was “hijacked by hoodlums” from outside who didn’t understand the tradition and began assaulting women in the streets.

How Iranian diplomats turned embassy accounts into viral meme machines

29 April 2026 at 16:04
Memes, humour, and trolling of American politicians: This is how a handful of Iranian embassies have become superstars on “X”, attracting millions of views. But how did the old-fashioned and largely ignored accounts of Iran’s diplomats in South Africa, Thailand, and the United Kingdom suddenly turn into Gen Z-style viral feeds, with millions of views?

'Israel destroyed houses, roads, even trees': People return to destruction in southern Lebanon

28 April 2026 at 12:12
Many videos document the Israeli army’s destruction of houses and infrastructure in southern Lebanon, where it is creating a buffer zone along the border. Our Observers, many of whom wanted to return home after a ceasefire was announced, describe empty villages and razed homes.

Street battles and withdrawal of Russian mercenaries: Inside the 48-hour fall of Mali’s Kidal

27 April 2026 at 14:09
The Azawad Liberation Front and the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) launched an offensive against several Malian towns on April 25. In the north, the city of Kidal was recaptured following a three-year presence of Russian and Malian forces. Verified footage offers a window into these two days of tensions.

Fake BBC report spreads false claim that Zelensky has a stolen painting

24 April 2026 at 16:01
A fake BBC news report claims that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is displaying a stolen painting by artist Paul Cézanne in his office. However, it turns out that the “report” features doctored footage of Zelensky with the painting photoshopped onto his wall.

Mapping the environmental toll of the Middle East war

22 April 2026 at 15:59
Oil refineries set ablaze, missiles hitting pesticide factories, an oil slick in the Strait of Hormuz... In under two months, the US and Israel’s war on Iran has inflicted a heavy toll on the environment, fuelling concerns over the public health impact on local populations.

Why supporters of Burkina Faso’s junta leader are campaigning against a Sky News journalist

21 April 2026 at 17:46
Yousra Elbagir, a journalist with British TV channel Sky News, has become the target of a smear campaign by supporters of Burkina Faso's junta leader Captain Ibrahim Traoré after she raised questions about security in the country and the repression of free speech. 

Press association denounces Israel’s use of altered image to depict slain journalist

17 April 2026 at 14:38
Lebanese journalist Ali Shoeib was killed during an Israeli strike on March 28. To justify this attack, the Israeli army published an image online of Shoeib wearing a uniform of militant group Hezbollah. The army later admitted that the image was photoshopped.

‘We're asking for our husbands' salaries’: The plight of soldiers' widows in eastern DR Congo

16 April 2026 at 17:26
Plastic sheeting serving as tents and mattresses laid on the ground: in Beni, Democratic Republic of Congo, the widows of fallen soldiers are struggling to survive in a makeshift camp. They say they fled the capital of North Kivu province, Goma, after it fell to the M23 rebels in January 2025. Left with nothing, they are demanding access to a share of their late husband’s pension.

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