PDP Northern leaders meeting – Makarfi faction set to merge with 25 parties

London police chief Cressida Dick has said officers will investigate a spate of parties held at Prime Minister Boris Johnson's residence and office during COVID-19 lockdowns

The carcasses of goats and sheep strewn across the scrubland of northern Kenya are testament to the devastation wrought by the once-in-a-generation floods that have hit the region. In just one area of Marsabit County, herders lost around 20,000 goats and sheep last week after the torrential rain, Roba Koto, the top government official in North Horr constituency, said.

Northern Ireland's economy has been sluggish for years, with a quality of life that's lower than the rest of the United Kingdom. That's why many young people are leaving.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Saturday.

Just over a year after Brexit became a practical reality, the Northern Ireland Assembly is in crisis after its First Minister resigned in protest at the Northern Ireland Protocol of the Brexit deal. Ireland's Europe Minister Thomas Byrne tells FRANCE 24 the departure of Paul Givan "has caused deep difficulties within the government system in Northern Ireland", and that the situation is "very very worrying".

The fighting between forces of the Ethiopian government and fighters from the Tigray region has had a devastating effect on the civilian population. The UN has warned of a "grave humanitarian situation."

The U.N. human rights chief said on Monday the situation in northern Ethiopia had deteriorated since November and her office had received reports of wide-spread violations including rapes and lethal airstrikes. Michelle Bachelet told the Geneva-based Human Rights Council her staff had recorded 304 deaths and injuries to 373 people in air attacks "apparently carried out by the Ethiopian Air Force" in Tigray and Afar regions.

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Wednesday.

The first day of Ramadan brought hope to Yemen with the start of a two-month truce. But a few days in, warring sides have already traded accusations of ceasefire violations. Nonetheless, the fragile truce offers the best hope in years for ending what the UN has called the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Now in its eighth year, the war in Yemen has killed nearly 400,000 people and left millions on the brink of famine. For more on this story, we speak to Dr Elisabeth Kendall, a senior research fellow at Oxford University.

We look at the major takeaways from the first round of the French presidential election, which saw Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen qualify for the run-off on April 24. The French press focuses on the rise of far-right and far-left candidates as well as the decline of centrist parties. Meanwhile, international papers report on how a win for either Macron or Le Pen would affect European support for Kyiv amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Northern Ireland voters go to the polls today (May 5) in what could be the most important election in a generation. They will elect the 90 members of the Northern Ireland Assembly, from which a power-sharing executive should be formed. These institutions were created by the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement. According to opinion polls, Sinn Fein - representing mostly people of Catholic and Irish background - could become the largest party for the first time.

Is it a sign that Northern Ireland is ready to overcome old divides, or of new troubles ahead? For the first time ever, Unionists could find themselves in the minority when ballots are counted in regional assembly elections. Under the Good Friday Agreement, the DUP would still share power with Sinn Fein, who could trigger a referendum on a united Ireland.