Geneva (AFP) - Nearly 800,000 refugees in Africa have had their food rations slashed due to a lack of global aid funding, threatening to push many to the brink of starvation, the UN warned on Tuesday.

The cuts of up to 60 percent are "threatening to worsen already unacceptable levels of acute malnutrition, stunting and anaemia, particularly in children," the United Nations' World Food Programme and refugee agency UNHCR said in a joint statement.

The heads of the two agencies were in Geneva on Tuesday to make an urgent appeal to governments for more funds to help feed Africa's refugees.

"It is unacceptable in today's world of plenty for refugees to face chronic hunger," said UNHCR chief Antonio Guterres.

WFP will need $186 million (136 million euros) by the end of the year to restore full rations and prevent cuts elsewhere, while UNHCR said it needed another $39 million (29 million euros) to fund the nutritional support it provides to vulnerable refugees across the continent.

"Many refugees in Africa depend on WFP food to stay alive and are now suffering because of a shortage of funding," Ertharin Cousin said in a statement.

Refugees hit by ration cuts were desperately looking for ways to put food on the table, with the crisis pushing more and more children to quit school to seek work and prompting families to marry off their girls at a younger age.

"Survival sex" prostitution by women and girls trying to raise money for food was also a growing problem, the statement said.

The funding crisis has forced WFP to cut rations for a third of the 2.4 million refugees it helps feed in 22 African countries, with more than half of the 800,000 affected refugees seeing rations slashed by at least 50 percent.

- 'Dire' situation in Chad -

The situation was most dire for the 300,000 refugees in Chad -- mainly from Sudan's Darfur region and from the Central African Republic -- whose rations had been cut by as much as 60 percent, the statement said.

Refugees there were in many cases left with rations of just 850 calories per day, compared to the recommended 2,100 calories adults should receive to remain healthy.

"Desperately hungry refugees continue to cross daily into southern Chad from the strife-torn Central African Republic, only to find that hunger does not stop at the border," the statement said.

It cited the case of 24-year-old Habiba who walked with her four children for three months through the Central African bush to escape the violence ravaging the country, often going days without food and water.

Habiba, who gave birth to her youngest daughter along the way but who became so weak, starved and dehydrated she could not breastfeed, crossed into Chad only to discover that UNHCR's Dosseye border camp had run out of supplementary food for pregnant and nursing mothers, it said.

The situation was not much better for some 150,000 refugees in Central Africa or in South Sudan, where supplies had also been cut by at least half, while another 338,000 refugees in Liberia, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Ghana, Mauritania and Uganda had seen their rations dwindle up to 43 percent, the UN agencies said.

In addition, a series of unexpected, temporary ration reductions, sometimes due to insecurity, had hit camps in several countries since early 2013, including Kenya, Ethiopia, the Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon.

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — A car bomb exploded Tuesday in a market in Maiduguri, the northeast Nigerian city that is the birthplace of Boko Haram Islamic extremists, reducing stalls, goods and vehicles to piles of trash. Dozens of people are feared dead, witnesses said.

They blamed Boko Haram extremists who are accused of a series of recent bomb attacks in the West African nation.

Tuesday's explosives were hidden under a load of charcoal in a pickup van, according to witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Trader Daba Musa Yobe, who works near the popular market, said the bomb went off just after the market opened at 8 a.m., before most traders or customers had arrived.

Stalls and goods were reduced to debris as were the burned-out hulks of five cars and some tricycle taxis set ablaze by the explosion.

Yobe said security forces cordoned off the area but had a hard time keeping people out, though they warned there could be secondary explosions timed to target rescue efforts.

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People watch as smoke fills the sky, after an explosion, at a shopping mall, Wednesday, June 25, 201 …

Witnesses said they saw about 50 bodies. They said the toll may be worse but fewer than normal traders and customers were around because most people stay up late to eat during Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting from sunrise to sunset.

A security official at the scene confirmed the blast, saying many casualties are feared. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to speak to the press.

Explosions last week targeted the biggest shopping mall in Abuja, Nigeria's central capital, killing 24 people; a medical college in northern Kano city, killing at least eight; and a hotel brothel in northeast Bauchi city that killed 10. It was the third bomb blast in as many months in Abuja, and the second in two months in Kano. In May, twin car bombs at a marketplace also left more than 130 dead in central Jos city and killed at least 14 people at a World Cup viewing site in Damaturu, another town in the northeast.

Maiduguri, a city of more than 1 million people, has suffered many attacks. In March, twin car bombs killed more than 50 people at a late-night market where people were watching a football match on a big screen.

Boko Haram has attracted international attention and condemnation since its April abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls from a northeastern town.

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A woman with a sticker on her head bearing the slogan "Bring back our girls" marches for t …

Nigeria's military announced Monday night that it had busted a terrorist intelligence cell and arrested a businessman who "participated actively" in the mass abduction that caused outrage around the world.

It was unclear if the first arrest of a suspect in the kidnappings could help in rescuing at least 219 girls who remain captive. Boko Haram is threatening to sell the girls into marriage and slavery if Nigeria's government does not exchange them for detained insurgents.

Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade said in a statement that businessman Babuji Ya'ari belonged to a vigilante group fighting Boko Haram and used that membership as cover "while remaining an active terrorist."

He said information yielded by Ya'ari's detention had led to the arrests of two women — one who worked as a spy and arms procurer and another described as a paymaster.

Boko Haram has adopted a two-pronged strategy this year of bombings in urban areas and scorched-earth attacks in northeastern villages where people are gunned down and their homes burned.

On Sunday, suspected extremists sprayed gunfire on worshippers in four churches in a northeastern village and torched the buildings. At least 30 people were reported killed there.

The extremists have been attacking with more frequency and deadliness in recent months.

Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday condemned the recent attacks. A statement said "The president assures all Nigerians once again that the federal government and national security agencies will continue to intensify ongoing efforts to end Boko Haram's senseless attacks until the terrorists are routed and totally defeated."

The inability of the military to curb attacks has brought international criticism, with the United Nations noting the government is failing in its duty to protect citizens. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a statement Monday "reiterates the readiness of the United Nations to support Nigeria as it responds to this challenge in a manner consistent with its international human rights obligations."

---

Faul reported from Lagos, Nigeria.

Nigeria Islamists Attack Village Near Chibok, 10 Dead-witnesses

By Yara Bayoumy

DUBAI (Reuters) - The leader of the al Qaeda offshoot now calling itself the Islamic State has called on Muslims worldwide to take up arms and flock to the "caliphate" it has declared on captured Syrian and Iraqi soil.

Proclaiming a "new era" in which Muslims will ultimately triumph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi issued the call to jihad - holy war - in an audio message lasting nearly 20 minutes that was posted online on Tuesday.

It was his first purported message since the group - previously known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) - proclaimed the caliphate on Sunday and declared him its leader, in an audacious bid to sweep away state borders and redraw the map of the Middle East.

Baghdadi, who has assumed the mediaeval title of caliph, used the message to seek to assert authority over Muslims everywhere. He called on them to rise up and avenge the alleged wrongs committed against their religion, from Central African Republic to Myanmar (Burma).

"Terrify the enemies of Allah and seek death in the places where you expect to find it," he said. "Your brothers, on every piece of this earth, are waiting for you to rescue them."

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An image grab taken from a propaganda video released on March 17, 2014 by the Islamic State of Iraq …

The audio message, titled "A Message to the Mujahideen and the Muslim Ummah in the Month of Ramadan," was posted online through the group's media arm. Another account affiliated to the group posted translations in English, Russian, French, German and Albanian.

"By Allah, we will take revenge, by Allah we will take revenge, even if after a while," Baghdadi said.

While ISIL's power grab may appeal to many militants, there have already been signs of dissent. Some Islamist groups fighting in Syria have rejected the announcement of the caliphate, saying its terms had not "been realised at present", and urged Muslims to avoid siding with the Islamic State.Iraq's Association of Muslim Scholars, which was formed to represent minority Sunnis, said in a statement: "Any group that announces a state or an Islamic emirate... under these conditions is not in the interest of Iraq and its unity."

"THUNDERING STATEMENT"

The audio message's authenticity could not be immediately verified, but it was carried by SITE, an authoritative U.S.-based organisation that monitors jihadist statements.

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This undated photo posted by the U.S. State Department in their Rewards for Justice website on June …

Fighters should "embrace the chance and champion Allah's religion through jihad", Baghdadi said.

He called on Muslims to immigrate to the self-styled caliphate, saying it was their duty. In a direct, confident message, he urged them to "listen, realise and stand and free yourself from the shackles of weakness, and stand in the face of tyranny".

"Let the world know that we are living today in a new era. Whoever was heedless must now be alert. Whoever was sleeping must now awaken. Whoever was shocked and amazed must comprehend. The Muslims today have a loud, thundering statement, and possess heavy boots," said Baghdadi, according to the posted translation.

"They have a statement that will cause the world to hear and understand the meaning of terrorism, and boots that will trample the idol of nationalism, destroy the idol of democracy and uncover its deviant nature."

"VANGUARD OF NEW ISLAMIC AWAKENING"

ISIL renames itself as the 'Islamic State'Play Video

The declaration of the caliphate followed a three-week drive for territory by ISIL militants and their allies among Iraqi's Sunni Muslim minority.

Dominating swathes of territory in an arc from Aleppo in Syria to near the western edge of Baghdad, the caliphate aims to erase colonial-era borders and defy the U.S.- and Iranian-backed government of Iraq's Shi'ite prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki.

Earlier on Tuesday, Shi'ites failed to name a prime minister to replace Maliki at the first meeting of a new parliament session, dashing hopes that a unity government would be swiftly built to save Iraq from collapse. ISIL also poses a direct challenge to the global leadership of al Qaeda, which has disowned it, and to conservative Gulf Arab Sunni rulers, who already view the group as a security threat.

Julian Barnes-Dacey, a senior policy fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations, said Baghdadi had made a "bold call in proclaiming this caliphate and speaking out so vigorously now".

"He perceives this as his moment, having been able to seize this unprecedented amount of territory," he said.

"It's a bold, all-in strategy wherein he is trying to present himself as the vanguard of this new Islamic awakening."

(Additional reporting by Ali Abdelaty in Cairo, Amena Bakr in Doha and Dominic Evans in Beirut; Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

While thousands of Israelis attended the joint funeral Tuesday of three kidnapped teenagers whose bodies were found in theWest Bank, the Israeli Defense Forceslaunched airstrikes in the Gaza Strip and clashed with Palestinians in the West Bank, killing a 16-year-old boy.

Not surprisingly, Hebrew and Arabic news outlets differ sharply in their reporting on the three-week kidnapping and Israel’s response. The differences reflect the distrust that exists – and highlight the distance needed before sustained peaceful coexistence can be reached.

For Israelis, this tragic event has been portrayed as the kind of terrorist acts the Israeli public should expect from a Fatah-led Palestinian government that includes Hamas. It has been a rallying cry for a military response.

Recommended: How much do you know about Israel? Take the quiz

"I know that you will find the murderers, and they will be punished. Israel will act with a firm hand until terror is uprooted," said President Shimon Peres, a once-dovish elder statesman, in his eulogy Tuesday.

For some Palestinians, the kidnapping has been painted as an Israeli plot hatched to undermine the new found unity government. According to Buzzfeed, the Israeli government was well aware that the boys were dead days before the bodies were found.

In a police phone call from one of the boys — released Tuesday — a gunshot was heard in the background. “We have been operating, for some time now, with evidence that these boys were killed,” an unnamed Israeli officer told Buzfeed. “It is with a heavy heart that we realized we were looking for bodies.”

Israeli networks have displayed wall-to-wall coverage, including images of the three boys’ mothers embracing, addressing the United Nations, and missed families. While television channels broadcast a nation in mourning – from thousands who descended upon today’s funeral to teenagers swaying with candles in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square – few news reports pay attention to the side effects of IDF operations in the Palestinian West Bank.

Hebron – a city of 160,000 Palestinians – has remained under closure for weeks, with thousands of Palestinians unable to work or travel. A former Palestinian minister of economy, Mazen Sinokrot, estimated the financial damage at $10 million daily, according to i24news, a cable news channel. News of the city’s situation has made the back pages of Israel’s newspapers.

Features on the three boys and their families have been printed numerous times, and a revolving door of retired generals and military analysts appear on Israeli television. But few Palestinians have spoken to Israeli television about the disruption to their regular life.

Israel’s most-circulated tabloid, Israel Hayom, has labeled the IDF as “our soldiers” in the news pages. Its editorial section offers column space to an array of right-leaning op-ed columnists, many demanding harsh retribution. Yediot Ahronoth, the mainstream centrist daily, published numerous calls for Israel to crush Hamas, the Islamist movement recognized as a terrorist organization by the United States but which recently joined the pro-Western, Fatah-led Palestinian government.

According to +972 Magazine journalist Mairav Zonszein, the Israeli media has covered the kidnapping to the expense of reporting on the underlying situation in the West Bank.

“Providing this context may be taboo at a time when the entire country is focused on the fate of three kidnapped Israeli teens, but it is part and parcel of the story here,” Zonszein wrote.

Since news broke of the kidnapping, the IDF has detained hundreds of Palestinians in the Hebron area, many unconnected to the kidnapping but members of Hamas.

Some in Hamas view the kidnapping as a pretext for the IDF to undermine Hamas. According to Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, Israel has used the plight of the kidnapped teenagers “to escalate the situation against our people and our resistance, and Hamas in particular,” BBC Monitoring reported.

Until Tuesday’s funeral, some Palestinians expressed skepticism on whether the kidnapping even occurred.

Mahmoud al-Aloul, a senior Fatah member, voiced speculation about the kidnapping on Facebook. “Let’s think well of the growing possibility that all what’s happening is a play that wasn’t produced well and that no one was kidnapped in the first place,” wrote al-Aloul.

On Western media outlets, Israeli figures flooded the airwaves. Within minutes of having announced that the boys’ bodies were found, former Israeli ambassador Michael Oren and current ambassador Ron Dermer appeared on CNN. Today’s funeral was broadcast for much of the day as one of the lead stories.

A number of Palestinian media outlets have faced obstacles in reporting work. Reporters without Borders, a journalism advocacy group, issued a report last week detailing the limitations that Palestinian journalists face.

“In recent years, many Palestinian media organizations have endured military raids, seizures and other repressive actions by the Israeli army,” stated the report.

Last week, the IDF raided a Palestinian cultural publication based in Ramallah, This Week in Palestine, according to Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper. The IDF said that it raided the journal because "incitement materials linked to Hamas were being printed at this place."

Related stories

• How much do you know about Israel? Take the quiz

• After three Israeli teens found dead will the revenge cycle be ratcheted up? (+video)

• In wake of teen deaths, Israel vows to crush Hamas (+video)

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Orthodox Jews, family and friends of Israeli Eyal Yifrah, one of three missing teenagers, gather
out side of his home in Elad, central Israel, June 30.
Ariel Schalit/AP

By Alessandra Prentice

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian ban on swearing in films, plays and books came into force on Tuesday, a policy designed to appeal to conservatives but which Vladimir Putin's critics condemned as a further move against free speech.

Under the legislation that was passed in May, films containing "foul language" will be banned from wide release and books with swear words will have to be sold in sealed packages with obscenity warnings.

Theaters will not be allowed to stage productions containing obscenities according to the law, which imposes fines of up to 50,000 rubles ($1,500) for each infraction.

Russian media have reported that software known as the "swear-bot" will be used to police cursing on the Internet.

The law is meant to ensure "the protection and development of linguistic culture," according to a statement on the Kremlin's website. But critics say it is reminiscent of Soviet-era censorship and will suppress free expression.

Putin has struck a conservative tone in his latest presidential term, praising what he calls traditional values and holding up the Russian Orthodox Church as a moral authority.

Last month, newspaper Izvestiya said communications watchdog Roskomnadzor planned to use a search program to root out rude words in online articles and comments attached to them.

The 25 million-rouble ($729,500) system will search the 5,000 mass media sites that are already monitored manually, the report said.

The "swear-bot" faces a huge task as Russian is known for the breadth and inventiveness of its obscene vocabulary.

A dictionary of Russian swear words lists over 1,200 different phrases that use a single slang term for "penis".

Russian novelist Fyodr Dostoevsky wrote in the 19th century: "It's possible to express all thoughts, feelings and even deep analytical thoughts just by saying this one noun."

The swearing law follows stricter rules on bloggers and restrictions on non-state media that critics say were part of a campaign to bring independent media under Kremlin control, something the government denies. [ID:nL6N0NL3VF]

(Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Films containing "foul language" will be banned from wide release, according to new legislation.