Niger Junta Suspends BBC Accusing It of ‘Spreading False News’ in Coverage of Attack
Niger’s ruling junta suspended the BBC for three months over the broadcaster’s coverage of an extremist attack that allegedly killed dozens of Nigerien soldiers and civilians, authorities said Thursday…Popular BBC programs, including those in Hausa — the most-spoken language in Niger — are broadcast in the Central African country through local radio partners to reach a large audience across the region. The British broadcaster had reported on its website in Hausa on Wednesday that gunmen had killed more than 90 Nigerien soldiers and more than 40 civilians in two villages near the border with Burkina Faso.The French broadcaster Radio France International, also known as RFI, also reported on the attack, calling it a jihadi attack and citing the same death toll. Niger’s authorities denied that an attack happened in the area in a statement read on state television and said it would file a complaint against RFI for “incitement to genocide.”..[T]he security situation in the Sahel has worsened since the juntas took power, analysts say, with a record number of attacks and civilians killed both by Islamic militants and government forces. Meanwhile, the ruling juntas have cracked down on political dissent and journalists. AP
Sudan: 80+ Killed and Injured in El Fasher Assault
The Ministry of Health in North Darfur reported that 15 people were killed, and 64 others injured, in El Fasher on Wednesday, following artillery shelling by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Shelling also resumed on Zamzam camp for displaced people. Ibrahim Khater, director general of the Ministry of Health in North Darfur, stated yesterday that the deceased “were five children and 10 women”. He added that the bombing targeted the livestock market area, the first district of El Sawra neighbourhood, and shelter centres in the Shala area of the North Darfur capital…Zamzam houses between 500,000 and 1 million people. Radio Dabanga
UAE Flights Flood Airstrip UN Says Supplies Weapons to Sudan Rebels
At least 86 flights from the UAE have headed for an airstrip at Amdjarass in eastern Chad since the war began in April 2023, three-quarters of them operated by carriers accused by the U.N. of ferrying Emirati weapons to a warlord in Libya, according to the flight data and corporate documents reviewed by Reuters…Previously unreported video footage reviewed by Reuters from Amdjarass filmed this year, showing two pallets on the tarmac stacked with khaki crates, some of them labelled with the UAE flag…The contents were “highly probably ammunition or weapons, based on the design and colour of boxes,” according to one of the experts, who has worked as a U.N. weapons inspector and asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the information. The long and thin proportions of cases on the right-hand pallet indicate they likely contain weapons, he added. Reuters
Nigeria: Governors Back Creation of State Police, Submit Reports to NEC
Majority of Nigeria’s 36 states have agreed that states should have their own police, an official has said…In the North-east, troops are fighting years-long insurgency by Boko Haram and its splinter groups…The spill over of the North-east insurgency has created a similar pattern of violence in North-central where fighters of Boko Haram have maintained a strong presence in places like Kurebe, Allawa and Bassa — all in Shiroro LGA of Niger State. The region is also plagued by banditry, partly fuelled by the incessant conflict between farmers and herders…The South-east and South-south are also not left out. Armed separatists routinely attack security and government officials, as well as civilians. All these have triggered the call for creation of state police in Nigeria. However, critics say state police could be used by governors to oppress critics and opponents in their states. If the NEC eventually declares support for state police, it would influence the National Assembly to pass laws for it. Premium Times
Somaliland’s New President Is Sworn in after Elections that Boosted Region’s Drive for Recognition
Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland on Thursday swore in its new president after last month’s election that gave a boost for the region’s push for international recognition…Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, the region’s former opposition leader who was elected in the November vote, became the sixth president of Somaliland, taking over from Muse Bihi Abdi in an inauguration ceremony in the region’s capital, Hargeisa…Somaliland seceded from Somalia more than 30 years ago, but is not recognized by the African Union, the United Nations or any other country as an independent state. Somalia still considers Somaliland part of its territory. Over the years, Somaliland has been lauded for its stable political environment, contrasting sharply with Somalia’s ongoing struggles with insecurity amid deadly attacks by al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab. Since 1991, it has maintained its own government, currency, and security structures. AP
Somalia Pulls Troops Out of Lower Juba after Clashes with Jubbaland Forces
Somalia said on Thursday it had pulled federal troops out of the southwestern Lower Juba region, after clashes with local forces from Jubbaland state which has broken off ties with the central government. Heavy fighting broke out around the coastal town of Ras Kamboni on Wednesday, where hundreds of federal soldiers had been flown in after Jubbaland re-elected its president, Ahmed Mohamed Islam Madobe in a vote last month…The national government in Mogadishu, led by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, had tried to stop the November vote from taking place, saying it was being held without federal involvement. As the dispute escalated, the federal government issued an arrest warrant for Madobe, while Jubbaland issued a reciprocal one for Mohamud. Reuters
Mozambique Unrest: Tesla Supplier Shuts, AB InBev Beer Factory Raided and SA Exports Disrupted
Mozambique’s economy is buckling as weeks of intensifying election protests evolve into a revolt that’s increasingly being felt beyond the borders of the southern African nation. The unrest prompted Tesla supplier Syrah Resources to declare force majeure, while hitting output at sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest aluminum smelter and disrupting South Africa’s chrome exports. It’s causing domestic economic wreckage, with Standard Bank predicting the first quarterly economic contraction since 2020. There is no sign of tensions cooling, with fears of further delays to a $20 billion natural gas export plan led by TotalEnergies. Venâncio Mondlane, the charismatic opposition leader commanding the demonstrations via livestream, plans to announce a fresh round of protests on Dec. 16. Scores of people have been killed by security forces. Bloomberg
Zimbabwe at Risk of Another Dry Season after El Nino Drought, Says WFP
Zimbabwe appears to be heading into another dry spell that could worsen hunger for millions of people already suffering from an El Nino-induced drought, the U.N. World Food Programme said on Thursday. The drought in Southern Africa that started early this year has been the worst in decades and prompted Zimbabwe and neighbouring countries to declare a state of disaster over food shortages. Rainfall was forecast to resume in October, which is normally the start of a six-month rainy season. But so far Zimbabwe has received only a few days of rain in late November. Zimbabwe has failed to feed itself since 2000, when former president Robert Mugabe led land reforms that disrupted production, while climate change has worsened the country’s ability to grow enough food. Reuters
Malawi President Appeals for International Food Aid
Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera has renewed his appeal for international assistance to address severe food shortages affecting more than one quarter of the country’s population of 20 million. Malawi is currently facing one of its worst food shortage situations in decades with about 5.7 million people affected, according to a recent Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee report. This is about a quarter of the country’s population of about 20 million people. In rural areas, some villagers were reported to be surviving on wild plants like buffalo beans…In March of this year, the president appealed for $200 million in food aid for millions of citizens facing starvation due to a drought linked to the El Nino weather condition. VOA
Zimbabwe Aims to End HIV/AIDS as Public Health Threat by 2030
Zimbabwean health officials said Tuesday they aim to eliminate HIV/AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, crediting the United States with making such progress possible through aid and support…Dr. Delight Madoro, a district medical officer in Mashonaland East province, said PEPFAR — or the U.S. Presidential Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief — enabled Zimbabwe to combat the epidemic with strategies such as blood-based self-testing and PrEP, which stands for pre-exposure prophylaxis…Zimbabwe is one of the countries hit hardest by HIV/AIDS, especially before 1999, when authorities introduced an AIDS levy — a 3% tax on income and business profits that is used by the National AIDS Council for programs to combat the spread of the pandemic. Data indicate the prevalence of HIV among adults ages 15 to 49 in Zimbabwe declined from 12.7% in 2019 to 10.5% in 2023. VOA
Zimbabwe’s President Once Faced the Death Penalty and Is now Set to Abolish It
Zimbabwe’s Senate has approved a bill to abolish the death penalty, a key step in scrapping a law last used in the southern African nation nearly 20 years ago. Zimbabwe’s Parliament said Thursday that the bill was passed by senators the night before. The death penalty will be abolished if it is signed by the president, which is likely…President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe’s leader since 2017, has publicly spoken of his opposition to capital punishment. He has cited his own experience of being sentenced to death — which was later changed to 10 years in prison — for blowing up a train during the country’s war of independence in the 1960s. AP
In Lesotho, UN Chief Guterres Urges Rich Nations to Meet New Commitments on Climate Finance
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday urged rich nations to honor their commitments to help the world’s poor countries fight climate change in a speech to Lesotho’s Parliament and repeated his hope that Africa would soon have permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council. Guterres is on a three-day visit to southern Africa and was in South Africa on Wednesday…A focus of Guterres’ visit has been the money poor nations in Africa and elsewhere need to deal with the impact of a warming planet…Guterres said in South Africa on Wednesday that he hoped that Africa would have at least two permanent members of the Security Council by the time his term ends in December 2026, although he acknowledged it would be difficult. In Lesotho, he said it was another “injustice” against Africa that a continent of more than 1.4 billion still had no permanent representation on that body. AP
China and Egypt Agree on Need to Promote Peace in Middle East
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing agreed with Egypt that both nations should promote peace and negotiations to achieve stability in the Middle East, amid several crises in the region including Syria, according to a media pool report. Wang met his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty in Beijing on Friday. He said both countries were deeply concerned about the situation in Syria, and called for respect for the nation’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity…Abdelatty said he and Wang discussed the importance of a “comprehensive political process in Syria and managing a transitional phase that does not exclude anyone and reflects the sectarian, religious, ethnic and racial diversity within Syria”. Reuters