Mozambique Bans Protests after Weeks of Post-poll Violence
Mozambique’s government has banned protests following sustained post-election unrest that has left several people dead and dozens others injured. It follows last month’s disputed presidential election, won by Frelimo, the party which has governed Mozambique since 1975. The weeks-long protests have led to violent clashes with the police and at least 18 people have been killed, according to Human Rights Watch…Some rights groups have put the death toll at more than 30 overall. The authorities have restricted access to internet across the country in what Human Rights Watch said was an attempt to “suppress peaceful protests and public criticism of the government”. BBC
Senegal Enters Last Day of Tense Campaign Ahead of Key Legislative Election
Politicians in Senegal wrapped up a tense electoral campaign on Friday ahead of a key legislative election this weekend that’s set to determine if the country’s newly-elected president can carry out ambitious reforms. Voters in Senegal will on Sunday choose 165 lawmakers in Senegal’s assembly, where the party of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye currently does not hold a majority…In September, he dissolved the opposition-led parliament, paving the way for a snap legislative election. His party is facing the Takku Wallu opposition platform led by former President Macky Sall. AP
Phony X Accounts Are Meddling in Ghana’s Election
As Ghana approaches its presidential election on December 7, researchers have uncovered a network of 171 bot accounts on X that use ChatGPT to write posts favorable to the incumbent political party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP). According to new research conducted by NewsGuard, a website that offers tools to assess the accuracy and reliability of news outlets, the bot accounts have uniformly been promoting NPP candidate Mahamudu Bawumia…The accounts appear to have been active since February…Dimitris Dimitriadis, NewsGuard’s director of research and development, said…that the bot accounts tend to post at “regular” and “predictable” intervals, often ten or more times per day. He said the accounts — which tend to be active between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. in Ghana — mostly receive likes and reposts from others in the bot network. “One of the objectives of the network was to very clearly drive traffic into a specific set of pro-NPP hashtags,” Dimitriadis said. Rest of World
Nigeria Launches ‘Human Rights Defenders’ Forum
The Nigerian National Human Rights Commission on Wednesday inaugurated a forum targeting rights violations in the West African nation…The initiative is a partnership between the NHRC and the European Union…The meeting comes amid a recent spate of human rights violations, including a crackdown on antigovernment demonstrations in August and the prolonged detention of minors who took part. The delegates also discussed digital rights, privacy protection, gender-based violence and child abandonment by parents. The NHRC said security forces were contributing to human rights violations in Nigeria. VOA
Niger Junta Bans French Aid Group amid Tensions with France
Niger’s military junta has banned the French aid group Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development, or Acted, from working in the country amid tensions with France. The Ministry of the Interior signed a decree on Tuesday withdrawing the nonprofit organization’s licence to operate, without providing reasons for the decision…Niger’s ruling military rulers took power in a coup last year, the latest of several military takeovers in Africa’s Sahel, the vast, arid expanse south of the Sahara Desert that has become a hotspot for extremist violence. Since the coup, the Sahelian country has pulled away from its Western partners, turning instead to Russia for security. The authorities expelled both the French soldiers fighting against jihadists in the country and the French ambassador. AP
Sudan: Fighting Rages in North Darfur Capital
Fighting raged in El Fasher, capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state, on Thursday as the army and allied forces battled the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with both sides deploying heavy weaponry, witnesses said. The clashes, which erupted days ago, have caused a significant number of civilian casualties and forced residents to seek refuge in the Jebel Marra mountains…The army, positioned in the west of the city, shelled suspected RSF locations in the south and east, drawing retaliatory fire. Military warplanes conducted three bombing runs, dropping over 25 explosive barrels on RSF positions in eastern El Fasher. Sudan Tribune
UNMISS Calls for Tangible Evidence of Progress toward Democratic Elections in South Sudan
Briefing the United Nations Security Council this week, special representative of the secretary-general and head of UNMISS, Nicholas Haysom, told government leaders “the clock on the extension is already ticking.” Since winning its independence in 2011, South Sudan is just beginning its fourth extension of the transitional period government, with elections now rescheduled for 2026… UNMISS said it is moving ahead with support to the National Elections Commission, while Haysom highlighted civic education, preparing for voter registration, a code of conduct between political parties, civil society, media and election security among the areas that the parties could immediately address. VOA
Who is Fano? Inside Ethiopia’s Amhara Rebellion
For the past 20 months, Ethiopia’s Amhara region has been torn apart by a bloody conflict between federal forces and a coalition of militia known as Fano, who demand full Amhara control of all territory they regard as part of their homeland…The name “Fano” loosely translates as freedom fighter, and stretches back to the successful campaign by a volunteer army against the Italian fascist occupation of Ethiopia in the 1930s. The Fano of today are an ethno-nationalist group that claims to represent the Amhara, Ethiopia’s second-biggest community, and seem to have widespread popular support…Fano volunteers, along with Amhara regional paramilitary special forces, fought alongside the federal government during the Tigray war in 2020 against the TPLF. The conflict allowed Fano to expand – attracting new members and improving their military capabilities…Fano has since grown into a more effective guerrilla force. Between July and September, attacks on the ENDF tripled compared to the previous year – despite Addis Ababa drafting in fresh troops and equipment. The New Humanitarian
Security Council Extends Mandate of UN Mission in Abyei
The Security Council on Thursday extended the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) until 15 November 2025. 14 nations voted in favor of Resolution 2760 (2024) with Russia abstaining. The Council also extended UNISFA’s originally authorized tasks until mid-November next year…The Council condemned “in the strongest terms” the presence of South Sudan People’s Defence Forces and other South Sudan security service personnel expanding their deployments in Abyei. Sudan Tribune
Africa Grapples with Forecasting Challenge as Weather Disasters Loom
Africa, a continent of 1.5 billion people, has the world’s least developed weather and climate observation network with fewer stations operating to global basic standards than Germany, according to the World Meteorological Organization…As of the third quarter of 2024, only two out of 53 African WMO countries were compliant with basic requirements for ground-level observation stations, [Albert Fischer, director of the WMO Integrated Global Observing System division] said. Being unprepared has deadly consequences. Floods not only happen more often across Africa than in Europe and North America combined, but they kill four times more people on average due to a lack of preparedness and warnings, a 2023 article in the journal Nature said. Reuters
Seaweed Farming Brings Hope to Kenyan Villagers Hit by Climate Change
The people of Kenya’s coastal village of Mwazaro used to earn their living mainly growing cassava and maize, until the ravages of drought forced them to try a new crop – seaweed. They plant it on the beachfront and lay it out to dry inland, joining scores of other communities feeding a growing demand at home and abroad…Higher temperatures, rising sea levels and poor rains have all played their part in the shift. Along the coast in the village of Kibuyuni, investments in seaweed farming have led to improvements in infrastructure and electricity, said Kassim Ramtu Bakari, who does marketing for the Seaweed Farmers’ Cooperative there, which employs more than 100 households. Reuters
Activists Plant Trees in Mali but Residents Strip Them for Firewood. They Say There’s No Choice
[Salimata Diabate, a resident in the Sikasso region] said people like her in the countryside have no choice but firewood for cooking. “Things like cooking gas and solar panels are better, but it’s too expensive for rural women,” she said…[The Great Green Wall is] an initiative by African countries launched in 2007 that aims to plant trees in a nearly 5,000-mile line across the continent, creating a natural barrier to hold back the desert as climate change sweeps the sands south. But millions of the trees died as temperatures rose and rainfall diminished…In Mali, the initiative is facing an additional challenge : the population’s dependency on firewood…A 2019 study by the African Energy Commission found that 64% of Mali’s total fuel consumption was of biomass, primarily firewood and charcoal for household use. AP
Fears for Spread of Malaria in Africa as Study Finds Resistance to Frontline Drug
A study of children being treated in hospital for malaria in Uganda, presented at [the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene in New Orleans] on Thursday, found signs of resistance to artemisinin in one patient in 10. Antimicrobial resistance, where pathogens such as parasites, bacteria and fungi develop ways to evade the drugs used to fight them, is a growing global concern. It is forecast to kill more than 39 million people by 2050…Of the 100 children studied, 11 showed partial resistance to the treatment…A further 10 of the children studied, who were thought to have been cured of infection, suffered a repeat attack from the same strain of malaria within a month. The Guardian