French and Russian military networks are backing rival forces to influence upcoming elections in Central African Republic according to a new report by The Sentry, a Washington-based NGO co-founded by Hollywood actor George Clooney. France used to call the shots… Read moreFranco-Russian game in Central African Republic?
Ivory Coast has seen a wave of communal violence ahead of the Oct. 31 presidential elections, amid a civil disobedience campaign called by the opposition. In the coastal town of Dabou, some 50 kilometers west of the economic capital Abidjan, several have been killed… Read moreIvory Coast: violence mounts ahead of election
Protesters have continued to fill the streets of Lagos in defiance of a round-the-clock curfew imposed after the Oct. 20 Lekki Massacre, when soldiers and police fired on demonstrators who were occupying a toll bridge in the city’s Lekki district. Authorities initially dismissed the… Read moreAnti-police uprising rocks Nigeria
The richest one percent of the world’s population are responsible for more than twice as much carbon pollution as the 3.1 billion people who made up the poorest half of humanity during a critical 25-year period of unprecedented emissions growth,… Read moreHumanity’s affluent 1% drive climate change
Weeks ahead of elections in Guinea, where Alpha Condé is running for a controversial third presidential term, Amnesty International has released a report documenting harsh repression of the political opposition by his security forces. The crackdown on protests has resulted in… Read moreGuinea: violence mounts ahead of election
Over a thousand workers at Kenana Sugar Company in Sudan are starting their second month on strike to demand basic trade union rights, increased wages to offset the spiralling cost of living, the removal of figures associated with the old… Read moreSolidarity with striking Sudan sugar workers
Ethiopia’s attorney general filed charges on Sept. 19 against 24 activists for alleged terrorism and incitement to violence. Jawar Mohammed and Bekele Gerba, two leading opposition politicians of the Oromo Federalist Congress, were among those charged. Despite being the largest… Read moreEthiopia: Oromo leaders charged with ‘terrorism’
Elections to fill the 190 seats in the regional parliament were held Sept. 9 in Ethiopia’s restive northern region of Tigray—in defiance of a federal government order suspending all polls. Elections in Ethiopia’s nine regions had been scheduled for August,… Read moreTigray region defies Ethiopia election postponement
Reportedly at the direct instigation of President Donald Trump, the US State Department has ordered a suspension of aid to Ethiopia over its move to begin capturing water behind a controversial new mega-dam on the Blue Nile that has been… Read moreTrump wades into Egypt-Ethiopia fight over Nile
Sudan’s power-sharing government reached a peace deal with an alliance of rebel groups this week, sparking hopes of an end to decades of conflict in the country. The agreement will see rebels given government posts, power devolved to local regions,… Read moreMoment of truth for Sudan peace process
Thousands of people demonstrated in Mauritius on Aug. 29 over the government’s handling of a recent shipwreck that spilled 1,000 tons of oil into the seas around the island nation. In what appears to be the latest toll in the… Read moreMauritians take to street over oil spill
President Salva Kiir declared a state of emergency Aug. 13 in South Sudan’s central Jonglei and Pibor regions following flooding and communal violence. More than 200,000 people have been forced from their homes as water levels rose by 1.5 meters in… Read moreFlooding, fighting threaten South Sudan ‘catastrophe’
