🇪🇹🇹🇿 Ethiopia's Oromo rebels in Tanzania for peace talks

Rebels from Ethiopia's Oromiya region said on Monday they were in Tanzania for a second round of talks with the Ethiopian government to try to end decades of fighting.

The negotiations come more than six months after a first round of discussions between the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) and Ethiopia's government ended without an agreement.

"We remain committed to finding a peaceful political settlement," the OLA said in its statement.

The OLA said it had delayed announcing the negotiations to make sure its team could get safely from what it called the frontlines in Oromiya to the venue.

An official said the talks started last week in Tanzania's commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, and is being facilitated by the regional Africa group IGAD.

#Ethiopia #Tanzania

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🇧🇫 At least 70 killed in attack on northern Burkina Faso village

At least 70 civilians have been killed, mainly elderly people and children, in an attack on a village in northern Burkina Faso earlier this month, a prosecutor said in a statement on Monday.

Unidentified assailants attacked the village of Zaongo in Burkina Faso's northern Centre-North region on November 5, killing residents and setting property on fire.

A judicial team sent to investigate on November 11 found that at least 70 people had died. Most of the victims were children and elderly, a state prosecutor said in a statement.

The exact number of deaths, injured and missing has yet to be determined, it added.

"The authors of these atrocities remain unknown. Investigations are ongoing," the statement said.

#BurkinaFaso

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🇰🇪 Kenya's president urges progress on global plastics treaty

Negotiators working on the world's first treaty to curb plastic pollution need to hurry up and strike a deal, Kenya's President William Ruto said on Monday at the start of talks in Nairobi.

International delegates meeting in the Kenyan capital for the third round of talks will consider a list of possible measures to include in the treaty.

"I urge all the negotiators to recall that 2024 is only six weeks away and there are only two other meetings to go," Ruto said at the opening of the talks.

Governments agreed in March 2022 to put together a treaty on controlling plastic pollution by the end of next year.

In Nairobi delegates will be haggling over whether to stick to their broad mandate of addressing the entire life cycle of plastics, including production, or to prioritize plastic waste management.

#Kenya

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🇨🇩 DR Congo electoral panel promises fair presidential poll but some candidates see flaws

DRC's electoral commission said it was ready to provide fair and credible polls next month despite a spiralling security crisis in the east and concerns about transparency in the run-up to the December 20 general election.

Campaigning is scheduled to begin next week after a tense and delayed registration period that opposition candidates deemed flawed and favours the ruling coalition.

Last month, several presidential candidates demanded measures from the commission to prevent potential fraud.

Congo's Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) president Denis Kadima met all 26 candidates in the capital Kinshasa on Monday and said the body was committed to organising "credible, transparent, inclusive and peaceful" elections.

Kadima said he recognised the commission needed to improve its image and that it had tried to improve public trust, including the clean-up of irregularities that slipped through the registration process.

#DRC

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🇱🇷 Liberians vote in tight presidential run-off

Liberians head to the polls on Tuesday for a runoff election between President George Weah and former vice president Joseph Boakai after they emerged neck-and-neck from the first round but below the 50% needed to secure an outright victory.

The incumbent Wea has asked voters for more time to make good on his first-term promises to root out corruption and improve livelihoods.

Meanwhile Boakai has campaigned on the need to rescue the nation from what he calls mismanagement by Weah's administration, which has been dogged by graft scandals.

Both Weah and Boakai have received endorsements from candidates who lost in the first round.

#Liberia

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🇿🇼 Abducted Zimbabwe opposition activist found dead

A Zimbabwe opposition activist who was abducted days ago while campaigning ahead of key by-elections has been found dead.

Tapfumanei Masaya's body was found in a decomposed state on the outskirts of the capital Harare, his party, the Citizens Coalition for Change, said.

In a statement, the police confirmed the location of a body but said its identity was yet to be established and more details would be released later.

The CCC says the activist had been forced into a vehicle by armed men on Saturday while campaigning for a party candidate ahead of the 9 December polls.

The CCC has blamed state agents for the violence against its members - which the ruling Zanu-PF party has denied.

The abduction and the death of the activist follows a pattern of abductions of opposition politicians.

#Zimbabwe

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🇸🇸🇺🇬 Magnitude 4.9 earthquake strikes South Sudan-Uganda border region

An earthquake of magnitude 4.9 struck the area around the border between South Sudan and Uganda on Monday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said.

The quake was at a depth of 8 km, EMSC said.

There are no reports of injured people or destroyed buildings.

#SouthSudan #Uganda

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🇳🇬🇸🇦 Nigerians heading for Saudi pilgrimage forced back home

More than 170 Nigerians on a flight to Saudi Arabia were turned back on arrival on Monday after Saudi authorities reportedly abruptly revoked their visas.

Reports say that 264 passengers, who had departed from the Nigerian cities of Lagos and Kano, were reportedly granted visas and thoroughly screened before boarding.

However, all their visas were reportedly revoked while they were airborne.

On arrival, Saudi authorities reportedly refused to grant entry and instructed the Nigerian Air Peace airline to return them to Nigeria, reports add.

Saudi authorities have not commented on the matter.

Saudi Arabia is said to have ultimately allowed entry to 87 passengers after intervention by the Nigerian embassy there, but 177 were repatriated to Nigeria on Monday night.

#Nigeria #SaudiArabia

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🇲🇬 Madagascar opposition call for poll boycott amid tension

Madagascar’s Collectif de Dix opposition coalition of 10 parties has called on voters to boycott Thursday presidential election.

Ten of the 13 presidential candidates registered for the election have been demanding an overhaul of the country’s highest court and the electoral commission before the polls take place.

They allege that incumbent President Andry Rajoelina, who is seeking re-election, is ineligible due to the French citizenship he acquired in 2014, an accusation he has dismissed.

Rajoelina has urged the public to ignore the opposition calls for a boycott and turn out in large numbers for Thursday’s polls.

#Madagascar

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⚡️🇲🇱 Malian Armed Forces entered the improvised capital of Tuareg rebels in north-eastern Mali

Malian Armed Forces have finally took positions in the city of Kidal, which has been an improvised capital for the Coordination of Azawad Movements in north-eastern Mali.

Tuareg rebels accounts on social media also confirm this information.

Although the battle for Kidal isn't over yet, this marks a big milestone for FAMa's campaign against the Azawad militants.

However, the loss of the city will not mean the end of the rebellion, since for the Coordination of Azawad Movement Kidal is just another city, since they consider entire south Sahara and north Sahel regions their home.

#Mali

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🇳🇬 Nigeria in talks with Islamic bank for infrastructure finance

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu met top officials of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) to negotiate a "multi-billion dollar infrastructure finance facility" to help build ports and power plants, his spokesperson said.

Tinubu held talks with IsDB vice president Mansur Muhtar late on Monday in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, spokesperson Ajuri Ngelale said in a statement. He didn't provide further details of the finance package sought by the Nigerian government.

"We have serious deficits in port infrastructure, power infrastructure, and agro-allied facilities," Tinubu said in the statement.

#Nigeria

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🇪🇹 Thousands flee attacks in Ethiopia's Amhara region

Thousands of farmers from the Bure area in Ethiopia's Amhara region have crossed into the neighbouring region of Oromia after fresh attacks have claimed dozens of lives, according to residents.

They said two villages - Bakko Tabo and Sontoma - were mainly targeted.

They have blamed members of Fanno militias, a group fighting government troops in the volatile north-western Amhara, Ethiopia's second-most populous region.

But it's not clear how many have been killed from the attacks that lasted for days.

"We were unable to bury dead bodies. I don't know the fate of elders who we left behind," said residents.

#Ethiopia

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🇳🇬 Nigeria unions call for nationwide strike despite court order

Nigeria's two largest labour unions, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), have declared an indefinite nationwide strike starting Tuesday, defying a court order.

The unions are protesting against the soaring cost of living and increased fuel prices.

TUC President Festus Osifo stated that the strike will persist until "governments at all levels wake up to their responsibilities." This marks the unions' third strike threat since President Tinubu assumed office in May.

Despite a recent court order attempting to prevent the strike, its duration remains uncertain. Anticipated repercussions include disruptions to vital services such as hospitals, railway stations, and schools.

#Nigeria

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🇨🇩 M23 rebels recapture Kishishe in the eastern DR Congo, where they are accused of a massacre in 2022

The M23 rebels have retaken the village of Kishishe in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where they are accused of having committed a massacre at the end of November 2022, killing some 170 people according to the UN.

"The invaders launched large-scale attacks," said an officer, claiming that the rebels had received reinforcements from the Rwandan army. "It is Rwandans who are attacking us," he added.

"Kishishe has been controlled by the M23" since late Monday afternoon, said a local civil society representative.

"The M23 is in Kishishe. The population has fled to (the neighbouring localities of) Kirima, Mutanda, Kanyabayonga and Kibirizi", said a village official."There is great tension in Kibirizi, where displaced people are arriving in droves", said one resident.

#DRC

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