Spain faces a fresh energy crisis after Algeria shut off supplies of natural gas through one of the two pipelines linking Spain with the North African state.

Like many other European countries, Spain has been hit hard by soaring electricity prices in recent months.

A surge in demand as the world’s economies began to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic has not been matched by supply, sending prices climbing.

Households have been hit by electricity prices which rose more than 40% in the past year, prompting the Spanish government to bring in emergency measures to reduce bills.

Now the fresh crisis over natural gas supplies from their North African neighbors has added to tensions in the energy market for Spain.

Algeria closed a land pipeline Sunday after a diplomatic dispute with its neighbor Morocco, through which the pipeline passes.

Algiers agreed to keep open a second pipeline which passes under the Mediterranean to Spain, but this does not supply as much natural gas as the land pipeline through Morocco.

Without any natural energy source except the burgeoning renewables market, Spain depends on Algeria for its natural gas supply.

Spain’s geographic isolation in western Europe and lack of any domestic source of energy has left it especially vulnerable.

The Spanish media have reported that the country could face possible blackouts because of energy shortages.

El Pais, a Spanish-language daily newspaper, reported Tuesday that Spain would have to deliver liquified natural gas, or LNG, supplies by ship which could prove costly as other countries are competing for the same supplies because of a world shortage of the energy source.

Spain’s government sought to cool fears over a possible energy shortage. 

During an interview Tuesday on state broadcaster TVE, Spain’s environment minister, Teresa Ribera, said the country has accumulated natural gas reserves equivalent to 43 days of consumption.

She added that Algeria agreed to supply more gas to Spain if the latter needed it.

Enagas, a Spanish company which owns and operates the country’s energy grid and is one of the biggest LNG transporters in western Europe, said in a statement, “There are no objective signs of a situation of lack of gas supplies in the coming months.”

Algeria said it was planning to stop shipments through the Gaz-Maghreb-Europe pipeline which traverses Morocco and carries about 10 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year.

Algiers took this step after cutting diplomatic ties with Morocco in August and accusing its leadership of taking “hostile actions.” Algeria further accused Morocco of aiding the Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylie, a regional nationalist movement in Algeria, of starting a series of fires which ravaged the country, an accusation which Morocco denied.

Algeria’s decision to shut off a pipeline comes as natural gas prices have soared in recent months across Europe because of a shortage of supplies from Russia, pushing up electricity bills for consumers.

Spain hopes that it can weather the storm by using deliveries of natural gas from the Medgaz pipeline which passes under the Mediterranean directly from Algeria to Spain.

This line carries about eight billion cubic meters per year of gas but planned works could see its capacity rise to 10.5 billion cubic meters per year by January.

Algeria also proposes increasing LNG deliveries by sea.

Analysts said that events in North Africa did not help a difficult situation in the world energy market as supplies to Europe were restricted by Russia, the continent’s most important supplier of natural gas.

“The most important factor is Russia because it is restricting supply. Demand is going up because economies are recuperating but supply is not rising because the primary supplier for Europe is Russia,” Massimo Maoret, associate professor of strategic management at IESE business school in Madrid, told VOA.

“On top of that you have the situation in Algeria which is creating more uncertainty. Algeria has promised that supply will be ensured. It is an additional strain on dynamics which are building on global tensions.”

Political pressure has mounted on the Spanish government after electricity prices for consumers rose 44% over the past year, according to data from the National Institute for Statistics.

Professor Maoret said a harsh winter may exacerbate problems if demand increases.

Jorge Sanz, an analyst at Nera Economic Consulting, said supply was not in doubt so government reassurances were well founded. He did say prices may rise and could possibly affect consumers.

“The Medgaz pipeline will be expanded by New Year to ensure it carries 10.5 bcm (billion cubic meters), the same as the line which passes through Morocco. It is a temporary shortfall which can be covered by reserves,” he told VOA.

“However, what is in doubt is the price of natural gas which could go up — or it could go down — and this could be passed onto the electricity prices for consumers.”

Some information for this report comes from Reuters. 
…

The U.N. human rights chief said Wednesday that Ethiopia’s yearlong war has been marked by “extreme brutality” as a joint investigation into alleged atrocities faulted all sides for committing abuses, but avoided saying who was the most to blame. 

The investigation was hampered by authorities’ intimidation and restrictions and didn’t visit some of the war’s worst-affected locations. 

The report, a rare collaboration by the U.N. human rights office with the government-created Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, was released a day before the war’s one-year mark and as Africa’s second most populous country enters a new state of emergency with rival Tigray forces threatening the capital. 

The U.N. told The Associated Press that the collaboration was necessary for its team to gain access to a troubled region that Ethiopian authorities have largely prevented journalists, rights groups and other outside observers from entering. 

The conflict that erupted in Ethiopia’s Tigray region has killed thousands of people since the government of Nobel Peace Prize-winning Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed allowed soldiers from neighboring Eritrea to invade Tigray and join Ethiopian forces in fighting the Tigray forces who long dominated the national government before Abiy took office. Ethnic Tigrayans across the country have since reported being targeted with arbitrary detentions, while civilians in Tigray have described gang rapes, famine and mass expulsions. 

“In western Tigray, it was apparent that the Tigrayans had left most of the areas, as it was difficult to find Tigrayans to interview,” the new report says. 

The joint investigation covers events until late June when the Tigray forces regained much of their region, but it failed to visit some of the deadliest sites of the war, including the city of Axum, because of security and other obstacles. Notably, the report says, those obstacles included the Ethiopian government’s failure to release satellite phones procured for the investigation. 

The investigation says all sides, including forces from the neighboring Amhara region that have claimed western Tigray, have committed abuses, which may amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes. It breaks little new ground and confirms in general the abuses described by witnesses throughout the war. But it gives little sense of scale, saying only that the more than 1,300 rapes reported to authorities are likely far fewer than the real number. 

Despite the report’s shortcomings, the prime minister’s office said in a statement that it “clearly established the claim of genocide as false and utterly lacking of any factual basis.” The statement noted “serious reservations” about the report but claimed it laid “sinister allegations to rest.” And it acknowledged the need to “redouble our efforts” to hold perpetrators accountable. A high-level task force will be formed, it said. 

Among the investigation’s findings: Several Ethiopian military camps were used to torture captured Tigray forces or civilians suspected of supporting them. Others were detained in “secret locations” and military camps across the country, with arbitrary detentions in many cases. Tigray forces detained some ethnic Amhara civilians in western Tigray in the early days of the war on suspicion of supporting the military, and in some cases tortured them. 

“The Tigray conflict has been marked by extreme brutality. The gravity and seriousness of the violations and abuses we have documented underscore the need to hold perpetrators accountable on all sides,” said Michelle Bachelet, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights. 

And yet the report gives little sign that Eritrean soldiers were responsible for many of the atrocities, as witnesses have alleged from the earliest days of the war. Until March, Ethiopia’s prime minister denied they were even in the country. 

“Some of the absolutely worst violations were committed by the Eritrean defense forces,” U.S. Horn of Africa Envoy Jeffrey Feltman said Tuesday. 

Ethiopia’s government imposed a blockade on Tigray since the Tigray forces regained control in June, cutting off almost all access for commercial goods and humanitarian aid. That followed large-scale looting and destruction of food and crops across the region that “has had a severe socioeconomic impact on the civilian population,” the report says. In addition, some camps for displaced people who fled the war didn’t receive food rations for months. 

And yet the joint investigation “could not confirm deliberate or willful denial of humanitarian assistance to the civilian population in Tigray or the use of starvation as a weapon of war.” It did call for further investigation. 

The new report, based on more than 260 interviews with victims and witnesses, said it had received no response from Eritrea’s government or from Amhara regional officials, and the Tigray forces expressed its opposition to the involvement of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission. The report acknowledged that the presence of EHRC staffers at times inhibited interviews. 

The investigation says the Ethiopian government should “consider” setting up a court to ensure accountability and the international community should “support” the government in restoring stability. 

Ethiopia’s government has said it would pursue accountability for perpetrators, but the new report expresses concern that “investigations conducted by Ethiopian national institutions do not match the scope and breadth of the violations it has identified.” 
…

African nations at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, have criticized rich countries for failing to meet their promise of giving billions of dollars to help them cope with climate change.  

The world’s wealthiest nations — the G-20 — account for 80% of greenhouse gas emissions. However, scientists say poorer countries, particularly in Africa, are suffering the worst effects of climate change.     

Rich nations pledged in 2009 to give developing countries $100 billion a year to help them deal with climate change, but the target date was pushed back to 2023 at the beginning of the COP26 summit. 

Speaking at the conference Tuesday, African leaders voiced their anger. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the president of Ghana, said Africans were “naturally disappointed.”

WATCH: African nations call on the rich to fulfill promise

“Those same nations are, however, insisting that we abandon the opportunity for rapid development of our economies. That would be tantamount to enshrining in the global community inequality of the highest order,” Akufo-Addo told delegates. 

Surangel Whipps Jr., president of the Pacific island state of Palau, was equally scathing. 

“Frankly speaking, there is no dignity to a slow and painful death,” he said. “You might as well bomb our islands instead of making us suffer, only to witness our slow and fateful demise. Leaders of the G-20, we are drowning, and our only hope is the life ring you are holding.”   

Their appeals failed to shift the timetable. But the frustration was tempered by progress on other vital climate emergencies.       

More than 100 world leaders agreed to end deforestation by 2030, backed by close to $20 billion in public and private funding. They include Brazil’s president, who is not attending the summit. He addressed delegates by video link. 

“We are committed to eliminating illegal deforestation by 2030. I call on every country to help defend all forests, including with adequate resources for the benefit for all,” he said.    

Deforestation has increased in the Amazon under Bolsonaro to its highest level in a decade. Chief Ninawa, a Brazilian Indigenous leader attending the COP26 summit, was skeptical of Bolsonaro’s pledge. 

“It won’t solve the social problems in our communities, where there is no water, where there is deforestation, where there is river contamination. These are investments that will only give free rein to companies to keep their polluting,” Ninawa told Reuters.    

More than 100 countries also signed a U.S.-European led Global Methane Pledge to cut emissions by 30% by 2030. Methane is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in driving global warming, said Steve Hamburg, chief scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund. 

“It’s incredibly important progress in addressing the climate crisis because we can now think about methane emissions separately from CO2. And recognizing that reduction of methane represents an enormous lever for making progress in reducing the rate of warming,” Hamburg told VOA at the summit. 

China and Russia — two of the world’s biggest methane emitters — did not sign the methane pledge.     

The absence of the Chinese, Russian and Brazilian presidents has led to questions about how effective the summit will be in curbing global warming. The host, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, said Tuesday he was “cautiously optimistic.”  

While there may be no big breakthrough on reducing overall emissions at COP26, organizers say the smaller, targeted agreements on protecting rainforests, cutting methane and helping vulnerable island states add up to significant progress in tackling climate change.    

World leaders have returned home. Their teams of negotiators will now decide the fate of the summit — and, many scientists say, the future of planet Earth. 
…

African nations at the COP26 summit have criticized rich countries for failing to meet their promise of giving billions of dollars to help them cope with climate change. But agreements to protect rainforests and slash methane emissions were welcomed, as Henry Ridgwell reports from the conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

Camera by: Henry Ridgwell                         Produced by: Bakhtiyar Zamanov 
…

The findings of the only human rights investigation allowed in Ethiopia’s blockaded Tigray region will be released Wednesday, a year after war began there. But people with knowledge of the probe say it has been limited by authorities who recently expelled a United Nations staffer helping to lead it. 

And yet, with groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International barred from Tigray, along with foreign media, the report may be the world’s only official source of information on atrocities in the war, which began in November 2020 after a political falling-out between the Tigray forces that long dominated the national government and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s current government. The conflict has been marked by gang rapes, mass expulsions, deliberate starvation and thousands of deaths. 

The joint investigation by the U.N. human rights office and the government-created Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, or EHRC, is a rare collaboration that immediately raised concerns among ethnic Tigrayans, human rights groups and other observers about impartiality and government influence. 

In response to questions from The Associated Press, the U.N. human rights office in Geneva said it wouldn’t have been able to enter Tigray without the partnership with the rights commission. Although past joint investigations occurred in Afghanistan and Uganda, the U.N. said, “the current one is unique in terms of magnitude and context.” 

Report ‘automatically suspect’ 

But Ethiopia’s government has given no basis for expelling U.N. human rights officer Sonny Onyegbula last month, the U.N. added, and without an explanation “we cannot accept the allegation that our staff member … was ‘meddling in the internal affairs’ of Ethiopia.” 

Because of those circumstances, and the fact that the U.N. left the investigation to its less experienced regional office in Ethiopia, the new report is “automatically suspect,” said David Crane, founder of the Global Accountability Network and founding chief prosecutor for the Special Court for Sierra Leone, an international tribunal. 

“What you need when you go into an atrocity zone is a clean slate so outside investigators can look into it neutrally, dispassionately,” Crane said. “You want to do these things where you don’t build doubt, distrust from the beginning,” including among people interviewed. 

The investigation might be the international community’s only chance to collect facts on the ground, he said, but because of its setup, it may disappear “in the sands of time.” 

People close to the investigation, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, asserted that the head of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, Daniel Bekele, underplayed some allegations that fighters from the country’s Amhara region were responsible for abuses in Tigray and pressed instead to highlight abuses by Tigray forces. 

That’s even though witnesses have said the perpetrators of most abuses were soldiers from neighboring Eritrea, Ethiopian forces and Amhara regional forces. 

In response to AP’s questions, Bekele asserted his commission’s independence, saying it is “primarily accountable to the people it is created to serve.” Attempts to influence the investigation, he added, can come from “many directions” in such a polarized environment. 

Bekele said he and the commission have consistently cited “serious indications that all parties involved in the conflict have committed atrocities.” 

Observers note shortcomings 

Observers say a major shortcoming of the investigation is its failure to visit the scene of many alleged massacres in Tigray, including the deadliest known one in the city of Axum, where witnesses told the AP that several hundred people were killed. 

Bekele said the investigation lacked the support of the Tigray authorities now administering the region after Tigray forces retook much of the area in June, about midway through the joint team’s work. 

The U.N. human rights office, however, said the government’s subsequent severing of flights and communications from Tigray during the planned investigation period made it difficult to access key locations, both “logistically and from a security point of view.” 

Even the interim Tigray authorities hand-picked by Ethiopia’s government to run the region earlier in the war rejected the joint investigation, its former chief of staff, Gebremeskel Kassa, told the AP. 

“We informed the international community we wanted an investigation into human rights but not with the EHRC, because we believe this is a tool of the government,” he said. 

The U.N. has said Ethiopia’s government had no say in the report’s publication, though it was given the chance to read the report in advance and to point out “anything it believes to be incorrect.” 

Separate investigations 

Late last week, Ethiopia’s government and a diaspora group released the results of their own investigations focusing on alleged abuses by Tigray forces after they had entered the neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar four months ago in what they called an effort to pressure the government to end its blockade on Tigray. 

The Ministry of Justice said it found 483 noncombatants were killed and 109 raped in parts of Amhara and Afar that had been recaptured by federal forces in recent weeks. It also found “widespread and systematic looting” of schools, clinics, churches, mosques and aid groups’ offices. 

A separate report by the Amhara Association of America said it found that 112 people had been raped in several districts covered by the ministry’s findings. The diaspora group drew on data from offices of women’s and children’s affairs as well as interviews with witnesses, doctors and officials. 

The diaspora group asserted that the Tigray forces “committed the rapes as revenge against ethnic Amharas, whom they blame as responsible for abuses in their home region.” 

The spokesman for the Tigray forces, Getachew Reda, said the allegations aren’t worth “the paper they’re written on.” Accusations of rapes and killings by Tigray forces are “absolutely untrue, at least on a level these organizations are alleging,” he said. 
…

Free press advocates are calling for accountability for perpetrators of crimes against media workers as they commemorated the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists.

According to the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS), an advocacy group working to advance media rights in the horn of the African nation, 12 journalists have been killed since February 2017, while more than 60 others were arrested from January to October 2021. 

Most of the perpetrators have not been brought before the court to face charges. 

SJS secretary-general Abdalla Mumin says the organization is worried about deteriorating relations between the media and the security agencies in particular. 

“The cooperation between the state security forces and the media in general is nonexistent in Somalia,” Mumin said. “The Somali federal government in September last year announced [a] special prosecutor for the crimes against journalists, but this was only word of mouth, and nothing has been done to implement it in [a] tangible way.”

Hanad Ali Guled, editor of the Mogadishu-based Goobjoog media network, survived an attack in July and said he still faces threats based on his work. 

He said he was attacked heading home from work in Mogadishu by assailants he suspects are linked to the government agencies. He said he continues to receive constant threats from the group. 

The director of communications at Somalia’s president’s office, Abdulkadir Hashi, said in a tweet that the government will continue to speak out against anyone who obstructs the work of press in the country. 

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists’ 2021 Global Impunity Index, Somalia has been the world’s worst country for unsolved killings of journalists for seven consecutive years. 

 
…

The Ethiopian federal government declared a nationwide state of emergency Tuesday, as its battle with Tigrayan forces reaches the one-year mark and fighting has escalated in northern Ethiopia.

“The Council of Ministers has a declared nationwide state of emergency effective Tuesday, November 2, 2021,” read a statement posted by state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate S.C. on its Twitter account.

The statement says the House of Peoples Representatives is expected to approve the state of emergency within 24 hours.

Reuters quoted the government Tuesday saying the Tigray People’s Liberation Front is gaining territory and considering marching on the country’s capital, Addis Ababa. Residents of the capital were told to register their weapons and prepare to defend the city.

The federal government of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has been fighting TPLF forces in Tigray for the past year. The fighters were able to take control of the province when government forces withdrew in June, and since then fighting has expanded to the neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar, displacing thousands of people and worsening a severe hunger crisis.

Speaking Tuesday at Washington-based think tank U.S. Institute for Peace, U.S. Horn of Africa special envoy Jeffrey Feltman said as many as 900,000 people in Tigray are facing famine-like conditions, while 90% of the population is in need of aid.

He said the most serious obstacle to getting food, medicine and other critical assistance to them is the federal government, which imposes bureaucratic obstacles and last month expelled seven senior U.N. humanitarian and human rights officials.

“This unfortunately suggests an intentional effort by the authorities to deprive Ethiopians who are suffering of receiving lifesaving assistance,” said Feltman.

Using food as a weapon of war can rise to the level of a war crime.

The special envoy said the government’s airstrikes and TPLF’s alliances with other disaffected armed groups are “alarming,” and warned that the country is at risk of sliding into a bigger conflagration.

“A multidecade civil war in Ethiopia would be disastrous for its future and for its people,” he said. “We urge the government of Ethiopia, the TPLF, and the other belligerents to give peace a chance; to choose a different path and engage in dialogue without preconditions.”

Feltman responded to some critics who say the United States is biased toward the TPLF, saying “this could not be further from the truth” and that the Biden administration has consistently condemned the Tigrayan forces’ expansion of the war, including reports it could move on the capital.

“Let me clear, we oppose any TPLF move to Addis or any attempt by the TPLF to besiege Addis,” Feltman said. “This is a message we have also underscored in our engagement with TPLF leaders.”

He also said it is not true that Washington seeks to replace Abiy with a TPLF-dominated regime.

But he warned that Washington cannot “continue business as usual” with the federal government and noted the announcement Tuesday from the administration that puts Ethiopia’s special trade benefits with the United States at risk over human rights violations.

On Wednesday, the U.N. Human Rights Council and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission are releasing a report on their joint investigation into alleged human rights violations by all parties in the Tigray conflict.

There have been widespread credible reports throughout the conflict of brutal atrocities including rape, torture and executions. The report is expected to contain a set of recommendations, which Feltman said the parties need to demonstrate they are immediately implementing.

Some information in this report came from Reuters.
…

President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government has announced it is starting to vaccinate Zimbabwe’s teenagers over the age of 16 against COVID-19, which has claimed nearly 5,000 lives and infected 13,000 in the country. Public health experts welcome the move. 

Zimbabwe’s acting Health and Child Care Minister Amon Murwira told journalists late Monday that the country had so far managed to vaccinate 38% of the population.

He then announced the recommendation regarding those over the age of 16.

“Based on the available scientific data in line with the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe guide, the specialist pediatricians have recommended a vaccination of the 16 to 17 years age group with the Sinovac COVID19 vaccine,” said Murwira.

“The protocol of the younger age groups is still under consideration. The ministry wishes to advise the public that COVID19 vaccination of the 16 to 17 years age groups has been approved. The government of Zimbabwe through the Ministry of Health and Childcare is determined that Zimbabwe achieves herd immunity by end December 2021,” he added.

Dr. Norman Matara, the head of Zimbabwe Association for Doctors for Human Rights, is hopeful the move would increase the number of people getting vaccinated and will push the country further to achieving head immunity.

“This is a welcome move, but we just hope that the vaccine will continue to be voluntary and that these teenagers will not be mandated to get vaccines in schools and colleges. But people should just continue to voluntarily get the vaccines,” he said.

Itai Rusike, head of nonprofit Community Working Group on Health in Zimbabwe, commended the government for the announcement as it helps the country reach its target of vaccinating at least 10 million Zimbabweans — or 60% of the population — by the end of the year.

“This is important in order to prevent the teenagers from COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and even death, especially from the looming threat of the new delta variant. It is also important that the school health coordinators are equipped with the necessary COVID-19 vaccine literacy so that they can then assist in educating the students, the teachers and support staff on the importance of getting vaccinated. It is also important that the community leaders should play a critical role in being our COVID-19 champions and ambassadors so that they can encourage the parents and the children within their communities to embrace the vaccines,” said Rusike. 

Zimbabwe has fully inoculated just above 2.6 million people since February when it began its vaccination program to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
…

Citing “gross violations of internationally recognized human rights,” the United States on Tuesday said it suspended Ethiopia’s duty-free access to the U.S. market.

Mali and Guinea will also lose access under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

“Today, President Biden announced three countries will be terminated from the AGOA trade preference program as of January 1, 2022, absent urgent action to meet statutory eligibility criteria,” said U.S. top trade negotiator Ambassador Katherine Tai in a statement.

“Our Administration is deeply concerned by the unconstitutional change in governments in both Guinea and Mali, and by the gross violations of internationally recognized human rights being perpetrated by the Government of Ethiopia and other parties amid the widening conflict in northern Ethiopia.”

The move against Ethiopia comes as a result of a yearlong civil war in the northern Tigray region, which has caused a humanitarian crisis.

Already under the strain of war and the COVID-19 pandemic, the loss of access to the U.S. market will further weaken Ethiopia’s economy. According to Bloomberg, Ethiopia exported $245 million worth of goods to the U.S. under AGOA. That accounted for half the country’s exports to the U.S.

In addition to suspended access via AGOA, the Biden administration recently authorized sanctions against Ethiopian individuals it said are prolonging the war in the northern part of the country.

On Wednesday, the United Nations and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission are releasing a report with the results of their investigation into alleged human rights violations in the Tigray war.

Without a renewal, AGOA is set to expire in 2025.
…

Senegal has all the makings of a vibrant surf scene: consistent breaks, warm water and a friendly, inviting culture. But without access to the raw materials needed to shape their own boards, many miss out on the fun. One local surfer found a unique way to create his own boards and has now launched a business with the goal of becoming the first Senegalese surfboard shaper.

Shaping a surfboard from scratch requires a great deal of skill and precision. It also requires a host of raw materials, such as resin and fiberglass, which are hard to come by in Senegal.

But those obstacles never deterred Pape Diouf from trying to make his own.

Diouf grew up in Dakar’s seaside Yoff neighborhood, where he learned to surf on boards borrowed from friends — boards that were typically imported from Europe or left behind by tourists. But Diouf says he always dreamt of making his own.

“It allows you to not be dependent on the West in order to have boards. So, once there’s a possibility to find a board locally, it will help the Senegalese surf industry develop much more easily,” Diouf said.

In 2019, a Lebanese-Senegalese surfboard shaper agreed to teach Diouf how to shape and repair boards. Since he didn’t yet have the funds to purchase materials, Diouf began salvaging old, discarded boards and repurposing them into new ones. 

He often gave them away to young surfers from his community who didn’t have their own. Over the last year Diouf raised more than $15,000 through online crowdfunding and from international investors. He was granted a free 6-month training meant to help local entrepreneurs develop their businesses. He’s now in the running for a second round of investments. He plans to use the money to purchase the foam blanks he needs to shape the boards from scratch. 

Walid Moukadem is the surfboard shaper who trained Diouf. 

“It will be a first. It will really be a first. I don’t think there are many African surfboard shapers. To know that tomorrow Pape can sell his own boards, it’s huge,” Moukadem said.

Experts say there are many benefits to having surfboards shaped locally, particularly in countries where it’s not easily accessible. In Senegal, where infrastructure and businesses often rely on foreign investment, it’s also a matter of national pride.

Oumar Seye is the vice president of the Senegalese Surf Federation. He was the first professional Senegalese surfer and has witnessed the development of the country’s surf industry.

“What we would appreciate more is to have surfboards made in Senegal from Pape, it’s our hope. To have boards made in Senegal by a Senegalese [surfboard] shaper,” he said.

Seye said he looks forward to one day watching Diouf train the next generation of Senegalese surfboard shapers.
…

A 21-story apartment building under construction collapsed in an upscale area of Nigeria’s largest city, killing at least three people and leaving dozens more missing, officials and witnesses said on Monday. 

Lagos Police Commissioner Hakeem Odumosu confirmed the deaths, but added that three survivors had been pulled from the rubble in Ikoyi by Monday evening. Officials arriving at the scene were confronted by crowds of people venting their anger that rescue efforts started several hours after the collapse. 

Olayemi Bello told The Associated Press that five of his friends were trapped in the building and he feared the worst. 

“When they work finish, they will come outside and they will play with us and talk about the work,” he said. “Now, nobody. All of them are dead.” 

Construction worker Eric Tetteh said that he and his brother had managed to escape. But he estimated that more than 100 people were inside the building at the time it crumbled into a pile of debris. 

Workers said the high rise apartment building had been under construction for about two years, and it was not immediately known what had caused the collapse. 

However, such incidents are relatively common in Lagos because enforcement of building code regulations is weak. Other observers blame shoddy work by private developers eager to meet demand for housing in the megacity. 
…

Two different groups fighting Ethiopia’s central government said they had seized control of towns Sunday as the prime minister appealed for citizens to take up arms.

The spreading conflict threatens to further destabilize Africa’s second-most-populous nation, once considered a stable Western ally in a volatile region.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed urged citizens to join the fight against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or the TPLF, the party in control of the rebellious northern region of Tigray, after Tigrayan forces said they took another town on a highway linking the capital of the landlocked nation to the port of Djibouti.

“Our people should march…with any weapon and resources they have to defend, repulse and bury the terrorist TPLF,” Abiy said in a Facebook post Sunday night.

Claims of gains

TPLF spokesperson Getachew Reda said Tigrayan forces have seized the town of Kombolcha and its airport in the Amhara region. He spoke to Reuters by phone from an unknown location.

On Sunday night, insurgents from Oromiya, Ethiopia’s most populous region, said they had also seized the town of Kemise, 53 kilometers south of Kombolcha on the same highway to the capital Addis Ababa.

Odaa Tarbii, a spokesperson for the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), said the group had taken Kemise, 325 kilometers from Addis Ababa, and were engaging government forces.

The OLA is an outlawed splinter group of the Oromo Liberation Front, a formerly banned opposition group that returned from exile after Abiy took office in 2018. The Oromo are Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group; many of their political leaders have been imprisoned under Abiy’s government.

In August, the OLA and the TPLF announced a military alliance, heaping pressure on the central government.

Central government spokesperson Legesse Tulu, Ethiopian military spokesperson Col. Getnet Adane and Amhara regional spokesperson Gizachew Muluneh did not immediately respond requests for comment on the TPLF and the OLA’s claims.

Reuters could not independently verify Getachew’s claim as phone lines in Kombolcha appeared to be down Sunday. Reuters could not reach anyone in Kemise.

On Sunday, the Amhara regional government said in a statement “all government institutions must suspend their regular activities and should direct their budget and all their resources to the survival campaign…. officials on every level should mobilize and lead…to the front.”

They announced a curfew of 8 p.m. and urged citizens to provide private vehicles to support the campaign.

Yearlong war

War broke nearly a year ago between federal troops and the TPLF, which dominated Ethiopian politics for nearly three decades before Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was appointed in 2018. The conflict has killed thousands of civilians and forced more than two million people to flee their homes.

Tigrayan forces were initially beaten back, but recaptured most of Tigray in July. They then pushed into the neighboring Amhara and Afar regions, displacing hundreds of thousands more civilians.

Regional forces from Amhara have fought alongside the military in Tigray. The two regions of Amhara and Tigray have a long-running boundary dispute over farmland in Western Tigray, currently under the control of the Amhara administration.

In mid-October, the Tigrayan forces said the military had mounted an offensive to push them out of Amhara. The military has accused the Tigrayan forces of starting the recent round of fighting.

Tigrayan forces have said they will keep fighting until Amhara forces leave the heavily fortified area of Western Tigray, and until the government permits the free movement of aid into the rest of Tigray.

The United Nations has previously accused the government of a de facto blockade of Tigray, where the U.N. says around 400,000 people are living in famine conditions. The government denies blocking aid.

 
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Among the once-taboo professions emerging from Somalia’s decades of conflict and Islamic extremism is the world of arts, and a 21-year-old female painter has faced more opposition than most.

A rare woman artist in the highly conservative Horn of Africa nation, Sana Ashraf Sharif Muhsin lives and works amid the rubble of her uncle’s building that was partially destroyed in Mogadishu’s years of war.

Despite the challenges that include the belief by some Muslims that Islam bars all representations of people, and the search for brushes and other materials for her work, she is optimistic.

“I love my work and believe that I can contribute to the rebuilding and pacifying of my country,” she said.

Sana stands out for breaking the gender barrier to enter a male-dominated profession, according to Abdi Mohamed Shu’ayb, a professor of arts at Somali National University. She is just one of two female artists he knows of in Somalia, with the other in the breakaway region of Somaliland.

And yet Sana is unique “because her artworks capture contemporary life in a positive way and seek to build reconciliation,” he said, calling her a national hero.

Sana, a civil engineering student, began drawing at the age of 8, following in the footsteps of her maternal uncle, Abdikarim Osman Addow, a well-known artist.

“I would use charcoal on all the walls of the house, drawing my vision of the world,” Sana said, laughing. More formal instruction followed, and she eventually assembled a book from her sketches of household items like a shoe or a jug of water.

But as her work brought her more public attention over the years, some tensions followed.

“I fear for myself sometimes,” she said, and recalled a confrontation during a recent exhibition at the City University of Mogadishu. A male student began shouting “This is wrong!” and professors tried to calm him, explaining that art is an important part of the world.

Many people in Somalia don’t understand the arts, Sana said, and some even criticize them as disgusting. At exhibitions, she tries to make people understand that art is useful and “a weapon that can be used for many things.”

A teacher once challenged her skills by asking questions and requiring answers in the form of a drawing, she said.

“Everything that’s made is first drawn, and what we’re making is not the dress but something that changes your internal emotions,” Sana said. “Our paintings talk to the people.”

Her work at times explores the social issues roiling Somalia, including a painting of a soldier looking at the ruins of the country’s first parliament building. It reflects the current political clash between the federal government and opposition, she said, as national elections are delayed.

Another painting reflects abuses against vulnerable young women “which they cannot even express.” A third shows a woman in the bare-shouldered dress popular in Somalia decades ago before a stricter interpretation of Islam took hold and scholars urged women to wear the hijab.

But Sana also strives for beauty in her work, aware that “we have passed through 30 years of destruction, and the people only see bad things, having in their mind blood and destruction and explosions. … If you Google Somalia, we don’t have beautiful pictures there, but ugly ones, so I’d like to change all that using my paintings.”

Sana said she hopes to gain further confidence in her work by exhibiting it more widely, beyond events in Somalia and neighboring Kenya.

But finding role models at home for her profession doesn’t come easily.

Sana named several Somali artists whose work she admires, but she knows of no other female ones like herself.
…

The United Nations discussed possible steps forward with ousted Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok Sunday, a day after hundreds of thousands of people marched in protest of last week’s military coup. 

Volker Perthes, the U.N. special representative to Sudan, said that Hamdok is doing well but remains under house arrest in his residence. 

Protesters remained in the streets Sunday, many of them manning barricades and blocking roads after large demonstrations on Saturday turned deadly. 

Three people were shot dead by security forces in Khartoum’s sister city of Omdurman Saturday, bringing the number of civilians killed since last Monday’s coup to 14. 

Despite some protests and roadblocks, Khartoum returned to relative quiet as strikes in various sectors continued in defiance of General Abdel-Fattah Burhan’s seizure of power and declaration of a state of emergency.

The October 25 move dissolved a transitional government established in August 2019, after months of deadly protests following the ouster of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir. 

Since then, the U.N. and United States have frozen aid to Sudan – a move likely to have a devastating impact on the country which is already suffering an economic crisis.

International condemnation of the military takeover and demands to restore the transitional government echo the calls of hundreds of thousands of protesters in Sudan. 

Images and video footage from Khartoum and other cities Saturday showed crowds carrying Sudanese flags and banners denouncing the military government. Chants and songs that were sung in 2019 when protesters demanded al-Bashir’s ouster have been revived in the latest demonstrations. 

Protests took place around the world as well, with thousands of Sudanese from across the United States marching through Washington Saturday.

The military takeover occurred after weeks of escalating tensions involving military and civilian leaders over Sudan’s transition to democracy.

But even after the landmark power-sharing agreement in 2019, in which Hamdok was named the country’s leader, protests continued. Demonstrators, who often used the word “Medaniya,” or civilian, to call for a civilian government, opposed any military control in the transitional government. 

Burhan said Tuesday the army’s overthrow of the transitional government was necessary to avoid a civil war. 

Some information in this report came from AFP and Reuters. 
…

Sudanese anti-coup protesters on Sunday manned barricades in Khartoum a day after a deadly crackdown on mass rallies, as a defiant civil disobedience campaign against the military takeover entered its seventh day.

Tens of thousands turned out across the country for Saturday’s demonstrations, marching against the army’s October 25 power grab, when top General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan dissolved the government, declared a state of emergency and detained Sudan’s civilian leadership.

The move sparked a chorus of international condemnation, with world powers demanding a swift return to civilian rule and calls for the military to show “restraint” against protesters.

At least three people were shot dead and more than 100 people wounded during Saturday’s demonstrations, according to medics, who reported those killed had bullet wounds in their head, chest or stomach. It takes the death toll since protests began to at least 11.

Police forces denied the killings, or using live bullets.

“No, no, to military rule,” protesters carrying Sudanese flags chanted as they marched around the capital and other cities, as forces fired tear gas to break them up.

More than 100 people were also wounded on Saturday, some suffering breathing difficulties from tear gas, the independent Central Committee of Sudan’s Doctors said.

Sudan had been ruled since August 2019 by a joint civilian-military council, alongside Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s government, as part of the now derailed transition to full civilian rule.

Soldiers on the streets

Hamdok and other top leaders have been under military guard since then, either in detention or effective house arrest.

U.S. President Joe Biden has called the coup a “grave setback”, while the African Union has suspended Sudan’s membership for the “unconstitutional” takeover.

The World Bank and the United States froze aid, a move that will hit hard in a country already mired in a dire economic crisis.

But Burhan — who became de facto leader after hardline ex-president Omar al-Bashir was ousted in 2019 following huge youth-led protests — has insisted the military takeover was “not a coup.”

Instead, Burhan says he wants to “rectify the course of the Sudanese transition.”

Demonstrations on Saturday rocked many cities across Sudan, including in the eastern states of Gedaref and Kassala, as well as in North Kordofan and White Nile, witnesses and AFP correspondents said.

As night fell Saturday, many protests in Khartoum and the capital’s twin city of Omdurman thinned out. But on Sunday morning protesters were back on the streets, again using rocks and tyres to block roads.

Shops remain largely shut in Khartoum, where many government employees are refusing to work as part of a nationwide protest campaign.

Soldiers from the army and the much-feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces were seen on many streets in Khartoum and Omdurman.

Security forces have set up random checkpoints on the streets, frisking passers-by and randomly searching cars.

Phone lines, which were largely down on Saturday, were back apart from intermittent disruptions. But internet access has remained cut off since the army’s takeover.

Sudan has enjoyed only rare democratic interludes since independence in 1956 and spent decades riven by civil war.

Burhan was a general under Bashir’s three decades of iron-fisted rule, and analysts said the coup aimed to maintain the army’s traditional control over the northeast African country.
…

Thousands of Sudanese from across the US attended a march in DC on Oct. 30, 2020, to protest a recent military coup in Sudan. VOA’s Nabeel Biajo was there.
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Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa says he will attend COP26, becoming the first Zimbabwe leader to visit the United Kingdom since Zimbabwe was accused of human rights abuses and election rigging. Mnangagwa also said a U.N. rapporteur had proved his government was right about the sanctions issue.

Winding up an annual conference of the ruling ZANU-PF party Saturday in Bindura, 80 kilometers north of Zimbabwe’s capital, Mnangagwa said he was looking forward to attending the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP26, in Scotland, which begins Sunday.

“I wish to inform the conference that tomorrow morning (Sunday) I travel to Glasgow, United Kingdom, after over two decades have passed without Zimbabwe leadership going to United Kingdom. I have been invited by [British Prime Minister] Boris Johnson, and [he] has indicated he might meet me; one on one, as well as other leaders like India prime minister and others, we are meeting them,” he said.

Mnangagwa also said he was happy about a report by U.N. Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan after a two-week visit to Zimbabwe. The Belarus national urged the U.S. and other Western governments to lift sanctions they imposed on Zimbabwe nearly two decades ago and for alleged election-rigging and human rights abuses.

“We as government, we as ZANU-PF, have been vindicated by the report released by the United Nations special rapporteur. We should congratulate ourselves. We have never been wrong, and we shall continue always being right. Those who have been found outside the law should reckon their position,” Mnangagwa said.  

But in an audio statement released by the U.S. Embassy in Harare, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said sanctions on Zimbabwe’s leadership were not hurting ordinary citizens.

“Our sanctions target individuals and institutions that are committing human rights violations. And we make every effort to ensure those sanctions do not impact the people. What is happening in Zimbabwe is a result of bad policies in Zimbabwe. What is happening in Zimbabwe is a consequence of their leadership. It is not a consequence of our sanctions, and we will always resist any criticism that says our sanctions are impacting people unfairly. We are criticized by the government [of Zimbabwe] for these actions because they know they are responsible for these actions. I regret that the special rapporteur decided to put this in [her] report,” Thomas-Greenfield said.

The European Union imposed travel and financial sanctions on then-Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe and his allies in 2002, in response to reports of election-rigging and human rights. The U.S. followed suit with sanctions in 2003.    

Earlier this week, in separate statements, the U.S., Britain and the European Union said Zimbabwe’s economy was suffering, not because of sanctions but because of corruption and government mismanagement of the country’s resources.
…

Tigrayan forces said on Saturday they had seized the strategic town of Dessie in Ethiopia’s Amhara region where tens of thousands of ethnic Amharas have sought refuge from an escalation in fighting, but the government denied this.

The fighters pushed Ethiopian government forces from Dessie and were headed towards the town of Kombolcha, Getachew Reda, spokesperson for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), told Reuters by satellite phone from an undisclosed location.

He said Tigrayan forces had captured numerous Ethiopian soldiers.

Legesse Tulu, the government spokesperson, told Reuters in a text message that the town was still under the control of the Ethiopian government and said claims by the Tigrayan forces were “fabricated propaganda.”

Ethiopian military spokesman Colonel Getnet Adane referred Reuters to the federal government. Legesse Tulu, the government spokesperson, Abebe Gebre Mesqel, the mayor of Dessie and a spokesperson for the town did not respond to requests for comment.

Reuters could not independently verify the TPLF’s account of developments and phone lines in Dessie appeared to be down as of Saturday afternoon.

The capture of Dessie would be a strategic gain for the Tigrayan fighters against the central government forces who are trying to dislodge them from the Amhara region.

The large town is some 385 km from the capital, Addis Ababa, and is the furthest south in Amhara that the TPLF has reached since pushing into the region in July.

War broke nearly a year ago between federal troops and the TPLF. Thousands of people have been killed and more than 2 million people have been forced to flee.

Tigrayan forces were initially beaten back, but recaptured most of the region in July and pushed into the neighboring Amhara and Afar regions.

In mid-October, the Tigrayan forces said the military had launched a ground offensive to push them out of Amhara. The military said on Thursday there was heavy fighting there, but accused the Tigrayan forces of starting it.
…

Protesters are taking to the streets of Sudan on Saturday to demand the restoration of a civilian government.Neighborhood committees and other activists planned Saturday’s “march of millions” under the slogan “Leave.”

Volker Perthes, the special representative of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, said in a statement Friday that he “remains in constant contact with all sides to facilitate a political solution in line with the Constitutional Document. UNITAMS [the U.N. Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan] is actively coordinating with mediation efforts currently underway to facilitate an inclusive dialogue, which remains the only path toward a peaceful solution to the current crisis.”

The United States has urged the military leaders of Monday’s coup to refrain from “any and all violence” against peaceful protesters.

The appeal to Sudan’s military leaders came from a senior U.S. State Department official who was briefing reporters on condition of anonymity.

Saturday will be “a real indication of what the military intentions are,” the official said.

Security forces have killed at least nine people by gunfire and wounded at least 170 others during the protests, according to the Sudan Doctors’ Committee.

Saturday’s protests have some residents fearing a full-blown clampdown, Reuters reported.

“Confronting peaceful protesters with gunfire is something that should not be tolerated,” said Haitham Mohamed in Khartoum. “It will not make us back down; it only strengthens our resolve.”

The military takeover occurred after weeks of escalating tensions between military and civilian leaders over Sudan’s transition to democracy. The coup threatens to derail the process, which has slowly progressed since the army ousted longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir, ending a popular uprising in 2019.

Sudanese military chief General Abdel-Fattah Burhan said Tuesday the army’s overthrow of the country’s transitional government was necessary to avoid a civil war.

Guterres said in a statement Friday “I urge the military to show restraint and not to create any more victims. People must be allowed to demonstrate peacefully. And this is essential.”

Some information in this report came from Reuters.

State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching also contributed to this report. 

 
…

Some farmers and organizations in Africa are adopting smart and technology-based solutions as the continent seeks to prepare itself for the effects of climate change. Brenda Mulinya reports from Nairobi.
Camera: Amos Wangwa Producer: Amos Wangwa
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Ethiopia’s media authority on Friday ordered a local radio and TV broadcaster to cease sharing foreign news reports.

A letter from the Ethiopian Media Authority, issued to Ahadu Radio and TV (Ahadu RTV), said the station could no longer air coverage provided by international news agencies via satellite.

Ahadu RTV is an affiliate of Voice of America, which is the predominant source for its international coverage.

The letter, written in Amharic and viewed by VOA’s Africa Division, provided no specific reason for the ban or a timeframe for how long it would stay in place, saying only that the “station was acting outside its goals of establishment.”

Several other stations received the same order, according to Eskinder Frew, a journalist in Addis Ababa who contributes to VOA.

Ethiopia has issued orders or suspended licenses for various media groups and expelled at least one foreign journalist in the past year, often on accusations that the news outlets were legitimizing terrorist groups, a reference to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.

Ethiopian federal forces and the TPLF have been fighting in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region since November 2020.

In July, the media regulator suspended the license of the Addis Standard, which led to the news outlet’s suspension of operations.

The regulator said it was investigating complaints that the Addis Standard was publishing content that posed a threat to national security, the Committee to Protect Journalists said at the time.

That same month, authorities arrested about 20 journalists from two independent broadcasters.

Media analysts including Reporters Without Borders told VOA in July that the arrests were likely connected to the media coverage of the federal government and the conflict in Tigray.

VOA sent requests for comment late Friday to Ethiopia’s embassy in Washington and to the Ethiopian Media Authority. As of publication, neither had responded.

The media regulator said in its letter Friday that broadcasters must operate “according to the terms and obligations they agreed upon … to inform, educate and entertain the public.”

Ahadu RTV however, “has been rebroadcasting the Voice of America contents via satellite link, abandoning its objective.”

VOA expressed disappointment at the order Friday and called on the Ethiopian Media Authority to reconsider its decision.

“The Voice of America strictly adheres to the principles of accurate, balanced and comprehensive journalism.  Our content addresses issues important to the people of Ethiopia,” acting director Yolanda Lόpez said in a statement.

“The order restricts the free flow of information to the citizens of Ethiopia and undermines press freedom. It sends a chilling message to all journalists in the country.”

This story originated in VOA’s Africa Division.
…

The United States urged the military leaders of Sudan’s coup to refrain from “any and all violence” against peaceful protesters who are planning major demonstrations on Saturday. 

The appeal to Sudan’s military leaders came from a senior State Department official who was briefing reporters on condition of anonymity. 

“Tomorrow is going to be a real indication of what the military intentions are,” the official said. 

Since Monday’s military takeover, protesters have taken to the streets of Sudan to demand the restoration of a civilian government. A group of neighborhood committees and other activists are planning a “march of millions” on Saturday under the slogan “Leave!” 

Security forces have killed at least nine people by gunfire and wounded at least 170 others during the protests, according to the Sudan Doctors Committee. 

Saturday’s planned protests have some residents fearing a full-blown clampdown, Reuters reported. 

“Confronting peaceful protesters with gunfire is something that should not be tolerated,” said Haitham Mohamed in Khartoum. “It will not make us back down; it only strengthens our resolve.” 

The military takeover occurred after weeks of escalating tensions between military and civilian leaders over Sudan’s transition to democracy. The coup threatens to derail the process, which has slowly progressed since the army ousted longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir, ending a popular uprising in 2019. 

Sudanese military chief General Abdel-Fattah Burhan said Tuesday that the army’s overthrow of the country’s transitional government was necessary to avoid a civil war. 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement Friday, “I urge the military to show restraint and not to create any more victims. People must be allowed to demonstrate peacefully. And this is essential.”

VOA State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching contributed to this report. Some information came from Reuters.
…

New violence has wracked northwestern Cameroon, where the military said it killed some 40 separatist fighters over the past two weeks. The Catholic Church said some of those killed were civilians, and witnesses said many houses were burned to the ground.

Cameroon’s government is expressing frustration with the separatists but vows it will not allow the breakup of the country.

External Relations Minister Lejeune Mbella Mbella summoned ambassadors to a meeting Thursday where he laid out the government’s position on the  separatist crisis. 

Mbella Mbella said the separatists are again causing untold suffering in the English-speaking western towns and villages of the majority French-speaking nation. 

He said Cameroon is surprised fighters continue to commit atrocities when much has been done to satisfy the needs of the minority English speakers who feel marginalized.

“The government of Cameroon has undertaken the most expensive and extensive structural and administrative reforms in its recent history,” Mbella Mbella said. “As a key recommendation of the major national dialogue, the government tabled the bill to institute the special status. His excellency Paul Biya has also granted a general full amnesty to combatants who voluntarily drop their weapons.” 

None of the heads of diplomatic missions invited to the meeting would comment when contacted by VOA.

 By “special status,” the minister is referring to political reforms that gave the largely English-speaking northwest and southwestern regions greater autonomy. The reforms were passed after Cameroon organized what it called a major national dialogue to solve the separatist crisis in 2019. 

Mbella Mbella also declared the government will not allow any part of the country to secede. 

The separatists have a different point of view. This week, an official from what the separatists call the Ambazonia Interim Government said on Facebook that their forces will never surrender, and that the English speakers will fight until freedom is achieved. 

They also accuse government forces of being responsible for many killings and much of the destruction in the western regions. 

Separatists blame the government for torching houses during recent operations in the northwestern town of Kumbo and areas nearby. The government said separatist forces were to blame. 

The military also said about 40 fighters have been killed in raids on separatist camps in the past two weeks. 

However, the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon’s Catholic Bishops — a neutral party in the conflict — said some of those killed were civilians.

Kumbo Mayor Venatius Mborong said several hundred civilians had fled the renewed fighting. 

“They left Kumbo because they have been kidnapped a couple of times and they have paid ransom and now they are frankless [poor],” Mborong said. “People have sold houses, they have sold their lands, and so they cannot continue staying there.” 

The United Nations says the separatist war has forced more than 500,000 people to flee their homes since the conflict erupted in late 2017.
…

The Sudanese general who seized power in a coup this week said the military he heads will appoint a technocrat prime minister to rule alongside it within a week.

In an interview with Russia’s state-owned Sputnik news agency published Friday, Abdel-Fattah Burhan said the new premier will form a cabinet that will share leadership of the country with the armed forces.

“We have a patriotic duty to lead the people and help them in the transition period until elections are held,” Burhan said in the interview.

On Monday, Burhan dissolved the transitional government and detained Prime Minister Abddalla Hamdok, many government officials and political leaders in a coup condemned by the U.S. and the West. The military allowed Hamdok to return home under guard the following day after international pressure.

The generals have not yet produced a list of candidates for the premiership, Burhan said. The decision to appoint such a premier follows earlier calls by the generals for a nonpartisan technocrat Cabinet.

The military takeover came after weeks of mounting tensions between military and civilian leaders over the course and pace of Sudan’s transition to democracy. It threatened to derail that process, which has progressed in fits and starts since the overthrow of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir in a popular uprising two years ago.

Burhan has said military forces were compelled to take over because of quarrels between political parties that he claimed could lead to civil war. However, the coup also comes just weeks before Burhan would have had to hand over the leadership of the Sovereign Council, the ultimate decision-maker in Sudan, to a civilian, in a step that would reduce the military’s hold on the country.

The coup has elicited a storm of street protests demanding the restoration of a civilian government. At least nine people have been killed by security forces’ gunfire, according to the Sudan Doctors’ Committee and activists. At least 170 others were wounded, according to the UN. Pro-democracy activist groups have called for `million-person’ marches on Saturday to bring the coup to a halt.

Burhan said earlier this week that he had installed himself as head of a military council that will rule Sudan until elections in July 2023.
…