Mozambique’s deadly demos: Popular protests were condemned abroad, condoned in Africa
Since departing from Marxist-Leninist path, officially in 1989, the party has been following a hybrid governance model. It has in place ineffectual, formally democratic institutions, amid an authoritarian political culture. Simply put, the country’s political system falls somewhere between a genuine democracy and an authoritarian regime.
How six months of planning, Assad’s falling out with Turkey and Israeli weakening of Hezbollah precipitated to regime change in Syria
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s government, which struck a deal with Russia in 2020 to de-escalate fighting in northwestern Syria, has long opposed such a major rebel offensive, fearing it would lead to a new wave of refugees crossing its border.
Redesigned AU conflict intervention force suits African needs but requires funding
Inevitably money is the key issue. The last large AU missions, launched in Mali in 2013 and the Central African Republic in 2014, were quickly passed wholesale to the UN. The AU’s Peace Fund – moribund for years – only recently reached its $400 million target (actually surpassing it by $208 million following a pledge in July by the African Export-Import Bank). But to put that figure in perspective, AMISOM is estimated to have cost $1.2 billion a year.
Irony of UN missions: UN deploys where there’s peace to keep, while African-led PSOs deploy where there’s no peace at all
Eighteen years on, al-Shabab remains a potent presence in Somalia’s south-central countryside. AMISOM found itself hamstrung by inconsistent financing, shortages of equipment, poor coordination and the complexity of Somalia’s domestic politics.
Data suggest Chelsea the most entertaining team in English Premier League at present
The Chelsea fans in the away end roared their approval. “Chelsea are back,” they bellowed, the first time this writer has heard that upbeat chant since the Todd Boehly-Clearlake consortium took over in May 2022. Maresca’s name was belted out loudly, too, the first head coach hired by the current regime to be on the receiving end of such a resounding noise of approval.
SHIF or SHA heist: Enterprise Resource Planner Ruto sourced from Adani for $800 million costs less than $8 million in Kenya
The shares in this consortium are as follows when rounded off, the company associated with Adani controls 60 per cent, Safaricom and David Ndii-associated company 20 per cent each. Going by the shares, Adani would have received Ksh6 billion ($46,170,000) and the other Ksh2 billion ($15,390,000) annually. From these figures, David Ndii and his wife will be making a cool Ksh2 billion annually from your SHIF contribution.
Fixing Man City and Arsenal: Reality of injuries and excuses, missed chances and devastating counter-attacking blows
More often than not, it’s the straightforward explanation that makes the most sense. Arsenal haven’t been their usual selves in recent weeks – carving out lower-quality chances, stringing together fewer passes, and struggling to pen their opponents and sustain pressure – and that has largely coincided with an injury to their most influential creative player.
Raped and impregnated by IS fighters, thousands of Yazidi women abandon children when rescued
Yazidi captives are often too afraid to seek help, four survivors said. Rafida Naif, a 26-year-old Yazidi woman, spent 20 months at al-Hol. She said she feared she would be killed if she identified herself to guards and wasn’t immediately removed from the IS family she was with. When the family would hear a vehicle approaching their tent, she said, they would hide her in a hole and cover it with cardboard or bedding.
How Iraq’s displaced Yazidis suffocate in Islam, Christianity and Zoroastrianism faith hotchpotch
Iraqi officials say more than 5,000 Yazidis, most of them men and older women, were killed in the initial assault in August 2014, their bodies dumped in mass graves. Some 6,400 others, mainly women and children, were captured. Sold into domestic and sexual slavery or trained as fighters and suicide bombers, they were passed from owner to owner across the group’s “caliphate,” which at its peak spanned roughly a third of Iraq and Syria.
America’s choice: In every state it was on the ballot, reproductive health was more popular than Kamala Harris
Even in New York, which Harris won with 55 per cent of the vote, she underperformed in comparison to the abortion-related amendment, which got 62 per cent support. (Harris also significantly underperformed recent Democratic presidential candidates in the state.)
