French Government Closes Hundreds of Schools Amid Protests Against Austerity 

Thousands of high school students have been arrested as many schools have been vandalized

By Abayomi Azikiwe

Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Monday October 12, 2026

Political Review

High school students in France have engaged in strikes and mass demonstrations as funding cuts and lay-offs have created intolerable conditions in the education sector.

On October 12, the government shutdown schools across the country in an effort to curb discontent among the youth, many of whom have suffered injuries from the police crackdown on unrest. 

One student suffered serious hand injuries when he picked up a teargas grenade that soon exploded. Many people within civil society have criticized the harsh measures utilized by the French police to disperse the demonstrations.

Media reports on the situation in France emphasized the tumultuous character of the struggle being waged by high school students and their supporters. Rather than making decisions which would improve the educational outcomes in France, the government has responded with school closures and the intensification of police repression.

Hundreds of thousands of high school students reached the breaking point having to accept staff shortages and dilapidated buildings. There are videos posted on social media of rats running through the corridors of schools, broken toilets, mold and holes in the walls of buildings.

It was not only the 500,000 students who marched around the country on October 6 many of their teachers joined in with them. The class sizes of 35 pupils are making effective instruction almost impossible. 

Since early October, approximately 7,000 people have been arrested, most of whom some 85% are children. These figures were provided by the French Interior Ministry.

These demonstrations are taking place ahead of the planned 2027 national elections. The French political landscape is sharply divided between the far-right National Rally party and the left-wing France Unbowed (LFI) which is headed by Jean-Luc Melenchon. 

Two-term President Emmanuel Macron cannot run again. Many believe that the upcoming elections will represent a turning-point in French politics.

Over the last eight years there have been periodic protests in the European state. The Yellow Jackets campaigns were centered around the costs of transportation. 

Several years later during 2023, millions engaged in several general strikes over proposed changes in the national pension system. The government policy was centered around raising the retirement age from 62 to 64. There was mass support for the demonstrations and strikes. However, the administration in France imposed the new policy absent a vote within the national assembly.

During that same year, 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk, who was of North African descent, was shot dead by the French police. Days of unrest followed bringing international attention to the problems of police brutality within France.

The following year in 2024, mass protests and strikes arose just days prior to the Olympic games held in Paris. Garbage was piled up in the streets while there were severe disruptions in the public transportation system.

Political Impact of the Student Strikes and Demonstrations

According to opinion polls in France regarding the most recent unrest among the youth, the majority of people are in support of the students. The far-right National Rally has condemned the student demonstrations calling for the parents of students to be charged for the property damage done during the unrest.

In response to the strikes and demonstrations, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said that by the end of October 3,000 substitute teachers will be brought into the system. Nonetheless, despite this promise of hiring extra teachers, students have continued their protest actions. 

One press source has noted:

“Protesting teenagers at French upper secondary schools, known as lycees, have complained about high teacher absenteeism, school days they say are too long and buildings in poor condition. They have also called attention to inadequate cooling during hot summer days.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu urged local authorities on Sunday to prioritize filling gaps caused by long-term absences and unfilled posts. He also called a meeting for Tuesday with regional presidents to discuss renovating school buildings. The closures affect teaching and leave families and students facing uncertainty over when lessons can resume. The education minister said the shutdowns were mainly a precaution, while officials weighed school safety against plans for a gradual return to classes. Geffray said the number of schools closed on Monday would be similar to Friday’s, even as authorities planned a partial return to lessons. Organizers, however, called for protests to continue on Tuesday.” (https://journalarta.com/en/2026/10/12/schools-closed-france-student-protests/)

After the school closures on October 12, the following day more demonstrations were planned to keep the issue before the public. The LFI leader Jean-Luc Melenchon has been present alongside the students in the mass demonstrations.

The French political divide has hampered the capacity of the present government to resolve the crisis. Conditions within the school system are so dire that the students are demanding immediate actions which will have long-term implications for youth.

As it relates to the reforms announced by the French government, Le Monde noted in a report that:

“The student organizations behind the protests are yet to be convinced, however. The Union of High School students described the initial announcements last week as ‘crumbs.’ They are maintaining their demand for an extra €10 million to be invested in the country's high schools.

France's 10,000 medical students are meanwhile beginning to express concern at the effect any continued school blockades could have on exams that start on Monday, which help determine their eventual speciality. They do not want to see the students' action disrupt such a crucial stage of their education.” (https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2026/10/12/french-high-school-students-plan-fresh-protests_6758502_7.html)

Education, Public Sector Cuts and the Capitalist Crisis

The problems which have come to the fore are part and parcel of a broader crisis within the French economy. The labor and student unrest over the last several years represents the failing capitalist system in Europe.

There is additional pressure being placed on European economies of those states which are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The administration of President Donald Trump in the United States has demanded that the United Kingdom and other European continental states raise the level of military expenditures to 5% of their national budgets.

During the beginning of the unprovoked war by the US and Israel, Trump demanded that other NATO states enter directly in the bombing of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Although the UK does allow Pentagon warplanes to utilize and refuel at their bases, they have refrained from joining the efforts to destroy Iran and occupy the Strait of Hormuz. 

The war with Iran has become a major factor in the global economic downturn. Fuel prices have skyrocketed, prompting inflation in areas of food, fertilizer and other essential commodities.

In the German newspaper Deutsche Welle, it says of the status of the French education system:

“The latest scores for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) program for international student assessment (Pisa), which were published in September, illustrate the scale of the problems in the education system. According to the results, more than one in three 15-year-olds in France no longer achieve a basic level of competence in mathematics, for example. Macron's reform of the upper secondary education system has also been criticized. The abolition of academic streaming in favor of specialist subjects selected by the individual was meant to give pupils greater freedom of choice. However, the large number of possible subject combinations make it difficult to timetable lessons. Students complain that they have too many free periods and longer school days. The problems also extend to universities. A lecturer at a Paris university described a seminar attended by 50 students — so many that they have to fetch chairs from other rooms or sit on the floor. So far, she said, the university administration had done nothing about it.” (https://www.dw.com/en/schools-crisis-in-france-investment-fails-to-inspire-confidence/a-79621916)

The demonstrations in France are reflective of a broader European social discontent. In Belgium there was the beginning of a national walkout on October 9 when air flights were cancelled due to work stoppages. (https://www.reuters.com/world/belgium-strike-partly-shuts-public-sector-budget-deal-delayed-2026-10-12/)

Both workers and students held mass demonstrations, some of which turned violent. On October 12 the national strike impacted transportation and other areas within the public sector.

Belgian right-wing Prime Minister Bart De Wever admitted that the failure of the government to reach agreement on a national budget has created unease and anger throughout broad segments of the population. De Wever noted that large-scale budget cuts were inevitable which will undoubtedly impact workers and youth inside the country.

All of these events in France and Belgium are a direct result of the international situation prompted by the economic and military policies of the US. Facing a midterm election as the approval rating of the Trump administration has reached unprecedented lows, the White House is striking out against its perceived political enemies. Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar had her Washington, D.C. residence raided by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on October 12 under an obvious politically motivated attempt to deflect attention away from the deteriorating social conditions in the US. 

Many believe that the situation in Western Europe and the US will only worsen in the coming weeks and months. The outcomes of these struggles will have a tremendous impact on the status of working people and the nationally oppressed in North America and Europe.

YAF Strike Riyadh Airport, Khamis Mushait Air Base With Precision

By Al Mayadeen English

Source: Yemeni Military Media + Al Mayadeen

12 Oct 2026 23:34

The Yemeni Armed Forces targeted King Khalid Airport in Riyadh with a ballistic missile and Khamis Mushait Air Base with a drone, warning airlines against using Saudi airports.

The Yemeni Armed Forces targeted King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, with a ballistic missile, YAF spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree announced, confirming that the strike achieved a direct hit.

The Armed Forces also carried out another operation targeting Khamis Mushait Air Base with a drone, saying the attack also achieved a direct hit, according to Saree.

The Yemeni Armed Forces renewed their warning to international airlines, experts, employees, workers, and travelers against operating flights to Saudi airports, stressing that they are "unsafe", with the exception of airports and airspace serving the holy areas in Mecca and Medina.

With four top-tier ops., YAF strike Saudi airports, Aramco facilities

Yesterday, the Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson Yahya Saree announced that the YAF carried out four top-tier military operations targeting two Saudi airports and two Aramco energy facilities in retaliation for continued Saudi aggression against Yemen.

In a statement issued October 11, Saree detailed that the four operations were carried out with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones.

The first operation targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh in three stages, disrupting air traffic and forcing the airport to a complete halt, according to the spokesperson.

The second operation targeted Aramco’s Shedgum gas facility in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province. Saree said the strike hit its target accurately and caused large fires.

The third operation struck Aramco’s Tanajib gas facility, also in the Eastern Province, according to Saree, who described the strike as "precise" and said it sparked fires at the site.

The fourth targeted King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, where Saree said a direct hit disrupted air traffic.

Missile and drone attack on Saudi troop concentrations

In a separate operation, the Yemeni Armed Forces targeted Saudi troop build-ups in Ras al-'Ara and al-Saqiya areas with six ballistic missiles and two drones, Saree said.

He reported that the attack killed and wounded dozens of personnel.

Saree also said Yemeni air defenses confronted Saudi aircraft with a large number of locally manufactured surface-to-air missiles, forcing them to retreat.

Saree renewed a warning to international companies, experts, employees, workers, and travelers against operating or taking flights to Saudi airports, which he described as unsafe.

He explicitly exempted the airports and airspace of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

IRGC Targets 3rd Tanker Violating Hormuz Restrictions, Warns US Allies

By Al Mayadeen English

Source: IRGC Public Relations Office

12 Oct 2026 20:39

Iran’s IRGC Navy warns against cooperation with US forces as Tehran strengthens its naval deterrence capabilities.

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps Navy (IRGC-N) announced that its forces targeted a third supertanker in the Strait of Hormuz after the vessel defied Iranian navigation restrictions, reaffirming its determination to enforce security measures in the strategic waterway and warning against cooperation with US forces.

In a statement, the IRGC Navy’s Public Relations Office said the tanker caught fire after being targeted for attempting to cross the strait through an unauthorized route.

The vessel had deliberately switched off its navigation system and disregarded repeated warnings from Iranian naval forces while attempting to pass through the waterway, according to the statement.

The IRGC Navy said the tanker’s actions constituted a violation of the security measures governing maritime traffic and were intended to undermine order and stability in the strait.

The naval force stressed that commercial ships and oil tankers operating in the Strait of Hormuz must comply with Iran’s navigation restrictions, warning that any cooperation with the US military in the strait or the wider Gulf region would be met with a decisive response.

Iran develops new weapons to counter enemy threats

Separately, the deputy commander of the Iranian Army’s Navy said Iranian forces were advancing their military capabilities by developing new weapons designed to exploit vulnerabilities identified in their adversaries' defenses.

He explained that Iran had closely examined the enemy’s weaknesses and was incorporating its findings into the development of new weapons systems and operational tactics.

The commander further stressed that Iranian naval forces were adapting their strategies to counter hostile military maneuvers, pointing to what he described as a significant retreat by enemy forces from Iran’s maritime borders.

Border Crisis in Spain’s Ceuta Has Exposed its Christian-Muslim Fault Lines

By SUMAN NAISHADHAM

4:53 PM EDT, October 12, 2026

CEUTA, Spain (AP) — Ceuta, a sliver of land in North Africa, is an anomaly for Spain: a city where Muslims and Christians live in almost equal numbers.

But a monthslong migration crisis in the Spanish exclave, which Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia will visit on Tuesday for the first time, has exposed divisions in a place that bills itself as a beacon of coexistence. Some people say the fault lines were always there.

The crisis was triggered in late July when about 80,000 people poured into the Spanish exclave from neighboring Morocco, driven by rumors online that Spain had opened its border. Most of those who crossed left within days, but up to 15,000 migrants stayed, leaving the city under strain and pitting residents against one another.

The crisis has been shouldered unevenly

Many migrants who remained in Ceuta have sheltered in Muslim neighborhoods, sleeping on streets, in doorways and in makeshift tent camps and centers run by NGOs and locals. Residents say the chaos never ended for them and have grown frustrated.

Mohamed Susi, a resident of the Muslim-majority neighborhood of El Principe, watched as hundreds of migrant boys gathered at a church next to his house one day in early October to await the arrival of a visiting minister.

“What do they want? That we feed all of Ceuta?” Susi said. “Find a solution already!” he said, slamming his door shut.

Next to one of the city’s main mosques, volunteers and workers at a Muslim charity filled plastic to-go containers with stewed lentils and pasta on a late September day.

Halima Ahmed, spokesperson for the Luna Blanca charity, said it has distributed between 3,000 and 5,000 meals per day to migrants still in the city. The volunteers and workers have received threats and insults for doing so, she said.

“There’s tension,” Ahmed said. “People are fed up with the situation.”

Ceuta’s downtown, frequented by Christians and Muslims, regained a sense of normalcy within days of the initial rush. People returned to restaurants, bars and open-air terraces. Shops reopened. But signs of the city’s discontent abound. Storefronts carry signs that read: “Ceuta stands its ground — Ceuta won’t give up!” while the flags of Spain and Ceuta hang from balconies.

Spanish police and thousands of soldiers have been deployed, patrolling the city center and areas near the border.

Residents have staged regular protests as the crisis persisted. At a demonstration outside the city government in early October, around 200 people demanded solutions from Spain’s left-wing national government. Men and women draped in Ceuta’s black-and-white flag banged on pots and pans and expressed their dissatisfaction with what they described as the Spanish government’s slow response. Very few of those in attendance, if any, were Muslim.

Francisco Luna, 45, the owner of an auto repair shop, said coexistence has been frayed. He described the atmosphere in one word: “terrible.”

Some Muslims in the city are protecting migrants, he said, which made him question their loyalty to Ceuta.

“We have always lived together well,” Luna said. “Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus — we’ve never had any problems. But now, I do see it, because there are Muslims who defend the (migrants) from Morocco.”

Historic divisions run deep in Ceuta

Ceuta has belonged to Spain for centuries. Its 84,000 residents are Spanish and European Union citizens. Many are from the mainland. Most of the city’s Muslims trace their roots to Morocco, have relatives there and speak Moroccan Arabic. The city has smaller Jewish and Hindu populations.

The territory is poorer than much of Spain, and Muslims experience higher rates of poverty compared to the rest of the exclave, a 2025 report published by the Catholic charitable organization Caritas said. It reported that 44% of Muslim households were marginalized, compared to 28% of the city’s overall population.

Some predominantly Muslim neighborhoods on the city’s peripheries, with narrow and steep mazelike streets, have high crime rates. Muslims and Christians frequent downtown shops, lively plazas and broad avenues, but the Muslim-majority neighborhoods see less mixing.

Local politician Mohamed Mustafa described the divisions as predating the summer’s border crisis. But he acknowledged it has made things worse. Ceuta has lived through previous migrant surges at its border, but this year’s was the deadliest.

“The image of coexistence is a mirage,” Mustafa said. “It’s a tourism slogan, but it doesn’t reflect reality.”

The city has been on edge for months

On Tuesday, Spain’s royals will attend a ceremony at a Muslim cemetery in the city to memorialize the more than 140 migrants who died attempting to cross in July. Dozens of unidentified migrants were buried there.

The visit will be the monarchs’ first to the Spanish territory, where many say they have felt abandoned by the country’s national leaders.

As the crisis stretches into its third month, Ceuta’s residents agree on one thing: They are tired of the situation.

When migrants constructed a vast makeshift tent camp on a beach, Emilio Muñoz, who lives in a house close by, decided he needed to leave.

He pitched a tent outside the city government to protest, demanding action, and began sleeping there, too. Soon, around a dozen others joined him, sleeping on and off for a month until the beachside tent camp was fully demolished when Spanish police removed a few thousand migrants.

Muñoz said his demonstration was not done to mock the migrants. “People say this is pantomime, but I don’t make light of the situation.”

He described Ceuta as a city of different religious and ethnic groups working and living together, but acknowledged that something had been damaged.

“I do see a rift,” Muñoz said, “but we have to move forward.”

South Africa Police Deputy Chief Quits Amid Corruption and Sex Offense Claims

8:44 AM EDT, October 12, 2026

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa’s suspended deputy head of the police, Shadrack Sibiya, resigned from his position on Monday amid allegations of corruption and alleged sexual offenses leveled against him.

Sibiya was set to face a disciplinary hearing on Monday but his lawyers tendered his letter of resignation at the start of the proceeding, police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said.

“As the former senior officer had an ongoing disciplinary case against him at the time of his resignation, his departure from the service is therefore regarded as a dishonorable discharge,” said Mathe.

Sibiya is currently in prison after he was arrested for alleged rape and grooming of a minor last month. He has denied the charges. His application to be released on bail has been postponed to Oct. 13.

Sibiya has been the subject of a judicial commission of inquiry investigating wide-ranging allegations of corruption within the South African police and alleged ties to the country’s criminal networks.

At the commission, which is chaired by retired Judge Mbuyiseni Madlanga, Sibiya has been accused of receiving large sums of cash and gifts from alleged criminals.

During his testimony at the commission, Sibiya denied all allegations against him.

He had been suspended since September last year.

Clashes Between Rival Groups in Central South Sudan Leave Scores Dead

By DENG MACHOL and FLORENCE MIETTAUX

1:35 PM EDT, October 12, 2026

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — Clashes last week between armed groups from rival communities in the central part of South Sudan left scores of people dead and overwhelmed a hospital with wounded people, officials said.

The fighting swept through the Rumbek area of Lakes state on Friday as government soldiers and U.N. peacekeepers tried to maintain order. South Sudan’s Information Ministry said that about 70 people were killed, including four soldiers, but that the exact toll had yet to be verified.

“We were overwhelmed with the gunshot patients,” Teran Madit, a clinical officer at Rumbek State Hospital, told The Associated Press by telephone Monday. He said the hospital received more than 50 wounded people, most with chest injuries.

The fighting involved armed youths from the Pakam community in Rumbek North County fighting against armed youths of the Nyang community in Rumbek Central County, both part of the Dinka ethnic group.

Disputes over cattle and grazing land, along with revenge killings, have fueled repeated violence in Lakes state, but the immediate cause of Friday’s clashes was unclear. South Sudanese analyst Machot Amuom said unresolved tensions between the communities had left the area vulnerable to renewed violence.

“There were buried tensions and everybody knew that this could flare up, because the root causes of the violence between these communities were never addressed,” he said.

Madit, who operated on seven patients at Rumbek State Hospital on Friday, described scenes of chaos there. Some patients who came to seek treatment left again amid rumors that they could be killed at the hospital.

Daniel Laat Kon, who heads the Lakes state branch of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization, a South Sudanese civil society group, said he was among thousands of residents of the area who fled as gunfire erupted early Friday.

“The security forces tried their level best, but they were outnumbered by the armed youths,” he said.

Kon said soldiers were killed trying to repel the attackers. He returned home after the attackers withdrew that afternoon, he said.

The government said Friday that troops and police had brought Rumbek under control. Security forces arrested four armed civilians and recovered four firearms, according to the ministry’s statement, which urged communities to avoid retaliatory attacks.

U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said Friday that Nepalese peacekeepers deployed a rapid response force to “help deter the fighting and protect the local hospital and humanitarian compounds.”

The bloodshed comes as South Sudan prepares for its first national elections since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011.

President Salva Kiir dissolved the transitional government on Sept. 22 and appointed a caretaker administration ahead of elections scheduled for Dec. 22. His decree also dissolved the national legislature and state governments. Elections have repeatedly been delayed.

Amuom said the dissolution had contributed to the insecurity by leaving key local government posts vacant.

“The caretaker county commissioners have not yet been appointed, and the armed youths took advantage of it,” he said.

The power-sharing administration grew out of a 2018 peace agreement that ended five years of civil war in which an estimated 400,000 people died.

Kon called on the government to disarm civilians, questioning how elections could proceed amid such insecurity.

“How can we be preparing for an election, registering voters, conducting civic education, when people live in fear?” he said.

DR Congo’s Former President Kabila Launches an Anti-government Front Including M23 Rebels

By JUSTIN KABUMBA and SALEH MWANAMILONGO

5:55 PM EDT, October 12, 2026

GOMA, Congo (AP) — Former Congolese President Joseph Kabila on Monday launched a new political and military coalition of groups opposed to the current government, including the M23 rebels who have captured wide swaths of territory in eastern Congo.

Kabila’s new Front for the Refoundation of the Nation, or FRN, includes rebel groups formerly united under the Congo River Alliance, whose former leader Corneille Nangaa will serve as one of the new coalition’s four vice presidents.

Coalition adviser Claude Ibalanky said at a news conference late Monday at Kabila’s residence in the eastern city of Goma that the FRN’s mission is to restore the pillars of a functioning republic. It aims to “unite and coordinate all resistance forces in order to put an end to tyranny — by any means necessary, including the use of force,” Ibalanky said.

“The signatories have decided to pool their forces, resources, and means to create a framework for action through which all Congolese people, acting in unison, will undertake the task of liberating their country,” Ibalanky said.

President Felix Tshisekedi’s government gave no immediate reaction to the announcement, which is seen as a major challenge to Tshisekedi’s administration and a serious complication for the current peace process with rebels, which has had only limited success.

M23 is one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo, along the border with Rwanda, in a decades-long conflict that has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. It took control of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, as well as other key cities in eastern Congo in a lightning assault last year.

Congo, the United States and U.N. experts accuse Rwanda of backing the M23.

Last year, a high military court in Congo sentenced Kabila to death in absentia after finding him guilty of treason, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The court said he collaborated with Rwanda and M23. The former president denied the accusations and called the proceedings politically motivated.

Earlier this year, the U.S. government imposed sanctions on Kabila for his alleged role in funding and providing political support to rebel groups operating in the east of his country.

Kabila led Congo from 2001 to 2019. He took office at the age of 29 — after his father and former President Laurent Kabila was assassinated — and extended his mandate by delaying elections for two years after his term ended in 2017. His candidate lost in December 2018 to Kabila’s long-term political rival, Tshisekedi, who has ruled the country since 2019.

Yvon Muya, a researcher at the University of Ottawa in Canada, said Monday’s announcement signals a direct confrontation between Kabila and Tshisekedi.

“You don’t make an announcement like this without having prepared the actions that follow,” Muya said. “We will likely witness an escalation on the military front.”

Under pressure from the United States, the Congolese government and the AFC/M23 rebels began direct negotiations in Doha to resolve the security crisis. However, more than a year later, clashes continue in eastern Congo, and experts say that negotiations will become even more complicated with Kabila in a leadership position.

“The AFC/M23 leaders have been integrated into a new formation. So, it is hard to see — even from a purely practical standpoint — how the Doha process will work,” Muya told the AP. “All of this risks jeopardizing the ongoing process.”

—-

Mwanamilongo reported from Bonn, Germany.

Mother’s 3-day Walk With Sick Daughter Highlights Somalia’s Child Malnutrition Emergency

By MOHAMED SHEIKH NOR and OMAR FARUK

1:01 AM EDT, October 12, 2026

KISMAYO, Somalia (AP) — For three days, Halima Abdullahi Ibrahim carried her 3-year-old daughter from their village in Somalia to a hospital nearly 90 kilometers (56 miles) away. The girl’s body was swelling and she needed medical help unavailable closer to home.

When she finally reached Kismayo Referral Hospital, Halima’s daughter, Asho Hassan Abdi, was taken to the stabilization center, a white-walled ward lined with metal-framed beds, some beneath mosquito nets. Halima held Asho on her lap, the child wrapped in purple cloth, as a health worker examined her feet and lower legs.

They diagnosed her with edema, a symptom of severe acute malnutrition.

Asho is one child in a national emergency. Some 1.92 million Somali children between the ages of 6 months and almost 5 years old are suffering from or are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition and need treatment over a one year period ending in June 2027, according to an analysis by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. That includes 433,000 children expected to suffer severe acute malnutrition, the form carrying the greatest risk of death.

More than half of Somalia’s projected malnutrition cases are concentrated in the south, where communities face disease outbreaks, food insecurity and limited access to health services, clean water and sanitation. Expected flooding associated with El Niño could displace more families and make those services even harder to reach.

The hospital where Asho was being treated admitted 152 children with severe acute malnutrition in August, four of whom died, Jubbaland Health Minister Ismail Garas said.

And the crisis comes as humanitarian organizations have fewer resources to respond. The AP reported in August that the World Food Program can provide only limited assistance despite the growing need. Somalia’s emergency also reflects a wider retreat in humanitarian funding that is weakening efforts to fight hunger, disease and poverty around the world.

Sandra Lattouf, Somalia representative for the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF, said children are dying from malnutrition, while illnesses including measles intensify the danger.

“We need to do more for them,” Lattouf told AP during a visit to Kismayo.

She called for closer cooperation among community health workers, local leaders, government authorities and humanitarian organizations.

Displacement and flooding threaten to deepen the crisis

The effects of displacement and reduced assistance are visible at the Luglow settlement on the outskirts of Kismayo, a port city home to more than 250,000 people in the country’s south. Dome-shaped shelters made from bent branches and patched plastic sheeting stand across the red earth, with dirty water pooled in ruts between.

At the settlement’s nutrition center, mothers sit on mats with young children in their laps while members of a visiting UNICEF delegation crouch to speak with them.

Ali Adan Ali, Jubbaland’s commissioner for refugees and internally displaced people, said many displaced families had received no humanitarian assistance since 2023 because aid organizations lacked funding.

“The current situation of the IDPs in Jubbaland is very dire,” Ali said.

He warned that flooding could force people living along the Juba River to move toward Kismayo, which is on higher ground, placing additional pressure on settlements, nutrition centers and hospitals.

Sweden’s ambassador to Somalia, Hans Henric Lundquist, visited the Luglow nutrition center with Lattouf and met local officials, mothers and children. He said agencies must work more closely with communities as funding becomes increasingly constrained.

“We need to build resilience, because globally there is lack of funding,” Lundquist said. “We need to work smarter than we’ve done before.”

Halima’s journey shows what the crisis can mean for one family: A severely malnourished child may be separated from specialized care by poverty, distance and a health system strained by growing needs and shrinking international assistance. And that can be a matter of life or death.

Looking Backward: Senegal’s Crackdown on LGBTQ+ People Forces Them to Go Into Hiding, Rights Watchdog Says

A protestor chants anti-gay slogans during a demonstration against homosexuality in Dakar, Senegal, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu, File)

By MONIKA PRONCZUK

6:06 AM EDT, October 12, 2026

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Senegal has launched a harsh crackdown on LGBTQ+ people that includes arrests and violations of their rights, and has caused increasing fear and stigma in the gay community, Human Rights Watch said in a report Monday.

The government’s punitive actions following passage of a law increasing punishment for homosexuality are forcing people to go into hiding and avoid HIV testing and treatment, the report said.

There is no official data on the number of arrests under the new law, but according to the African Forum for the Defense of Human Rights, a Dakar-based rights group, at least 212 people were arrested between February and July.

HIV Justice Network said that the number of arrests exceeded 300 during the same period, and 82 people were charged with “voluntary HIV transmission,” although a court dismissed the charges in August.

“LGBT people are being forced to curb their normal activities and to keep from exercising their rights for fear of arrest and increased stigma,” said Larissa Kojoué, an LGBTQ+ rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Senegal’s government should call a halt to this crackdown, which threatens everyone’s rights.”

The new law, passed by parliament with near-unanimous support earlier this year, doubles prison terms of those convicted of homosexuality to between five and 10 years.

The law classifies homosexuality along with necrophilia and bestiality under offenses deemed “acts against nature.” It also punishes what it calls the promotion or financing of homosexuality, an attempt to crack down on organizations that support sexual and gender minorities.

Same-sex sexual conduct has been criminalized in Senegal since 1965, but hostility toward LGBTQ+ people has significantly intensified in recent years, the report said.

Laws proscribing homosexuality are common across Africa: more than 30 of the 54 countries criminalize same-sex sexual acts. Senegal has joined countries like Kenya, Sierra Leone and Tanzania, where penalties can include 10 or more years of imprisonment. In Somalia, Uganda and Mauritania, the offense can carry the death penalty.

Rep. Ilhan Omar's D.C. Home Searched by Homeland Security Investigators

By Nicole Sganga

October 12, 2026 / 12:24 PM EDT / CBS News

Rep. Ilhan Omar's Washington, D.C., home was the target of a raid early Monday morning by ICE's investigations unit.

Sources say the investigation centers on Omar's immigration paperwork. The documents in question date back to Omar's childhood, involving paperwork completed by her late father when she was a child. 

Omar's office said in a statement that Omar had "done nothing wrong" and called the raid "outrageous abuse of power and an unprecedented escalation in the weaponization of federal law enforcement to target political enemies." 

Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, posted Monday on social media, "I'm ok," adding "I will not be silenced."

"Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement," Omar wrote. "For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation."

Homeland Security Investigations, or HSI, the department's criminal investigative arm, is leading the investigation, with the Department of Justice assisting. 

HSI has jurisdiction over federal offenses including immigration document fraud, identity fraud and immigration benefit fraud. Unlike ICE's deportation-focused operations, HSI special agents conduct criminal investigations and execute federal search warrants.

In a statement, the Justice Department confirmed that the HSI executed a search warrant secured by the DOJ. The statement said it was "part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation." 

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, whip Rep. Katherine Clark and caucus chair Rep. Pete Aguilar called the raid on Omar's home "deeply disturbing" and said it "raises serious questions about the continued corrupt weaponization of the federal government against Donald Trump's adversaries."

Omar is a frequent target of President Trump, and border czar Tom Homan said in September that there was an "ongoing criminal investigation" into the congresswoman. 

"I'm confirming that ICE is, yeah — look, I said months ago that there's something that's been reported and needs to be looked at," Homan told Fox News in September. 

Omar said at the time that she had not been contacted in connection to any investigation. 

Nikole Killion contributed to this report.

Agents Search Rep. Omar’s Washington Home in Criminal Probe as She Vows She Won’t ‘Be Silenced’

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and ERIC TUCKER

12:37 PM EDT, October 12, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal agents on Monday searched the home of Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, a startling escalation in a criminal investigation that brings renewed scrutiny to the frequent target of Trump administration derision in the final weeks of her reelection bid.

The search of the Minnesota congresswoman’s home so close to next month’s midterm contests that will determine control of the House and the Senate was swiftly condemned by top Democrats in Congress, who raised questions about the timing given longstanding Justice Department protocol to avoid overt investigative steps involving political candidates in the direct run-up to an election.

The Justice Department confirmed in a statement that Homeland Security Investigations agents executed a judicially authorized search warrant in the Washington, D.C., area in connection with an ongoing federal criminal investigation but provided no other details.

The nature and scope of the investigation were unclear, though officials in President Donald Trump’s administration have repeatedly hinted at the existence of an inquiry targeting Omar, a Somali-born Democrat whose status as an immigrant to the U.S. and left-wing views have repeatedly drawn criticism from Republicans and senior Trump officials.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said last month that there was an “ongoing investigation” related in part to whether Omar lied on her immigration forms and that “something’s going to happen.”

Omar responded to the search with a statement on X that called it an “attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement.”

“For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation,” she said. “I will not be silenced.”

Though the Republican focus on Omar’s background dates back years, the search of her home took place three weeks before the November midterms, in which Omar is on the ballot for reelection. The Justice Department has historically sought to avoid public investigative actions involving a candidate within 60 days of a primary or general election.

“For years, Donald Trump and far-right extremists have relentlessly targeted Congresswoman Omar with vile personal attacks and baseless accusations,” top House Democratic leaders said in a statement. “Now, less than 30 days until the midterm election, his violent mass deportation machine has descended upon the home of a duly elected Member of Congress and her family.

Trump has frequently targeted Omar

Trump as recently as this past weekend brought up Omar at a rally in Tennessee, where he attacked her upbringing and suggested that Vice President JD Vance “and our people” were investigating her.

Vance has in the past accused Omar of committing immigration fraud — an allegation she has denied — and has said he and a top White House official were trying to figure out how to investigate her.

The Justice Department said in a statement Monday that HSI agents executed a judicially authorized search warrant secured by the department in the Washington, D.C., area but provided no other details. The street was blocked off Monday morning as HSI agents remained near the home.

“This enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation,” the department said.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, of which Homeland Security Investigations is part, referred questions about the search to the Justice Department.

Omar has long been a target for Republicans

Omar, who was first elected to the House in 2018, represents Minnesota’s 5th District, including Minneapolis. She is part of The Squad of progressive lawmakers who are a vibrant political force on the left wing of Congress but have also endured repeated attacks from Trump, dating back to his first term. She was one of the first two Muslim-American women in the House and the first African refugee to be elected to Congress.

When Republicans swept control of the House in 2023, they voted to oust Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, citing her anti-Israel remarks.

In January, Trump lashed out at Omar during a rally in Iowa hours before an assailant sprayed the congresswoman during her own town hall meeting in Minneapolis with a substance that turned out to be vinegar. The attacker was sentenced recently to 14 months in prison.

Republicans have raised questions about Omar’s past since before she was even elected, including asserting that she had married her brother and committed immigration fraud. Omar has broadly denied the allegations as “disgusting lies.”

“It certainly seems like something fishy is there, but everybody’s entitled to equal justice under the laws,” Vance told reporters in May. “So we’re going to investigate it. We’re going to take a look at it. If we think there’s a crime, we’re going to prosecute that crime.”

In a separate interview with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson, Vance said without offering evidence that “we actually think that Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud against the United States of America.”

He said that he and deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller had been discussing it and “trying to look at what the remedies are.”

“That’s the thing that we’re trying to figure out,” he said. “What are the legal remedies now that we know that she’s committed immigration fraud. How do you go after her? How do you investigate her? How do you actually do the thing? How do you build the case necessary to get some, some, some justice for the American people?”

Omar’s office has defended her against past allegations

Omar’s office in March dismissed Vance’s claims as fabricated and defamatory.

“This is rich coming from someone who literally said they were willing to ‘create stories’ to redirect the media,” Omar’s chief of staff, Connor McNutt, said in a statement.

“This is a ridiculous lie and desperate attempt to distract from the pedophile protection party’s unpopular war of choice, increasing gas prices, and rapidly dropping polling numbers,” McNutt said at the time of the vice president’s allegations and comments.

___

Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Michelle L. Price and River Zhang in Washington, Kathy McCormack in Concord, N.H., Mike Catalini in Morrisville, Pa., and Meg Kinnard in Columbia, S.C., contributed.

Genocidal Coverage in Real Time Has Reinforced the International Struggle for Palestine Liberation

Since 2023 there has been an upsurge in the movement for solidarity which has impacted various aspects of United States and global politics

By Abayomi Azikiwe

Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Saturday October 10, 2026

Political Review

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Note: These remarks were delivered at a public meeting held on Saturday October 10, 2026 in Detroit to commemorate the last three years of the genocidal onslaught in occupied Palestine. This event was hosted by the Moratorium NOW! Coalition and the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice (MECAWI). Endorsers and speakers included the Michigan Coalition Against Genocide featuring Heather along with Steve Friday of the Michigan Social Workers for Palestine; Nabil Sater from Lebanon read a series of resolutions drafted by Jewish Voice for Peace; there was a statement from the United States Palestinian Community Network with Ali; Frank Hammer, a retired local president of the UAW discussed the passage of a disinvestment resolution at the national constitutional convention for the labor union; the final speaker was Dr. Ismail Noor of the Nakba Survivors Association. 

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After the beginning of the Al Aqsa Flood on October 7, 2023, the United States backed Israeli regime embarked upon a military campaign to completely destroy the Palestinian people in Gaza and throughout the entire country.

The events of the last three years were by no means the beginning of threats to destroy the Palestinian people and their neighbors, the origins of this phenomenon dated back more than a century.

In fact, the plight of the Palestinians and the peoples of West Asia is inextricably intertwined with the colonization and national oppression of others throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America. This is evident in the literature and speeches of the founders and successors of the world zionist movement which surfaced in the late 19th century. 

Zionism as an ideology and political tendency has always been designed to further European domination within the context of colonialism and imperialism. The concept of orientalism as an academic approach to history and cultural studies has its origins in the desire by Western Europeans to dominate the world economic system.

Palestinian American scholar Edward Siad was one of the fiercest critics of Orientalism during the latter decades of the 20th century. His writings parallel the work of figures such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Drusilla Dunjee Houston, Anna Julia Cooper, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Kwame Nkrumah, Frantz Fanon, Malcolm X, among others who intellectually and politically provided the basis for the destruction of colonialism and imperialism. 

Despite the orientalist view which rationalizes the oppression and exploitation of people who are the colonial subjects of Europe, the victims of imperialism have developed their own methodology aimed at liberation. By challenging the outlook that there are “inferior” and “superior” peoples and cultures, the oppressed during the 19th and 20th centuries vindicated the ideas of waging political and ideological struggles aimed at liberating the victims of imperialism.

Siad in his best-known work entitled “Orientalism” published in 1978, emphasized that:

“Every single empire in its official discourse has said that it is not like all the others, that its circumstances are special, that it has a mission to enlighten, civilize, bring order and democracy, and that it uses force only as a last resort. And, sadder still, there always is a chorus of willing intellectuals to say calming words about benign or altruistic empires, as if one shouldn't trust the evidence of one's eyes watching the destruction and the misery and death brought by the latest mission [to civilize].” (https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/16770310.Edward_W_Said)

These observations by Siad remain true well into the 21st century. The US and Israel remain exceptional within the literature of mainstream imperialist thought. Any form of thinking which questions the virtues of capitalism, imperialism and zionism are immediately attacked as abhorrent and unacceptable. 

Reflections on the Last Three Years

Of course, the anti-zionist movement has been in existence for well over a century. In the US since the conclusion of World War II there has been the rationalization of the oppression of the Palestinian people and others living in West Asia and North Africa. 

Nonetheless, the impact of the Palestinian struggle for liberation has had an enormous impact on the political atmosphere in the US. When resistance forces based in Gaza broke through the artificial lines drawn by the zionists and imperialists in West Asia it constituted an act of liberation against the existing political system.

At the same time the events of October 7 revealed the sense of urgency within the international solidarity movement. The apologists for the occupation of Palestine began to strike out at any and all forces expressing sympathy with the Palestinians. 

This was exemplified on the campuses of higher educational institutions in the US where the administrations began to purge those articulating an alternative viewpoint to that of the modern-day orientalists. Even those college and university administrators who were far from being advocates of Palestine liberation were pressured to leave their positions because they were not willing to ban all activity on campuses by the students, staff and faculty which advocated a change in the status-quo in relations to US-Israeli relations.

By the spring of 2024, demonstrations had spread to campuses across the US from the east to the west coast. At Columbia University where Siad taught during his career, a strong Palestine solidarity movement arose demanding that the institution disclose and divest its financial holdings in corporations and entities with ties to the State of Israel. 

Here in the state of Michigan, which is home to the largest concentration of people whose origins are within West Asia and North Africa, has been for decades a center of Palestine solidarity.  Dearborn, a bordering western suburb of Detroit has again been targeted by racists and fascists with lies and even violence which cannot be distinguished from the question of Palestinian and Lebanese liberation and sovereignty.

At two of the leading higher educational institutions, the University of Michigan (U-M) and Wayne State University (WSU), the administrations ordered the violent destruction of encampments making the same demands geared towards exposing the links between zionism, racism and imperialism. The encampments and other forms of protests were attacked falsely as being “antisemitic” at the highest levels within the federal government and law-enforcement.

Nonetheless, the impact of the Palestinian, Lebanese, Iraqi, Yemeni, Iranian and other resistance forces had a profound impact on the consciousness of people living in North America, Western Europe and internationally. Solidarity activity outside the West Asia and North Africa regions also played an instrumental role in building a formidable movement against genocide.

In December 2023, the African National Congress (ANC) led government in the Republic of South Africa took the Israeli state to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest legal body within the United Nations organization, charging the regime with violating the Genocide Convention of 1948. Although the South African government won a favorable ruling by the ICJ which said that the claims of genocide in occupied Palestine were plausible, no action has been taken to end the genocidal project in West Asia.

In fact, the death and destruction spawned by the imperialist defense of settler-colonialism has spread to as far away as the Islamic Republic of Iran and Yemen. Under both Democratic and Republican administrations in the US the support for the zionist occupation forces has remained study. 

The current administration of President Donald Trump launched an unprovoked war against the people of Iran with the expressed intent of overthrowing their government. At present these efforts have failed prompting an economic and political crisis under which there appears to be no escape.

These efforts related to the liberation of Palestine and the ending of the zionist and imperialist hegemony of the region has spilled over into electoral politics. Unabashedly pro-Israel candidates are being defeated at the polls while on a mass level where African American youth service workers such as Ariana Hamilton on the east coast have become icons globally for their stand against racist impunity within the labor market.

Moving Forward in the Struggle for Palestine Liberation

It is quite remarkable that the Palestine solidarity movement has not been effectively silence after three years of repression, right-wing propaganda and psychological warfare. The slogan “Free Palestine” is far more widespread and recognizable than the day before the Al Aqsa Flood erupted.

Consequently, the movement must continue until its objectives are achieved. The oppression and genocide against the Palestinian people and others throughout the region are closely related to the rising levels of racist and fascist control of the US. 

As the late South African liberation movement leader Nelson Mandela often said that our freedom cannot be fully achieved absent of the emancipation of the Palestinians. Another well known South African clergyman Archbishop Desmond Tutu doing his lifetime charged that the system of Palestinian oppression was worse than apartheid.

The institutionally racist settler-colonial systems in West Asia and around the world will continue to exist until imperialism is destroyed. Let us make our contribution to this goal of bringing liberation and social emancipation to peoples throughout the world. 

Egypt’s Proxy Wars Against Ethiopia: A History of Defeats Revisited

By Staff Writer 

October 11, 2026 (ENA) 

Since the emergence of its modern state, Egypt has never been a loyal neighbor or a sincere partner in the Nile Basin. Instead, it has consistently acted according to the logic of a colonial power seeking to subjugate Ethiopia and impose an empty form of guardianship over its resources and future. The record of successive Egyptian governments is filled with disappointments and sinister conspiracies aimed at obstructing the development of the Ethiopian people and depriving them of their natural right to development. Yet all these schemes have repeatedly shattered against the solid rock of Ethiopian sovereignty and its proud history.

The early ambitions of the Egyptian regime became evident in the 1870s, when Cairo followed Khedive Ismail’s dream of establishing a vast empire at the expense of Ethiopian blood and rights. The Egyptian regime dispatched two massive, heavily armed military campaigns toward the rugged Ethiopian highlands, only to face a devastating Ethiopian response. At the Battle of Gundet in 1875, the Egyptian army suffered its first crushing blow of arrogance at the hands of Ethiopian heroes, resulting in the complete collapse of the invading forces.

The Battle of Gura in 1876 was an even greater defeat, as the Egyptian army was virtually annihilated and hundreds of its soldiers were captured under the blows of Ethiopian forces. The remnants of the Khedive’s army fled, leaving behind the enduring disgrace of defeat. These resounding historical blows demonstrated to Egypt that it was far weaker than Ethiopia in direct confrontation, prompting it to retreat into political cowardice and turn submissively toward shadow warfare and proxy wars.

Egypt did not content itself with the bitterness of military defeat. It subsequently revealed an overtly colonial face in the aftermath of the Second World War. When Egypt was among those opposing, within the corridors of the United Nations, the return of Eritrea to Ethiopia, the international community rejected its ambitions and issued a decision in 1952 establishing a federation between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Because Egypt never accepted a strong or stable Ethiopia, it quickly moved to undermine and dismantle the federal arrangement from within by adopting policies aimed at fracturing Ethiopia’s social fabric.

With President Gamal Abdel Nasser coming to power in the mid-1950s, Egypt officially became a principal host of the Eritrean rebellion and a major financier of separatist movements. The Eritrean Liberation Front was established and used the Egyptian capital as a principal base for its activities beginning in July 1960, receiving comprehensive financial, logistical, and training support to fracture the territorial unity of northern Ethiopia. 

Egypt did not stop there.

A massive media apparatus, particularly the Voice of the Arabs radio station, was mobilized to broadcast messages of fragmentation, inflame divisions, and attempt to strategically suffocate Ethiopia from its maritime flank. This systematic support continued for decades with the aim of tying Ethiopia’s hands and keeping it preoccupied with exhausting internal conflicts that would obstruct any genuine path to development.

The conspiracies did not stop at supporting armed groups. They extended into the corridors of international and financial organizations through questionable means, using Egyptian influence in an attempt to economically subjugate Ethiopia.

 In this context, the controversial role of prominent Egyptian figures such as Boutros Boutros-Ghali stands out. Boutros-Ghali, a former Egyptian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs who later became Secretary-General of the United Nations, used Egyptian diplomacy to impose a suffocating financial blockade and arbitrarily deny Ethiopia international loans and financing from the World Bank and major financial institutions for infrastructure projects and dams on the Aba (Nile River), in a desperate attempt to entrench unilateral colonial dominance.

Recent regional developments reveal growing risks from Egypt’s efforts to form a coordinated front against Ethiopia’s rise. The quadrilateral summit hosted by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in New Alamein on October 4, 2026, with the participation of Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, and Eritrea, has raised concerns that Cairo is seeking to intensify regional pressure on Ethiopia under the guise of security cooperation.

The summit’s focus on Nile waters, Red Sea security, and coordination among governments raises serious questions about the strategic objectives of this alignment. These moves come amid Egypt and Eritrea are supporting anati-peace forces seeking to destabilize the country.

The convergence of diplomatic pressure, regional military coordination, and allegations of support for armed groups poses risks as Ethiopia pursues its development ambitions and seeks reliable sea access through dialogue. Rather than accepting Ethiopia’s growing economic and strategic influence as a reality requiring constructive engagement, Egypt risks deepening regional divisions and undermining stability in the Horn of Africa. Yet no summit or political alignment can erase Ethiopia’s sovereign interests or derail the aspirations of its people to strengthen the country’s standing and influence across Africa.

All in all, decades of carefully orchestrated conspiracies, proxy wars, and attempts at diplomatic and economic isolation have only made Ethiopia more resilient, self-reliant, and strong. Throughout history, the courageous Ethiopian people and their leadership have demonstrated that the will of free people can overcome all forms of hostility and disguised guardianship.

Ethiopia’s continued advance today in its major national development projects, driven by the efforts of its own people, represents the greatest rebuke and decisive response that permanently shatters the illusions of Egyptian dominance and affirms that Ethiopian sovereignty is a red line that cannot be violated. Ethiopia’s recent sovereign measures are fully consistent with this historical approach. On October 1 of this year, Ethiopia took a decisive decision to close its embassy in Asmara and declared ten Eritrean diplomats persona non grata, giving them 48 hours to leave the country, following their involvement in activities deemed to pose a direct threat to Ethiopia’s national security and in escalating hostile acts.

On the same day, Ethiopia declared Egyptian diplomat Ahmed Moharam Ahmed Suleiman persona non grata and also demanded that he leave the country within 48 hours.

These firm sovereign measures are nothing more than the natural outcome and direct response to Egypt’s continued policies of using Eritrea as a proxy to destabilize the Horn of Africa, in a desperate attempt to obstruct Ethiopia’s progress as it continues to flourish and grow into an emerging diplomatic, economic, and military power firmly rooted in the African continent.

Ethiopia’s Nile Development Push for Regional Integration

By Yordanos D.

October 10, 2026 (ENA) 

For generations, Abay (Blue Nile) has been treated primarily as a dispute over water. For Ethiopia, however, the river represents something much larger: a question of development, sovereignty and the right of a nation to transform its natural resources into a better future for its people. Most importantly, the country considers such development on Abay would accelerate regional integration in the region and beyond.  In a country confronting persistent food insecurity, expanding energy demand, rapid population growth, industrialization pressures and the effects of climate variability, the ability to store and use water is inseparable from the ability to generate electricity, irrigate farmland, produce food, create jobs and build a productive economy.

 This broader perspective is essential to understanding Ethiopia’s long and often difficult engagement with the Nile. The dispute did not begin with the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). It is rooted in a much older regional order shaped by colonial-era arrangements, unequal political influence and competing interpretations of rights over the river. 

 Ethiopia was not a party to the 1929 Anglo-Egyptian Nile arrangement or the 1959 Egypt-Sudan agreement, yet the legacy of these agreements has continued to influence political arguments over the use of the Nile. The central question has therefore never been simply how much water Ethiopia should use, but whether historical arrangements can continue to constrain the development choices of an upstream country whose economic and social needs have changed fundamentally.

 The struggle has also had a financial dimension. Development can be constrained not only by physical obstruction but by the political environment surrounding finance, investment and international institutions. 

 Ethiopia’s experience with major water infrastructure has repeatedly demonstrated the difficulty of converting technical potential into completed development projects when financing becomes entangled with geopolitics. The GERD consequently acquired significance far beyond its engineering dimensions. It became a test of whether Ethiopia could mobilize its own people, institutions and financial resources to undertake a strategic national project when access to conventional external financing was politically complicated.

 The completion of the GERD has changed that equation, but it has not ended the larger development challenge. Ethiopia still requires additional water infrastructure to address electricity shortages, expand irrigation, strengthen food security, manage floods and droughts, support industrialization and create the conditions for sustained economic growth. The question now is how the country can move from one landmark project to a broader, financially sustainable and environmentally responsible water development strategy while maintaining cooperation with downstream states.

 At the same time, the Nile question has become increasingly intertwined with the geopolitics of the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia’s growing economic capacity, its expanding electricity exports, its pursuit of regional integration and its efforts to secure reliable and mutually beneficial access to the Red Sea have altered the strategic calculations of neighboring states and external powers. This must therefore be understood within a wider contest over development, economic influence and regional order.

 This does not make confrontation inevitable. On the contrary, Ethiopia’s strongest long-term position lies in combining development with diplomacy. Equitable and reasonable utilization of shared water resources can provide a foundation for cooperation if all basin countries recognize that the Nile must support both existing needs and legitimate future development. The river need not remain a source of perpetual rivalry. With investment, scientific cooperation, transparent information sharing and mutually beneficial energy and agricultural systems, it can become an engine of regional economic integration.

 The story of Ethiopia’s Nile policy is consequently not simply the story of a dam. It is the story of a country seeking to overcome historical development constraints, strengthen financial autonomy and transform natural resources into productive capacity. The GERD is one chapter in that story. The larger challenge is whether Ethiopia can build a new generation of water, energy and agricultural infrastructure that turns its rivers into foundations for food security, industrialization, employment and regional prosperity. 

Financial Dimension

The financial dimension of this history is especially important. Development can be constrained without a single dam being physically attacked or a construction site being closed. Diplomatic opposition to external financing can increase political risk, discourage lenders and investors, and make major infrastructure projects more difficult and expensive to develop.

 Academic and policy literature has documented claims that Egypt used diplomatic influence to discourage international financial institutions from supporting upstream Nile projects. Research during the GERD era has also described lobbying involving institutions such as the African Development Bank, World Bank and European Investment Bank. Such claims should be examined project by project and supported by documentary evidence. Nevertheless, the broader historical pattern is significant. Ethiopia’s efforts to convert its water resources into electricity and irrigation have repeatedly encountered geopolitical resistance. 

 This history helps explain the significance of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. When conventional external financing proved difficult to secure, Ethiopia increasingly turned to domestic mobilization. Citizens purchased bonds and contributed through savings and donations, while the government and state institutions mobilized substantial domestic resources. The GERD consequently became more than an infrastructure project. It became a demonstration of Ethiopia’s capacity to finance a strategic national undertaking despite difficulties in securing conventional international project finance. 

 Reflecting on this domestic achievement, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed emphasized, “For 14 years, millions of ordinary citizens contributed to finance the construction of GERD, ranging from farmers and daily laborers to students and civil servants." 

 Economic Accountability

 The issue has now entered a new phase. In October 2026, Water and Energy Minister Habtamu Itefa announced that Ethiopia had established a national committee to assess economic losses and foregone development opportunities associated with water projects that Ethiopia says were “blocked or obstructed by Egyptians.” According to the minister, the committee had identified more than 22 projects, including the GERD. 

 "Number one is to identify and to claim the total amount of loss that they have imposed on Ethiopia because of our development. We have prepared as many projects as possible which they have opposed, including the GERD,” he said.

 The significance of this initiative extends beyond the question of compensation. It represents an attempt to quantify a dimension of the Nile dispute that has often remained political and rhetorical: the development opportunities Ethiopia says it lost because of external opposition.

If properly documented on a project-by-project basis, such an assessment could provide a more concrete basis for understanding how diplomatic pressure, financing constraints and geopolitical competition affected Ethiopia’s infrastructure development over several decades.

 Water Infrastructure, and Food Security 

 Ethiopia has repeatedly stated that completing one dam does not exhaust its development needs. A country of more than 120 million people facing rapid urbanization, industrialization, food insecurity and rising electricity demand cannot reasonably be expected to freeze its water infrastructure at the level that existed before the GERD.

 The country needs more electricity for households, schools, hospitals, irrigation systems, industrial parks, manufacturing facilities, transport infrastructure and digital services. It also needs reliable water storage to reduce its dependence on increasingly unpredictable rainfall.

 The nation is widely described as the “Water Tower of East Africa” because of its substantial highland rainfall and extensive river systems. Yet possessing water resources is not equivalent to having usable water infrastructure. The country’s major river basins contain substantial hydropower, irrigation and water supply potential, much of which remains underdeveloped.

 The development gap is particularly visible in electricity access and agricultural productivity. Millions of Ethiopians have historically depended on traditional biomass for cooking and household energy, while electricity consumption per person remains low by international standards. At the same time, much of the agricultural economy continues to depend on seasonal rainfall, leaving millions of farmers exposed to drought, irregular rainfall and increasingly severe climate shocks.

  Properly designed multipurpose reservoirs can provide electricity, irrigation, domestic water supply, flood regulation and drought management simultaneously. They can create infrastructure for agricultural commercialization and industrialization while reducing the volatility created by seasonal rainfall. 

Agriculture remains central to Ethiopia’s economy and employment structure. Yet rain-fed farming leaves millions of farmers exposed to climatic uncertainty. Expanding irrigation can fundamentally change this equation. Multipurpose dams connected to modern irrigation networks can allow farmers to move from dependence on a single rainy season toward more reliable and, where conditions permit, multiple cropping cycles. 

 The objective should therefore not simply be to build more reservoirs. It should be to create integrated water and agricultural systems in which storage, irrigation, roads, electricity, markets, storage facilities and agro-processing develop together.

 Building Hydrological Buffers

 Ethiopia’s rainfall is highly seasonal and geographically uneven. Large volumes of annual runoff occur during a relatively short rainy season, while many areas experience extended dry periods. This creates a fundamental water management challenge: substantial quantities of water can arrive within weeks or months, while communities and farms require reliable supplies throughout the year.

Storage infrastructure provides one mechanism for managing this imbalance. Well-designed reservoirs can capture part of the excess water during periods of heavy rainfall and release it gradually during dry periods. They can moderate flood peaks, improve irrigation reliability and support electricity generation when natural river flows decline.

 The value of storage is likely to become increasingly important as climate variability intensifies. Ethiopia cannot control global climate change, but it can strengthen its capacity to manage its consequences through reservoirs, watershed restoration, irrigation, soil conservation, early warning systems and improved hydrological forecasting.

 Dam construction must therefore be accompanied by serious watershed management. Afforestation, soil conservation, erosion control and sediment management are essential because the long-term performance of reservoirs depends not only on engineering design but also on the condition of the watersheds that feed them.

 Equitable Utilization

 Ethiopia’s pursuit of additional water infrastructure does not inherently conflict with cooperation with downstream countries. On the contrary, equitable and reasonable utilization provides a framework through which the development interests of all Nile Basin states can be recognized.

Reaffirming this legal baseline, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stated: "Ethiopia reaffirms its legal right to the equitable and reasonable utilization of the Nile waters... Our development seeks peace, shared growth, and mutual benefit, not harm to downstream neighbors." 

 This is particularly important because the Nile Basin is not composed of countries with identical levels of development, population pressures, water availability or economic needs. A sustainable basin framework must therefore account for changing demographic realities and legitimate development requirements rather than freezing the basin into historical patterns of utilization.

 Ethiopia’s position can consequently be framed not as a demand for unlimited use, but as a demand for development within a cooperative and rules-based framework. Ethiopia can recognize downstream interests while insisting that its own people also possess legitimate interests in electricity, irrigation, food security and economic development.

 Geopolitics of Development Pressure

 Ethiopia’s pursuit of hydropower, agricultural development and Red Sea access has altered regional strategic calculations and generated new concerns among neighboring states. Ethiopia maintains that the project is essential to its development and can operate without causing significant harm to downstream countries. The disagreement has consequently evolved into both a water dispute and a broader geopolitical contest.

 From Ethiopia’s perspective, the dispute over water resources cannot be examined separately from the wider geopolitical environment surrounding the country. In particular, Ethiopian officials and political actors have increasingly raised concerns about what they regard as a convergence between Egypt and Eritrea aimed at constraining Ethiopia’s regional influence and development.

The Egypt-Eritrea convergence narrative rests on the argument that Cairo and Asmara have found common strategic ground in opposing the expansion of Ethiopia’s economic, political and strategic capacity. 

The significance of the relationship lies partly in Eritrea’s strategic location on the Red Sea and Egypt’s longstanding concern about Ethiopia’s growing influence in the Horn. 

Egypt and Eritrea have also been supporting forces hostile to the Ethiopian government and of contributing to a regional security environment that places additional pressure on Addis Ababa. These include claims involving diplomatic pressure, political networks and support for actors opposed to the Ethiopian government. 

A stronger Ethiopia means greater electricity generation, expanded irrigation, increased industrial capacity, stronger foreign exchange earnings and greater ability to pursue independent regional diplomacy. It also means a country with greater leverage in its relations with neighboring states and greater capacity to pursue its long-term ambition for dependable and mutually beneficial access to the Red Sea.

The appropriate response is not simply confrontation. The strongest answer to external pressure is accelerated development, institutional resilience, financial self-reliance and sustained diplomatic engagement. Every additional megawatt generated, every hectare brought under irrigation, every industrial investment attracted and every regional electricity connection established can reduce the vulnerabilities that external actors might exploit.

 Next Generation of Dams

The most important lesson from the GERD may ultimately be financial rather than political.  Ethiopia demonstrated that large strategic infrastructure can be financed through substantial domestic mobilization when conventional external financing is unavailable or politically complicated. The next stage, however, should be more sophisticated.

 Domestic resources should remain central, but they can be combined with carefully structured concessional finance, private investment, diaspora capital, institutional investors, green finance and revenues generated through electricity exports. The objective should be to build a diversified infrastructure financing system that reduces exposure to political pressure from any single external actor.

 Electricity exports are particularly important in this regard. Ethiopia’s expanding generation capacity creates the possibility of converting hydropower into foreign exchange while simultaneously supporting industrialization at home. Electricity exports to neighboring countries can therefore serve two purposes: strengthening regional economic interdependence and improving Ethiopia’s capacity to finance future infrastructure.

 A stronger domestic financial system would also allow Ethiopia to mobilize its own savings more effectively. Pension funds, insurance institutions, banks, long-term savings schemes and capital markets can become sources of infrastructure finance if appropriate safeguards and investment frameworks are established.

 The GERD represents a historic milestone, but it should not be viewed as the endpoint of Ethiopia’s water development. The next challenge is to build an integrated national water strategy across the country’s major river basins.

 Regional Integration

 Ethiopia’s hydropower potential also offers a powerful opportunity for regional integration. Electricity can cross borders without many of the logistical complications associated with transporting physical commodities. Underlining this vision, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed emphasized: "Regional integration and trade will be crucial to the future of our continent, allowing us to grow beyond primary commodities and accelerate our shared development." 

 Ethiopia can produce renewable electricity, export it to neighboring countries and use the resulting revenues to finance further economic development. Sudan, Djibouti, Kenya and other neighboring countries can benefit from reliable and relatively low-carbon electricity, while Ethiopia benefits from export earnings and stronger regional economic relationships.

 This creates an important alternative to the traditional zero-sum conception of Nile politics. Instead of asking which country gains and which country loses from every cubic meter of water, the region can increasingly ask how shared water resources can generate more electricity, more food, more trade and greater economic security for everyone.

 Conclusion

 Ethiopia’s case for continued development of its water resources rests on a straightforward reality: a country cannot eradicate poverty, expand food production, industrialize and provide modern energy to its population while leaving much of its water infrastructure potential unused.

The GERD demonstrated that Ethiopia can overcome major financial and geopolitical obstacles through domestic mobilization and strategic determination. The government’s initiative to document more than 22 projects it says were obstructed by Egypt provides an opportunity to examine the historical dimension of the dispute through evidence rather than rhetoric. 

 The central issue is therefore no longer whether Ethiopia will develop its water resources. It is how it will do so. For Ethiopia, water development is ultimately about much more than dams. It is about turning rainfall and river flows into electricity, irrigation, food, employment, industrial production and economic opportunity. For the wider Nile Basin, the choice is between continuing to treat water development as a zero-sum geopolitical struggle and recognizing water infrastructure as a potential foundation for regional integration. 

 Ethiopia’s legitimate development aspirations cannot be subordinated indefinitely to historical patterns of water utilization. The strongest Ethiopian strategy, therefore, is neither confrontation nor retreat. It is evidence, engineering, financial resilience, responsible resource management and diplomacy. If Ethiopia can combine these elements, its rivers can become not instruments of regional rivalry but foundations for national transformation, food security, energy security and shared prosperity across the Horn of Africa.