Dozens Killed in Second Attack in as Many Weeks in Oromia’s Arsi Area

November 6, 2026 

Militia Training in Diida’a Locality, Robe District, Arsi Oromia that was held in January this year. The local administration said the purpose was to “empower the militia to ensure peace for national growth”

Addis Ababa – At least 35 people were killed in an armed attack in Endeto Kebele, Robe Woreda, in Ethiopia’s Oromia Region, on Thursday, November 5, residents told Addis Standard. The attack marks the second major assault in as many weeks in the wider Arsi area, targeting communities that include Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church members.

Two residents interviewed separately by Addis Standard described an assault involving simultaneous gunfire at several locations in Endeto, including security posts and areas around the town’s St. Mary Church. They said dozens of people were killed, with local militia members and civilians among the victims.

The casualty figures provided by the two interviewees differed. One resident said 35 people had been buried at Endeto Debre Mitmaq Kidist Mariam (St. Mary) Church on Thursday afternoon. The other reported that 36 “Orthodox Christians and three Muslims” had been buried at separate locations, adding that another person had died after being referred for medical treatment, bringing the death toll to 40. 

According to the resident who attended the burial, approximately 25 to 26 of those killed were members of the local kebele militia, while the remainder were civilians. The resident said the victims included an elderly woman aged between 75 and 80 and two adolescents estimated to be between 15 and 18 years old.

The second interviewee also described an elderly woman and a child estimated to be between 10 and 12 years old among the victims. The resident said the child was killed after gunmen apparently targeted his father.

The accounts suggest that the violence involved exchanges of gunfire between armed assailants and local security personnel, alongside attacks affecting residents. However, neither interviewee could identify those responsible.

One of the interviewees said the gunfire began at approximately 5:30 a.m., with attacks launched simultaneously at three locations: a camp towards the Bale direction, another in the center of Endeto town, and a militia post near the exit towards Sedika. The resident said the positions were equipped with “Bren machine guns.”

Describing the assault around the church, the resident said gunmen approached its main entrance and shouted, “Surrender!” before opening fire from at least three directions.

“I couldn’t even step out onto my doorstep; I was in my house. They even opened gunfire right at the door, the main door of the church,” the resident told Addis Standard, adding that the intensity of the shooting prevented people from leaving their homes.

The other interviewee said gunfire was directed at both government security positions and civilian areas, leaving residents caught in the violence.

“Sometimes they shoot at civilian areas; at another time, they shoot at government security positions,” the resident said, describing the attack as affecting the wider community. The interviewee added that some residents survived by fleeing or hiding, while others were killed.

The aftermath was further complicated by blocked roads, which reportedly delayed security reinforcements and prevented residents from accessing assistance. One interviewee said roads connecting Endeto with neighboring areas, including the route towards Robe, were obstructed, making it difficult for additional forces to reach the area.

Although security personnel subsequently entered Endeto, residents said their presence had not restored confidence. One interviewee identified the arriving personnel as Oromia police or regional special forces, rather than federal forces.

“Tomorrow, when they leave, the problem will just cycle back. When they come, they control it, but when they leave, those others…” the resident said, expressing concern over the sustainability of the security response.

Another resident described widespread anxiety following the burials, saying people remained uncertain about their safety and ability to move freely.

The second interviewee said the community’s sense of insecurity had reached a point where residents were considering leaving the area.

“In this place, the Christians are practically at the stage of displacement. If you asked me right now, I have no hope of staying here because I would choose to flee for long-term survival,” the resident said.

The November 5 killings follow a series of deadly attacks against communities in the former Arsi Zone, now part of the Southeast Oromia Zone, in October.

On October 20, 14 Orthodox Christians were killed in Merti Woreda, while another 46 were killed in Shirka Woreda on October 24, according to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church’s Holy Synod. The two attacks prompted widespread condemnation and renewed calls for government action to protect civilians.

In a November 3 statement following an investigation into the October 24 attack in Birbona Chole Kebele, Shirka Woreda, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) confirmed that 48 people had been killed, including 23 members of kebele-level security forces, five militia members and 13 civilians killed by an armed group it identified as the Oromo Liberation Army, commonly known as “OLF-Shane”. The Commission also documented seven additional civilian deaths attributed to “informally armed individuals”.

The EHRC said the attack left 20 people injured, destroyed 21 homes and displaced 247 households. It called on the government to strengthen civilian protection, reform local security structures, improve early-warning systems and ensure prompt responses to emerging threats.

The findings corroborate Addis Standard’s earlier reporting on the scale of the killings. On October 26, residents who attended the mass burial told Addis Standard that at least 48 people had been killed and more than 31 others injured in attacks on Chole and Birbo kebeles. Witnesses described door-to-door killings, looting and the use of heavy weapons, reporting that the victims included women, elderly people and at least six children under the age of 15.

On October 28, Addis Standard reported that more than 50 people had reportedly been detained in Shirka Woreda after participating in the burial of victims, attending funerals or helping transport and provide medical assistance to the wounded.

However, on November 2, the Oromia regional government announced the detention of 73 individuals in connection with the attacks, describing the arrests as part of security operations targeting OLF-Shane and other groups it considers security threats. The regional government also said security had been restored in six kebeles and that assistance was being provided to displaced residents to facilitate their return.

Against this backdrop, US Ambassador to Ethiopia Ervin Massinga met EHRC Chief Commissioner Berhanu Adello on November 5, reiterating Washington’s support for the Commission’s work.

In a statement shared by the US Embassy, Massinga expressed “U.S. support for Ethiopian Human Rights Commission’s detailed, transparent reporting on recent killings in Arsi and its efforts to facilitate prisoner releases earlier this year.”

The identities of those responsible for the November 5 assault and the circumstances surrounding the killings remain independently unverified.

More Than 65 Killed in Armed Attack in Benishangul-Gumuz’s Assosa Zone, Residents Say

November 9, 2026 

Addis Ababa – More than 65 people, including members of regional security forces and at least 27 civilians, were killed in a heavily armed attack in Dalati locality of Buldiglu Woreda, Assosa Zone, Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State, residents told Addis Standard.

The attacks, which reportedly took place on Thursday and Friday, 5 and 6 November, targeted members of the regional anti-riot police, local militias, and special forces, as well as civilians, including women and children. Residents said approximately 45 of those killed were members of the region´s various security forces.

However, several local reports have put the death toll at more than 100, including dozens of civilians. Addis Standard could not independently verify the higher figures.

“The attackers were heavily armed men. Some of them were wearing the former security uniform of the region,” one eyewitness told Addis Standard by phone.

Another witness said the attacks continued for nearly two days, with no intervention from federal forces during the fighting.

“The attacks lasted almost two days, and there was no intervention from federal forces. The local security forces were unable to contain the fighting until the following day,” the witness said.

A 65-year-old farmer who lost his younger brother in the attack described how his brother was caught in the crossfire while searching for medication for his ailing wife.

His brother had been trying to obtain prescription medicine for his wife, who had been bedridden for eight months due to high blood pressure and was receiving treatment at Assosa Hospital. She was discharged on Monday, and he had spent the following three days searching for her medication at different local pharmacies, the farmer said.

“That day, he never came home,” he told Addis Standard.

The farmer said he did not personally witness the attackers but recalled that it took several hours before families could begin collecting the victims’ bodies because of the intensity of the fighting.

Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State Police Commission Commissioner Mohammed Idriss confirmed the attack in an interview with BBC Amharic, saying it occurred in the early hours of Thursday, around 5 a.m. He attributed the assault to the armed group known as OLF-Shene.

According to Idriss, the attack took place in Dalati locality, which borders neighboring Oromia Region. He reported that 21 civilians, 18 anti-riot police officers, and 13 local militia members were among the casualties. His breakdown accounts for 52 deaths, although residents have reported a higher toll.

The regional government had not issued an official statement on the attack at the time of publication.

Renewed violence amid regional security operations

The latest attack comes amid continuing security tensions in Benishangul-Gumuz, a region that has experienced recurrent armed violence, counterinsurgency operations, civilian displacement, and multiple attempts at negotiated settlements.

Although Metekel and Kamashi zones have historically been among the principal areas affected by armed conflict, insecurity has also affected other parts of the region, including Assosa Zone.

The region’s conflict landscape has involved several armed and political actors, including the Gumuz People’s Democratic Movement (GPDM), the Benishangul People’s Liberation Movement (BPLM), local armed factions, which the Ethiopian government refers to as “OLF-Shene”. The Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) has repeatedly denied military involvement the conflicts in Metekel and Kamashi. The motivations, alliances, and operational presence of these groups have varied over time.

Regional authorities have pursued peace agreements and reconciliation initiatives with some armed groups. In October 2022, the regional government signed an agreement with GPDM, followed by a December 2022 peace accord with BPLM in Khartoum, Sudan. Subsequent rehabilitation, amnesty, and reintegration measures were also announced.

In June 2024, regional authorities declared the successful conclusion of peace agreements with remaining elements of the two groups.

Nevertheless, sporadic attacks and clashes have continued. More recently, the regional police commission announced on 22 October that it had conducted a “coordinated security operation” against what it described as “anti-peace forces” operating in Benishangul-Gumuz.

In a statement disseminated through Benishangul-Gumuz Media, the commission said its riot control unit, working alongside the 404th Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) Corps of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) Western Command, had taken action against an armed faction identified as “Army 13, Corps 2, Battalion 3.”

Commander Qurish Ibrahim, head of Riot Control and Special Protection Operations at the regional police commission, alleged that the group was operating under what he described as “the destructive agenda of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), with support from Sudan, Egypt, and Eritrea”, which he referred to as “Shaebia”.

Lieutenant Colonel Wondwosen Birhanu, operations head of the 404th GERD Corps, said the operation had resulted in deaths, injuries, and the “capture of several fighters”. He alleged that the group had entered from Debazin, Sudan, using three vehicles and was “seeking to destabilize the region and control its resources.”

The regional authorities also released statements attributed to captured fighters, who allegedly said they had joined the fighting after receiving missions from Sudan, Egypt, and Eritrea under the pretext of liberating their country. These allegations were presented by the regional authorities and could not be independently verified.

The 22 October announcement also urged residents in border areas to report suspicious movements to security bodies and called on individuals involved in armed activities to return to their communities and resolve their grievances through dialogue.

The latest attack in Dalati comes less than three weeks after that announcement.

The circumstances surrounding the attack, the identities and affiliations of the perpetrators, and the discrepancy between the casualty figures provided by the police commissioner and those reported by residents remain unclear. Addis Standard could not independently establish whether the latest incident was connected to the armed faction cited in the regional government’s October security announcement.

Drone Strike Kills 12 Civilians Collecting Grain in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region

Andrew Wasike

Anadolu Agency (Anadolu Ajansı)

October 31, 2026

NAIROBI, Kenya

At least 12 civilians were killed and several others injured in a drone strike in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region Friday while collecting grain spilled from a truck damaged in an earlier attack, local authorities and hospital sources confirmed Saturday.

The attack took place in the town of Rama, where residents had gathered to collect sorghum scattered across the road after a privately owned truck transporting grain for local traders was struck Thursday night.

Local sources told Ethiopian news outlet Addis Standard that 12 people died at the scene, while several others sustained injuries, some of them serious.

The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), which monitors violence worldwide, also documented the Friday attack, recording 12 deaths plus injuries and property damage.

The latest incident comes amid renewed fighting in Tigray, where drone operations have raised concerns over civilian safety.

Earlier in October, separate drone strikes in Medebay Terer killed seven civilians, including an 8-year-old girl, and injured six others. Other attacks in the Hintalo district also caused civilian deaths, including a 2-year-old child.

The escalation extends beyond Tigray, with drone strikes causing casualties in the neighboring Amhara region and western Oromia.

On Thursday, a strike at the Hayiq Jari 2 Turk displacement camp in Amhara killed at least 16 civilians and injured 22 others.

Ethiopia’s northern conflict has also heightened tensions with neighboring Eritrea, which Addis Ababa has accused of supporting armed groups and sending troops into Tigray.

Eritrea has rejected the accusations, as concerns grow over the risk of another regional confrontation.

More Than 50,000 Displaced by Deadly Ethiopia Border Clashes

Families arrive in Kenya with little food or shelter as host communities struggle to cope.

Kenyan officials and humanitarian workers visit a temporary displacement site in Moyale, northern Kenya, as thousands of people fleeing clashes in neighbouring Ethiopia seek shelter [Hafsa Abdiwahab Sheikh/Al Jazeera]

By Hafsa Abdiwahab Sheikh

9 Nov 2026

Moyale, Kenya – When Hawa Hassan fled her home in Ethiopia’s Moyale area, she left almost everything behind. Her house was burned during the violence, she said. But one memory has stayed with her: a 13-year-old girl shot while sitting near a wall.

Hassan said the girl had not touched a flag, a detail she raised while describing tensions over flag displays in the disputed border area. Her account of the killing could not be independently verified.

Hundreds of Ethiopians cross into Kenya to flee regional fighting

The journey into Kenya was brutal. Hassan told Al Jazeera that some women gave birth while fleeing, and that families arrived without food, cooking utensils or bedding. Newborn babies were sleeping on bare floors. Diarrhoea was spreading, while families feared malaria as mosquitoes multiplied.

For many, crossing the border has meant escaping gunfire only to face another struggle: finding food and shelter. The arrivals are also stretching Kenyan communities. Families that opened their homes are sharing scarce supplies, even as some worry the violence could reach their own neighbourhoods.

A crisis growing by the day

A government-led assessment conducted on October 29 and 30 estimated that 35,950 people had been displaced as of October 24. About 25,000 were staying with host families and nearly 11,000 in temporary displacement sites.

The number has since risen. During a meeting, Kenya Red Cross regional head Malik Adan said the number of people displaced by the conflict had increased from an estimated 36,000 to more than 50,000. The figure includes people living in temporary settlements as well as those staying with relatives and host families.

Ethiopians displaced by deadly border clashes seek refuge in Kenya, where many families face shortages of food, shelter and basic necessities.

The overall number of displaced people has yet to be independently established, and no final figure has been confirmed.

The assessment covered 758 households and involved government authorities, United Nations agencies, the Kenya Red Cross and other humanitarian organisations. The figures reflect different reporting periods.

The fighting is rooted in a long-standing dispute over land and administrative control between Ethiopia’s Oromia and Somali regional administrations. Tensions escalated around October 18 over the raising of the Somali regional flag in the disputed Moyale area, reflecting competing claims over territory and authority.

For those arriving in Kenya, the politics are secondary to the immediate question of where they will sleep and what they will feed their children.

Aid stretched on both sides

Mwasaru Mercy, Kenya’s acting commissioner for refugee affairs, told Al Jazeera that a multi-agency government team had been deployed to Moyale. The Department of Refugee Services is coordinating with local authorities and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

But gunfire could still be heard, Mercy said, raising fears of further displacement. Many arrivals need food, shelter, bedding and mosquito nets.

“There are no contingency food stocks specifically for this incident because it happened abruptly,” Mercy said.

Authorities are trying to mobilise humanitarian organisations and donors. A refugee camp has not been established because the security situation must improve first. The government is working with UNHCR to register arrivals and assess their needs.

Those affected include Ethiopians fleeing violence, traders, and Kenyans forced from their homes by stray ammunition, Mercy said.

Officials and humanitarian representatives meet to discuss the response to the growing displacement crisis in Moyale, following deadly clashes in neighbouring Ethiopia.

Fatima Mohammed Cole, UNHCR’s representative in Kenya, said many arrivals were women and children. Families are spread across several locations, including six sites hosting Ethiopians. They need shelter, food and healthcare, while crowded conditions raise concerns about the spread of disease.

Cole said gunfire was still being heard in Moyale and appealed for a ceasefire that would allow families to return home.

The response is also under way inside Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Red Cross Society said it had provided emergency shelter and household items worth about 30 million Ethiopian birr ($182,970) to 1,000 households displaced from Moyale town and surrounding areas.

The supplies included 2,000 tarpaulins, blankets and sleeping mats, as well as dignity kits, jerrycans, kitchen sets, soap and solar lamps. Distribution was under way, the organisation said. The operation is separate from assistance in Kenya.

Host communities under pressure

In Kenya, residents who initially opened their doors are finding it harder to keep going.

Abdi Maalim, a member of the Moyale Cross-Border Peace Committee, told Al Jazeera that some Kenyan families had moved further inland after bullets and heavy weapons landed close to their homes. He called for more border patrols to prevent armed groups from crossing into Kenya.

Families that once cooked for five or six people are now feeding 20 or 30.

Moyale’s role as a trading point between Kenya and Ethiopia has added to the strain. Maalim said trucks carrying goods between Mombasa and Addis Ababa had been stranded near the border for almost two weeks. Kenyan trucks were also stuck in Ethiopia, and businesses in Moyale had slowed sharply.

Bank closures have disrupted the circulation of the Ethiopian birr. Traders reported price rises of about 20 percent as supplies became harder to move.

Fears of wider instability

Security analyst Dr Abdiwahab Sheikh Abdisamad told Al Jazeera that the clashes had grown beyond a local dispute over territory, exposing deeper ethnic divisions and political competition between Ethiopia’s regional administrations.

He said perceptions of Oromo expansionism and allegations of federal government support for Oromia’s regional leadership risked deepening mistrust. He warned that armed fighters crossing the border, stray bullets and further displacement made this a Kenyan security concern as well as a refugee emergency.

A military official greets people during a visit to Moyale, Kenya, as authorities assess the impact of deadly border clashes in neighbouring Ethiopia.

Kenya’s Inspector General of Police, Douglas Kanja, said additional officers would be deployed along the border to strengthen security. During a visit to Moyale on November 5, he said Kenya was engaging Ethiopia’s federal government to help end the conflict.

Kanja said about 10,000 people were staying in temporary shelters and public institutions, while others had been taken in by host families. He said one Kenyan had died after being hit by a stray bullet, while a police report indicated that an Ethiopian man had also died from gunshot wounds sustained in Kenya.

The 10,000 figure refers to people in temporary shelters and public institutions, not the total number displaced. It is not directly comparable with the Red Cross estimate of more than 50,000, which includes people staying with host families.

Hassan wants to return home, but only when it is safe. Until then, she and thousands of others depend on host communities and humanitarian agencies. The longer the fighting continues, the harder it will be for those communities to keep absorbing the cost.

Maalim said residents had already stretched their resources to accommodate the new arrivals.

“Previously, we were supplying this town alone. Now we are literally taking care of two towns together,” he told Al Jazeera.

Sudan Fuel Shortages Damage Crops in El Gezira as Food Prices Soar, Bakeries Strike in North Kordofan

08/11/2026 19:13

Cartoon: Omar Dafallah / RD

Fuel shortages and soaring production costs are damaging agricultural crops in Sudan’s El Gezira state, while rising food and transport prices are placing further pressure on household budgets. Reports of a general strike by bakeries in El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, has disrupted bread supplies amid a dispute over production costs and bread prices.

A farmer in the El Gezira agricultural scheme, identified as Mohammed, told Radio Dabanga that large areas of the maize crop had been damaged because of a shortage of petrol needed to operate irrigation pumps.

He said the price of a four-gallon container of petrol had reached SDG600,000, forcing him to search for fuel outside the state to save the remainder of his crop. He warned that declining agricultural production could further deepen food insecurity and hunger.

‘Food and transport costs soar’

Food prices have also risen sharply across markets in El Gezira, including those in El Maseed, El Ma’aliq and El Kamlin.

Ahmed Mohammed El Khair, a resident of the state, told Radio Dabanga that the prices of essential commodities, particularly maize, lentils, sesame and wheat, had witnessed sharp increases.

He said a sack of maize now costs between SDG800,000 and SDG820,000, while a sack of wheat has reached around SDG780,000. Lentils sell for SDG850,000 per sack, while Kabkabiya (type of legume) costs between SDG300,000 and SDG450,000.

A sack of sesame has reached SDG860,000, while Egyptian beans cost between SDG1.1 million and SDG1.2 million, depending on the size and quality of the beans.

El Khair said the price increases had severely affected residents’ purchasing power and reduced market activity, as most people had low or no incomes. He described the situation as a serious concern for residents and called on government authorities to intervene.

Transport costs have also surged, with the cost of transporting goods in Omdurman exceeding SDG2 million. In Kassala, taxi fares have reached SDG20,000 per passenger, adding to the growing cost of living.

‘Bakeries strike in El Obeid’

All bakeries in El Obeid have closed in a general strike over a dispute with local authorities concerning bread prices and rising production costs.

Journalist Omar Mohammed Omar told Radio Dabanga that the complete shutdown had disrupted bread supplies across the city, leaving residents struggling to access a basic food staple.

He criticised the size and quality of the bread being sold, saying the loaves did not meet the expected standards. He said bread prices had previously reached SDG2,000 and, in some cases, SDG3,000, amid demands for prices to reflect the actual weight, size and nutritional value of each loaf.

The strike has disrupted daily life in El Obeid, particularly for families and schoolchildren who depend on bread for breakfast.

Australia Sanctions El Burhan and Hemedti Over Sudan War and Human Rights Abuses

06/11/2026 16:41 

CANBERRA

Australia has imposed targeted sanctions, and travel bans on four Sudanese individuals, including Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) Commander and Transitional Sovereignty Council President Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as ‘Hemedti’, over the ongoing war in Sudan. Sudanwar analysis

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced the measures in a statement published by the ministry on Thursday, saying the government had also imposed financial sanctions on the El Bara Bin Malik Brigade.

Among those on the sanctions list are Al-Tijani Al-Tahir Karshoum, the RSF-aligned de facto governor of West Darfur, and RSF field commander Hussein Barsham. Both face financial sanctions and travel bans.

“The RSF and the SAF have committed serious  human rights violations and abuses, including attacks on civilians, torture, sexual and gender-based violence, and extrajudicial killings,” Wong said.

“Those responsible for serious human rights violations and abuses must be held to account.”

The sanctions build on measures Australia previously imposed on 13 individuals under the United Nations Security Council’s Sudan sanctions framework. Sudanwar analysis

Under the new measures, dealing with the assets of listed individuals or the El Baraa Bin Malik Brigade without ministerial authorisation is a criminal offence. The four individuals are also barred from entering or remaining in Australia.

Australia said hundreds of thousands of people had been killed and more than 14 million displaced since the war began on 15 April 2023. Almost 34 million people, more than 70 per cent of Sudan’s population, need humanitarian assistance. Warconflict resolution

Canberra has provided more than $67 million in humanitarian aid to Sudan, supporting food, clean water, shelter, healthcare and protection services.

To ensure sanctions do not obstruct relief efforts, Wong also issued a humanitarian permit allowing specified aid activities that would otherwise be restricted under the sanctions framework.

Sudan’s Military Again Detains International Criminal Court Fugitive Haroun, Lawyers Say

This is a locator map for Sudan with its capital, Khartoum. (AP Photo) License this photo

By  YASSIR ABDALLA and SAMY MAGDY

2:24 PM EST, November 8, 2026

SHENDI, Sudan (AP) — Sudan’s military authorities on Sunday once again detained a former senior Islamist official who is wanted by the International Criminal Court over atrocities related to the Darfur conflict in the early 2000s, two defense lawyers said.

Ahmed Haroun, a senior security official during the rule of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir, and later chairman of the former ruling National Congress Party, was detained in Omdurman, the sister city of the capital, Khartoum, according to two lawyers on his defense team. The lawyers had said earlier he was detained in the eastern province of Kassala.

The lawyers, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief the media, said Haroun’s whereabouts were unknown.

Haroun was detained in April 2019 when a monthslong uprising forced the military ouster of al-Bashir and his government.

He had been detained along with the former president and other senior officials, including those who are wanted by the ICC, in a Khartoum prison. The military declined to hand them over to the international court.

The conflict in Darfur broke out when rebels from the territory’s ethnic central and sub-Saharan African community launched an insurgency in 2003, complaining of oppression by the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum.

Haroun was accused by the ICC of crimes against humanity and war crimes including murder, rape, persecution, forced transfer of the population and torture in Darfur at least between 2003 and 2004.

Haroun has denied the charges. He walked away from the prison after the facility was attacked in April 2024 during the war between the army and the notorious paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

The lawyers said no reasons were given for Haroun’s re-detention, but they linked it to his recent comment in a podcast in which he said his party and the military might not be aligned, but are united in the fight against the RSF in the war that broke out in April 2023 in Khartoum and elsewhere across the country.

The National Congress Party called for the immediate release of Haroun, saying in a statement that he was detained merely for expressing his opinion. The party didn’t address that Haroun is wanted by the ICC.

The latest war has also been marked by atrocities such as mass rape and ethnically motivated killings. The United Nations and international rights groups say these acts also amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially in Darfur, which has been facing a bitter onslaught by the RSF. The RSF’s multiday attack on el-Fasher in Darfur last year bore “hallmarks of genocide,” according to U.N. experts.

In the interview on Sudan Podcast, Haroun addressed a wide range of topics, including the ouster of al-Bashir, ties with the military and RSF leaders, a proposal for the future governance of Sudan, ties with the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates, and the origins of the RSF.

The RSF grew out of the notorious Arab Janjaweed militias, which were mobilized two decades ago by al-Bashir against populations that identify as Central or East African in Darfur.

The interview stirred up outrage among rights and activist groups that were behind the uprising against al-Bashir. The Emergency Lawyers group condemned the interview as a “legal scandal and a direct challenge to international justice.”

The group called for the army to detain Haroun and hand him over to the ICC along with al-Bashir and former Defense Minister Abdel-Rahim Muhammad Hussein.

“Justice for victims of crimes committed in Sudan cannot be held hostage to political or military balances, and ending impunity requires subjecting all accused and wanted persons to judicial accountability, without exception or immunity,” it said.

___

Magdy reported from Washington.

Tanzania Opposition Leader Lissu Sentenced to 4 Years for Incitement, Acquitted of Treason

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

2:55 PM EST, November 6, 2026

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (AP) — A court in Tanzania convicted the country’s main opposition leader Tundu Lissu of incitement Friday and sentenced him to four years in prison, but acquitted him of the more serious charge of treason.

Lissu, the chairman of the Chadema party, was found guilty of inciting people to disrupt last year’s election. The three-judge panel in Dar es Salaam ruled, however, that prosecutors had failed to prove he intended to intimidate the government. The treason charge carried a possible death sentence.

Lissu was arrested on April 9, 2025, after addressing a rally calling for electoral reforms and was charged with treason the following day.

Lissu, who has spent more than 18 months in detention, denied wrongdoing, saying his speech was part of a legitimate campaign.

“Those who are innocent, like me, do not apologize,” Lissu told the court. “You have sought out an offense that did not exist, and you have done so following political directives,” he said.

Lissu’s lead lawyer, Rugemeleza Nshala, said the defense planned to appeal and seek bail pending the appeal.

Amnesty International called for Lissu’s conviction and sentence to be quashed and for his immediate and unconditional release. “The conviction and sentence cannot be considered the outcome of a fair trial,” said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty’s regional director for East and Southern Africa.

Supporters chanted “Viva!” as Lissu arrived at court amid tight security and raised a clenched fist. His hair had grown longer during his detention, and he wore it in dreadlocks. His elder sister and several Chadema leaders attended the proceedings.

Lissu remained in custody during last year’s general election, in which presidential candidates from the two main opposition parties were barred from competing.

His detention has been marked by disputes over access to his lawyers. After prison authorities allowed him to meet privately with his younger brother, he ended a brief hunger strike on Oct. 27, his lead lawyer, Rugemeleza Nshala, told The Associated Press.

The election triggered protests and deadly violence. An inquiry reported in April that at least 518 people had died. Its chairman, Mohamed Chande Othman, said the toll was likely higher because some families buried relatives without taking their bodies to morgues.

The United Nations has called for an investigation into the killings and reports that police removed bodies from mortuaries to undisclosed locations. Chadema estimated that about 2,000 people were killed, a figure the U.N. said it could not verify amid insecurity and an internet shutdown.

The judgment came days after Lissu’s elder brother, Alute Mughwai Lissu, died on Sunday. Lissu appealed to the court to release him so he could attend the burial.

“Please, let me go and lay Mzee Alute to rest,” he said.

Lissu was taken back to prison after sentencing.

He survived being shot 16 times in a 2017 assassination attempt and has spent periods in exile, citing threats to his life.

_____

Associated Press writer Khaled Kazziha in Nairobi, Kenya, contributed to this report.

Leader of Kenyan Doomsday Cult Sentenced to 200 Years in Prison

By EVELYNE MUSAMBI

5:42 AM EST, November 7, 2026

MOMBASA, Kenya (AP) — The leader of a Kenyan doomsday cult linked to the deaths of more than 400 people was sentenced on Friday to 200 years in prison for the murders of 191 people.

The High Court in Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa issued the sentence for Pastor Paul Mackenzie. He was convicted of murdering 190 children and one adult after he ordered his followers to starve themselves to death in order to meet Jesus.

Mackenzie is also facing terrorism and manslaughter charges for the more than 200 other victims, as well as child abuse and torture charges in two other courts.

Justice Diana Kavedza said that Mackenzie, leader of the Good News International Church, bore the “primary criminal culpability” for relocating his followers to a remote location and ordering them to fast to death.

Mackenzie was charged with the murders alongside 28 of his followers, including guards who enforced his fasting directives and gravediggers who helped conceal the mass graves. All denied the charges, except for one person who confessed and pleaded for leniency.

On Oct. 19, the court found all 29 of them guilty of the murder of 191 people.

In 2023, more than 400 bodies were exhumed from shallow graves on the 800-acre (320-hectare) Chakama Ranch in coastal Kilifi County, where Mackenzie’s followers lived in mud huts, away from the scrutiny of local communities and authorities.

More than 60 bodies were positively identified and reburied by their relatives, while many others remain unidentified and unclaimed.

During the sentencing, Kavedza said that 183 victims died of starvation, defined as a complete lack of food, and the deaths of the other eight were classified as murder by direct homicide.

Kavedza said the killings were “cold and calculated” and dismissed claims by some of the accused that the loss of their own children altered the fact that they had participated in the killings of many other children.

The justice said that the perpetrators didn’t show remorse and declared they were ready to fast to death as well. During the sentencing, Mackenzie often smiled and chatted with his assistant pastor, Smart Mwakalama, who was sentenced to 160 years in prison.

All of those who were convicted have been granted 14 days to file an appeal.

The prosecution had argued for the death penalty for Mackenzie and life imprisonment for his accomplices.

Defense lawyer Lawrence Obonyo, who represents Mackenzie and several others who were convicted, told The Associated Press that he had already launched an appeal. He said that the decision was “circling around the constitution to give a sentence that is unattainable” since the sentences of between 160 and 200 years amount to life sentences.

A father of seven, Suleiman Ziro, who traveled 120 kilometers (75 miles) for the sentencing, lost six of his children and his wife to the cult in 2023. He said that the sentence wasn’t enough especially because he has yet to recover the bodies of his loved ones, calling for the death penalty in the case.

Mackenzie’s son, Dan Mackenzie, said that he felt sorry for his father over the conviction, but it was “justice served to the victims.” He said that he escaped by “rebelling” against his father’s teachings and was often punished for it, but was glad he survived. Two of his younger brothers and three sisters were rescued and are currently at a children’s home.

Those sentenced to death in Kenyan courts serve a life sentence. Kenya’s last execution was in 1987.

Education Strike and Student Protest This Tuesday, November 10

November 8, 2026 at 08:21 a.m.

The national education strike resumes this Tuesday, November 10, 2026, with demonstrations by students, high school students and staff in Paris and across France, in an effort to influence talks with the government.

The National Education strike and the student demonstration return this Tuesday, November 10, 2026. Teachers, high school students, university students and researchers have been called on to stop work and take to the streets in Paris and across the Île-de-France region. Schools, middle schools, high schools and universities in the capital, as well as those in the Créteil and Versailles education districts, could be affected.

The call was taken up this Saturday, November 7, by the Snes-FSU, the leading union for middle and high schools. It comes five days after the November 5 strike and the day after a busy day at Matignon.

Who is calling for a strike on November 10?

Fifteen organizations have signed the joint statement, according to Dijon Actualités, which details its contents. On the youth side, the signatories include the Union syndicale lycéenne (USL), Union étudiante, UNEF, FAGE, FSE and Solidaires étudiant-e-s. On the staff side, FSU, FERC-CGT, FO, SUD éducation and Sup'Recherche-UNSA are among the signatories.

The tone is combative. According to the inter-union coalition, quoted by L'Express, the movement is “in a position of strength” and the government is “starting to back down.” CGT Éduc'action is even urging staff to hold general assemblies from this Monday to discuss an ongoing, renewable strike.

Why another day on Tuesday?

The timing explains everything. This Monday, November 9, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is bringing together unions and employers at 9:30 a.m. for a social conference on wages and purchasing power. He will then meet representatives of high school and university students from 3:30 to 5 p.m., according to franceinfo.

Tuesday is therefore a full-scale test. If Monday’s announcements disappoint, people must make their voices heard in the streets the very next day. The unions are particularly concerned that the public sector will be left out of pay talks. They are meeting on Tuesday evening to take stock and decide what to do next, in coordination with the cross-industry union coalition.

The momentum from November 5 is a factor. That day, the Snes-FSU said 52% of staff at middle and high schools were on strike, with nearly 1,000 high schools blocked or closed, according to Entrevue. Authorities counted nearly 600,000 demonstrators across France, while the CGT put the figure at 1.6 million.

What are teachers, high school students and university students demanding?

It all started in mid-September at a high school in Créteil (94), where teachers and students denounced vacant positions and classes that were not being held. Since then, the demands have broadened. For schools, the signatories are calling for the public-sector pay index to be unfrozen and for more teachers, senior education advisers, support staff for students with disabilities, nurses and psychologists to be hired, as well as a building renovation plan.

For universities, they are calling for funding for 150,000 places they say are lacking, the creation of 15,000 permanent positions, and an end to the barriers they attribute to Parcoursup and Mon Master. The research sector is calling for the planned job cuts in the 2027 budget to be scrapped.

The best things to do this week, November 9–15, 2026, in Paris and Île-de-France

The government has already taken action. At the end of October, it promised a two-phase reform of Parcoursup, a €5 billion plan for high schools and universities, and smaller classes, as we reported in our article on student protests. The organizations say this is not enough, and are particularly disappointed by the lack of concrete measures for universities.

What route will the student demonstration take in Paris?

This Sunday, no route has yet been made public for the November 10 demonstration in Paris, either by the organizers or by the Paris police headquarters. The most recent events nevertheless offer some idea of what may be taking shape.

On November 3, the prefecture had refused to allow students from Interfac Île-de-France to march from the Panthéon to Medef headquarters, authorizing only a procession between Porte de Charenton and Porte de Montreuil. Around 300 students had ultimately gathered outside Jussieu University (5th arrondissement), according to ICI Paris Île-de-France. On November 5 and 7, by contrast, union marches were allowed to travel from Place de la République to Place de la Nation along Boulevard Voltaire (11th arrondissement), as detailed in our article on the November 5 march route.

Schools and cafeterias: what to expect on Tuesday?

In nursery and elementary schools, teachers must give at least 48 hours’ notice of their intention to go on strike. If at least a quarter of them are on strike, the local authority must provide a minimum childcare service, managed in Paris by the arrondissement town halls. The simplest option is to ask the school on Monday whether it will be open.

At middle and high schools, classes may be canceled, and further blockades cannot be ruled out outside some schools. At universities, lecture halls could also remain empty. The organizations have also filed strike notices covering the coming weeks, leaving the door open to further days of action.

Metro, RER: Are disruptions expected?

No strike has been called at RATP or SNCF for Tuesday so far. However, metro stations along the route may still be closed at the police prefecture’s request, as they are during every major demonstration in the autumn. Our metro, RER and train traffic update is updated daily, as are the RATP and Île-de-France Mobilités websites. This week’s engineering work is listed in our metro and RER disruptions this week.

Rebellions Break Out in France as Cost-of-Living Increases

November 8, 2026 

The State Times 

International Institute for Environment and Development

Grace Diviny, Staff Writer

For about a month, France has been rocked by a series of protests and riots by working class  people enraged at higher costs of living. 

The situation started in late September, where French high school students in Southeast Paris  went on strike over a lack of school resources, such as teacher shortages and poor school conditions. These protests eventually turned its focus onto the recent rise of living costs in  Europe. Rioting had been occurring in certain areas as far as early October, the worst of the violence eventually broke out in various cities across the country around October 17th, where rioters targeted a variety of public buildings alongside committing lootings and attacking police  officers. 

One of the buildings set ablaze by rioters was the 19th-century City Hall in Limoges, which was nearly destroyed alongside its roof collapsing. At least 2,400 to 2,700 people were arrested in the aftermath. 

In response to the riots, President Emmanuel Macron held an emergency meeting with government officials immediately in the aftermath on the 18th, where he then made a televised  statement towards rioters. 

“Those who looted will have to pay for the damage, and those who sought to bring down the Republic will be held accountable,” Macron said in his speech to French citizens. He also made a written statement on X, where he threatened to punish the rioters. “We will all stand united against the sowers of chaos, who ⁠only seek to undermine our institutions and prevent those who peacefully express their demands from doing so,”  

Macron and other officials blamed the riots on far-left activists in the midst of the upcoming French  election. They have also imposed a ‘ban’ on illegitimate protests as of Thursday to protect the interests of businesses. Night curfews in various towns have also been implemented. 

In the midst of the protests throughout France, other countries have joined in on the protests over the same economic struggles. Italy, Portugal, and Belgium also joined in on the protests, where guards and police have been sent out to watch over stores in towns. The protests also caught the attention of  activists such as Greta Thunberg, who joined French students last week to protest in solidarity with them. 

Despite the bans and curfews, protests in cities such as Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Lille, and Nantes have continued to occur as of this weekend, with things seeming to escalate yet again as riot police squads have reportedly fired tear gas at protestors alongside two people facing severe injuries in the process. As of now, 1,300 people have been arrested as of this weekend alone as at least nearly millions continue to protest in favor of more affordable living and available resources throughout Europe.

Another Day of Protests Unfurls in France’s Autumn of Discontent

The crowds were smaller on Saturday than in previous weeks’ demonstrations, but the animating sense of grievance remained.

By Mark Landler and Ségolène Le Stradic

Reporting from Paris

Nov. 7, 2026

French students and workers rallied for a fourth consecutive Saturday in Paris and other cities, drawing smaller but still spirited crowds, two days after a general strike brought more than half a million people into the streets.

The government estimated that 146,000 people turned out, about half the size of the crowds the previous Saturday. But the protests, which evolved last month from a student-focused movement into a national one, have shown no signs of petering out, suggesting the depth and breadth of grievances in the country.

The students are protesting the disrepair of their high schools, a shortage of teachers and an unpopular university admissions process; workers are demanding higher wages and improved public services.

“I came to support the youth; I find their claims to be legitimate,” said France Lucat, 44, who traveled 25 miles to join the demonstration in Paris. “And I am also very shocked by the police violence.”

It was the first time she had joined since the protests began, she said. Ms. Lucat said she had feared it could be unsafe, having seen coverage of the unrest, but chose to come see for herself. Next week, she will bring her children, she said. “That’s also why I came,” she said, “because I am afraid, and I shouldn’t be afraid.”

Her sister, Alice Courtieux, 52, held a sign saying “Macron You Trumped Us!” to protest what she called “the drift toward the right and the far right by this authoritarian government.” Both women expressed frustration with the lack of response to the demands of students and workers. But, Ms. Courtieux said, “It’s by joining demonstrations that you find hope again.”

“Generation Z is waking up and rousing the whole of France,” said Sandrine Rousseau, a lawmaker with the Green Party who joined protesters in Paris, wearing the tricolor sash of elected officials.

Brushing aside the idea that the movement was dwindling, Ms. Rousseau said the smaller crowd was no surprise, two days after huge, carefully orchestrated demonstrations. “I don’t know how it will all end,” she said, “but to me, it feels a bit like a revolution, a surge of civic spirit, an infinite sense of hope.”

The demonstrations were largely peaceful, though protesters clashed with the police in some cities, including Paris, Bordeaux, Marseille and Lyon, and unauthorized gatherings took place in cities like Rennes, in western France.

Some protesters tried to “disrupt the marches and enter restricted areas,” according to the Interior Ministry, but they were “systematically contained and hampered.”

In Paris, a small group affiliated with the Yellow Vests — a movement that protested against high gas prices between 2018 and 2020 — tried to hold a renegade demonstration at Place de la Concorde, close to the Élysée Palace, where President Emmanuel Macron has his residence and office.

The authorities arrested 360 people nationwide and conducted nearly 40,000 spot checks to prevent people from taking weapons to protest areas. Some 70,000 police officers were marshaled on Saturday, matching the deployment for the last three major protests.

The prime minister’s office plans to hold a “social conference” on Monday with organizations representing business leaders and workers to discuss wages and the cost of living.

Separate meetings with civil servants unions and with representatives of high school students are also planned. There will also be a session with students, parents, teachers and lawmakers dedicated to the overhaul of the college admission platform, which students have harshly criticized.

“It is time for the government to finally acknowledge that there is a real issue regarding purchasing power,” Marylise Léon, the head of the C.F.D.T., one of the country’s main workers’ unions, said on Friday in a broadcast interview. “So we need to sit down at the table, keeping in mind that it is also, ultimately, the responsibility of employers to provide decent wages.”

Since the protests on Oct. 17, which degenerated into arson and looting, the government has labored to prevent disorder. While there have been no fatalities caused by the violence — one person died of cardiac arrest during the Oct. 17 rally — the strain on France’s police and security services appeared to be spilling into other areas.

The foreign ministry announced it would move a high-level diplomatic meeting to Paris from Marseille next week, citing “logistical and operational” reasons. The meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of 7 advanced industrial nations had been planned for Monday and Tuesday in the Pharo Palace, a 19th-century building, less than a mile from streets looted on Oct. 17, that overlooks Marseille’s harbor.

But the government opted to move the meeting at the last minute because, officials said, it fell just before the Paris Peace Forum, a conference that gathers world leaders to discuss war, peace and conflict resolution.

In addition to the unrest, the authorities have also been dealing with a number of fake bomb threats against commercial flights in Europe, several of which were crossing French territory.

“It was a combination of logistical and operational considerations that led us to decide, as the deadline approached, to relocate the event to Paris,” Pascal Confavreux, a spokesman for the ministry, said on Thursday.

Mr. Confavreux did not address the protests or bomb threats specifically. But he said there were “operational issues for the teams, involving protocols and logistics, with two extremely important events taking place back-to-back. And that’s why it was important that we not overburden the teams.”

Giulia Imbert contributed reporting.

Mark Landler is the Paris bureau chief of The Times, covering France, as well as American foreign policy in Europe and the Middle East. He has been a journalist for more than three decades.

Ségolène Le Stradic a reporter and researcher for The Times, based in Paris.

Mapping How France’s Protest Wave Spread Across Europe

More than 1,700 cost-of-living demonstrations have taken place in 31 European countries since mid-September, with France leading the way.

By Hanna Duggal

8 Nov 2026

France’s protest movement is showing little sign of easing, nearly two months after high school students first walked out over crumbling classrooms.

On Saturday, 146,000 people rallied across the country, including 46,000 in Paris, according to the Ministry of the Interior, while unions put the figures at 250,000 and 75,000.

Turnout was down from previous weeks, but police used tear gas and batons on protesters in Paris and fired tear gas canisters at hundreds of people blocking a road in central Lyon, France’s third-largest city. About 70,000 security personnel were deployed, days after an estimated 575,000 people joined a union-organised rally.

The protests have expanded to cover a range of issues, from high fuel prices to wages and social housing, and in some cases, the demonstrations have been marred by looting and violence. Police have been accused of using excessive force, with officers using barricades, tear gas and batons against protesters.

Al Jazeera maps where demonstrations, including riots, have taken place across Europe.

Demonstrations began in France

An analysis of data from Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) found that between September 15 and October 30, more than 1,200 protests and riots of 100 or more people took place across France over education, public services and the cost of living.

The movement began in mid-September in high schools, where students complained of overcrowded classrooms, a lack of teachers and crumbling buildings. It soon broadened into protests against the rising cost of living, drawing in trade unions and the “yellow vests” movement, with rioting and looting on the sidelines.

On October 17 alone, more than 500,000 people protested nationwide, according to government estimates.

ACLED CEO Clionadh Raleigh said on October 19 that ACLED had recorded an average of 20.5 demonstrations a day in France over the past five years. “During the current protest cycle, that has jumped to almost 66 a day, more than three times the usual rate,” she said.

Protest cycles typically last about 20 days, or 36 for major movements, Raleigh said. By ACLED’s count, this one had reached 45 days and was still going.

“But the most striking difference is the level of confrontation,” she said. “Almost a quarter of events, 24.2 percent, have been classified as riots, compared to a median of just 1.9 percent in previous cycles. Only the unrest following the death of Nahel Merzouk in 2023 recorded a higher proportion.”

The police response has also drawn criticism. On October 28, four United Nations experts mandated by the Human Rights Council expressed alarm at the “excessive use of force” by French authorities in dispersing the student protests.

“The scale of the arrests and detention, affecting several thousand people, mainly minors, appears disproportionate and deters demonstrators from exercising their freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly,” they said in a statement.

In the northern city of Lille, a teenager lost a hand when a grenade exploded as school protesters clashed with police.

Protests across Europe

France is not protesting alone. Since mid-September, demonstrations over rising living costs, low wages and a lack of public services have broken out in 30 other European countries, from Portugal to Poland.

Between September 15 and October 30, more than 1,700 protests and riots of 100 or more people took place across Europe, according to an analysis of ACLED data.

Although protests in other countries did not reach the same scale as the rallies in France, they may be a sign of discontent spilling over, Alberto Alemanno, professor of European Union law and policy at HEC Paris Business School, told Al Jazeera last month.

“France is the epicentre of this movement … and there are signs now that this is spreading beyond France,” Alemanno said.

Which country has had the most protests?

France has led the demonstrations, but protests have also broken out across Europe at the same time, driven by a common thread of underfunded education, rising living costs and unaffordable housing.

Demonstrators clash with police during an antigovernment protest organised by the Italia in Piazza movement, in Milan, October 17, 2026. Inspired by protests in France and Spain, demonstrators protested against the rising cost of living, low wages, high rents and public service shortcomings, demanding better living and working conditions [Piero Cruciatti/AFP]

In Spain, tens of thousands of people rallied in early October after parliament rejected two emergency housing decrees on October 2, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s minority government.

In Italy, demonstrations over the cost-of-living crisis and unaffordable housing have led to clashes with police.

In Portugal, tens of thousands of protesters marched against the cost-of-living crisis, low wages and an inability to access housing in major cities.

1.6 Million Join General Strike in France Against Austerity

November 8, 2026

Around 1.6 million people took to streets across France during Thursday’s general strike, protesting Emmanuel Macron’s austerity policies.

Ana Vračar | November 6, 2026

Following weeks of major mobilizations led by high school and university students, hundreds of thousands of people responded to a general strike call by French trade unions. On Thursday, November 5, over 200 events and at least 1,500 industrial action appeals brought the country to a standstill again.

According to the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), roughly 1.6 million people took to the streets. The organization reported 350,000 people in Paris, 150,000 in Marseille, 120,000 in Bordeaux, and 100,000 in Lille, among others – despite authorities’ attempts to obstruct the day.

Approximately 1.6 million people took part in protests across France on November 5, 2026. Author: Jaylen Strong

Participants at strikes and rallies demanded concrete measures to address the cost-of-living crisis and an end to the repressive measures increasingly adopted by the government and law enforcement since early October.

“The demands are well known: price freezes, the repeal of the Parcoursup system, more university places, wage increases, and €10 billion in the budget to address the demands of high school and university students,” wrote left media outlet L’insoumission.

Refusal of social injustice is driving the mobilization

There was little doubt the new day of mobilization would be successful, given the outpouring of support student demands have gathered since the start of the academic year. “What we are witnessing is the summary of ten years of Macronism and anger against that policy,” said Sophie Binet, general secretary of the CGT, in an interview with Mediapart.

According to Binet, the convergence of different movements – students, workers, gilets jaunes (Yellow Vests) – is driven in part by a shared refusal of the social injustice that defines President Emmanuel Macron’s legacy. “For ten years, Macronist policy has varied in many respects, but with one constant: its economic choices, which serve the powerful, the business community, and the wealthiest.”

This neoliberal agenda is facing resistance not only from students and workers but also from progressive forces in parliament. On Wednesday, November 4, an overwhelming majority – over 450 – of representatives in the National Assembly rejected a budget proposal aiming to cut over €40 billion as concerns over the public deficit in the mainstream mount.

While both left- and right-wing representatives rejected the proposal, only the left has outlined a substantial alternative – and has brought that vision along while marching with students over the past weeks. The National Rally, by contrast, has promised no break with the status quo as the 2027 presidential election approaches.

Protests to continue on Saturday

Preparations for Thursday’s actions were once again marked by a high level of repression, with national authorities announcing the deployment of approximately 70,000 law enforcement agents. At the local level, several demonstrations were rerouted at the last minute, and police continued to use tear gas against demonstrators.

Administrative maneuvers, arrests, and violence against students have only added to protesters’ frustration, Binet emphasized, shaping additional demands to uphold and protect the right to protest.

The persistent protests have also produced the first – albeit minimal – breakthroughs. “These past few weeks gave the government space to announce a series of initial measures aimed at young people, in the hope of calming our mobilization,” wrote student unions Union Syndicale Lycéenne (USL) and Union Étudiante. “These announcements represent a first symbolic retreat by a power that had until now appeared unshakeable.”

“The balance of power we have built over more than a month is exposing a government – a government incapable of taking responsibility for 10 years of social and racist war policies against young people, and incapable of imagining any response to our demands other than unbridled repression – tremble.”

On Thursday, as actions were coming to a close, the government announced it would organize a social dialogue session including trade unions and employers’ representatives next week.

Meanwhile, a new general demonstration has been announced for Saturday, November 7.

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African American Voter Turnout Helped Contribute to Major Democratic Wins

November 6, 20264:53 PM ET

Heard on All Things Considered

By Marc Rivers

Ailsa Chang

Tinbete Ermyas

Transcript

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with political scientist Andra Gillespie about Black voter turnout during the 2026 midterm election.

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

The blue tsunami of Democratic victories in the midterms was partly powered by a groundswell of support among Black voters. That's especially true in the South, where many voting rights activists had feared the Supreme Court decision gutting the Voting Rights Act would have weakened Black voting power. To help us make sense of all of this, we have called Andra Gillespie. She's a professor of political science at Emory University in Atlanta. Welcome.

ANDRA GILLESPIE: Thank you.

CHANG: So I know we're just a few days out from the election, and there are still some races that have yet to be called, but overall, how big of an increase in Black voter participation did we see in this election compared to the 2024 election or even previous midterm election cycles, do you think?

GILLESPIE: So I'm going to use my state of Georgia as an example because Georgia does collect data on voter turnout by race. That would be really helpful in this election cycle. So in absolute terms, compared to 2022, we saw higher voter turnout amongst African Americans, Latinos and Asian American voters in the state of Georgia. White voters actually had lower voter turnout compared to 2022. And so that actually helps to contribute to overall Black and Asian American voters in particular making up a larger share of the 2026 electorate than they did amongst registered voters.

CHANG: What about Black male voters? I want to focus on them for a moment because President Trump did make some inroads with Black men back in 2024, even though they still largely voted for Kamala Harris. And now I see that exit polls are showing a swing back to Democrats among Black men. So I'm curious, why do you think this is happening, or what is happening?

GILLESPIE: If I had to proffer a hypothesis...

CHANG: Yeah.

GILLESPIE: ...It's probably because of economic issues. One of the things that's actually really interesting nationally if we look at the voter poll or the exit poll data, the economy ranked as the top issue amongst voters overall, but especially in southern states like South Carolina and Georgia and Mississippi, Black voters were actually more likely to cite the economy as their top issue than we saw in those national averages.

CHANG: I want to talk about the historic nature of this election that maybe transcends party politics. I mean, in the governor races, you see this especially. There were a number of historic firsts. You had David Crowley elected as Wisconsin's first Black governor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, the country's first Black woman governor, Byron Donalds, who was elected to become Florida's first Black governor. And I know that these are all different races. These are distinct individuals I'm talking about. But do you see any through line in the role that Black voters may have played in these particular historic wins?

GILLESPIE: Well, yes, but I think there's also this larger issue of candidates supply and Black politicians feeling confident enough that they can run for statewide office. You know, a generation ago, two generations ago, this would have been a risky move, so if you had a really safe congressional seat, like Congressman Donalds', had you might not choose to run (ph), especially if you were a Democrat for statewide office, because you're going to give up a guaranteed seat in order to take a risk and run for a seat that you might not eventually win.

CHANG: Yeah.

GILLESPIE: Well, there's been more examples of Blacks being able to run successfully for statewide office in both the Democratic and the Republican Parties. And I think Stacey Abrams' work in 2018, though it was unsuccessful in getting her to the governor's mansion, actually proved that Black candidates could be viable.

CHANG: What about the role of redistricting? Because earlier this year, the Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, right? And many Democrats and voting rights activists thought this would weaken Black voting power. Then we saw a number of Southern states move to redraw congressional maps in a way that experts said would further diminish Black representation across all levels of government. But it doesn't look like that happened. Why not, you think?

GILLESPIE: What we saw across the South in North Carolina, in Tennessee, Texas, you see these instances of Republican voting strength being diluted to try to create as many seats as possible. And what it did in a wave or tsunami election year was create these districts that Democrats could actually compete in.

CHANG: Was there anything about this year's elections that gave you any indications about where the Black vote might go going forward after this particular midterm election?

GILLESPIE: Republicans miscalculated in 2024 that those defections towards the Republican Party in that election were evidence of some type of permanent realignment...

CHANG: Right.

GILLESPIE: ...Instead of looking at what factors might have been influencing people to vote. What that means going forward is that neither party should consider this current election as indicative of what's going to happen in future elections.

CHANG: Andra Gillespie, political science professor at Emory University, thank you very much for joining us today.

GILLESPIE: Thank you.

African American Candidates for Governor Make History with 2026 Midterm Victories

By Emily Mae Czachor

November 5, 2026 / 2:07 PM EST / CBS News

Americans elected their first Black woman into a gubernatorial role during the 2026 midterms, alongside four other Black candidates who won races for governor around the United States on Tuesday.

The races culminated, respectively, in victories for Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat, in Georgia; Byron Donalds, a Republican, in Florida; David Crowley, a Democrat, in Wisconsin; Aaron Ford, a Democrat, in Nevada; and Wes Moore, also a Democrat, who was reelected to serve a second term as governor of Maryland. He became the state's first Black governor when he was elected in 2022. 

Including Moore, only three Black Americans have previously been elected to serve as U.S. governors. Former New York Gov. David Paterson, who is also Black, became governor when Eliot Spitzer resigned in 2008. 

Once Bottoms and Crowley were projected the winners in their races, Moore reflected on their wins to CBS News on Tuesday, calling the victories "incredibly important."

"This is exciting, because up until this moment, I was the only Black governor in America. And I was very clear that that's a title that I did not want to hold onto for very long," said Moore. "I'm only the third African American ever elected governor in the 250-year history of this country, and, now, in one cycle, we have at least doubled that number. I just think it's incredibly important. It's a historic moment."

Bottoms has been hailed as a trailblazer for more reasons than one, as she will become the first Black woman elected to a gubernatorial position in U.S. history. She will also be the first woman to serve as governor of Georgia when she joins the ranks of a record-high number of women — 17 — in governor's offices nationwide. 

She told "CBS Mornings" co-host Gayle King on Wednesday that she had been trying to tune out the results when she learned that she won.

"I had put in my AirPods to work on my speech, and my husband was on the sofa near me, laying near me, and he kicked me," said Bottoms, a former Atlanta mayor. "I went like, 'What?' He said, 'They called it.' And I said, 'Called what?' And so that's how I knew."

Donalds, who served as U.S. representative for Florida's 19th District after his election to that spot in 2020, is now also slated to become Florida's first Black governor. He is also the first Black Republican elected governor in the nation.

In Wisconsin, Crowley, a moderate Democrat, defeated Republican challenger Tom Tiffany in the culmination of a governor's race that played out in one of the country's most purple states. Tiffany, a U.S. representative, is also one of President Trump's top allies. 

Ford, who was elected as Nevada's attorney general in 2018, won his state's gubernatorial race against Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, CBS News projected on Thursday. He will become Nevada's first Black governor and the first Black governor ever elected west of the Mississippi. 

African Americans Played a Pivotal Role the Michigan Senate Race Bringing El Sayed to Victory

November 5, 2026 3:56pm EST

The Conversation

Progressive Abdul El-Sayed’s victory in Michigan’s U.S. Senate race was one of the most-watched contests in the 2026 midterm elections

As the results for this race came in, I had my eye on one demographic: Black voters. I am a political scientist who studies Black political behavior. My research has been published in numerous journals, as well as in my forthcoming book, “Black Resilience,” which examines Black voters’ political participation.

Wayne County voters

The support of Black voters for El-Sayed was not a given. In the August primary, 62% of Detroit voters chose U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens over El-Sayed. Many pundits predicted it would be difficult for El-Sayed to gain support in Detroit, which is about 75% Black.

After the primary, El-Sayed made overtures by sharing his plans to improve the lives of Black Americans, which included supporting the growth of minority-owned businesses, creating more affordable housing, eliminating food deserts and expanding the Rx Kids cash assistance program nationwide.

About 91.8% of Detroit voters supported El-Sayed in the general election, according to the city’s unofficial results. Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey said 209,924 residents voted in the 2026 midterms, up about 21% from the 2022 midterm elections. For the 2024 presidential election, 247,770 city residents cast a ballot.

In fact, El-Sayed received 70.6% of Wayne County votes, which includes Detroit. In 2024, Kamala Harris received 62.7% of the vote in Wayne County.

Statewide support is holding steady

In the 2024 presidential election, Michigan’s Democratic vote share fell to 48.3%, from 50.6% in 2020, as the state went for Donald Trump instead of Democratic nominee Harris.

Despite their ideological differences, Sen. Elissa Slotkin and El-Sayed drew similar support among Black voters. In 2024, Slotkin – a moderate Democrat – won 48.6% of the vote, a small margin over Mike Rogers, who was the Republican candidate in that race. In 2026, El-Sayed defeated Rogers statewide by a substantially wider margin, winning 52% of the vote.

In other words, these early election results do not indicate whether Black voters embraced El-Sayed’s progressive platform or simply voted for the Democratic candidate. Voters may have been rejecting Republican Party politics or expressing anger toward Trump over pocketbook issues.

Researchers from Michigan State University found that precincts with more than 80% of Black voters supported Democratic statewide candidates over Republicans at a rate of 92% to 94% during the 2024 general election, which is only slightly lower than the 94% to 95% levels observed in similar precincts during the 2020 contest between Trump and Joe Biden.

Even while Black voters overwhelmingly support Democrats, small shifts in their support and turnout can influence the outcome of close and competitive races. These shifts may help explain differing outcomes, including El-Sayed’s victory in 2026 and Harris’ defeat there in 2024.

While Black voter support for El-Sayed was high, estimated at around 86% statewide, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s support among Black voters was about 94% in the 2022 gubernatorial race, according to an ABC exit poll.

Similarly, preelection polling indicated that Jocelyn Benson, the Democratic nominee for governor, polled more favorably among nonwhite voters compared to El-Sayed. NBC exit poll data shows that 86% of Black voters in Michigan supported El-Sayed, while 90% supported Benson, who won the governorship over Republican John James.

Historic power and unity

Black voters are often strategic voters who support the candidate they believe best aligns with Black interests, which has usually been the Democratic candidate since the Civil Rights Movement.

Generally, Black voters have made their electoral choices based on what’s believed to be best for the group as a whole – a concept described by political scientist Michael C. Dawson as linked fate.

However, recent research shows that Black social networks and institutions, including churches and civic organizations, reinforce expectations of political solidarity. Weaker ties to these networks may lessen the social pressure that encourages Black Americans to participate in politics and support Democratic candidates.

Lower participation by Black Americans could lead to elected officials paying less attention to issues important to Black voters, such as affordability and the cost of living, healthcare, and reducing racial discrimination. If officials assume Black voters will remain loyal to Democrats, they’re under less pressure to win their votes by addressing their concerns.

My research has demonstrated that after the 2024 election, Black women in particular felt frustrated with the Democratic Party, yet they participated in elections despite these frustrations.

An agenda that matters

El-Sayed was part of a field of notable Democratic candidates in this election cycle. For example, Angie Nixon, a state representative in Florida, championed affordability alongside a moratorium on evictions and a universal jobs program, while James Talarico, a former schoolteacher in Texas, focused on public education.

El-Sayed is a former public health official who had not previously held elected office. This may have turned off some Black voters who often value governing experience. El-Sayed advocated for Medicare For All and lowering the costs of gas prices and groceries.

Although he doesn’t identify as a democratic socialist, El-Sayed campaigned with several progressive elected officials, such as U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders endorsed El-Sayed on the day he announced his candidacy in 2025. El-Sayed also campaigned with the Black establishment, including U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina. Former President Barack Obama spoke at a rally for El-Sayed in Detroit in October 2026.

Stevens, who lost the Democratic nomination to El-Sayed in the primary, endorsed Republican Mike Rogers after she attended a service with the Republican candidate at a predominantly Black church in Detroit two days before the election. Stevens’ tactic drew severe backlash from Democratic leaders and may have mobilized some Black voters to turn out for El-Sayed on Election Day.

“I felt like she pimped my community,” one Black voter from Detroit told ABC News in response to Stevens’ last-minute endorsement of Rogers.

Note: This article does not reflect the views of the Pan-African News Wire on the events leading to the victory of Dr. Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed.

SLU Puts African American Studies Department Under Review, Students Say Gutting is Not an Option

St. Louis Public Radio | By Andrea Y. Henderson

Nov. 6, 2026 at 5:00 a.m. CST

St. Louis University students CJ Summers, left, and Hadiya Abdul-Mu'min, in blue, attend a meeting of concerned faculty, students, staff and community members on campus on Monday. They talked about how the African American Studies department changed their lives for the better.

Students and alumni are demanding that St. Louis University not eliminate or downsize its African American Studies department, just five years after its creation. The university had put the department under review in September, along with 10 other arts and sciences majors.

Over 150 students, staff, faculty and alumni gathered on campus Monday night for an African American Studies town hall and teach-in to affirm the importance of the department’s existence and to warn university leaders that community members and students are activating accordingly.

The threat to dismantle African American Studies sends a clear message to the community and students that Black life is not valuable to St. Louis University, said CJ Summers, a junior African American Studies major.

“This principle of displacement is being performed by SLU right now when they have African American Studies under review, when they're trying to displace our professors from the suite that we have within the African American Studies office, when we see that they may try to displace students into other majors and force us to study other things,” Summers said. “I want to study African American Studies.”

Monday night’s teach-in was standing room only as a panel of students and alumni discussed how SLU’s African American Studies department and major changed their lives for the better. The panel also encouraged other concerned students, faculty and staff to continue to push back against the university as it moves forward with the department’s review.

Once students learned of the university’s call to review its African American Studies department, they began holding informational meetings, and the university’s Society of African American Studies began posting social media messages about the threat to dismantle it. They called on the community and students to rally around the department to help save it. They also created a petition, which has garnered over 2,500 signatures, calling on the university to uphold its Jesuit mission and not destroy or restructure its African American Studies department. The university cites budget shortfalls for program and department reviews, which is also being conducted for nearly 30 programs across the university. The African American Studies department’s fate is to be decided by the end of the year.

The department’s review could examine a number of measures, such as graduation rates, the number of majors and minors and class enrollment numbers.

St. Louis University’s African American Studies department teaches critical thinking and helps students navigate a hostile world; it is not the dead weight of the university, said Christopher Tinson, chair of the African American Studies department.

“A healthy Black Studies or African American Studies department, wherever they exist, have an impact on the general well-being and health of the faculty of color at that university,” Tinson said. “If we are concerned about retention, if we are concerned about the promotion and tenure and just feeling of belonging at universities, that often relies on a healthy African American Studies department.”

Isaiah Banks, a mechanical engineering junior, said the department is more than just an academic division of the school; it is a second home for some students.

“Once I found out about it [the department], and once I started coming into the office more, and once I started meeting all the faculty and the students within the office, I felt a lot more like I belonged on campus,” Banks said. “I felt like I really created a family within the Black community at SLU, which I did not have before I came into the [African American Studies] office.”

Many students said the university does not do a good job of exposing students to what the African American Studies department offers academically.

“A lot of the STEM and engineering majors know that our department is very secluded from the African American Studies department as a whole … and coming to SLU as a freshman, we're not really aware of all of the opportunities that are on this side of campus because we're on the other side of campus pretty much all day.

“We aren't really exposed to these things unless someone tells us to come to this side of campus, and a lot of the time our academic advisers do not really tell us about these opportunities,” said Banks, who is also the student senator for SLU’s chapter of National Society of Black Engineers.

Students said if it were not for conversations with friends, meetings with African American Studies faculty members or talking with Black faculty with ties to the department, they could have gone their entire college careers without knowing about the department.

Students, alumni and faculty listen as a panel of people share their experiences at St. Louis University with its African American Studies department on Monday.

Since the federal government’s push to rid colleges and universities of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, many universities that offer courses on African Americans and their history have either quietly eliminated them, drastically cut department funding or have placed them under review. St. Louis Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier told the crowd that the national efforts to erase Black history concerned her, so she spoke with SLU’s leadership about their position on African American Studies.

“As soon as I found out that the department was under review, I was actually shocked because just a few months prior, I had been told by leadership that African American Studies or Women and Gender Studies were some departments that were not on the table for consideration of being cut; they were looked at as being essential to the university fulfilling its Jesuit mission of higher good, greater truth,” Sonnier said.

While at the university, Sonnier majored in African American Studies. She told the crowd that she would not be an elected official or an activist without the department’s guidance.

“I remember very distinctly at the time when I was here, similar to just first learning about Black movements, Black struggle, really learning that a lot of my experiences were not unique,” she said. “Many of the things that I was advocating for and fighting for and felt strongly for, so too did the class before me, so too did the class 10 years before me, so too did people 20 years before me, so too did my ancestors before we were even allowed to be admitted to the institution, even though we built it.”

Descendants of the enslaved people who built St. Louis University were also among the crowd. Students lifted their stories, as did those families in the former Mill Creek Valley community, who were forced to leave their homes in the mid-to-late 1900s to make room for parts of St. Louis University. Students and alumni brought their existence to the forefront, so leadership can remember that Black people have been erased from the university’s history before and that they do not want it to continue.

Robin Proudie, the executive director of Descendants of the St. Louis University Enslaved, told engaged students and faculty that the nearly 200 known ancestors and their descendants are foundational to the university and should be treated as such.

“It's two communities central to the founding of this university: the Jesuits — the Society of Jesus — who have core curriculum classes … but there's another community, my ancestors and the Black community to which SLU sits on, who is also foundational,” said Proudie, a junior. “How can you be built off the backs of Black people, and then don't want to have a place or the academic arm to where you're going to teach about that Black experience.”

Black Studies history

African American students have been at the center of the push for change from SLU’s leadership to advance their academic freedom and equality on campus. Over the past five decades, they have been demanding the university step up and provide racial and economic equity for Black students, faculty and staff.

The nation’s first Black Studies department was created at San Francisco State University in 1968. In 1973, Black veterans organized a student sit-in on SLU’s campus and demanded an academic program be offered that reflected the Black experience. Through the protest, students gained an institute that offered a certificate program in which students could develop their own major. The university finally declared African American Studies a major in 2010.

It was not until 2021 that the university accelerated the approval for the program to become a department. It was because of the students' demands for racial and economic equity in October 2020 after police killed George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. However, students had been pushing for the department since 2014 after the police killings of Michael Brown Jr. and VonDerrit Myers Jr. Students occupied campus and demanded leaders to make the school more equitable for Black students, staff and faculty. The occupation produced the Clock Tower Accords. The first accord was to increase the African American Studies program's budget.

Alumni say the strenuous efforts they have made over the decades to bolster the African American Studies department and advance racial equity on campus should be enough for SLU’s leadership to see the department’s importance.

“I have four degrees from the school (SLU), and the other degrees are worthless if it was not for the African American Studies degree, because it is a centering degree that aims you so that you can use your superpowers in the most appropriate of ways,” said SLU alumnus Etefia Umana.

Umana, who attended the university in the 1980s and '90s, said that if the university is serious about its commitment to the Jesuit mission, it will recognize that the establishment and longevity of the African American Studies department are central to that mission.

“It's all about what the institution values. I'm assuming that theology and philosophy don't have a ton of majors, not pulling in a ton of money, probably don't even have the most renowned scholars in their field, but they wouldn't dare touch that pillar because it's part of the Jesuit curriculum,” he said. “There's a value there that they see above and beyond the fiscal resource that it brings to the institution.”

Students said they are willing to work with leadership to find ways to better support the department and attract more students without disrupting it or students’ academic achievement.

Ending the African American Studies department or even downsizing it is not negotiable, said Sonnier.

“If St. Louis University is to dismantle or decline African American Studies, you are doing something that's to the antithesis of your mission. All departments are important, but only so many groups’ literal blood, sweat and enslavement aided to the building of the institution,” she said. “It should be hands off African American Studies if the institution is to acknowledge its sin … if it's to be honest about who built this campus, if to be honest about who had to be displaced in order for the campus to further be built and expanded, then it should honor African American Studies.”