SCOTUS Ruling Could Be Bad News for Flock — But Won’t Stop Mass Surveillance

July 11, 2026

By Mike Ludwig

This article was originally published by Truthout

Organizers across the country are using every tool in their arsenal against Flock surveillance cameras.

Civil rights attorneys say a recent Supreme Court ruling in a landmark digital privacy case could put “wind in the sails” of local organizers challenging police deployment of automatic license plate readers (ALPRs). However, those organizers in cities large and small still face both a powerful industry and police departments determined to outfit their forces with the latest tech. It will take more than a single Supreme Court ruling to unravel the rapidly growing system of AI-powered mass surveillance.

The Supreme Court ruled on June 29 that so-called “geofence” requests issued by police departments to Big Tech companies for data from cellphones located within a certain geographical boundary at a specific time are considered a “search” under the Fourth Amendment. In other words, cops are supposed to get a warrant from a judge before demanding that a cellphone company hand over the location data attached to all of its users who happened to be present near the scene of an alleged crime.

While the Supreme Court did not mention ALPRs in their decision, experts say the ruling could have major implications for police searches of data gathered by cameras from surveillance companies like Flock on the street. ALPRs can identify a vehicle’s location at a specific date and time as well as make, model, color, and identifying features such as dents, roof racks, and bumper stickers, often turning these into searchable data points, according to DeFlock.org.

“The court is really focusing on the mass surveillance aspect of these technologies,” said Michael Soyfer, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, in a call with reporters on July 8 in relation to the recent ruling.

The Supreme Court case, Chatrie v. United States, stems from a 2019 robbery at a credit union and the use of smartphone data to track down a suspect. Police asked Google for location data potentially going back months or years from all the cellphones in a specific area in and around the credit union, creating the digital “geofence.” By a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court sent the case back to a lower court to consider whether the geofence request complied with the Fourth Amendment, which protects individuals from “unreasonable” searches and seizures by the government.

Writing for the majority, Justice Elena Kagan argued that “[a]n individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy in records about his cellphone’s location, and police intrude on that constitutionally protected interest when they demand the information — even though for only a limited time, and from a third-party tech company.”

Soyfer reiterated Kagan’s point, stating that people have a reasonable expectation of privacy about their movements and daily routines, which can be tracked by police searching ALPR databases with powerful AI tools. Under Chatrie, defense attorneys can now argue that such searches violate the Fourth Amendment without a warrant from a judge. 

“A tiny fraction of all the billions of data points these cameras capture across the country are relevant to any criminal investigation, and all of that data is held in a police database that lots of people can access,” Soyfer said. “It’s about police being able to go back in time and reconstruct someone’s movements despite not having any reason to suspect them when the data was collected.”

Stalking Cops and a Wave of Scandals

The ruling comes amid a wave of controversy and scandals involving ALPR cameras sold to local governments by the company Flock Safety and its competitors — including aggressive wrongful arrests, and multiple cases of cops using the cameras to stalk romantic partners. Across the country, people are packing into city council meetings to pepper leaders with questions about privacy or demand that ALPR cameras be taken down altogether.

Shelby Leighton, a public interest attorney who organized against Flock cameras in her neighborhood of South Portland, Maine, said the Supreme Court ruling confirms what activists on the ground have been saying for months. However, the slow-moving legal system cannot keep up with rapid advances in technology, and courts often intervene only after police collect personal data without a warrant.

“When you are tracking everywhere someone goes, that is a ‘search’ under the Fourth Amendment, and if police are accessing that data without a warrant, that violates people’s constitutional rights,” Leighton said in an interview. “But the decision also highlights the limitations of a legal approach to this problem.”

While Chatrie involved cellphone data, Soyfer said the ruling will shape litigation over ALPRs, which scan every passing car for identifying information and allow police to track people’s movements without a warrant. The Institute for Justice has filed lawsuits challenging ALPRs on behalf of residents of Norfolk, Virginia; and San Jose, California. More than 113,000 ALPRs operate nationwide in hundreds of cities; most are made by Flock Safety, though competitors such as Axon and Motorola Solutions also make license plate readers. At least 82 jurisdictions have canceled ALPR contracts or taken the cameras down.

ALPR cameras feed massive, AI-powered databases that can be accessed by multiple law enforcement agencies with little oversight. As Truthout has reported, federal immigration police have used Flock data to arrest undocumented people despite assurances that ALPRs would not be used for President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Flock cameras reportedly collect more than 20 billion data points per month under contracts with roughly 5,000 police departments nationwide. With only about 240 million licensed drivers in the United States, that’s “a lot of data points per person, per month,” Soyfer said.

The Supreme Court’s focus on surveillance comes as Flock Safety and the police and politicians promoting ALPRs come under mounting scrutiny. On July 2, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released a damning report documenting how Flock Safety “has lied about its operations, signaling a need for reputable governments to avoid working” with the company.

The report points to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where dozens of residents have expressed concern at recent city council meetings about installing Flock Safety cameras around town. Responding to questions during a council meeting on April 21, Flock’s chief information officer said the company’s system did not create a “pattern” or “heat map” of an individual’s movement by the tracking of their vehicles. The city council approved a contract with Flock the same day.

The next morning, the people of Oshkosh “learned that Flock had lied,” according to the ACLU. Indeed, Flock cameras can create such “heat maps” capable of tracking individuals without a warrant. The city council reconvened later that day and voted to revoke the contract with Flock. ACLU Senior Policy Counsel Chad Marlow and Senior Policy Analyst Jay Stanley broke down the fallout:

Flock later admitted that its ALPR system does indeed produce a “heat map” that shows where “point-in-time images have been captured of a vehicle” for up to an entire month. However, the company chose to respond to the revocation of its contract by attacking the City of Oshkosh and its city council, complaining that Flock had “not [been] afforded the opportunity” to explain its lie after being caught. Flock also sought to trivialize its factually inaccurate statement by categorizing it as “one small misconception” and referring to the dispute over the system’s heat map tracking feature as “a minor nuance.”

In a statement to local media in Oshkosh, Flock Safety pushed back on the idea that its system can be used to track people, saying “it does not create a pattern of life.” Josh Thomas, a spokesperson for Flock Safety, told Truthout the ACLU report contains “misconceptions” and “simple errors.”

“Moreover, misuse of any law enforcement tool is unacceptable,” Thomas said in an email. “The [wrongful arrest] cases you cite are exactly why Flock builds our technology to include immutable, transparent audit trails, so rare cases of potential abuse can be detected, investigated, and addressed.”

Thomas said every search conducted in the Flock system is “recorded in an immutable audit log” that includes the reason for the search, the user who performed the search, and the search parameters. However, Soyfer said there are often very few limits on who can get an account to access the data and what they can search for.

“We see across the country that many of these databases are searched sometimes thousands of times a day by officers who will give the most vague, non-specific reason for searching, typing in ‘criminal justice’ or ‘investigation’ … and that has predictably led to a lot of abuse,” Soyfer said.

In many cities, data collected by Flock cameras or competing ALPRs is deleted after 30 days, but critics say that is plenty of time to build a profile of an individual’s daily routine without a warrant. An investigation by the Institute for Justice found ALPRs located at sensitive locations, including an abortion clinic, a halfway house, an immigration attorney’s office, a church, a gun range, and a mosque, among other locations. 

In the past, police have used ALPRs for immigration enforcement and to track a woman who was forced to flee the state of Texas to seek abortion care. Records show police followed the woman across multiple states after an ex-partner filed a report with police, who initiated a “death investigation” and considered charging the women with a crime.

Facing embarrassing headlines, the local sheriff denied that ALPRs were being used to enforce Texas’s draconian abortion ban, and Flock Safety initially called the story “misleading” and “clickbait.” That sheriff has since been charged with lying to a grand jury and was indicted on felony counts in an unrelated sexual harassment and whistleblower retaliation case, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

“The audit processes these ALPR companies put in place are simply not being used. They are rarely, if ever, looked at after the fact,” said Institute for Justice attorney Rob Frommer. “A lot of states then double down and say those [searches] are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act or public information laws, so nobody can go back and look at what these officers were up to.”

The blowup in Oshkosh was not an isolated incident. According to Marlow and Stanley, it reflects “a pattern of Flock regularly misleading or even lying about its business practices, safety record, commitment to privacy, and efforts to protect vulnerable populations.”

“And as was the case in Oshkosh, Flock’s lies are not just directed at the general public; they often specifically target Flock’s potential government customers,” they wrote.

Local Organizing to Cancel Flock

Leighton said Flock’s record of dishonesty provides an opportunity for activists opposed to ALPRs. In her hometown of South Portland, Leighton said the city council received a presentation on Flock tools from local police and were horrified to learn that the system could track an individual across hundreds of locations. On June 11, the South Portland City Council voted to cancel its contract with Flock, effective immediately.

“Flock is going around lying to police departments and cities, and so, to the extent organizers can draw attention to that, I think it can be a really powerful tool, because cities and police departments don’t like being lied to either,” Leighton said.

Frommer said the Supreme Court decision in Chatrie does not give activists the power to take down ALPRs, but it does provide a powerful set of talking points for confronting city leaders and police chiefs who are eager to install high-tech surveillance systems.

“You can say that it runs against everybody, and it would allow the police to look up when I went to my doctor, or my church, or when I went to the gun range; that seems to be the kind of thing that is really concerning from a privacy perspective,” Frommer said.

However, Leighton said organizers cannot count on court rulings to protect the public from mass surveillance — and especially not from the hard right majority on the Supreme Court. Like the location data in Chatrie, legal challenges to ALPRs will likely involve cases where police already searched Flock databases without a warrant.

“So, organizers have a very important role to play in making sure this data is not collected in the first place,” Leighton said. “The way to prevent people’s Fourth Amendment rights from being violated is to organize.”

Sudan Army Demands Full RSF Withdrawal Under US Peace Plan

By Al Mayadeen English

10 Jul 2026 08:29

Sudan's army says any US-backed peace agreement must require the Rapid Support Forces to withdraw from all occupied cities.

The Sudanese army has made the full withdrawal of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from all cities under its control a central condition for accepting a US-backed proposal aimed at ending Sudan's three-year war, according to documents reviewed by Reuters.

The documents, whose contents were confirmed by senior Sudanese officials, show that Khartoum accepted most aspects of the US initiative but rejected provisions allowing only limited RSF withdrawals, insisting instead on a complete pullout from every city occupied since May 11, 2023.

According to the documents, the United States proposed that both sides immediately implement a 90-day humanitarian truce to facilitate negotiations toward a permanent ceasefire and a civilian-led political transition culminating in elections.

The proposal also calls for the establishment of a UN-led mechanism to oversee limited RSF withdrawals, prioritizing North Darfur and North Kordofan.

North Darfur recently witnessed the RSF's capture of El-Fashir following a violent assault, while North Kordofan has come under sustained RSF drone attacks. However, the Sudanese army rejected the proposal's limited withdrawal framework.

Instead, government documents state that any agreement must require "the withdrawal of (the RSF) from all the cities it has occupied since May 11, 2023."

The demand reflects one of the principal obstacles that have repeatedly hindered previous mediation efforts.

The US State Department did not respond to Reuters' request for comment, while Sudan's Foreign Ministry also did not immediately comment.

US proposal outlines political transition

Beyond the ceasefire, the US initiative proposes the creation of a unified national army through disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration arrangements.

It also envisions a Sudanese civilian-led political process that excludes the Muslim Brotherhood and armed groups accused of committing atrocities.

Although Washington initially informed the UN Security Council that Sudan had rejected the proposal, US Senior Adviser for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos later stated on social media that he was "extremely pleased" to learn that Sudanese army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan "has apparently accepted, rather than rejected, the latest peace proposal."

Fighting continues despite diplomatic efforts

Previous US-led mediation initiatives have failed to end the war, which has displaced millions of people, caused hundreds of thousands of deaths according to multiple estimates, and contributed to widespread hunger and disease.

UN experts have accused the RSF of committing genocide in Darfur, where the force maintains control over large areas and has begun establishing a parallel administration. The RSF has denied deliberately targeting civilians.

A senior RSF official told Reuters that the group had received the latest proposal, welcomed it, and submitted a written response without disclosing additional details.

The RSF has previously expressed support for peace initiatives while continuing military operations.

The group is currently conducting a drone campaign across the Kordofan region, situated between Darfur and the army-controlled eastern half of Sudan.

The war erupted in April 2023 after tensions between Sudan's armed forces and the RSF escalated over plans to integrate their forces and oversee a transition toward civilian rule.

Suspected Ebola Patient Placed in Equatorial Guinea Hotel with Deportees from the US, Lawyers Say

A view of Bamy Hotel, where migrants are held, is seen in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, on April 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Monika Pronczuk, File)

By MONIKA PRONCZUK

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Migrants deported from the U.S. and detained in a hotel in Equatorial Guinea say that authorities there also have used the facility to quarantine at least one suspected Ebola patient, deportees and lawyers representing them said Thursday.

The hotel on a tropical island off the country’s coast, owned by the country’s powerful President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, is being used to house 17 migrants from countries including Angola, Mauritania and Ethiopia under an opaque third-country deportation deal with the Trump administration.

According to a statement from a coalition of international lawyers and interviews with two of the deportees, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, a man suspected of having Ebola was brought to the hotel last week by medical personnel in hazmat suits, and placed on a floor below the detainees.

The central African nation of Congo is currently battling a rare Ebola virus that has killed over 600 in an outbreak first announced in May. Cases have been confirmed in neighboring Uganda, but so far no cases — or even suspected cases — have been reported in Equatorial Guinea, which shares no border with Congo and is roughly 1885 miles (1,425 km) away.

However, two deportees told The Associated Press that they were told by a doctor in English that the man was a suspected Ebola patient and that they should be careful, but that they were provided no further details.

The lawyers group said in a statement that they had received “disturbing reports from multiple detained individuals that a person with a suspected case of Ebola was recently brought under quarantine into the same hotel complex where they are being held.”

One of the deportees said that a woman also was brought to the quarantine floor on Sunday and that medical staff had identified her as a suspected Ebola patient as well.

The AP saw videos showing medical personnel in full protective equipment appearing to transport patients to the hotel, which also served as an isolation center during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Things are getting worse every day,” one of the detainees said in an interview. “It’s very confusing, no one is coming to talk to us. No one is informing us of anything. The hygiene is unimaginable.”

Apart from those present at the moment, the detainees were provided with no masks, disinfectants or other basic protective supplies, nor informed of any measures to reduce the risk of exposure, lawyers and detainees said.

Under a series of often-secret agreements, the Trump administration has deported thousands of people it has deemed to be in the country illegally to nearly two dozen countries that are not their own, advocates say, as part of a broad U.S. crackdown to deter illegal immigration.

Immigration lawyers said the Trump administration uses deportations to third countries as a legal loophole to indirectly force asylum seekers back to their home countries. Equatorial Guinea is one of at least eight other African nations that the U.S. has struck such agreements with.

Following an $7.5 million deal with Equatorial Guinea, President Obiang has turned a hotel owned by his family in Malabo on Bioko island into a detention center.

There are currently 4 women and 13 men held in the hotel, according to the lawyers. All of them have received orders from U.S. judges that should have protected them from being removed to their home countries, the lawyers said.

Earlier this month, rights lawyers filed a case against Equatorial Guinea before Africa’s top human rights body, accusing the central African nation of forcing deportees from the U.S. back to their home countries in violation of their rights.

The lawyers’ coalition said on Thursday that they also received “multiple reports that individuals with serious medical conditions are being denied adequate medical care while detained in government custody.”

Equatorial Guinea is one of the richest countries in Africa thanks to its oil resources. It is also rife with corruption and human rights abuses, according to U.S. officials.

There are virtually no critical voices in Equatorial Guinea, where the government has been accused by rights groups and the U.S. State Department of detaining, torturing and even killing those that dare to speak out.

The country’s largest foreign investors are U.S. businesses, and its military receives funding for training from the U.S. government.

Eswatini Receives 11 People Deported from the US as Part of Migration Crackdown

The Matsapha Correctional Complex in Matsapha, near Mbabane, Eswatini, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo, File)

By NOKUKHANYA MUSI

8:41 AM EDT, July 9, 2026

MBABANE, Eswatini (AP) — The southern African kingdom of Eswatini has accepted a fourth group of people deported from the United States under a bilateral agreement to host third-country nationals, with 11 people arriving this week, the government said Thursday.

Acting government spokesperson Thabile Mdluli said the group, predominantly from African countries, would remain in the kingdom temporarily while their rights were protected.

“The government reaffirms that, during their temporary stay in the Kingdom, the fundamental rights of the third-country nationals will be respected and protected in accordance with the laws of the Kingdom of Eswatini and the Kingdom’s international obligations,” Mdluli said in a statement.

Under a series of often-secret agreements that are part of a broad U.S. crackdown on immigration, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has deported thousands of people to nearly two dozen countries that are not their own, advocates say.

Mdluli said measures were in place to safeguard Eswatini’s security and that of its residents while the deportees remain in the country.

The latest arrivals are expected to be housed at Matsapha Maximum Security Prison, according to officials familiar with the arrangement.

Eswatini, a country of about 1.2 million people bordering South Africa, began accepting third-country nationals deported from the United States in 2025 under an agreement to host people who cannot be returned directly to their countries of origin. The latest arrivals are the fourth group received under the deal.

The Trump administration has also sent third-country deportees to the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Congo, among others on the continent, as it seeks destinations for migrants who cannot be repatriated directly.

The Eswatini government has not disclosed the terms of its agreement with Washington or released details about the deportees’ nationalities, legal status or how long they are expected to remain in the country.

Under the Trump administration’s third-country deportation program, Eswatini has received multiple batches of U.S. deportees, making it one of the most prominent participants in Africa.

The arrangement has drawn criticism from human rights groups over a lack of transparency and parliamentary oversight. Civic groups in Eswatini have also taken authorities to court to challenge the legality of holding foreign nationals in prison without charge. Eswatini said that the men would be repatriated but could be held there for up to a year.

Human rights lawyer Mzwandile Masuku said the continued transfers reflected weak institutional accountability and warned the practice risked becoming normalized internationally.

So far, only two deportees previously transferred to Eswatini have left the country, returning to Cambodia and Jamaica.

The Eswatini government has defended the agreement, saying it reflects the country’s humanitarian values while respecting its sovereignty and national laws.

___

Associated Press reporter Michelle Gumede in Johannesburg, South Africa, contributed.

Africa Secures $900 Million in New Clean Cooking Commitments

Grace Kathambi uses a bioethanol fuel stove to fry and sell French fries at her shop in Kibera, an informal settlement on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya, on Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Atieno Muyuyi, File)

By ALLAN OLINGO

10:14 PM EDT, July 9, 2026

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — African countries have secured $900 million in new financial commitments to expand access to clean cooking technologies, which replace polluting fuels with cleaner alternatives, the International Energy Agency, IEA, said Thursday.

The new pledge builds on the $2.2 billion mobilized at the inaugural Africa Clean Cooking Summit in Paris in 2024, bringing total commitments to more than $3.1 billion, which will be used to expand access to cleaner cooking fuels, stoves and related infrastructure across the continent.

The funding was announced during a virtual meeting on clean cooking in Africa convened by IEA and Kenya, where leaders reviewed progress made since the last summit and outlined priorities ahead of the next gathering later this year.

Nearly 1 billion people across Africa still lack access to clean cooking, relying instead on charcoal, firewood and other polluting fuels that the IEA says contribute to an estimated 850,000 premature deaths each year.

The meeting brought together Kenyan President William Ruto, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, African Union commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy Lerato Mataboge and IEA executive director Fatih Birol, among others.

Clean cooking refers to the use of low-emission fuels and technologies, such as ethanol, biogas and electricity, instead of traditional fuels like charcoal and firewood. The transition reduces harmful household air pollution and improves health outcomes for millions of African households.

“Access to clean cooking is one of the most impactful yet overlooked challenges of our time,” said Wright, adding that it directly affects the lives of billions of people, particularly women and children.

Kenya’s Ruto said financing remained the biggest obstacle to achieving universal access to clean cooking technologies across Africa. “Ambition alone is not enough. It must be backed by investment,” he said.

Birol said the IEA’s latest tracking showed that $740 million, or about one-third of the commitments announced in Paris, has already been deployed across 22 African countries.

“The additional $900 million in commitments demonstrates growing momentum, with more expected before the next summit,” Birol said.

The IEA also released a report showing governments have introduced 121 new clean cooking policies across more than 30 African countries since the Paris summit. Those countries account for about 80% of Africans without access to clean cooking.

The agency said it is working with the African Union to help governments strengthen national clean cooking policies under a continentwide strategy and action plan ahead of the next summit.

It also launched a new public-private Clean Cooking Security Programme aimed at strengthening global supply chains for cooking fuels, particularly liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG. The initiative follows shipping disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz earlier this year that affected about 30% of globally traded LPG, the agency said. More than 3.4 billion people worldwide depend on LPG as their primary cooking fuel.

The program will provide technical assistance to countries seeking to improve fuel security while exploring ways to strengthen international cooperation on clean cooking supply chains.

Mali’s Military Says Its Broken a Rebel Blockade Around a Strategic Northern Base

Mali's junta leader Gen. Assimi Goita attends the funeral of former defense minister Sadio Camara at the Military Engineering Parade Ground in Bamako, Mali, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Boubacary Bocoum, File)

2:19 PM EDT, July 10, 2026

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Mali’s military announced on Friday that it has broken a rebel blockade around a strategic army base in the north as the West African country’s junta battles a renewed offensive by separatists and al-Qaida-linked militants.

Anéfis is located between the separatist-controlled town of Kidal and the town of Gao, which is under the military government. Late on Thursday, separatists from the Azawad Liberation Front, or FLA, said they attacked a large convoy of reinforcements from the Malian army, their Russian Africa Corps allies and local militias, cutting off the base.

But on Friday, they acknowledged that they withdrew from the area after heavy fighting.

The army said that in the last 24 hours, “12 combat vehicles were destroyed and nearly 100 terrorists were neutralized.” It did not provide a latest casualty toll for the military, including at Anéfis.

The Malian army said in a statement on social media on Friday that a large logistics convoy of reinforcements arrived the previous night from Gao to Anéfis.

“Operations from the air and on the ground allowed” the military to retake the area “despite several ambushes by the terrorist armed groups of the JNIM, the FLA and their affiliates,” it said.

Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, FLA’s spokesperson, said that “ultimately, we decided to withdraw so we could better organize ourselves.” He claimed Niger and Burkina Faso’s militaries came to the aid of Mali’s army.

“On our side, the toll is five dead and about 10 wounded,” he added and claimed the militaries, including Russia’s Africa Corps, suffered “many deaths.”

The army’s and the separatists’ claims could not be independently verified.

Last week, FLA separatists targeted several northern towns, including the nearby Gao, and effectively put the military camp of Anéfis under a blockade, which the Malian army had been trying to break. The first convoy sent by the Malian army was ambushed last Sunday, FLA said. Images of what the rebels said was a downed helicopter and burned military trucks circulated on social media.

Mali has previously faced insurgencies by militants affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, as well as a separatist rebellion in the country’s north. The separatists have been fighting for years to create an independent state in northern Mali.

In April, the FLA and the regional al-Qaida affiliate JNIM launched some of heaviest attacks in over a decade, killing Mali’s defense minister, Gen. Sadio Camara, in his home and taking control of several key northern towns.

Mali’s junta is led by Gen. Assimi Goita.

Along with Mali, neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso have also been battling jihadis. Following military coups, the juntas in the three countries turned from Western allies to Russia for help combating Islamic militants.

But the security situation has worsened with a record number of militant attacks. Government forces and Russian fighters have also been accused of killing civilians they suspect of collaborating with militants.

Students Abducted in May by Islamic Militants in Nigeria Are Rescued, Government Says

Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu gives a joint statement with Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, at the Planalto presidential palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, file)

By DYEPKAZAH SHIBAYAN

3:33 PM EDT, July 10, 2026

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Students abducted in May by Islamic militants in Nigeria’s southwestern Oyo state have been rescued, the government said Friday.

Government spokesman Bayo Onanuga did not specify the total number of students rescued, but authorities said at the time of the abductions on May 15 that more than 40 people had been abducted. One of the teachers abducted alongside the students was killed shortly afterward.

Eight militants were arrested as part of the operation, while an unspecified number of the militants were killed, Onanuga said.

The abductions in a southern state had represented an escalation of the country’s security crisis because most such abductions previously had taken place in the north.

“This successful military operation has ended the siege and standoff of over 50 days and has brought relief to the entire nation and the affected families in particular,” Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said in a statement.

In the same week as the Oyo abduction, dozens of children were kidnapped in Borno, the epicenter of Nigeria’s security crisis.

Abductions at schools are common in Nigeria, where militant groups target them to put pressure on the government and extract ransoms.

Senegal Judges Reject Constitutional Change that Would Reduce Presidential Powers

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye addresses the 80th session of the UN General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis, File)

By BABACAR DIONE

6:41 AM EDT, July 10, 2026

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Senegal’s top judicial body rejected a constitutional amendment aimed at expanding the role of parliament and reducing presidential powers.

The new law was passed last month, but the government said it would be put to a referendum. President Bassirou Diomaye Faye had challenged the legality of the procedure and requested an emergency review at the Constitutional Council.

The council on Thursday evening ruled the law was unconstitutional, effectively halting one of the parliamentary majority’s cornerstone projects.

The debate over constitutional reform comes as political tensions have risen between Faye and his former prime minister, Ousmane Sonko.

Sonko was dismissed and elected as the president of the National Assembly earlier this year. Their alliance, which had brought them to power in March 2024, gradually disintegrated. A new prime minister has since been appointed, and the formation of a new government is expected.

The opposition views the initiative, proposed by Pastef, Sonko’s party, as political revenge by the former prime minister, who retains significant influence over the parliamentary majority.

The reform would strengthen parliament’s powers, replace the Constitutional Council with a new Constitutional Court and impose stricter controls on the president’s power to dissolve the National Assembly.

Sonko welcomed the decision by the council, saying it is binding. “This cycle reminds us that in a democracy, when institutions play their role, each within its sphere of influence, no crisis can arise,” he said.

Ebola Outbreak: Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda 

External update #3 - 10 July 2026

Source: UNHCR

0 Jul 2026 

Highlights

• The seventeenth Ebola virus disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to evolve, with 1,792 confirmed cases, including 625 deaths and 295 recoveries, reported across 37 health zones in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu as of 8 July. The Government has also reported two confirmed cases in Kisangani, Tshopo Province.

• The outbreak is unfolding in an area marked by persistent insecurity and displacement due to armed clashes, limiting humanitarian access and complicating Ebola prevention, surveillance and response. Ituri remains the epicentre, accounting for 91 per cent of confirmed cases and nearly 86 per cent of deaths.

• While no Ebola cases have been reported among refugees in the DRC to date, 19 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the Kpangba, Kigonze and Bembeyi sites in Ituri are among confirmed cases. More than 2 million forcibly displaced people live in Ebola-affected or high-risk areas of eastern DRC, including 320,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, heightening the urgency of inclusive preparedness, risk communication, surveillance and access to national response systems.

• In Uganda, the outbreak remains relatively contained, with 20 confirmed cases as of 9 July, including two deaths, 17 recoveries and one patient currently admitted for care.

• UNHCR is supporting the Governments of the DRC and Uganda, alongside the World Health Organization (WHO), other United Nations agencies and local communities, to strengthen Ebola prevention and response and ensure that refugees, asylum-seekers, IDPs and host communities can access information, surveillance and essential services.

Ebola Death Toll in Congo Reaches 600, as New Cases Suspected in Previously Unaffected Provinces

Health workers interact at the Evangelical Medical Center, in Bunia, eastern Congo, Friday, July 3, 2026, where Ebola clinical trials are scheduled to take place. (AP Photo/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)

By JEAN-YVES KAMALE and JUSTIN KABUMBA

10:50 AM EDT, July 9, 2026

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — New suspected cases of Ebola have been reported in parts of Congo that were previously unaffected, the government said Thursday, as the death toll in the country’s latest Ebola outbreak reached 600.

According to the Congolese health ministry, suspected cases have now been recorded in the provinces of Tshopo and Haut-Uele, signaling the continued spread of the disease beyond the epicenter in Ituri.

A Congolese government report, published late Wednesday, said two new cases were suspected in Kisangani, in Tshopo province. The minister did not say how many cases were suspected in Haut-Uele. The total number of confirmed cases across the country has now reached 1,759.

The report said one of the two suspected cases in Tshopo was linked to the Nia-Nia health zone in Ituri province, where the first cases were reported, while the other case “has no apparent geographical connection to known outbreaks.” Authorities were investigating.

The Africa Centre for Disease Control said on Thursday that the latest outbreak is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on the continent.

The Congolese authorities declared a fresh Ebola outbreak on May 15, after the disease had been transmitting for weeks without official detection, according to the World Health Organization. The latest outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no approved vaccine or treatment.

Last week, clinical trials for treatment began after researchers launched a highly anticipated study in the hope of fighting the virus.

Efforts to contain the virus have also been hampered by a funding gap, attacks on health centers, and an ongoing conflict in eastern Congo, the epicenter of the outbreak.

———

Justin Kabumba reported from Goma, Congo.

Iran Under Sayyed Khamenei: From Siege to Strategic Power

By Janna Kadri

Source: Al Mayadeen English

Iran's Khamenei era transformed the country from a postwar, import-dependent state into a sanctions-resistant regional power with major advances in missiles, drones, space technology, nuclear infrastructure, and selected scientific sectors.

When Sayyed Ali Khamenei assumed leadership of the Islamic Republic on June 4, 1989, Iran was emerging from eight years of devastating war, severe economic pressure, and an international environment designed to contain its rise. Yet under his auspices, the country turned sanctions and isolation into a drive for self-reliance, building a powerful indigenous defense industry, expanding its missile and drone capabilities, advancing its nuclear and space programs, and investing in scientific fields such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, and knowledge-based industries. By the end of his era in 2026, Iran had transformed from a postwar state under siege into a regional power whose military, scientific, and technological achievements became central to its sovereignty and deterrence.

The Khamenei era reached its final chapter amid a US-Israeli war on Iran, with his assassination turning the closing moment of his leadership into another symbol of the confrontation that had defined much of the Islamic Republic’s struggle for sovereignty. His martyrdom closed a 37-year chapter shaped by sanctions, wars, and repeated threats, but also by a state project that placed national independence, scientific progress, and strategic deterrence at the center of Iran’s rise.

The Doctrine of Strategic Self-Reliance

The defining feature of the Khamenei era was strategic self-reliance. Faced with sanctions, embargoes, military threats, and repeated attempts to isolate the Islamic Republic, Iran turned pressure into policy. Rather than allowing restrictions to halt its development, Tehran treated them as an incentive to build domestic capacity, reduce dependence on foreign suppliers, and protect its sovereignty through indigenous power.

Over time, this produced a distinct Iranian model of development: one built not on dependence on Western systems, but on selective strength in fields where national security, political will, scientific ambition, and sanctions resistance converged. Missiles, drones, underground infrastructure, nuclear technology, space launch, nanotechnology, biotechnology, and advanced research institutes became the pillars of this model.

Missile Power as the Backbone of Deterrence

Iran’s missile program became the clearest expression of this transformation. In the early years of Sayyed Khamenei’s leadership, Tehran was still rebuilding its postwar defense base and relied on imported or foreign-derived systems, including Scud- and Nodong-related technology. But over the following decades, Iran transformed that foundation into an increasingly indigenous missile industry built around range, mobility, precision, survivability, and deterrence.

The Shahab-3, which entered service around 2003, became the foundational strategic missile of the period. As a road-mobile, liquid-fueled medium-range ballistic missile, it gave Iran the ability to hold targets as far away as occupied Palestine at risk, fundamentally altering the regional balance and strengthening the Islamic Republic’s deterrent posture. The Shahab line later gave way to improved derivatives such as Qadr and Emad, which reflected Tehran’s effort to increase range, refine guidance, and improve the accuracy of its long-range strike capabilities.

More consequential, however, was Iran’s shift toward solid-fuel systems. The Fateh-110, a road-mobile, single-stage solid-fuel missile, opened the door to a family of quicker-launch and more flexible precision weapons. Later descendants expanded that family’s reach and battlefield value: Fateh-313 extended the range to around 500 kilometers, Zolfaghar pushed it to around 700 kilometers, Dezful reached around 1,000 kilometers, and Raad-500 introduced a lighter composite engine design while preserving mobility and accuracy. Together, these systems showed Iran’s ability to move from inherited missile technology toward a more independent, scalable, and survivable missile force.

The Sejjil program marked another major step in Iran’s indigenous missile development. As a two-stage solid-fuel medium-range ballistic missile, Sejjil represented a move beyond liquid-fueled systems toward missiles better suited for rapid launch, concealment, and survivability. In strategic terms, solid-fuel technology strengthened Iran’s ability to respond under pressure, reducing preparation time and making its missile force harder to neutralize in a first strike.

Iran also diversified its arsenal through heavier and longer-range systems. Khorramshahr and its later Khorramshahr-4/Kheibar variant gave Tehran a missile with a range of around 2,000 kilometers and a heavy warhead, strengthening its ability to threaten fortified and strategic targets. Haj Qassem, unveiled in 2020 and named after Martyr General Qassem Soleimani, added another solid-fuel medium-range option with a stated range of around 1,400 kilometers, linking Iran’s missile development directly to its doctrine of retaliation after the US assassination of Soleimani.

Kheibar Shekan, unveiled in 2022, further reflected the maturity of Iran’s missile industry. Iranian reporting described it as a third-generation solid-fuel missile with a range of around 1,450 kilometers, a lighter structure, shorter launch-preparation time, high accuracy, and a maneuverable warhead designed to bypass missile-defense systems. Its significance lay not only in range, but in the combination of mobility, speed of deployment, and survivability.

Fattah, unveiled in 2023, carried major political and strategic significance as Iran’s first domestically developed hypersonic missile. Iranian officials presented it as a breakthrough in the country’s deterrence doctrine, with a claimed range of 1,400 kilometers, speeds of Mach 13 to Mach 15, high maneuverability, and the ability to bypass advanced missile-defense systems. For Tehran, Fattah was not merely another missile; it was a declaration that Iran’s defense industry had entered a new stage, one capable of challenging the air-defense architecture built by the United States and the Zionist entity in the region.

From Capability to Combat Use

Iran’s operational use of missiles gave these programs real strategic weight, moving them from deterrent symbols into tools of retaliation, counter-terrorism, and regional power projection. Tehran used ballistic missiles against ISIS/Daesh command, logistics, and gathering sites in eastern Syria in 2017 and 2018, against Iranian Kurdish opposition targets in Iraq, and most notably against Ain al-Asad and Erbil in January 2020 after the US assassination of General Qassem Soleimani. The Ain al-Asad strike marked the first direct Iranian missile attack on positions hosting US forces and demonstrated a level of precision that showed Iran’s missile program had moved beyond symbolic deterrence into credible operational capability.

The missile force became even more central in 2024, when Iran launched direct strikes on “Israel” in April and again in October. The April operation, carried out after the Israeli attack on Iran’s consular premises in Damascus, involved hundreds of drones and missiles and showed Iran’s ability to coordinate long-range strike systems at scale. The October operation, involving roughly 180 ballistic missiles, further underlined that Iran had developed the capacity to impose costs even against layered air-defense systems backed by the United States and its allies.

By 2025, US intelligence assessed that Iran possessed the largest missile and UAV stockpiles in the region. Estimates of its ballistic missile arsenal varied widely, from around 2,500 to as many as 6,000 missiles before the 2026 war, reflecting both the scale of the arsenal and the difficulty of assessing it from outside. During the war, US and Israeli officials repeatedly claimed that Iran’s missile capacity had been heavily degraded, with Trump saying Tehran was “running out” of weapons and launchers. Iranian officials dismissed such claims as battlefield propaganda. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Iran’s missiles were “only for launch, not for negotiation,” while other senior Iranian figures mocked US claims as delusional.

What is clear is that Iran’s missile power became inseparable from its underground infrastructure. Buried storage sites, tunnel-linked launch systems, and so-called “missile cities” became part of a survivability strategy designed to protect Iran’s deterrent force from enemy attack and preserve its ability to retaliate under pressure.

The Rise of Iran’s Drone Arsenal

Drones became the second major pillar of Iran’s strike complex, giving Tehran a flexible tool for surveillance, battlefield pressure, and long-range retaliation. The country’s UAV program began from wartime reconnaissance needs, then expanded into long-endurance platforms, armed drones, stealth-inspired systems, and low-cost one-way attack drones. The Karrar drone, unveiled in 2010, was an early symbolic milestone in Iran’s move toward domestic drone production, showing that UAVs were becoming part of the country’s broader deterrence architecture. More operationally significant was the Shahed-129, unveiled in 2012 as a long-range reconnaissance and strike UAV capable of carrying precision munitions, giving Iran persistent aerial capability without dependence on costly manned aircraft.

The 2011 capture of a US RQ-170 Sentinel drone became a major reverse-engineering landmark. Iran later displayed systems modeled on the captured aircraft, including the Saeqeh and Shahed-191 family. These platforms reflected Tehran’s ability to absorb, adapt, and repurpose captured or commercially available technology under sanctions, turning enemy systems into sources of learning and domestic innovation.

The Shahed-131 and  Shahed-136 one-way attack drones became the most internationally recognized Iranian UAVs. Their significance lies in the combination of range, affordability, mass production, and operational usefulness. Built through cost-effective engineering and adaptable technology, the Shahed-136 became a weapon suited for saturation attacks and long-range pressure against fixed targets. Its impact also came from the economic imbalance it created, forcing adversaries to use far more expensive air-defense systems against comparatively low-cost drones. Its use in regional operations and later in Ukraine made it a symbol of Iran’s sanctions-era defense model: resilient, scalable, and difficult for adversaries to counter economically.

Space Sovereignty and Strategic Science

Iran’s space program developed alongside its missile and drone capabilities and became another symbol of national sovereignty. In 2009, Iran successfully launched the Omid satellite using the Safir launcher, becoming one of the few states to place a domestically built satellite into orbit on a domestically built rocket. The achievement marked Iran’s entry into the ranks of countries with sovereign satellite-launch capability and gave Tehran a powerful scientific and political symbol of self-reliance under pressure.

The larger Simorgh launcher followed as Iran sought to move beyond small satellite missions and develop heavier, more complex launch capacity. After facing setbacks, Simorgh achieved important milestones in 2024, including a three-satellite launch in January and a record payload mission later that year, when Iran placed its heaviest-ever payload into orbit. These advances showed that Tehran’s space program was not limited to symbolic launches, but was steadily building the technical foundation for more advanced orbital operations.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also developed a separate military space track. In 2020, the IRGC used the Qased launcher to place Noor-1 into orbit, Iran’s first military satellite, followed by later Noor satellites that showed continuity in the program. By 2024, the all-solid Qaem-100 launcher had placed satellites into higher orbits, including Sorayya and Chamran-1, with missions linked to testing orbital maneuvering, propulsion, and navigation technologies.

The Nuclear File: Civilian Progress under Pressure

The nuclear file followed a more contested but equally central path, combining civilian energy ambitions, scientific advancement, and Iran’s insistence on its sovereign right to nuclear technology. On the civilian side, Bushehr-1 became Iran’s first operational nuclear power reactor, reaching first criticality in 2011, connecting to the national grid later that year, and entering commercial operation in 2013. Bushehr-2 began construction in 2019, showing that Iran intended to continue expanding civilian nuclear power despite sanctions, political pressure, and repeated efforts to obstruct its nuclear development.

The enrichment and safeguards track became more contentious after the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Under the agreement, Iran accepted limits on enrichment and expanded IAEA monitoring in exchange for sanctions relief. However, after the United States unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions, Iran gradually stepped away from its commitments, arguing that the other side had failed to uphold the bargain. By February 2021, Tehran had stopped fully implementing JCPOA-related measures, including the Additional Protocol.

Iran resumed 20% enrichment at Fordow in 2021 and later moved to 60% enrichment after sabotage, pressure, and the collapse of the JCPOA framework. By the mid-2020s, it had accumulated a stockpile that the IAEA described as unprecedented for a non-nuclear-weapon state. At the same time, the IAEA continued to say it had no credible indication of a coordinated nuclear weapons program. For Tehran, the nuclear program remained tied to sovereignty, energy security, medical and scientific development, and resistance to external dictates, even as Western states continued to frame it through suspicion and pressure.

Science, Innovation, and Knowledge-Based Growth

Beyond the military and nuclear sectors, the Khamenei era also saw a major state push into science, technology, and knowledge-based economic growth. Iran expanded universities, science parks, incubators, accelerators, innovation centers, and knowledge-based firms, turning scientific self-reliance into a state priority. Official Iranian figures listed more than 9,500 knowledge-based firms by 2024, alongside hundreds of creative companies, innovation centers, and accelerators operating in fields such as information technology, biotechnology, advanced materials, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and industrial machinery. WIPO placed Iran 70th in the 2025 Global Innovation Index, showing that the country remained a meaningful innovation actor despite decades of sanctions and restrictions, particularly in knowledge and technology outputs.

Nanotechnology was one of the clearest success stories. Iran became one of the world’s leading producers of nanotechnology research, ranking sixth globally in nano-publication output based on 2024 data reported in 2025. It also performed strongly in nano publications relative to GDP and in national nanotechnology standards. This reflected years of policy focus, specialized planning, domestic commercialization efforts, and state-backed research priorities that helped move nanotechnology from laboratories into industrial and medical applications.

Biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and stem-cell research also became prestige fields. UNESCO data showed Iranian biotech companies growing sharply between 2015 and 2018, while Iran’s pharmaceutical sector expanded domestic production and reduced reliance on foreign suppliers. Sayyed Khamenei repeatedly cited stem-cell work, vaccines, satellites, nuclear technology, drones, and missiles as symbols of national dignity and independence. His role was not that of a technical manager, but of a political patron who provided ideological cover and strategic continuity for long-term investment in self-reliance, allowing scientific advancement to become part of Iran’s broader resistance economy.

Sanctions Forged Iran's Technological Sovereignty

The overall verdict is that Iran under Sayyed Khamenei developed a durable model of technological power under constraint. Sanctions raised costs, restricted access to advanced components, and forced reliance on alternative procurement networks. Yet they also pushed Iran toward domestic substitution, reverse engineering, distributed production, and asymmetric systems. What was intended to weaken Iran instead helped entrench a doctrine of self-sufficiency.

Between 1989 and 2026, Iran moved from postwar vulnerability and import dependence to a state capable of producing missiles, drones, satellites, nuclear fuel-cycle infrastructure, and selected advanced technologies under sustained pressure. That transformation became one of the defining legacies of the Khamenei era: a strategic doctrine built around self-sufficiency, survivability, deterrence, and the belief that technological independence is inseparable from political sovereignty.

Under Sayyed Khamenei’s auspices, Iran did not merely survive decades of sanctions, threats, assassinations, sabotage, and war. It converted pressure into a state project of resistance and national advancement, making military deterrence, scientific progress, and technological independence central pillars of the Islamic Republic’s rise.

US Failed to Intercept all Recent Iranian Strikes on Bases: WSJ

By Al Mayadeen English

9 Jul 2026 23:01

US and allied defenses did not intercept all recent Iranian strikes on bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, WSJ reports, amid a pattern of downplayed damage.

US and allied defenses failed to intercept every recent Iranian strike on US military installations in Kuwait and Bahrain, according to a Wall Street Journal report published Thursday that cited US officials.

The report also claimed that the strikes resulted in no casualties and caused only limited damage.

Nonetheless, the reported gaps in interception fit a broader pattern seen throughout the war, where initial statements from Washington and host governments have often minimized damage from Iranian strikes, only for commercial satellite imagery to later tell a different story.

Outlets including the New York Times, ABC News, and BBC Verify have documented impact craters and damaged infrastructure at Gulf facilities following strikes officials had initially called contained, including at Bahrain's Fifth Fleet headquarters and Jebel Ali port in the UAE.

Separate investigations comparing Iranian-released satellite imagery with independent Western sources found the destruction across roughly 18 sites in seven host countries to be genuine and consistent with Iran's claims, undercutting claims that Tehran's imagery was propaganda.

Largest round of US attacks since signing MoU

The latest developments follow what Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Tehran described as the largest US military assault on Iran since the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between Washington and Tehran. US bombardment reached five Iranian provinces over two days, killing 14 people and wounding 78 others, according to figures released by Iran's Ministry of Health.

In response, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) launched a multi-phase retaliation. The first phase involved a joint strike by IRGC naval and aerospace forces just hours after the US attacks, targeting infrastructure at four bases: Camp Arifjan and Ali Al Salem in Kuwait, and Juffair and Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain.

The IRGC later announced a second phase of retaliation, revealing it had used 10 ballistic missiles to destroy a US command and control center in West Asia along with the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. Jordanian authorities had reported air raid sirens across the country after detecting Iranian missiles in its airspace, while the US Embassy in Amman urged American citizens to shelter in place.

In its statement, the IRGC warned that any repeat of US aggression would draw an even wider response, cautioning that no US base in the region would be spared. It reiterated that Iran had long warned that any attack on its territory would trigger an immediate and expanded retaliation.

Lavrov: Resolution to Iran War Must Reflect Interests of all Parties

By Al Mayadeen English

9 Jul 2026 22:17

Russia's Lavrov says resolving the US war on Iran requires an agreement serving all parties, as he wraps an Africa tour in Mozambique.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday that the US war on Iran, and its fallout across the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Gulf region, can only be resolved through an agreement that reflects the interests of all parties affected, not just the US or Iran.

"We have a common position on the events around Iran, in the Strait of Hormuz and, more broadly, in the Persian Gulf. We proceed from the fact that, of course, this conflict needs to be resolved. And it can only be completed by an agreement that reflects the interests of all parties. Not only Iran, its neighbors, the United States, but all countries that in one way or another suffer from the negative impact on the global economy from the current situation," Lavrov said.

He made the remarks to reporters in Maputo, Mozambique, during the final stop of a multi-country tour across Africa.

Russia offers Mozambique counterterrorism support

While in Maputo, Lavrov said Russia is ready to help Mozambique deal with the ongoing "terrorist threat" in the north of the country. Citing Lavrov, Russia's TASS reported that Moscow is prepared to respond to Mozambique's request for support in "eliminating the ongoing terrorist threat in the north of the country."

Mozambican forces have spent years fighting militants in the country's northern regions, a conflict that has disrupted local stability and put pressure on major investment projects in areas rich in natural resources.

Lavrov's offer fits into a broader pattern of Russia deepening its security footprint across Africa, including through the deployment of the Africa Corps.

What brings Lavrov to Africa?

Mozambique was the last leg of a tour that also took Lavrov to Ethiopia and Niger, part of a wider Russian push to build political, economic, and security ties across the continent.

The trip began in Addis Ababa, where Lavrov met with Ethiopian officials to discuss trade and economic cooperation, along with plans for a nuclear power plant in the country.

He also met with African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, and the two sides agreed to deepen coordination on security issues in the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, Sudan, South Sudan, and Libya. They also discussed preparations for the third Russia-Africa Summit, set to take place in Moscow on October 28 and 29, 2026.

From Ethiopia, Lavrov traveled to Niamey, Niger, for a second round of ministerial talks with the Alliance of Sahel States, a bloc made up of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. There, he said Russia wants to support the bloc's integration efforts and security priorities, framing the cooperation as part of a shared push toward a multipolar world order and against "neo-colonial practices."

He met separately with the foreign ministers of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, and was received by Niger's President Abdourahamane Tiani. President Vladimir Putin has invited the leaders of all three countries to the upcoming summit in Moscow.

Russia has ties with Mozambique going back to Soviet support for the country's liberation movement, and the two countries already cooperate on security, energy, and education.

'Israel' Voices Alarm over Turkish Space, Missile Ambitions in Somalia

By Al Mayadeen English

Source: Israeli media

8 Jul 2026 22:22

"Israel" is reportedly rattled by Turkey's growing presence in Somalia, including a project combining a satellite launch site with ballistic missile testing.

Israeli media revealed unease in Tel Aviv over a Turkish-led project in central Somalia combining a satellite launch facility with a testing ground for long-range ballistic missiles.

Israeli commentary frames the site as a "strategic threat", arguing that it would extend Ankara's reach in space and high-altitude technology, as reported by The Jerusalem Post. Construction tied to the facility's infrastructure has reportedly intensified fears in Israeli circles.

The project builds on 15 years of Turkish political, military, and economic engagement with Somalia under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, deepening cooperation with Mogadishu across security, defense, oil, and development.

Alongside the launch site, Turkey is also said to be advancing a new airport and a separate facility linked to lunar-related launches.

Netanyahu concerned over potential F-35 sale to Turkey

Speaking to CNN earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that a prospective US sale of F-35 stealth fighter jets to Turkey would unsettle the regional balance of power, alleging that Ankara's ambitions are "aggressive" and cautioning that arming Turkey would invite further assertiveness.

He has repeatedly pressed Washington against the sale, fearing it would erode Israeli air superiority, while positioning "Israel" as a reliable US partner against Iran in contrast to Turkey.

Netanyahu further described Erdogan as someone who calls for "Israel's" destruction and characterized the Turkish government as shaped by Muslim Brotherhood influence.

UAE-backed Berbera base tied to US-Israeli interests

A Le Monde investigation revealed that military construction at Berbera Airport in Somaliland, underway since October 2025, appears to go beyond the site's stated civilian purpose, with satellite imagery showing a military installation taking shape near the southern approach to the Red Sea.

The UAE-backed project ultimately serves Washington and Tel Aviv's strategic interests, given Berbera's position near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a corridor central to Asia-Europe trade and energy flows, the outlet's sources said.

Dubai's DP World has operated the port commercially for years; the infrastructure was also used to support the UAE's role in the war on Yemen before it scaled back its presence there, as per Le Monde. The airport expansion is said to serve US and Israeli operational needs, the report added.

Israeli intelligence shipment sent to Mogadishu

Meanwhile, a 1,000-kilogram shipment left Tel Aviv for Mogadishu via Nairobi, arriving on June 21 and registered as bound for a UN office, Al Mayadeen reported, citing senior regional strategic sources. The cargo was an advanced military and intelligence communications system supplied by Mer Security and Communications, a firm based in Or Yehuda, the sources said.

Ansar Allah leader Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi responded on June 25, vowing the movement would act against Israeli activity on Somali soil at any time. He described Israeli moves in Somalia as an attempt to dominate the Gulf of Aden and Bab al-Mandab, calling on regional states to unite against it.

Ethiopian Federal Police, IGAD Forge Strategic Partnership to Cement Regional Security

Addis Ababa, July 9, 2026 (ENA) —The Ethiopian Federal Police and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) signed a landmark MoU aimed at deepening regional security cooperation across the Horn of Africa.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Sandafa, on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, by Ethiopian Federal Police Commissioner General Demelash Gebremichael and IGAD Executive Secretary Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Commissioner General Demelash said the partnership marks a significant step toward reinforcing regional peace and security.

 Demelash noted that the agreement would enable Ethiopia to share the expertise and institutional experience gained through its recent police reforms with fellow IGAD member states.

He stated that the agreement places the long-established Ethiopian Police University at the center of regional capacity-building efforts, providing specialized training, research, and joint academic programs for law enforcement personnel across the region.

"The primary objective of this partnership is to promote regional peace and security by strengthening the professional capacity of law enforcement institutions through training, research, and collaborative studies," he said.

According to the Commissioner General, the MoU also establishes a framework for enhanced institutional cooperation and community policing.

Demelash expressed hope that the agreement would enhance collaborative research and intelligence-sharing to better address terrorism, organized crime, and other cross-border security challenges.

On his part, IGAD Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu hailed the Ethiopian Federal Police for its ongoing institutional transformation.

He described the agreement as a major milestone in advancing regional integration through enhanced security cooperation.

"This partnership will provide law enforcement officers across the IGAD region with access to world-class forensic training, marking a strategic shift toward utilizing regional expertise to strengthen our collective security frameworks," he said.

Workneh added that investing in regional knowledge, professional training, and institutional collaboration is essential to addressing the increasingly complex security challenges facing the Horn of Africa.

The President of the Ethiopian Police University, Tamrat Mulugeta, said the agreement will significantly enhance the professional capacity of regional security institutions by facilitating joint training programs, collaborative research, and the modernization of information-sharing systems.

The partnership is expected to strengthen cooperation among IGAD member states, improve institutional resilience, and support coordinated responses to emerging security challenges, reinforcing regional efforts to promote lasting peace, stability, and sustainable development.

Participants Arrive in Addis Ahead of Ethiopia's Main National Dialogue Forum

Addis Ababa, July 8, 2026 (ENA) —Thousands of participants from across Ethiopia and the diaspora have begun arriving in Addis Ababa ahead of the country's main National Dialogue forum. 

The dialogue which will officially open on July 15 at the Addis International Convention Center and is expected to run for about three to four weeks.

The National Dialogue process, launched to build consensus on key national issues, has now entered its final and most decisive stage.

Around 4,000 deliberators representing communities from across the country and the Ethiopian diaspora will take part in discussions on eight major national agenda items, with the aim of identifying lasting solutions through broad based dialogue.

In a press briefing, Reta Gera, emphasized that the Ethiopian National Dialogue Commission's coordinator for regions, city administrations and the diaspora, said diaspora representatives from the United Arab Emirates, the United States, the United Kingdom and Sweden have already arrived in Addis Ababa. 

Participants from South Africa are expected to arrive on July 12, 2026.

Before the official opening of the conference, Participants will participate in guided visits to historical landmarks in the capital on July 9 and 10, 2026, Reta said, adding that the tours, organized by the Addis Ababa City Administration, include the Adwa Victory Memorial Museum and the Red Terror Martyrs' Memorial Museum.

The commission said participants will be accommodated at the Ethiopian Public Service University and other designated facilities. Comprehensive support services have been arranged, including transportation, healthcare, meals, childcare and other essential amenities.

Special arrangements have also been made to ensure accessibility and provide additional support for participants with disabilities and others requiring special assistance.

Earlier, Chief Commissioner Prof. Mesfin Araya announced that all preparations for the main conference had been completed.

The conference will officially open at the Addis International Convention Center on July 15 and is expected to continue for between 22 and 30 days.

Ethiopia: Tigray Stakeholders Call for End to Forced Conscription, Reaffirm Commitment to Peace Recovery

Addis Ababa, July 8, 2026 (ENA)—Participants at a forum on "Peace, Democracy, and Development in Tigray: The Role of Media and Social Activists" have called for the immediate end of the ongoing forced military conscription in the region.

The participants further warned that any return to armed conflict would trigger another devastating humanitarian catastrophe.

The forum, held in Addis Ababa, brought together media professionals, social activists, and other stakeholders from Ethiopia's Tigray Region. 

At the conclusion of the meeting, participants adopted a joint communiqué reaffirming their commitment to peace, constitutional order, democratic dialogue, and the protection of civilians.

In the communiqué sent to ENA, participants said the people of Tigray continue to endure the long-lasting consequences of war, including displacement, economic hardship, institutional disruption, and humanitarian challenges.

They stressed that peace in the region remains fragile and cautioned that renewed hostilities would have devastating consequences not only for Tigray but also for Ethiopia and the wider Horn of Africa.

"The immense suffering endured by mothers, fathers, youth, children, displaced families, war-disabled citizens, unemployed graduates, farmers, civil servants, and other vulnerable members of society must never be repeated," the communiqué stated.

The participants emphasized that no political objective can justify renewed violence, forced mobilization, hate speech, intimidation, or the suppression of peaceful voices. They also underscored that the dignity, security and future of the people must remain above political rivalries or military ambitions.

The forum expressed particular concern over reports of the abduction and forced military recruitment of young people in parts of Tigray, describing such practices as unacceptable and calling for their immediate cessation.

Recalled that from the United States’ decision to impose targeted visa restrictions on defunct TPLF members and their families to Human Rights Watch’s strong condemnation of alleged forced conscription in Tigray, the international message is increasingly unified. 

According to the communiqué, forced conscription lacks both legal and moral justification and risks exposing another generation to the devastating human cost of conflict. 

Participants pledged to use their professional platforms and social media engagement to oppose forced recruitment and amplify the voices of civilians advocating for peace.

The communiqué also called on media institutions, journalists, editors, broadcasters, digital content creators, and social activists to reject hate speech, disinformation, inflammatory propaganda, and narratives that incite violence or militarization.

Instead, participants urged the media to uphold professional and responsible journalism by promoting factual reporting.

They also underscored the importance of promoting constitutional order, constructive public discourse, and public-interest reporting focused on humanitarian recovery, food security, livelihood restoration, access to healthcare and education and among others.

Political leaders in Tigray were likewise urged to place the welfare and future of the people above partisan interests by resolving differences through peaceful dialogue, constitutional processes, and inclusive civic engagement.

The communiqué further appealed to the Federal Government to continue utilizing constitutional, political, humanitarian, and administrative mechanisms to prevent renewed conflict, protect civilians, facilitate the implementation of existing peace commitments, expand humanitarian assistance, restore essential public services, and create conditions for peaceful and lawful governance in the region.

The participants also called for intensified efforts to strengthen food security, support the safe resettlement of internally displaced persons, protect young people from renewed military mobilization, and accelerate sustainable recovery.

In addition, the forum appealed to development partners, humanitarian organizations, religious institutions, community elders, women and youth groups, civil society organizations, and the wider Ethiopian public to support peacebuilding, humanitarian recovery, institutional normalization, and long-term development in Tigray.

Concluding their deliberations, participants reaffirmed that lasting peace requires justice, accountable leadership, democratic dialogue, and respect for human dignity. 

They pledged to promote peace-oriented journalism, fact-based reporting, civic education, and responsible communication while rejecting narratives that normalize war, forced conscription, hate speech, and political intimidation.

The communiqué concluded with a collective appeal affirming that the people of Tigray deserve peace, security, justice, development, and hope, while urging all responsible institutions to act decisively to prevent a return to conflict and end the suffering of civilians.

Ethiopia: Forced Conscription, Abductions Signal Total Loss of Acceptance for Illegal TPLF Faction: Media Professionals

Addis Ababa, July 8, 2026 (ENA) — The forced conscription and abduction campaigns orchestrated by the illegal TPLF faction signal a total collapse of acceptance for the group, media professionals remarked.

Journalists disclosed that forced roundups and kidnappings targeting civilians continue to escalate across the Tigray region, driven by personal gains seeking to secure narrow personal interests and agendas.

The practice has met with stiff public resistance, proving that the regional community has completely withdrawn any lingering support for these actors, they added.

Among those who shared their views with ENA, Awramba Times journalist Dawit Kebede explained that the individuals executing these operations are deeply entangled in lucrative personal interests linked to the gold and mineral trade.

To safeguard these economic benefits, they are using the pretext of facilitating the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) as a political smokescreen, Dawit noted.

"I do not believe they care about the public for even a split second," Dawit asserted, adding that their current maneuvers have been roundly rejected by the community.

Consequent to this loss of popular legitimacy, they have resorted to violence, aggressively rounding up youth and forcing them into training camps.

The journalist further detailed that the situation has deteriorated to the point where public transport buses are being intercepted to pull young people off the streets, describing the trend as profoundly tragic.

Similarly, journalist Hermon Fekadu strongly condemned the ongoing operations being carried out by extremist TPLF leaders and destructive elements.

In this day and age, abducting and conscripting citizens by force to fulfill the propaganda desires  is utterly unacceptable and constitutes a highly deplorable act, she noted.

Underscoring the gravity of the abuse, Hermon remarked that it defies reason to fathom what objective could possibly justify kidnapping human beings, calling the practice a primitive mindset and a severe crime.

The Public Relations Head of the Tinsae Seb'a Enderta Party, Abraham Tsige, stated that the group has failed to learn from its past blunders. He noted that because the public has firmly declared "enough is enough" and refused to be dragged into another disaster, the faction’s political relevance has entirely expired.

Abraham pointed out that the current reliance on coercive tactics is a direct symptom of their total alienation from the population, proving that the public has completely disowned them.

The official concluded that while the faction had long been losing its grip on the people of Tigray, the current crisis marks the final and absolute demise of their acceptance within the region.

Ethiopia's Healthcare Service Delivery Capacity Transitions to Advanced Level: PM Abiy

Addis Ababa, July 7, 2026 — Domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity has witnessed a monumental surge, rising from a mere 4 percent to the current 44 percent, PM Abiy revealed today.

He added that a substantial investment of 70 billion Birr was allocated for medicine procurement and over 60 billion Birr expended on medical equipment as part of concrete efforts to enhance service quality and expand healthcare accessibility.

The inauguration of several state-of-the-art hospitals over the past few months, coupled with additional facilities slated for opening in the coming months, serves as a clear indicators of the historic leap taking place within the health sector, PM Abiy elaborated.

As a prime example of targeted infrastructural development, he cited the construction of the new wing at St. Paul’s Hospital, which effectively expanded the institution's capacity by an additional 1,000 beds.

 Deliberate measures are also being enacted to ensure locally manufactured pharmaceuticals rigorously adhere to world-class standards, gaining global acceptance, according to the Prime Minister.

He reaffirmed the government's long-term commitment to constructing premium and advanced hospital complexes that mirror the standards in developed nations within Ethiopia.

Turning to preventative public health, the PM stated that through a well-coordinated malaria reduction campaign, 14 million insecticide-treated bed nets were distributed, and indoor residual spraying programs were completed across 3 million households.

Furthermore, routine immunization programs were successfully rolled out for the first time in 58 woredas that historically lacked access to vaccination services.

The government's overarching interventions to unlock advanced clinical potential and build foundational health infrastructure have yielded highly encouraging and tangible achievements across the country, the premier concluded.