Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Featured on Black Agenda Report with Executive Editor Margaret Kimberley Analyzing the Midterm Elections with Emphasis on Michigan Senate Race

A hard fought Senate race in the state of Michigan resulted in a comfortable victory for Dr. Abdul Rahman Mohammed El-Sayed. He will be the first Muslim elected to the Senate in the United States.

To watch this interview in its entirety just click on the following URL: Abdul El-Sayed's Senate Victory in Michigan - YouTube

The victory in the Abdul for Senate campaign took place within the broader context of the triumph of Democratic candidates which swept the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Dr. El-Sayed came out in opposition to the war in Iran and for the end of the genocide in Gaza.

Huge numbers of new politicians will enter the House and Senate. Others were elected as Governors in several states particularly in the South.

These developments portend much for the future of politics and race relations in the United States over next few months and two years.

Africa Governance Centre Chair Hails Ethiopia’s Investments in Infrastructure and Energy

Addis Ababa, November 6, 2026 (ENA)— Ethiopia’s continued investments in infrastructure, energy, industry, and productive activities demonstrate the country's commitment to economic transformation, Africa Governance Centre Executive Chair Benedicta Lasi said.

Addressing the Second African Political Parties Summit on its second day, Lasi praised Ethiopia’s development efforts, congratulating Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, his government, and the Ethiopian people for their commitment to transforming the country.

Ethiopia’s Medemer-led economic policies have gained traction over the last few years in driving sustainable transformation and bringing forward young leaders, she noted.

Stressing the role of political organizations, the Executive Chair stated that long-term development priorities such as industrialization, energy systems, and agricultural productivity require sustained commitment beyond electoral cycles. 

Lasi stressed that political parties must prepare capable leaders, develop sound policies, and strengthen institutional capacity before assuming government responsibilities.

 “An election can place a party in government overnight, but it cannot supply overnight knowledge required to run a ministry, negotiate a major contract, or manage the national economy,” she added.

The Executive Chair emphasized that party schools, research institutions, and policy structures are essential to test proposals, develop sector-specific knowledge, and prepare people for public office. 

Political parties, she added, should help maintain development priorities across changes in government to ensure that national programmes continue over time.

Lasi also emphasized the need for closer cooperation between the African Union and political parties to advance Agenda 2063 and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

 She expressed hope that this cooperation would support the proposed African Political Parties Agenda 2040, which aims to establish standards for internal democracy, national development visions, and leadership development, while promoting women’s participation and young people’s contribution.

Highlighting the Africa Governance Centre’s work, the Executive Chairperson said its African Political Parties Initiative (APPI), launched in 2025, provides a platform for political parties to exchange experiences and strengthen their capacity to govern. 

She noted that the initiative has expanded international cooperation through partnerships in Latin America and Asia, leading to the launch of the Intercontinental Dialogue among Political Parties in Seoul, South Korea, in September 2026.

Lasi also highlighted the Centre’s collaboration with African legislative institutions to strengthen parliamentarians’ capacity to shape national development policies and support economic transformation.

AI Stock Crash Wipes $3.2trln off Wall Street in One Day, Asia Follows

By Al Mayadeen English

Source: FT + WSJ + AFP

6 Nov 2026 12:11

US stocks lost $3.2tn in a day after the Democratic midterm win raised fears of AI data center curbs, and the selloff hit Asia and Europe on Friday.

US stocks lost $3.2 trillion on Thursday, with the Nasdaq 100 plunging 6.4% and the S&P 500 falling 4.4%, after investors concluded that the Democratic midterm victory could slow the artificial intelligence spending boom that carried Wall Street to record highs this year.

The selling crossed into Asia on Friday, pushing Japan and Taiwan into bear markets and triggering a trading halt in Seoul, while European shares also opened lower.

The $3.2 trillion drop on the S&P Composite 1500 was the biggest in dollar terms since the turn of the millennium, according to Financial Times calculations based on FactSet data. The percentage fall was smaller than in past crises such as 2008, because US stocks are now worth far more, but the S&P 500’s 4.4% loss was its worst session since last year’s “liberation day” tariff turmoil.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.5%, its sharpest daily percentage loss since April 2025, AFP reported. In dollar terms, the damage was without precedent, with the index shedding an estimated $2.49 trillion in market value, according to Dow Jones Market Data cited by the Wall Street Journal. The previous record was $1.87 trillion, set on June 5. The PHLX Semiconductor index had its worst day since the depths of the pandemic, and the selling dragged every sector of the S&P 500 into the red.

Chipmakers, Musk’s companies lead the fall

Nvidia, the company most closely tied to the AI surge, tumbled 9.3%, wiping more than $400 billion off its value and leaving the stock down for the year, the FT and the WSJ reported.

Micron lost 17%, Broadcom 10% and Qualcomm 9.5%, while memory makers SanDisk and Western Digital, among this year’s best performers, dropped 22% and 17%. The Magnificent Seven group of tech giants lost roughly $1 trillion in combined value, according to the WSJ.

The rout reached beyond technology. Caterpillar slid 6.4%, and Walmart fell 1.1%. Tesla dropped 10.8% and SpaceX 9.1%, extending losses from Wednesday, with both companies tied to Elon Musk’s Texas operations, including the planned Terafab chip plant.

Data-center fears meet a concentrated market

Investors dumped shares on fears that newly elected Democrats would restrain the data-center expansion that underpins AI spending.

Michigan’s senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed has called for a “full-on pause” in frontier AI development, and South Carolina’s incoming senator Annie Andrews has proposed a two-year ban on new data-center construction.

In Texas, which has more planned data-center projects than any other state, Democratic governor-elect Gina Hinojosa wants new approvals halted until the Legislature can pass protections next year, the WSJ reported.

JonesTrading’s chief market strategist Mike O’Rourke told WSJ that next year’s earnings forecasts “can no longer be trusted” because AI infrastructure companies, especially chipmakers, drive S&P 500 earnings growth.

The scale of the fall reflects how top-heavy the market has become. The ten largest companies, dominated by the technology giants at the center of the AI buildout, made up 40.8% of the S&P 500 as of May 18, according to JP Morgan Asset Management. That was up from 26.6% at the peak of the dot-com bubble, and the ten generated just over a third of the index’s earnings. A shock to the spending plans behind a handful of firms therefore moves the whole market.

Goldman Sachs estimated in April that AI-linked stocks accounted for nearly 45% of the S&P 500, up from about 25% in 2022.

Trump blames voters and Democrats

Trump blamed the Democrats for the crash in posts on Truth Social on Thursday evening. He wrote that the market fell because the “Dumocrats” had a big Tuesday and told voters they “only have yourselves to blame.”

He added that Americans’ 401(k) retirement accounts had dropped as a result, and promised that the United States would soon be “bigger and stronger than ever before.”

Rout spreads to Asia

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 6% on Friday, its worst day since Trump launched his trade war in April 2025, leaving it 20% below its June peak.

Taiwan’s Taiex, dominated by chipmaker TSMC, dropped 4.5% and is also 20% below its October peak, putting both markets in bear territory.

South Korea’s Kospi fell 6%, after diving as much as 8.5% in early trade, which triggered a circuit breaker that halted trading for 20 minutes, AFP reported.

Memory chip makers took the heaviest losses. SK Hynix slid 10.8% and Samsung Electronics 6.4%, while SoftBank Group, which holds roughly 13% of OpenAI, plunged 10.4%. In early trading, Tokyo Electron fell about 9% and Kioxia 13%.

“There’s nowhere to hide,” Lotus Asset Management’s chief investment officer Hao Hong told FT, adding that the correction was “far from finished.” Another Asia investment chief cited by FT said many investors were being forced out of their technology positions by risk limits.

Europe falls less

The Stoxx Europe 600 and the FTSE 100 both opened 1.5% lower on Friday, after the Stoxx index slipped only 0.4% on Thursday. Europe has little direct exposure to AI stocks, and ASML fell just 0.3% at the open, with the technology sub-index down under 1%.

The weakness spread further than technology, however. More than 90% of Stoxx 600 stocks were in the red in early trading, with retail and healthcare shares down around 2%.

Lombard Odier’s multi-asset portfolio manager Florian Ielpo said the AI de-rating had turned into a broad de-risking, raising the question of how long it would last.

US stock futures signaled a calmer start on Friday, with Nasdaq 100 contracts up 0.3% and S&P 500 contracts 0.4% lower. Whether the pause holds depends on how fast Democrats move on data-center curbs and how much of this year’s AI spending plans survive them.

Georgia Gov.‑elect Keisha Lance Bottoms Stands on the Shoulders of Stacey Abrams, Charlotta Bass and Countless Other Black Women Who Dreamed

November 6, 2026 12:09pm EST

There are elections that change the political map. And then there are elections that make you wonder whether the land itself remembers.

Georgia remembers.

The auction blocks. The cotton fields. The lynching trees. The Black women who cleaned governors’ homes but could not dream of becoming governor themselves.

And now Keisha Lance Bottoms has been elected Georgia’s first Black woman governor. The first Black woman elected governor of any American state.

Bottoms has traced her ancestry back five generations to an enslaved person on a plantation near Crawfordville, Georgia.

An ancestor held in bondage on Georgia soil. A descendant elected to govern it.

The same earth. An entirely different claim to power. How many women had to believe in a future they would never live to see?

Bottoms’s victory represents the paradox of Black political advancement amid racial violence and the often-unrecognized labor of women who build futures they may never inhabit. Ultimately, Bottoms’ victory reflects both extraordinary progress and the unfinished work of American democracy.

The children who deserved a future

I keep thinking about the little children.

Between 1979 and 1981, Atlanta was terrorized by the disappearances and murders of Black children and young adults. Mothers pleaded for answers. Families lived in a city where childhood itself had become dangerous.

The murders unfolded just years after Maynard Jackson’s historic 1973 election as Atlanta’s first Black mayor. His victory announced a new era of Black political power. Yet that power could not shield the city’s most vulnerable children. Suspicions of Ku Klux Klan involvement circulated, although the Klan’s responsibility was never established.

That distinction matters. So does the fear.

Bottoms was born in 1970. She was 9 when the murders began. She grew up in the same Atlanta where Black parents searched desperately for their missing children. She belonged to the generation whose futures were being stolen. And now she is preparing to lead the entire state.

What a terrible, beautiful, complicated thing.

Those murdered children were not symbols waiting to become useful to history. They were sons and daughters who deserved the ordinary miracle of growing older. They deserved a future.

Bottoms later occupied the mayor’s office that Jackson first opened to Black leadership. Now she is preparing to occupy the governor’s mansion. History has not erased its cruelty. But it has delivered an astonishing answer.

And this victory does not belong to Bottoms alone.

The woman who sowed the seeds

This victory belongs, in no small measure, to democracy advocate, legislator and lawyer Stacey Abrams. Perhaps those who recognize what Abrams made possible have sent her flowers.

Abrams ran for Georgia governor in 2018 and 2022. She lost both races. But through the New Georgia Project and Fair Fight, organizations focused on engaging voters and protecting voting rights, she helped build an electorate that could imagine Georgia differently. She registered voters, challenged barriers to participation, and refused to accept that the South’s political future was fixed.

And now another Black woman has won the office Abrams twice sought, in the third gubernatorial race in a row headed by a Black Democratic woman. There is something biblical about the path Abrams steadfastly cleared. I think of Moses, guiding his people toward the Promised Land but never entering it himself.

Abrams’ journey is not over. Nor should her accomplishments be measured by another woman’s victory. But I believe there is sacred work in preparing a future you may never personally enjoy. Some people plant trees. Some people sit in their shade. Stacey Abrams planted. Bottoms is standing beneath the branches.

And as a scholar of Black media history, I can reach even further back, to another woman who understood the audacity of claiming political power: Charlotta Bass.

In 1952, Bass became the first Black woman nominated for vice president of the United States, running on the Progressive Party ticket.

The future Charlotta dared to imagine

Before the Voting Rights Act in 1965, before the March on Washington in 1963, before Jackson was elected mayor in 1973 and before Abrams or Bottoms drew their first breaths, there was Bass.

A Black newspaper publisher who confronted segregation, police brutality and white supremacist violence in her four-decade ownership of The California Eagle, Bass understood that political power was about more than winning office. It was about who had the right to imagine themselves in one.

Bass ran when a Black woman entering the White House seemed almost unimaginable. Almost. But not to her. I imagine she would have loved this election. And I suspect she would have had pointed questions for Gov.-elect Bottoms.

What will you do for the poor? The disenfranchised? How will you protect the vote that brought you here?

History-making is not the same as justice-making, and representation matters. The true measure of Bottoms’ victory will be whether Georgians experience the more just state she promised to bring about.

The work beyond the win

For generations, Black women have been asked to save a democracy that would not save them. We have carried clipboards, protest signs and entire movements on our backs. We have been told to wait. To be patient. To be grateful.

And now a Black woman has been elected to govern Georgia.

The children have not returned. The past has not been undone. But something has shifted. Charlotta dreamed it. Stacey helped build it. Keisha has won it. And somewhere, another little Black girl is watching. She may not understand the history. She may only know that the governor-elect looks like her. For now, that is enough to begin a dream.

And history has taught us what can happen when a Black girl begins to dream.

‘Black Women Are Not Waiting for History to Happen’: The 2026 Midterm Elections Prove It

After 72 Black women were on the ballot and a blue wave that included historic wins, Black women’s political power is gaining.

By Kay Wicker

Nov 6, 2026

Georgia Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms speaks during an election night watch party at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis on November 03, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. Bottoms defeated Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson to become the nation's first Black woman governor. (Photo by Megan Varner/Getty Images)

Before anyone even cast a ballot on Election Day this year, Black women had already made history.

On Tuesday, Nov. 3, during the 2026 Midterms, there was a remarkable number of Black women on the ballot in races across the country. 72 to be exact—four U.S. Senate nominees, 40 House nominees, two gubernatorial candidates, and 26 women vying for other statewide offices.

According to data by the Higher Heights Leadership Fund and Rutgers University’s Center for American Women and Politics, 114 Black women in total sought House seats, up from 88 in 2024, while another 13 pursued Senate seats, up from 11.

“From the possibility of three or more Black women serving together in the United States Senate to the opportunity to elect our nation’s first Black woman governor, these races represent the continued expansion of Black women’s political power,” Glynda C. Carr, President and CEO of Higher Heights Leadership Fund, said in a release. 

The historic showing has arrived alongside a massive blue wave in which Democrats have reclaimed both chambers of Congress, with Black women voters helping to deliver many of these wins. The 2026 Midterms have also ushered in a slew of historic victories for Black women candidates, including former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who became the first Black woman elected governor of a U.S. state. And while some of the most closely watched candidates fell short, this election cycle has still offered plenty of indication we are experiencing the literal changing face of American politics.

On election night, Bottoms managed to defeat Republican Rick Jackson, ending more than two decades of Republican control of the governor’s mansion. 

“Georgia, this win is for all of us. I will be a governor for all of Georgia,” Bottoms said in her victory speech. “We sent a message loud and clear that we want a leader who will put Georgia first and who will stand up to all the chaos coming out of Washington, D.C. But even more importantly, you sent the message that in these times of division and acrimony, you believe in something foundational, and that is hope.”

Meanwhile, over in the U.S. Virgin Islands, former longtime congressional delegate Stacey Plaskett became the first woman elected governor of the territory. And the wins just kept coming. 

In Illinois, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton won her bid for the U.S. Senate, joining Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland and Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware to make history as the first time three Black women will serve in the chamber at the same time. Then, as 29-year-old Melat Kiros was becoming the first Black woman elected to Congress from the state of Colorado, over in New York, former City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams became the state’s first Black woman elected lieutenant governor. Georgia state Rep. Jasmine Clark also secured a congressional victory, adding to the growing number of Black women headed to Washington.

However, of course, the evening was not without its upsets. In Florida, state Rep. Angie Nixon lost her bid to unseat Republican Sen. Ashley Moody, but not without making the race considerably close. 

“I promise y’all that we may have lost this battle but the war is not over,” Nixon told supporters on election night. 

Elsewhere, Marquita Bradshaw in Tennessee and N’Kiyla “Jasmine” Thomas in Oklahoma also fell short in their respective Senate bids. Then, in West Orange, New Jersey, after enduring a campaign trail that included receiving racist and threatening voicemails, Councilwoman Tammy Williams lost her bid for mayor. 

Even still, there is something really encouraging about the sheer number of Black women who entered the political arena this year. This momentum, which has been brewing since before Crystal Bird Fauset became the first Black woman elected to a state legislature in Pennsylvania in 1938 or Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to Congress before launching her groundbreaking presidential campaign in 1972, was bolstered even more by Stacey Abrams, who made history as the first Black woman to secure a major-party gubernatorial nomination in 2018. 

And while she did not win that race, her organizing and voter engagement efforts helped build the political infrastructure that contributed to Democratic victories in Georgia, including Bottoms’ historic win this year.

Their stories stand as reminders that the impact of a political campaign doesn’t always begin and end on election night. Since they won the right to vote through the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Black women have been among the country’s most dedicated voters, organizers, and advocates, even while being denied access to many of its most powerful offices. And after increasingly challenging modern circumstances, from the Black maternal health crisis and the rampant job loss among them to police brutality and policy that continues to ignore their best interests despite their loyalty, it’s little wonder why they are increasingly seeking those offices themselves.

Or as Carr said, “Black women are not waiting for history to happen. They are stepping forward to make it.” 

2 African American Women Make History in Pee Dee Elections

by Tonya Brown

Thu, November 5, 2026 at 6:17 AM

2 African American women make history in Pee Dee elections

Democrats Cynthia Ford (left) and Susan McGill (right) broke longstanding political barriers with victories in the races for South Carolina House District 57 and 12th Judicial Circuit solicitor. (Credit: Provided by Cynthia Ford/Susan McGill)

Who did Cynthia Ford defeat in House District 57?

What role will Susan McGill hold in the 12th Circuit?

Why was Ford's campaign described as grassroots?

topics:

Cynthia Ford

Susan McGill

Pee Dee

South Carolina

House District 57

12th Circuit solicitor

African American history

Democrats

PEE DEE COUNTY, S.C. (WPDE) — Two African American women made history in the Pee Dee on Tuesday, winning elections to political offices that have never been held by African Americans.

Democrats Cynthia Ford and Susan McGill broke longstanding political barriers with victories in the races for South Carolina House District 57 and 12th Judicial Circuit solicitor.

Ford defeated Republican incumbent Lucas Atkinson, who had represented House District 57 for 10 years.

Her victory makes her the first African American elected to represent the district, which includes portions of Marion, Horry and Williamsburg counties.

Atkinson switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party in March, setting up a general election contest against Ford.

Ford said her victory was the result of a grassroots campaign built on teamwork, personal connections with voters and a commitment to running with integrity.

"Grassroots. Grassroots. There sere some things that we had to pull together. And it was a team effort. Going door to door, phone calls, all the grassroots efforts, the signs out. But, I was just so proud to be myself and to be able to run with integrity. That meant so much to me," Ford said.

Ford said Marion County holds a special place in her heart and that she has always wanted to give back to the community that helped shape her life.

Her election represents a significant change in the district's political leadership and a historic milestone for representation in the South Carolina Legislature.

Ford said she is looking forward to serving the people who placed their trust in her.

In another historic victory, McGill defeated Republican Ryan White to become the first African American elected 12th Circuit solicitor.

McGill will succeed longtime Solicitor Ed Clements, who did not seek re-election after serving seven terms.

The 12th Circuit Solicitor's Office prosecutes criminal cases in Florence and Marion counties.

McGill's election will bring new leadership to the office for the first time in more than two decades.

She shared the following statement on her campaign's Facebook page:

"Humbled, honored, and beyond grateful! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to everyone who believed in me, supported me, prayed for me, and cast your vote to elect me as your 12th Circuit Solicitor!

I do not take your trust and confidence lightly. I am committed to serving Marion and Florence Counties with integrity, fairness, and compassion. This victory belongs to ALL of us! God is faithful!

Our community is the heart of everything we do. This is about more than winning an election. It’s about building trust, strengthening neighborhoods, protecting families, supporting victims, and ensuring that every person in Marion and Florence Counties knows their voice matters.

I am not just here to serve as your Solicitor. I am here to serve WITH you, stand FOR you, and work alongside you to build safer, stronger communities for generations to come.

Together, we move forward. Together, we make a difference. And together, we will build a legacy of justice, service, and hope! From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU! The work begins with ALL of us! Leadership with Integrity!"

The victories mark a significant moment in Pee Dee politics, with both women overcoming political challenges to win offices that had never before been held by African Americans.

Black Political Power and the ‘Blue Wave’

Black candidates made historic gains in the 2026 midterm elections, winning governorships, Senate seats and positions of influence across the country.

Dedrick Asante-Muhammad

On Nov.3, Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate in their strongest showing in nearly two decades. A less publicized story is what the election did for Black political power. Voters expanded that power at nearly every level, even after the Supreme Court's weakening of the Voting Rights Act.

Start with the governors' mansions. Keisha Lance Bottoms won Georgia and became the first Black woman ever elected governor of any state. Byron Donalds won Florida and became the state's first Black governor and the first Black Republican elected governor anywhere. David Crowley became Wisconsin's first Black governor. Aaron Ford unseated an incumbent to become Nevada's first. Wes Moore was re-elected in Maryland. Before Tuesday, only three African Americans had ever been elected governor, and none served at the same time. In one night, voters more than doubled that number. In January, five will serve together.

In the Senate, Juliana Stratton won in Illinois, becoming the fifth Black woman ever elected to that chamber. Cory Booker was re-elected in New Jersey. The Senate will now have at least a record six Black members, including, for the first time, three Black women serving at once. In Mississippi, Scott Colom's race is still too close to call. If he wins, he would be the state's first Black senator since Reconstruction, and the number would rise to seven. Five of the six African American senators will serve in the majority.

These gains matter more because of how hard they were to win.

Black Americans first entered Congress during Reconstruction, when Joseph Rainey of South Carolina was seated in 1870. Attacks on African American voting rights stripped Black voters of the ballot, and Black lawmakers were pushed out with them. When George White of North Carolina left the House in 1901, he called it "the Negroes' temporary farewell to the American Congress" and promised that, "Phoenix-like, he will rise up some day and come again." No Black member served again until Oscar De Priest of Chicago in 1929 almost 30 years later, who was elected with the help of the Great Migration. In the South, the wait lasted more than 70 years, until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 made possible the 1972 elections of Barbara Jordan and Andrew Young.

By 2025, Black members held about 14 percent of House seats, roughly matching the Black share of the population. Then, in Louisiana v. Callais, the Supreme Court weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, and several states quickly redrew their maps. In Louisiana, Rep. Cleo Fields's district went from majority Black to roughly one-quarter Black, and he chose not to run. In Texas, Rep. Al Green's district was redrawn into a Republican seat. In Tennessee, the historically majority-Black Memphis district was redrawn, and Justin Pearson lost there on Tuesday.

Those losses are real, and they are a direct result of the Court's ruling. But they are far smaller than many feared. Instead, Black voters turned out in force. In Alabama, legislators cut the Black voting-age population of Rep. Shomari Figures's district from nearly 48 percent to about 40 percent. He won anyway, by nearly eight points. In North Carolina, Rep. Don Davis held a district Republicans had redrawn to flip. In Georgia, Black voters cast about 30 percent of early votes in a record midterm turnout.

A new generation of Black members also won: Jasmine Clark in Georgia, Oliver Gilbert in Florida, Frederick Douglas Haynes III in Dallas, Donna Miller and La Shawn Ford in Illinois, Adrian Boafo in Maryland and Melat Kiros in Colorado. Veterans including Bennie Thompson, James Clyburn, Terri Sewell and Alma Adams were re-elected. The net result appears to be a loss of about five House seats with four losses stemming from Black Republicans not running for their former seat.

Just as important, Black members will now serve in the majority in both chambers, and that is where power sits in Congress. Hakeem Jeffries, re-elected Tuesday, is positioned to become the first Black Speaker in the House's 237-year history. Senior Black members are in line to chair some of the House's most powerful committees: Bennie Thompson on Homeland Security, Gregory Meeks on Foreign Affairs, Maxine Waters on Financial Services and Bobby Scott on Education and the Workforce. Chairs set hearings, issue subpoenas, decide which bills move and shape who is hired to write them. Joint Center research shows that Black committee leaders are far more likely to hire Black senior staff, so the gains reach deeper into the institution.

A Congressional Black Caucus that holds the Speaker's gavel and key committee chairs can wield more influence than a larger caucus in the minority. In 2025, a record-size caucus had little power to set the agenda. In 2027, a slightly smaller one may have the most power in its history. When Democrats last won back the House in 2006, the Joint Center wrote that the caucus was likely to have more influence in the next Congress than "at any time in its history." The 120th Congress should match or surpass that moment.

None of this means the threat has passed. The Court's ruling stands. Maps drawn under it remain in force, and future redistricting could go further. Six to seven Black senators is a record, but it is only 6 to 7 percent of the chamber. Progress built on turnout alone is fragile.

A new Democratic Congress built in large part on Black votes should use its power to make these gains last, and with both chambers in hand, there is no excuse for delay. That means passing a John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act rewritten for the post-Callais era. It means restoring federal review of discriminatory maps and banning the partisan gerrymanders the Court now allows states to use as cover for diluting Black votes. It means making sure Black members hold real power in committee chairs and leadership. It means Black staff are appointed throughout all Congressional offices at the highest levels. It also means that economic policy must be rapidly enacted to address the concerns of all American voters and bridge the racial economic divide in particular.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the AFRO.

Black Women Did the Work. The 2026 Midterms Show It

November 6, 2026

by Glynda C. Carr

Long before the networks called a single race on Tuesday night, Black women had already done the work. We knocked on doors, made one more round of calls, hosted gatherings in our living rooms and fellowship halls, and drove our mothers, neighbors and line sisters to the polls.

That was not a given. Coming out of 2024, many Black women were tired of carrying the country and being thanked with silence. Plenty of us were ready to let somebody else do it this time. At Higher Heights, we spent 2025 and early 2026 meeting that fatigue head-on.

Then the tide turned, and it turned fast. Rent and grocery bills kept climbing. Health care got harder to afford. Lawmakers redrew maps to shrink the power of Black voters. This fall, more than nine in 10 Black women told pollsters they were dissatisfied with the direction of the country, yet 87% said they were still motivated to vote. We turned that frustration into turnout. Reports from Mississippi described Black turnout heavy enough to overwhelm polling places, and exit polls show 93% of Black women backed Democratic House candidates.

The results followed. In Georgia, Keisha Lance Bottoms became the first Black woman in the nation’s history elected to lead a state. Higher Heights was with her on her first run for Atlanta mayor, and her win belongs to every Black woman ever told to wait her turn. In the U.S. Virgin Islands, Stacey Plaskett won the governorship, a reminder that Black women’s leadership stretches across the Diaspora.

In Illinois, Julianna Stratton won a U.S. Senate seat. With Sens. Angela Alsobrooks and Lisa Blunt Rochester, she will make three Black women serving in the Senate at once, a first. Down the ballot, Black women won races for attorney general, secretary of state,

Now comes the part that rarely makes the news. Winning is one thing. Governing is another. Black women in power face sharper scrutiny, more personal attacks and a thinner margin for error than anyone else in the room. Governor-elect Bottoms, Governor-elect Plaskett and every woman sworn in this January will need more than our votes.

They will need us to keep showing up: paying attention after the cameras leave, defending them when the attacks come and holding them accountable to the communities that sent them.

It also means investing in Black women early, long before the polls say they can win. Too often, money and support arrive only after a Black woman has proven herself, if they arrive at all.

Look at Angie Nixon in Florida. There were many who backed her primary opponent, who outspent her 16 to 1. She won by more than 10 points anyway. On Tuesday, she came within three points of becoming Florida’s first Black U.S. senator, in a state many had written off. Imagine that race with real investment from day one.

Angie Nixon’s campaign was not a loss. It was a building block. She organized voters across Florida and built a network that will outlast this cycle, just as Keisha Lance Bottoms’ road to the governor’s office began with a mayoral race years ago. That is how Black women build power: brick by brick, race by race.

It took 250 years to lay the foundation for this moment. With every brick we lay now, the next one will come far sooner.

To every Black woman who ran, organized, gave and voted: thank you. This win is yours. Let’s protect it, and let’s build on it.

Source: Published without changes from Washington Informer Newspaper

Launching Chair Bid, Waters Targets Crypto, Prediction Markets, Private Equity

The California Democrat laid out a lengthy policy agenda and committee improvements in her bid to lead the House Financial Services panel.

By Jasper Goodman and Katherine Hapgood

11/06/2026, 9:11am ET

Rep. Maxine Waters on Friday launched her bid to again lead Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee, vowing to “pursue a bold agenda focused on affordability, accountability, and accessibility,” according to a letter to colleagues obtained by POLITICO.

The 88-year-old California lawmaker, who has led Democrats on the panel since 2013, is facing a challenge for the job from Illinois Rep. Sean Casten, 54, who launched a bid to topple her Thursday. Illinois Rep. Bill Foster, 71, is also considering running, though he is currently leaning against it.

Waters laid out an array of details about her potential agenda as chair, writing that she wants to pursue housing efforts “expanding affordable housing programs and reforming mortgage finance,” find a way to “permanently and independently” fund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and “help our community banks by reforming deposit insurance.” She also said in the letter she wants to “pass legislation to stop Trump’s crypto corruption, establish tough but fair rules of the road for legitimate crypto ventures, and create safeguards to protect consumers, small businesses, community banks and the financial system.”

The five-page letter, which represents the most detailed preview of her agenda yet, vows to “rein in bad private equity actors and bring this unaccountable industry out of the shadows and subject it to oversight and regulation” and “eliminate the junk fees that are nickel-and-diming our constituents, such as overdraft fees, late fees, convenience fees, and over-the-limit fees.”

She also pledged to “pass legislation to ‘AI proof’ our financial system and economy” and “rein in predatory lending and predatory platforms, including prediction markets, so that our constituents keep more of their hard-earned dollars in their pockets.”

The letter also seeks to address criticism regarding her approach to running the committee and communication with other members. She wrote that she plans to “convene a meeting with potential Subcommittee chairs and Committee Members to discuss collaboration, ways to empower Subcommittee chairs, and create a plan for moving Member legislation and Subcommittee Chair priorities” and hold “listening sessions” for members.

She also vowed to rename the panel the “Committee on Housing and Financial Services” to “put housing first,” eliminate “all paper in hearings and markups,” and create new committee leadership positions for more junior members.

Waters touted her record in the letter, writing that she knows “how to strike deals, even with Trump officials.”

“At a time when Americans are demanding that Congress deliver results, the Financial Services Committee needs experienced leadership that will address the crushing affordability crisis, expand access to housing, foster a dynamic and fair financial system, and hold the corrupt Trump Administration accountable. I am ready and fired up to lead that charge,” she wrote.

‘The South Rose Up’: Black Lawmakers Urge Democrats to Invest in Region Before 2028

Black Democratic lawmakers argue the party needs to sink resources into traditionally red Southern states now as candidates gear up for 2028.

Rep. Troy Carter speaks as Rep. Mike Thompson listens during a news conference.

Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.), who is poised to chair the Congressional Black Caucus next year, says Democrats need to start investing more in the South now after Black voter turnout powered a series of unexpected victories there this week. | Mariam Zuhaib/AP Photo

By Calen Razor

11/06/2026 4:45 AM EST

Black voter turnout fueled wins across the South in Tuesday’s midterms. Now Black lawmakers are warning national Democrats they can’t take the victories for granted.

Following a string of stunning wins and incredibly close contests in bright red states powered by a surge in Black voters, Black Democrats are calling for their party to invest in the South now for future cycles.

Many of them aren’t waiting until the dust settles to actively seek commitments from party leaders and donors, who they have previously chided for not investing earlier in promising candidates, like Scott Colom in Mississippi’s Senate contest, who is within striking distance of beating incumbent GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.

“You cannot reap for which you don’t sow,” said Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.), who is poised to chair the Congressional Black Caucus next year. “The South rose up this election without the timely resources. Now imagine with a little bit of investment, not just at election time, but 365 days a year.”

A major pivoting of resources will require the Democratic Party to reject its long-held fear that the South is too Republican to be winnable. And skeptics may argue that Democrats only fared so well there this year because the headwinds against the GOP were extreme everywhere.

Yet across House races Tuesday, turnout in counties that are at least 60% Black surged 21 points compared to the last midterm in 2022, according to a POLITICO analysis of preliminary returns. That’s more than double the increase in votes cast nationally in counties where the population is less than 20% Black.

Carter and others are arguing that sinking resources into these areas now will provide major benefits for the party come 2028.

“All roads to the White House will come through the South. We demonstrated that,” he added.

Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina echoed Carter’s sentiments, saying that ignoring these Southern states is “ignoring the states where 52% of African Americans live.”

“They don’t seem to understand that,” Clyburn, a former member of House Democratic leadership and a longtime advocate for funding state parties in the South, said in an interview for POLITICO’s “The Conversation” with Dasha Burns.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who has previously criticized the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for not investing earlier in this cycle, said in an interview Wednesday he and other House lawmakers will lobby the DCCC to step up its aid to Black candidates in the South going forward.

“There’s an opportunity to grow this footprint even larger for the Democratic Party, and I look forward to continuing to advocate for that investment more than what it’s been,” Thompson said.

Democrat Oliver Gilbert III, who won Tuesday to become Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson’s successor in her South Florida district, said Senate candidate Angie Nixon’s loss against GOP Sen. Ashley Moody by less than three points justifies a substantial investment in the state by the party’s campaign arms.

“It definitely warrants investment,” he said. “Not investing can’t be a strategy. Ceding territory and ceding votes cannot be a strategy.”

The DCCC invested around $12 million this cycle on a digital ad campaign engaging Black voters starting in May 2025. In a statement to POLITICO, DCCC spokesperson Bridget Gonzalez said the group “continuously engaged with communities on the ground through historic investments and outreach efforts.”

“This election day has made it crystal clear that Black voters were critical in helping Democrats take back control of the House, and we’ll continue fighting to make sure every voter’s voice is heard,” she said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, poised to become majority leader in the new Congress, may also face pressure to do more to support Black candidates next year.

The New York Democrat this cycle helped recruit Colom and worked to direct donors to his and Nixon’s states; he also included the candidates in fundraisers organized by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC has spent $2.2 million to boost Colom and has coordinated other investments in the state.

“Enthusiastic turnout among African Americans helped secure the momentous victories seen Tuesday in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas and other critical states,” said SMP spokesperson Lauren French. “Senate Majority PAC is dedicating its energies into seeing Scott Colom elected in Mississippi.”

Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) said in an interview she was one of the first sitting senators to go and campaign with Colom in his state and push Democratic leaders to get more involved.

“I came back and I talked to everyone, requested a meeting with leadership and said ‘Listen, Mississippi we have a shot. Florida we have a shot,’” said Alsobrooks, who is Maryland’s first Black senator.

And Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, who is Georgia’s first Black senator, said he privately made the pitch to national donors several times that Colom — and, by extension, Mississippi — were worthwhile investments. Now that the race is still too close to call, defying most Democratic expectations, Warnock wants the party to take advantage of momentum in the state.

“I’ve been preaching the gospel of the South for a long time and telling my party to invest, and if they don’t see the wisdom of that call after last night, I don’t know what else could move us,” Warnock said in an interview Wednesday.

“We need to be in Mississippi today, registering voters, mobilizing voters, engaged in voter protection, regardless of the outcome, because Mississippi is a blue state,” he added.

Democrats won all major statewide offices in Georgia — a state with a high Black population — including electing former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms as the country’s first Black woman governor. In North Carolina, another high-Black population state, the party flipped a Senate seat for former Gov. Roy Cooper and held on to Rep. Don Davis’ heavily Black competitive swing district that the GOP had gerrymandered.

Alabama Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures also defied many in the party’s expectations by winning reelection after his heavily-Black district was redrawn to favor Republicans.

Democrats won their first Senate race in South Carolina in almost three decades and finally flipped Texas and Kansas Senate seats blue, too. If Colom can pull off a win in Mississippi, he’d be the first Democrat to do so in his party in roughly four decades and the first Black senator from the state since the Reconstruction era.

It can’t be definitively said what factors drove Black turnout this year, but the change in voter behavior is happening just months after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that further rolled back protections enshrined in the Voting Rights Act. The verdict spurred a wave of redistricting in Southern states, with Republican lawmakers drawing out a number of Black minority-majority districts.

Jaime Harrison, who chaired the South Carolina Democratic Party before becoming chair of the Democratic National Committee during the Biden administration, said in an interview after the election that “what we’re seeing is Black voters coming out after the [Supreme Court] decision.”

Despite the redistricting effort, Carter said “we now have the largest CBC in the history of the caucus.”

Thompson said a year-round investment on the ground now was going to be necessary.

“A lot of us who have been in politics all of our adult life, we see investments in other campaigns substantially larger, and they lose,” Thompson said. “There’s value in investment with something as beneficial as the Black vote is in the South.”

Alec Hernández and Dasha Burns contributed to this report.

Ethiopia Says Women’s Leadership Indispensable to Africa’s Economic Transformation

Addis Ababa, November 5, 2026 (ENA)— Ethiopia’s Minister of Women and Social Affairs, Shawit Shanka, called on African countries to ensure women’s equal participation in political leadership and economic decision-making, saying the continent cannot realize its full development potential while marginalizing half of its population.

The Minister made the remarks while addressing the joint opening session of the 2nd African Political Parties Summit 2026, which opened alongside the Africa Women Political Leadership Forum 2026 and the African Youth in Politics Forum 2026 in Addis Ababa.

“No continent can realize its potential when marginalizing half of its population,” she said.

Shawit emphasized that women should be recognized not merely as beneficiaries of assistance but as producers, innovators, leaders and agents of peace and development.

She noted that investing in women contributes to economic transformation, democratic governance, social cohesion and sustainable development.

The Minister said Africa was undergoing major changes driven by geopolitical shifts, technological advancements, demographic trends, climate pressures and evolving economic relationships. 

She called on African countries to proactively shape these changes through visionary leadership, resilient institutions and collective action.

She explained that Ethiopia’s development approach is guided by the principle of Medemer, which emphasizes synergy, togetherness and collective contribution. The minister added that women are equal stakeholders, productive agents and co-architects of the country's transformation.

“Women are producers, innovators, leaders and agents of peace and development, not merely beneficiaries of assistance,” she emphasized.

Shawit said advancing women's leadership requires visionary leadership, sustained political commitment and strong institutional action, particularly within political parties.

Political parties, she added, should strengthen women's participation in their structures, leadership positions and candidate selection processes to ensure their meaningful representation in decision-making.

She also highlighted the commitment of Ethiopia’s Prosperity Party-led government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, to women’s empowerment, saying the Medemer philosophy demonstrates that women can lead at every level.

Ethiopia, she noted, is sharing its experience not as a claim of perfection, but as evidence of what can be achieved through political will, an inclusive development philosophy and sustained action.

The Minister stressed that decisions made today would shape the future of generations, urging African countries to build a continent where women are equally represented in political leadership, economically empowered and protected by strong institutions.

She further called for an Africa where every girl can aspire to become a leader, entrepreneur, scientist or policymaker without barriers imposed by gender or circumstances.

Shawit officially opened the joint forum, calling for stronger collective efforts to advance women's political leadership across the continent.

Conflict Continues in Ethiopia’s Moyale as Borana Abba Geda, Somali Elder Harden Stance to ‘Defend’ Territory

November 4, 2026 

The pictures show the route through Malka Mana Waaqaa, which the previous Borana Abba Geda crossed while travelling from Dire to Liban. The area has reportedly been blocked and militarized. The current Abba Geda is expected to travel through the same route in approximately a month as part of the customary Gada journey. Photo: Provided to Addis Standard

Addis Ababa – Clashes in Moyale and surrounding areas along the Oromia-Somali regional states border have continued in seven districts since the conflict erupted in Moyale town on October 18 following a dispute over the raising of a flag and the killing of a 13-year-old girl, with particularly heavy fighting in Areero district around the Dawa River basin, a river flowing within the Borana and Dawa zones of the Oromia and Somali regions, respectively.

The conflict, which has already caused casualties, displaced thousands and disrupted livelihoods, is also threatening to obstruct an important traditional journey of the Borana Gadaa institution, raising concerns among community leaders that the fighting could interfere with the Abba Geda’s scheduled migration from Dirree to Liban next month for customary rituals.

Borana Aba Gada Guyyoo Boruu told Addis Standard that heavy fighting had continued around Dawa River basin, particularly in areas locally known as Malkaa Mana Waaqaa and Eela Orbaa. He said the locations were important because they lie along the route through which the Abba Gaeda is expected to travel to the ritual grounds in Liban.

“We will defend ourselves against the attack launched upon our homeland until the last Borana son is left,” Guyyoo vowed.

His tone hardened when he alleged that the current fighting was part of a broader effort to encroach on Borana territory and disrupt the Gada institution’s traditional journey. “After they spent years preparing to wage war against us, they provoked us by planting a flag inside our land; furthermore, they killed our young girl who had not even fully experienced her youth,” he said.

A Somali elder from Dawa Zone, speaking to Addis Standard, disputed the Borana account of the territorial dispute, arguing that land belongs to the community that has historically settled there. He maintained that the dispute over the flag and questions of territorial identity had hardened his community’s position.

An elder from the Garii Somali clan offered a different account of the flag incident, saying the Somali flag had been displayed in Moyale for years without provoking similar confrontations. He said the latest flag-raising took place after the town mayor inaugurated a new office under a revised administrative structure.

“The Somali flag has been in Moyale for many years without raising any issues, and this flag was raised here as well because the mayor opened a new office as part of a new administrative structure,” he said.

The elder accused Borana residents of opposing the display of the Somali flag not only in Moyale but also in Goofaa, Layee, Qadaduma, Cilaanqoo and Udatti, extending toward Baanasaa. He insisted that the Garii clan considers the disputed areas its “ancestral territory” and would not surrender them.

“The Garii will not yield even a single meter of their land to the Oromo,” he said, adding that defending territorial boundaries was regarded as a religious obligation in Islamic tradition. He described the situation as increasingly critical.

The competing territorial claims have been accompanied by increasingly hardline rhetoric from both sides. Abba Geda Guyyoo said the ongoing conflict was markedly different from previous confrontations, citing the reported use of heavy weaponry and the movement of armed forces across the border, which he said had raised concerns even in neighboring Kenya.

“Our enemy has dug trenches, prepared food and water, and strategically occupied the Dawa river basin,” he said, arguing that removing the Somali flag from what he considers “Borana territory” was the only way to resolve the dispute.

The Garii elder, meanwhile, reiterated that his community would not “relinquish territory” it considers its own. “We will not relinquish any territory,” he said, warning that the confrontation could result in further loss of life.

The conflict has also disrupted efforts to maintain the traditional eight-year cycle of the Borana Geda system, under which the Abba Gada undertakes a customary journey to designated ritual grounds. Abba Gada Guyyoo said the fighting along the route could prevent the scheduled journey to Liban, an event of considerable cultural and institutional significance to the Borana community.

A Southern Oromia security official familiar with developments told Addis Standard that clashes were continuing and had intensified considerably during nighttime in Moyale town. The official also confirmed that the fighting had obstructed the route designated for the Abba Gada’s journey from Dirree to Liban.

The official alleged that preparations for the confrontation had included the advance construction of trenches around key locations, and said the developments threatened the traditional Gadaa journey.

These claims could not be independently verified by Addis Standard.

Attempts to contain the conflict through mediation have so far failed. Guyyoo said he had raised the matter with Oromia and federal authorities, as well as other stakeholders, but that no lasting solution had emerged.

The Garii elder said government security institutions on both sides were involved in attempting to manage the clashes and that the authorities had the power to stop the fighting. “Since the matter is being led from both sides by government security bodies, the government has the full authority to stop or continue the war; however, our objective is to defend our land,” he said.

The Southern Oromia zone security official separately told Addis Standard that efforts had been made to bring representatives of the two sides together at locations where federal military commanders were stationed. However, two attempts at mediated negotiations ended without an agreement, the official said.

With fighting continuing across multiple districts, the competing claims over territory and identity showing little sign of easing, the federal government keeping silent, and mediation efforts yet to produce an agreement, residents fear more clashes, displacement and a growing uncertainty over the prospect of their future. 

Ethiopia Expels Sudanese Diplomats as Regional Tensions Deepen

November 4, 2026 

Addis Ababa — Ethiopia has ordered six Sudanese diplomatic staff members to leave the country within 48 hours, a senior Ethiopian official told Reuters on Wednesday, further escalating tensions between the two neighbors amid competing allegations of support for armed groups and growing fears of a wider regional conflict.

The reported expulsion comes days after Sudan’s army-aligned government said it had lodged formal complaints against Ethiopia with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC), accusing Addis Abeba of allowing the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to use Ethiopian territory to launch drone attacks against civilian infrastructure in Sudan.

According to Reuters, the six staff members were ordered to leave Sudan’s consulate in Assosa, the administrative center of Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State. The Ethiopian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, did not provide a reason for the decision. Reuters said the spokesperson for the Ethiopian prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The move adds another layer to an increasingly volatile diplomatic standoff in which both governments accuse the other of supporting their adversaries. Sudan alleges that Ethiopia is facilitating RSF operations, while Addis Ababa accuses Khartoum of backing Tigrayan rebels involved in renewed fighting in northern Ethiopia. Both sides deny the allegations against them.

The diplomatic escalation also comes amid Ethiopia’s deteriorating relations with Eritrea. On 1 October, Addis Standard reported that Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the closure of its embassy in Asmara and declared 10 Eritrean diplomats in Addis Abeba persona non grata, ordering them to leave within 48 hours. The Ministry cited what it described as Eritrea’s “direct and indirect acts of hostility and belligerence against Ethiopia,” alleging that the diplomats had engaged in activities threatening national security without publicly specifying the incidents.

The measures against Sudanese diplomats and Eritrean officials underscore the mounting diplomatic pressures facing Addis Ababa as security disputes increasingly intersect across the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia has also accused Egypt and Eritrea of supporting Tigrayan rebels who launched an offensive against government forces in September. Both countries have denied the allegations.

Sudan’s complaints to the UNSC and AUPSC have further internationalized the dispute, raising concerns that the country’s devastating civil war could intersect with Ethiopia’s internal conflicts and existing regional rivalries.

Amjad Farid, a political and foreign affairs adviser to Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council, told Reuters that Khartoum remained committed to defending its territory but was making every effort to avoid an open war with Ethiopia.

Sudan’s war, which erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF, has displaced more than 14 million people, according to UN figures, creating one of the world’s gravest humanitarian crises.

While the reported expulsion does not by itself establish Ethiopia’s response to Sudan’s formal complaints, it signals a further deterioration in relations at a time when diplomatic channels are increasingly strained. With accusations of cross-border military support mounting and tensions involving Eritrea and Egypt also intensifying, the risk is that overlapping conflicts could deepen regional instability beyond the borders of either country.

Egypt to Train Somalian Forces as Mogadishu Expands Military Push

By Al Mayadeen English

Source: Somalia Today

5 Nov 2026 20:57

Somali military units trained domestically are preparing to travel to Egypt for specialized instruction in commando operations and special forces tactics.

The Somali army is bolstering its deployment in Lower Shabelle with units from the Gorgor Special Forces, coinciding with Turkish military support and a reorganization of the deployment of African forces, while Puntland discusses preparedness for possible security developments.

Several areas in the Lower Shabelle region of southern Somalia have seen the arrival of new military reinforcements for the national army, coinciding with a reorganization of the deployment of African forces, while the Puntland presidency announced it was raising its level of security readiness to confront any possible developments in the country.

Local information, as relayed by Somalia Today, reported the arrival of units from the Gorgor commando forces of the Somali army in the areas of Audegle, Mubarak, Shalambood and other locations in the region, as part of moves to strengthen the government’s military presence and redistribute the tasks of field units.

Reorganizing troops

These moves coincide with arrangements to reorganize the deployment of Ugandan forces belonging to the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), which had been deployed across most of Lower Shabelle, with their presence to be limited to specific locations within the mission’s new operational structure.

Turkey had sent military officers and ships loaded with military supplies and equipment to Somalia to support the capabilities of the Gorgor forces, in particular the 22nd Brigade, which is expected to complete its training in Turkey next Saturday.

In a separate development, the head of the Puntland administration, Said Abdullahi Deni, held a meeting with commanders of the security and military forces, during which he discussed preparedness to deal with possible developments in Somalia’s security situation.

According to the Puntland presidency, the head of the administration urged military and security commanders to closely follow developments and to raise the level of readiness and preparedness for any changes that may occur in the security situation.

Egypt preparing to receive Somali army units for training

A number of military units that completed their training at the Hanaano military center are preparing to travel to Egypt in the coming days to receive additional specialized training in special operations and special forces, Somalia Today reported.

According to the report, the commanders of some of the units were informed of the plan following a visit by the commander of the ground forces of the Somali National Army, Brigadier General Sahal Abdullahi Omar (known as “General Khalid”), to the city of Dusamareb.

The report indicated that these forces had undergone intensive military training inside Somalia over several years, while the upcoming training program in Egypt will focus on developing “commando” skills and special operations.

The units concerned are expected to join Somali special forces formations after completing the training, as part of efforts to develop the capabilities of the national army and enhance the qualification of its military units.

No official details have been announced so far regarding the number of participating units or the date of their travel, and no announcement has been issued clarifying the duration of the training or the Egyptian body supervising it.

Vote Counting Gets Underway in Critical South Africa Local Elections

South Africa

South Africa voted Wednesday in local government elections dominated by anger over failures in water and power supply that are expected to result in a further slide in support for the ANC.

Control of the major cities is at stake in the vote for 257 councils that will gauge the political mood ahead of the next national elections in 2029.

Moses Mashaba, a 27-year-old street vendor from Johannesburg's Soweto township, said he voted because "things have been horrible".

"Sometimes we don't have water or electricity. There is also a high unemployment rate, which has been frustrating," he told AFP.

More than three decades after the first all-race election thrust the African National Congress (ANC) into power, South Africans are fed up with crumbling infrastructure, dry taps, persistent inequality, high crime and unemployment above 30 percent.

Polling stations began closing at 9:00 pm (1900 GMT), after a 14-hour day, but authorities said anyone still in a queue would still be able to cast their ballot.

Counting would start at polling stations soon after the last votes had been cast, with final results due by Sunday, the election authority said.

Of 29.2 million registered voters, 12 million had cast their ballots on Wednesday by 5:00 pm, it said in its latest turnout figure.

Some 2.6 million people were allowed to vote early on Monday and Tuesday but only 1.4 million did so.

Ntando Sithole, 24, who makes a living washing cars, said he had chosen to stay away from the polls because "there won't be any changes" and "most of these political parties are led by old people".

"The streetlights in my area are just for decoration because they don't work. It gets very dark at night, making it unsafe to even walk home," he said.

- 'Democracy is alive' -

Voting was largely orderly across the country, although some logistical hiccups and confrontations between political party followers were reported.

After casting his ballot, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared "our democracy is alive", a reference to the first all-race elections in 1994 at the end of white-minority rule.

"We as government are determined to rebuild our local government structure to ensure that what was promised... becomes a reality," said Ramaphosa, who is also the ANC's leader.

"My life has improved since we were allowed to vote as black people," nursing aide Phumla Zikhali, 55, told AFP in the east coast city of Gqeberha.

"Things were tough before then. My vote is for more change," she said.

While the ANC, which installed Nelson Mandela as the first black president, is still projected to emerge as the largest party nationally, polls point to a further erosion of its support.

Once the dominant force in South African politics, it fell below 50 percent of the vote for the first time in the 2021 municipal elections.

It suffered further losses at the 2024 national vote, securing just over 40 percent and was forced into a power-sharing government with nine other parties.

The liberal Democratic Alliance (DA), the second-largest party, is likely to maintain its control of Cape Town and has also set its sights on Johannesburg, an ANC bastion.

- Coalitions beckon -

Here and in many other centres, no party is expected to win an outright majority, forcing complex negotiations to form coalition councils.

"We will talk to everyone but I don't like to get into coalition negotiations before the votes have been counted," DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis told AFP.

The breakaway opposition uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, led by former president Jacob Zuma, has mounted a strong challenge for the east coast port city of Durban in a campaign focused on Zulu identity.

Voters are likely to be influenced by "bread and butter issues" such as water, electricity, roads and sewage rather than political loyalties, political analyst Kingsley Makhubela said.

The expansion of coalition governments could foster political tolerance in an increasingly fragmented political landscape where, for years, "the language... has been political enemies", he said.

South Africa’s Local Elections Could Continue the Decline of the Once-mighty ANC

By  MOGOMOTSI MAGOME

8:15 PM EST, November 4, 2026

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africans voted Wednesday in local elections that were expected to be a tough test for the African National Congress party, which led the country out of white minority rule but has seen a consistent decline in support over the last decade.

The elections will decide who leads South Africa’s eight main city municipalities as well as its 44 district and 205 local councils.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa cast his vote in Johannesburg, lauding what he said was a great turnout of people coming out to vote across the country.

“The turnout of our people, as one looks at the TV screens, the queues that are all over the country, just makes this a very special and historic day.

“My view is that we’ve never really, in years, had a local government election like this, where we have so many parties,” said Ramaphosa after casting his vote.

In total, 546 political parties were vying for votes in the elections.

Voters disgruntled with lack of basic public services

Some voters in Johannesburg told The Associated Press that they were motivated to vote by a decline in basic services.

In Alexandra township, where the road to the River Park Library voting station is filled with potholes, leaking sewage and piles of uncollected waste on the sidewalks, many still came out to cast their ballot.

“When I got my first opportunity to vote, I didn’t think it mattered. But this was important for me, you can see the kind of place we live in. Nothing works here,” said 21-year-old first time voter Karabo Mogano.

In the city of Ekurhuleni, voters at a Methodist Church voting station waited in long queues, saying they hoped their votes would change their local situation.

Parts of the city have been without water for days in the leadup to the elections.

“I started voting in 1994, then it was very exciting. But now I think so many things have changed, even my vote is changing,” said 65-year-old Tembisa resident Raymond Selepe.

Support for the ANC has steadily declined

In the last local elections in 2021, the ANC won less than 50% of the vote for the first time since the apartheid system of white minority rule ended in 1994.

The ANC then lost its 30-year parliamentary majority in national elections in 2024 — a seismic shift for Africa’s biggest economy — and entered into a national coalition with the second largest party, the Democratic Alliance, and other parties. Ramaphosa, the ANC leader, was reelected president of South Africa.

But while the parties are partners in a national unity government, they are fierce rivals in the local elections. DA political veteran Helen Zille’s quest to be mayor of Johannesburg will test if the DA can win ground away from its traditional support in the second biggest city of Cape Town.

These elections will also be the first local vote contested by the MK Party, led by former South African President Jacob Zuma. Zuma resigned as president because of corruption allegations in 2018 and was expelled from the ANC in 2024 for starting his new party.

It made a surprisingly strong debut in the 2024 national elections to become the third biggest party in Parliament and has strong support in Zuma’s home province of KwaZulu-Natal in the east of the country.

Voters do not directly elect mayors but choose members of the councils that run cities and pick the mayors.

UN’s Peacekeeping Mission in Western Sahara Enters Liquidation Phase After Mandate Expires

By  AKRAM OUBACHIR and EDITH M. LEDERER

8:54 AM EST, November 5, 2026

LAAYOUNE, Western Sahara (AP) — The U.N. peacekeeping mission in the disputed territory of Western Sahara will start repatriating personnel, closing a dozen facilities and disposing of equipment as part of a “liquidation phase” following a U.S.-Russia standoff at the Security Council last week.

The mission’s abrupt end after 35 years raises questions about security and stability in the region. Western Sahara is a vast desert nearly the size of Colorado and rich in fisheries and minerals. The contested resource corridor once ruled by Spain is now claimed by both Morocco and the pro-independence Polisario Front.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix said late Wednesday that the department dealing with operational issues of the U.N.’s far-flung peacekeeping missions wants to ensure an “orderly’’ retreat. “And we count, of course, on the full cooperation of all the parties.”

The U.N. mission, known as MINURSO, was established in 1991 to monitor a ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario Front and organize a referendum on self-determination.

But the vote never materialized, as the two sides failed to agree on who would be eligible to participate. The ceasefire collapsed in 2020, and the U.N. says the region remains marked by tensions and low-intensity hostilities.

During the mission, 20 U.N. personnel lost their lives. The U.N. force was authorized to have 534 personnel, and its 2026-2027 budget was more than $62 million. The top military contributors to the force were Egypt, Ghana and Pakistan.

Morocco’s royal palace, which oversees the country’s foreign policy, welcomed the mission’s end, saying it had failed to monitor the ceasefire. The Polisario Front and Algeria, meanwhile, regretted the decision not to renew its mandate.

Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesperson for the Secretary-General of the U.N., said the liquidation will include “the repatriation of approximately 160 military observers, the drawdown of 180 civilians and affiliated personnel, and the closure of about 13 mission facilities and team sites.”

In Laayoune, the capital of Western Sahara and home to MINURSO’s headquarters, U.N. and Moroccan flags continued to fly side by side on Thursday. U.N.-marked vehicles still move through the disputed city’s streets, where Moroccan flags and portraits of King Mohammed VI are a constant presence. Above the entrance to the mission’s headquarters, a sign reads: “Welcome to the United Nations.” For now, there is no visible indication that the mission is preparing to leave.

The closure serves Morocco’s push for full sovereignty over Western Sahara, while further isolating the Polisario Front, whose international support has dwindled in recent years. But it also leaves the future of the region’s fragile ceasefire uncertain.

“MINURSO peacekeepers helped to keep a lid on escalation,’' Hamish Kinnear, a U.K.-based analyst focusing on North Africa, told The Associated Press. Its “on-the-ground presence meant there was a stronger international stake in maintaining the peace in Western Sahara, even if its key purpose — to arrange a referendum — was becoming increasingly unlikely due to the shifting diplomatic position of key powers.’'

The withdrawal gives Morocco “a freer hand’’ against the Polisario, Kinnear said. He predicted that Sahrawis will increasingly call for alternative strategies.

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Lederer reported from New York.

Kenya’s Mining Ambitions Raise Fears for Farms and Ancestral Graves

By EUGÉNIE TENEZAKIS

8:15 PM EST, November 4, 2026

MRIMA, Kenya (AP) — Farmers fear losing the land that feeds them. Community elders worry about damage to a forest where their ancestors are buried. Both are demanding answers about Kenya’s plans to mine valuable minerals beneath Mrima Hill, a forested area rich in niobium and rare earth elements.

The proposed development comes as countries race to secure supplies of rare earth minerals used in electric vehicle motors, wind turbines and defense technologies, seeking alternatives to China’s dominance of mineral processing.

Residents near Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast and the Tanzanian border say they have received little information about where mining would take place or how it could affect their farms, livelihoods and a sacred site.

“We haven’t been informed about the process at all,” said Justus Mwero, chairman of the Mrima Farm Owners Community-Based Organization, which has about 500 registered farmers. “We don’t know how people are going to be looked after, or what impact the project will have.”

On a recent morning, farmers gathered in a circle beside the main road in Mrima, discussing the mining plans as the wooded hill rose across the street.

“We are waiting to see what is going to happen,” Mwero said.

Kenya’s mining ambitions

Kenya’s Mining Minister Hassan Joho told The Associated Press earlier this week that a technical committee was evaluating five proposals and that an announcement would follow within two to three weeks.

While the ministry has not disclosed the nationalities of the bidders, citing confidentiality, Australian company RareX said its consortium with Iluka Resources — another Australian company — submitted a technical and financial proposal on Oct. 21.

Another company, Nasdaq-listed Critical Metals Corp., said in July that its consortium had been shortlisted for the final stage of bidding to develop the Mrima Hill rare earths and niobium project.

In a Sept. 28 interview with Semafor, a U.S.-based news outlet, Joho said the Kenyan government views mining and local mineral processing as a way to expand Kenya’s economy and create jobs. He said Kenya aimed to increase mining’s contribution to gross domestic product from about 1% to 10% within a decade. That target covers the entire mining sector.

In 2013, projections put the project’s potential gross revenue at about $62 billion over 23 years, according to mining news website Extractives Daily. The estimate was based on commodity prices at the time, excluded development and operating costs and did not indicate how much Kenya would receive.

A sacred forest and ancestral graves

For members of the local Digo community, Mrima Hill’s value cannot be measured by its minerals alone. It contains a sacred forest known as a kaya, where residents say their ancestors are buried.

“Our traditions and practices are organized around the forest,” said Masoud Suleiman Mwarizo, chairman of the Mrima Hill Digo Community Trust, formed in 2025 to defend the community’s interests in the project. “All our ancestors are buried here. We will refuse any digging of the hill.”

The Mrima Hill Sacred Grove forest reserve was designated a national monument in 1992.

The National Museums of Kenya did not respond to a request for comment.

Consultation and environmental concerns

Farmers around the hill fear that relocation could leave them with less productive land, though it remains unclear whether the project would require residents to move.

“We all rely on farming to survive. This land is fertile, and if we are relocated to less fertile land, hunger could strike us,” Mwero said.

Rama Bindo, treasurer of the Digo Community Trust, said residents without formal ownership documents were particularly vulnerable. “Not all farmers have title deeds to prove ownership of their land, and that makes it easy for land grabbing to happen,” Bindo said.

Joho, the mining minister, told the AP in an interview that the ministry consulted with the community before advertising the tender for developing Mrima Hill, and that once a winner is chosen, the ministry will formally introduce the company to the community so they can reach agreements.

Under Kenya’s Mining Act, a mining licence holder must sign a community development agreement with the community where mining takes place, and cannot start mining until landowners have been compensated.

Harry Kimtai, principal secretary at Kenya’s Mining Ministry, said that once a company is awarded the project, “communities will be encouraged to engage directly with the winner.” If disputes arise, he said, the government will explain residents’ rights and monitor whether the company complies with the law.

The Centre for Litigation Trust, a Kenyan civil society group, has challenged a proposed Kenya-U.S. agreement to develop Mrima Hill’s minerals. Details of that agreement have not been disclosed.

In a June 22 petition, the group said it asked the High Court in Kwale, a coastal town near Mrima Hill, to suspend the agreement until residents and their leaders are consulted. It argued that the bidding process lacked transparency and public participation. The government has not publicly explained how the agreement relates to the tender.

Kenya’s attorney general challenged the court’s jurisdiction, according to the group’s lawyer. The group says a ruling on that objection is scheduled for Nov. 6 and that no court order currently blocks the implementation of the agreement.

Meanwhile, residents and advocates want details about how the minerals would be extracted.

“We don’t know anything about the extraction method. Will it be open-pit mining, and what will be the impact on the environment and on health?” said Fakii Omar of the Kwale Mining Alliance, an advocacy group for mining-affected communities.

The National Environment Management Authority did not respond to questions from The Associated Press about environmental assessment, public consultation and the approval process.

RareX, the Australian rare earths exploration company, said its consortium’s proposal called for securing community support before mining begins and protecting residents, the environment and cultural heritage. It also said it proposed further study to determine whether the deposit could support underground mining.

Mwero said residents want a voice in decisions about their future.

“We want an open forum to discuss our concerns. We are the custodians of this land, and we should be the ones negotiating over it,” he said.