European Demonstrations and Strikes Continue

From France to Spain the workers and youth are demanding an end to austerity

By Abayomi Azikiwe

Editor, Pan-African News Wire

November 11, 2026

Political Review

On Saturday November 7 French workers and students went into the streets once again demanding relief from the deteriorating social and economic conditions.

In France these mass demonstrations and stay-aways have been taking place since mid-September.

The November 7 actions represented the fourth straight Saturday in which people held nationwide demonstrations and rebellions. Just two days before there was a two-day general strike throughout France impacting various sectors of the national economy.

Led by high school students as a result of the lack of teachers and dilapidated buildings, the unrest quickly spread to encompass labor unions and the resurrection of the “Yellow Vests” movement which was centered around escalating costs of transportation. France under President Emmanuel Macron has faced increasing police repression and a sharp decline in living standards.

The situation in France and other European states cannot be viewed in isolation from developments in the United States. Pressure placed upon Western European capitalist states through the US tariffs policy, the Russian Special Military Operation in Ukraine and the unprovoked war by the Trump administration and the State of Israel all have triggered inflationary spirals. 

Although the European NATO states have not entered directly into the war against Iran, the impact has been clear. In the United Kingdom the arrest of several people traveling near the Royal Air Force Fairford base was prompted by the White House which wants to link these individuals to the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

These accusations and prosecutions only add further economic and political burdens on the UK government which has serious problems related to unemployment and the decline in public services. Demonstrations and strikes have not yet erupted in the UK although in previous years there have been industrial actions in various sectors including healthcare, transportation and the civil service.

Trump during the early period of his second non-consecutive term demanded that other North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) governments allocate five percent of their national budgets towards defense expenditures. The strain of increasing military costs required cutbacks in other areas of national life. 

These mandates placed upon the French government has compounded an already mounting debt crisis. In Europe overall, the debt burden is 88.8% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). 

A similar concern exists as it is related to the US as the national debt has climbed to more than $40 trillion. An estimated $7.8 trillion has been attributed to the nearly six years that Trump has held the presidency. 

Expanding Unrest Throughout Europe

In a mapping analysis published by Al Jazeera on the recent demonstrations in France and other European states, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) indicates clearly the broad character of the unrest on the continent. The demonstrations and strikes in France have prompted similar actions in several other states.

In the Al Jazeera report it points out that:

“France is not protesting alone. Since mid-September, demonstrations over rising living costs, low wages and a lack of public services have broken out in 30 other European countries, from Portugal to Poland. Between September 15 and October 30, more than 1,700 protests and riots of 100 or more people took place across Europe, according to an analysis of ACLED data. Although protests in other countries did not reach the same scale as the rallies in France, they may be a sign of discontent spilling over, Alberto Alemanno, professor of European Union law and policy at HEC Paris Business School, told Al Jazeera last month.” (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/8/mapping-how-frances-protest-wave-spread-across-europe)

On November 11, there was a one-day general strike in Spain, the first one in 14 years. Millions took the streets to protest the rising inflation which has created a serious housing shortage. 

Participation in the Spanish strike was reported to be as a high as 90%. The strongest level of support was in the coastal regions of Catalonia and Andalucía where the rising costs for housing has created enormous problems for working people.

Even in France, the flashpoint of the European unrest, the people have by no means exhausted their expressions of discontent particularly among the workers and youth. A new round of mass actions and strikes were scheduled to resume on November 17.

In response to the unrest in France, 70,000 law-enforcement agents have been deployed during October and November. Hundreds of people have been arrested while others have suffered serious injuries. 

On what was anticipated for the actions on November 17, an English language French news website has reported:

“Several unions have come together to announce a second day of major ‘interprofessional’ strike action – a ‘grève générale’ – on November 17.  Unions including the CGT, l’UNSA, la FSU, Solidaires, CFE-CGC and FA-FP made the announcement following a meeting with the government on Monday November 9. More unions may back the strike before next Tuesday. The unions are once again calling on private- and public-sector workers to strike, as well as for retirees, pupils, university students, and gilets jaunes protesters to join demonstrations. Marches will be held in cities across France, and unions will look to replicate the numbers seen at the first round of strikes held on November 5. More information on disruption will be available closer to the time, but it is possible that local services, transport, healthcare, and high-street stores are all impacted.” (https://www.connexionfrance.com/news/strikes-and-protests-in-france-in-november-2026/827359)

These series of strikes and rebellions in France and other European states are a reflection of the international crisis within the capitalist system. The Pentagon war policies and the failure to address inflation have worsened the burgeoning class divisions throughout the European continent, the US and other geopolitical regions of the globe. 

In Europe, the UK as well as the US, the rise of far right and neo-fascist political parties has heightened tensions on racial and class levels. In the UK, the Reform UK party has become the largest political manifestation of the efforts to scapegoat migrants and oppressed groups. 

France has witnessed the rise of the National Rally which is as equally anti-immigrant as Reform UK in Britain. Germany has seen the Alternatives for Germany (AFD) gain seats in Saxony-Anhalt, where they won 44.5% of the vote in the last election. 

A national poll during May 2026 placed the AFD with 27% of the national electoral support. However, so far, other political parties have refused to form governing coalitions with the AFD due to their extreme political views. 

In the US, the MAGA Republicans suffered huge losses in the midterm elections. It will be interesting to see how the upcoming elections in France during 2027 will reflect the various political views which are competing inside the country.

Prospects for the Left in the Upcoming National Elections

The presidential elections in France are scheduled to be held on April 18. The left-wing party France Unbowed headed by Jean-Luc Melenchon is seeking to gain broader support in light of the growing militancy among the workers and oppressed. 

Melenchon and his party has issued a program entitled “A Shared Future” which seeks to address the growing economic and political crisis gripping France. Melenchon has participated alongside the students and workers in the most recent mass demonstrations.

France 24 news website provided an assessment of the political manifesto of France Unbowed, saying:

“Hard-left French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon pledged to raise the minimum wage and restore the country's retirement age to 60 in a speech launching his 2027 election program on Saturday. Mélenchon, 75, ⁠is viewed as the strongest contender on the left and recent opinion polls have shown him reaching the presidential runoff next April against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen – but also indicate ⁠he would lose in the second round. Taking aim at the center-right Macron, he referred to recent demonstrations and rioting in France over the past months. ‘We are living through a strange moment. It is the death throes of the Macron era marked by savagery, police brutality, and the unpredictable, violent outbursts at the end of demonstrations,’ he said. He accused Macron of presiding over a ‘dark end to his reign’ and said that the far right under Le Pen had ‘no idea other than racism’. His manifesto, titled ‘L'Avenir en commun’ (‘A Shared Future’), is the fifth edition of the platform of his party, France Unbowed (LFI), and largely reaffirms policies that have formed the backbone of Mélenchon's previous presidential bids.” (https://www.france24.com/en/france/20261107-french-presidential-hopeful-m%C3%A9lenchon-launches-campaign-by-vowing-lower-retirement-age)

The failures of President Macron and Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu to raise the living standards in France provides openings for the left. Although Lecornu has offered reforms related to education and the rising cost of living, it is unlikely that his policy proposals will result in improvements in the social conditions of the workers and youth inside the country. 

Mississippi Elects Democrat Scott Colom as State’s First Black US Senator Since Reconstruction

By BILL BARROW and SOPHIE BATES

8:30 PM EST, November 11, 2026

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Democratic nominee Scott Colom defeated Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith on Wednesday in Mississippi’s closely contested U.S. Senate race after a prolonged ballot counting process, giving the state its first Black U.S. senator since post-Civil War Reconstruction.

Colom’s narrow victory is a seismic shift in Mississippi, which has been controlled mostly by white conservatives for generations despite having the largest share of Black residents of any U.S. state. The outcome adds to a decisive midterm rebuke of President Donald Trump, whose party suffered defeats in several Republican-controlled states, and it will bolster some Democrats’ argument that their future runs through the American South.

The Associated Press called the contest Wednesday in Colom’s favor after local elections officials spent several days processing absentee and provisional ballots, called affidavit ballots in Mississippi.

“While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters,” Hyde-Smith, 67, said in a two-minute concession speech posted online. “I want to congratulate Scott Colom and wish him well as he takes on the tremendous responsibility of representing our great state.”

A spokesman for the senator said she called Colom to congratulate him and concede before the video was shared publicly.

Colom scheduled a victory celebration with supporters Wednesday night in Jackson.

The last time Mississippi chose a new Democratic senator was 1947, and the winner then was a staunch segregationist. Colom, a 43-year-old local prosecutor, capitalized on the large Black population, discontent with the economy and Hyde-Smith’s missteps as she sought a second full term.

“They actually deserve a senator that will listen to them, that actually cares about what they think, actually cares about what they’re going through,” Colom said in the campaign’s closing stretch.

Colom said during the campaign that he could represent all of Mississippi, a state where racial divisions have long defined its politics and society.

“It’s got to be about having a party that represents rural America again, suburban America, urban America — a party that makes sure we actually deliver for voters in ways that make their lives better,” he said.

National Democrats, activists and Mississippians celebrate

Party leaders hailed the senator-elect’s triumph, with nods to the South’s emerging battleground status after other upset victories from North Carolina to Texas.

“Scott Colom is the only person who could’ve gotten this done,” Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer of New York posted online. “Along with his staff and volunteers, Scott ran the campaign of a lifetime and re-imagined what’s possible for Democrats in the South.”

Former President Bill Clinton, a native Arkansan who campaigned with Colom days before the election, addressed the senator-elect on social media, saying he won “because you believe in the promise of your state’s people. And they believed in you right back.”

Vera Finley was among those supporters, and she arrived early Wednesday to Colom’s victory party.

“I am here to celebrate my parents and my grandparents. I am not one generation out of the cotton fields,” Finley said. “Both of my parents picked cotton. And my great grandmother was sold here as a slave from Virginia to here. So I am so excited to be on this side of history.”

Another Mississippian, NAACP President Derrick Johnson, issued a statement saying the state’s voters “made history because they refused to be intimidated, discouraged, or counted out.”

“In a state that has witnessed some of the nation’s most difficult battles for voting rights, Black voters once again demonstrated the power of civic engagement and the strength of our democracy,” Johnson said.

A race Washington once viewed as a long shot

Despite Schumer’s support, the contest was a latecomer to the national spotlight, finally drawing attention and money months after Black senators, including Georgia’s Raphael Warnock and Maryland’s Angela Alsobrooks, first urged donors and party leaders to see Mississippi as winnable.

The son of a onetime Republican who worked for President Ronald Reagan, Colom garnered attention for his aggressive campaign as Democrats widened the Senate battleground map and Hyde-Smith’s vulnerabilities crystallized.

He produced of the year’s most widely circulated ads. After Hyde-Smith seemed to brush off high beef prices by saying consumers could choose other proteins, Colom cut a 30-second spot depicting incredulous voters saying they’d “pick another senator instead.”

When Trump came to Corinth, Mississippi, in late October for a rally with Hyde-Smith, Colom walked the line of Trump supporters as they waited outside the gates. He introduced himself, asked about their concerns and explained his priorities.

Later that evening, when Trump called Hyde-Smith to the stage, she said nine words in six seconds: “Is this not the best president in our lifetime?”

Then she stepped away.

Colom’s appearance outside the rally tracked his strategy of criticizing Trump’s policies — especially the Iran war and tariffs that he said were especially hard on Mississippi farmers — without taking personal jabs at the president or people who voted for him. Instead, he consistently put the onus on Hyde-Smith, framing her as a nonentity in Washington — a critique that resonated in a state accustomed to long-serving senators like Thad Cochran, Trent Lott and John Stennis, who all rose to powerful posts and routed federal money back to Mississippi.

There is some irony to Hyde-Smith losing to Colom. In 2022, then-President Joe Biden nominated Colom to be a U.S. District Court judge in the Northern District of Mississippi. Mississippi’s senior Republican Sen. Roger Wicker and former Gov. Haley Barbour, who is also a former national Republican chairman, backed the nomination.

Hyde-Smith, however, blocked Colom’s confirmation under the Senate tradition that members can spike a president’s choices for federal judicial positions in their home state. Colom said his campaign was never about getting even with Hyde-Smith.

Colom called on Mississippi’s history

The senator-elect concluded his campaign with an ad that featured him at the Jackson home of Medgar Evers, the civil rights leader who, in 1963, was gunned down in his driveway by a white supremacist and died in front of his family.

“In Mississippi, no one is above the law, and no one should be outside its protection,” Colom said, telling the story of Evers’ military service at Normandy in World War II, his voter registration efforts in Mississippi, his assassination and the three decades it took to win a conviction.

“He was killed for helping Mississippians vote,” Colom said. “On Tuesday, use your vote and honor everyone who died for that right.”

Schumer helped Colom raise money, and he drew financial support from other outside players, including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a billionaire and potential presidential candidate.

Former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned on Colom’s behalf in the campaign’s closing weeks.

Despite Republicans’ domination, the path was always there

Because of the Black population and its alignment with Democrats, Mississippi’s general elections have been closer for years than its immediate Southern neighbors. Trump won by double digits in each of his three presidential contests, but in 2023, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves managed to win reelection by a margin of just 3 percentage points.

Colom and other Black party leaders and strategists insisted throughout 2026 that he could narrow the gap with strong Black turnout, Republican voter discontent and an uptick in Democrats’ usual share of the white vote in Mississippi.

Results showed strong turnout in the Mississippi Delta and its concentration of majority Black counties. But nearly all of the state moved leftward from the 2024 election, when Trump carried Mississippi by nearly 23 points.

Then-Gov. Phil Bryant first appointed Hyde-Smith, who was state agriculture commissioner, to the Senate in 2018 when Cochran resigned. She won a special election runoff in 2018 and a full term in 2020. Both times she defeated Democrat Mike Espy, a former U.S. agriculture secretary who’d also been Mississippi’s first Black congressman since Reconstruction.

During the extended vote count, Colom acknowledged the historic nature of doing what Espy could not. But he said he sees his place more in terms of other Mississippians, especially its youngest residents, than his individual story.

“My job is to do well enough as the next United States senator that the next time some young Black boy or girl has the work ethic, the vision, and the values,” he said, “and they want to be United States senator, that nobody says because of anything I’ve done that they shouldn’t get a chance.”

__

Barrow reported from Atlanta and Washington.

Black University of Mississippi Students Victimized by Racist Gestures

By TERRY TANG

7:20 PM EST, November 11, 2026

Three Black University of Mississippi students who shared a now-viral Ring camera video of two white students making monkeylike sounds and gestures outside their front door say they received an apology from one woman.

But the other only amplified her behavior, they said, divulging details of the rest of the encounter that weren’t captured on camera.

“She continued to make the gestures after the girl was apologizing. It was like a slap in the face,” Victoria Johnson told “CBS Mornings” in an interview that aired Wednesday.

Johnson was joined by her roommates, Jakiyra Metcalf and Kaiyden Caldwell, to talk about the incident that has ignited a firestorm on the Ole Miss campus and across social media. The animalistic gestures and sounds are seen as racist because they were reminiscent of ugly, old stereotypes comparing Black people to simians.

For it to happen at a college community in the Deep South with a long history of racism has added to the raw emotions.

Metcalf saw the video Friday and she and Johnson went outside to talk to the two women, who had another friend with them. She was only seen glancing at the door in the video.

They said one woman, Alaina Kunes, apologized but said they had been making animallike noises and gestures in front of other doors in the apartment complex. But the second woman, who lives in the complex, purportedly kept the antics going off camera.

Metcalf’s TikTok post has been viewed over 13 million times in four days. On Monday, the university posted a statement condemning the actions in the video as “offensive, hurtful, and unacceptable behaviors that conflict with our university values.” School officials also said the incident is being investigated and they are dedicated to “maintaining a safe and welcoming environment.”

Kunes, 18, issued a public apology Tuesday through a law firm.

“Before the incident on Nov. 6, I never met the women involved and was unaware of their race, however I recognize my actions were insensitive, inappropriate and deeply harmful,” Kunes said. “I would have never intentionally made those noises or gestures toward a person of color. I have apologized to the women and I pray they will forgive me.”

She has since withdrawn from school. She also said she would fully cooperate with any investigation.

The statement was originally posted on the firm’s website, but it had to be taken down because of ongoing harassment, said Kate Gardiner, a spokesperson for the firm.

Kunes will not be speaking beyond the statement, Gardiner added.

Outrage at taunting prompts opposition to social media shaming

The outrage against Kunes and the second woman, who has not publicly identified herself, has also stirred up opposition against using social media to malign them.

Tom Hennessey, an influencer tied to online fundraisers for people criticized for making xenophobic remarks, is credited with starting a fundraiser for the other woman on Christian fundraising platform GiveSendGo. It has raised over $30,000 as of Wednesday afternoon. The fundraising page states the “online mob (is) treating a juvenile stunt as a hate crime because the residents were Black.”

The fundraiser also says it could possibly be canceled if the woman “disavows our support and bends the knee” and apologizes.

When contacted via X, or Twitter, DM, Hennessey said there is a double-standard and less attention is given to Black-on-white crime. He declined to say whether he had been in touch with the student about the fundraiser.

This is not the first time the university has been the backdrop for a Black student dealing with taunting animal-like mimicking. In a May 2024 campus demonstration over the Israel-Hamas war, a counter---protester made monkey sounds and gestures at a Black wemale student. The interaction was filmed by a student journalist. The video got the attention of outgoing Georgia Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, who appeared to praise the behavior in a tweet.

University has ties to nation’s desegregation movement

Ole Miss also has a long history with racism, civil rights and segregation. In 1962, activist James Meredith was the first Black person to be admitted to the school after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in his favor.

Then-Gov. Ross Barnett tried to block his admission but could not disobey federal law, according to the National Museum of African American History & Culture. Still, white objectors instigated a riot on campus. Two bystanders died and over 200 arrests were made.

Metcalf, Caldwell and Johnson hedged when asked if they forgive Kunes.

“I still have very mixed feelings about it,” Metcalf said.

Caldwell said she appreciated the apology but said it doesn’t change what happened.

“It’s still hurtful, and it’s still devastating that someone would go to our camera and do that,” Caldwell said.

Nigerian Court Orders Journalist Kept in Custody Over Report, Renewing Concerns Over Media Freedom

An unidentified woman sells Nigerian national flags during an event to mark Nigeria independence day in Lagos, Nigeria, Oct. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba, File)

By DYEPKAZAH SHIBAYAN

8:27 AM EST, November 11, 2026

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — A decision by a court in Nigeria to keep an investigative journalist in custody has sparked widespread outrage, renewing concerns about media freedom in the country.

Daniel Ojukwu, with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism, or FIJ, a local investigative media house, was jailed on a 12-count charge for allegedly violating the country’s cybercrime act, pending a bail hearing. The court’s decision was issued on Tuesday.

The law has long been seen as a tool to censor journalists in Nigeria, where journalists are exposed to political persecution over reports.

Nigeria is ranked 112th out of 180 countries in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders — only improving by 10 places since 2025.

At least 29 journalists have faced prosecution under Nigeria’s cybercrimes law since it was enacted in 2015, the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a report in October 2024.

Ojukwu was arrested for a report on the alleged financial mismanagement of more than 147 million naira ($109,000) involving a senior government official, according to the charge sheet seen by The Associated Press. The case was filed by the office of the Inspector-General of Police.

In 2024, Ojukwu was secretly detained in Lagos and later found in Abuja after being missing for several days over the same report. He was released following a public outcry and pressure from human rights groups.

“If you have seen the copy of the charge, it was filed in September 2024. FIJ was not aware of that until recently when he was detained,” Abimbola Ojenike, one of Ojukwu’s lawyers, told the AP on Wednesday.

Amnesty International condemned the arrest, saying Wednesday that the detention “raises serious concerns about the use of judicial processes to intimidate journalists and undermine the right to freedom of expression and media freedom in Nigeria.”

The court scheduled the reporter’s bail hearing for Dec. 1, meaning that he will remain in Kuje prison in the country’s capital until then.

Teen Arrested in Killing of Ghanaian Student, 15, on His Way to School in New York City

People walk past the Bronx Criminal Court, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026, in the Bronx borough of New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)

By JENNIFER PELTZ

8:38 PM EST, November 11, 2026

NEW YORK (AP) — A teenager was arrested Wednesday in the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old Ghanaian immigrant on his way to school, New York City police said as the victim’s family, Ghana’s government and civil rights advocates pressed for justice.

The 17-year-old male suspect was arrested on murder and other charges in the Oct. 29 death of Javits Frimpong, the New York Police Department said. The suspect’s name wasn’t released, and it wasn’t immediately clear whether he has an attorney who can respond to the allegations.

The killing has sparked protests in New York and prompted Mayor Zohran Mamdani to ask President Donald Trump to arrange a visa for Frimpong’s mother, Doris Adu Gyamfi, to travel to the U.S.

“I need justice for my child,” she said at a news conference Wednesday, then broke down in tears.

Police didn’t say what motivated the gunfire on a Bronx street as Frimpong was walking to school. The teen’s family has said he was being bullied at school, and Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said last week that officers were looking into bullying or other possible motives, such as robbery. Kenny suggested there were “three perpetrators” involved.

News of the arrest came as Frimpong’s kin, civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, the Rev. Al Sharpton and Ghana’s U.N. ambassador, Samuel Yao Kumah, gathered at Sharpton’s National Action Network headquarters for a previously planned news conference.

After leading a chant of “Justice for Javits!,” Crump noted the arrest, but added: “What we’re all wondering is: Why? Why did they kill this young man, this person with such a bright future?”

As Crump spoke, the teen’s mother wept on Sharpton’s shoulder.

Frimpong’s death has shocked Ghanaians, Kumah said, calling the arrest “a step in the right direction.”

Frimpong joined his father in the U.S. a year ago, seeking better educational opportunities, his relatives said. His father, Thomas Frimpong, said his son “was living the dream.”

The teen’s sister, Millicent Frimpong, said he aimed to become a physician and to follow in family footsteps by joining the military.

“He was so ready that he made me save my uniform for him,” she recalled.

She said he wrote in his journal that he was proud to be in the U.S. and that school was going well.

Thomas Frimpong has said that school bullies were bothering his son, a quiet teen who spent much of his time on his cellphone, but that Javits told him: “Dad, I’m OK.” Two students were suspended because of the bullying, the father said.

A message seeking information about the matter was sent Wednesday to the city Department of Education.

Islamic State Group-affiliated Rebels Kill at Least 22 in DR Congo’s Eastern Region

By JEAN-YVES KAMALE and JUSTIN KABUMBA

1:02 PM EST, November 11, 2026

ITURI, Congo (AP) — A rebel group affiliated with the Islamic State group in Congo launched a series of attacks on remote communities near the Uganda border over the past two days, killing at least 22 people and abducting at least 10 others, civil society groups said Wednesday.

The attacks were carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) across eight locations in the Mambasa territory in the country’s eastern Ituri province, according to two civil society and human rights monitoring groups.

“The death toll remains provisional. In addition to the 22 civilians killed, the perpetrators abducted other individuals, and motorcycles and homes were set on fire,” said Marie-Noelle Anatobe, coordinator of the Civil Society of Congo in Mambasa territory.

The attacks happened in nearly inaccessible locations near the border.

Local authorities said despite the attacks, the military is working to stem the activities of the group. “Despite the challenges, constant efforts and actions are being taken to find a solution,” Col. Maxime Tshishimbi, the deputy administrator of Mambasa, told The Associated Press.

The attacks also threaten the efforts to contain the deadly Ebola outbreak in Ituri, the hotspot of the deadliest outbreak in Congo’s history, which has infected more than 11,000 people and killed more than 5,000 people so far.

The ADF grew out of Uganda and was pushed to the border region with Congo, where it has operated for years, targeting civilians. It pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in 2019.

Both the Ugandan and Congolese armies have been jointly attacking the ADF, but have struggled to make headway against the group.

Local residents often say that the military is absent during the attacks. Last year, the group killed dozens of people in Irumu territory in Ituri province in attacks that the United Nations described as a “bloodbath.”

“This morning, we were left only to count the dead. It is truly deplorable,” said Rams Malikidogo, a coordinator of the Association for the Protection and Defense of Vulnerable Children and Women in Mambasa territory.

Ebola Tops 11,000 Cases in DR Congo’s Deadliest Outbreak

3:56 PM EST, November 11, 2026

BUNIA, Congo (AP) — Congo’s Ebola outbreak has topped 11,000 cases, the government said Wednesday, a stark figure that underscores the severity of the situation as the country grapples with the spread of the disease.

According to the latest health ministry data, 11,042 people have been infected with the deadly virus that has now killed 5,387 — nearly half of those infected in what has been Congo’s deadliest outbreak.

The outbreak was declared in mid-May, and since then Congolese authorities have struggled to contain it due to several factors, including armed conflicts, a health system crisis, poor roads and violence from residents fueled by mistrust and misinformation.

The Bundibugyo virus responsible for this outbreak has no known vaccine or treatment and has spread to eight of the country’s 26 provinces.

The resurgence of violence in the two major hot spots in Ituri and North Kivu provinces has sparked worry among health authorities who are calling for a halt to the fighting to allow health workers unhindered access to the sick.

While Ituri accounts for nearly 70% of total cases, North Kivu has emerged as the main site of new transmission, according to Congolese Health Minister Roger Kamba.

Health facilities and medical professionals have also been targeted by many in communities skeptical of the virus, and there have been several attacks on health workers.

On Wednesday, World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed concern about continuing attacks on health workers, citing two recent attacks that killed four of them. The violence disrupted already limited contact tracing in the hot spots, leaving more than 1,000 contacts lost to follow-up and three unconfirmed cases unaccounted for.

“This appalling attack represents both a major humanitarian emergency and a significant setback to the response,” Ghebreyesus said.

The outbreak has also affected some schools in Ituri, with more teachers contracting the disease. Two head teachers in Bunia, the provincial capital of Ituri, told The Associated Press they are worried about their teachers and students after losing members of staff.

“Our students and the entire staff have been left traumatized. At this stage, we need psychologists to support us, as the situation is extremely difficult,” Isaac Singoma, one of the head teachers, said.

Experts have called for more efforts to slow and contain the outbreak in Congo. The disease has spread to multiple African countries including Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria.

Dozens of Ebola outbreaks have been reported since the disease was first discovered in 1976. The largest and deadliest occurred in West Africa in 2014 to 2016, with 28,000 infections and more than 11,000 deaths.

The current outbreak already ranks second and has had at least three times the number of cases and deaths in the time since it was declared, compared with the West Africa outbreak.

Kenya Discharges Last Ebola Patient, Beginning Countdown to Ebola-free Declaration

By EVELYNE MUSAMBI

5:12 AM EST, November 11, 2026

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya on Wednesday discharged its last Ebola patient, officially beginning the 42-day countdown toward being declared Ebola-free, even as the number of cases recorded in the wider region topped 11,000 since the outbreak began in May.

The country recorded nine Ebola cases in October after the first patient traveled from Congo through Uganda, transmitting the virus to four family members and four healthcare workers.

The first patient and his mother died of Ebola, while the other seven patients have fully recovered. The government had identified 135 contacts who had interacted with the first patient.

Kenya now begins the 42-day countdown to being declared Ebola-free, provided no new infections are recorded during that period.

But while Kenya’s cases have now been discharged, elsewhere in the region the number of infections continues to climb. In Congo, the epicenter of the outbreak, 11,042 people have been infected and 5,387 have died, the government said Wednesday.

The outbreak also spread to Uganda and Nigeria through individuals who traveled from Congo.

Kenya’s Health Minister Aden Duale on Wednesday said the 42-day waiting period is twice the longest Ebola incubation period and would end on Dec. 23, but insisted that the country would continue with its prevention measures.

The Ministry of Health had earlier expressed confidence that the outbreak was under control, noting that all confirmed cases were linked to the first patient’s contact list. This indicated that there had been no community transmission.

Kenya has faced travel restrictions following the Ebola outbreak, with Saudi Arabia announcing an indefinite suspension of visas on Oct. 30. The decision affected hundreds of Kenyan workers traveling to the Gulf for employment, particularly as domestic and hotel workers.

The Ministry of Health had urged Saudi Arabia to reconsider the travel restrictions, explaining that Kenya’s first Ebola case was imported and that all subsequent cases were traced to the initial patient’s contact list. The ministry said all contacts had been identified and traced in line with established outbreak-control guidelines.

The current Ebola outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus and has been described as one of the worst outbreaks on record.

Kenya tightened its border controls designating a specific gate at the country’s main airport for passengers traveling from 10 countries that have reported Ebola cases or border those that have active cases. Passengers are being screened using thermal technology and all new arrivals fill a health declaration form that provides their travel and health information.

UN Peacekeepers Failed to Protect Civilians Before South Sudan Massacre, Amnesty Says

In this photo, taken Nov. 15, 2016, students line up outside a classroom with a map of Africa on its wall, in Yei, in southern South Sudan. (AP Photo/Justin Lynch, File)

By JOSEPH FALZETTA

4:01 PM EST, November 11, 2026

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — United Nations peacekeepers and South Sudanese authorities failed to take adequate action despite warnings weeks before insurgents raided a village and killed more than 200 people earlier this year, Amnesty International said in a report released Thursday.

The rights group said that the peacekeeping mission, known by the acronym UNMISS, knew that an attack on Abiemnom, a remote area near the border with Sudan, was likely but failed to reinforce the roughly three dozen peacekeepers based there until after it occurred.

Between 1,000 and 1,500 armed men from neighboring Mayom County carried out the March 1 attack, shooting residents, burning homes and looting part of the hospital, Amnesty said.

The death toll was at least 213, according to authorities, including 130 town residents, 76 security personnel and seven foreign nationals.

“Both the government and UNMISS had sufficient information and time to take more effective preventive action. Their failure to take stronger action cost lives,” said Tigere Chagutah, an Amnesty regional director.

UNMISS spokesperson Priyanka Chowdhury said in a statement that the mission did its best with limited resources to provide protection and medical care to the roughly 2,500 people who sheltered at a protected area established in anticipation of the attack.

Facing budget cuts and reduced personnel, she said that the mission “concentrated its available capacity on immediate protection of civilians seeking refuge within our base rather than dispersing limited forces across tasks they could not safely sustain simultaneously.”

The March assault came amid renewed fighting between government forces and an array of opposition groups, undermining a 2018 agreement that ended five years of civil war. The area has experienced cycles of retaliatory violence linked to land access and cattle raiding.

Amnesty said that the March attack may have been triggered by unresolved killings of several young men from neighboring Mayom County in Abiemnom.

The investigation drew on interviews with 82 people, including survivors, witnesses and medical workers, along with satellite imagery and verified photographs and videos.

Survivors described residents being shot in their homes or while trying to flee. Some were killed at close range after being captured or wounded, Amnesty said. Government security forces and armed residents tried to repel the attackers but were overwhelmed.

One mother of seven told researchers that attackers shot her daughter-in-law as she held her youngest child. Amnesty withheld interviewees’ real names to protect them.

Satellite imagery showed more than 230 structures destroyed by fire. Most victims were buried in two mass graves, according to the report.

Chowdhury acknowledged that UNMISS was aware tensions had been high since mid-February and that people sought protection at its base in the days leading up to the attack.

She said that UNMISS repeatedly asked the national army to deploy additional security forces to the area after receiving early warnings of an attack.

The mission sent 40 additional police personnel afterward. Amnesty questioned why those reinforcements hadn’t been deployed earlier, particularly after a similar deadly attack in April 2025.

Chowdhury’s statement didn’t explicitly address why the reinforcements were sent after the attack rather than before.

South Sudanese authorities didn’t respond to two letters seeking information and comment on the findings, Amnesty said. Government spokesperson Ateny Wek Ateny also didn’t respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

The group called for an independent investigation into the killings and a separate review of the peacekeepers’ response, with both sets of findings made public.

Protecting civilians is a central task of UNMISS. The U.N. Security Council renewed its mandate in April while reducing its authorized troop ceiling from 17,000 to 12,000.

South Sudan’s Elections Next Month Risk Unraveling a Fragile Peace, Envoys Warn

By DENG MACHOL and EDITH M. LEDERER

1:33 AM EST, November 11, 2026

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — The African Union’s top representative for South Sudan urged the United Nations to help ensure that a critical election in the conflict-torn East African nation next month passes peacefully and without violence.

Despite a 2018 peace agreement that ended a five-year civil war, South Sudan still sees armed fighting, violence and displacement of people — and there are concerns that elections could further unravel the fragile peace.

Jakaya Kikwete, the AU’s top envoy for South Sudan and Tanzania’s former president, made the appeal for assistance in a video call to the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday.

He pressed for security reforms and dialogue among all parties after the election to “help heal the nation.”

If the vote is not conducted properly and peacefully, “you cannot contemplate what would happen,” he said. The country could face an even “bigger political and security crisis.”

South Sudan has repeatedly delayed elections since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011. A civil war erupted in 2013 and some 400,000 people were killed before the 2018 peace agreement that brought President Salva Kiir and rival Riek Machar into an interim, power-sharing government.

Kiir dissolved the transitional government in September, removed his deputies and appointed a caretaker administration. The national legislature and state governments were also dissolved.

Machar remains under house arrest and on trial on charges that include treason over an attack on a military garrison that authorities allege he helped orchestrate. His allies deny the allegations.

Many are concerned the Dec. 22 elections may be too soon for the fragile country.

Murithi Mutiga, the International Crisis Group’s Africa director, said the rushed vote could be “a final blow” to the 2018 peace agreement and “would open the door to a return to sustained large-scale violence.”

Last month, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said in a report to the Security Council that the electoral framework could “alter the foundations of the transition” agreed by the peace deal’s signatories.

“This increases uncertainty at a time when confidence-building and inclusive engagement are essential to safeguard the transition and prevent wider conflict,” Guterres said.

Kiki Gbeho, the U.N.’s special envoy for South Sudan, expressed her doubts about the election.

While Kiir’s party — the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement — was conducting nationwide primaries, Gbeho added, other parties have shown “very limited electoral activity.”

“These developments are creating momentum toward elections,” she said, but whether they can be held on the planned date remains uncertain, as does their inclusivity.

South Sudan’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Sabino Amaikwey, defended the Dec. 22 vote, and said it was time to stop further postponements of the election.

“Elections are not an obstacle to peace. They are an essential part of its consolidation and provide the people of South Sudan with the opportunity to determine their political leadership and future,” he said.

South Sudan’s National Elections Commission chairman, Gabriel Bol Deng, said the commission would treat all parties fairly and remain impartial, according to a statement shared with The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The commission has not announced a start date for parties to register for the elections or responded to AP questions about whether preparations for the vote can be completed before Dec. 22.

Gbeho said Machar’s party maintains that his release from house arrest remains a prerequisite for its participation in dialogue.

The humanitarian situation in South Sudan, a country with an estimated population of 12.5 million people, also continues to worsen, Gbeho said, with more people at risk of famine and 10 million people needing assistance, including an estimated 7.5 million facing food insecurity.

___

Lederer reported from the United Nations.

Black Votes and the Blue Wave

All across the South, Southwest, Midwest, West and East Coast the Democratic Party made huge gains setting the stage for a majority within the House of Representatives and Senate. It was the phenomenal turnout among African Americans which turned the tide against the MAGA Republicans

By Abayomi Azikiwe

Editor, Pan-African News Wire

November 11, 2026

Political Review

During the months leading up to the midterm elections on November 3 the level of discontent among large sections of the electorate in the United States has been quite evident.

Since 2025, millions have shown up at demonstrations opposing the policies of the administration of President Donald Trump relating to military affairs, immigration enforcement, institutional racism and the deteriorating economic situation.

However, the elections provided yet another opportunity for the people to express their disapproval of the present course of the US. Participation within the African American community around the country rivaled that of previous presidential elections in past decades.

The African American electorate was key in reshaping the legislative branches of the government slated to be sworn in during early January. Of course, the concept of African Americans voting in a bloc is not new since it has been documented going back to the late 1920s and 1930s.

Despite the passage of the 15th Amendment to the US Constitution in 1870 which provided the legal basis for African American men to cast votes in local, state and federal elections, the abandonment of Reconstruction legislation after 1877 and a series of Supreme Court rulings of 1883 eviscerated legal notions of African American political power.

This is why the elections of African Americans to statewide and federal offices in the deep south states such as Georgia and Mississippi reaffirms their determination to claim basic civil rights in the 21st century. Results from the midterms also served as a response to the Supreme Court ruling known as Louisiana v. Callais earlier in 2026 which authorized the redrawing of congressional districts in the South.

A principal focus of the Trump administration has been the denigration of African American women who have lost hundreds of thousands of public and private sector jobs from the federal government to the corporate sector. The attacks on the policies of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) by the administration have been implemented in a fashion which suggests that African Americans are unqualified and unfit to hold certain jobs within the broad labor market inside the country.

With specific reference to the state of Georgia, one media source noted:

“The wins in Georgia were part of a blue wave that swept the country. Multiple Black women made history, notably former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who will be the first Black woman governor in U.S. history. In addition to Bottoms and Brown Reynolds, the six other Black women who ran for statewide office in Georgia and won are Tanya Miller, who will be attorney general; Katherine Juhan-Arnold, who will be agriculture commissioner; Keisha Waites, who will be insurance commissioner; Nikki Porcher, who will be labor commissioner; Sheila Edwards, who will be public service commissioner; and Lydia Powell, who will be state school superintendent.” (https://19thnews.org/2026/11/georgia-statewide-election-results-black-women/)

The termination of approximately 300,000 jobs within the federal workplace during the opening months of the Trump administration’s second non-consecutive term under the tutelage of Elon Musk through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an estimated one-third were African American women. This disproportionate impact on African American women would not go unanswered.

DOGE and its former leader made numerous outlandish statements about the character of the civil service and various congressionally approved entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Unemployment Compensation, Retirement and Compensation Funds were somehow wracked with fraud. Musk went as far as proclaiming that Social Security was a “ponzi scheme.”

The Social Security Act was passed by Congress in 1935. Other programs grew out of the New Deal and later Great Society era when various administrations and congresses approved them.

In addition, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) passed by Congress under the administration of former President Barack Obama has been under attack by the MAGA Republicans in Congress and the White House. In 2027, millions of people in the US will either be ousted from the program or negatively impacted.

However, in response to these attacks, the American Prospect news website said on November 10 that:

“Black voters helped propel Democratic candidates to major wins, and Black women candidates to historic ones. Black women turned out to vote—as they always have—so all these ingredients fueled a dynamic and decisive repudiation of the White House–led attempt to turn the clock back on African American voting rights. The latest wave of racial gerrymandering had the opposite effect on Election Day. After the Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais ruling destroyed Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the provision that prohibited discriminatory voting laws, Texas, Florida, Tennessee, and Southern states redrew their congressional maps to spread Black voters out into adjoining white districts to dilute their political participation and representation, and to ensure victories for Republican candidates. NBC’s exit polls indicated that 93 percent of Black women voted for Democratic candidates. States that offer early voting found that more Black voters took advantage of it this year. In Georgia, more than 560,000 Black women voted before November 3, up 31 percent from 2022. More than 330,000 Black men also voted early, up 27 percent from 2022.” (https://prospect.org/2026/11/10/black-women-carried-democrats-to-victory-again/)

Even in the states of Florida and Tennessee where Angie Nixon ran to take a Senate seat and Justin Pearson sought to enter the House of Representatives, they lost only by small margins. If the blue wave continues, they could easily capture positions within the Congress in 2028.

In the state of Mississippi, Democratic Senatorial candidate Scott Colom has dominated the race since November 3. A full week after the closing of the polls, the race had still not been called by the Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson.

Incumbent Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith remained silent as the Mississippi race remained uncalled by the Secretary of State. Hyde-Smith, a longtime Republican and ally of Trump, while growing up attended an all-white academy. These schools were established in various parts of the South in the aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement which broke down legalized segregation in public education. Undoubtedly, these schools were designed to circumvent desegregation which was mandated by The Brown v. Topeka decision of 1954 as well as other subsequent rulings by the federal courts during the 1960s and 1970s. (https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/24/cindy-hyde-smith-segregation-high-school-mississippi-senate-1012700)

Prospects for Reversals and Reforms Moving Forward

With the opening of the 120th US Congress on January 3, 2027, the legislative branch will be facing a monumental task of addressing several pressing issues related to healthcare, housing, agricultural, educational and military expenditures. The Trump administration and the 119th Congress decimated the ACA along with other programs which provide food, housing, energy and education to tens of millions in the US.

While entitlement programs have been slashed by the Trump administration, monumental tax cuts and other wealth transferals from the working class to the capitalists have continued having a devastating impact on people around the US. In regard to foreign policy, the wars in West Asia and Eastern Europe have drained the national budgets of the US and the other capitalist states in Western Europe.

In a report published by the Center for American Progress, it says of the present crisis:

“On July 4, 2025, President Donald Trump signed congressional Republicans’ regressive One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) into law—enacting the largest-ever cuts to basic needs programs for vulnerable families to fund tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. One year later, the Trump administration’s policies are bleeding the revenue of the American tax system and have left millions of Americans without health coverage and food assistance, on top of the rising prices and economic uncertainty caused by the administration’s harmful economic, trade, and national security policies.” (https://www.americanprogress.org/article/on-the-first-anniversary-of-the-obbba-millions-of-americans-have-been-left-behind/)

Consequently, to reverse these policy choices imposed by the MAGA-dominated White House and Congress, it will require mass interventions by those most affected by the Trump program of austerity for the workers and poor while the rich continue to accumulate wealth. The mobilization of the people during 2025-2026 must proceed on a programmatic level.

Efforts to end the wars against Cuba, Venezuela, Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, etc., must continue with added energy and focus. The lack of food, housing and medical care will result in a social crisis which will warrant the immediate attention of Congress.

Trump and his allies in Congress have rejected the electoral mandate for the reversals of its reactionary policies and the adoption of sweeping reforms. As a result, it will be up to the people to raise these critical issues while creating the conditions to impose political consequences on those who want to maintain the status quo.

Sudan Pound Hits Record Lows as Gold Prices Fluctuate

11 November 2026

Sudan currency volatility

November 10, 2026 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese pound fell to a record low on the parallel market on Tuesday, trading between 10,400 and 10,450 per U.S. dollar as foreign currency shortages worsened, currency traders said.

The pound’s prolonged slide has driven sharp price increases for staple foods, fuel, and transport across the country, further compounding economic hardship caused by the ongoing war.

Traders told Sudan Tribune the UAE dirham changed hands at 2,870 pounds, the Saudi riyal traded between 2,725 and 2,750 pounds, and the Egyptian pound stood at 196 pounds on Tuesday.Sudan news subscription

Dealers attributed the pressure on the currency to surging demand from importers and individuals alongside a sharp drop in foreign exchange liquidity.

Domestic gold markets also saw wide intraday swings, driven by the volatile exchange rate and fluctuations on international bullion markets.

The price of raw gold reached an intraday high above 1.17 million Sudanese pounds per gram before retreating to about 1.16 million pounds, traders said.Sudan travel guide

Prices varied sharply across regional mining hubs in River Nile State, hitting 1.17 million pounds per gram in Dar Mali and Abu Hamad, while sinking to 960,000 pounds in Umm Fakroun.

Traders said rapid shifts between the local exchange rate and global gold prices triggered speculative buying and selling among artisanal miners and bullion dealers seeking to hedge against currency depreciation.

Yale Report Identifies Ethiopia Supply Route to Sudan's RSF

By Al Mayadeen English

Source: Yale's Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL)

6 Nov 2026 19:27

Yale researchers' analysis traces military activity between Ethiopia and Sudan, identifying military and logistical activity at an Ethiopian base, RSF movements in Sudan's Blue Nile State, and drone strike damage in Al-Damazin.

A new report by the Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) at Yale University's School of Public Health has identified satellite imagery showing logistical and military activity at an Ethiopian military base consistent with support for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their allied groups operating in Sudan's Blue Nile State.

The report, released on November 5, 2026, documents construction, cargo transport, and the presence of military vehicles at the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) base in Asosa between September 11 and November 4. It also identifies RSF activity and road infrastructure improvements in the Sudanese border city of Kurmuk, alongside evidence of drone strikes in Al-Damazin, the state capital.

The findings come as the RSF and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) advance across Blue Nile State, with the report corroborating their capture of Sali from the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and identifying military activity along routes leading toward other strategic areas.

The report traces three interconnected elements of the conflict: logistical activity at the Asosa base in Ethiopia, the use of Kurmuk as a transport and military hub, and attacks targeting Al-Damazin as fighting moves closer to the state capital.

Asosa base: Cargo buildup and military vehicle preparations

Yale HRL identified continued construction and logistical activity at the ENDF base in Asosa between September 11 and November 4, including the accumulation of shipping containers, the movement of cargo trucks, and the construction of new infrastructure.

Satellite imagery showed a net increase of approximately 30 cargo containers at the base between September 11 and October 3, followed by at least 25 additional containers by October 30. On October 3, researchers identified 27 cargo vehicles, 22 of them loaded, that appeared to be preparing to leave the facility.

Further imagery from November 4 showed 11 cargo vehicles equipped with double-hitched trailers. The report also documented ongoing construction, including the installation of a green roof on a large building and the paving of two concrete platforms, one of which appeared to have fresh concrete poured on it.

The base also hosted a significant concentration of light military vehicles. Between October 8 and 30, approximately 44 mostly white light technical vehicles and around 10 predominantly dark-colored vehicles were visible on a large concrete parking area.

Yale HRL said it had assessed in previous reporting that these vehicles were likely being painted for deployment along the Blue Nile axis. Their continued presence, alongside the cargo movements and construction, was assessed as consistent with the provision of equipment and material support for RSF and allied operations in the region.

The report also documented military aircraft at Asosa Airport on October 30 and November 4, including an Ilyushin Il-76 transport aircraft appearing in different positions on both dates. Other aircraft identified in the earlier monitoring period included An-26 and DHC-6 models.

Ethiopia recently expelled Sudan's diplomatic mission from Asosa, a development that has raised further questions over access to and monitoring of activity in the border area.

Kurmuk: RSF consolidates control over strategic supply routes

The report identifies Kurmuk, a city in Sudan's southern Blue Nile State bordering Ethiopia, as a key logistical point connecting the two countries. The city lies approximately 85 kilometers north of Asosa and 140 kilometers south of Al-Damazin, placing it along a major route linking Ethiopian territory with Sudan's Blue Nile region.

According to Yale HRL, satellite imagery shows RSF presence and efforts to improve road infrastructure in Kurmuk, including the repair of the city's bridge between October 3 and 19. Researchers also identified road grading and the construction of additional routes leading toward the main bridge connecting Sudan and Ethiopia through the C40 highway.

A road grader was visible on a newly leveled road in imagery dated October 29, while more than 20 light technical vehicles consistent with RSF forces were identified in the city.

Among them was a convoy of 11 light technical vehicles, accompanied by a transport vehicle, moving along Kurmuk's main road. The colors of several vehicles were similar to those observed at the Asosa military base, according to the report.

Yale HRL said the combination of RSF presence, road construction, and military vehicle movements indicated that control of Kurmuk and its logistical routes was critical to establishing control over Blue Nile State.

The report also corroborated the RSF and SPLM-N's capture of Sali, a town located in a gold-mining area along the main road connecting Al-Damazin and Kurmuk.

Sali lies approximately 20 kilometers north of Kurmuk and 110 kilometers south of Al-Damazin. Yale HRL assessed that the SAF encampment there had been razed between October 29 and November 4, following reported RSF attacks on October 21 and November 2.

The RSF announced the capture of the town on November 3. Sudan War Monitor reported that the assault had been launched from both the south, from Kurmuk, and the west, from Sirkum.

Satellite imagery dated November 4 also showed military vehicles on the road leading from Sali toward Kali, northwest of the town. The report noted that Kali is another strategically significant location for control of the southern Blue Nile, with open-source accounts indicating that RSF forces had attacked the area and may have taken control of it.

RSF drone strikes damage civilian and military sites in Al-Damazin

Yale HRL also identified damage consistent with aerial munitions, including drone strikes, at civilian and military locations in Al-Damazin between October 29 and November 4.

The findings corroborate reports of multiple explosions caused by RSF drone attacks overnight on November 3 and into the early hours of November 4. However, the report noted that some explosions may also have resulted from SAF anti-aircraft activity.

In civilian areas, researchers identified at least six instances of munition impacts or conflict-related thermal damage. These included locations near markets, residential areas, and a mosque.

In the Al-Zuhur neighborhood, satellite imagery showed a munition impact outside a small market, thermal damage outside the walls of a mosque, and additional damage at a civilian site. Open-source reports also indicated that a woman was killed in drone strikes near the neighborhood.

The report further identified thermal damage outside Sabeen market, potentially consistent with the destruction of a vehicle, as well as damage to several structures and a munition impact in the Aliya neighborhood.

Military installations were also affected. Yale HRL identified damage consistent with aerial munitions at three military sites, including two impacts on the roof of a structure near Al-Damazin airport.

The report also documented damage at the SAF 44th Artillery Division, where open-source accounts said drone strikes had hit barracks and killed at least one man. Satellite imagery further showed the destruction of a structure on the perimeter of the SAF 4th Infantry Division base, corroborating reports that the facility had been struck.

Local reports said authorities aligned with the SAF had cut electricity across Al-Damazin during the drone attacks as a precautionary measure.

Displacement and fuel shortages deepen humanitarian crisis

Beyond the military developments, the Yale report documented worsening humanitarian conditions in Al-Damazin, where displacement and shortages are placing additional pressure on civilians.

Satellite imagery showed an increase of more than 800 temporary shelters at an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in the city between October 3 and November 4.

According to figures from the International Organization for Migration's Displacement Tracking Matrix, more than 45,000 internally displaced people were present in Al-Damazin locality as of October 15.

The report added that nearly 120,000 people had fled the localities of Geisan, Kurmuk, Baw, and Wad Al-Mahi between January 11 and October 15. More than 20,000 additional displaced people had been recorded in less than two months.

Yale HRL also identified long queues at seven fuel stations in Al-Damazin in satellite imagery dated November 4. Some queues included animal-drawn carts and people on foot, with similar scenes absent from imagery of six of the seven locations over the preceding year.

The queues emerged amid a nationwide fuel and inflation crisis and the shutdown of the electricity system in Al-Damazin by the SAF-aligned government the previous morning.

The report also cited accounts of bakeries closing because they could no longer afford production costs, forcing residents to adjust their daily lives amid food shortages.

Separately, open-source reports documented multiple arrests in Al-Damazin and nearby Roceris, including raids and the re-arrest of family members of individuals fighting alongside the RSF. The reported arrests involved members of the armed forces, police, and the General Intelligence Service.

Yale report traces interconnected military and logistical activity

The report's findings are based on the cross-analysis of satellite imagery, thermal data, social media material, local media reporting, and other publicly available information. Yale HRL said its researchers compared images of the same locations taken at different times to identify changes in infrastructure, vehicle movements, and signs of conflict-related damage.

The laboratory cautioned that its assessments are subject to limitations, including gaps in available satellite imagery, restricted image resolution, and the uneven availability of open-source information from Sudan. It also noted that some forms of violence and damage cannot be fully assessed without additional ground-level evidence.

The latest findings build on previous Yale HRL reports documenting logistical activity and military preparations in Ethiopia associated with RSF operations in Blue Nile State. Earlier reporting has also pointed to an alleged Emirati role in financing and equipping logistical infrastructure inside Ethiopia to support the RSF.

Taken together, the satellite imagery presented in the latest report provides evidence of military and logistical activity across the Ethiopian border and strategic locations in Sudan, as the RSF and its allies expand their operations in Blue Nile State.

Egypt, Cheiron Sign $42mln East Alexandria Gas Exploration Deal

By Al Mayadeen English

10 Nov 2026 09:22

Egypt's EGAS and Cheiron sign a $42.2 million East Alexandria offshore exploration agreement, committing to three exploratory wells in the Mediterranean.

Egypt's state-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) has signed a $42.2 million offshore gas exploration agreement with Cheiron for the East Alexandria concession in the Mediterranean, committing the company to drilling three exploratory wells.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources announced the agreement on November 9, following a signing ceremony overseen by Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi.

The exploration program includes three wells and the reprocessing of seismic data to assess the area's natural gas potential. The minimum investment exceeds $42 million, while the agreement follows an international bidding round launched by EGAS, which awarded the concession to Cheiron in June 2025.

Badawi said the agreement would accelerate exploration activities and enable international partners to begin work programs in newly awarded areas.

EGAS Managing Director Sayed Selim signed on behalf of the state company, while Cheiron Chief Commercial Officer Amina Taha represented the Egyptian energy producer.

Egypt announces discovery of gas in the Mediterranean

Egypt announced a new natural gas discovery in the Mediterranean Sea, with preliminary estimates of around 200 billion cubic feet in the exploratory well "Nasim-1X".

Cairo aspires to help support domestic gas production and reduce reliance on imports through this new discovery.

The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources stated on Friday that drilling and appraisal work at the well, located in the Taiba concession area, revealed a gas-bearing layer with a net thickness of around 15 metres that also features distinct geological and petrophysical characteristics.

Cheiron expands exploration activity in Egypt

Cheiron already operates across several Egyptian energy-producing regions, including the Western Desert, the Mediterranean, and the Gulf of Suez.

Badawi highlighted the company's use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing in the Western Desert, as well as its natural gas operations at the West Burullus field.

The East Alexandria agreement adds to Egypt's efforts to attract investment into offshore exploration and expand domestic gas resources.

Cheiron should not be confused with Chevron, which signed a separate $88 million exploration agreement with EGAS for the Lotus block in October.

Draft agreement outlines production-sharing terms

Financial provisions previously reported by Arab Finance, citing Almal News, included a $1 million non-refundable signing bonus payable to EGAS and a cost-recovery ceiling of 40%.

Under the draft legislation approved by parliament's Energy and Environment Committee in July, EGAS would receive between 64% and 70% of profit oil and gas, depending on production volumes and Brent crude prices.

The draft law authorized the petroleum minister to sign the production-sharing agreement with Cheiron Egypt Delta Limited. The ministry's announcement of the signed agreement did not disclose whether these previously reported fiscal provisions remained unchanged.

Egypt Condemns Israeli Settlers' Storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque

By Al Mayadeen English

9 Nov 2026 15:25

Cairo denounces repeated Israeli settler violations at Al-Aqsa Mosque and urges the international community to intervene and prevent further escalation.

Egypt strongly condemned the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque's courtyards by dozens of Israeli settlers under the protection of Israeli occupation forces on Sunday, warning that the repeated violations threaten regional security and stability.

In a statement issued by its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, and Egyptian Expatriates, Cairo denounced the escalating violations and provocative practices, classifying them as a flagrant breach of international law and an infringement on the sanctity of religious sites.

Egypt reaffirmed its categorical rejection of all attempts to impose a temporal or spatial division of Al-Aqsa Mosque or alter its existing historical and legal status quo.

It also called on the international community to assume its responsibilities by taking action to halt the repeated violations and prevent further escalation and tensions across the region.

Hamas condemns escalating assaults on Al-Aqsa, Ibrahimi mosques

Hamas also condemned the escalating Israeli occupation assaults on Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied al-Quds and the Ibrahimi Mosque in al-Khalil, warning on Saturday that settler incursions and the closure of the latter to Muslim worshippers constitute "blatant aggression" and "a flagrant violation of the sanctity of Islamic holy sites."

In a statement, the Palestinian Resistance Movement stated the violations as "a dangerous escalation in the occupation's systematic religious war," stressing that they would not succeed in "imposing Judaization measures," erasing the mosques' Islamic identity, or changing their established historical and legal status quo.

Hamas called on Palestinians to maintain their presence at both mosques, support residents of occupied al-Quds and al-Khalil, and intensify mobilization and resistance against Israeli occupation assaults and settler attacks. It also urged Arab and Islamic countries, alongside religious and human rights institutions, to take action and pressure the occupation to halt its violations.

Israeli occupation closes Ibrahimi Mosque to Muslim worshippers

The warning comes after Israeli occupation forces completely closed the Ibrahimi Mosque in al-Khalil to Muslim worshippers and visitors following Friday prayers on November 6, with the closure scheduled to remain in effect until Saturday evening.

The Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs said the decision was taken under the pretext of Jewish holidays, allowing settlers to carry out incursions into the mosque.

Settlers subsequently stormed the Ibrahimi Mosque and its surroundings under the protection of Israeli occupation forces, holding religious rituals and celebrations inside the mosque and around al-Khalil's Old City to mark "Shabbat Sarah".

At Least 21 Dead After Boat Carrying Migrants Sinks off Senegal Coast, Interior Ministry Says

By EVE BRENNAN

3:08 PM EST, November 8, 2026

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — At least 21 people died after a boat carrying migrants sank off Senegal’s coast, the country’s interior ministry said on Sunday.

The ministry said in a post on X that as of Saturday evening one person had been found alive, and that teams had been mobilized to continue searching for any more possible survivors. It did not specify how many people were believed to have been on board.

The ministry said the boat sank off the coast of the town of Kébémer, north of Dakar. It added that Senegal’s interior minister will visit the site on Monday.

Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye offered condolences to the survivors and families of the victims in a statement.

“No one should set out with the sea as their only horizon. We will relentlessly continue the fight against those who organize these crossings and the work that gives our young people reasons to hope here,” he said on X.

The Atlantic migration route from West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands is one of the deadliest in the world. At least 635 people died in the first five months of 2026, according to the Spanish rights group Walking Borders.

The group said for every 100 migrants that made it to the Canary Islands in that period, around 21 died.

In July, the United Nations refugee agency said nearly 150 people died or went missing within the space of one week from boats that sank off Mauritania as they were trying to make their way to Europe. It added that almost 400 people were rescued.

On New Year’s Eve 2025, a boat carrying more than 200 migrants sank off the coast of Gambia. Red Cross officials reported that 44 bodies were recovered.

Diamond-rich Botswana Says it Will Increase its Stake in De Beers to 30% Under Proposed Sale

By SELLO MOTSETA

3:46 PM EST, November 9, 2026

GABORONE, Botswana (AP) — Botswana’s president said Monday that the diamond-rich southern African country will double its stake in De Beers to 30% under a proposed deal by a consortium of investors to buy Anglo American’s shares in the company.

President Duma Boko said in a speech in Parliament that the move would make Botswana the largest single shareholder in De Beers, the world’s leading diamond company. Boko said Botswana endorsed the Global Diamond Consortium of investors as the proposed buyer of De Beers.

Mining giant Anglo American put its 85% stake in De Beers up for sale in 2024 as part of a broader restructuring focused on minerals expected to boom from the transition to green energy and a downturn in the diamond market. As De Beers’ other shareholder, Botswana’s backing of the Global Diamond Consortium is key for the deal to proceed.

The purchase by the consortium, which is led by former De Beers CEO Gareth Penny, has not been finalized.

Botswana has long had a partnership with De Beers to operate its largest diamond mines through the Debswana joint venture. Botswana is one of the biggest natural diamond producers in the world and is looking to double down on the stones after a big dip in sales caused its diamond-dependent economy to contract last year.

The global natural diamond industry is undergoing a downturn, largely due to competition from artificial lab-grown stones and a decline in luxury spending in China, according to analysts.

Boko said fellow southern African nations Namibia and Angola would also be involved in the deal for De Beers, though he gave no details.

“For the first time, the great diamond producing nations of our region will sit together at the ownership table of the company that markets their diamonds, united by a shared belief that local resources should bring local prosperity,” Boko said.