Flash Flooding Triggers Evacuations in Southwest and Dire Warning for Colorado Spa Town

By PHILIP MARCELO and MICHAEL CASEY

7:07 PM EST, November 1, 2026

More heavy rainfall produced flash flooding and mandatory evacuations in a wide swath of the Southwest on Sunday, including in a Colorado tourist town bracing for its main river to rise to historic levels, as weary residents in the normally arid region deal with another massive drenching.

In southwestern Colorado, officials in Pagosa Springs, a town of more than 2,000 in the Rockies located near ski resorts and known for its hot springs, warned in a Facebook post of potentially “catastrophic flooding” as the San Juan River was forecast to crest at more than 20 feet (6.1 meters) late Sunday night.

“To put the forecast into perspective, during the devastating 1911 flood that wiped out most of what existed as the town of Pagosa at that time, the San Juan River crested at approximately 17.8 feet (5.4 meters),” the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office said in a separate Facebook post. “This is a potentially catastrophic flood event.”

Officials in the tourist destination of Sedona, Arizona, ordered residents in areas near Oak Creek to leave immediately as flood waters rose rapidly and multiple people were trapped in their homes. Nearby Camp Verde also issued an evacuation order for residents living near the Verde River, West Clear Creek, and Wet Beaver Creek.

Arizona expects months’ worth of rain in a couple of days, meteorologist says

“We are getting two or three months of rain in a span of a couple of days,” said Aaron Hardin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tucson.

The conditions produced flash floods, river flooding and swift boat rescues in Tucson, some 230 miles (370 kilometers) south of Sedona.

The latest round of soaking rains started Saturday evening and was expected to saturate the area through Monday. The weather service estimates as much as 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rain could fall across the region, fueled by a series of Pacific storm systems.

The weather service issued flood warnings and watches for nearly all of Arizona and parts of southern Utah, southwestern Colorado and western New Mexico, in addition to part of southern Nevada. That includes the sparsely populated Four Corners region where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet.

The weather service office for Salt Lake City said previous storms that soaked the area could contribute to excessive rain runoff during the latest downpours, especially in Washington County, Utah, and Zion and Capitol Reef National Parks.

“Flood prone areas will likely become inundated at times, and backcountry roads will likely become impassable from this excessive runoff,” a weather service statement said.

Highway into Colorado tourist town closed to all except evacuees

Officials in Pagosa Springs said anyone in low-lying areas along the San Juan, Rio Blanco, Navajo and Piedra rivers should head to a designated shelter at a local church.

They advised residents not to wait to leave their homes as emergency crews may be extremely limited during the worst of the storm. The highway entering town also was closed to inbound traffic, and residents were advised to avoid contact with the San Juan River after sewage was discharged into it.

Katie German, owner and chef of Bruin Coffee in Pagosa Springs, said downtown had been evacuated and that there was street flooding. German said she was most worried about the one bridge into town washing out and trucks carrying everything from food to fuel not having a way in.

Town officials had just lifted an evacuation order from flooding last week only to reimpose it Saturday night with the San Juan forecast to crest Sunday night at 21.9 feet (6.7 meters), according to Vicki Shaffer, public information officer working the floods for the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office.

“I’m worried about my business, worried about my employees, definitely worried for everybody in this town,” German said. “This town, we’re a very, very, tight community. We all help each other out.”

Officials in La Plata County, which is west of Pagosa Springs, said all public roads were closed due to the flooding.

Sedona officials rescue residents trapped in homes

In Sedona, longtime resident Michelle Grimm worried about her community after viewing the rushing waters of Oak Creek rising perilously close to the underside of a pedestrian bridge near the center of town.

“I went out at eight this morning and I saw the bridge and I was like, ‘Oh, we’re in trouble,’” she said as she sheltered in place in her home Sunday afternoon.

“I’ve never seen them rescuing people with helicopters out of neighborhoods. I’ve never seen neighborhoods completely submerged in water,” Grimm said. “We’re just praying that the creek doesn’t rise anymore.”

Sedona officials on Sunday ordered residents living in affected areas to head to Sedona Red Rock High School, but they urged people not to attempt to drive across roads with rushing waters and to stay away from creek beds and washes.

Heavy rains forced the closure of several highways across Arizona, the state Department of Transportation reported.

Sedona Fire District Chief Ed Mezulis said in a short clip posted on Facebook that emergency crews from surrounding communities were coming in to assist as local fire and police officials were already responding to multiple reports of residents trapped in their homes.

“Please stay at high ground, watch your alerts and be careful,” he advised.

A video shared by the fire department showed powerful flood waters inundating vehicles and rushing past homes and other structures. Other videos and photos shared on social media showed people standing on a pedestrian bridge taking photos and videos as churning, brown waters rushed underneath.

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Marcelo reported from New York and Casey from Boston. Associated Press writer Christopher Weber in Los Angeles also contributed to this story.

Mass Shootings Over Halloween Weekend Leave at Least 6 Dead and Dozens Injured Across US

By JOHN RABY

Mass shootings over the Halloween weekend in nightlife districts across the U.S. left at least six people dead and dozens injured, officials said.

The deadliest violence occurred in Dallas, where a handful of shootings in the city’s Deep Ellum neighborhood, a center of music, restaurants and nightlife, killed four people and injured 15 others, police said.

Police in college towns like Fayetteville, Arkansas; Birmingham, Alabama; Newark, Delaware, and Bloomington, Illinois, also reported shootings in their nightlife districts.

Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux said investigators were still trying to determine if three separate shootings Saturday night over the span of about an hour and 15 minutes were related, and it wasn’t immediately known why they started. Comeaux said some arrests were made but he didn’t specify how many or what charges were involved.

“This is a really big scene. It’s spread out,” Comeaux said.

The department had increased police presence in the district before the shootings. No police officers were injured.

One shooting happened after a football game in Alabama

In Birmingham, one person was killed and eight others were wounded in two separate shootings just outside Legion Field after the annual ‘Magic City Classic’ football game on Saturday night, Mayor Randall Woodfin said at a news conference Sunday.

Two were listed in critical condition Sunday, fire officials said.

Alabama State and Alabama A&M are archrivals whose annual contest has been played for more than 100 years. Nearly 70,000 fans attended Saturday’s game, won by Alabama A&M 31-28. The event draws some of the largest crowds in the country for games played in their college football division.

Michael Pickett, chief of the Birmingham Police Department, said most spectators and families had left the stadium property after the game. The first shooting happened nearby, where vendors were set up along Graymont Avenue.

The circumstances of the shootings were unclear, and it was also unclear where the fatality occurred.

Police spokesperson De’Rell Freeman said one person had been detained and that “multiple weapons” were found.

Shootings in other nightlife districts

In Newark, Delaware, six people were shot late Saturday near the University of Delaware campus, Newark police Lt. Greg D’Elia said.

All six were transported to hospitals for treatment and their conditions were not available. A university spokesperson said they would provide updates on the investigation online as they become available.

Video shared on social media showed people running for safety from the scene. One stretch of the city’s Main Street was closed for several hours after the shooting, police said.

A shooting early Sunday in Bloomington, Illinois, left a 19-year-old woman dead and another woman in critical condition. Six others had injuries of an unknown nature that were not life-threatening. The shooting happened near the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University. Bloomington is about 135 miles (217 kilometers) southwest of Chicago.

In Fayetteville, Arkansas, six people were taken to hospitals with gunshot wounds from a shooting early Sunday near the University of Arkansas. No arrests have been made, police said in a news release. A preliminary investigation indicates an altercation preceded the shooting.

Halloween stores were the scene of two attacks

On Friday, two people were killed in separate shootings at Spirit Halloween stores in California and Michigan.

Police said a shooting inside a store in Fairfield, California was a targeted attack. Family members told police that the 31-year-old woman who died was pregnant. Six other people were wounded, police said. There were no immediate arrests.

In Madison Heights, Michigan, just north of Detroit, a 21-year-old man was fatally shot Friday afternoon. A man who was assaulted by bystanders as officers took him into custody was hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening, police said.

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Raby reported from Charleston, West Virginia. AP reporter Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

All 9 People Aboard a Jet that Crashed in Florida Have Died, Transportation Secretary Says

6:43 PM EST, November 1, 2026

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A business jet carrying nine people nose-dived into a South Florida neighborhood Sunday and erupted into a giant fireball that appeared to just miss homes before crashing near a busy roadway. Everyone on board was killed, the nation’s transportation secretary said.

Video recorded by people inside their cars captured the terrifying moment the Bahamas-bound aircraft plunged from the sky, before striking near the roadway and exploding. Flames flickered around chunks of pavement lining the crater as people milled about, expressing shock that it landed only feet from homes and inches from passing vehicles. Thick black smoke engulfed the crash site.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on X that the Learjet 60 crashed in Palm Beach County at 12:50 p.m. and called it a “horrific tragedy.” The Federal Aviation Administration is sending a team to support the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation, he said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said there were no immediate reports of anyone on the ground injured or killed.

“It was a cataclysmic plane crash,” DeSantis told reporters at the scene. “It looked like a missile going down and left a big crater on the side of the road.”

Rain pounded the region on Sunday. A flood watch due to excessive rainfall was in effect through Monday afternoon, the National Weather Service said.

The aircraft had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was headed to the Bahamas, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Authorities did not immediately say what caused the jet to go down or who was on it.

The plane was heading east at 35,000 feet (about 11 kilometers) when pilots reported turbulence, icing and precipitation and requested to climb 2,000 feet (about 610 meters).

Moments later, the plane entered a steep dive, first 10,000 feet per minute, then 20,000 feet per minute and up to 30,000 feet per minute, speeding the plane beyond its design limits, according to air traffic control recordings and flight tracking data.

A pilot declared an emergency and issued distress calls. The plane banked sharply to the right before it crashed steeply into the ground.

Minutes before the crash, the pilot reported ice accumulating on the jet and turbulence that was jolting it by as much as 700 feet, according to air traffic control recordings captured by LiveATC.net.

“We have light, clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence,” the pilot told controllers.

But the situation rapidly deteriorated. After encountering precipitation and requesting to climb, the pilot declared an emergency as the aircraft began losing altitude at an alarming rate.

“We’re descending 8,000 – mayday, mayday - we’re descending 10,000 feet per minute,” the pilot radioed.

“We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute,” the pilot radioed, before delivering a devastating acknowledgment of what was about to happen. “We’re going to crash into the ground.”

Jim Reynolds, a spokesperson for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, said the jet was a private aircraft. He could not immediately provide details about who was on the flight.

Palm Beach County authorities are evacuating about 600 people from a nearby mobile home community while federal officials investigate the crash. The road will be closed until further notice, county officials said.

The crash occurred in Greenacres, Florida, according to Palm Beach County sheriff’s officials. The city of 45,000 people is about 7 miles (11 kilometers) southwest of West Palm Beach.

Christa Pike Describes Constant Pain in First Statement Since Her Failed Execution

By KIM CHANDLER

5:28 PM EST, October 30, 2026

Christa Pike said Friday she remains in constant pain, struggles to speak and has been largely isolated in a prison hospital after surviving a lethal injection in Tennessee last month.

In her first public statement since, Pike said she’s “deeply hurt by the incompetence that has put so many people in this terrible position.”

“I continue to think about my victim’s family,” she said, “and the terrible pain and loss they have endured.”

Pike and her boyfriend tortured and stabbed a 19-year-old classmate, Colleen Slemmer, to death in 1995. Pike was 18 at the time, making her one of the youngest women sentenced to death. Slemmer’s mother traveled from Florida to witness Pike’s execution.

Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital that her lawyers say probably didn’t enter her bloodstream correctly and instead pooled in her arms, leaving them burned and blistered. Unconscious, she was hospitalized on a ventilator for days, and at one point her lawyers said they didn’t expect her to survive.

“There hasn’t been a moment since that night when I haven’t been in pain. My body hurts. My arms hurt. My hands hurt. My throat hurts. I still struggle to speak,” Pike said. “And the pain isn’t just physical. There is pain in my mind and in my soul.”

Pike said she had been prepared to die in peace, but instead woke up alone and confused in a hospital bed. She said she’s “searching for meaning in what happened to me.”

“I don’t know why I survived that night. I don’t know what comes next,” Pike said in a statement dictated to her legal team from prison.

Pike remains sentenced to die, and her attorneys want Republican Gov. Bill Lee to change that to life in prison. However, Lee told reporters this week, “I suspect her sentence will be the same as before unless determined otherwise by the courts.”

The governor has tapped a former U.S. attorney to conduct an independent review of the failed execution and postponed the state’s other lethal injection scheduled for this year.

Pike’s attorneys, meanwhile, asked a federal judge Friday to allow her to interact with other prisoners instead of being isolated in the infirmary. They said her isolation violates a 2024 agreement that ended her mostly solitary confinement and allowed her to work, eat, exercise and have social contact with other women.

“Her renewed isolation has caused, and will continue to cause, significant psychological harm and trauma,” Pike’s legal team wrote.

Pike’s lethal injection was plagued by problems. Her attorneys had warned that her small veins and diagnosis of thrombocytosis, a blood-clotting disorder, could make IV access difficult.

In a court document, her attorney Randy Spivey said the execution team struggled to get working IV lines in Pike’s arms and expressed concern that a vein might be “blowing.” Pike remained awake for much of the lethal injection, saying her arm hurt and burned before falling unconscious. The execution began just before 7:30 p.m. and an ambulance arrived at the prison about an hour and 45 minutes later.

The failed execution has brought renewed scrutiny to how Tennessee carries out death sentences.

In a 2025 deposition released with court documents this week, prison Warden Kenneth Nelson said the execution team doesn’t practice inserting IV lines during training sessions, at the directive of the prison commissioner. Nelson said he did not know why the practice was discontinued or when the order was given.

Practicing insertion of IVs was part of Tennessee’s prior execution protocol, but it is not included in the state’s new protocol.

Dorinda Carter, a spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Correction, said she could not comment on the filing because of pending litigation.

Frank Strada, commissioner of the Department of Correction, announced his resignation in the wake of Pike’s failed execution. The governor named Christopher Hansen as interim commissioner.

Sudan Accuses Ethiopia of Facilitating Drone Strikes on Infrastructure

31 October 2026

October 31, 2026 (PORT SUDAN) – Sudan’s foreign ministry on Saturday urged the international community to take action against Ethiopia for allegedly allowing drone strikes on Sudanese vital infrastructure from its Assosa air base.

A wave of attacks targeting power grids resumed across much of Sudan last week.

More than 13 electricity distribution stations in Gedaref, Khartoum, Al Jazirah, Red Sea, Sennar, White Nile and South Kordofan states were severely damaged, causing widespread power outages in several cities.

Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Muawiya Osman told foreign diplomats in Port Sudan that they must take responsibility and confront what he termed a “brutal aggression” from Ethiopia.

During the briefing, a foreign ministry official identified as Khalid presented wreckage of downed drones, collected in coordination with Sudanese security services.

He said the attacks have escalated in recent months, targeting power plants, water stations, schools, hospitals and fuel depots.

Sudanese officials described the campaign as a proxy war waged by Ethiopia on behalf of regional powers, primarily the United Arab Emirates, using the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which the government refers to as a militia.

“The Assosa base in Ethiopia has become a base for supplying the militia with weapons and equipment and facilitating the passage of foreign mercenary fighters,” Khalid said, adding that launching drones from Ethiopian territory was the most dangerous development.

Osman said the Sudanese government is pursuing diplomatic avenues to de-escalate tensions and address deteriorating relations with Addis Ababa.

He emphasized, however, that Sudan retains its full right under international law to respond to any attacks.

According to the ministry, diplomats attending the briefing affirmed their support for Sudan’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The diplomatic push follows a defence ministry press conference on Wednesday, where the army displayed models of intercepted drones alongside technical flight data.

The defence ministry reported that data extracted from the drones and satellite imagery indicated the weapons were launched from coordinates inside Ethiopia, including Bahir Dar airport.

Sudan previously submitted evidence to the U.N. Security Council accusing the UAE of supplying the Rapid Support Forces with military equipment via supply routes through Libya, Chad and the Puntland region of Somalia.

Egypt Condemns Drone Attacks in Sudan, Urges Halt to RSF Arms Supply

1 November 2026

Al-Jabalain Hospital in White Nile State destroyed after drone attack, April 2, 2026

October 31, 2026 (CAIRO) – The Egyptian Foreign Ministry condemned the recent escalation of drone attacks targeting civilian and vital infrastructure across Sudan.Sudan political analysis

In a press statement, Cairo warned that the strikes have caused numerous civilian casualties and represent a blatant violation of international humanitarian law.

Widespread power outages have struck multiple cities after severe damage to more than 13 electricity distribution stations.

The destruction impacted infrastructure across the states of Gedaref, Khartoum, Al Jazirah, Red Sea, Sennar, White Nile and South Kordofan.

Egypt reiterated its absolute rejection of all forms of violence directed at innocent people.

The ministry stressed the urgent need to protect civilians and shield them from the dangers of ongoing military operations.

The statement renewed Egypt’s firm demand to stop the flow of weapons to the Rapid Support Forces militia through neighbouring countries.

Cairo reaffirmed its complete support for Sudan’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity, emphasizing the critical need to preserve Sudanese national institutions.

Egypt also called on all neighbouring states to respect Sudanese sovereignty and refrain from interfering in the country’s internal affairs.

The foreign ministry urged regional and international actors to intensify their efforts to secure a comprehensive ceasefire.

The statement concluded by calling for guaranteed humanitarian aid access and the creation of suitable conditions for a political settlement to end the suffering of the Sudanese people.

Drone Strikes Target Power and Oil Facilities in Eastern Sudan

1 November 2026

Haya power station burning after a drone strike on Oct 31, 2025

October 31, 2026 (HAYA, Red Sea) – Drones belonging to the Rapid Support Forces targeted the Haya electrical transformer station and a nearby oil pumping station on Saturday, setting fires and damaging the facilities.

The oil facility sits on the pipeline transporting crude to the Bashayer port on the Red Sea coast in eastern Sudan.

This attack is the second to target energy infrastructure in Haya over the past three days.

It is part of a broader series of coordinated drone strikes on energy facilities in states controlled by the Sudanese armed forces.

The government has accused Ethiopia of facilitating the launch of these drones from its territory.

More than 13 electricity distribution stations in Gedaref, Khartoum, Al Jazirah, Red Sea, Sennar, White Nile and South Kordofan states have suffered severe damage, causing widespread power outages.

Local sources told Sudan Tribune that a long-range drone fired missiles at the Haya transformer station, causing extensive fires at the site.

The Haya power station is a critical component of the electricity supply grid in eastern Sudan.

It had reached an advanced stage of completion and was ready for operation, intended to significantly alleviate power shortages in Port Sudan.

The facility is part of a project to construct ten power plants, funded by the Kuwait-based Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development.

Sources indicated that the drone attack also hit the oil pumping station in Haya, setting several crude oil tanks on fire.

The South Sudan pipeline passes through Haya in Red Sea state before reaching the Bashayer export terminal, making the city a key location for crude oil processing.

Sudan Says Ukraine Training RSF Fighters, Submits UN Complaint

31 October 2026

October 31, 2026 (MOSCOW) – Sudan has conclusive material evidence that Ukrainian snipers and trainers are actively assisting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Sudanese Foreign Minister Muhieddin Salem told Sputnik Afrika.

Salem stated that Ukrainian personnel have been training the RSF on the use of drones to target civilian facilities.

The minister said that some Ukrainian fighters have been captured or killed, and associated weapons have been seized by Sudanese authorities.

Sudan has officially recorded these activities in the United Nations Security Council’s records through its permanent representative in New York.

Salem also noted that during a visit to Washington last year, a Sudanese delegation provided the United States with evidence confirming the use of American weapons that had leaked from Ukraine and other areas.

The foreign minister warned that the ongoing conflict poses a severe threat to regional and international security.

He urged the international community to support Sudan’s legitimate national institutions, including the army, to prevent the danger from spreading.

The war’s negative effects have already begun to appear in neighbouring countries due to weapons falling into the hands of undisciplined groups.

These armed factions are exacerbating the economic crisis by smuggling drugs, fuel, and foodstuffs, which drives up prices and worsens living conditions.

Salem called for concerted international efforts to limit the conflict’s expanding regional impact

Protests Spread to Germany as Hundreds of Thousands March Again in France

By Pierre P Bairin

Sophie Tanno

People shout as they attend a demonstration organised by 'Gen Z has got this!' in Berlin on Saturday.

Cost-of-living protests that began in France have spread to Germany where demonstrations to coincide with Halloween were underway on Saturday, with tens of thousands of people turning out across the country.

The new German youth-led movement dubbed “Gen Z has got this!” is protesting against the high cost of living, underfunded schools and universities, environmental concerns and a potential reintroduction of mandatory military service. Protests were planned in major cities including Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne and Munich.

While the protest in the German capital appeared peaceful, water cannons and riot police were deployed in Cologne and Hamburg.

Police in Cologne said water cannons were used after some protesters set off fireworks during a march in the city center. “Our measures are directed against troublemakers and violent individuals – not against peaceful participants,” the police said in a statement.

In Hamburg, riot police responded after barriers were set on fire and emergency service workers attacked. “There has been an increase in incidents of emergency personnel being pelted with pyrotechnics and construction (materials) … our riot police are taking immediate action against this,” the police said.

In Frankfurt, police said Molotov cocktails were being thrown at emergency personnel and shop windows had been smashed, prompting the closure of part of the Zeil shopping street. Officers arrested a suspect and seized two weapons after windows were broken at a gun shop.

Organizers of ‘Gen Z regelt’ planned the large day of action to coincide with Halloween, to maximize turnout and visibility.

“We are young people who no longer want to watch decisions being made about our future without us,” the movement states on its website. It adds that the intention is to protest peacefully and organizers instruct participants to keep their faces visible, even in Halloween costumes.

Extra German police officers have been deployed nationwide in preparation for the protest, and the luxury shops lining Berlin’s upmarket Kurfürstendamm shopping street have boarded up their windows as a precautionary measure.

Workers install protective wooden boards over the windows and storefront of a luxury boutique on Friday, ahead of a planned large-scale protest scheduled for tomorrow, in Berlin, Germany.

The German youth movement follows a broader wave of protests that have swept Europe, including significant unrest in France, which has been hit by rioting and looting and is now facing another weekend of rallies.

More nationwide protests from the Yellow Vests movement were also underway in France on Saturday, in what has been billed as the third act of demonstrations, following earlier protests on October 17 and 24. Students and some unions are also expected to join.

French Interior Ministry said 320,000 people were protesting across the country on Saturday, with 70,000 turning up in Paris. That is a significantly smaller number than the 550,000 who demonstrated on October 17 and the 410,000 who showed up last week.

The ministry said that as of 6 p.m. local time, 296 people had been detained countrywide.

Warning of a “very high risk of public disorder,” France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced this week that demonstrations would only be authorized outside town centers, with 70,000 extra law enforcement officers deployed nationwide.

The protest were mostly peaceful, except for a few incidents. The Interior Ministry said in a statement that “radical elements at the tail end of the processions” in several cities. including Bordeaux, Toulouse, Rennes, Lille, Nantes, Marseille, and Lyon, “attempted to enter city centers with the intent to cause damage and engage in looting.”

The ministry said the police intervened and “thwarted” those attempts.

Jordan Bardella, the leader of France’s far-right National Rally party, said on X that “anyone who sends an ‘improvised incendiary device’ to law enforcement must be very severely punished,” adding that “perpetrators must rot in prison for very long years.”

Police in Rennes in Brittany in northwest France, said that while the main march planned for Saturday “proceeded calmly along the planned route,” several hundred violent individuals began attacking the police after the protest ended, throwing projectiles and setting off fires.

Halloween was adding a new complication to the protests, with Nuñez warning of separate calls for gatherings across France from 8 p.m. local time “by radical far-left groups and radicalized Yellow Vests.”

He said some messages invoked Halloween while calling for “revolution” and “insurrection,” describing them as incitements to serious public disorder and warning that the gatherings would be banned.

In recent days, the word “purge” has been circulating across social media platforms, a reference to the dystopian film franchise which depicts a world where all crime is legalized for a 12-hour period each year.

“At Halloween, the rules remain the same!” warned the Paris police on X, reminding people that concealing one’s face in public is punishable by a €150 ($170) fine, while carrying a weapon, even a fake one, can carry a sentence of up to three years in prison and a €45,000 ($50,398) fine.

The French protests began in late September, led by high school students demanding improvements to deteriorating school buildings, teacher shortages and a lack of resources, as well as changes to the university admissions system.

The protests then morphed into something bigger, with the Yellow Vests, which began as a movement against soaring fuel prices, among those taking to the streets.

The images of violence and looting from the October 17 protests are still haunting French officials. That day, more than 550,000 people took to the streets across France, according to the Interior Ministry, more than 3,000 shops were attacked or looted, with some destroyed and over 2,700 people were arrested.

Asked about the students injured during the protests, President Emmanuel Macron described the violence as a “collective failure.”

“I think no high school student started pushing for their demands expecting to suffer such terrible consequences. And I don’t know a single police officer who signed up to find themselves caught up in such terrible and violent moments either,” he told Youtuber Hugo Travers.

Saturday’s demonstration comes ahead of November 5, when all eyes will be on a nationwide strike and mobilization called by the inter-union coalition over rising living costs.

Alessandra Freitas contributed to this report.

A Third Weekend of Protests in France as Youth-led Rallies Sweep Europe

By TOM NOUVIAN and KIRSTEN GRIESHABER

5:17 PM EDT, October 31, 2026

PARIS (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of protesters inspired by frustrated high school students took to the streets across France on Saturday in a third consecutive weekend of demonstrations over living costs and education.

Youth-led protests were also held elsewhere in Europe, including in Germany and Portugal.

France’s protests were overwhelmingly peaceful, with whimsical Halloween costumes lightening the mood, but gatherings in Paris and other cities ended in clouds of tear gas and scattered fires set by small groups on the margins.

About 70,000 police and gendarmes were deployed across the country after French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez warned of a “very high risk” of disorder, especially after dark on Halloween. Paris marches were rerouted to the capital’s edge to protect stores, government buildings and touristed areas in the city center.

France’s government estimated that 320,000 people protested nationwide Saturday, fewer than in previous protests but still a significant turnout. Mass protests on Oct. 17 that deteriorated into some of France’s worst rioting in years drew 550,000 people around France, and demonstrations on Oct. 24 drew 410,000, according to government estimates. Organizers’ turnout estimates are higher.

Authorities in France reported more than 560 arrests nationwide by Saturday night. Police had arrested thousands of people following riots and looting that marred marches the previous two Saturdays.

Protesters have diverse grievances

In the main Paris march, each group carried its own banner: high school students, climate activists and people angry about the cost of living.

Corentin Cabreux, a 21-year-old student, said that he lives in a state-run student residence where “there are damp stains all along the bottom of my walls, whole sections peeling off, cockroaches everywhere, rats.”

An information technology worker protested in solidarity with the students and her mother, who was struggling with a minimum wage job. A gray-haired woman carried a sign reading ‘’The Old are Fed Up Too.’'

Halloween costumes reflected the mood. Cléo Farenc, a 30-year-old gallery assistant, came dressed as a beheaded Marie-Antoinette.

“It’s about embodying a figure of power who was brought down by the people,” she said. “It’s a very strong symbol in French culture.’'

The rallies in France were started last month by high school students protesting neglected buildings, teacher shortages and a university admissions system seen as unfair to disadvantaged students. Labor unions and others angry at the leadership of President Emmanuel Macron joined in with a variety of demands.

On Saturday, the crowd streamed along the Boulevards des Maréchaux, avenues that ring the edge of Paris, in a march that was joyful for hours. Techno music blasted from speakers, and some marchers went trick-or-treating. A police helicopter hovered overhead as the sun set slowly over the city.

Later, clashes broke out near Porte de Charenton, where the march ended. Protesters hurled glass bottles and fireworks at police. Officers responded with volleys of stun grenades and tear gas. The blasts echoed through the streets, and smoke filled the air as dusk fell.

Many peaceful marchers turned back, coughing, their eyes streaming with tears, and left the march, some scattering into the nearby Bois de Vincennes, one of the largest parks in Paris.

Police impose curfew and other measures

While the vast majority of protesters have been peaceful, groups of troublemakers routinely target police with fireworks and projectiles. Police use tear gas, dispersion grenades, water cannons and other tactics that have resulted in severe injuries.

Paris police barred people from entering Place de la Republique and Les Halles — neighborhoods popular among young people — from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Unaccompanied minors face a separate 9 p.m. curfew around the Champs-Elysees. A Paris court on Wednesday suspended an earlier curfew on minors as a serious and illegal infringement of freedom of movement.

Protests took place in Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands

In Germany, a youth initiative called “Gen Z regelt” — roughly “Gen Z’s got this” — rallied in more than 30 cities “for education, health, climate protection and an affordable life,” and against any return of military conscription. Organizers said that tens of thousands participated in the protests across the country, but official figures weren’t immediately available.

In Berlin, young protesters gathered at Brandenburg Gate on Saturday afternoon, demanding more investments in education and housing.

“We call for more money to be invested in social services and education, as well as in climate protection — in short, in our future — because we are the ones who will be affected by this the longest and who will have to live with it,” high school student Lara Breitenbach said.

Janelle Schulz, another high school student from Berlin, also said that the authorities had to invest more money in education.

“At my school, the ceiling is collapsing because of water damage, nothing is being done about it, we have a shortage of teachers, the toilets are broken,” she said.

While most people rallied peacefully, some protests turned violent on Saturday night.

In downtown Frankfurt, some rioters smashed several storefronts and stole goods from inside. They also stole weapons from a gun store, which police were able to retrieve later. Some rioters also threw Molotov cocktails at police after pummeling them with stones and bottles earlier in the day, Frankfurt police said on X.

In Cologne, police ended a protest march early after protesters used pyrotechnics, threw stones at them and covered their faces despite a ban. Police also used water cannons to disperse demonstrators.

In the northern city of Hamburg, some protesters also shot pyrotechnics toward police and burned down barricades. Police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowds in Hamburg.

Elsewhere in Europe, people also protested against the housing crisis and for a better future.

Thousands of protesters, including families with small children, converged in downtown Lisbon to peacefully protest Portugal’s housing crisis, holding up placards reading “Houses or Fire” and “We are not Afraid.” Others in the crowd held aloft small cardboard houses while a few dressed up for Halloween.

In The Hague, Netherlands, there was a strong police presence in and around the downtown shopping area on Saturday afternoon after online appeals for protests and fears of rioting and looting. However, there were no major disturbances by midafternoon. Many stores in the city were boarded up as a precaution.

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Kirsten Grieshaber reported from Berlin. Angela Charlton and Thomas Adamson in Paris; Kerstin Sopke and Geir Moulson in Berlin; Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands; and Helena Alves in Lisbon, Portugal, contributed to this report.

London Police Arrest 139 People Outside US Embassy for Supporting Banned pro-Palestinian Group

By PAN PYLAS

4:14 PM EDT, October 31, 2026

LONDON (AP) — London police said they arrested 139 people at a protest outside the U.S. Embassy on Saturday in support of the banned group Palestine Action.

The majority of those taken into custody had expressed support for a proscribed organization, London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement. It said that more arrests are expected as officers remain at the scene.

Many of those protesting were retirees and had been holding signs reading: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.” One protester climbed a tree outside the embassy and could be seen waving a placard reading “God help us. Teachers who support Palestine. Palestine Action.”

More than 4,000 people have been detained since July 2025 for defying the ban, said Defend Our Juries, an activist organization that planned the demonstration.

“It is truly dystopian that there have now been over 4,000 arrests under terror laws for peaceful vigils silently expressing opposition to genocide and support for the protest group Palestine Action,” the group said.

The U.K. government outlawed the direct-action protest group last year as a terrorist organization. The ban makes membership in or support for Palestine Action a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Demonstrators also held a vigil in support of Palestine Action outside the U.S. Consulate in Edinburgh, Scotland, holding placards akin to those in London. No arrests were reported there, but Police Scotland said that inquiries to identify people seen wearing T-shirts and holding banners showing support for a proscribed organization were ongoing.

“Evidence is being reviewed and further action will be taken as appropriate,” it said.

The protests came before an appeal on Nov. 4 at the Supreme Court against Palestine Action’s designation as a terror group. Supporters say the ban is draconian and that it violates their freedom of speech.

In August, the U.S. government announced sanctions against Palestine Action, designating it as a terror group.

Palestine Action, founded in 2020, aims to stop U.K. military support for Israel, which it says is committing genocide against the Palestinians — an accusation that Israel strongly denies.

The group says it aims to stop genocide by disrupting “corporate enablers of the Israeli military-industrial complex.”

In 2024, its activists broke into a factory owned by Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems UK, smashing equipment with sledgehammers and crowbars. In June 2025, activists broke into a Royal Air Force base, sprayed red paint into the engines of two tanker planes and caused further damage with crowbars.

Youth Protests Begin in Over 30 German Cities as Authorities Warn of Possible Unrest

In Berlin, demonstrators are gathering at the Brandenburg Gate with more than 10,000 participants expected

© Vyacheslav Filippov/TASS

BERLIN, October 31. /TASS/. Large-scale youth demonstrations have begun in more than 30 German cities, including Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich, Frankfurt am Main and Stuttgart; the initiative "Gen Z regelt" ("Gen Z takes charge"), which called the protests, hopes to draw around 160,000 participants nationwide.

In Berlin, demonstrators are gathering at the Brandenburg Gate, the city’s landmark, with more than 10,000 participants expected, a TASS correspondent reports. Protesters are demanding that the government rule out a possible return to conscription, increase investment in education, healthcare and climate protection, and take stronger action against the rising cost of living. Another rally, expected to draw around 500 people, is scheduled for the evening at Rosenthaler Platz in the German capital. Under the slogan "Gen Z has had enough," it is expected to attract pro-Palestinian activists and radical leftists, among others.

Around 1,500 police officers are providing security in Berlin. Ahead of the rallies, organizers repeatedly stressed their commitment to peaceful protest and warned against provocations. However, German law enforcement agencies have not ruled out unrest and clashes between demonstrators and police.

DR Congo’s Ebola Deaths Top 5,000 as Fear of Continent-wide Spread Mounts

By OPE ADETAYO and CONSTANT SAME BAGALWA

4:57 AM EDT, October 31, 2026

BUNIA, Congo (AP) — Deaths in Congo’s Ebola outbreak have topped 5,000 as the country grapples with the relentless spread of the disease and cases are recorded in other African countries, the latest government data on Saturday shows.

Data from the Congolese Ministry of Health showed that the disease has killed 5,026 people out of 10,351 infected, at a nearly 50% lethality rate. The surge is sparking concerns among experts regarding the authorities’ ability to contain the deadly virus.

The latest outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, was declared in mid-May, catching authorities by surprise. They have since struggled to manage it.

It is already the second deadliest Ebola outbreak in history, second only to a two-year-long West Africa outbreak between 2014 and 2016, which killed 11,000 people across multiple countries.

“It is a very tragic milestone because it is just not a number,” said Dr. Patrick Otim, a programme area manager with the World Health Organization. “It is families and communities that have been devastated by this outbreak. The number also shows the severity of this outbreak.”

2,788 people have recovered from the virus so far. The Bundibugyo virus has no known vaccine or treatment, but health workers treat patients based on symptoms.

One-third of people who have died did not get to receive any care

Since May, the disease has spread to 67 out of the country’s 178 health zones in eight of 26 provinces. Fifty of the affected 67 health zones have active cases.

The virus has been concentrated in the eastern region of Congo, especially in Ituri and North Kivu, which have emerged as the epicenters with 9,782 total confirmed cases and 4,792 total deaths.

Authorities are still struggling with tracing contacts and testing, key components in the race to curb the outbreak.

According to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 80% of new cases are coming from outside the chain of monitored contacts, meaning an overwhelming share of infections are coming from unknown chains of transmission to health authorities.

Also, one-third of recorded deaths are victims who have died outside of treatment centers, before being tested for Ebola, WHO’s Otim said. These issues, health officials say, contribute to community transmission outside of the immediate purview of health workers who can effectively manage infection in accordance with medical protocols.

“These are people we never had opportunity to try to save them and it is one of the biggest concerns for us in this outbreak. How do we try to reach people early to get them to come to health facilities to get a fighting chance to survive?” Otim said.

‘The outbreak is stretching everyone responding to it’

The explosive number of infections in Congo comes on the heels of a long list of issues that have hamstrung efforts to contain the outbreak.

The eastern region of Congo, where the outbreak is concentrated, plays host to a conflict between the government and an array of armed groups, most prominently the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group, and there is also an Islamist insurgency in the border areas with Uganda, where the Allied Democratic Forces carry out attacks, limiting the reach of healthcare workers.

Also, there is widespread disbelief among the population, which has led to a series of attacks on health workers and health facilities. A nurse was killed while responding to an Ebola alert last week, and a politician from the ruling party was killed in September after advocating for health measures on the radio.

Health workers have gone on multiple strikes, shutting down facilities where they treat infected people, citing long delays in payments by the government.

On Friday, workers at an Ebola treatment center in Tchomia, in Ituri, downed tools, demanding four months of unpaid wages. At the center, there are currently five confirmed Ebola patients and 10 suspected cases under care.

“We are tired of requesting our salaries. If they want to pay us, they will. ... Today, being able to feed our families has become a real problem,” Moise Mugenyi, one of the striking workers, told the AP.

Dr. Justin Mukonkole, acting head of response operations in Ituri, said the workers should be patient while the government responds to their demands.

Similar situations have played out in other health zones like Beni in North Kivu, where services in some treatment centers have ground to a halt. Alain Siwako, an elected public official in Beni, said cases are spiralling in Beni because of a lack of fuel and financial resources from the central government.

“Across Ituri and North Kivu, this outbreak is stretching everyone responding to it, including the communities themselves,” Rose Tchwenko, Country Director for the DRC, Prosper Global (formerly Mercy Corps), said.

In October, both Kenya and Nigeria confirmed cases of Ebola. Kenya has confirmed eight cases and 2 deaths, while Nigeria’s sole confirmed case had been evacuated to Switzerland.

The confirmation of cases in both countries, and earlier in Uganda, made the latest outbreak the first recorded in three African regions and the continent’s most geographically widespread outbreak.

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Ope Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria.

UK Leader Burnham Hints at Apology for Country’s Role in Slave Trade but Rejects Reparations

By DANICA KIRKA

3:27 PM EDT, October 31, 2026

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham says his government will consider apologizing for the first time for its role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, but has rejected calls for the country to pay reparations.

Writing in the Guardian on Saturday, Burnham said Britain needed to acknowledge its “complicated history” in order to protect the Commonwealth, an association of 56 independent nations that grew out of the British Empire.

Burnham travels to Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean next week for a meeting of Commonwealth leaders, which he hopes will bolster the U.K.'s relations with nations in Africa and the Caribbean, many of which were former colonies.

“For years, those members of the Commonwealth affected by the slave trade have asked for an honest conversation about the legacies of slavery,” Burnham said. “By sticking our heads in the sand, we have damaged the ability of the Commonwealth to function.”

Burnham said his government is offering to begin a “structured dialogue” with those affected by slavery and will listen to calls for a formal apology by the British state, which benefited hugely from the slave trade before it was outlawed in 1833 — the British Empire was arguably founded on it.

“I do not think that British people today can be held liable for historical wrongs, however heinous, that happened in a different age under different laws and in which they played no personal part,” Burnham said.

Burnham gets former prime minister Brown on board to focus on debt

Instead, the prime minister said, he wants to address the issues that face the Commonwealth and other nations today, including high levels of debt faced by many developing countries.

Burnham said he would work with other wealthy nations and investors to help vulnerable countries pay off their debts over a longer period and at lower interest rates.

To help move this initiative forward, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, a champion of debt relief for developing nations, will attend the Commonwealth meeting, he said.

The king has been in a bind as to what he can say

King Charles III faced calls for Britain to apologize and pay reparations during the first phase of a nine-day trip to the Caribbean that will end with the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting Sunday through Wednesday in St. John’s, the capital of Antigua and Barbuda.

Speaking in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, on Tuesday, Charles acknowledged “the great suffering and injustices of the past” but stopped short of an apology.

The king, whose forebears directly benefited from the slave trade, has been prevented from going further because it was government policy not to apologize for the country’s role in the slave trade and Britain’s constitutional monarch speaks on behalf of the elected government.

Britain seeks to shore up relations with former colonies

Burnham’s comments come as Britain seeks to shore up relations with its traditional allies in the Commonwealth in the face of economic, environmental and military challenges around the world.

A change in the government’s position could also respond to younger, more liberal voters at home, where activists have called for Britain to reexamine the legacy of its colonial history. It involved the transfer of several million people from Africa to work, often in the most arduous conditions, on plantations in the Caribbean, North America and elsewhere.

In 2020, anti-racism protesters in Bristol tore down the statue of Edward Colston, an English merchant and politician, saying the city should no longer glorify the life of a slave trader. Colston was a deputy governor of the Royal African Company, which shipped thousands of enslaved people to English colonies in the Americas.

The descendants of some British people who profited from the slave trade have already apologized and offered compensation. They include the owner of the Guardian, a liberal newspaper where leaders of Burnham’s Labour Party often lay out policy initiatives.

U.K. politicians have traditionally focused on the country’s role in banning the slave trade in 1807 and outlawing slavery throughout the British Empire in 1833.

But Burnham said it is now time for the country to acknowledge the other side of the story as well.

“We are a country where brave people led the way in abolishing slavery, but we are also a country that participated in the trade in human lives,” he said.

“The trans-Atlantic slave trade was a brutal and barbaric violation of those people,” Burnham said. “I want to express my sorrow and regret for the pain and suffering of so many millions of people, and to recognize the way it still shapes our world today.”

Change of tack receives modest welcome

Barbados’ prime minister, Mia Mottley, welcomed Burnham’s acknowledgment of the “brutality of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, his openness to a formal apology and his offer of structured dialogue” but said there were differences on the issue of reparations.

“Those differences should not prevent progress on health, education, tackling poverty and inequality, and fairer debt terms for vulnerable states,” she said on X.

Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of nearby Antigua and Barbuda, echoed Mottley’s response, calling Burnham’s comments a “significant and welcome development.”

“The Caribbean’s longstanding position on reparatory justice remains unchanged,” he wrote on Facebook. “Differences over financial compensation should be addressed through dialogue, but they need not prevent progress in areas where agreement is possible.”

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Associated Press writer Pan Pylas in London contributed to this report.

Putin Describes Russia and Africa as “Natural Allies” in Multipolar World Order

Addis Ababa, October 30, 2026 (ENA) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has described Russia and Africa as "natural allies" in shaping a multipolar, democratic world order anchored in international law, sovereignty, and equality. 

Speaking on October 29 at the second plenary session of the Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow, the president emphasized the strong friendship and close partnership connecting the two sides.

“We are natural allies in building a multipolar, genuinely democratic world order, a world order free from diktat and double standards, based on respect for the norms of international law and the fundamental principles of the UN Charter in their entirety and interconnectedness,” he stated. 

 President Putin further reaffirmed Russia’s interest in supporting African countries as they defend their sovereignty, pursue independent development, and strengthen their economies and social sectors. 

 He also expressed Moscow’s readiness to maintain close cooperation with African nations to advance these shared objectives.

 Highlighting the growing economic partnership, the President said Russian companies have been implementing major investment projects across Africa in various sectors, including energy production, peaceful nuclear energy, mining, industrial cooperation, logistics, and tourism. 

 Russian businesses, he noted, conduct their operations with integrity and respect for their African partners, emphasizing equality and mutual benefit in their engagements.

 “They work on an equal footing with their partners and, rather than extracting profits as the former colonial powers once did,” he noted, adding, “they do the opposite: they invest and reinvest their earnings in the development of your national economies”.

He added that Russian companies also share advanced technologies and expertise, engage local subcontractors, establish production facilities and create employment opportunities.

 Russia’s role as a reliable supplier of food and agricultural products to African markets has been supporting food security across the continent, Putin underscored.

Turning to peace and security, he said Russia, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, contributes to resolving existing conflicts and preventing new ones in Africa.

“In doing so, we consistently adhere to the fundamental principle you yourselves have proclaimed: African solutions to African problems,” he stressed.

The president also said Russia was undertaking various initiatives to support African countries in maintaining domestic stability, strengthening security and enhancing their defense and law enforcement capabilities.

Ethiopian News Agency Signs Agreement with ITAR-TASS and Russia Today (RT)

Addis Ababa, October 29, 2026 (ENA) — The Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) has signed a cooperation agreement with Russia’s ITAR-TASS news agency and Russia Today (RT). 

The agreement was signed today in Moscow on the sidelines of the Russia–Africa Media Forum, ENA learned.

State Minister of Foreign Affairs Hadera Abera and TASS Director General Andrey Kondrashov signed the agreement on behalf of the two sides.

The agreement establishes a framework for cooperation in exchanging information, building professional capacity through personnel training, and facilitating mutual staff visits.

The partnership is expected to enhance professional exchanges and strengthen collaboration between the two news agencies.

PM Abiy Invites Russian Institutions to Partner with Ethiopia’s AI University

Addis Ababa, October 29, 2026 (ENA) —Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has called for deeper scientific cooperation with Russia, specifically inviting Russian institutions to partner with Ethiopia’s newly established Medemer University of Artificial Intelligence.

Addressing the 3rd Russia-Africa Summit, the Prime Minister emphasized the importance of building local technological capabilities.

“Ethiopia is establishing the Medemer University of Artificial Intelligence in Addis Ababa. We invite Russian universities and institutions to work with us in teaching and research.”

The initiative is part of Ethiopia’s broader push for ''technological sovereignty," ensuring that AI development reflects local needs. 

“An African researcher should be able to create tools in the language of our people, and our institutions should decide how those tools use our data,” he said.

Beyond AI, PM Abiy identified food security and energy as key pillars for cooperation, including the development of a nuclear power plant to diversify Ethiopia's energy mix. 

He stressed that these partnerships must focus on tangible outcomes. “Innovation must find its way into production and trade”, the Premier noted.

Reflecting on the historical ties between the two nations, which date back to the late 19th century, he emphasized that modern cooperation must be backed by clear action plans. 

The PM concluded by highlighting that true independence requires both the right to decide and the ability to execute those decisions.

“Independence gives us a right to decide. Capability gives us a means to put those decisions into action.”

UN Special Envoy Commends Ethiopia’s Role in Promoting Regional Peace, Security

Addis Ababa, October 30, 2026 (ENA) — United Nations Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Guang Cong has commended Ethiopia for its contributions to promoting peace and security in the region through peacekeeping engagements and initiatives that foster regional dialogue.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, Guang highlighted Ethiopia’s role in hosting platforms that bring together national, regional and international stakeholders to discuss peace and security challenges, particularly the Tana Forum, held annually in Bahir Dar on the shores of Lake Tana.

He further described the forum as an important platform for exchanging views on regional challenges, exploring opportunities and identifying ways for international partners to work with regional and continental organizations in addressing common concerns.

He stressed the need for countries in the region to reaffirm their commitment to respecting sovereignty, territorial integrity and the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other states.

Guang also underscored the importance of addressing regional geopolitical dynamics and strengthening regional and continental institutions so they can take the lead in resolving security challenges, with support from the United Nations and the wider international community.

Highlighting Ethiopia’s strategic importance, he said the country, with a population of more than 130 million and a growing economy, plays a significant role in regional peace and security.

He further noted that Addis Ababa has established itself as a major diplomatic hub, while Ethiopia has made important contributions to peace initiatives across the Horn of Africa.

Recalling his experience working in South Sudan, Guang said Ethiopia, alongside other neighboring countries, played an important role in bringing conflicting parties together ahead of the signing of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan.

On Ethiopia’s pursuit of access to the sea, the Special Envoy emphasized that the issue should be addressed through dialogue and negotiations with the countries concerned.

He reaffirmed the United Nations’ readiness to support initiatives aimed at easing regional tensions, including efforts to facilitate structured dialogue on sea access.

Former PM Hailemariam Says Ethiopia’s Pursuit of Sea Access Rational

Addis Ababa, October 29, 2026 (ENA)— Ethiopia’s pursuit of sustainable sea access is a rational and undeniable national aspiration that should be addressed through dialogue and negotiations, former Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said.  

In an exclusive interview with ENA, Hailemariam said the central question should not be whether Ethiopia needs access to the sea, but how the country can secure it peacefully through mutually beneficial arrangements. 

He noted that Ethiopia, with a population of about 130 million, a growing economy and a vast land area, is the world’s most populous landlocked country.  

He described the loss of direct maritime access as a historical scar that continues to shape the country’s economic and strategic interests. 

The former premier also questioned the geographical circumstances that have left Ethiopia without direct access to the Red Sea despite its proximity, saying the issue deserves serious consideration. 

He traced the current regional arrangement to the European scramble for Africa in the 1880s, arguing that leaving the matter unresolved would pass the challenge from one generation to the next. 

 According to him, history, geography, culture and law are important considerations in discussions about Ethiopia’s maritime interests, particularly the role of sea access in trade, economic development and regional integration. 

He further urged neighboring countries to view Ethiopia’s aspirations in the context of shared economic growth, peace and security, emphasizing the need to find a solution that serves the interests of the region and future generations. 

“Access to a sea outlet should be viewed as a crucial catalyst for joint regional development”, he stressed, calling for constructive discussions to find a mutually beneficial solution.  

Hailemariam also warned that opposition to Ethiopia's maritime aspirations stems from a malicious intent to undermine the country's anchor role and regional power status.  

Drawing a parallel to past regional tensions, he recalled how Egypt previously argued that filling the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam would severely harm downstream interests and demanded a 20-year timeline, only for the filling to be successfully completed in four years while Egypt ultimately received more water.  

Stakeholders should face the sea-access issue realistically and pursue a peaceful solution that supports shared development and regional stability rather than act out of unfounded fears, he concluded with a traditional proverb: "A dog chased by a hyena by moonlight will not venture outside by day."

World Bank Calls for Translating African Urbanization Into Growth, Jobs

Source: Xinhua| 2026-10-31 10:14:30|Editor: huaxia

ABIDJAN, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank (WB) has called on countries in sub-Saharan Africa to turn the region's rapid urbanization into a powerful engine of economic growth and job creation.

The region's urban population grew from 170 million in 1975 to 913 million in 2025 and is projected to reach 1.7 billion by 2050, the international financial institution said in a report, adding that around 15 million young people enter the region's labor market each year.

Sustained population growth in particular underscores the need for creating more jobs correspondingly for youth while expanding access to productive, better-paying employment, according to the report titled "Africa's Urban Awakening: Catalyzing Economic Growth and Job Creation," which was published Wednesday.

The Bank recommends better planning for urban expansion, targeted investment in infrastructure and transport, and stronger regulatory frameworks and land governance. It also calls for greater mobilization of private capital to finance urban facilities and services.

Marie-Chantal Uwanyiligira, WB division director for Cote d'Ivoire, Benin, Guinea and Togo, noted that currently in the region, "productivity gains remain limited, incomes have grown slowly, and too many jobs remain informal and poorly paid."

In Cote d'Ivoire, official data showed it had 17.84 million urban residents out of an estimated total population of 32.8 million last year. The number of localities with more than 100,000 inhabitants increased from eight in 1998 to 17 in 2021.

The West African country has prioritized urban development, mobility and improvements in people's living conditions in its 2026-2030 national development plan.