Why Gabon’s coup plotters can count on popular support

Strong desire for change – even if it comes wearing combat fatigues – is feeding Africa’s series of putsches

The routine is now very familiar: the sudden putsch, the president confined, the nocturnal statement by new, camouflaged rulers. Today it is the turn of Gabon to wake up to find a military coup has brought sudden and unexpected political upheaval in a country that had been considered relatively stable.

On this occasion, the men in uniform introduced themselves as members of the Committee of Transition and the Restoration of Institutions. If successful, the coup will be the eighth in west and central Africa since 2020 to lead to a violent – or at least coerced – change in regime. The most recent was last month in Niger.

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Gabon military officers declare coup after Ali Bongo wins disputed election

Seizure of power announced on television, cancelling election results that gave president third term in office

Military officers in Gabon say they have taken power and put the president, Ali Bongo Ondimba, under house arrest, as the country becomes the latest in Africa to suffer an attempted coup, only weeks after mutinous troops seized power in Niger.

A group of military personnel appeared on state television to announce they were seizing power to overturn the results of a presidential election, seeking to remove a president whose family has held power for nearly 56 years. The officers introduced themselves as members of the Committee of Transition and the Restoration of Institutions.

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Libyan foreign minister flees country amid outcry over meeting with Israeli counterpart

Najla al-Mangoush had already been suspended after news of secret meeting with Eli Cohen was released

Libya’s foreign minister has fled the country after news of a secret meeting in Rome between her and her Israeli counterpart last week was released by the Israeli foreign ministry, causing a political outcry in Tripoli and two nights of street protests across the country.

Najla al-Mangoush had already been suspended by her Tripoli-based prime minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, on Sunday evening when news of the meeting broke. Officials initially claimed the meeting had been a chance affair and not planned.

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Former Algerian minister of defence indicted in Switzerland on war crime charges

Khaled Nezzar is to be tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity during 1991-2002 Algerian civil war

Victims of the 1991-2002 Algerian civil war have been given hope that they will finally receive justice after the highly unusual announcement by Swiss authorities that a former Algerian minister of defence is to stand trial in Switzerland on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Khaled Nezzar is set to be the highest-ranking military official ever tried for war crimes under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows states to investigate and prosecute people suspected of having committed international crimes regardless of where they were committed, their nationality, or the nationality of the victims.

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Ugandan man charged with ‘aggravated homosexuality’ under new law

Twenty-year-old could face death penalty after anti-LGBTQ+ legislation was introduced this year

Ugandan prosecutors have charged a man with “aggravated homosexuality” under anti-LGBTQ+ legislation introduced this year that makes the offence punishable by death.

The law – considered one of the harshest of its kind in the world – also includes penalties for consensual same-sex relations of up to life in prison.

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Video shows woman lying dead on floor of migration detention centre in Libya

Footage provides latest shocking glimpse of conditions endured by refugees in north African country

Footage has emerged showing a woman lying dead on the floor of a migration detention centre in Libya in the latest shocking glimpse of the conditions endured by refugees in the north African country.

The clip, believed to have been filmed two weeks ago and shared with the Guardian by a group who arrived in Tunisia from Libya, shows a room inside the Abu Salim detention centre in Tripoli.

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Zimbabwean opposition leader says election was ‘gigantic fraud’

Nelson Chamisa, who lost to Emmerson Mnangagwa, asks for help from regional partners after poll observers say was not credible

Zimbabwean opposition leader Nelson Chamisa has called for solidarity from regional partners against a vote he called a “gigantic fraud” that returned Emmerson Mnangagwa to power in Zimbabwe.

“Africa, do not leave us. Particularly our brothers and sisters in the region and the continent. We count on your solidarity as we seek to solve this political crisis,” Chamisa said at a press conference in Harare.

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Russia uses social media channels to exploit Niger coup

Moscow aiming to increase influence in Africa, winning lucrative contracts and gaining access to key resources

Social media channels associated with the Russian state have launched a major effort to exploit last month’s military coup in Niger, seeking to reinforce Moscow’s influence in the country and possibly open opportunities for intervention.

Mohamed Bazoum, the pro-western elected president, was ousted by senior army officers on 26 July and is being held prisoner in his official residence in Niamey. African leaders have threatened military action to oust the new regime but advocates of intervention have so far been unable to rally sufficient support.

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Emmerson Mnangagwa wins second term as president of Zimbabwe

Election victory marred by criticism of voting process from other parties and official observers

Emmerson Mnangagwa has a secured second term as Zimbabwe’s president in a poll marred by electoral malpractice.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) declared Mnangagwa the winner, with 52.6% of the vote, beating Nelson Chamisa of the Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC), who trailed at 44%.

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Niger coup leaders give French ambassador 48 hours to leave country

The ultimatum was rejected by France’s foreign ministry, which said it did not recognise the junta’s authority

Niger’s junta said on Friday it had ordered French ambassador Sylvain Itte to leave the country within 48 hours, as relations between the west African country and its former colonial ruler deteriorated further.

The junta-appointed foreign ministry said the decision to expel the ambassador was a response to actions taken by the French government that were “contrary to the interests of Niger”.

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Madagascar: 12 killed in crush at Indian Ocean Island Games opening ceremony

A further 80 people injured trying to enter stadium, with 11 in critical condition

Twelve people have died and about 80 have been injured in a crush as sports fans tried to enter Madagascar’s national stadium for the opening ceremony of the Indian Ocean Island Games, the prime minister said.

Christian Ntsay said 11 of the injured were in a critical condition after the incident on Friday.

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Rape still a weapon of war in Tigray months after peace deal

Medical records from across the region show sexual violence continues to be used ‘to intimidate and terrorise communities’

Eritrean and Ethiopian soldiers continue a widespread and systematic campaign of rape in Tigray despite the peace agreement signed in November last year, a new report reveals.

In the first report to document sexual violence – using hundreds of medical records from the start of the conflict in November 2020 through to June 2023 – healthcare professionals recount cases of gang-rape, sexual slavery and murder, including the killing of children.

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Could reported death of Wagner chief push African leaders closer to Kremlin?

Smooth transition of mercenary group’s network and holdings in Africa may not be straightforward for Moscow

The reported death of the founder and leader of the Wagner group in a plane crash in Russia could have huge consequences for a motley crew of regimes and warlords across Africa, but also for hundreds of millions of ordinary people, the west and all the powers battling for influence on the continent.

Some analysts now suggest that the demise of Yevgeny Prigozhin may strengthen the Kremlin’s hand in Africa among powerful actors who have relied on Wagner’s loose network of shadowy companies and paramilitaries to bolster their own power – and impress others who may be thinking of doing the same.

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Civilians targeted in war-torn Khartoum as poor and elderly remain trapped

Latest atrocities in Sudan war include the shelling of house of traditional healer, who died with her children and neighbours

People trapped in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and its twin city of Omdurman say civilians are being deliberately targeted in shelling by the warring parties.

A woman who had been helping wounded soldiers was killed along with her three children and six neighbours when her home was shelled by Sudanese army forces earlier this week.

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Voting in Zimbabwe election extended by another day after ballot delays

Polling described as ‘shambolic’, with electoral body accused of conspiring with ruling party to ‘disenfranchise’ opposition voters

Voting in Zimbabwe’s election has been extended by another day after huge delays in the delivery of ballot papers to some wards.

The country’s president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, issued a decree late on Wednesday to extend voting by another day in 40 wards across Harare, and the provinces of Mashonaland Central and Manicaland, as the government tried to salvage polling that had been described as “shambolic”.

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Brics to more than double with admission of six new countries

Major expansion as economic bloc that includes Russia and China attempts to provide counterweight to the US and western allies

The Brics group of big emerging economies has announced the admission of six new members, in an attempt to reshape the global world order and provide a counterweight to the US and its allies.

From the beginning of next year, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Argentina, the UAE and Ethiopia will join the current five members – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – it was announced at a summit in Johannesburg on Thursday.

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Voting in Zimbabwe general election delayed by lack of ballot papers

Most urban polling stations in Harare and Bulawayo, where opposition claims it has strong support, open four hours late

Delays have marred voting in Zimbabwe’s general election after a campaign dominated by the country’s interlinked economic crises.

Voting at most urban polling stations in Harare and Bulawayo began four hours late after polling officers failed to distribute papers for the council elections. Some polling stations were still to receive election material more than seven hours after polls opened.

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Cape Verde boat survivors say some jumped out to try to reach land

Some took parts of wooden seats for buoyancy after watching friends die on drifting vessel

Facing hunger, thirst and a rising number of deaths, some of the group of asylum seekers who were adrift for more than a month in the Atlantic resorted to breaking off chunks of the boat’s wooden seats in hopes of floating to land, a friend of three of the survivors has said.

More than 90 people are believed to have died before the rickety boat that had set off from Fass Boye, a seaside town in Senegal, was found off Cape Verde last week. Survivors said they left on 10 July aiming to reach Spain’s Canary Islands and spent weeks drifting at the mercy of powerful Atlantic trade winds.

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Niger observers link coup to president’s support for EU migration policies

Experts say army received bribes from people smuggling until 2015 law associated with Mohamed Bazoum

Observers have linked Mohamed Bazoum’s support for European Union policies aimed at stifling migration routes through north Africa to his ousting as president of Niger last month.

Army officers toppled Bazoum on 26 July, as Niger became the fourth west African country since 2020 to have a coup, following Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali.

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War crimes being committed in Darfur, says UK minister Andrew Mitchell

Africa minister says civilian death toll horrific and UK is to send evidence to UN

War crimes and atrocities against civilians are being committed in Darfur, western Sudan, the UK’s Africa minister Andrew Mitchell said on Tuesday, becoming one of the first western officials to identify that the fighting in Sudan has developed into more than a power struggle between two rival factions.

Mitchell said there was growing evidence of serious atrocities being committed, describing the civilian death toll as horrific in a statement released by the Foreign Office. “Reports of deliberate targeting and mass displacement of the Masalit community in Darfur are particularly shocking and abhorrent. Intentional directing of attacks at the civilian population is a war crime.”

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