Gabon Court Sentences Former First Lady and President's Son To 20 Years In Prison

Gabon court sentences former first lady and president's son to 20 years in prison By Jves Laurent Goma, 1 days ago Gabon President Family Trial AFP or Licensors Gabon's former first lady and her son were sentenced in absentia by a special criminal court to 20 years in prison following a two-day trial in Libreville. Sylvia Bongo and Noureddin Bongo Valentin were convicted of concealment and embezzlement of public funds, money laundering, criminal association and forgery. The court sentenced the duo late Tuesday, according to a judgement, and also issued an arrest warrant for them. They were ordered to pay millions of dollars in damages for “crimes against the Gabonese state." Valentin said the verdict had long been “predetermined" under the office of President Oligui Nguema and called the trial a “simple formality." Sylvia Bongo and Noureddin Bongo Valentin were influential during former president Ali Bongo's 14 years in power of the central African country. Ali Bongo was ousted in a coup in 2023 after winning a disputed election that the military and opposition said was marred by fraud. The coup put an end to the Bongo dynasty's 56 years in power. Ali Bongo's father, Omar Bongo, ruled for 42 years. The prosecutor accused both defendants of manipulating the former president's health issues to control state funds. Valentin, who held the position of coordinator of presidential affairs, was described by witnesses during the trial as the main person giving orders at the presidential palace after his father suffered a stroke in October 2018. Following Ali Bongo's ouster, both Valentin and his mother were detained for 20 months before being allowed to travel out of the country. The Bongos, who live in London and hold French citizenship, refused to participate in the trial. During the trial, the prosecutor released images of two private jets allegedly procured with laundered money and listed land holdings including a mansion in London and Morocco. “They reigned unchallenged, and tried to pass themselves off as victims of the system they shaped,” said Eddy Minang, prosecutor general at the Libreville Court of Appeal.

Nigeria: The Geography of Violence

The Geography of Violence: Nigeria Grapples with Militants, Bandits, and Tribal Conflicts as the US Mulls Intervention Nigeria Comfort Isfanus was cooking dinner at her home in the Bokkos area of Plateau State in north-central Nigeria, when her husband ran into their kitchen and told her that armed men were heading their way. As she and their children fled to safety, he stayed behind with his brother. “They killed them,” she told Deutsche Welle. “Our houses were burnt down, and now we are suffering with…no shelter for our children. Now they don’t have (anything) to eat, no school, no business, nothing.” For decades, Nigerians across the country and across religions have been grappling with such violence from Islamist militants, criminal gangs, and tribal rivalries. Thousands of people have been killed annually in the violence that the government has struggled for years to contain. But now, the situation in the West African country has sparked anger in the United States, where US President Donald Trump has claimed that there is a “Christian genocide” taking place. He has threatened to cut off aid and send the military into Nigeria “guns-a-blazing” if the government does not halt the violence, CNN reported. “I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians!” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth. All this attention from the world’s most powerful leader has led to shock in the country. “There is no genocide taking place in Nigeria,” said Daniel Bwala, a spokesperson for Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on X. “Rather, the nation faces serious security challenges that have affected people across all faiths, including Christians.” “Nigeria remains a sovereign nation, and while collaboration with international partners in addressing insecurity is welcome, any form of intervention must respect our sovereignty,” he added. With more than 230 million people, Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country, with more than 200 ethnic groups. The population is almost evenly split between Muslims, predominant in the north, and Christians, who mainly live in the south. The states of Benue and Plateau, in the north-central region known as the Middle Belt, experience the worst of the violence, with armed criminal groups known as bandits regularly murdering or kidnapping residents, and destroying schools, hospitals, and places of worship. Meanwhile, criminal gangs target both Muslims and Christians in rural communities in the northwest of Nigeria, kidnapping individuals for ransom payments and also burning villages. “They bomb markets. They bomb churches. They bomb mosques, and they attack every civilian location they find. They do not discriminate between Muslims and Christians,” Bulama Bukarti, a Nigerian lawyer and analyst, told Al Jazeera. Meanwhile, jihadist militant groups Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province, active in the northeast of the country, have killed more than 40,000 people and displaced more than 2 million over the past 15 years. The groups aim to establish their radical interpretation of Islamic law in the areas they take over, and have often targeted Muslims they deem not Muslim enough. At the same time, the Fulani tribe, mainly Muslims, have been accused of mass killings of mainly Christians across the northwest and central regions, where a decades-long conflict over land and water resources has led to violence between farmers, who are usually Christian, and herders, who are mainly Muslim Fulani. The farmers accuse the herders of allowing their livestock to graze on their farms and destroying their crops. Herders argue, however, that those areas are legal grazing lands, the Associated Press explained. In April, gunmen believed to be herders from the Muslim Fulani tribe killed at least 40 people in a largely Christian farming village. Two months later, more than 100 people were massacred by gunmen in Yelwata, a largely Christian community in Benue state, according to Amnesty International. John Joseph Hayab, a pastor who leads the Christian Association of Nigeria in the country’s northern region, told CNN there is “systematic killings of Christians” in that area, adding that he had presided over numerous mass burials of slain Christians: “Every state in northern Nigeria has suffered its own terrible share of killings targeting Christians.” Still, analysts say that accusations of a “Christian genocide” are false and simplistic. They argue that while Christians have been targeted, most victims of violence in Nigeria are Muslims, the Associated Press wrote. According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a US crisis-monitoring group, out of the 1,923 attacks that targeted civilians in Nigeria so far this year, about 50 targeted Christians because of their religion. “The crisis is far more complex than a simple religious framing suggests,” said Taiwo Hassan Adebayo of the Institute for Security Studies. “…geography…largely determines who becomes the victim.” Still, some across Nigeria called on the government to find ways to fight Islamist groups in an effort to prevent foreign troops from entering the country. Analysts say that the Tinubu administration, in power since 2023, has made more efforts to tackle the violence than its predecessors. Still, about 10,000 people have been killed and hundreds abducted since he took office. At the same time, some Christians, while welcoming US support and intervention, said US action could worsen the situation. Ochole Okita, 28, standing outside a church in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, told the Washington Post that she hoped that US intervention would stop the violence ravaging farming communities. “I was excited but with mixed feelings,” Okita said, adding that she was happy the US seemed to care. “(Any intervention) is still going to affect us. We’re the ones (on the ground) and are going to suffer, especially when the aid is taken (away).” Share this story

The Collaborators Who Betrayed Their Country For Donald Trump

https://www.news24.com/opinions/columnists/adriaan-basson-the-collaborators-who-betrayed-their-country-for-trump-20251110-1110?lid=njadl2cw469w

Cape Town Is Now One Of The Most Congested Cities On Earth

Cape Town is now one of the most congested cities in the world For South African expats returning to the Mother City, the shock isn’t just seeing Table Mountain again, it’s surviving Cape Town’s traffic! By James Durrant 10-11-25 09:19 in News Cape Town traffic For South African expats returning to the Mother City, the shock isn't just seeing Table Mountain again, it's surviving Cape Town's traffic! Image: Wikimedia Commons For South African expat Londoners returning home, the shock isn’t just seeing Table Mountain again, it’s discovering Cape Town’s traffic now rivals the gridlock they thought they’d left behind, with drivers losing nearly four full days each year to congestion. Look, I’ve spent years navigating London traffic. I thought I’d seen it all. But coming back to Cape Town? The traffic situation has become genuinely alarming. The numbers don’t lie. According to the INRIX 2024 Global Traffic Scorecard, Cape Town drivers lost an average of 94 hours in 2024 sitting in traffic. Think about that. Nearly four full days of your year, gone, just staring at the car in front of you. ITS International and other sources now rank Cape Town in the top 10 of the world’s most congested cities. We’re talking Mumbai levels. Bogotá levels. Manila levels. The daily grind I experienced this first-hand during my week in Cape Town in October. My son was attending a course in Woodstock, which meant a daily commute into town from the southern suburbs. Every single day, the same crawl. You’d think after years of battling London traffic I’d be adjusted to congestion. When special events become traffic nightmares Then came the Redbull Flugtag on the Sunday. Yes, it was a massive international event at the V&A Waterfront. I get that. You expect some traffic for something that big. But the reality was unimaginable. From the moment we hit the backed-up traffic on Nelson Mandela Boulevard, it took over an hour just to find a parking spot at the V&A. Over an hour. For a less than 2km drive. And here’s the kicker – I live in London. I’m supposed to be immune to traffic chaos. I’ve sat through gridlock on the M25. I’ve crawled through rush hour in one of Europe’s busiest cities. Yet even I found myself gobsmacked by how bad Cape Town’s become. When someone from London is shocked by your traffic, you know you’ve got a serious problem. Every road, every day The southern suburbs to town route is now a daily nightmare. Woodstock, Sea Point, the CBD – doesn’t matter where you’re heading, you’re crawling. And it starts early. No beating the rush anymore because the rush is basically all day. The reasons are obvious when you think about it. Cape Town’s squeezed between a mountain and the ocean. There are only so many roads you can build. Add in decades of prioritising cars over public transport, rapid growth, and inadequate infrastructure, and you’ve got a perfect storm of gridlock. What’s really at stake Here’s what worries me most. It’s not just the frustration of sitting in traffic, though that’s bad enough. It’s what this does to Cape Town. People are losing productive hours. Businesses are suffering. The pollution is increasing. And the city’s reputation as a great place to live? That’s taking a serious hit. The data confirms Cape Town has a traffic crisis. The real question is whether there’s the political will to actually do something about it. Because right now, it feels like we’re just watching it get worse. Time’s running out. And so is everyone’s patience. 'SA People' is hiring! Freelance writer positions available. Send us your CV

Tigray Accuses Federal Government Of Attacks Stoking Fears Of Renewed Violence in Ethiopia

Tigray Accuses Federal Government of Attacks, Stoking Fears of Renewed Violence In Ethiopia Ethiopia / Tigray The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) accused Ethiopia’s federal government of launching drone strikes against the northern region of Tigray over the weekend, in the midst of rising tensions following renewed clashes between Tigrayan and Afar regional forces last week, Agence France-Presse reported. The TPLF said the strikes on Friday night “caused casualties among members of the Tigray forces and local residents” and accused Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of “obstruction and military provocation.” The group called the attacks a “blatant violation” of the 2022 peace deal that ended the country’s two-year civil war between the government and the TPLF. The government in Addis Ababa has not commented on the allegations. The accusations came a day after Afar’s regional authorities claimed that Tigrayan fighters had crossed into their territory, seizing six villages and shelling civilians with mortars and heavy artillery, AFP reported separately. The Afar administration warned that it would “undertake its defensive duty to protect itself” if such incidents continued. A humanitarian source confirmed fighting had occurred but said it had ended by late Wednesday and that no casualties had yet been reported. Tigray’s interim administration rejected the Afar claims as “baseless,” and accused the region of staging “repeated attacks” in recent years and of participating in a “malicious plot to deliberately harm the Tigrayan people.” The TPLF also alleged that the federal government was “recruiting and arming bandits” in Afar as part of a campaign to destabilize Tigray. Relations between the federal government and Tigray, home to about six million people, remain fragile three years after a war that killed an estimated 600,000 people between 2020 and 2022. In May, Ethiopian election authorities banned the TPLF from political activity, and in October, the central government accused the party of forging ties with Eritrea and “actively preparing to wage war against Ethiopia.” Analysts said the flare-ups underscore the country’s unstable postwar trajectory, adding that the country has been on a “path to war” for months, with political trust eroding and regional grievances deepening. The TPLF – which dominated Ethiopian politics from 1991 to 2018 – is requesting help from the international community to prevent the country from sliding into renewed conflict.

South Africa Blasts Trump's Boycott of G-20 Over Alleged Persecution of White Afrikaners

South Africa Blasts Trump’s Boycott of G20 Over Alleged Persecution of White Afrikaners South Africa South Africa’s government over the weekend called “regrettable” US President Donald Trump’s decision to boycott next month’s Group of 20 (G20) summit in Johannesburg, after he accused the country of persecuting White farmers and announced that no US officials would attend, CBS News reported. On Friday, Trump said on Truth Social that it was a “total disgrace that the G20 will be held in South Africa,” claiming that “Afrikaners are being killed and slaughtered, and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated.” He wrote that “no US government official will attend as long as these human rights abuses continue” and reiterated his plan to host next year’s G20 in Miami. In response, South Africa’s foreign ministry said the characterization of Afrikaners as an exclusively White and persecuted group was “ahistorical” and “not substantiated by fact,” adding that the government “looks forward to hosting a successful summit.” The ministry reaffirmed that the global gathering later this month would proceed under the theme of “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability.” The boycott deepens tensions between Washington and Pretoria, which have escalated since January over South Africa’s new Expropriation Act – a land reform law allowing the state to appropriate land in limited circumstances, Al Jazeera noted. Trump has repeatedly claimed that the policy amounts to land “confiscation” and that White South Africans face “racial persecution,” accusations that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has dismissed as “completely false.” Ramaphosa has countered that the reforms address historic inequalities in land ownership, with roughly three-quarters of privately held land still in White hands more than three decades after apartheid ended. The Trump administration has continued to assert that Afrikaners are being targeted, announcing in October that most of the 7,500 refugees the US will admit annually will come from South Africa’s White minority. In May, Washington granted asylum to 59 White South Africans, describing them as victims of racial discrimination. However, South African analysts and researchers have accused Trump of inflaming racial divisions for political purposes. Historian Saul Dubow of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom told Al Jazeera that Trump’s “fantasy claims of White genocide” lacked merit and suggested his anger may also stem from South Africa’s filing of a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

Egypt's Election-A House of Cards

A House of Cards: Egypt’s ‘Managed Democracy’ Rests on an Unstable Foundation Egypt When Egyptians go to the polls from Nov. 10-11, they will be choosing their legislators in an election that holds few surprises because the government led by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has cracked down on the opposition. Even so, the election is significant, say analysts, because it is the last one before el-Sissi concludes his third and final term in 2030. That means the new parliament will set the direction for the country after el-Sissi. Most aren’t optimistic that things will change. “(The election) will either pave the way for a constitutional amendment that would extend Sisi’s term or prepare the ground for a post-Sisi political transition,” wrote Egyptian lawyer Halem Henish of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy. “For this reason, these legislative elections represent a pivotal political moment for Egypt – one that exposes the underlying structure of the country’s political system, its relationship with society, and the deepening consolidation of authoritarian rule.” The elections are taking place in a tightly controlled political environment, after years of a government crackdown on dissent, political parties, and restrictions on the opposition and the media. Since 2013, political parties have been either dissolved or co-opted, while independent opposition candidates have faced imprisonment, harassment, or exile. Still, in the past two elections, it allowed a token opposition. But not this time. Just weeks before the vote, Egypt’s government disqualified an opposition legislator, Haitham al-Hariri, marking a turning point: The government is no longer even maintaining the pretense of limited political competition that it once did, analysts say. Al-Hariri was disqualified based on a new interpretation of the military service law that now labels those individuals who were “excluded” from military service as “draft evaders.” He told Egypt’s Mada Masr that the ruling party is now in effect sentencing him to “political death” simply because his father was a well-known opposition figure. As a result, the US-based risk analysis firm RANE predicted the elections will produce a parliament that offers “almost no checks and balances” to the executive branch but instead will be a rubber stamp. Meanwhile, past voting patterns suggest the results are already predetermined. Turnout is expected to mirror the Senate elections in August, when just 17 percent of voters participated – a level the Associated Press reported reflected voter frustrations over Egypt’s stagnant economy, with voters grappling with record inflation, seeing rising costs for food, fuel, and other necessities. Egypt is also struggling with a sliding pound and more than $160 billion in foreign debt. Instead of addressing the cost of living, however, in the August elections, the government sought to push patriotic propaganda. The Middle East Monitor observed scenes of voters singing and dancing outside polling stations, describing them as a state-encouraged spectacle rather than a genuine outburst of enthusiasm by voters. “The ruling Egyptian regime is seeking to project an image that contradicts reality, amid notably low voter participation,” it said. What Egypt is perfecting is managed democracy, say analysts, using the courts the government has brought under its control to disqualify opposition politicians, to control parliament, and to create the illusion of democracy. As a result, they add, the vote is about consolidating authority before 2030. Meanwhile, Egypt’s elections are watched globally. Home to 116 million people and a linchpin of Middle East stability, Egypt receives more US military aid than any country except Israel – not because of its resources, but because instability here destabilizes a region that stretches from Libya to Gaza. The European Union has poured billions into Egypt to prevent migration flows that could dwarf the 2015 crisis, making these elections a test case for how much authoritarianism the West will tolerate from strategically vital allies. The real question is whether el-Sissi will extend his rule or hand-pick a successor. Most analysts believe that even if el-Sissi leaves office, little will change: The military will still be the power behind the president, and who runs the country will likely be decided by the military. Parliament will just go through the motions, and the state control over the judiciary, the press, the public, and the opposition will continue. Still, as Yezid Sayigh of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut wrote, the regime is being built on a house of cards that is becoming more unstable. “Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi is building a new republic defined by a social ethos of ‘nothing for free,’ a new form of state capitalism, and hyper-presidential powers set within a military guardianship that secures his regime but leaves it unable to resolve political, economic, and social challenges,” he said. “Only repeated massive injections of capital by external partners have kept the regime from failing dramatically, but this has enabled it to maintain public policies and investment strategies that have exacerbated economic problems and left it ill-equipped to confront future challenges.”