CAR, Tunisia, Cambodia.

Today's three stories you should know.

Aug 07, 2023

Central African Republic

Voters in the Central African Republic (CAR) have approved a draft constitution that will allow President Faustin Archange Touadera to run for a third term, the country’s electoral board has said. The new constitution removes a two-term limit for presidents and increases the term in office from five to seven years. Touadera’s opponents say the move is aimed at making him president for life. Hundreds of fighters from Russia’s Wagner mercenary force were deployed to CAR at the end of 2020 to support the president in an ongoing battle against an alliance of rebel groups.

Tunisia

It happens all the time. At least 16 people have drowned in shipwrecks off the coast of North Africa as a surge in Mediterranean crossings from Tunisia and other countries continues to claim lives. Sailings from Tunisia, in particular, have rocketed as people from several African and Middle Eastern nations try to reach Europe to escape war and poverty. According to the UN’s International Organization for Migration, more than 20,000 people have died crossing from North Africa to Europe since 2014.

Cambodia

Hun Manet, the son of Cambodia’s longtime leader Hun Sen, was today formally appointed his father’s successor by the country’s king. Hun Sen, who had been in power for 38 years, announced days after a landslide election win in July that he would be stepping down. The election was roundly condemned as a farce and the main opposition group was barred from running. Political analysts say Hun Manet’s cabinet will likely include many younger faces as his father’s generation begin to step aside.