Chad, Mexico, Nigeria.

Today's three stories you should know.

Feb 21, 2023

Chad

Hundreds of alleged rebels went on trial in Chad today accused of killing longtime president, Idriss Deby Itno, who died in April 2021. The circumstances of Deby’s death remain extremely murky with few details made public. What is known is that Deby, who ran the country for three decades, was killed while visiting government troops on the frontlines of their battle with the Front For Change and Concord (FACT) rebel group. Some 454 alleged members of FACT are on trial and have also been charged with using child soldiers and undermining Chad’s integrity and security. Deby’s son, Mahamat Idriss Deby, has been running the country since his death.

Mexico

Mexico’s ex-security minister, Genaro García Luna, has been convicted of drug trafficking in the US. García Luna, who was once the very public face of Mexico’s drug war, was found guilty of taking millions of dollars - often stuffed in suitcases - from the country’s notorious Sinaloa cartel. The 54-year-old is said to have warned the cartel about law enforcement operations and even given it information on rival gangs. Experts say the conviction may encourage Mexican and US authorities to go after more politicians and officials suspected of drug business-related corruption.

Nigeria

One of the world’s biggest elections will take place on Saturday when a staggering 93.4 million people will cast their votes to choose Nigeria’s next president. The frontrunners, widely seen as establishment candidates, are Bola Tinubu from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP). But the Labour Party's Peter Obi has been soaring in the polls and is trying to galvanize the country’s sizeable pool of young voters. We’ll cover this more in Proximities in the coming days, but Al Jazeera today published a very handy explainer should you want to find out more before Saturday.