Ethiopia
Longtime newsletter readers know how criminally underreported the war in Ethiopia’s Tigray is. The conflict - between the central government in the capital Addis Ababa and Tigray’s former regional government the TPLF - has pushed hundreds of thousands of civilians to the brink of starvation and it now looks likely it will draw in more of the vast Horn of Africa nation. It was yesterday reported that TPLF forces had entered the neighboring Afar region and today the government of another neighboring region, Amhara, called on all armed residents to mobilize for a “survival campaign.”
More from Al Jazeera here.
Tunisia
Tunisia’s president has dramatically sacked the country’s prime minister and suspended parliament after weeks of protests over the government’s response to COVID-19 and a tanking economy. President Kais Saied, who had been at loggerheads with Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi, said he would assume executive authority.
More from Reuters via Yahoo News here.
Nigeria
As mentioned in several previous newsletters, more than 1,000 schoolchildren and students have been kidnapped and held for ransom in northern Nigeria since December and hundreds remain in captivity. In a horrible twist reported today, an elderly man who, acting on behalf of parents, delivered a ransom of $73,000 was himself kidnapped after the gang said it was not enough money. Separately, another gang freed 28 of 121 children snatched from a school earlier this month. Nigeria’s government has been heavily criticized for failing to deal with the kidnapping crisis.
More from BBC here.