Morocco-Algeria, Gabon, Ecuador.

Today's three stories you should know.

Sep 01, 2023

Morocco-Algeria

An extraordinary story out of North Africa. Two tourists have been shot dead after they strayed from the seas off Morocco into Algerian waters on jet skis. The men, who are French-Moroccan, lost their bearings and crossed the maritime border as dusk fell, according to three friends who survived the incident. France confirmed that one of its citizens had been killed and another arrested. Morocco and Algeria - at odds over competing claims on the Western Sahara enclave - severed diplomatic relations in 2021 and the border between the two countries has been closed since 1994.

Gabon

As widely reported, there was a coup in Gabon this week. But does it really represent a changing of the guard or is it the same old elites given a bit of a makeover? The Bongo family were in power for nearly 56 years - Omar Bongo ruled for 41 and his son Ali for the last 14. But the opposition pointed out today that the leader of the coup, General Brice Clothaire Oligui Nguema, is Bongo’s cousin and commander-in-chief of the Gabonese Republican Guard. Some political analysts are saying that Bongo’s toppling is simply a result of squabbling among the elite and the wider Bongo family.

Al Jazeera today published an interesting analysis here.

Ecuador

Ecuador is just one of several countries in Latin America struggling to get a grip on powerful drugs gangs. Today, at least 50 prison officers were taken hostage in several jails, and two car bombs targeted offices used by prison authorities in the capital Quito. Experts said the attacks may have been in retaliation for a police search for weapons at one of the country’s biggest jails. With cartels growing in power, authorities have found it difficult to control prisons in recent years. Huge gang fights, some of which have killed hundreds of inmates, have become increasingly common.