Africa

Since Joe Root returned as Test skipper, England have not picked a frontline spinner and have instead favoured a four-man pace attack of Jofra Archer, Ollie Robinson, Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson.

South Africa’s victory in the third Test suggests they will need an alternative before long.

Off-spinner Simon Harmer, who once considered playing for England before opting for the country of his birth, took 10-120 to bowl the Proteas to victory in Cape Town – the venue of the third Test against England.

Newlands is not typically a spinner’s surface but it turned big from the third day. The overall average amount of turn throughout the Test (4.35 degrees) was the fourth-highest in Cape Town on record. The Test a place ahead on the list was last year, against Pakistan.

Harmer was helped by having left-arm pace bowlers Starc and Marco Jansen creating footholes outside the right-handers’ off stump throughout. Starc will not be a factor against England but Jansen will.

England’s spin issues are longstanding, meaning there is no easy answer.

And whether they pick Shoaib Bashir, return to Jack Leach or Mason Crane or hand a debut to Nottinghamshire’s Liam Patterson-White – the recent recipient of an England development contract – they will have stiff competition.

Since Harmer returned to Test cricket in 2022, no spinner has a better average anywhere in the world.

Simon Harmer picked a career-best 6-16 as South Africa beat Australia by 176 runs to clinch Test series 2-1.

Australia ‌captain Pat Cummins said it was fair to ask questions about his side after they ⁠slipped to two heavy ⁠defeats in a row against hosts South Africa to lose the three-match series 2-1 at Newlands on Saturday.

Set 288 for victory, Australia were rocked early on and could ⁠manage only 111 to lose the third Test by 176 runs, following their defeat by an innings and 31 runs in the second match in the series.

Australia next host New Zealand, and Cummins ⁠said the series loss meant questions were inevitable as South Africa took over from them as the number one side in the Test world rankings.

“We lost two games in a row. I think it’s fair to be asking questions and we’ll be asking them internally as well,” Cummins told reporters. “We are a very good ‌side, but I think we need to get a little bit better if we want to get back to number one [in the world].

“Maybe that’s a change of style, maybe it’s a change of personnel in some instances. We’ll work it out.”

Cummins made the surprise decision to bowl first after winning the toss on the first morning, something that had been done only 11 times before in Tests at Newlands since 1889.

As it proved, batting last was difficult on a wearing ⁠surface, and Australia fell to the spin of Simon Harmer, who took ⁠career-best figures of 10-120 in the match.

“We knew it was going to be a high-scoring game,” Cummins said. “We probably thought it was going to do a little bit more on day one than it did.

“You don’t win the toss and think you’re ⁠going to bowl the opposition out for 100 or 200, but we thought we could get 10 wickets on day one and that would ⁠put us right ahead of the game.”

Cummins said poor decisions cost ⁠his batters and that their chase was as good as over in the first half-hour of the day.

“Chasing 280-odd was never going to be easy, but we all turned up today and saw a pretty clear path forward. I thought it was ‌achievable, but we never really gave ourselves a chance,” he said.

“There were a few really poor decisions. I know it’s a day-five wicket, but I don’t think it was drastic. There were runs to ‌be ‌scored out there; there were lots of balls to face.

“I think there are a few decisions the boys would like back. We have to get better. It’s happened a few times now.”

The prime minister has ruled out financial reparations despite longstanding Caribbean demands ahead of Commonwealth leaders’ summit.

Britain’s prime minister has opened the door to a formal apology for its role in the transatlantic slave trade, while ruling out financial reparations.

Andy Burnham set out his position in a Guardian article on Friday, ahead of a Commonwealth leaders’ summit  in Antigua and Barbuda on Sunday.

The Commonwealth comprises 56 countries, mostly former British colonies, whose Caribbean members have long pressed Britain to acknowledge slavery’s legacy and offer redress.

Burnham offered structured talks with countries and campaign groups affected by slavery, including discussions on whether Britain should issue an official state apology.

“Listening to calls for a formal apology on behalf of the British state will form an important part of this process and I am open to them,” Burnham wrote.

He expressed “sorrow and regret” for the suffering of millions of enslaved people, but rejected calls for financial compensation.

“I do not think that British people today can be held liable for historical wrongs, however heinous, that happened in a different age under different laws and in which they played no personal part,” he said.

The stance maintains the position of previous British governments, despite his willingness to discuss an apology.

Instead, he proposed an international effort to ease the debt burden on poorer nations by extending repayment periods and cutting interest rates.

Burnham also said that former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will assist with the initiative, adding that more than 40 percent of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries spend more on debt interest than on healthcare.

Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley welcomed the opening for talks but reiterated her government’s position on reparations.

In a statement reported by the Guardian on Saturday, she said cooperation could also cover healthcare, education, development and fairer borrowing terms.

Antigua’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne, who is hosting the summit, welcomed the debt initiative and promises of cooperation on renewable energy.

CARICOM, the regional bloc of Caribbean countries, has drawn up a 10-point plan for reparations.

Its demands go beyond payments to include an apology, support for health and education, as well as measures to address the economic and social damage left by slavery.

The dispute surfaced at the last Commonwealth summit in Samoa in 2024, when leaders called for discussions about reparations, despite opposition from then Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

King Charles III will also attend the summit. However, Buckingham Palace has said he will not issue a formal apology for slavery during his trip, despite calls from countries in the region.

The UN Security Council rejected the competing proposals, leaving the peacekeeping mission without an approved extension.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the disputed Western Sahara faces an uncertain future after competing United States and Russian resolutions failed at the UN Security Council.

Russia vetoed the US-backed proposal on Friday, despite support from 11 members of the 15-member council.

A rival Russian draft then failed to secure the nine votes needed for adoption.

The mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) is due to expire on Saturday unless the council reaches a last-minute agreement.

Western Sahara is a former Spanish colony in northwest Africa. Morocco considers the territory its own while the Algeria-backed Polisario Front seeks to establish an independent state called the Sahrawi Republic.

The UN established MINURSO in 1991 to monitor a ceasefire and prepare a referendum on the territory’s future, but disagreements over who could vote have prevented it from taking place.

The US draft would have extended the mission for a year while removing “referendum” from its name and making Morocco’s autonomy proposal the only basis for further talks.

Under that plan, the territory would manage its internal affairs but remain under Moroccan sovereignty.

The council had already made the proposal a basis for negotiations last year.

US Ambassador Mike Waltz told the council in New York on Friday that the referendum had been stalled for decades.

Russia’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, said at the same meeting that Moscow opposed the draft because it favoured one side.

Russia instead proposed renewing the existing mission without those changes.

Morocco’s royal palace welcomed the failure to renew MINURSO, saying on Friday that UN personnel and equipment should leave the territory.

Sidi Omar, the Polisario Front’s representative at the UN, told reporters on Friday that he welcomed Russia’s veto because the US proposal would undermine Sahrawi self-determination.

Low-level fighting has continued since Polisario said it was resuming armed struggle in 2020.

EXCLUSIVE

Siddiq Ander has accused RSF leader Hemedti of running the paramilitary group like a family business and suppressing dissent.

Senior commander Siddiq Ander says he has defected from Sudan‘s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to exclusive video footage obtained by Al Jazeera.

The footage, published on Friday, shows Ander accusing relatives of RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as “Hemedti”, of tightly controlling the group’s finances, weapons, troop movements and military promotions.

Ander’s exit follows a string of high-profile defections this year, with some commanders leaving alongside hundreds of fighters.

“It has become clear to us beyond any doubt that we were serving a purely family-based project controlled by Hemedti’s relatives in every aspect, money, weapons, fighters’ movements and the granting of ranks,” Ander said.

“Anyone who speaks out and tells the whole truth faces expulsion, imprisonment or a hidden death.”

Hemedti’s brother, Abdul Rahim Hamdan Dagalo, serves as the RSF deputy commander.

Senior commanders break ranks

A wave of defections has seen several senior RSF commanders leave the group this year, including Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Azraq al-Fanjari, who announced on October 8 that he was leaving, along with 300 officers and soldiers and 30 military vehicles.

Al-Fanjari also urged other fighters to abandon the RSF, expressing regret over the suffering caused by the war.

His announcement came after the September 25 defection of Al-Tayeb al-Wahidu, who joined the enemy Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) with 50 fighters in Omdurman, across the Nile from the capital, Khartoum, according to The Sudan Tribune.

Al-Wahidu cited abuses within the RSF as his reason for leaving.

Earlier, in May, Brigadier Ali Rizqallah, known as Savannah, announced his departure.

Yet another senior commander, Major General al-Nour Ahmed Adam, known as al-Qubba, joined the SAF in April and was publicly welcomed by Sudanese leader and military chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

Al-Qubba’s departure followed disagreements over military appointments within the RSF leadership, the Tribune reported.

Sudan’s war erupted in April 2023 after a power struggle between the army and the RSF, including disagreements over plans to integrate the paramilitary group into the regular military.

The conflict has since displaced about 13 million people and pushed parts of the country into famine.

The latest defections come as both sides increasingly use drones in attacks that have caused mounting civilian casualties.

On October 26, strikes hit a market and residential area in Nyala, an RSF-controlled city in South Darfur.

Emergency Lawyers, a Sudanese rights group, reported more than 100 deaths, although other medical organisations recorded lower figures.

The United Nations says drone strikes have become the leading cause of civilian deaths in Sudan’s war.

Authorities ​are struggling to find a way to control the outbreak, with no approved treatments or vaccines.

The death ⁠toll ⁠from Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has surpassed 5,000, government data ⁠show, with authorities yet to find a way to control the ⁠country’s deadliest outbreak of the virus on record.

The latest death toll was announced on Friday.

Ebola has infected more than 10,000 people in the DRC since the outbreak was declared in May.

There are no approved treatments or vaccines to combat the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus, responsible for the ongoing outbreak.

Delayed detection, conflict and strained health services have helped the virus spread more rapidly than in past outbreaks, reaching eight of the DRC’s 26 provinces to date.

The virus has spread to neighbouring countries as well.

Last week, Nigeria became the fourth African country to report an Ebola case, extending the outbreak’s geographic ‌spread to West Africa. East African countries Kenya and Uganda have also reported cases.

This year’s Ebola outbreak is the second-largest ever, behind only the 2014-2016 epidemic that infected more than 28,600 people and killed more than ⁠11,000 people across Guinea, Liberia ⁠and Sierra Leone.

Some governments have been restricting travel to affected countries or quarantining travellers who have recently visited or transited through them.

On Friday, Saudi Arabia suspended travel to and entry from Kenya, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

The measures include suspending travel by Saudi citizens to Kenya and a pause on issuing all types of visas to travellers from the country.

The kingdom is also prohibiting entry to travellers arriving from Kenya, including those transiting through third countries who have stayed in Kenya or other Ebola-affected countries within the previous 21 days.

In June, Saudi Arabia suspended travel to and entry from the DRC, Uganda, and South Sudan.

Alieu Kosiah killed civilians and unarmed soldiers, and ordered lootings and other crimes against humanity.

Switzerland’s supreme court upheld a 20-year jail sentence for former Liberian rebel commander Alieu Kosiah on Friday, but overturned a conviction for crimes against humanity.

In 2021, Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court found Kosiah, now 51, guilty of multiple atrocities committed during the first of Liberia’s back-to-back civil wars, in which about 250,000 people died between 1989 and 2003.

In 2023, the court’s appeals chamber upheld his 20-year sentence for war crimes and, for the first time in Swiss history, also made a new ruling that Kosiah was guilty of crimes against humanity.

The Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland was asked to review the case, and its verdict, dated September 28, was published on Friday.

The court “rejected the appeal filed by a high-ranking Liberian military official challenging his conviction for violations of the laws of war committed between 1993 and 1995 during the first Liberian civil war”, it said in a statement.

“However, the court has acquitted the individual of the charge of crimes against humanity, based on a strict application of the principle of non-retroactivity.”

Switzerland recognises the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows it to prosecute individuals suspected of international crimes, regardless of where those crimes were committed.

The court said the offence of crimes against humanity – introduced into Swiss law in 2011 – could not be applied to acts committed before then.

Kosiah’s conviction for violating the law of war was upheld, as was the maximum 20-year custodial sentence imposed.

“The decision makes final the first war crimes conviction ever handed down by a Swiss civilian court, and the first conviction anywhere of a Liberian for war crimes committed during the country’s civil wars,” said the Swiss organisation Civitas Maxima, which works to bring perpetrators of international crimes to justice.

Kosiah settled in Switzerland in the late 1990s and was arrested in 2014.

“Today the survivors of Alieu Kosiah’s crimes have final justice,” said Civitas Maxima director Alain Werner, who represents victims in the case.

“We are, however, deeply disappointed by the acquittal on crimes against humanity. What happened in Lofa between 1993 and 1995 is the very definition of a crime against humanity.”

Like war crimes, crimes against humanity refer to atrocities, including murder, torture and rape. However, instead of isolated or sporadic events, the charge is used for incidents carried out in a widespread or systematic way.

In the 2021 verdict, Kosiah was found guilty of a slew of war crimes committed as commander of the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy rebel group.

He ordered or participated in the killing of 17 civilians and two unarmed soldiers, as well as rape and the deployment of a child soldier, the court ruled.

He had also ordered looting and repeatedly ordered, or had himself inflicted, cruel and humiliating treatment of civilians and mishandled corpses, according to the verdict.

Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda will cohost the next AFCON in 2027, with subsequent tournaments in 2028, 2031 and 2033.

The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) will be held every two years, not four as was planned, governing body the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced after reversing an earlier decision.

AFCON has traditionally been staged every two years, but CAF’s surprise decision last December to move to a four-year cycle was not widely welcomed.

“The Confederation of African Football (CAF) Executive Committee today unanimously decided that the CAF Africa Cup of Nations will return to taking place every Two Years,” CAF said in a statement.

Under the previous plan, AFCON would have moved to a four-year cycle, with the proposed CAF Nations League becoming the continent’s biennial competition.

CAF President Patrice Motsepe said at a strategy conference in Cape Verde earlier this month that the organisation was considering returning AFCON to a two-year cycle.

CAF said the Nations League would take years to generate enough revenue to sustain African football.

“The decision by the CAF Executive Committee to reinstate the organization of the AFCON every two years aims to advance, protect and promote the interests of African football and the 54 CAF Member Associations, as well as those of African players playing for clubs outside the continent,” Motsepe said in a statement.

Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda will cohost the next edition in 2027, with subsequent tournaments to be held in 2028, 2031 and 2033.

There will be no AFCON in 2030, with CAF maintaining its tradition of not staging the tournament in a World Cup year.

Nairobi, Kenya – For more than four decades, the World Athletics Championships have been held across continents but never in Africa.

That changes in 2029, when Nairobi becomes the first African city to host the track and field championships, bringing the sport’s flagship global competition to a continent whose athletes have helped shape its history.

The World Athletics Championships were established in 1983 in Helsinki, Finland, after decades in which athletics’ biggest global competitions were largely tied to the Olympic Games. The inaugural championships brought together 1,333 athletes from 153 countries, laying the foundation for one of the most important events on the international sporting calendar.

Africa’s relationship with athletics stretches much further back. Ethiopia’s Abebe Bikila became the first African to win Olympic marathon gold in 1960, followed by generations of track and field athletes including Uganda’s John Akii-Bua, Morocco’s Said Aouita and a succession of Kenyan champions.

Kenya’s own story is particularly significant. Kipchoge Keino’s 1,500-metre triumph at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics helped establish Kenya as a global distance-running powerhouse. Generations that followed – from Paul Tergat and David Rudisha to Eliud Kipchoge, Vivian Cheruiyot, Hellen Obiri and Faith Kipyegon – have turned Kenyan athletics into a global sporting identity.

Kenya is the second most successful nation in World Athletics Championships history.

For Keino, the two-time Olympic champion and former world record holder whose achievements helped establish Kenya’s reputation in distance running, Nairobi’s selection represents the culmination of decades of progress.

“When we started running, we were young Kenyans with a dream to represent our country and show the world that African athletes could compete at the highest level. Seeing Kenya prepare to host the World Athletics Championships in 2029 is a deeply special moment,” Keino told Al Jazeera.

“It is a testament to how far our country has come from sending athletes abroad to compete, to welcoming the world to our own home.”

Keino said hosting the championships would also give Kenya an opportunity to showcase its talent, culture and hospitality while investing in the future of athletics.

How did Kenya win the bid?

Kenya’s campaign to host the 2029 championships lasted three years and culminated in victory at the World Athletics Council meeting in Budapest on September 15 .

Competing bids came from London, Rome and Munich, all cities with established records of hosting major international athletics events.

Nairobi’s bid highlighted the ongoing renovation of Kasarani stadium ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, as well as Kenya’s experience hosting the 2017 World U18 Championships and the 2021 World U20 junior Championships. Kenya also drew lessons from its unsuccessful bid for the 2025 championships, which was awarded to Tokyo.

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said the council had received four strong bids and described Nairobi’s proposal as “compelling and emotional”.

“Nairobi and Munich ultimately presented two compelling propositions. They offer very different but equally exciting opportunities for our sport, and I am delighted that we can now begin working with both cities to stage two world-class championships,” Coe said.

Athletics Kenya declined to comment on the decision.

Doping questions return

The celebrations were quickly accompanied by questions over whether Kenya can host an event of this scale while dealing with persistent scrutiny over doping in athletics.

Since the international sport governing body World Athletics established the Athletics Integrity Unit in 2017, 318 Kenyan athletes have been sanctioned for anti-doping rule violations, according to figures reported following the announcement. Of those, 136 were still serving bans.

Kenya is not among the countries with the highest overall number of anti-doping violations globally, but its prominence in distance running means high-profile cases often attract considerable international attention.

Kenya’s anti-doping system has also faced scrutiny. In 2025, the World Anti-Doping Agency found Kenya’s anti-doping agency non-compliant with the global anti-doping code, putting additional scrutiny on the country’s system. Kenya was removed from the agency’s compliance watchlist in 2026 after corrective measures.

Recent cases, including the bans of marathon world-record holder Ruth Chepngetich and former half-marathon world-record holder Kibiwott Kandie, have kept the issue in the spotlight.

For Nairobi, the challenge will be to demonstrate that its anti-doping systems are strong enough to protect the credibility of the 2029 championships.

Kenyan Member of Parliament Dan Wanyama, who chairs the committee on sports and culture, said the country has the experience and infrastructure to host the event.

“We have already held several athletics championships which were very successful. It is a thing of pride for us to defeat major global cities London, Munich and Rome,” Wanyama told Al Jazeera.

“As the chair of the sports committee in Parliament, I can assure you we have the right infrastructure in place because the championship will be held at Moi International Sports Stadium (known locally as Kasarani). The contractor is already on site and preparations have started in earnest.”

Kenyan athletics fan Winston Omondi said some of the criticism of Kenya was unfairly focused on the country.

“If it was about doping, then there are so many developed countries that should not even be participating in athletics, including London itself,” Omondi told Al Jazeera.

More than one stadium

Doping is not the only test facing Kenya.

As the country prepares to host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations with sporting infrastructure being upgraded at Kasarani and Nyayo stadiums, the World Athletics Championships will require more than a competition venue.

Nairobi will have to ensure adequate training and warm-up facilities while improving transport links, accommodation and athlete services. The city will also need reliable systems for security, accreditation, broadcasting, medical care and the movement of thousands of athletes, officials, journalists and spectators.

Beyond the stadiums, Nairobi’s wider infrastructure will come under scrutiny, particularly its traffic congestion and public transport network.

The success of the championships will therefore depend on more than upgrading Kasarani. Kenya will have to demonstrate that Nairobi can deliver a seamless experience for a global sporting event while maintaining the standards expected of one of athletics’ biggest competitions.

For a country whose athletes have spent decades representing Africa on the world stage, hosting the championships is a historic opportunity. It is also a test of whether a continent that has produced generations of world-class athletes can host the sport’s biggest global events on its own ground.

But winning the bid was only the first race.

As Omondi put it: “We have come so far as people, as a country and as a continent for us to be judged in this way.”

The Russian president, speaking at the third Russia-Africa Summit being held in Moscow, has told African leaders that his country is a better partner than the West.

Vladimir Putin says Russian companies operate in Africa on an equal footing, accusing Western countries of still focusing on exploiting the continent’s resources.

Some African nations have turned to Russia for security assistance in recent years. Trade and economic ties are also growing.

And Russia has highlighted the importance of what it calls a “multipolar world” – while it seeks support from the Global South to counter Western pressure over its war in Ukraine.

So, what are Russia and African countries getting out of this gathering?

Presenter: Dareen Abughaida

Guests:

Beverly Ochieng – Associate director at Control Risks, specialising in Francophone Africa and the Sahel

Andrey Kortunov – Russian foreign affairs analyst and the former director general of the Russian International Affairs Council

Sanusha Naidu – Foreign policy analyst and senior research associate at the Institute for Global Dialogue

Ethiopia has received 12 Russian Su-35 fighter jets and will acquire four S-400 air defence batteries, in a deal experts say strengthens Moscow’s foothold in the Horn of Africa while bolstering Addis Ababa’s military amid conflict at home and tensions with neighbouring Eritrea.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced the deal in Moscow during the two-day Russia-Africa Summit.

“I value the friendly relations between Russia and Ethiopia,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a statement. “Russia and Ethiopia stand together in international affairs.”

Experts say the agreement builds on decades of military cooperation, offering Moscow arms revenue and diplomatic influence while allowing Ethiopia to strengthen its armed forces amid its ongoing conflict in Tigray.

Here is what we know:

What weapons is Ethiopia acquiring?

Abiy said Ethiopia had taken delivery of its first 12 Su-35s under an earlier agreement with Russia, with four S-400 batteries to follow, but did not say when the air defence systems would arrive.

The aircraft would expand an air force already equipped with Russian fighter jets. The S-400 systems would complement this existing fleet by helping the military defend itself against aerial threats, experts say.

“They would be best used against conventional air threats,” Benedict Manzin, a lead analyst on the Middle East and Africa at risk consultancy Sibylline, told Al Jazeera. “In a war with Eritrea, they could be used against Eritrea’s limited air force and drones.”

However, air defences do not provide protection against every kind of attack.

“As we have seen in Ukraine, conventional air defence systems can be overwhelmed by small, cheap drones,” he said.

Why does Russia want closer ties with Ethiopia?

The relationship predates the current competition for influence in Africa.

“Russia has been engaged in Ethiopia for decades, part of the legacy of the Cold War,” Manzin said.

The Soviet Union backed Ethiopia’s former communist government. Today’s cooperation builds on those foundations, with the two countries having signed military agreements intended to improve the Ethiopian armed forces’ capabilities through technology, knowledge and training, according to the Ethiopian News Agency.

Commercial interests also matter.

“Russia is also in the business of making money through arms sales,” Manzin said. “This is one of Russia’s primary exports to Africa.”

Weapons sales provide revenue while sustaining relationships with governments that require training, maintenance and replacement equipment. But the partnership extends beyond defence.

Abiy said his talks with Putin covered nuclear energy, health and trade, alongside bilateral and multilateral cooperation, while in a statement, Putin said bilateral trade exceeded $1.3bn in January-September, more than twice the figure for all of 2025.

He identified energy, agriculture, industry and education among potential areas for further cooperation.

Ethiopia’s size also makes it attractive to competing powers, with experts saying that because it is Africa’s second-most populous country, it offers a substantial market.

“Everyone engages a bit, and Ethiopia tries to maximise its gains,” Manzin said.

Does this mean Ethiopia is turning away from the West?

Manzin suggested Ethiopia is widening its options rather than committing exclusively to Moscow.

“African states are aware that they are a focus of geopolitical competition,” he said.

That competition gives governments room to seek weapons, investment and diplomatic backing from different partners. Ethiopia’s relationship with Russia coexists with a significant Chinese presence and continuing Western investment in the country.

“China has a huge presence in Ethiopia, and Russian arms have always been a huge factor,” Manzin said. Moscow is seeking to turn those established connections into broader influence as Western sanctions over its war in Ukraine constrain its international relationships.

Russia supplied 15 percent of African imports of major weapons in 2021–2025, behind the United States at 19 percent and China at 17 percent, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Could the weapons be used in Tigray?

In his statement, Abiy thanked Putin for ensuring the aircraft were delivered a year ahead of schedule and said the equipment would strengthen Ethiopia’s ability to “preemptively deter aggression”.

The delivery comes amid renewed fighting in Tigray, a separate rebellion in Amhara and concerns about a possible conflict with Eritrea.

“Ethiopia is buying a lot of aircraft,” Manzin said. “The timing comes as Ethiopia is going through conflict in Tigray, with speculation about war with Eritrea.”

He cautioned against assuming the latest battlefield developments directly prompted purchases negotiated earlier.

“Aircraft are helpful regardless, as they are using aircraft and the air force heavily during any suppression,” he said.

What’s the conflict about?

Fighting between Ethiopia’s federal army and Tigrayan forces intensified in late September, in effect unravelling the November 2022 Pretoria peace agreement that ended a devastating two-year war.

Each side has blamed the other for renewed violence. Tensions grew following the formation of a seven-group alliance seeking to overthrow Abiy’s government and establish a transitional administration.

Government troops and allied forces entered Mekelle, Tigray’s capital, earlier in October after Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) fighters withdrew.

Addis Ababa subsequently installed a six-month caretaker administration, but rebel commanders have promised to continue fighting.

Faraba Banta, The Gambia – For Muhammed Lamin Jallow, a student at the University of The Gambia’s School of Arts and Sciences, getting to class has become a daily struggle.

He travels about 40 km (25 miles) from home to the Faraba Banta campus, depending on university buses, to attend lectures.

But securing a seat on the bus can be challenging.

“Sometimes, it feels like survival of the fittest,” he told Al Jazeera. “We compete as to who gets in first, who gets to sit, who gets to stand and who goes to school and who does not.”

Jallow was among hundreds of students who protested at the University of The Gambia (UTG) on Monday, taking their grievances over transportation, campus facilities and student welfare to the vice chancellor’s office.

Lectures have since resumed after the government promised improvements to campus services.

But the students have more demands. They want Vice Chancellor Herbert Robinson and the director of student affairs to resign, accusing both officials of failing to perform their duties.

While the government has announced measures to address some of the concerns, the leadership dispute remains unresolved.

Transport and basic services remain concerns

The Students’ Union says its concerns affect more than 12,000 students, many of whom depend on university buses to reach campus.

Following the protest, Higher Education Minister Professor Pierre Gomez visited the campus with university representatives and officials from the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.

In a statement, the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology said the Gambia Transport Service Company had deployed 20 buses to support student transportation.

Students have also complained of limited access to safe drinking water and affordable food, as well as unreliable internet connectivity.

In response, the ministry promised that cafeterias across the university were ready to serve students and staff, but acknowledged that additional filtration was needed to make campus water safe for drinking. Water jars and dispensers have been installed at designated points, and the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC) had been consulted, it said.

On internet access, the ministry said work was under way to extend connectivity to the newly constructed Schools of Agriculture and Law, with completion expected within a week.

The proposals are intended to support student access to research materials and other educational resources. However, the statement did not confirm whether the work had been completed.

The ministry said it would continue working with the university, the students’ union and other relevant stakeholders to monitor implementation.

Cafeterias and practical training facilities

The reopening of cafeterias was another demand raised by students, who had complained that their closure made it difficult to find affordable meals on campus.

Ismaila Fadera, the students’ union president, said he raised the issue with Robinson on October 20 .

Fadera quoted the vice chancellor as saying: “Mister president, I have the student interest at heart, but we must balance this against administrative processes and compliance. You know I was a student too and many of us went through that. I used to carry my own water and food in my bag to university. The students should be told the reality. Having a cafeteria is a great addition to enhance the student experience but it is not right.”

The ministry said the cafeterias were ready to serve students and staff, although it provided no details on meal prices or availability at individual facilities.

Beyond food and water, students say inadequate learning facilities are affecting their education, particularly in programmes that require practical training.

At the School of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences in Banjul, students face overcrowded classrooms, inadequate ventilation, malfunctioning electrical sockets and shortages of projectors and smartboards, according to Abubacarr Manneh, president of the University of The Gambia Medical Students Association. Manneh said medical, nursing and postgraduate nursing students share the available facilities, putting pressure on classroom space.

He also worries about shortages of practical training equipment, including a promised simulation laboratory where students could develop clinical skills.

“Practical sessions are crucial in our professional training and development for better care of our patients,” he told Al Jazeera.

The university’s journalism students have similar concerns

Sukai Fatajo, a journalism student who participated in the protest, said the school needed radio and television studios to help students develop practical skills.

“We deserve better, and our demands must be met,” she told Al Jazeera.

The students’ union has also called for functional science laboratories, improvements to facilities at the medical school and adequate staffing.

The risks of getting to class

For Kumba Leigh, a journalism student, the struggle to reach the university has also become a question of personal safety.

One morning in April, Leigh was attacked by a knife-wielding assailant in her hometown of Bakau as she walked to a bus stop. She was trying to leave home early enough to secure a seat.

The attacker threatened to kill her if she did not hand over her bag. When she resisted, he struck her on the head and shoulder, cut her bag and dislocated her right arm. A nearby shopkeeper intervened, forcing the assailant to flee.

Months later, Leigh still has pain in her arm and suffers from trauma.

“No one should have to risk their life simply to travel to school,” she told Al Jazeera, calling for stronger security and increased police patrols.

Third Test, Cape Town (day two of five)

South Africa 329: Ackerman 95; Starc 6-72

Australia 330-4: Inglis 85*; Jansen 2-37

Australia lead by one run

Scorecard

Marnus Labuschagne has been front and centre for an era of Australian cricket.

Chirping, chewing and, with bat in hand, often appearing to idolise and mimic his team-mate Steve Smith.

Smith has been ruled out of the enthralling decisive Test against South Africa with a neck injury.

Without him, Australia wanted their number three to feast at last chance saloon, where he has been perched for an eternity, on day two in Cape Town.

The 32-year-old lasted five deliveries and did not score a run.

Labuschagne failed to scored a Test century for the 48th time in a row – a new record for the number of innings an Australian top order batter has waited to raise his bat at three figures.

“That will never be broken,” said former Australia quick Jason Gillespie on ABC.

“I say that because, respectfully, I don’t think anyone will be given that length of time again.”

There was a time when, from his insertion into the 2019 Ashes as a concussion substitute until the end of England’s next quest to win back the earn, Labuschagne averaged 65 in Test cricket.

Repeat that over a Test career and only Sir Donald Bradman’s mark of 99.94 would be ahead.

Instead, since his last Test century at Old Trafford in 2023, he averages 24.77.

Labuschagne may get one more chance in this Test, should Australia not progress from their position of 330-4, leading by one run, and dismiss South Africa before needing to pad up again.

Even that may not be enough.

“I just feel it is too far gone now,” Gillespie added. “It is a very big sample size. Australia are at a point where they need to look elsewhere.”

Labuschagne’s technique has been poured over again and again as his slump progressed.

In August, the great Ricky Ponting, one of his predecessors as Australia’s number three, called for the axe to fall.

“He can’t score off the back foot,” was Ponting’s cutting remark.

Having batted nicely in three or four innings in this series only to give it away after reaching 30, here he was stuck on the crease, playing back to a full ball and nicking spinner Simon Harmer to slip.

“That’s nerves and the pressure the selectors have put him under for an extended period of time,” said former Australia batter Simon Katich on SEN Radio.

“They put him in this position by not making the decision to give him a breather.”

It felt like all of Labuschagne’s issues collapsing into one.

Trade and security are expected to be on the agenda as delegations and leaders from dozens of African countries gather in Moscow for a two-day summit with Russia.

The third instalment of the Russia-Africa Summit will run through October 28–29 and will be chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin and the current African Union chair, Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye.

Russia has boosted security and trade cooperation with African nations as it grapples with Western sanctions imposed in response to its war against Ukraine.

So who will be attending and what is at stake?

Here’s what we know.

What is the Russia-Africa Summit?

The Russia-Africa Summit is a two-day diplomatic and economic meeting being held in Moscow on Wednesday and Thursday.

Leaders and delegations from 48 African countries are meeting to discuss bilateral cooperation spanning politics, defence and technology.

This high-profile forum is the third of its kind. The first summit took place in October 2019 in Sochi, marking an unprecedented turn in Russian-African relations.

What’s on the agenda for the summit?

The event’s official theme is Developing Mutually Beneficial Cooperation and “unlocking the potential of every African country”.

More than 40 sessions and about 100 speakers will cover trade, investment, technology transfer, food and energy security, healthcare, education and youth exchange.

There will also be a business programme, culminating in a plenary session.

Who is attending?

Representatives from 48 African countries will participate, as well as 22 heads of state, according to Kremlin presidential aide Yury Ushakov. Heads of state from 17 countries attended the last summit in 2023.

Fewer leaders came to the last two summits, compared with the first gathering in 2019, when 43 took part, a decline which Moscow blamed on Western pressure.

Russian President Putin is scheduled to meet with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

The guest list includes leaders closely tied to Russia’s growing security role in Africa, including Burkina Faso’s Ibrahim Traore and Niger’s Abdourahamane Tchiani.

Kenya’s William Ruto, Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni and Namibia’s Netumbo Nandi-Ndatiwah are also expected, as well as Sudan’s Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed al-Menfi, the chairman of the Presidential Council of Libya.

What is the relationship between Russia and Africa like?

Russia has gained far more influence in Africa through security than trade, according to a report by the African Security Analysis group (ASA), a security consultancy.

Russia’s security presence has risen significantly in the region. In 2023, Russian forces, mostly from the Wagner Group, operated in only a few African countries, but the ASA now counts Russian missions or troops in at least nine countries.

Trade between African countries and Russia has exceeded $28bn. It was estimated to be about $16.8bn in 2019, when the first summit was held. But trade is mainly concentrated in a few countries and overshadowed by that of China and the European Union.

Russia’s strongest ties to the continent are in energy, fertilisers, defence and nuclear power, where the state-owned firm Rosatom has signed a string of agreements.

Russia has been an essential supplier of fertilisers and wheat to many countries in the region.

In 2023, Russia exported 200,000 tonnes of grain to Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, Eritrea and Zimbabwe. 

Why does this summit matter?

This is the first summit since 2023, so it will be an indicator of how far the relationship has developed and where it is heading, analysts say.

A final declaration and a Russia-Africa Partnership Forum plan should be adopted by the end of the Summit to cover 2027-2029.

Analysts have said that meetings on the sidelines could be more important than the main event, as talks between African delegations and Russian defence officials can illustrate where Moscow plans to expand its military ties.

The recruitment of Africans to fight in Ukraine could also be a growing problem for Moscow, as it has already caused diplomatic concern in countries such as Kenya.

Amnesty International has used the run-up to the summit to raise the issue of Africans being recruited to fight with Russia.

In an open letter, the directors of Amnesty’s African section urged leaders attending the summit to demand that Moscow end what the group describes as deceptive and coercive recruitment of Africans to fight in its war in Ukraine.

Doha, Qatar – African countries are feeling the economic fallout from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with rising fuel and fertiliser prices threatening to drive up food costs, according to trade ministers from the region and the United Nations’ top trade official.

The crisis around the Strait of Hormuz due to the United States and Israel’s war on Iran needs to be resolved “sooner rather than later”, Luz Maria de la Mora, director of the Division on International Trade and Commodities at UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), told Al Jazeera at the World Investment Forum on Monday. She warned that soaring fertiliser prices could affect harvests next year.

“Prices of fertilisers have risen dramatically … so many countries have decided to reduce the use of fertilisers, which will have an effect next year in terms of crops,” she said.

“It may have an effect on availability of food and prices of food.”

The US-Israel war on Iran has highlighted the world’s heavy reliance on the strategic waterway, through which one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas trade previously passed.

Against this backdrop, Doha hosted UNCTAD’s World Investment Forum on October 25 and 26, bringing together heads of state, policymakers, CEOs and investors to discuss global investment and sustainable development.

The Strait of Hormuz’s disruption has rippled through African economies. In Zimbabwe, rising fuel and fertiliser prices are a critical concern in a country where more than 70 percent of the population depends on agriculture, Monica Mutsvangwa, the country’s minister of women affairs, community, small and medium enterprise development, told Al Jazeera.

Uganda, another heavily agrarian economy, has also been hit, with fuel prices more than doubling, Sanjay Tanna, the country’s minister of trade, industry and cooperatives, told Al Jazeera.

The impact extends beyond the immediate cost of energy. Rising oil prices have disrupted supply chains, with effects lasting longer than anticipated, according to de la Mora.

“The effects are lasting longer than we would have expected or would have wanted,” she said.

‘Friend to all, enemy to none’

The shock has also exposed differences in how African economies weather global disruption.

Uganda’s reliance on subsistence farming has helped cushion the impact, with domestic food production offering some protection from international market volatility, said Tanna.

But the country has not been insulated from financial pressures: its currency has lost 10 percent of its value against the US dollar, the minister said. The Ugandan shilling has steadily declined since mid-2026.

For Zimbabwe, the crisis has reinforced the importance of attracting investment while maintaining economic ties across geopolitical divides.

Amid the simmering trade war between the US and China, Harare considers itself a potential partner to investors from either side, Mutsvangwa said.

“We are a friend to all and an enemy to none,” she said.

“Money has no color … If we get an investor who comes into our country, follows the rules and regulations of the country, makes his money, and Zimbabwe develops, that’s what we want.”

The official pointed to Zimbabwe’s deposits of more than 60 critical minerals, including lithium and graphite, as well as its tourism potential.

Trade in an unequal system

But attracting foreign capital remains a challenge for developing economies, with investment concentrated in a relatively small number of countries.

That concentration is “very understandable”, de la Mora said, arguing that investors need confidence that their money will generate returns.

“Capital is risk averse. Capital needs to have certainty that its investment is going to yield returns and it’s going to come to fruition,” she said.

Governments can help build that confidence through transparent institutions, the rule of law and investment in infrastructure, including reliable electricity, energy supplies and digital connectivity, she added.

The question of whether the international trading system treats all countries equally prompted a more blunt assessment from Uganda’s trade minister.

“Of course not,” said Tanna. “The world cannot be equal … It’s unfair, but we believe that, within the space that we are in, we are in a good space.”

Uganda was well placed for the future, he argued, because it produces its own food – an advantage at a time when international supply chains are under pressure.

For both Uganda and the Republic of Congo, building resilient economies also means investing in younger generations.

The Republic of Congo’s Deputy Prime Minister for Coordination, Development Infrastructure and Land Planning, Jean-Jacques Bouya, said the country had aligned its national development plan, Vision 2063, with the African Union’s broader development ambitions.

Connectivity – through electricity, digital infrastructure and physical links – is central to that strategy, he told Al Jazeera.

The Republic of Congo also wants to expand local processing so that more value from its natural resources remains within the country.

“Africa can no longer be a reservoir of raw materials, and neither can Congo – a place where raw materials are extracted, taken elsewhere, processed and then sold back to us at a much higher price. We cannot go on like this,” Bouya said.

Niger requested troops to secure shared energy interests in what would be Algeria’s first deployment abroad since 1973.

Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has ordered troops to neighbouring Niger to protect energy and economic interests shared by both countries.

The decision, announced by Algeria’s presidency on Monday, came after both chambers of parliament approved the deployment in an emergency session on Sunday.

The presidency said authorities in Niger had requested military assistance.

If carried out, it would be Algeria’s first overseas military deployment since 1973, when it sent soldiers to support Egypt during the Arab-Israeli war.

The move marks a departure from Algeria’s longstanding reluctance to intervene militarily beyond its borders.

A 2020 constitutional reform allows the president to authorise overseas deployments with the approval of at least two-thirds of legislators in each parliamentary chamber.

Algeria sent fighter jets and support aircraft to Niger in August after what Algerian officials described as an attempt to destabilise its military government.

The presidency said the deployment decision was made under provisions of Algeria’s constitution allowing the military to operate abroad with parliamentary approval.

It has not been announced how many soldiers will be sent or when.

Algerian Senator Belkacem Boulghiti told reporters after Sunday’s parliamentary vote that the soldiers would protect economic infrastructure, particularly Algerian oil facilities in Niger.

He said Algeria was “not sending our soldiers to wage war in Niger”, describing the mission as a response to changing security conditions in the Sahel region.

Algeria’s state-owned energy company, Sonatrach, has been working with Niger on the proposed Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline. It would carry natural gas from Nigeria through Niger to Algeria for export to European markets.

Niger and neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso have faced years of attacks by armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS).

All three countries are governed by military leaders who seized power in coups and subsequently formed the Alliance of Sahel States, a regional political and security bloc.

The deployment follows an improvement in relations between Algeria and Niger, which has been led by General Abdourahamane Tiani since a 2023 military coup that Algeria initially condemned.

Tensions deepened in April last year after Algerian forces shot down a Malian drone near the border, prompting the three alliance members to recall their ambassadors from Algiers.

Algeria’s parliament has approved a proposal to deploy troops to neighbouring Niger, in a major shift in the North African nation’s noninterventionist military doctrine.

Algeria’s lower house, the People’s National Assembly, ratified the deployment on Sunday after the upper house, the Council of the Nation, unanimously approved the proposal earlier in the day.

Details about the number of soldiers and when they will be deployed have yet to be made public.

It comes nearly two months after Algeria dispatched four Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30 jets, a transport aircraft and an aerial refuelling aircraft to Niamey, following what Algerian authorities described as an attempt to destabilise Niger’s military-led government.

The step comes amid a thawing of relations between Algiers and Niamey as Niger’s President Abdourahamane Tchiani visited Algeria in February and, months later, his defence minister, Salifou Mody, ⁠⁠travelled to Algiers to discuss security cooperation.

The shooting down of a Malian drone by the Algerian army last April triggered a diplomatic crisis after Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso recalled their ambassadors from Algiers. The condemnation of the 2023 coup in Niger by Algeria had also strained ties.

The troop deployment is reportedly intended to protect oil installations belonging to Algeria’s state-owned energy company, Sonatrach. Troops would be sent “to protect Algeria’s economic and strategic interests, particularly its oil facilities in Niger”, The Associated Press news agency reported, quoting Algerian Senator Belkacem Boulghiti.

It also comes as Algiers seeks to deepen security cooperation in the Sahel, a vast belt of territory stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, including several countries along Algeria’s southern frontier.

Why does this matter?

Algeria has historically been reluctant to deploy its armed forces beyond its borders, reflecting a longstanding foreign policy built around sovereignty, noninterference and opposition to foreign military intervention.

But that does not mean it has never done so.

Algerian forces participated in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, although overseas military deployments have remained exceptionally rare in the decades since.

A constitutional revision in 2020 formalised the conditions under which Algerian troops could be sent abroad.

Under Article 91, the president may authorise such deployments, provided they receive the backing of at least two-thirds of the members of each chamber of parliament.

The constitution also provides for Algerian participation in peacekeeping operations under the auspices of the United Nations, the African Union and the Arab League.

The move is particularly significant given Algeria’s military capabilities. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the country spent more than $25bn on its armed forces in 2025, making it Africa’s largest military spender.

But the decision also comes against a backdrop of growing diplomatic tensions and shifting regional alliances.

In September, Algeria severed diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, accusing Abu Dhabi of repeated “hostile” and “provocative actions” without publicly detailing the incidents behind the decision.

The two countries have long disagreed over several regional issues, including Western Sahara and the UAE’s alleged interference in North African and Sahelian affairs.

Taken together, these developments suggest that Algeria is becoming increasingly willing to assert its security interests beyond its borders, even as it continues to emphasise the principles of sovereignty and noninterference.

Why the Sahel?

For Algeria, instability in the Sahel is not a distant security concern.

The country shares thousands of kilometres of borders with Mali, Niger and Libya, making developments in its southern neighbourhood particularly consequential.

The roots of the current security crisis can be traced, in part, to the collapse of Muammar Gaddafi’s government in Libya in 2011.

At the height of the Arab Spring uprisings, Algeria took a firm stance against foreign military intervention and warned that the disintegration of the Libyan state could destabilise neighbouring countries.

Those concerns were not unfounded.

Following Gaddafi’s overthrow, weapons and armed fighters, including Tuareg who had served in Libya, spread into neighbouring countries.

Their return helped fuel a rebellion in northern Mali in 2012, contributing to a security crisis that preceded the military overthrow of President Amadou Toumani Toure that March.

Over the following decade, armed rebellion expanded across parts of the Sahel, particularly Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

Since 2012, those three countries alone have experienced six military coups: three in Mali, two in Burkina Faso and one in Niger.

Many of the coups unfolded against a backdrop of deteriorating security, with military leaders accusing civilian governments of failing to contain increasingly powerful armed groups.

But insecurity was not the only factor. Political grievances, governance failures and rivalries within armed forces also contributed to the coups.

Who else is operating in the Sahel?

Another factor shaping Algeria’s calculations is the changing presence of foreign military forces across the region.

For more than a decade, France was a central player in counterterrorism operations in the Sahel, deploying thousands of troops to combat armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS).

But that military presence has largely unravelled.

Following successive coups and deteriorating diplomatic relations, France withdrew its troops from Mali in August 2022, Burkina Faso in February 2023 and Niger in December 2023.

The withdrawals were accompanied by growing anti-French sentiment and demands from military governments for greater control over their security policies.

Niger demanded the departure of approximately 1,500 French soldiers following its July 2023 coup.

Just months later, in April 2024, approximately 100 Russian military personnel arrived in Niamey, bringing equipment and providing training to Nigerien forces.

The personnel were associated with Africa Corps, a Russian paramilitary group close to the Kremlin.

Moscow has also expanded its military cooperation with Mali and Burkina Faso, where Russian personnel have undertaken training, advisory and security roles, including combat support in Mali.

The United States has also seen its military footprint shrink.

In 2024, Washington withdrew approximately 1,000 soldiers from Niger after the military government terminated their security cooperation agreement. The withdrawal included personnel stationed at an important US drone base near Agadez.

The result has been a significant realignment of the Sahel’s security partnerships, with Western military forces departing and Russia assuming a more prominent role.

What does Algeria stand to gain?

For Algiers, the proposed deployment to Niger carries immediate security and wider strategic implications.

At the most practical level, protecting Algerian energy investments would help safeguard the country’s economic interests in a region affected by armed rebellions and political instability, including the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP), which would transport Nigerian gas to Europe and traverse Niger and Algeria.

It could also deepen cooperation with Niger, whose military government has sought new security partners since taking power in 2023.

More broadly, the move would allow Algeria to establish a direct military presence in a neighbouring country at a time when the Sahel’s security architecture is being reshaped.

“We are not sending our soldiers to wage war in Niger, but for a mission to secure economic infrastructure,” Senator Boulghiti told reporters after the vote. “It is simply an adaptation of our doctrine to evolving circumstances so we can rise to the new challenges imposed by the situation in the Sahel region.”

Banjul, the Gambia – It is still early when Magistrate Muhammed Krubally arrives at the Banjul Magistrates’ Court.

Before the first case, his clerk goes over the day’s proceedings, running through the files and making sure everything is in place. Krubally listens, asks questions, and prepares to preside.

Then he enters a packed courtroom, where lawyers, witnesses and relatives have gathered for a criminal case.

The room falls quiet.

Krubally cannot see the people before him, but he can hear them. A lawyer rises. A witness speaks. Papers move across the room. His clerk is nearby.

At his desk, his computer speaks back to him.

Krubally uses JAWS, or Job Access With Speech, a screen reader that allows him to navigate his computer and read documents and judgements.

“This makes my job very easy,” he tells Al Jazeera.

He also uses AI-enabled smart glasses to access information and carry out tasks independently.

But technology is only part of how he works.

He listens for voices, remembers details and follows the rhythm of proceedings, building a picture of the courtroom through sound. When necessary, he relies on his clerk.

At 41, Krubally says he has presided over more than 1,000 civil and criminal cases since joining the bench.

In 2016, he became the Gambia’s first visually impaired magistrate. The Gambia Organisation of the Visually Impaired (GOVI) identifies him as the country’s first person with a visual impairment to hold the position.

For Krubally, this is not an experiment in what a visually impaired person might be capable of doing.

It is his profession.

And he has spent a decade doing it.

A determination shaped early

Long before he took his place on the bench, Krubally grew up in a village in the Gambia’s Central River Region, the second of nine children.

From an early age, he wanted to become a lawyer. Part of that ambition was personal: he wanted to defend his own rights. But he also wanted to advocate for others.

He wanted, he says, “to be the voice for the voiceless”, particularly people with disabilities.

The path was not straightforward.

From primary school through university, Krubally encountered limited resources and an education system that often left visually impaired students like him facing obstacles their sighted classmates did not.

He remembers being discouraged by fellow students and some teachers from pursuing the education he wanted.

Instead of making him abandon his ambition, he says, their doubts only strengthened it.

“Their discouragement kept me going. I knew what I wanted, and see where I am now,” he says.

Those experiences later shaped his decision to enter the judiciary.

“I became a magistrate to change the system, to make it inclusive,” he says.

But joining one of the country’s most important public institutions did not make those barriers disappear.

Rights on paper, barriers in practice

The Gambia’s Persons with Disabilities Act, passed in 2021, sets out principles including independence, non-discrimination, full participation, equality of opportunity and accessibility.

The law also contains provisions covering employment, public buildings and services, information and access to justice.

Yet putting those rights into practice remains a challenge.

The National Human Rights Commission has identified barriers affecting people with disabilities, including discrimination and difficulties accessing services, education and employment.

Al Jazeera contacted the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare for a response on implementation of the act, including measures to improve accessibility, education and employment opportunities for people with disabilities. The ministry did not respond.

Krubally encounters those challenges not only as a judicial officer, but also as an advocate.

As president of the Gambia Federation of the Disabled, he speaks at events in the Gambia and beyond, pressing for greater recognition of the rights and potential of people with disabilities.

“I want to see a world for all; inclusion matters,” he says.

For Krubally, inclusion is not simply about opening the door. It is about having the means to participate once inside.

The barriers begin at school

For many people with disabilities, working towards full inclusion begins long before they enter a courtroom or parliament.

It begins at school.

Today, GOVI’s Resource Centre for the Blind provides specialist education for children with visual impairments before they transition into mainstream schools.

Forty-nine pupils aged between four and 14 currently attend the centre, Lamin Colley, its head of school, told Al Jazeera.

After completing their studies there, pupils are expected to enter mainstream schools, where special-needs teachers stationed across school clusters are meant to support them.

But that support is stretched.

Colley told Al Jazeera that limited learning materials and the size of the school clusters are putting pressure on the support available to students. A single special-needs teacher, he said, cannot maintain regular contact with all students across those clusters.

“The reality on the ground is that not much has changed after the disability act has been passed,” Colley says.

He attributes this partly to what he describes as insufficient government funding for disability issues in the national budget.

Colley remembers Krubally as a pupil who loved to read and could often be found in the library. He also remembers his determination to participate in activities alongside his sighted classmates.

Years later, Krubally’s journey carries a message beyond the school gates.

“Disability does not mean inability.”

But one person’s achievement does not erase the obstacles facing those coming behind him.

Entering an institution is not enough

Ndey Yassin Secka-Sallah knows what it means to enter a public institution without having the tools to participate independently.

She was nominated to the Gambia’s National Assembly and has long advocated for the rights of people with disabilities. GOVI describes her as the country’s only visually impaired parliamentarian.

She was also involved in advocacy around disability rights and the push for stronger legal protections.

Yet taking a seat in parliament did not make the institution accessible.

“I used to depend on my fellow colleagues to know what was being discussed,” she told Al Jazeera.

What she wanted was not special treatment, but independence.

“I would have loved to be independent, without depending on people for help.”

Five years after the disability law was passed, Secka-Sallah says implementation remains a major challenge.

She sees Krubally’s appointment to the bench as significant, but not as the end of the struggle.

“Inclusion is all we wish for,” she says.

Musa Barrow, another visually impaired professional, teaches media law and ethics to journalism students.

Like Krubally, Barrow has encountered assumptions about what a visually impaired person can do. Some students have questioned whether he can meet the standards they expect from a lecturer.

Technology has helped him work independently. He uses digital tools to read, write and prepare lecture notes.

“Technology has broken that barrier for me,” he says.

But students’ assumptions have not disappeared.

His response is direct.

“I can do more than what sighted people can do,” he says.

Barrow’s visual impairment has also shaped how he teaches journalism, particularly when discussing the media’s portrayal of disability.

The experiences of Krubally, Secka-Sallah and Barrow all point to the same gap: entering an institution is not the same as being equipped to participate fully in it.

What does the law look like in practice?

The scale of the challenge is difficult to measure.

The Gambia’s 2013 Population and Housing Census recorded a disability prevalence of 1.2 percent, representing 21,873 people, according to later analysis of the census data.

But that figure may understate the scale of disability in the country. The census used a narrower set of questions and did not use the Washington Group questions commonly used to measure functional difficulties.

The Gambia has since conducted a new population and housing census, with preliminary results released in September 2024. But the preliminary report did not include detailed updated national disability data.

That leaves an incomplete picture of how the country’s disability landscape may have changed over the past decade.

What is clearer is the experience of people navigating institutions that were not designed with them in mind: a parliamentarian depending on colleagues to follow proceedings, a lecturer being questioned about his ability to teach, or children entering mainstream schools with limited specialist support.

Krubally knows that journey personally.

He now mentors young people, many of them visually impaired. One is Modou Lamin Dampha, who describes Krubally as someone who encourages him to keep pursuing his ambitions.

“He advises and encourages me to keep going, that things are possible,” Dampha says.

For Dampha, Krubally is more than a magistrate.

He is evidence that professional ambition does not have to end with disability.

Has the courtroom changed?

Back inside the Banjul Magistrates’ Court, the case continues.

Krubally listens as the proceedings unfold, using voices, memory, technology and experience to follow what is happening before him.

His career raises a harder question: how much has the system itself changed?

The judiciary was asked what accommodations are available to Krubally, what accessibility measures are in place for judicial officers and court users with disabilities, and what changes it has made since the Persons with Disabilities Act was passed.

It did not respond by the time of publication.

Krubally has spent a decade adapting to the demands of the courtroom.

Whether the institution around him has also adapted remains an open question.

Asked what he sees when he looks to the future, Krubally says it is not about the obstacles he has overcome.

“All I see is possibility.”

Church mourners die on Kenya’s Nairobi-Mombasa Highway weeks after another crash killed 17 people.

A bus carrying mourners has collided with a truck on a major highway in southeastern Kenya, killing at least 24 people, police say.

The crash happened in the Kanga area near Mtito Andei, on the road linking the capital, Nairobi, to the coastal city of Mombasa, at about 7:45am (04:45 GMT) on Sunday, October 25.

Another 24 people were injured, hospital officials said.

The deaths came just over three weeks after another crash on the highway killed 17 people, prompting fresh government promises to improve road safety.

The bus belonged to Power of the Word Church International in Mombasa and was taking passengers home from their pastor’s funeral in western Kenya.

They had stopped for breakfast shortly before the collision, according to one survivor.

The other vehicle was a truck transporting cement.

Violet Mwandonyi, who survived the crash, told the Associated Press on Sunday that she remembered passengers crying out for passing motorists to help.

She said she did not know what had happened to her two children, who had been travelling on the bus.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Makueni County Commissioner Abdullahi Khalif, the government’s senior administrator in the area, told Kenyan newspaper The Standard that the bus driver had tried to overtake several vehicles before colliding with an oncoming truck.

Kenya’s National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) also identified dangerous overtaking as a possible cause. Another survivor said the truck struck the bus from behind.

On October 3, a crash involving several vehicles killed 17 people, most of them Catholic pilgrims travelling to a prayer site, near Salama on the same highway.

Police said a truck driver had tried to overtake another truck before the collision.

The NTSA had identified that stretch of road as an area with a history of crashes.

President William Ruto offered condolences on Sunday and ordered inspections of vehicles used for public transport.

Transport Minister Davis Chirchir said the government would step up enforcement against speeding and unsafe overtaking, improve dangerous sections of road and strengthen training and checks for commercial drivers.

In a statement on Sunday, Chirchir said the government would work with police, local authorities and lawmakers on the measures, including closer oversight of buses and heavy goods vehicles.

“We cannot continue treating road safety as business as usual,” he said, calling for stronger action to reduce deaths.

Figures from the NTSA, reported by Kenyan media, show that 5,009 people died in road crashes in 2025, with 2,150 deaths recorded in the first half of 2026.

The authority estimates that about 20,000 crashes occur across Kenya each year.

Following Sunday’s collision, it called for road crashes to be declared a national disaster.

Vote to send forces comes after a recent defence pact between two neighbouring countries.

The upper house of Algeria’s parliament has unanimously approved the deployment of troops to neighbouring Niger.

The Algerian constitution empowers the president to send military units abroad, provided that both chambers of parliament approve it by a two-thirds majority.

The Council of the Nation held an emergency session on Sunday to vote on troop deployment, while the People’s National Assembly, or the lower house, is expected to hold a separate session later in the evening, Algeria’s popular newspaper El Khabar reported. If the deployment is approved, it would be the first mission outside Algeria’s borders since the 1973 War between Israel and several Arab countries, known to Arabs as the October War and Israelis as the Yom Kippur War.

The military units to be deployed by Algeria are expected to be tasked with securing oil facilities in Niger.

The vote came after a visit by Niger’s Defence Minister General Salifou Modi to Algeria last week, where he held talks with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Chief of Staff of the People’s National Army General Said Chanegriha.

During that visit, the two sides signed a military cooperation protocol, the details of which were not made public.

Earlier this month, Tebboune confirmed that Algeria sent fighter jets to Niger in late August to help thwart a “coup attempt” that shook the capital, Niamey.

The Algerian Ministry of Defence previously said it had sent four jets to Niger following the unrest. It said two patrols of four Sukhoi Su-30 aircraft had landed at Niamey airport, accompanied by an air-to-air refuelling plane.

The warplanes were deployed at the request of Nigerien authorities on “a mission to support the Nigerien army in confronting an attempt to destabilise the brotherly state of Niger”, the ministry said on August 30.

Relations between Algeria and Niger have witnessed a significant rapprochement over the past few months on political, diplomatic, military and economic levels, following a period of tension between the two countries.