DRC, Rwandan Presidents Meet Amid Rising Tensions Over Rebel Attacks |
At the request of the African Union, Angolan President João Lourenço is mediating talks (RFI) between Félix Tshisekedi, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda. Tshisekedi has accused Rwanda of backing the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group in eastern DRC and warned of the possibility of war (FT) between the countries. Rwanda denies supporting the group.
M23 resurfaced late last year, almost a decade after Congolese and UN troops quashed its 2012 uprising. A peace deal in the aftermath of that conflict has been poorly implemented. M23 attacks have displaced 170,000 people since November 2021, according to the UN refugee agency. |
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“The rebellion’s resurgence did not come out of the blue, but the swiftness of its conquests took most people by surprise. What’s less clear is whether Rwanda, and to a lesser extent Uganda, have been supporting the M23 this time around,” journalist Mélanie Gouby writes for Foreign Policy.
“Too often [in East Africa], ‘political agreements’ have been reduced to little more than payouts to armed actors in the form of some access to state resources, exchanged for temporary calm. The underlying drivers of disenfranchisement and dysfunction remain unaltered, and the incentives for those fomenting and perpetuating conflict unchanged, nearly guaranteeing a resumption of violence down the line,” CFR’s Michelle Gavin writes for the Africa in Transition blog.
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South Korea Embraces Nuclear Power |
Seoul will reverse a planned phaseout (Yonhap) of nuclear energy and instead aim for it to account for more than 30 percent of total energy production by 2030.
U.S./China: A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson accused the United States (Bloomberg) of “technological terrorism” after Bloomberg reported that Washington is lobbying countries to stop selling China the technology needed for making microchips.
The Why It Matters podcast explains the importance of chips to the global economy, innovation, and security. |
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Twitter Sues India Over Orders to Remove Posts |
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Middle East and North Africa |
Rights Groups: Egypt Uses Travel Bans to Target Civil Society |
FairSquare Projects and Human Rights Watch said authorities use unreported, arbitrary travel bans to prevent rights lawyers, journalists, and feminists from doing peaceful work.
Tunisia: Authorities froze the bank account (Reuters) of Rached Ghannouchi, the former speaker of Tunisia’s dissolved parliament and a critic of President Kais Saied, as well as the assets of several others. |
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Ethiopia’s Abiy Agrees to Settle ‘Outstanding Issues’ With Sudan |
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed met Sudan’s military leader (Reuters), General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, on the sidelines of a Nairobi summit. Their countries have a long-running dispute over a contested border region. |
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EU Lawmakers Vote to Label Some Natural Gas, Nuclear Power Projects as ‘Green’ |
The contentious vote highlights divisions (WaPo) in the European Union (EU) over which energy sources can be used to meet the bloc’s climate goals.
This In Brief discusses whether nuclear power could cut Europe’s dependence on Russian energy.
United Kingdom: Sixteen ministers, including the health and finance ministers, resigned (BBC) from Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government, raising questions about Johnson’s political future. |
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Colombia’s Petro Calls for Talks With ELN Rebel Group |
Colombian President-Elect Gustavo Petro plans to ask (MercoPress) the National Liberation Army (ELN) to return to talks that ended under the administration of outgoing President Ivan Duque. Brazil/Italy: One of Italy’s most wanted men, mobster Rocco Morabito, was extradited (BBC) from Brazil to Rome. |
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Justice Department Sues Arizona Over Voting Law |
The Justice Department called (NYT) Arizona’s new law requiring proof of citizenship to vote in presidential elections “a textbook violation” of federal law.
At this webinar, CFR’s Irina A. Faskianos discusses democracy and voting rights with Carol Anderson and Michael Li. |
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