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International News
Guinea-Bissau's Junta Wins Referendum Expanding Presidential Power, Setting Up a Contested December Election

Bissau, Guinea-Bissau  

Ten months after soldiers overthrew Guinea-Bissau's elected government, the country's military-led transition has cleared its most consequential political hurdle yet: voters have approved a new constitution that dramatically expands presidential power and shrinks…
International News
Tanzania's Treason Trial of Opposition Leader Tundu Lissu Nears a Verdict That Could Reshape the Country's Politics

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania 

A Tanzanian High Court panel is now weighing a verdict that could send the country's best-known opposition figure to the gallows or set him free, after final submissions concluded last week in the treason trial of Chadema party leader Tundu Lissu — a case that has become the clearest…
International News
Witness in Mozambique Opposition Leader's Treason Trial Murdered as Political Violence Escalates Ahead of November Hearing

Maputo, Mozambique 

A key witness in the upcoming treason trial of Mozambican opposition leader Venâncio Mondlane was kidnapped and murdered earlier this month, a killing that has thrown a harsh spotlight on the climate of violence surrounding one of Southern Africa's most closely watched…
International News
Algeria's Diversification Gambit: Fiscal Reform, Foreign Capital, and the Limits of an Oil Rent Economy

Economic & Social Transformation  

Algeria enters the second half of 2026 with an economy still overwhelmingly built on hydrocarbons but under growing pressure to show it can grow without them. Real GDP expanded at a modest but steady clip last year — the African Development Bank puts 2025 growth at…
International News
Trump's Taxpayer-Funded “Final Battle” Ad Draws Bipartisan Fire Ahead of Midterms

Background

The White House this weekend aired a new taxpayer-funded television advertisement featuring President Donald Trump warning of a “final battle” for the country's future, the second such government-funded spot to run in barely a week and the latest escalation in a fight over whether the administration is using…
International News
One Vote Short of Chaos: The Supreme Court Blocks a Trump-Backed Missouri Gerrymander for a Third Time

Background

Missouri's fight over its congressional map is one front in a much larger, nationally coordinated redistricting arms race that has defined the run-up to the 2026 midterms. It began in earnest last summer when Texas Republicans, at President Trump's urging, redrew their congressional map to create five…