CAR Presidential campaign launches amid tension and promises of peace

Election campaigning has officially begun in the Central African Republic ahead of the presidential vote scheduled for December 28.

Incumbent President Faustin-Archange Touadéra launched his campaign on Saturday, December 13, 2025, at Bangui’s Omnisports Stadium, where he addressed thousands of supporters. 

Returning from the town of Sibut, where he had earlier kicked off his re-election bid, Touadéra was greeted by an enthusiastic crowd. His camp is banking on a strong turnout to secure victory in the first round.

Igor Tola Kogadou, a candidate for the National Assembly from the ruling United Hearts Movement (MCU), hailed the scale of mobilisation in favour of the president.

“I saw the population mobilizing for this election, for the victory of the Head of State, Professor Faustin-Archange Touadéra, candidate number one, the champion of the United Hearts Movement in the first round,” he said.

Touadéra, who is seeking a second term, is presenting himself as the guarantor of stability. For his supporters, his record on peace and the prospect of a return to lasting stability are key reasons to renew their confidence in him over his rivals.

“You see there is joy, enthusiasm, and a lot of emotion, because we see that the population has understood that peace is needed. And the Central African people want peace with President Faustin-Archange Touadéra. That is why we are all here, truly joyful, to begin this presidential, legislative, regional, and municipal campaign,” said Josiane Nina Bemakassui, former Minister of Humanitarian Action.

Even before the official start of the campaign, opposition presidential candidate Anicet-Georges Dologuélé unveiled a programme built around 25 social pillars. His platform focuses on building a strong state and reviving the country’s fragile economy.

“Without a strong state, there is neither development, nor stability, nor a future. The third pillar is economic recovery and the creation of opportunities for all. We want a country where initiative is encouraged and where work pays,” Dologuélé said.

The opposition leader also announced Serge Bokassa's support, a former minister previously allied with Touadéra, in a move seen as a symbolic defection from the ruling camp.

At the same time, Dologuélé launched a stinging attack on the authorities, accusing them of instrumentalising questions of nationality and weakening democratic institutions.

“The architecture of Central African democracy has collapsed. Nationality is being handed out left and right; they even talk about distributing it through some tokenization, I don’t know what, and meanwhile, the nationality of fellow citizens is being challenged,” he said.

The campaign period, which will run for two weeks, is unfolding in a highly tense context, according to the United Nations, with concerns about security, political polarisation and the risk of violence.

Despite the tensions, all main candidates, including President Touadéra, have called for a peaceful, orderly campaign and for citizens to express their choices at the ballot box rather than in the streets.

Gunmen kill 11 people at Sydney's Bondi Beach with 1 shooter dead, another arrested

SYDNEY,  Australia 

Two gunmen shot dead 11 people on Sunday at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, police said. One gunman was fatally shot by police and the second arrested.

The suspect was in critical condition, authorities said. A massive emergency response was underway, with injured people loaded into ambulances.

Australian authorities haven't confirmed what the target of the mass shooting was. Hundreds had gathered for an event at Bondi Beach called Chanukah by the Sea, which was celebrating the start of the Hanukkah Jewish festival.

Dramatic footage apparently filmed by a member of the public and broadcast on Australian television channels showed someone appearing to tackle and disarm one of the gunmen, before pointing the man’s weapon at him.

Lachlan Moran, 32, from Melbourne, was waiting for his family nearby when he heard shots, he told The Associated Press. He dropped the beer he was carrying for his brother and ran.

“You heard a few pops, and I freaked out and ran away. ... I started sprinting. I just had that intuition. I sprinted as quickly as I could," Moran said. He said he heard shooting off and on for about five minutes.

“Everyone just dropped all their possessions and everything and were running and people were crying and it was just horrible," Moran said.

Police said their operation was “ongoing" and that a “number of suspicious items located in the vicinity” were being examined by specialist officers. Emergency services were called to Campbell Parade about 6.45 p.m. responding to reports of shots being fired.

Local news outlets spoke to distressed and bloody bystanders who witnessed the horror. New South Wales Premier Chris Minns described the reports and images coming from the scene as “deeply distressing."

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement that his thoughts were with all those affected.

“The scenes in Bondi are shocking and distressing,” he said. “Police and emergency responders are on the ground working to save lives.”

Mass shooting deaths in Australia are extremely rare. 

A 1996 massacre in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur, where a lone gunman killed 35 people, prompted the government to drastically tighten gun laws and made it much more difficult for Australians to acquire firearms.

Significant mass shootings this century included two murder-suicides with death tolls of five people in 2014, and seven in 2018, in which gunmen killed their own families and themselves.

In 2022, two police officers were shot and killed by Christian extremists at a rural property in Queensland state. 

The three shooters in that incident, conspiracy theorists who hated the police, were also shot and killed by officers after a six-hour siege in the region of Wieambilla, along with one of their neighbors.

UN condemns deadly drone strike on peacekeepers in Sudan’s Kordofan

NEW YORK,  United States 

The United Nations has condemned a recent drone attack that targeted its Sudanese logistics in the central region of Kordofan base in Kadugli, resulting in fatalities & injuries of members of the Bangladeshi Peacekeeping contingent.

The UN's Secretary General António Guterres said in a statement that attacks against UN peacekeepers like this one are unjustifiable & may constitute war crimes. He further reminded the parties to the war of their obligation to protect UN personnel & civilians, while also calling for accountability.

A drone strike hit the UN facility in war-torn Sudan on Saturday, killing six peacekeepers, according to the U.N.

Eight other peacekeepers were wounded in the strike.

All the victims are Bangladeshi nationals, serving in the U.N. Interim Security Force for Abyei, UNISFA.

“Attacks targeting United Nations peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law,” said Guterres, who called for those responsible for the “unjustifiable” attack to be held accountable.

The Sudanese military blamed the attack on the Rapid Support Forces, RSF, a notorious paramilitary group at war with the army for control of the country for more than two years.

There was no immediate comment from the RSF.

The attack “clearly reveals the subversive approach of the rebel militia and those behind it,” the military said in a statement.

The military posted a video on social media showing plumes of dense black smoke over what it said was the U.N. facility.

The oil-rich Abyei is a disputed region between Sudan and South Sudan, and the U.N. mission has been deployed there since 2011 when South Sudan gained its independence from Sudan.

Guterres also called for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan to allow “a comprehensive, inclusive and Sudanese-owned political process” to settle the conflict in the northeast African country.

Sudan was plunged into chaos in April 2023 when a power struggle between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country.

The conflict has killed over 40,000 people — a figure rights groups consider a significant undercount.

The fighting has recently centered on Kodrofan, particuly since the RSF took control of el-Fasher, the military’s last stronghold in the western region of Darfur.

The war has wrecked urban areas and has been marked by atrocities, including mass rape and ethnically motivated killings which the U.N. and rights groups have said amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially in the western region of Darfur.

The war has also created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and pushed parts of the country into famine.

Trump pledges retaliation after two US soldiers, one civilian interpreter killed in Syria

By Eyad Kourdi, WASHINGTON United States 

The US President Donald Trump said Saturday that there will be “very serious retaliation” after two US soldiers and one civilian interpreter were killed in an ambush in Syria on Saturday.

Three others were wounded in the attack, which was carried out by a single ISIS gunman, US Central Command and the Department of Defense said in statements Saturday.

“We will retaliate,” Trump told reporters at the White House. He said the country is mourning “the loss of the three great American patriots” and praying for the three wounded, who “seem to be doing pretty well.”

The president noted the US’ cooperation with Syrian forces. “Syria, by the way, was fighting along with us,” Trump said, adding that Syria’s new president is “devastated by what happened.”

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ office said in a statement late Saturday that the soldiers were members of the state’s National Guard. 

The statement said the soldiers’ names will be released at 5 p.m. Sunday. Reynolds’ office said three additional Iowa National Guard members were wounded, two of whom were immediately evacuated to a medical facility.

“Our hearts are heavy today, and our prayers and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of our soldiers killed in action,” Reynolds said. “I ask that all Iowans stand united in supporting them and lifting them up in prayer during this incredibly difficult time.”

The statement said about 1,800 Iowa Army National Guard soldiers began deploying to the Middle East in late May to support Operation Inherent Resolve, the US mission to defeat ISIS.

The soldiers’ “mission was in support of on-going counter-ISIS / counter-terrorism operations in the region,” wrote Sean Parnell, chief spokesperson for the Pentagon, in a statement on X. 

He added that the names of those killed were being withheld until next of kin are notified.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the attacker was killed by partner forces.

“Let it be known, if you target Americans — anywhere in the world — you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you, and ruthlessly kill you,” Hegseth wrote on X.

Minutes after Trump spoke to reporters, he repeated his warning of retaliation in a social media post, calling the incident “an ISIS attack against the U.S., and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them,” and saying Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa “is extremely angry and disturbed by this attack.”

“There will be very serious retaliation,” Trump wrote.

"Rwanda is not violating peace agreement" - Kagame

KIGALI, Rwanda 

Rwandan President, Paul Kagame, has said his country is not involved in the violation of the agreement signed between him, the United States and the Democratic Republic of Congo's president last week in Washington.

Speaking in Kigali, President Kagame stressed that fighting in eastern Congo had been ongoing even before the agreement was signed.

Congo and Western countries have been accusing Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebels who captured the town of Uvira in South Kivu earlier this week, just after the agreement was signed.

Speaking at the swearing-in of some newly appointed government officials, Kagame said he personally had been under great pressure, especially with allegations implicating Rwanda in the ongoing war in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

He said that the agreement between Rwanda, the DRC and the United States was signed in Washington on the 4th of this month, and his country participated voluntarily and with the intention of peace, saying Rwanda had accepted it and would comply with its demands so that the agreement could lead the two countries into peace.

Russia and Ukraine trade attacks as US and European officials prepare for peace talks

KYIV,  Ukraine 

Moscow pounded Ukrainian power infrastructure with drone and missile strikes on Saturday and Kyiv launched a deadly strike of its own on southwestern Russia, a day before talks involving senior European and U.S. officials aimed at ending the war were set to resume.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian, U.S. and European officials will hold a series of meetings in Berlin in the coming days, adding that he will personally meet with U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoys.

“Most importantly, I will be meeting with envoys of President Trump, and there will also be meetings with our European partners, with many leaders, concerning the foundation of peace — a political agreement to end the war,” Zelenskyy said in an address to the nation late Saturday.

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner are traveling to Berlin for the talks, according to a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

American officials have tried for months to navigate the demands of each side as Trump presses for a swift end to Russia’s war and grows increasingly exasperated by delays. The search for possible compromises has run into major obstacles, including which combatant will get control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, which is mostly occupied by Russian forces.

“The chance is considerable at this moment, and it matters for our every city, for our every Ukrainian community,” Zelenskyy said. “We are working to ensure that peace for Ukraine is dignified, and to secure a guarantee — a guarantee, above all — that Russia will not return to Ukraine for a third invasion.”

As diplomats push for peace, the war grinds on.

Russia attacked five Ukrainian regions overnight, targeting the country’s energy and port infrastructure. Zelenskyy said the attacks involved more than 450 drones and 30 missiles. And with temperatures hovering around freezing, Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said more than a million people were without electricity.

An attack on Odesa caused grain silos to catch fire at the coastal city’s port, Ukrainian deputy prime minister and reconstruction minister Oleksiy Kuleba said. Two people were wounded in attacks on the wider Odesa region, according to regional head Oleh Kiper.

Kyiv and its allies say Russia is trying to cripple the Ukrainian power grid and deny civilians access to heat, light and running water for a fourth consecutive winter, in what Ukrainian officials call “weaponizing” the cold.

The drone attack in Russia’s Saratov region damaged a residential building and killed two people, said the regional governor, Roman Busargin, who didn’t offer further details. Busragin said the attack also shattered windows at a kindergarten and clinic. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it shot down 41 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight.

On the front lines, Ukrainian forces said Saturday that the northern part of Pokrovsk was under Ukrainian control, despite Russia’s claims this month that it had taken full control of the critical city. The Associated Press was not able to independently verify the claims.

The latest attacks came after Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov reaffirmed Friday that Moscow will give its blessing to a ceasefire only after Ukraine’s forces have withdrawn from parts of the Donetsk region that they still control.

Ukraine has consistently refused to cede the remaining part of the region to Russia.

Ushakov told the business daily Kommersant that Russian police and national guard troops would stay in parts of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas even if they become a demilitarized zone under a prospective peace plan — a demand likely to be rejected by Ukraine as U.S.-led negotiations drag on.

Ushakov warned that a search for compromise could take a long time, noting that the U.S. proposals that took into account Russian demands had been “worsened” by alterations proposed by Ukraine and its European allies.

“We don’t know what changes they are making, but clearly they aren’t for the better,” Ushakov said, adding: “We will strongly insist on our considerations.”

In other developments, about 480 people were evacuated Saturday from a train traveling between the Polish city of Przemysl and Kyiv after police received a call concerning a threat on the train, Karolina Kowalik, a spokesperson for the Przemysl police, told The Associated Press. Nobody was hurt and she didn’t elaborate on the threat.

Polish authorities are on high alert since multiple attempts to disrupt trains on the line linking Warsaw to the Ukrainian border, including the use of explosives in November, with Polish authorities saying they have evidence Russia was behind it.

Arsenal beat struggling Wolves 2-1 to expand league lead

LONDON, England 

Arsenal moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League table after beating a struggling Wolves side on Saturday night. 

A fortuitous Sam Johnstone own goal broke the deadlock in the 70th minute before Tolu Arokodare looked to have stolen a point for the Premier League’s bottom side in the 90th minute.

However, in injury time a second Wolves own goal - this time Yerson Mosquera heading into his own net under pressure from Gabriel Jesus - gave Arsenal all three points in a dramatic finale in north London.

The Gunners, for long periods, struggled to break down a well-drilled Wolves team that came so very close to earning a surprise point and blowing the title race firmly open for a second straight week.

The visitors, meanwhile, are remarkably still without a league win this season and have now lost nine games in a row, scoring just twice during this difficult period. 

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 14/12/2025

Eritrea Withdraws from IGAD, accuses bloc of losing relevance

ASMARA, Eritrea 

Eritrea announced Friday it is withdrawing from the East African regional bloc IGAD, accusing the organization of losing relevance and becoming a tool for external interference.

In a statement, Eritrea’s Foreign Ministry said the Intergovernmental Authority on Development “has, regrettably, become a tool against our country and the wider region,” adding that it had strayed from its founding principles and failed to promote regional stability.

Eritrea previously left IGAD in 2007 amid a border conflict with Ethiopia and rejoined only in 2023.

IGAD responded Friday that since Eritrea’s return, it has not participated in any meetings, programs or activities, and that Eritrea “has not put forward any tangible proposals nor constructively engaged with ongoing reform processes.”

The withdrawal comes amid escalating tensions between Eritrea and Ethiopia, which have a history of deadly conflict. The two fought a brutal border war from 1998-2000 that killed tens of thousands. 

Peace was declared in 2018, but recent statements by Ethiopian officials questioning Eritrea’s sovereignty and seeking sea access have renewed friction.

Eritrea, which gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993, has long accused IGAD of bias, particularly toward Ethiopia. 

The bloc’s current executive secretary is former Ethiopian Foreign Minister Workneh Gebeyehu.

IGAD was founded in 1996 to promote regional cooperation on food security, environmental protection and conflict prevention. 

Its other members are Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda. Eritrea has also had tense relations with Djibouti, which hosts IGAD’s headquarters, over a long-running border dispute.

The Horn of Africa remains one of the world’s most volatile regions, plagued by civil wars, terrorism and interstate rivalries. Critics say IGAD has struggled to effectively address these challenges or advance regional integration.

Haitians try to rebuild lives in aftermath of Hurricane Melissa

PORT-AU-PRINCE,  Haiti 

People gathered around a small convenience store in the Haitian town of Petit-Goâve on Friday to buy food after receiving cash assistance from the World Food Programme.

It was some welcome relief for residents as they try to rebuild their lives following the deadly passage in October of Hurricane Melissa.

In line to buy food was resident Joceline Antoine, who lost five family members when the Category 5 storm pummelled the region.

“My house is destroyed, the water came in. I lost my animals, I lost family,” she said.

Melissa killed at least 43 people across Haiti, many of them in Petit-Goâve, where residents are still digging out from under the storm that unleased deadly flooding.

Huge piles of dirt and mud now smother this southern coastal town, which once bustled with farmers and street vendors.

Lola Castro, regional director of the UN World Food Programme who recently visited Petit-Goâve, said Melissa has exacerbated Haiti's crisis.

“Around 5.3 million people don’t have enough to eat every day in Haiti,” she said. “That’s a huge challenge.”

“We are currently distributing money to vulnerable people affected by Hurricane Melissa. These individuals receive a voucher with they use for food,” she said.

This offers three benefits, she said. One of them is that purchasing locally produced food is helping local businesses and the economy rebuild.

Petit-Goâve is an agricultural community that depended heavily on crops, including plantain, corn and beans.

“They have lost their income. They have lost their means of living,” she said.

Haiti is dealing with ongoing gang violence in a conflict that has forced nearly one and a half million people from their homes and driven up the island’s humanitarian needs.

Armed groups control much of the capital and surrounding areas and are accused of mass killings, gang rapes, extortion, and arson.

M23 rebels take control of strategic Congo town as peace deal crumbles

SOUTH KIVU,  DR Congo 

The United States on Friday accused Rwanda of violating a peace deal with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) saying Kigali was leading the Great Lakes region towards war.

Signed just over a week ago, the agreement was hailed by US President Donald Trump as "historic", and raised hopes for an end to the decades-long conflict.

But on Wednesday evening, Rwanda-backed M23 rebels claimed to have captured the strategic city of Uvira, one of the few remaining army strongholds in the eastern DRC.

United Nations experts have previously accused Kigali of having "de facto control" of the rebel force's operations.

The US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, said Washington was “incredibly disappointed” with the renewed outbreak of violence and warned it would hold “spoilers to peace” to account.

The rebels are not signatories to US President Donald Trump's deal and are taking part in a parallel peace process led by Washington’s ally, Qatar.

Bertrand Bisimwa, the Deputy Coordinator of the AFC-M23 rebel alliance, said Friday that the Washington Accord related to relations between Congo and Rwanda.

He added that it had little impact on the conflict inside the country which was being addressed in talks in Qatar's capital, Doha.

"It has never changed the reality on the ground, in the sense that the war that we are fighting with Kinshasa since the beginning of the conflict has never stopped, regardless of the ceasefire agreements we have signed with them," he said.

Bisimwa said the rebel group is looking to create a federal system in the DRC.

“When we say federalism, we want to establish a new balance between the provinces and the central government,” he said.

“A balance that will guarantee a symmetrical system in which we give and receive. That is what we want. It is not about Balkanization.”

Kinshasa and Kigali have blamed one another for the violation of the Washington Accord which aimed to end the conflict.

More than 100 armed groups are vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda, most prominently M23.

It has created one of the world’s most significant humanitarian crises, with the UN refugee agency saying more than 7 million people have been displaced by the fighting.

US sanctions six more ships after seizing oil tanker off Venezuela

WASHINGTON, United States 

The United States has imposed fresh sanctions on six more ships said to be carrying Venezuelan oil, a day after seizing a tanker off the country's coast.

Sanctions have also been placed on some of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's relatives and businesses associated with what Washington calls his illegitimate regime.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters the seized vessel, called the Skipper, had been involved in "illicit oil shipping" and would be taken to an American port.

Caracas has described it as an act of "international piracy".

It marks a sharp escalation in the US pressure campaign against Maduro, which has seen dozens killed in strikes on boats alleged to have been carrying drugs from Venezuela. In recent months American warships have been moving into the region.

The Trump administration has accused Venezuela of funnelling narcotics into the US. Venezuela - home to some of the world's largest proven oil reserves - has, in turn, accused Washington of seeking to steal its resources. Maduro vowed on Wednesday that Venezuela would never become an "oil colony".

But the White House press secretary told reporters on Thursday that the US was committed to both "stopping the flow of illegal drugs" into the country and enforcing sanctions.

She would not be drawn on whether the US planned to seize more ships transporting Venezuelan oil.

"We're not going to stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas with black market oil, the proceeds of which will fuel narco-terrorism of rogue and illegitimate regimes around the world," Leavitt said.

She added that the US planned to seize the oil on board the Skipper, after the necessary legal process.

Leavitt also said Trump would not be concerned "at all" to hear Russian President Vladimir Putin had called Maduro earlier in the day to offer Moscow's support "in the face of growing external pressure".

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later said that imposing sanctions on three nephews of Maduro's wife, alongside a number of businesses and ships, would tackle the leader's "dictatorial and brutal control".

In a post on X, he said the Trump administration was "holding the regime and its circle of cronies and companies accountable for its continued crimes".

On Wednesday, the White House released dramatic video footage of the raid that showed camouflaged soldiers dropping down on to the Skipper from a helicopter, and walking its deck, weapons drawn.

The Venezuelan government strongly denounced the seizure, with Maduro saying the US "kidnapped the crew" and "stole" the ship.

Massive influx of Congolese refugees strains Burundi's humanitarian capacities

By Rénovat Ndabashinze, BUJUMBURA Burundi 

Thousands of new Congolese refugees are arriving en masse in Burundi to escape fighting between M23 rebels and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and their allies in South Kivu.

The Rwanda-backed M23 rebels claimed control of the city of Uriva on Wednesday.

New reception sites have been set up to manage the influx, including the Kansega transit site in Ndava zone, in Bujumbura province near the border with the DRC.

Living conditions there are dire: no water, no toilets, no shelters. Stripped of everything, refugees say they went through hell before reaching Burundi.

"Getting here was difficult. We went through heavy shelling and bullets, and I personally lost my younger brother who was killed by a bomb," said 32-year-old Fidèle Edimbe, a father of three originally from Uvira.

"That’s when we realized how bad things had become, and we decided to cross the Rusizi River to reach this place," he added.

Between 5 and 11 December, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) recorded 40,000 new arrivals of Congolese people in Burundi. They are spread across three transit sites — Kansega, Cishemere and Gatumba.

UNHCR representative Brigitte Mukanga-Engo visited Kansega on 11 December. She confirmed the desperate conditions and acknowledged severe resource shortages, calling for urgent mobilisation.

"We are of course working with the immigration services and ONPRA, the government agency in charge of refugees," she said.

"There is also the Directorate of Repatriation, because among the people crossing, a significant number are Burundians — Burundians who had been refugees in Congo and are now returning because of this crisis," she added.

With the soaring number of arrivals, UNHCR has already announced the upcoming opening of a new refugee camp in Bweru, in eastern Burundi.

Since January and as of this summer, Burundi hosted more than 71,000 Congolese refugees, including some 18,000 in the Musenyi camp alone.

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 12/12/2025