TOP NEWS

Elections in Tanzania
Reports of 30 dead during popular protests against the “election”

The country’s media has not written a word about the election, foreign journalists have been barred from entering and the internet and other communications are down. But a diplomatic source now testifies that election day in Tanzania was very chaotic.

According to unconfirmed reports, up to 30 people were killed in connection with yesterday’s protests, the source tells AFP. The news agency writes that “violent chaos” broke out in many cities.

– This is unprecedented. Where it goes from here is unclear, the source says.

The anger is great because the election was not much of an election. The two main rivals to President Samia Suluhu Hassan had been stopped from running. The main opponent Tundu Lissu is in prison, accused of treason, and risks the death penalty. The only remaining opponent was disqualified on technicalities.

The war in Sudan
Jan Eliasson on Sudan: "Should act more decisively"

Several massacres in Sudan's civil war between government forces and the paramilitary group RSF have recently attracted international attention, reports TT.

On Wednesday, it was reported that around 500 people had been killed by RSF at a hospital in El-Fasher in northern Darfur. RSF forces are also said to have gone from house to house and killed civilians.

According to Johan Brosché, associate professor of peace and conflict studies at Uppsala University, both sides are committing war crimes, but RSF is responsible for the most massacres of civilians.

Former UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson tells TT that the UN and the African Union should act more decisively in the civil war, including through sanctions against individuals and some form of intervention.

But even without clear political contradictions, it can be difficult.

- We have such a deep distrust between the great powers now, a distrust that has run very deep. They don't even cooperate on issues where they should be able to agree, he says.
 

Russian espionage
Spied for Russia in Germany – gets prison

A German-Russian citizen has been sentenced to six years in prison for spying for Russia, news agencies report. The man's goal was to plan sabotage to undermine Germany's support for Ukraine, according to a court in Munich.

The convicted man is said to have helped plan attacks on railway and military infrastructure in Germany and he is said to have acted on behalf of the Russian intelligence service.

Political situation in Brazil
Anger and grief in the favela: "A slaughter – not an operation"

Tuesday's police raid in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is the deadliest ever in the state, according to CNN Brasil. A large number of dead bodies were laid out on a main street in the Complexo da Penha favela on Wednesday, and residents The Guardian spoke to said they could hardly believe their eyes.

The police are accused of executing the men, and residents question why they were not arrested instead.

“This was not a police operation, it was a massacre. They came here to kill,” said 53-year-old Cláudia Silva, whose son was killed.

According to the police, the operation was aimed at the Comando Vermelho gang, and the state police chief, Felipe Curi, defended the raid. According to the AP, he said the men had participated in battles with security forces, and that locals had stripped them of their camouflage clothing before placing their bodies in the street.

Police say 119 people were killed, including four police officers, while legal representatives put the number at 132.