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Published On 1 Dec 2025
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ECOWAS delegation visits Guinea-Bissau for talks after military coup
Published On 1 Dec 2025
As regional pressure mounts against the military leaders who seized power following a contentious election, a delegation from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) travels to Guinea-Bissau for mediation talks with coup leaders from last week.
The mission, led by Julius Maada Bio, president of Sierra Leone and ECOWAS chairman, visited Guinea-Bissau on Monday to demand a “complete restoration of constitutional order.”
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The country’s military has imposed stricter restrictions, putting an end to all strikes and demonstrations.
Sierra Leone’s foreign minister, Timothy Musa Kabba, described today as “very fruitful discussions.” “Both sides have voiced their distinct concerns.”
Guinea-Bissau’s newly appointed foreign minister, Joao Bernardo Vieira, stated that it was “very clearly established” that ECOWAS would remain in the country “durant this challenging period.”
He declared that “their discussions will continue with the military and the transitional authorities.”
Three days after the country’s intensely contested presidential election, both main contenders, opposition candidate Fernando Dias da Costa and incumbent president Umaro Sissoco Embalo, claimed victory before the results were scheduled to be announced. Since then, no conclusions have been made.
Embalo claimed that he had been deposed and detained while he was in charge of the takeover. Since then, he has fled to Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo’s capital.
General Horta Inta-A, a former army chief of staff, was chosen to lead a one-year transitional government, according to military officials in Guinea-Bissau. A new 28-member cabinet, made up primarily of people connected to the ousted president, was appointed by Inta-a on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Nigeria claimed that Dias da Costa, the leader of the opposition, was in imminent danger of his life.
Dias da Costa is currently at the Nigerian embassy in Bissau, according to a letter that the country’s minister of foreign affairs sent to ECOWAS. In order to protect the opposition candidate, the letter demanded a deployment of ECOWAS troops.
Separately, the main opposition group, the African Independence Party for Guinea and the Cape Verde (PAIGC), claimed that its capital’s headquarters had been “illegally invaded by heavily armed militia groups” in a statement.
In response to civil rights organizations’ criticism of the party’s decision as part of a wider crackdown on dissent, the party was prohibited from running for president on November 23.
Guinea-Bissau was suspended from all of its decision-making bodies until the country’s “full and effective constitutional order is restored,” according to ECOWAS, which is widely recognized as West Africa’s top political and regional body with 15 member states.
The number of people being dissented from the international community has increased, with Antonio Guterres, the head of the UN, expressing his concern for the military takeover and praising the country’s continued growing opposition.
Trump administration discusses Venezuela amid military build-up concerns
As US President Donald Trump’s administration continued to defend a contentious double strike on alleged drug smugglers in the Caribbean, top US officials were scheduled to meet at the White House to discuss Venezuela.
The US military’s planned meeting on Monday was held as the Caribbean’s economy grew, according to Reuters news agency. Even though Trump has sent mixed messages in recent days, there are concerns about a potential land invasion that would threaten Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro’s government.
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The US president announced last week that land operations against alleged Venezuelan drug smugglers could begin “very soon,” escalating the US military’s months-long operations against alleged Venezuelan drug smugglers in international waters and the Caribbean.
The Cartel de los Soles, which officials describe as a “foreign terrorist organization” (FTO), was designated by the US a day earlier as a “foreign terrorist organization” (FTO). Experts disagree with the characterization, claiming that the “Cartel de los Soles” has historically referred to a shaky system of corruption within the Venezuelan government.
Trump claimed that Venezuelan airspace should be regarded as being “in its entirety,” in a post he made on Truth Social, as the final stages of military action.
Trump, however, warned reporters on Sunday against “reading anything” into the action.
No one is certain why Trump announced the airspace closure, according to Al Jazeera’s chief US correspondent Alan Fischer, who was reporting from Washington, DC on Monday. He continued, adding that rumors in US media outlets suggested the announcement had taken place without the Pentagon’s knowledge.
Trump responded, “You shouldn’t read too much into it when asked about it on Air Force One.” However, that did not stop the speculation because no-fly zones are typically established prior to any military operations, according to Fisher.
He added that many Washington-based observers saw the threats and asset growth as a means of obstructing Maduro’s frightened country before any military action is taken. Trump’s statements in the past about Venezuela’s vast oil reserves have sparked concerns that he might start a “war for oil” in the eyes of some.
“Dennis Trump has to balance his MAGA]Make America Great Again supporters because he campaigned on the grounds that he wouldn’t engage in what he described as stupid foreign wars,” Fisher said.
According to Al Jazeera’s Phil Lavelle, who was reporting from Puerto Rico, the US territory where the military’s Caribbean expansion has taken place, it is still difficult to tell whether any operations are imminent.
As this readiness process is underway, Lavelle said, “We have about 15, 000 or so military personnel in this region of the world.”
The USS Winston S. Churchill and the USS Bainbridge are among the sea systems that are in play, he said.
renewed investigation into boat strikes
The Trump administration has continued to grow as a result of its renewed pressure over its deadly attacks on alleged Venezuelan drug smugglers in Caribbean international waters.
Republican and Democratic members of the US House and Senate armed services committees announced over the weekend that they would increase oversight of the strikes.
Following last week’s report from the Washington Post and CNN, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth verbally ordered everyone to board a vessel suspected of smuggling drugs from Venezuela.
After two people appeared to survive the initial strike, military officials reportedly ordered a “follow-on” strike on the vessel.
The defense secretary has entered even more precarious legal grounds by explicitly ordering forces to kill all passengers on board the vessels, which is contradicted by legal experts who have long claimed that US strikes on alleged “narco-terrorists” in international waters may be against both domestic and international law.
A group of former US military attorneys wrote in a letter that the orders “if true” would “contain war crimes, murder, or both.”
Hegseth responded to the report by stating that “every military action in the Caribbean is in accordance with the law of armed conflict.”
He has since doubled down in defiance, posting a mock-of-a-children’s character Franklin with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher on social media on Sunday.
Trump claimed that Hegseth had denied issuing the kill order in a statement to reporters on Sunday.
He claimed that he did not say that, and that he had faith in him to be 100%.
A second strike did indeed occur, according to White House spokesman Karoline Leavitt, who claimed Admiral Frank Bradley had given the order for the subsequent attack.
Leavitt told reporters that Bradley “executed well within his authority and the law directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated.” She described the attack as being carried out in the “self-defence” of the US.
Venezuela’s National Assembly scheduled to meet on Monday for an extraordinary session to discuss creating a commission on the strikes.
Jamaica secures $6.7bn for hurricane recovery and reconstruction plan
Jamaica has secured up to $6.7bn in support from international agencies to fund reconstruction over the next three years in the wake of Hurricane Melissa in October.
Melissa, one of the strongest storms on record to make landfall in the Caribbean, unleashed catastrophic flooding and landslides with some 76cm (30 inches) of rain when it struck Jamaica in October, causing damage estimated at $10bn.
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The support will come from the CAF-Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Caribbean Development Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank Group, the institutions said in a joint statement.
Included in the new package is up to $3.6bn in government financing, with the largest contributions coming from the CAF-Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank, each providing up to $1bn.
“Recovery will require significant resources and long-term investments. Comprehensive recovery planning is already underway, focusing on critical priorities and reinforcing Jamaica’s resilience,” the written remarks read.
“By combining robust financial instruments, technical guidance, and a shared commitment to building forward better, Jamaica is well-positioned not only to restore what was lost but also to strengthen its resilience to future disasters. Continued partnership and innovation will remain central as Jamaica charts a stronger, more resilient future for all its citizens.”
Hurricane Melissa brought damages equivalent to 30 percent of Jamaica’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Melissa was the strongest storm to hit the island nation in more than 170 years.
UK special forces chiefs covered up Afghanistan war crimes, inquiry told
Senior United Kingdom special forces leaders covered up potential war crimes in Afghanistan, a former senior officer has told a public inquiry.
The former high-ranking officer alleged that two former directors of Britain’s special forces failed to act on claims that soldiers unlawfully killed civilians in Afghanistan while operating there more than 10 years ago, according to evidence released on Monday.
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The whistleblower’s testimony alleged that commanders at the highest levels knew about suspected executions as early as 2011, but chose to bury the claims rather than report them to military police.
The evidence suggests the inaction allowed the killings to continue for at least two more years, raising questions about accountability within one of the world’s best training and lethal military units.
The officer, identified only as N1466 to protect his true identity, was among the most senior figures in UK special forces.
He told the inquiry he handed over what he described as “explosive” evidence pointing to criminal conduct by Special Air Service (SAS) troops operating in the country.
N1466 said he first grew concerned in early 2011 after reviewing reports from Afghanistan that showed an alarming pattern.
During one raid, nine Afghan men were killed, but only three weapons were recovered. The officer also heard that soldiers had been boasting during training about killing all fighting-age males during operations, irrespective of what threat they posed.
The whistleblower said he passed his findings to the director of special forces, making clear there was strong potential for criminal behaviour.
But instead of alerting investigators, the director ordered an internal review of tactics that N1466 dismissed as “a little fake exercise” designed to give the appearance of action while suppressing the truth.
When a second director took charge in 2012, the lethal pattern of behaviour wasn’t arrested.
That same year, two young parents were shot dead in their bed during a night raid in Nimruz province. Their infant sons, sleeping beside them, were also shot and seriously wounded. The incident was not reported to police.
N1466 said he eventually went to military police himself in 2015, but expressed deep regret at not acting sooner.
“Those people who died unnecessarily from that point onwards, there were two toddlers shot in their bed next to their parents, all that would not necessarily have come to pass” if the allegations had been properly handled, he said.
The investigation is examining whether around 80 Afghan civilians were unlawfully killed by British forces between 2010 and 2013.
It was launched in 2023 after a BBC documentary revealed that one SAS squadron had killed 54 people in suspicious circumstances during just six months.
Johnny Mercer, the UK’s former veterans minister, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday that the process through which this information was coming to light “has to be done fairly”.
“We’re not going to get there by selectively releasing bits of commentary that fit a certain narrative,” Mercer said.
From war to winter: Gaza couple wait to welcome baby in flooded tent
Gaza Strip’s Deir el-Balah – Samar al-Salmi and her family experienced a new disaster as a result of the first heavy rains of the winter season.
As their tired tent in a displacement camp was torn down in the morning, torrents of water slammed into the ground beneath them, bringing them to a murky pool.
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Refugited people crowded all around them, attempting to repair what the rain had destroyed, sanding the flooded areas and bringing soaked mattresses into the cold winter sun.
The timing was incomparably bad for 35-year-old Samar.
She is about to give birth, and everything she has got ready for her daughter was wet.
As you can see, the baby’s clothes were completely covered in mud, she says, lifting tiny garments that had brown stains on them. “Everything I prepared was submerged, including the milk formula box and the diapers,” the statement continued.
In Deir el-Balah, where her mother and her siblings reside, Samar, her husband, and their three children reside. Due to Israel’s genocidal war against Gaza, they have all been driven out of their homes in Tal al-Hawa, southwest of Gaza City.
Samar says, “My voice almost breaks,” and she can’t even describe how she feels right now. My mind is going to freeze up, I feel. How is my baby girl supposed to greet me in this manner?
Samar and her husband, along with their brothers, shove sand into the water sources that have encircled their home spaces while Samar tries to salvage clothes and blankets. Unuseable and strewn all over them are clothes, basic belongings, and soaked clothing.
She claims that she thought it would be safe to place the baby’s hospital bag inside my mother’s tent. However, the rain first rushed in and flooded everything, including the bag.
She continues, “I don’t know where to start.” Should I take care of my children because they need to soak in warm water and wash in mud and sand because their clothes are so dirty?
Or do I try to dry the mattresses since it will be so cold? Or should I get ready to give birth at any time? She inquires.
Aid organizations have warned that Gaza’s displaced families would experience catastrophe each time the winter arrived because they are living in thin, tattered tents as a result of Israel’s strict ban on construction materials and caravans entering the Gaza Strip.
According to Samar, “A tent is not a solution.” We flood in the winter and it’s unbearably hot in the summer. There is no life in this. And yet, winter has not yet begun. When the real cold arrives, what will we do?
“At the very least, why weren’t caravans permitted in?” until this is over, any roof to provide shelter for us.
A father is enraged
Abdulrahman al-Salmi, Samar’s husband, is quietly working on the tent repairs with her brothers. He claims he doesn’t even feel like talking to Al Jazeera at first because he is so depressed. But he starts opening up more and more slowly.
” As a father, I’m helpless, “the 39-year-old says”. Our relationship crumbles on one side as a result of my attempts to keep it together. Both during and after the war, that is our life. There hasn’t been a solution for us.
He recalls the call Samar made to him as he arrived for his first day of work at a small barbershop earlier that morning.
He recalls that “she was crying and screaming, and everyone around her was screaming.” Come quickly, she said, “We have our tent in every direction because of the rain.” “
He ran under the rain and dropped everything.
He claims, “The place was completely flooded, like a swimming pool,” with tears streaming into his eyes. People were dumping water from their tents with buckets as my wife and mother-in-law screamed, my children were outside shivering from the cold, and the streets were flooded. Everything was a lot of work.
The rain feels like the end, according to Abdulrahman.
Since the start of the war, “we’ve been struggling in every way, and now the rain has completely ruined our efforts.”
In light of severe shortages and skyrocketing costs, the father expressed his immense difficulty in providing the newborn with necessities.
He claims, “I bought the diapers for 85 shekels ($26),” which is the same price we paid for 13 ($4). The milk formula is 70 ($21). Even the pacifier is pricey. And now everything that we did to prepare for the delivery tomorrow is gone. I’m at a loss for ideas.
The couple’s warm, airy second-floor apartment in Tal al-Hawa, where they once lived a dignified and peaceful life, is all that they can recall.
According to Samara, “The apartment, the building, and the entire neighborhood are destroyed.” Our family homes are all gone. We are left to live in tents.
The couple’s acceptance of their daughter into these circumstances terrifies them the most. Samar will undergo a C-section and then go home.
She softly responds, “I never imagined this.” Under these circumstances, I never imagined welcoming the daughter we had hoped for.
She acknowledges that she occasionally regrets having a baby while serving in the war.
She continues with grief, “In my previous deliveries, I returned from the hospital to my apartment, to my comfortable bed, and I took care of myself and my baby peacefully.”
Any mother in the world would understand my emotions right now, the delicateness of the delivery process, the first few days after delivery, and how sensitive I feel.
Endless entanglement
Samar’s has repeatedly been displaced, moving between Rafah, Nuseirat, and Khan Younis, like most families in Gaza.
I eluded my husband’s family, my uncle’s, and then my family’s home. Everyone is homeless and every house we fled to has been destroyed, according to Samara.
The most severe injuries have occurred to their children, Mohammad, seven, Kinan, five, and Yaman, three.
She says, “Look at them, look at them.” They are shivering because of it. They lack sufficient clothing. And the laundry, which I just washed, is now covered in mud.
After being bitten by insects inside the camp, the children needed to be taken to the hospital a few days ago. Every night, cold and illness stalk them.
According to Abdulrahman, “the older boy couldn’t sleep from stomach pain.” I covered him, but it was ineffective. Nothing is there, just blankets.
Even the ceasefire hasn’t provided any comfort to Samar. She refutes the claim that things have cooled down in the conflict. The war never came to an end, according to her.
They claim that the conflict has ended. What happened now? “Samar asks”. Every day there are bombings, martyrs, and drownings and sufferings. This is the start of a new conflict, not its conclusion.
A call for shelter
The couple only desires dignity above all else.
Even caravans are a temporary solution, Samar claims. We are people. We had homes. Rebuilding our homes is what we demand.
Her final appeal targets humanitarian organizations.
We require blankets, mattresses, and clothes. Everything has been destroyed. Someone must be there for us. We require a place to rest. It’s impossible to continue to live on plastic sheets.
Abdulrahman sums up their reality in one sentence as he spreads yet another layer of sand:
We have lost our souls, to be honest.
