NPP Deputy National Communication Director Awal Mohammed says the party’s internal data points to potential gains in more than 50 constituencies held by the governing National Democratic Congress, even before the opposition party selects its parliamentary candidates. Speaking on Globe TV’s News Lens on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, Mohammed said Mussah Dankwah is under-reporting what he has seen on grounds. “Looking at the data and what he projected, from where I sit, I believe that he’s under-reporting what he has seen on the ground,” Mohammed said.

Mohammed argued that building support at the constituency level would be critical to the NPP’s efforts to return to government. According to him, strong parliamentary candidates could improve the party’s electoral prospects and strengthen support for its presidential candidate. “The vote emanates from the constituencies, and the more you get people elected from the constituencies, the more your chances of forming government and your flagbearer winning,” he said.

Drawing on the NPP’s experience in the 2008 elections, Mohammed argued that a popular presidential candidate alone was not enough to secure victory without a strong parliamentary showing.

He also accused the NDC government of failing to fulfil key campaign promises, which he claimed was contributing to a shift in voter sentiment towards the opposition.

Despite suggesting that the projections favoured the NPP, Mohammed stressed that his comments should not be interpreted as an endorsement of Dankwah’s work. He described himself as a longstanding critic and alleged that Dankwah’s work sought to shape public opinion rather than accurately reflect it.

Mohammed also outlined what he described as a revised approach to selecting the NPP’s parliamentary candidates, aimed at promoting fairness and reducing disputes. He said prospective aspirants were expected to declare their intention to contest between November 1 and 10, after which they would undergo screening and participate in a workshop before campaigning.

According to him, the approach was intended to address complaints about difficulties accessing nomination forms and ensure a level playing field.

“If you win, we all support you to win the seat. If you lose, you also have to support the one who has won,” he said.

Mohammed urged party members to unite behind successful candidates, arguing that a cohesive party would be better placed to persuade voters of its readiness to govern.

“When they see you united, it becomes easier for them to think that even in government, you will be united to be able to work well,” he said.

Global InfoAnalytics in its Multilevel Regression and Poststratification (MRP) model projected the opposition NPP to increase its representation to 100 seats from the 88 it won in 2024, representing a potential gain of 12 seats, where the governing NDC ould lose 29 parliamentary seats in the 2028 general elections. The model leaves 22 constituencies unresolved, with 20 classified as “not disclosed” and two as toss-ups.

The regional breakdown shows that the Eastern Region has the highest number of undisclosed seats, with five, followed by the Ashanti Region with four. The Western Region has three, while the Upper East has two.

Central, Greater Accra, Oti, Upper West, Western North and Bono each have one undisclosed seat.

The two toss-up constituencies are located in the Ashanti and Bono regions.

At least 132 people are dead and a state of emergency has been declared after Colombia was hit by one of its largest earthquakes in years. The death toll is likely to rise, with more feared trapped under collapsed buildings.

The magnitude 7.4 quake struck at 07:34 (12:34 GMT) at a depth of 103km (64 miles) in Chocó province, the country’s geological service said. It was felt across an enormous area, stretching for hundreds of miles across western Colombia.

Many of the deaths have been concentrated in the city of Pereira, in Colombia’s coffee-growing region, with surrounding cities and the Valle del Cauca region also hit hard. The epicentre of the quake was near the village of San José del Palmar, in Chocó province, but local mayor León Fabio Marín Moncada said that there had miraculously been no deaths or injuries – despite the roads in and out being damaged.

At least 570 people were injured in the quakes, Colombia’s Association of Capital Cities wrote in a statement update on Monday.
About 55km (34 miles) from the epicentre of the earthquake, the city of Pereira saw some of the worst damage.

Videos verified by the BBC show at least one building collapsing in Plaza Bolívar, the city’s main square, with scattered debris and dust across the open space where many people had gathered.

Local authorities have reported at least 67 people dead in the city’s metropolitan area, with 65 collapsed buildings. People are believed to be trapped in 15 of them. A curfew is in place in some parts of the city until 05:00 local time on Tuesday.

Thirty-two buildings collapsed in Cali, located about 160km south of Pereira and about 200km from the epicentre.

Dan Cutler, 29, is from London but has been in Colombia for about two months as part of a big trip with his partner, and is currently in Cali. Being woken by the earthquake, he told the BBC: “I’ve never experienced anything like it.”

“We sprinted outside in our pyjamas. There’s no major structural damage to the hotel, but there are surface cracks in the walls, and paint and plaster have peeled off,” he says. There were also reports of deaths in Manizales, Quibdó, Medellín, across the Chocó and Valle del Cauca regions.

At least two people have died in Manizales. Speaking to BBC World Service, Angélica Ávila said she had been staying in a hotel in Manizales.

She said as the earthquake hit, cracks appeared in the walls.

“Everyone was screaming… I saw dust coming out of the neighbouring buildings, and bricks were falling off the walls,” she said.

Journalist and meteorologist Luis Felipe Molina, from Manizales, was at home when the earthquake struck – about 150km from the epicentre.

He explained that due to previous earthquakes, the city has “very strict seismic-resistant building regulations” – so his building was able to resist the impact.

“I have 450 books and only a few were left standing on the shelves. You could hear glass breaking and people screaming,” he told BBC Mundo.

“It was a terrible and terrifying experience.”

The country’s aviation authority has reported damage at several regional airports, including those in Pereira, Manizales, Quibdó, Armenia, Cartago and Buenaventura.

In the capital, Bogotá, trees and traffic lights shook violently, with reports of cracks in buildings but so far none of any serious damage to the city’s infrastructure.

Tremors were felt as far away as neighbouring Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama.

The quake comes less than two months after twin quakes devastated the north of Venezuela, killing more than 6,300 people.

Ukraine has developed drones, picture here in July 2026, capable of striking deep inside Russia

At least five people were killed and 10 more injured in a Ukrainian drone strike on a warehouse close to Moscow overnight on Tuesday, the region’s governor has said.

The official did not specify what had been targeted but Ukraine has been carrying out strikes on facilities operated by Wildberries in recent weeks, often dubbed the “Russian Amazon”.

Kyiv says the depots are used to supply the Russian military, which Moscow denies. Local officials also said Wildberries warehouses were targeted in the St Petersburg and Tver regions overnight.

Russia also launched strikes against parts of Ukraine, killing at least four and injuring several people. Russia’s defence ministry said it had intercepted and destroyed 320 drones overnight.

Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyov said an industrial site in Novoselki, Chekhov – about 69km (43 miles) south of the Kremlin – was attacked, triggering a fire at a warehouse. He wrote on Telegram that seven of the 10 people injured were in a moderate condition, with one in a serious condition.

Ukrainian media reported that the site of the Moscow strike was linked to Wildberries. The company has not commented publicly but confirmed its facility in St Petersburg was hit.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said an 89-year-old woman was killed and two girls, aged two and 12, were among seven injured in a Russian strike on the southern port city of Mykolaiv overnight. A woman and two girls, aged five and 10, were killed in a strike on a residential area in Sumy, and another four people were injured, it said.

Russian strikes also injured two people in the city of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, while a food warehouse was set on fire in Dnipro, according to the State Emergency Service.

Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye is in intensive care in hospital, his wife and medical sources said on Thursday, as the UN blasted a wider crackdown on dissent. Besigye, 70, has been in custody and facing treason charges over an alleged plot against veteran President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power since 1986.

At a court appearance on Wednesday, Besigye rejected state-appointed lawyers. He was expressing anger at his own representatives being refused when he collapsed. His wife Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of UNAIDS, wrote on X: “He has been admitted to the ICU at Mulago Hospital (in Kampala).

“He is unconscious, unable to speak, and unresponsive even to a pain stimulus.” A spokeswoman for the hospital, Gladys Baligonzaki Kajura, confirmed to AFP that Besigye had been admitted. “He is at the intensive care unit. He was admitted last evening and his condition is being managed,” she added, without elaborating.

A medical source said, under condition of anonymity, that Besigye was taken to hospital on Wednesday evening and said he was in a “critical condition and unresponsive”. Besigye, a former personal physician to Museveni, has been in the government’s crosshairs since he joined the opposition more than 25 years ago.

He was abducted in neighbouring Kenya in 2024 and reappeared in Uganda, where he was brought before a military tribunal until the case was transferred to a civilian court. Before he collapsed, one of his defence lawyers — the former mayor of Kampala Erias Lukwago — was arrested while the other, former justice minister Martha Karua, was banned from entering the country.

Uganda has imposed a widening crackdown on opposition figures, lawyers and independent media in recent months. On Thursday, the Ugandan courts again refused to release Lukwago on bail. He was abducted from his home by the army then charged with failing to report treason. In early July, Lukwago likened his continued detention to “a death sentence” as he had chronic health problems affecting notably his lungs and spine. The judge at the latest bail hearing justified a refusal to free him because Lukwago did not have a certificate from his doctor stating that he cannot be treated in prison.

Besigye has been hospitalised three times since he was taken into custody. He was admitted briefly in February 2025 after a hunger strike and again earlier this year. His wife has repeatedly criticised his detention conditions, describing them as inhumane and alleging a plot to kill him. In Geneva, UN rights chief Volker Turk said the crackdown on dissent was twinned with a gradual erosion of the rule of law, increased military involvement in civilian institutions, and shrinking civic space.

“I am appalled that the authorities are increasingly targeting any form of dissent, and deepening restrictions on the fundamental freedoms of all those living in Uganda,” he said in a statement. “Those who dare to speak out are silenced.” Since Museveni, 81, was re-elected for a seventh term in January, repression has increased against all those perceived to oppose the government, the statement from Turk’s office said.

According to their information, at least 50 opposition leaders and supporters, five human rights defenders and five journalists have been subjected to human rights violations since then, including enforced disappearance, torture and ill-treatment.

Ten leading civil society organisations have been suspended since January, while others have been closely scrutinised and, at times, subjected to harassment, it added. The UN rights office said it had also received information about increased military involvement in civilian institutions, while some media outlets have been forced to close temporarily.

Morocco’s interior ministry on Sunday issued its first toll for those who died trying to reach Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta last week, saying 11 people had died.

The figures are significantly lower than those issued by Spain, which says at least 72 people died. Tens of thousands of would-be migrants crossed into the territory between Wednesday and Friday, sparking a diplomatic row within the European Union as some member states criticised Spain’s migration policies. Rachid El Khalfi, a spokesman for Morocco’s interior ministry, said that of the 11 who died, 10 had drowned, while an eleventh person fell from a rocky area. Morocco was working with Spain to check the toll figures and to identify bodies found on Spanish territory.

The ministry blamed the sudden surge on the “malicious exploitation” of social media and the “spread of misleading information”.But it also cited the “misinterpretations of legal provisions” — a reference to a July 8 Spanish Supreme Court ruling that migrants arriving by sea should not be returned as quickly as others.

The ministry said there had been 40,000 attempts to cross into Ceuta illegally.
nother 1,135 people had tried to illegally enter the Spanish territory of Melilla, further east, but had been immediately returned to Moroccan territory, the ministry added. Spain says more than 60,000 managed to enter Ceuta in recent days although most have now returned to Morocco. The Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) has said there were “nearly 130 victims” with dozens more missing. Prosecutors have opened an official investigation into what happened, said the ministry.

Thousands of people have fled South Africa in recent weeks ahead of a June 30 “deadline” for foreign nationals to leave the country announced by anti-immigrant groups. We spoke to Congolese refugees in KwaZulu-Natal province who were forced to leave their homes and livelihoods after anti-immigrant protests erupted in violence.

Anti-immigrant groups in South Africa have set a June 30 “deadline” for undocumented immigrants to leave the country, planning widespread demonstrations on that date and threatening a “national shutdown” if the government does not take significant action on immigration. Anti-foreigner sentiment has been on the rise in recent months, with protests in several major cities across the country.

Three people, including a Malawian man and two Mozambican nationals, were killed during recent anti-immigration protests in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape provinces. 

South African Police Services launched a special $36 million operation ahead of the new round of protests, with acting Minister of Police Firoz Cachalia saying police would not tolerate violence or lawlessness. 

The government announced measures in early June to combat undocumented nationals following pressure from anti-immigrant groups, notably vowing to crack down on violations of the Immigration Act and prioritising border security. The government is also looking to update the immigration system with modern technology while working in concert with other African countries.

Faced with the threat of violence, foreigners are banding together. FRANCE 24 spoke to two refugees who were forced to flee their homes in early June following anti-immigrant protests in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. The men gathered outside the Home Affairs offices along with hundreds of other foreign nationals, where they remained on the pavement for weeks, awaiting repatriation to their countries after decades in South Africa.

Pope Leo XIV presides over the midday prayer in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia in Bacelona, Spain, Tuesday, June 9, 2026, on the fourth day of a seven-day apostolic journey to mainland Spain and the Canary Islands. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

BARCELONA – Pope Leo XIV waded into two of Spain’s classic culture wars as he landed in Barcelona on Tuesday during his weeklong visit to the country, but sought to defuse one quickly by speaking first in the Catalan language instead of Spanish upon his arrival.

The U.S.-born pontiff earlier rubbed soccer fans in Barcelona the wrong way by saying he actually roots for Real Madrid instead of their beloved Barça.

The other matter was likely unavoidable. Many Catalans wanted the pope to speak more Catalan publicly instead of Spanish, which Leo speaks fluently and is expected to use predominantly during his visit to Barcelona before heading to the Canary Islands.

The pope even visited Real Madrid’s museum

“The pope is for all teams, but Prevost is for Real Madrid” were the words that sealed Leo’s sporting fate with many a Barça fan when he responded to a question on the papal plane en route to Spain.

Madrid proudly posted the video of the moment, and social media filled with comments about how Madrid is “the team of God.”

Tomás Roncero, a popular sports commentator for the widely read Spanish sports daily AS, said in a video that “the pope can’t be for Barça because it is a sinful club … in his heart he is of a pure and clean club like Madrid.”

For many non-Madrid fans, especially those in Spain’s regions with different languages and strong local identities like Catalonia, Real Madrid is associated with strong central power. Many consider it almost a pillar of the state, along with the central government and the Catholic Church.

The pope aligned himself closely with Madrid during events in the capital. He visited Real Madrid’s museum to peruse its packed trophy case with club president Florentino Pérez, who gave him a Madrid shirt with “Robert F. Prevost” on the back.

On Monday, thousands of Catholics packed the home venue of Real Madrid for a rally with the pope featuring dancers kicking soccer balls while dressed in the white and yellow colors of the Holy See.

“Today the Church in Madrid has scored a great goal to always be remembered!” Leo said.

Several hundred people kidnapped by Boko Haram earlier this year from a village in the northeastern state of Borno were freed over the weekend, a senator and local youth leader said Sunday.

Kidnappings, often for ransom, have become a key tactic of Boko Haram jihadists in their 17-year-old insurgency against the Nigerian state, mostly concentrated in the northeast.

Samaila Kaigama, president of the Borno South Youth Alliance (BOSYA), said his group “has secured the release of all the 416 women and children abducted from Ngoshe”.

They were released Saturday, Kaigama told journalists.

Mohammed Ali Ndume, a senator from Borno, confirmed the release to AFP.

It was not immediately clear how the victims’ release was secured.

But separately, the military said it executed an “intelligence-led rescue operation” freeing 360 people.

The victims had been held by Boko Haram militants “under harsh conditions after being abducted from several communities, particularly within the Ngoshe axis”, it said.

“Sadly, two infants died due to exhaustion from prolonged captivity and harsh terrain,” Daniel Bwala, a spokesman for President Bola Tinubu, said on social media.

The military statement said troops had gathered intelligence and used “psychological operations” to sow “mistrust within the insurgent ranks” before “the commencement of the assault phase”.

The militants had demanded millions of naira in ransom for the Ngoshe captives.

Authorities in Nigeria deny paying ransoms, though analysts say it is common practice, by both the government and victims’ families.

Nigeria’s various armed groups, including jihadists, “bandit” gangs and separatists, have created a kidnapping crisis across the country that raised some $1.66 million in ransom payments between July 2024 and June 2025, according to a report by SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based consultancy.

Ngoshe lies less than 10 kilometres from the Cameroonian border in the Gwoza hills, a Boko Haram stronghold, and has come under repeated attack.

Since erupting in 2009 with Boko Haram’s uprising, Nigeria’s jihadist insurgency, which has spawned multiple armed groups, has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions.
By Globetvnews with Africanews.

Malian authorities confirmed the death of the country’s defence miniser in coordinated attacks by jihadist fighters and separatist rebels, as pro-government forces are reportedly driven out of a key northern town.

Mali’s defence minister was killed in a sweeping attack by jihadis and rebels who seized several towns and military bases, authorities said Sunday, the latest violence in the junta-run country that has long battled militants linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group as well as a separatist rebellion in the north.

The Malian government confirmed the death of the defence chief, Gen. Sadio Camara, in a post on the defence ministry’s Facebook page, and expressed its condolences to his family.

State-run television also broadcast the announcement of his death by spokesman Gen. Issa Ousmane Coulibaly.

Mali was struck on Saturday by one of the biggest coordinated attacks on its army in the capital, Bamako, and several other cities and towns in an assault that also challenged Mali’s security partner, Russia, which has forces on the ground in the West African country.

The government said Sunday the attacks appear to be over, but several questions remain, including who was in control of a key northern city that the separatists claim to have taken.

The government has not provided a death toll from Saturday and previously said only that at least 16 people were wounded in what it denounced as terror attacks.

The separatists have been fighting for years to create an independent state in northern Mali, while al-Qaeda and IS-aligned militants have been fighting the government for over a decade.

According to the government statement, Camara’s residence was targeted by a suicide car bomber and other attackers on Saturday.

“He engaged in an exchange of fire with the assailants, some of whom he managed to neutralise,” it said. “During intense clashes, he was wounded and then transported to the hospital, where he unfortunately succumbed to his injuries.”

Separatists claim control of the northern town of Kidal

A spokesperson for the separatist Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front, or FLA, said the Russian Africa Corps troops and the Malian military withdrew from the city of Kidal following the attack on Saturday, after an agreement was reached for their peaceful exit.

“Kidal is declared free,” said FLA spokesperson Mohamed El Maouloud Ramadan.

In a statement on state TV late Sunday night, Gen. Oumar Diarra, head of the armed forces, confirmed that the Malian army had left the city and that its forces were repositioning in Anefis, a city about 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Kidal.

The separatists have been fighting for years to create an independent state in northern Mali.

Kidal had long served as a stronghold of the rebellion before being taken by Malian government forces and Russian mercenaries in 2023. Its capture marked a significant symbolic victory for the junta and its Russian allies.

Militants unite with separatists to coordinate attacks

Saturday’s wave of attacks was the first time the separatists joined forces with the al-Qaeda-linked group JNIM, which said it was also part of the attack on Kidal and had also targeted a town outside of the capital of Bamako and three other cities on Saturday.

The FLA spokesperson confirmed the coordinated push.

“This operation is being carried out in partnership with the JNIM, which is also committed to defending the people against the military regime in Bamako,” Ramadan said.

The separatists called on Russia to “reconsider its support for the military junta” in Mali, saying its “actions have contributed to the suffering of the civilian population.”

Wassim Nasr, a specialist for the region and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center security think tank, said this “coordination, conducting attacks all over the country at the same time,” the united push by the two groups and the call for the Russian military to leave was a first.

It extended beyond the military, he said, to the political level because both groups “acknowledged that they worked together.”

Following the attacks, a three-day overnight curfew, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., was also announced for the Bamako district.

Mali’s government spokesperson, Coulibaly, said civilian and military personnel were among the 16 wounded and that several militants were killed. He did not provide a death toll.

Threat to the wider region

The Economic Community of West African States condemned Saturday’s attacks in Mali and called on “all states, security forces, regional mechanisms and populations of West Africa to unite and mobilise in a coordinated effort to combat this scourge.”

Following military coups, the juntas in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso turned from Western allies to Russia for help in combating Islamic militants.

But the security situation in the region has worsened in recent times, with a record number of attacks by militants. Government forces have also been accused of killing civilians they suspect of collaborating with militants.

In 2024, an al-Qaeda-linked group claimed an attack on Bamako’s airport and a military training camp in the country’s capital, killing scores of people.

Ulf Laessing, from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said that the separatists and JNIM are unlikely to take control of Bamako in the near term due to opposition from the local population.

Still, the attacks undermined the Malian junta’s Russian partners.

“The attacks are a major blow to Russia as the mercenaries had no intelligence about the attacks and were unable to protect major cities,” Laessing said.

The Government of Ghana has initiated high-level diplomatic engagement with South Africa following disturbing viral videos showing alleged xenophobic attacks on Ghanaians.

In a statement, Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, disclosed that he held a telephone conversation earlier today with his South African counterpart, Ronald Lamola, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation.

According to him, the call was prompted by widespread public concern over the footage circulating online. Mr Lamola reportedly expressed deep empathy for the victims and assured that South African authorities will launch full-scale investigations into the incidents.

He further indicated that the South African government is expected to brief African ambassadors later today on the situation.

The Minister also revealed that he has been in constant communication with Ghana’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Benjamin Quarshie, to coordinate a response. He confirmed that officials at Ghana’s diplomatic mission have identified the main victim featured in the viral video and are currently providing consular assistance.

Authorities say the victim is in stable condition, with no Ghanaian fatalities recorded so far.

The government has urged calm among citizens, expressing confidence in its ability to ensure the safety of Ghanaians both at home and abroad.

Reaffirming its position, the administration of John Dramani Mahama stated that it remains firmly committed to protecting the welfare and security of all Ghanaian nationals.

The Minister further called for unity across the continent, stressing that isolated incidents should not undermine longstanding Pan-African solidarity, noting that the vast majority of Africans remain united despite the actions of a few individuals.