Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Tanzania’s political crisis, Israel and Hamas exchanging more killed prisoners, and a deadly earthquake in Afghanistan.
Hassan Sworn In
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan was sworn in for a second term on Monday during what opposition leaders and civil rights activists are calling the country’s worst political crisis since its independence in 1961.
“Our responsibility is to build our today to be better than our yesterday,” Hassan said in her inauguration address, which was aired on state TV from a fortified military base rather than the standard locale of a public stadium. “I beg that we continue protecting our values of unity and collaboration.”
Her call for unity comes just days after thousands of Tanzanians took to the streets across the country—and especially in Dar es Salaam, the country’s largest city—to protest what they claim was a rigged presidential election. Official figures state that Hassan won nearly 98 percent of the vote last week, and the government maintains that the election was fair and transparent. But critics have denounced the election for its exclusion of Hassan’s two biggest challengers; Tanzania’s main opposition party, Chadema, was barred from running for its refusal to sign a code of conduct, and its leader was arrested in April on disputed treason charges.
“In most areas, voters could not express their democratic will,” election observers from the Southern African Development Community said in their preliminary report on Monday; they also reported having witnessed situations at some polling stations that “created a perception of ballot stuffing.”
Such actions sparked mass anti-government protests that turned violent when some demonstrators set fire to government buildings, attacked police stations, and vandalized polling centers. Police responded with gunfire and tear gas, and the government shut down internet access, imposed a curfew in Dar es Salaam, and deployed the military.
“This is the third time in less than a year that Tanzanian authorities have resorted to an internet blockade to silence dissenting voices,” Amnesty International wrote on Monday.
At least 10 people were killed in the chaos, according to official reports, but the opposition maintains that the death toll is actually in the hundreds.
“I cannot negotiate with the dictator Samia,” Chadema leader Tundu Lissu said. “I begged her not to kill people, and she turned a blind eye. Now she is fighting with Tanzanians, not Chadema.” Hassan’s government has dismissed these fatality numbers as “hugely exaggerated.”
Hassan came to power in 2021 after her predecessor, John Magufuli, died from health issues. She is Tanzania’s first woman president and one of only two female heads of state in Africa. Under Hassan’s rule, rights groups have documented extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, torture, rapes, disappearances, and other restrictions on freedom.
“After Hassan replaced President John Magufuli following his sudden death in March 2021, many analysts believed that her tenure would mark a break from his authoritarian regime,” Nosmot Gbadamosi wrote in FP’s Africa Brief last week. “But now, some analysts and critics consider Hassan to be worse than the autocrat she replaced.”
This record has left foreign leaders wary of backing Tanzania’s election results. The African Union congratulated Hassan on her win over the weekend, but it urged her administration to uphold “fundamental rights and freedoms.” Members of the European Parliament took a harsher tone: “What should have been a celebration of democracy, instead unfolded in an atmosphere of repression, intimidation, and fear. These elections cannot be regarded as free and fair.”
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The World This Week
Wednesday, Nov 5: The U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments over U.S. President Donald Trump’s global tariffs.
Thursday, Nov. 6: Brazil hosts a two-day leaders’ summit ahead of the United Nations climate change conference (COP30), which begins on Nov. 10.
Trump hosts his Central Asian counterparts at a C5+1 summit.
The Indian state of Bihar holds the first phase of assembly elections.
Friday, Nov. 7: French President Emmanuel Macron visits Mexico.
Trump hosts Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Sunday, Nov. 9: Kosovo holds local election runoffs.
Leaders from the European Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States begin a two-day meeting in Colombia.
Monday, Nov. 10: Trump hosts Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Egypt begins two-day parliamentary elections.
What We’re Following
Exchanging remains. Israel returned the bodies of 45 Palestinians to Gaza on Monday, one day after Hamas handed over the remains of three hostages. The three bodies were identified as Israeli soldiers who were killed during the militant group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack. The exchange brings the total number of released hostage remains to 20 and the total number of released Palestinian remains to 270.
The return of living and killed prisoners on both sides is the first part of a multistage cease-fire deal that Israel and Hamas agreed to last month. Since the truce began, Hamas has released one to three bodies every few days. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pushed for their return to be accelerated, accusing the militants of dragging their feet. In several instances, Israel has accused Hamas of returning the bodies of people who were not hostages and has threatened to resume military operations or withhold humanitarian aid from Gaza if all of the remains are not returned.
Hamas, though, has argued that widespread devastation across the territory has hampered the group’s ability to fulfill this requirement quickly, as some of the bodies remain buried under the rubble. Fighting during the Israel-Hamas war damaged or destroyed more than 90 percent of all homes in Gaza; sparked famine in Gaza City and its surrounding areas; and almost entirely collapsed Gaza’s health care, water, sanitation, and hygiene systems.
Devastation in Afghanistan. A 6.3 magnitude earthquake rocked northern Afghanistan on Monday, killing at least 20 people and injuring more than 640 others. Balkh and Samangan provinces were most heavily hit. Local officials have reported extensive destruction, including to the country’s historic Blue Mosque, and Afghan authorities have warned that the number of casualties is expected to rise. Search-and-rescue efforts remain ongoing.
Under Taliban rule, more than half of Afghanistan’s 42 million people are in need of basic humanitarian aid. This crisis has been further compounded by repeated natural disasters, the recent return of more than 2 million Afghan refugees, and U.S. and European cuts to foreign aid.
Natural disasters have proved to be particularly devastating to Afghanistan’s remote areas, which often lack strong infrastructure. Just two months ago, a 6.0 magnitude earthquake in eastern Afghanistan killed more than 2,200 people and damaged or destroyed around 98 percent of the buildings in Kunar province. Total devastation amounted to around $183 million, according to the World Bank. And in October 2023, a 6.3 magnitude quake with heavy aftershocks killed at least 1,500 people, according to official reports.
Kyiv’s Patriot needs. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed late Sunday that the United States has provided Kyiv with more U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems, which are used to intercept Russian attacks. Zelensky thanked German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for facilitating the transfer under a fast-track delivery system that allows NATO members to purchase U.S. weapons for Ukraine’s use, and he said that the Patriots are already being put into operation on the front lines.
Still, Zelensky wrote on X, “more systems are needed to protect key infrastructure sites and our cities across the entire territory of our state.” Specifically, Kyiv has sought to purchase Tomahawk cruise missiles from Washington, arguing that their long-range capabilities are necessary to hit key military sites, energy facilities, and other critical infrastructure deep inside Russian territory.
But Trump said on Sunday that the White House is not considering selling its Tomahawks—at least, for now. Trump discussed the possible sale during separate meetings with Zelensky and NATO chief Mark Rutte last month, but it appears that the U.S. president remains hesitant to transfer them out of fear of exacerbating Russia’s assault.
Odds and Ends
A little paranoia is not unfounded in geopolitics, but for two Asian leaders familiar with the shadowy world of spycraft, it is also a source of laughter. Chinese President Xi Jinping gifted South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and his wife two cellphones during their meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit this weekend. When Lee asked how good the phones’ security was, Xi responded with: “You can check if there’s a backdoor,” referring to preinstalled software that third parties use for monitoring. The remark earned a chuckle from Lee.
The post Tanzania’s President Sworn In Amid Political Crisis appeared first on Foreign Policy.
