- Dupont back to skipper France against Japan
- Germany's Scholz under pressure to call early vote after coalition collapses
- Pharma giant AstraZeneca says China chief detained
- Man City's Ortega receives first Germany call-up
- French lawmakers back bill to tighten Airbnb regulation
- PSG 'Free Palestine' banner has no place in football: French minister
- Israel strikes Hezbollah's main bastion in Lebanon
- Europe wants ministers at plastic pollution treaty talks
- Nissan announces 9,000 job cuts, slashes sales forecast
- Banks, beaches and boom times: four facts about Mauritius
- Mozambique deploys soldiers ahead of planned protests
- Most stocks rise, bitcoin hits record as traders weigh Trump 2.0
- Biden to address Americans after Trump storms back
- Celtic's Furuhashi called up for Japan's World Cup qualifiers
- Japan PM to boost defence alliance with 'very friendly' Trump
- South Korea president says 'not ruling out' direct weapons to Ukraine
- 2024 'virtually certain' to be hottest year on record: EU monitor
- Thai court clears woman over deadly 2015 shrine bombing
- Curry outduels Tatum in Warriors win, Nuggets roll Thunder
- US and China must 'get along', Xi tells Trump
- China export growth beats expectations with October surge
- Doris has mindset to meet Irish captaincy challenges
- Uncertainty looms for Germany after Scholz coalition collapses
- Israel strikes Lebanon after discussing 'Iranian threat' with Trump
- Curry outduels Tatum as Warriors down Celtics
- Irish face All Blacks in rematch of World Cup thriller
- Ethiopia's famed honeybees make slow recovery from war
- Europe seeks footing as Trump storms back to power
- Equities swing, bitcoin hits record as traders weigh Trump 2.0
- Superstar Dupont returns 'better than before' for France's November Tests
- Scandal-hit Samoa 'miss opportunity' with November Tests absence
- Crespo out as Al Ain coach, months after Champions League glory
- Trump has vowed sweeping tariffs: What comes next?
- US Fed rate cut plans likely unchanged by Trump victory
- Thriving scorpion population is stinging problem for Brazil
- King, Carty tons as West Indies thrash England
- Ottawa to shut TikTok's Canada offices, says app can still be used
- Raygun retires from breaking after 'upsetting' Olympic backlash
- Australia moves to ban children under 16 from social media
- Brazil's Amazon posts lowest deforestation in nine years: govt
- Record drought in Amazon impacts 420,000 children: UNICEF
- Bolivia demonstrators announce 72-hour suspension of blockades
- Ottawa to shut TikTok's Canada operations, says app can still be used
- Harris gives defiant concession after stunning Trump win
- US pollsters underestimate Trump support -- again
- Arteta vows Arsenal will recover from troubled spell
- Biden's legacy in ruins after Trump triumph
- Inter Milan sink Arsenal in Champions League, Atletico sting PSG late on
- Calhanoglu fires Inter to Champions League win over angered Arsenal
- 'Drill, baby, drill': Trump policy poses risks, opportunities for oil industry
CMSC | -0.69% | 24.51 | $ | |
RBGPF | 100% | 63.17 | $ | |
GSK | -3.12% | 35.9 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.76% | 24.85 | $ | |
SCS | 5.67% | 13.06 | $ | |
RIO | -0.26% | 65.33 | $ | |
RELX | -0.42% | 47.71 | $ | |
AZN | -3.79% | 63.85 | $ | |
VOD | -1.07% | 9.31 | $ | |
BTI | 0.51% | 35.64 | $ | |
BCC | 2.31% | 141.76 | $ | |
JRI | -0.15% | 13.25 | $ | |
BCE | -0.35% | 28.74 | $ | |
RYCEF | 1.08% | 7.38 | $ | |
NGG | -2.11% | 64.12 | $ | |
BP | 0.66% | 30.16 | $ |
Mozambique deploys soldiers ahead of planned protests
Soldiers and police were patrolling Mozambique's capital Maputo early Thursday ahead of a planned protest against election results seen by the opposition as fraudulent, AFP reporters said.
The southern African nation has been rocked by violence since an October 9 vote won by the Frelimo party, which has been in power for almost 50 years.
The city of more than one more million people was a ghost town on Thursday morning, with shops, banks, schools and universities closed.
A group of a dozen demonstrators, many wearing flip flops and one man wrapped in a Mozambican flag, gathered around 0700 GMT on one of the main streets before being told by a soldier to go home.
Frelimo's Daniel Chapo won the presidential election with 71 percent of the vote, according to the electoral commission, while the main opposition candidate Venancio Mondlane came in second with 20 percent.
Mondlane, backed by the small Podemos party, who said results were false and that he won, called for a mass protest on Thursday.
Using social media, he has rallied supporters out onto the streets since the election in demonstrations that have turned violent in police crackdowns.
In an interview with AFP, the opposition leader, whose whereabouts are unknown, said he would not be present at the march due to concerns over his safety.
- At least 18 killed -
At least 18 protesters have been killed in post-electoral violence, according to Human Rights Watch. Local NGO the Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD) said the death toll was 24.
A police officer was also killed in a protest at the weekend, Defence Minister Cristovao Chume told reporters Tuesday, warning the army could intervene "to protect the interests of the state".
"There is an intention to change the democratically established power," he said, amid fears that outgoing President Filipe Nyusi could declare a state of emergency.
Nyusi is expected to step down early next year at the end of his two-term limit.
The authorities have restricted access to internet across the country in what seemed like an effort to "suppress peaceful protests and public criticism of the government", according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).
"The shutdown inhibits people's ability to receive and use life-saving information, to assemble peacefully, and to express their political opinions in a time of crisis," said Allan Ngari, Africa advocacy director at HRW.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said on Wednesday that he was "deeply alarmed by reports of violence across the country".
"The police must refrain from using unnecessary or disproportionate force and ensure that they manage protests in line with Mozambique's international human rights obligations," he said.
The Southern African Development Community has called for an extraordinary summit between November 16 and 20 in part to discuss developments in Mozambique.
M.Furrer--BTB