#Namibia votes and could have its first female leader. But election upsets have shaken the region.

#WINDHOEK, Namibia -A woman who joined Namibia's underground independence movement in the 1970s is a strong contender to become its first female leader as the country voted Wednesday in a presidential election.

#Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, is the current vice president and the ruling SWAPO party's candidate for president. She's already in the lead after special voting among citizens overseas and the armed forces.

But #SWAPO, which has governed the southern African country and held the presidency for 34 years since independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990, faces growing frustration caused by high unemployment and economic hardship, especially among young people.
That is a common theme that has led to momentous election upsets in other countries in the region this year. Voters elsewhere in southern Africa have rejected parties that liberated their nations from colonial or white minority rule in favor of era-ending change to address new problems.

In neighboring South Africa(opens in a new tab), the African National Congress that ruled for three decades since the end of the racist system of apartheid lost its majority in a landmark election result in June. Botswana's ruling party lost in a landslide last month after 58 years in power since independence from Britain, and Mauritius delivered a surprising heavy defeat for its incumbent party this month.

Mozambique's long-ruling Frelimo party was declared the winner of an election in October, prompting claims of vote rigging and sparking ongoing violent protests against the party.

About 1.4 million people — approximately half the Namibian population — are registered to vote to decide the president and the makeup of Parliament for a five-year term. The country on the southwestern coast of Africa is a former German colony that came under South African control after World War I and its Black majority was later subjected to some of South Africa's apartheid policies. SWAPO was at the forefront of the battle for independence.

While Namibia's population is 85% Black, its colonial history is illustrated by large white and biracial communities, and English, German and South Africa's Afrikaans language are all spoken.

Nandi-Ndaitwah voted at an elementary school in the capital, Windhoek. She told reporters that one of her party’s key focuses to fight poverty was attracting more foreign investment to a country with diamond and uranium resources, and untapped oil and gas off its coast that is being explored by international energy companies.

#Kenya-#Police in Nakuru and its environs are hunting for a church official from a popular church who is accused of stabbing his partner multiple times.

Elias Njau is suspected to have attacked Florence Njeri near her home on Thursday and fled the scene, leaving her for dead.

According to #Wanjiku, who is now recuperating at a Nakuru hospital, Njau attacked her because of business and relationship reasons.

“I told him it was time to call it quits to let everything go, he also owed me money and I was requesting for that money,”

Njau could not take no for an answer and attacked the victim, leaving her with 18 stab wounds and several severed fingers.

"On my right leg he was stabbing me and then tearing it and so he ran away," she added.

Wanjiku has since undergone the first of a number of surgeries.

Meanwhile, her attacker remains at large, but the police say his days as a free man are numbered.

"Before long the suspect will be in our custody. He can save us alot of time if he turns himself in. We are telling him that he can run but he can't hide," said Jasper Ombati the Rift Valley Regional Commander.

The attack has been condemned by leaders from the county who are calling for a speedy dispensation of justice for Wanjiku.

"We will stand with the family and when the security agents are done with the investigation, we volunteer on pro bono to hold brief for her family," said Gender Principal Secretary (PS) Anna Wangombe.

This attack is the latest in a series of similar attacks which have left many maimed and others dead.

The government had pledged to act and end these cases of gender-based violence which have in some instances turned to femicide.

#Kremlin explains why Oreshnik missile came as surprise
"I am sure that neither of us is even aware right now of any new future developments.", Peskov said

Replying to a question about the newest Oreshnik missile, the Kremlin official said: "I am sure that neither of us is even aware right now of any new future developments."

Russian President #Vladimir #Putin pointed out on November 21 that US-and UK-made missiles had targeted military facilities in Russia's Kursk and Bryansk borderline regions following a move by the US and its NATO allies to authorize the use of their long-range weapons for strikes against Russia. According to Putin, in retaliation to the attacks, Russia for the first time used its newest Oreshnik non-nuclear intermediate-range ballistic missiles against Ukraine’s Yuzhmash defense industry facility in Dnepropetrovsk (called Dnepr in Ukraine). The Russian leader emphasized that the West could face dire consequences if its provocative policy escalated the conflict further.

#Nigeria-Atiku's criticism of Tinubu's loan request desperate drive for public validation—Northern group.

The National Youth #Development Agency is expected to endorse a candidate for CEO on Monday to lead the entity which has attracted R4 billion in investments.

#Halalisani Nchunu, 27, was arrested last week in connection with the murder of Sipho Masuku, a prominent RBM contractor, and found in possession of three AK-47s and a 9mm pistol.#SouthAfrica

#News, #Trump still performing well, right now he still the 🏆

#KYIV, Ukraine -Ukrainian troops have for the first time engaged with North Korean units that were recently deployed to help Russia in the war with its neighbour, Ukraine's defence minister said Tuesday.

Another #Kyiv official said Ukraine's army fired artillery at North Korean soldiers in Russia's Kursk border region.

The comments were the first official reports that Ukrainian and North Korean forces have engaged in combat, following a deployment that has given the war a new complexion as it approaches its 1,000-day milestone.
Neither claim could be independently confirmed.

The Ukrainian and North Korean troops engaged in “small-scale” fighting that amounted to the start of Pyongyang’s direct involvement in Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov told South Korea’s public broadcaster KBS in an interview.

North Korean soldiers are mixed with Russian troops and are misidentified on their uniforms, Umerov was quoted as saying by KBS. That makes it hard to say whether there were any North Korean casualties, he said.

Umerov reportedly said he expects that five North Korean units, each consisting of about 3,000 soldiers, will be deployed to the Kursk area.

Meanwhile, Andrii Kovalenko, the head of the counter-disinformation branch of Ukraine’s Security Council, said “the first North Korean troops have already been shelled, in the Kursk region.”

He provided no further details.

Western governments had expected that the North Korean soldiers would be sent to Russia’s Kursk border region, where a 3-month-old incursion by the Ukrainian army is the first occupation of Russian territory since World War II and has embarrassed the Kremlin.

U.S., South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence assessments say up to 12,000 North Korean combat troops are being sent by Pyongyang to the war under a pact with Moscow.

The Pentagon said Monday that at least 10,000 North Korean soldiers were in Russia near Ukraine’s border.

More troops from North Korea’s 1.3-million-strong army may be slated for deployment in Russia, according to an analysis published Tuesday by the European Council on Foreign Relations, an international think tank.

The ramifications extend far beyond Europe, it said.

The #Nigerian president and the UK prime minister held discreet talks at 10 Downing Street in early October. Since July, Britain's new Labour government has stepped up its contacts with Nigeria, where the UK foreign secretary is expected on 4 November.