Nepal, Colombia, Ethiopia

Today's three stories you should know

Nepal

Voters go to the polls in Nepal tomorrow in a particularly consequential election given it is the first since the government was toppled in September by youth-led protests during which at least 77 people were killed. The demonstrations, which were characterized as a Gen Z uprising, erupted over a social media ban before evolving into demands that the administration of Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli step down over corruption, unemployment and the lavish lifestyles of the elite. Though the centrist Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal, the parties that have dominated politics for decades, are running, most analysts believe the centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) is the one to beat. The RSP’s candidate is popular rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah, 35, who joined the party three years ago and emerged as the face of the protests.

More from Reuters here.

NB: Proximities has published a deep dive on last year’s wave of Gen Z protests for paid subscribers. Consider going paid for weekly Q&As that put our world in context.

Colombia

Colombia has captured 121 members of banned armed groups, including paramilitaries and drug cartels, accusing them of extortion and kidnapping. What was reported as a massive police operation targeted the Gulf Clan, the National Liberation Army and the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, with arrests carried out in Bogota, Medellin and Cartagena, as well as in smaller cities in the provinces of Choco, Huila and Cesar. Last year, the country’s defense ministry recorded 651 cases in which people were kidnapped for ransom – more than double the previous year. Colombian authorities have struggled to contain drug traffickers and militias that now contest territory once controlled by FARC rebels, who signed a peace deal with the government in 2016.

More from AP here.

NB: Proximities has published a deep dive on Colombia’s talks with the Gulf Clan.

Ethiopia

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has said he will not go to war to secure access to the sea for the land-locked nation after he raised regional alarm with comments that appeared to threaten neighboring Eritrea. “We have no intention of violating or invading the sovereignty of others, but we do call for a discussion on getting access to the sea to conduct business,” Abiy said. Ethiopia, a growing military and economic power, lost access to its ports when Eritrea gained independence in 1993. Most of its trade now passes through Djibouti, for which it pays an estimated $1.5 billion per year. Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a border war from 1998-2000 in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed.

More from Africa News here.

NB: Proximities has published a deep dive on Ethiopia-Eritrea tensions.