Gambia crisis ends as Yahya Jammeh leaves for exile

Rights groups in the Gambia are up in arms about the potential return of former dictator Yahya Jammeh to the West African country ahead of crucial December elections.

Junta leader Col. Mamady Doumbouya said Conakry would not surrender deposed President Alpha Conde. Regional leaders have put pressure and sanctions on the junta members.

The Tunisian army has remained apolitical throughout its modern history. But now, some locals fear the military is getting too close to President Kais Saied's increasingly unconstitutional regime.

Over 100 members of the moderate Islamist Ennahda movement have stepped down due to frustration with their party's leader. Meanwhile, international rights groups have slammed a "power grab" by President Kais Saied.

Mikheil Saakashvili was arrested Friday after returning from Ukrainian exile to campaign in critical nationwide municipal elections. The still-popular politician has called on supporters to take to the streets.

The Gambia is going to the polls in December, to vote their new president. And among those who wants to be president is independent candidate, Rasta man Bankole Yao Jojo Ahadzie, aka Banky. It is the first presidential and parliamentary election since the departure of Yahya Jammeh, who ruled for 22 years.

Two more aides of the imprisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny are in exile. The news comes as Navalny files his fourth complaint against conditions in the Vladimir region prison camp east of Moscow where he was sent.

When Gambia's president Adama Barrow came to power in 2016, he promised to step down after three years. His decision to extend his term from three to five years - and seek another - has unsurprisingly divided the country. Edith Kimani meets young Gambians in the heat of the election campaign to hear from both sides.

Gambian voters will cast their votes on December 4 in a hotly contested presidential election. Observers view the polls as a crucial litmus test of Gambia's democracy.

Since China imposed a security law on Hong Kong, more than 100,000 people have left. The UK has offered a special visa to its former colony, and 70% of Hong Kong's population is eligible. But for those who've fled, it's difficult to leave home behind.

The country's military government has its work cut out for it, as it copes with the threat of Islamic extremism and ECOWAS sanctions.

GirlZOffMute's teen reporter Lena E. Igweanyiba looks at a project in Gambia that trains girls and women to defend themselves in the event of an attack. Assiatou Jammeh, 14, is one of nearly 200 girls who have gone through the training. In case of an attack, she recommends thinking, screaming and fleeing.