On September 30 the Ethiopian government declared seven senior UN officials—five from OCHA, one from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and an official from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights—personae non gratae and insisted that they leave the country. Federal officials claimed that the expelled personnel had been “meddling in the internal affairs of the country.” The announcement came just days after the UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator called the manmade crisis in Tigray “a stain on our conscience.”

Last week, the Liberian Supreme Court affirmed the ruling of a lower court which ordered the imprisonment of former Liberian Defense Minister Brownie Jeffrey Samukai Jr., for two years. A one-time deputy minister in the country’s Ministry of National Defense, Samukai was former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s pick to head the ministry when the latter took over the reins as president in January 2006.

UK and South Korea host AI Safety Summit; China rolls out Xi Jinping Thought chatbot; House committee passes bill restricting export of AI systems; Biden meets with Kenyan President; TikTok to limit …

Last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on national television the selection of South Africa’s new cabinet. Although there was no surprise to see the names of such competent officials as Pravan Gordhan, Ephraim Patel, Naledi Pandor, Lindiwe Sisulu, and Tito Mboweni, Ramaphosa’s selection of Patricia de Lille as minister of public works and enterprises really “put the cat among the pigeons.”