In setback to Netanyahu, rival Eisenkot to be tasked with forming next Israeli government. But the path remains complicated

CNN, Tal Shalev, 7 November 2026

 https://www.cnn.com/2026/11/07/middleeast/eisenkot-israel-government-latam-intl

In a setback to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his main rival will be tasked with forming the next Israeli government, placing him one step closer to ousting Israel’s longest-serving leader, even as the path remains complicated. 

GadiEisenkot, a retired military chief who led the centrist Yashar party in the October 27 election, will have up to six weeks to try and assemble a coalition to replace Netanyahu. But his path to power is fraught with political obstacles and divisions within the opposition itself. 

President Isaac Herzog will officially give Eisenkot the mandate to form a government on Sunday, his office said in a statement. Herzog’s decision followed two days of consultations last week with all parties elected to the Knesset. 

Eisenkot secured the support of 67 members of the incoming Knesset, including 19 from the two Arab parties. Netanyahu received just 46 recommendations. A notable crack in his once-loyal bloc was exposed during the consultations when United Torah Judaism, a traditional Netanyahu ally, declined to recommend him. 

Yet Herzog’s decision does not automatically remove Netanyahu from power. Eisenkot has a mandate and a parliamentary majority on paper, but not yet a governing coalition. 

Eisenkot is pushing to form what he calls a “national emergency government” and to swear in a minority government as soon as possible. It would comprise the four Jewish opposition parties, which together hold 48 seats: his own Yashar; Together, led by former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid; Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu, and the left-wing Democrats, led by Yair Golan. 

He has set four conditions for joining: recognizing Israel as a Jewish, democratic, liberal, and egalitarian state, commitment to the values of the Declaration of Independence, universal service – whether military, national, or civilian – and recognition of Hamas as a terrorist organization. 

Palestinian candidate Yousef Jabareen of the Joint List party reacts to exit

polls during Israel’s national election, at the party election headquarters

in Nazareth, northern Israel, on October 27, 2026.

The last condition effectively rules out the Arab parties from sitting in the Cabinet. But they could still support the government from outside, providing a parliamentary safety net. Israeli law requires only a simple majority to establish a government. Removing one is far more difficult, requires an absolute majority of 61 votes who support an alternative government. (The Knesset has 120 seats.) 

Eisenkot’s central obstacle is Avigdor Liberman. The Yisrael Beitenu leader and, at different times, former defense, foreign affairs and finance minister, has ruled out any government dependent on the Arab parties. A minority government, he argues, will be short-lived, and in the long run, will only strengthen Netanyahu. “We’ll have Netanyahu come back with 70 seats for another four years, and from there it’s a short road to annihilation,” Liberman wrote on X on Friday. 

Avigdor Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, has emerged as a

stubborn obstacle to Eisenkot forming a government with the help of

Arab parties. Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images

Instead, Liberman proposed a different route. Dropping his years-long veto on the ultra-Orthodox parties, he urged to make a “maximum effort” to form a coalition of 61 lawmakers with the two ultra-Orthodox parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, and without the Joint List and Ra’am. Once it is formed, he added, three or four lawmakers from the Likud may defect.

That plan, however, clashes with one of the opposition’s core commitments: to end the blanket draft exemption for ultra-Orthodox men from mandatory military service. The ultra-Orthodox parties are pressing for legislation that would enshrine the exemption, and Eisenkot, Liberman and the rest of the opposition pledged universal service throughout the campaign. Moreover, one of the ultra-Orthodox parties remains loyal to Netanyahu. 

Netanyahu, who lost his parliamentary majority, is also applying heavy pressure against any Jewish-Arab political cooperation. He is challenging the election results and claims the vote was “stolen” by Arab parties by bribery and foreign funding. David Zini, his loyalist Shin Bet director, has been pushing to investigate Arab politicians without any public evidence. 

In a video statement Saturday, Netanyahu warned that if a minority government is formed with the Arab parties’ support, Israel will “simply not survive.” Instead, he called for a national unity government with his entire bloc, which includes far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties. Netanyahu called for “all Zionist parties that want to preserve our one and only state of the Jewish people.” 

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures to his supporters at the election

night rally after the first exit polls were announced. Jalaa Marey/AFP/Getty Images

Eisenkot dismissed his message as a “pathetic spin.” In a statement, the Yashar party said, “If the Likud wants a broad unity government, it is more than welcome to announce the dissolution of the alliance with the extremists and enter a government under Prime Minister Eisenkot.” 

Eisenkot’s first test comes Tuesday with the swearing in of the new Knesset. The opposition intends to replace Netanyahu’s Knesset speaker, weakening his grip on power and allowing the opposition parties to begin taking some actions, such as forming a state commission of inquiry into the security failures that led to the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas. Starting Sunday, Eisenkot will have 28 days to negotiate with other parties over Cabinet posts, budgets and policies, with a possible 14-day extension. If he fails, the mandate passes to Netanyahu for another four weeks. 

Eisenkot said on Friday he intends to form a government as quickly as possible, framing the moment as a national emergency. “A situation in which a caretaker prime minister in the minority, who has lost the trust of the people in such an extreme way, continues to operate the security system and law enforcement authorities, is a dangerous situation that must not continue even for one more day,” he wrote on X.

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Africa bigger, US smaller as UN votes to adopt a new world map

ABC News -AFP, 4 September 2026 

Mercator's Projection shows Greenland and Africa as the same size,

when in reality Africa is 14 times the size of Greenland. (Getty: Interim Archives)

The United Nations General Assembly has voted to back a resolution spearheaded by several African countries to adopt a map that makes their continent bigger while shrinking North America and Europe. 

Aimed at "a more accurate representation" of continental landmasses, the resolution was supported by 164 countries while the US voted against it and six other states abstained. 

The new map — known as the Equal Earth cartographic projection — "is a relevant option for improving the accuracy of the cartographic representation of the world", the resolution said.  

The new map was supported by 164 countries, while the US voted against it. (AFP)

It urges member states to adopt the new map in place of the traditional Mercator projection, which was designed for maritime navigation by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569. 

Foreign Minister Robert Dussey of Togo, which drove the resolution, said: "[Maps] guide education, nourish the imagination, and influence collective perceptions. 

"They are therefore never neutral, when they present a distorted image of our planet, they risk perpetuating inaccurate representation that are passed down through generation." 

The US, however, slammed the resolution, saying such moves are "the reason this institution is losing its credibility".

"Instead of focusing on genuine problems … this body is debating map projects from the 16th century and their role in promoting reparations and cognitive justice," US representative Yaryna Ferencevych said ahead of the vote. 

'Distorted representation' 

The Mercator projection focused on accurate depictions of the shapes and angles of land masses, but their relative sizes were often inaccurate, in part due to the challenge of rendering a three-dimensional globe onto a two-dimensional map. 

It inflated northern regions and compressed equatorial ones, making Europe and North America appear much larger, while shrinking Africa and South America. 

A group of cartographers launched the Equal Earth projection in 2018. 

It makes Africa, Latin America, South Asia and Oceania appear much larger. 

"Equal Earth preserves the relative surface areas of continents and, as much as possible, shows their shapes as they appear on a globe," one of the cartographers, Bojan Savric, told AFP in 2025. 

France — which co-sponsored the resolution in support of the new map — announced Friday that it would abandon the Mercator projection. 

"[In that map] the United States, Russia and China take on a disproportionate visual prominence compared to Africa, Latin America or south-east Asia, [while] Greenland appears almost as big as Africa," Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said. 

"Changing maps obviously doesn't change the world. 

The initiative comes as France is seeking to improve relations with Africa, particularly in former colonies with which it has prickly ties.

AFP

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Kenya boosts minimum wage as inflation bites

Yahoo – AFP, 1 May 2022 

Kenyans are grappling with a rise in fuel and food costs (AFP/Simon MAINA)

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta announced Sunday a 12-percent hike in the minimum wage as the country confronts a surge in the cost of living. 

Inflation in the East African economic powerhouse jumped to a seven-month high in April, mainly as a result of skyrocketing fuel and food prices, according to official figures. 

"As a caring government, we find there is a compelling case to review the minimum wages so as to cushion our workers against further erosions," Kenyatta said at a Labour Day rally. 

He said the 12 percent increase would come into effect from May 1. It takes the minimum monthly wage from 13,500 Kenyan shillings (about $116.5, 110.5 euros) to 15,120 shillings ($130.5, 124 euros). 

However the hike falls far short of the 24 percent that had been sought by the Central Organisation of Trade Unions-Kenya (COTU). 

Kenyatta said the high cost of living was due to factors "beyond my control like the coronavirus pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict". 

He castigated rival political leaders -- including Deputy President William Ruto -- for seeking to blame the government for the economic woes, as the country prepares for crucial elections in August. 

President Uhuru Kenyatta said the high cost of living was due to factors beyond his
control such as the Ukraine war and the Covid pandemic (AFP/Yasuyoshi CHIBA)

Kenyatta cannot run again after serving two terms but has endorsed his former arch-rival Raila Odinga for the top job. 

The August 9 presidential election is expected to be a two-horse race between Odinga and Ruto, who was initially anointed by Kenyatta as his successor, but found himself frozen out after a shock 2018 pact between Kenyatta and Odinga. 

Kenya's finance minister last month unveiled a $28 billion budget aimed at helping the economy recover after the Covid-19 pandemic threw hundreds of thousands of people out of work. 

Kenyans are struggling to cope with rising costs of basic goods such as food and fuel, a crisis exacerbated by the Ukraine war, while several parts of the country are also suffering from a severe drought. 

Inflation reached a seven-month high of 6.47 percent last month from 5.56 percent in March and 5.76 percent in April last year, the statistics bureau announced last week. 

Last month the country was also hit by a fuel shortage that triggered long queues at petrol stations and strict rationing.

Gilbert Houngbo to be first African to head UN labour agency

Yahoo – AFP, Agnès PEDRERO, March 25, 2022 

Five candidates were in the running to succeed Britisch trade unionist Guy Ryder
as head of the ILO (AFP/Fabrice COFRRIN)

Gilbert Houngbo, the former prime minister of Togo, was on Friday elected the next head of the International Labour Organization, and will become the first African to lead the UN agency. 

After two rounds of voting, the ILO's governing body elected the 61-year-old to succeed British trade unionist Guy Ryder, who steps down at the end of September, after 10 years in the job. 

"You have made history," Houngbo told the governing body after the election. 

"I am deeply and absolutely honoured to be the first representative of the African region to be selected to lead the ILO after 103 years." 

Houngbo was chosen from among five candidates and had been seen in a strong position after the African Union threw its weight behind him. 

Currently head of the Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), he also enjoyed strong backing on the labour side. 

His opponents in the race were former French labour minister Muriel Penicaud, South Korea's ex-foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha, South African entrepreneur Mthunzi Mdwaba, and ILO deputy Greg Vines of Australia. 

'Rich symbolism' 

Houngbo's win marks a dramatic shift for the ILO, which since its founding in 1919 has been led only by men from Europe or the Americas. 

The oldest specialised UN agency has 187 member states, which are, uniquely in the UN system, represented by governments, employers and workers. 

The organisation's governing body counts 56 members, with half of them representing governments, and a quarter each representing employers and workers. 

Friday's vote took place by secret ballot behind closed doors. 

The ILO said Houngbo received 30 votes in the second-round voting, securing the majority. Penicaud received 23, Kang two and Mdwaba one. 

After the first round, Vines was eliminated. 

Houngbo, who was born in rural Togo in what he has described as "extreme poverty", hailed the "rich symbolism" of his win. 

The vote outcome, he told the governing body Friday, "fulfils the aspirations of a young African, a young African boy whose humble upbringing turned into a lifelong quest for social justice." 

Former Togo prime minister Gilbert Hounge had strong backing (AFP/Tiziana FABI)

The married father-of-three has spent much of his career working with international organisations. 

He has previously held several high-level positions within the UN system, such as finance director at the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and deputy director-general of ILO itself, from 2013-2017. 

Houngbo will take the ILO helm on October 1 and will have his work cut out as the organisation strives to adapt its norms to a world of work rapidly transforming due to evolving technologies. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has only sped up those changes, leading to the rapid uptake of virtual technologies to enable remote working. 

'Unifier' 

"We must respond in a concrete manner to the socioeconomic consequences ... of Covid-19," he told AFP in an interview, pointing in particular to the impact on many people in the informal sector, with no safety net. 

"My ambition, my dream, is to run this organisation, which should lead on ensuring that every household... should have minimum social protection." 

While stressing the need to protect workers' rights, Houngbo, who has also worked in the private sector, including at Price Waterhouse, Canada, insisted that he as ILO chief would equally represent the interests of governments and employers. 

"I am at the middle," he told AFP. 

"I think that in a role like mine, the role of director-general, one must be a unifier. That is the challenge." 

With his win, the ILO will become the third large international organisation in Geneva to be headed by an African, after the World Health Organization elected its first African leader in 2017, as did the World Trade Organization last year. 

Houngbo stressed he was not coming in as the representative of a single region. 

"Although my origins are African, my perspective is global," he said. 

"In an age, unfortunately, of divisiveness, my commitment to be a unifying director general stands firm."

#MeToo wave in Morocco over 'sex for grades' scandal

France24 – AFP, 23 January 2022 

Nadia, a university student and a victim of sexual blackmail, attends a conference
on the subject of sexual aggression, in the western Moroccan city of Casablanca,
on January 20, 2022 FADEL SENNA AFP

Rabat (AFP) – Female Moroccan university students have broken their silence about professors demanding sexual favours in return for good grades, a scandal that has shaken the higher eduction system. 

Testimonies have flooded social media in the style of the #MeToo movement, encouraged by activists in the conservative North African nation where victims of sexual violence often keep quiet. 

"I was expelled from university a year ago under the pretext that I had cheated on an exam," said 24-year-old student Nadia, who declined to give her full name. 

"The truth is that I had just refused to submit to sexual blackmail from one of my professors." 

The Hassan I University in Settat, near Casablanca, where she was eventually re-admitted, is now embroiled in a scandal involving five professors. 

One was sentenced to a two-year prison term this month for demanding sexual favours for good grades, in the first such verdict, while four others are due to face court Monday. 

"My case was not an isolated one," said Nadia. "Other girls suffered similar things but no one wanted to listen to us." 

In recent years, several similar cases were reported by local media, but failed to elicit official action. 

But then a social media campaign shifted the conversation, raising awareness of the magnitude of the problem. 

'Wave of testimonies'

The turning point came when screen shots were published online, said to be of messages in which professors demanded sexual favours from female students. 

Members of a women's rights association, give a press conference about the
subject of sexual aggression against women in universities FADEL SENNA AFP

"I had not considered making a complaint, but after the scandal broke, I filed a civil suit," Nadia said. 

"My move is also a way of encouraging other victims to denounce these acts." 

One association that helped bring some of the scandals to light was "7achak" -- an expression in local dialect used to excuse oneself before broaching a taboo topic. 

The movement launched an Instagram page calling on women victims of harassment to share their stories. 

"As soon as the appeal was launched, we received a wave of testimonies," the association's founder Sarah Benmoussa told AFP. "Those accompanied with evidence were published." 

More accusations against university lecturers began to emerge online. 

"I am speaking to you to stop the sexual harassment and the rotten and unacceptable acts of a monster disguised as an instructor," wrote a former student of the National School of Business and Management in Oujda. 

Other victims also shared their experiences involving that professor, resulting in his suspension. 

Some officials at the business school, deemed "complicit", were also dismissed, the higher education ministry said last month. 

'Zero tolerance'

In Tangiers, an instructor at a school of translation was convicted and sentenced to jail in early January over sexual harassment, lawyer Aicha Guellaa told AFP. 

According to her, "nearly 70 complaints" were also filed at the Abdelmalek Essaadi University of Tetouan, but have so far failed to provoke a response from the university administration. 

The reports of sexual harassment in academia sparked an uproar among activists, online and in the local media across Morocco. 

They prompted Higher Education Minister Abdelatif Miraoui to pledge "zero tolerance" for sexual harassment. 

As the number of testimonies grew, several universities launched toll-free hotlines and set up teams to follow up on cases of sexual violence. 

"It's crucial to support the victims and to help them gain access to the judicial system," said human rights defender Karima Nadir of the "Outlaws" group. 

In 2018, after years of fierce debate, a law entered into force, imposing for the first time prison sentences for "harassment, assault, sexual exploitation or abuse". 

"Laws exist," Nadir said, "but few benefit from them."

Tutu's ashes buried in Cape Town cathedral

Yahoo – AFP, 2 January 2022 

A requiem mass was held Saturday for South Africa's anti-apartheid
icon Archbishop Desmond Tutu (AFP/Nic BOTHMA)

South Africa's spiritual father Archbishop Desmond Tutu, hero of the anti-apartheid struggle, was laid to rest at dawn on Sunday in the Cape Town cathedral where he once preached against the brutal white-minority regime. 

Nobel Peace Prize winner Tutu died a week ago, aged 90, after a life spent fighting injustice. 

His ashes were "interred at St. George's Cathedral in a private family service early today", an Anglican Church statement said. 

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba placed his remains under an inscribed memorial stone before the high altar. 

He urged South Africans to "use this opportunity to turn a new page. 

"Let us commit ourselves... to the radical, the revolutionary change that he advocated,” Makgoba said. 

"Let us live as simply as he lived, exemplified by his pine coffin with rope handles." 

Some 20 members of Tutu's family, led by his widow "Mama Leah" were present. 

Famed for his modesty, Tutu had left instructions for a simple, no-frills funeral with a cheap coffin, followed by an eco-friendly flameless cremation. 

Modest requiem for a titan: South Africa bids farewell to Desmond
Tutu (AFP/Saawmiet MOOS)

Family, friends, clergy and politicians had attended a requiem mass on Saturday with President Cyril Ramaphosa leading the tributes. 

"Our departed father was a crusader in the struggle for freedom, for justice, for equality and for peace, not just in South Africa... but around the world as well," said Ramaphosa. 

"While our beloved (Nelson Mandela) was the father of our democracy, Archbishop Tutu was the spiritual father of our new nation", lauding him as "our moral compass and national conscience". 

Under apartheid, the white-minority government cemented its grip imposing laws based on the notion of race and racial segregation, and the police ruthlessly hunted down opponents, killing or jailing them. 

With Mandela and other leaders in prison for decades, Tutu in the 1970s became the emblem of the anti-apartheid struggle. 

He campaigned relentlessly abroad, administering public lashings to the Western world for failing to slap sanctions on the apartheid regime. 

After apartheid was dismantled and South Africa ushered in the first free elections in 1994, Tutu chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which exposed the horrors of the past in grim detail. 

He would later admonish the ruling African National Congress for corruption and leadership incompetence. 

Tutu's moral firmness and passion went hand-in-hand with self-deprecatory humour and a famously cackling laugh.

South Africa court suspends Shell seismic survey plan

France24 – AFP, 28 December 2021

The ruling is a temporary victory for green groups who said seismic exploration
would harm whales, seals and other fragile species RODGER BOSCH AFP

Johannesburg (AFP) – A South African court on Tuesday blocked Shell from using seismic waves to explore for oil and gas in the Indian Ocean, in a victory for environmentalists worried about the impact on whales and other species. 

Backing a suit filed by conservationists, the High Court in the Eastern Cape town of Makhanda ruled that Shell was "hereby interdicted from undertaking seismic survey operations." 

The fossil fuel giant had announced plans to start exploration over more than 6,000 square kilometres (2,300 square miles) of ocean off South Africa's Wild Coast region. 

The Wild Coast is a 300-kilometre (185-mile) stretch of natural beauty, dotted with marine and nature reserves. 

The area of interest lies 20 kilometres (12 miles) off the coast, in waters 700 to 3,000 meters deep (2,300 to 10,000 feet). 

Shell's scheme entails using seismic shockwaves which bounce off the sea bed, and whose signature can point to potentially energy-bearing sites. 

"Many sea creatures will be affected, from whales, dolphins, seals, penguins to tiny plankton that will be blasted," said Janet Solomon, of the environmental group Oceans Not Oil in the runup to the hearing. 

Exploration had been scheduled to start on December 1 and last up to five months. 

A Shell spokesperson said Tuesday: "We respect the court's decision and have paused the survey while we review the judgement. 

'Huge victory'

"Surveys of this nature have been conducted for over 50 years with more than 15 years of extensive peer-reviewed scientific research." 

The campaigners were jubilant at the ruling, but stressed that the relief was only temporary. 

"It's a huge victory," said Katherine Robinson of the NGO Natural Justice. 

"But the struggle is not over -- this decision is just the interdict. We understand that the proceedings will continue." 

A petition against the project had gathered nearly 85,000 signatures. 

Campaigners said the scheme would entail "one extremely loud shock wave every 10 seconds, 24 hours a day, for five months at a time." 

Shell argued that it took "great care to prevent or minimise" the impact on wildlife, and promised that the work would strictly follow the guidelines of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, a UK government adviser on nature conservation. 

On Tuesday, it also stressed what it described as the benefits for South Africa if oil and gas were found. 

"South Africa is highly reliant on energy imports for many of its energy needs," the company's spokesperson said. 

"If viable resources were to be found offshore, this could significantly contribute to the country’s energy security and the government’s economic development programmes." 

South Africa's energy ministry had backed the scheme, and lashed those who opposed it as thwarting investment in the country's development. 

The High Court's ruling comes after a lower court rejected the conservationists' suit in early December. 

Several fishermen and local groups were also part of the petition.

Botswana loses court bid to revoke gay rights

Yahoo – AFP, November 29, 2021 

Rainbow campaign: Activists gathered outside the Botswana High Court
on October 12 to press their case (AFP/Monirul Bhuiyan)

Botswana's government on Monday lost a legal attempt to overturn a landmark ruling that decriminalised homosexuality. 

The country's High Court in 2019 ruled in favour of campaigners seeking to strike down jail sentences for same-sex relationships, declaring the punishment to be unconstitutional. 

But the government sought to revoke the ruling, arguing that the courts had no jurisdiction in this matter. 

"Since the appellant's grounds of appeal have been unsuccessful... the appeal must fall," Botswana's Court of Appeal ruled on Monday. 

It had started hearing the case in October. 

Homosexuality had been banned since 1965 in conservative Botswana, where offenders could face up to seven years in prison. 

The 2019 judgement was hailed internationally as a major victory for gay rights. 

Judge Ian Kirby, who read out the ruling on Monday, said gay citizens had long lived in "constant fear of discovery or arrest" when expressing "love for their partners." 

"This sometimes led to depression, suicidal behaviour, alcoholism or substance abuse," he said. 

Botswana is one of only a handful of African countries to have decriminalised homosexuality. 

Others are Lesotho, Mozambique, Angola and the Seychelles. 

South Africa is the sole nation on the continent to allow same-sex marriage, which it legalised in 2006.

Tanzania lifts ban on teen mothers attending schools

Yahoo – AFP, November 24, 2021 

Former President John Magufuli had vowed that no student who became
pregnant would finish their studies under his watch (AFP/TONY KARUMBA) 

Tanzania said on Wednesday it would allow pregnant students and teenaged mothers to continue with their studies, reversing a heavily-criticised policy instituted by its late autocratic leader John Magufuli. 

In 2017, the East African country began expelling pregnant girls from state schools and banned them from returning to class after giving birth, in a crackdown slammed by rights campaigners. 

Following Magufuli's death earlier this year, his successor Samia Suluhu Hassan has sought to break away from some of his policies and on Wednesday, Education Minister Joyce Ndalichako said that "pregnant school girls will be allowed to continue with formal education after delivery." 

"I will issue a circular later today. No time to wait," she said at a ceremony in the capital Dodoma. 

Magufuli had vowed that no student who became pregnant would finish their studies under his watch, saying it was immoral for young girls to be sexually active. 

"I give money for a student to study for free. And then, she gets pregnant, gives birth and after that, returns to school. No, not under my mandate," he said in mid-2017. 

The decision was widely criticised by human rights lobby groups and international donors, who cut their funding to the country in response to Magufuli's policies. 

At the time, Human Rights Watch published a report saying school officials in Tanzania were conducting pregnancy tests in order to expel pregnant students, depriving them of their right to an education. 

'Welcome step' 

The World Bank, which froze a $300-million loan for girls' education in protest against the ban, hailed Wednesday's decision. 

"The World Bank welcomes the government of Tanzania's announcement to remove barriers to access to education," it said in a statement. 

The Swedish embassy in Dar es Salaam, which cut its funding to Tanzania last year citing shrinking freedoms, also applauded the move. 

"This is a welcome step for many girls, allowing them to unlock their full potential," the embassy said on Twitter. 

Opposition party Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT Wazalendo) said their push to reverse the policy had paid off. 

"We did it! A clear example of one struggle, many fronts. Everyone who was involved did something towards this achievement," said ACT Wazalendo leader Zitto Kabwe. 

Covid-sceptic Magufuli, nicknamed the "Bulldozer" for his uncompromising leadership style, died of a heart condition on March 17 after a mysterious three-week absence. His political opponents insisted he had coronavirus. 

In the weeks after her swearing-in, his successor Hassan reached out to Tanzania's political opposition, vowing to defend democracy and basic freedoms, and reopening banned media outlets. 

But hopes that Hassan would usher in a new era were dented by the arrest of a high-profile opposition leader on terrorism charges and a crackdown on independent newspapers.