The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, appealed to the military junta in Mali to announce an acceptable timetable for elections. Guterres reacted to the junta’s suggestion that they would remain in power for five years before holding a scrutiny. “ECOWAS’ decision established that if the Malian government presents an acceptable timetable and takes steps in…
Mali’s army-dominated government Wednesday condemned what it called a “clear breach” of its airspace by a French military aircraft this week, warning of potential consequences should such practices continue. Malian government spokesman Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga stated that a complaint had been issued to France after one of its military planes travelled between Ivory Coast’s capital Abidjan and the…
Nigeria has lifted its ban on Twitter – seven months after clamping down on the social networking site. Nigeria’s government suspended Twitter last June after the company deleted a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari about punishing regional secessionists. Authorities accused the social media firm of siding with the secessionists. But the government said it was reversing…
Armed forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo have launched a series of attacks against the positions held by Allied Democratic Forces in Virunga National Park in the east of the country. The air offensive follows a joint operation at the end of November with Ugandan forces who are also fighting the group. “Our series…
In Nigeria, at least three people lost their lives, including two children, when a church collapsed in the south of the country. The incident occurred on Tuesday in a suburb of Asaba, the capital of the Delta State. “In my inspection visit, we found out that it could have been worse because what I saw…
ABIDJAN/BAMAKO, Jan 11 (Reuters) – Mali will not be able to complete a 30 billion CFA franc ($52 million) sale of T-bills this week because of sanctions imposed by its neighbours, regional financial officials said. West Africa’s main political bloc and its monetary union announced the sanctions on Sunday over the interim authorities’ failure to…
Russia and China blocked the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday from supporting new sanctions on Mali for its military leaders’ decision to delay next month’s elections until 2026, a blow to the restoration of democracy in the troubled West African nation. Kenya’s U.N. ambassador, Martin Kimani, said after closed-door discussions on the proposed French-drafted statement endorsing the sanctions imposed…
Six of Seychelles’ most prominent citizens including the former First Lady are facing charges in a corruption scandal involving $50m (£37m) of missing foreign aid which has delighted some islanders but courted danger for others, as Patrick Muirhead reports. Derrick Labrosse, a 25-year-old fisherman, mends his traps before placing them carefully in his little fishing…
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi on Tuesday criticised European governments’ handling of the migration issue. El-Sissi said Egypt was hosting 6 million people who escaped conflict and poverty in their own countries. “We didn’t reject them or put them in camps. I am talking about huge numbers, not 5,000 or 10,000. Our friends in Europe…
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday said there had been “significant progress” in tackling a militant insurgency in northern Mozambique after a multinational force deployed there last year. Ramaphosa, who chairs the defence and security section of the Southern African Development (SADC) bloc, gave the update at a summit called to assess developments in…