Africa
Mali junta open talks with opposition leaders after coup
Mali’s junta headed by Army colonel Assimi Goita which seized power in a coup on Tuesday has begun to meet with senior opposition politicians in the country. This comes amid global condemnation of the coup and mounting calls for the release of President Ibrahim Booubakar Keita and his prime minister Boubou Cisse. There were few signs that political opposition leaders were aware of the coup plot in advance but now they stand to benefit from a transitional government promised to be put in place by the military junta “I think the hardest part starts now. It’s a question of bringing everyone together, as I’ve always said, there are no winners and losers, we’re all Malians, so for us, even those who were with IBK (ed: Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta), if they don’t have blood on their hands, if they’re ...
ECOWAS calls for restoration of ousted Malian president, sanctions against putschists
West African leaders under the regional bloc ECOWAS have said they would dispatch envoys to Mali to help secure “the return of constitutional order”. In a video conference on Thursday, they called for the ousted Malian president to be restored to office. “We have decided to immediately send a high-level delegation in order to ensure the immediate return of constitutional order,” the regional bloc ECOWAS said at the end of a video summit. “We call for the restoration of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita as president,” it said in a closing statement read by the president of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou, who chairs the group. “Mali is in a critical situation, with serious risks that a collapse of the state and institutions leads to reversals in the fight against terrorism and organised crime, wit...
Mali junta plans ‘transitional president’
Rebel troops who have taken power in Mali said on Thursday “a transitional president” would be appointed from either civilian or military ranks. “We are going to set in place a transitional council, with a transitional president who is going to be either military or civilian,” Junta spokesman Ismael Wague told TV channel France 24. “We are in contact with civil society, opposition parties, the majority, everyone, to try to set the transition in place.” Wague said, “It is going to be a transition which will be the shortest possible. You’re not talking about 2023, 2022. (We have) to complete this transition as quickly as possible, and then we go back to doing something different. “I can’t tell you when we are going to hand over power to civilians, because the transition has first to be put i...
Ivory Coast bars public protests until September
Ivory Coast has banned all outdoor protests until 15 September, according to a statement Thursday issued after deadly clashes ahead of presidential elections in October. The cabinet late Wednesday “decided to suspend protests in public areas, authorising them only in enclosed spaces… until 15 September,” the government said in a statement. The measure “draws the consequences of the impact, in human and property terms, from previous demonstrations and the risk that pockets of inter-community conflicts could open up,” it said. On 13 August, angry protests erupted in the economic hub Abidjan, and demonstrations in the central town of Daoukro turned to bloody ethnic clashes, after President Alassane Ouattara announced he would bid for a third term. Critics of Ouattara say the 78-year-old is on...
Mali: ECOWAS to hold emergency meeting
The Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) will on Thursday hold an Extraordinary Summit on the socio-political situation in Mali. The Directorate of Communications of the ECOWAS Commission made this known in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja. The summit would be held virtually through video conference. The summit became necessary following the military coup d’etat that took place in the Republic of Mali on Tuesday. Newsmen recall that President Ibrahim Keita and his government resigned after soldiers arrested him. The soldiers have set up a body to work out modalities for elections. ECOWAS has strongly condemned the undemocratic change of government, adding that it is against its protocol on Democracy and Good Governance. The Au...
FIFA partners AU, WHO, CAF to promote campaign against domestic violence in Africa
FIFA is joining forces with the African Union, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to jointly address the issue of domestic violence by launching the #SafeHome campaign across the African continent. The initiative is designed to support women and children victims of domestic violence, particularly as stay-at-home measures in response to COVID-19 have put them at greater risk. A number of African football stars are supporting the campaign via video awareness messages distributed on social and traditional media. The African Union-FIFA-CAF memorandum of understanding, which was concluded in February 2019, covers joint campaigns on topics of mutual interest and the promotion of gender equality, a key principle. Other areas of collaboration includ...
Sebastian Osigwe set to join Swiss Super League side Lugano
Swiss-born Nigerian goalkeeper Sebastian Osigwe is on the verge of completing a move FC Lugano in the Swiss super league. Osigwe left his former club FC Kriens back in April after spending six with the club and helped them secure promotion on two different occasions. The 26-year-old also kept 45 clean sheets in 143 matches for the club for FC Kriens during his six-year spell at the club. Former Swiss champions FC Thuns also made contact with the representatives of the goalkeeper according to reports, but Osigwe has already made up his mind to Lugano. Meanwhile, the deal that will make Osigwe become a Lugano player could be announced next week. Osigwe was born in Switzerland and has represented the country of his birth at the U-15’s, 16’s and U-18’s levels, but wants to follow the footsteps...
Asiwaju Tinubu urges immortalisation of former US envoy Walter Carrington
Sen. Bola Tinubu, All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader, has called for the immortalisation of former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Walter Carrington, in recognition of his outstanding achievements. Tinubu made the call in a condolence message by his media aide, Mr Tunde Rahman, which was made available to newsmen on Saturday in Lagos. Newsmen recall that Carrington who was also U.S Ambassador to Senegal, died on Tuesday at the age 90. In his tribute to the late diplomat, Tinubu described Carrington as a citizen of one nation and son of two. The former governor of Lagos State said that the laudable ideals for which the departed Carrington stood must be honoured. He noted that the late ambassador was a bridge between Africa and the African-American. “To forget him would be a shamele...
One dead in fresh Ivory Coast clashes over president’s re-election bid
vAt least one person was killed in clashes in Ivory Coast on Saturday in the latest violence sparked by President Alassane Ouattara’s controversial decision to run for a third term in October. The shooting death brings to four the number of people killed in the central town of Daoukro, a stronghold of former president Henri Konan Bedie, who is also a candidate in the election. Across Ivory Coast, at least six people have died and more than 100 have been injured in violence after Ouattara’s shock announcement. Tensions were high on Saturday in Daoukro, where clashes between supporters of Bedie and Ouattara began on Tuesday. The town’s main market and shops were closed and police were deployed all over. Armed with shotguns, clubs and machetes, young people from the village of Anoumabo rushed...
Nigerian seaports to commence 24-hour operation
Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh, disclosed this on Tuesday in Lagos while briefing the media after the second edition of the monthly meeting of heads of maritime parastatals, held at the NIMASA headquarters. The post Nigerian seaports to commence 24-hour operation appeared first on TODAY. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share of Internet revenue.
Biodiversity: Nigeria restates support for ECOWAS states
The Federal Government has pledged support to ECOWAS member states to develop mechanisms for enforcement of biodiversity law and mobilise implementation for the developed biodiversity action plans. The post Biodiversity: Nigeria restates support for ECOWAS states appeared first on TODAY. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share of Internet revenue.
Miroslav Klose: Africa will win FIFA World Cup with more slots
Legendary Germany striker legend Miroslav Klose says an African country will win the FIFA World Cup if the continent has more slots like their European counterparts. The post Miroslav Klose: Africa will win FIFA World Cup with more slots appeared first on TODAY. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share of Internet revenue.
