President
Tens of thousands in Belarus protest President’s 6th term re-election
Demonstrators massed in central Minsk on Sunday after opposition leaders called for a huge rally to demand the resignation of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, the latest in a wave of protests against his disputed re-election. The authoritarian leader dispatched his notorious riot police to disperse spontaneous rallies that erupted after he claimed a sixth presidential term in an election two weeks ago that critics say was rigged. Tens of thousands of demonstrators draped in the red-and-white flags of the opposition flooded Independence Square and marched through the capital chanting “freedom” and “we will not forget, we will not forgive” as passing cars honked in support. “We have just two demands: fair elections and stop the violence,” 32-year-old Igor told AFP. Officials issued...
UEFA supremo backs continuation of one-legged Champions League knock-out rounds
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has stated his belief that the current one-legged knock-out format of the Champions League’s quarterfinals and semi-finals should be considered as a full-time fixture in the competition as it is, in his opinion, “more interesting”. The one-off format, put together in order to finish up the season in a timely manner following the coronavirus-enforced suspension of sport around the world, has produced several upsets already, most notably Manchester City and Atletico Madrid being dumped out by Lyon and RB Leipzig respectively. Eight teams headed for Lisbon in August to play out the remaining fixtures on neutral ground in order to avoid squabbles over home and away advantages, and Ceferin believes having only one game to make it through makes for more exciting...
West African delegation ‘very hopeful’ after meeting Mali junta
A West African delegation visiting Mali to push for a speedy return to civilian rule following a coup said it was “very hopeful” on Saturday after meeting with the country’s military junta and the president it ousted. The head of the delegation from the regional Ecowas bloc, former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan, said that detained Malian president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was doing relatively well. “We saw him, he’s very fine,” said Jonathan, who had earlier met for half an hour with the soldiers who seized power on Tuesday, including new strongman Colonel Assimi Goita. Jonathan told AFP that negotiations were going well and he was “very hopeful”. Rebel soldiers seized Keita and other leaders after a mutiny on Tuesday, dealing another deep blow to a country already struggling with a b...
California fires force thousands to flee as governor asks for help
Some of California’s largest ever fires raged across the state Saturday, forcing tens of thousands from their homes as the governor called for international help to fight the blazes. About 12,000 lightning strikes hit across the state in 72 hours, officials said, sparking the fires that left thick smoke blanketing large areas of central and northern California. “We simply haven’t seen anything like this in many, many years,” California governor Gavin Newsom said on Friday. The two largest blazes — dubbed the SCU Lightening Complex and the LNU Lightening Complex — had burned a total of just under 600,000 acres (240,000 hectares) and nearly 500 structures. Wineries in the famed Napa and Sonoma regions, which are still reeling from blazes in recent years, are under threat by the SCU Complex —...
Journalists’ forum tasks Nigerian government on fight against human trafficking
Mr Ajibola Abayomi, President, Journalists International Forum For Migration (JIFORM), has urged the Federal Government to evolve stricter measures in the fight against human trafficking. Abayomi who made the call in a statement on Thursday in Abuja, also urged the government to continue the ongoing evacuation mission beyond the Aug. 25 deadline. According to him, such extension will enable the evacuation of more Nigerians, especially women who are currently stranded in foreign countries. He said that the group had already written the Foreign Affairs Ministry and other relevant agencies, alerting them of the need to continue the rescue exercise. Abayomi said that the letter also contained detailed information about stranded Nigerian migrants to ensure easy identification and evacuation. “T...
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...
NIMASA assures dockworkers of improved welfare
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has assured stakeholders of its commitment to the protection of the rights and welfare of dockworkers as guaranteed in the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Decent Work Agenda. The Agency’s Executive Director, Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services, Mr. Victor Ochei, gave the assurance in Lagos during a meeting of the National Joint Industrial Council (NJIC). The meeting discussed a revised minimum wage and improved living standard for dockworkers through the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) initiative endorsed by NIMASA and NJIC in 2018. Ochei stated, “Dockworkers are integral to efficient and effective stevedoring operation and the NJIC has remained resolute in ensuring harmonious working relationships through the ...
APC: PDP rudderless under Uche Secondus
Nigeria’s ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), says the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been sinking since Uche Secondus became its chairman. The party said this after Secondus criticised the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC administration. In a statement on Monday, the APC said the main opposition party became “rudderless under his (Mr Secondus) watch” and alleged that party’s stakeholders had detached from its activities. “Under Secondus, the PDP has never had it this bad with the opposition party’s stakeholders detached from the party activities as was witnessed with notable PDP leaders boycotting the party’s 2019 presidential campaigns and the recent Bayelsa State Governorship bribe-for-ticket scandal that indicted Secondus. “Little wonder, the recent months have wit...
Nigerian government captures 1 million vulnerable citizens to national social register
No fewer than one million vulnerable Nigerians have been captured into the National Social Register, as part of ongoing efforts aimed at improving the well-being of the citizens through the implementation of National Social Investment Programmes and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Minister of Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, who disclosed this on Sunday, at the one-year commemoration service held at the Holy Trinity Church Maitama, Abuja, reiterated the resolve of the present administration towards institutionalizing the NSIPs. The Minister who was represented by the Director of Disaster Management, Dr Dorothy Nwodo said: “As you rightly said the Ministry is just about one year that it was established by Mr President and the ai...
