UN Security Council Calls For Free, Fair Elections In Mali

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June 14, 2021

A large majority of the 15-nation UN Security Council called Monday for free and fair elections to go ahead in coup-hit Mali without the participation of its current leaders.

The volatile west African nation has announced a new government with army figures in key roles, in the wake of an internationally condemned coup led by Colonel Assimi Goita last month.

Fighting in the vast semi-arid Sahel on the southern fringe of the Sahara desert began in 2012, when Islamist militants joined a local insurgency in northern Mali, capturing swathes of territory.

Former colonial power France intervened in January 2013 to beat them back, in an operation called Serval.

Serval was succeeded in 2014 by the broader Barkhane mission, which has some 5,100 soldiers deployed across the Sahel.

Thousands of soldiers and civilians have died and more than two million people have been displaced, adding to the woes of an already impoverished region.

France announced last week that it was planning to wind down Barkhane — although De Riviere said it would maintain a “significant military presence” in the region.

Several Security Council members backed a one-year extension of MINUSMA, the UN stabilization mission in Mali whose mandate expires on June 30, without any change to current personnel levels.

China and Vietnam said they were in favour of “maintaining the ceiling” of authorised military and police at around 15,000.

New Zealand To Apologise For ‘Racist’ Historic Police Raids

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Zoe Maven

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June 14, 2021

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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she will offer a formal apology to New Zealand’s Pacific community over demeaning police raids which targeted them in the 1970s.

Ardern said the notorious “dawn raids” were carried out by police and immigration officials seeking to identify and deport visa overstayers.

In addition, she said Pacific islanders were racially profiled, with officials subjecting them to random stop and search without justification.

She said the raids and what they represented created deep wounds, but while history cannot be changed, it can be acknowledged with the aim to seek to right a wrong.

Ardern said the apology would take place on June 26 at Auckland Town Hall.

New Zealand encouraged migration from Pacific islands such as Samoa, Tonga and Fiji after World War II to fill worker shortages as the economy expanded.

But they faced a backlash when there was a downturn in the 1970s, with claims they were taking jobs from New Zealanders.

Minister for Pacific Peoples William Sio, who has a Samoan background, and who fought back tears as he described his own family’s experiences said the raids were “racist and discriminatory”.

Uganda Court Grants Bail To 18 Supporters Of Opposition Leader Wine

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Zoe Maven

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June 14, 2021

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A Ugandan military court on Monday released on bail 18 supporters of singer-turned-opposition leader Bobi Wine detained since the start of the year on charges lawyers and government critics say are politically motivated.

The move follows the release on May 25 of a first batch of 17 activists from a group of 35 originally detained on Dec. 30 for violating COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings.

They were subsequently charged in a military court with weapons offences, even though all the accused are civilians.

Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, has over the last three years galvanized a large support base, especially among the country’s youth, provoking a deadly crackdown from the government of veteran leader, Yoweri Museveni.

He stood against Museveni in the country’s Jan. 14 presidential election, but results released by the electoral body said he had lost to Museveni.

Wine rejected the results, alleging ballot stuffing, intimidation of his supporters and falsification of ballot tallies. The U.S. also said the poll was not credible and has sanctioned officials. The government denied election fraud.

Since last year security forces have detained hundreds of Wine’s supporters for interrogations, according to rights activists, the government and opposition officials. Some of those detained have been freed, while others who were detained have not been traced anywhere in official detention facilities.

Death Toll From Gas Blast In Central China Rises To 25

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Zoe Maven

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June 14, 2021

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A total of 25 people have now been confirmed dead after a gas pipe explosion in the Zhangwan District of Shiyan City, central China’s Hubei Province on Sunday.

According to local officials on Monday, thirty-five people who were trapped under debris had been rescued as of 2 p.m. on Monday. Search and rescue operations continue.

The Ministry of Emergency Management said The Work Safety Committee of China’s State Council will supervise an investigation into the deadly explosion,

The blast occurred on Sunday morning at a two-story building in a residential community. Nineteen stores, including drugstores and eateries, were on the building’s first floor, while the second floor consisted of activity rooms and had no dwellers.

The ministry, together with the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and other departments, has launched a special campaign to ensure gas safety in wholesale markets and catering businesses, among other workplaces.

Working groups from central departments have been sent to guide the handling of the accident, while a national medical team has also been dispatched to Shiyan.

New Israeli Government Faces Tension With Palestinians

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Zoe Maven

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June 14, 2021

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Benjamin Netanyahu handed over power in Israel on Monday to new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett but remained defiant as the government faced tensions with Palestinians over a planned Jewish nationalist march.

Minutes after meeting Bennett, Netanyahu repeated a pledge to topple the new government approved on Sunday by a 60-59 vote in parliament.

In public remarks to legislators of his right-wing Likud party. Netanyahu who spent a record 12 straight years in office, said It will happen sooner than you think.

Instead of the traditional toasts marking Bennett’s entry into the prime minister’s office, Netanyahu held a low-key meeting there with the former defence chief, who heads the nationalist Yamina party, to brief him on government business.

The government was already facing a sensitive decision over whether to approve a flag-waving procession planned for Tuesday by Jewish nationalists through the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City.

Meanwhile, Palestinian factions have called for a “day of rage” against the event, with memories of clashes with Israeli police still fresh from last month in contested Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

The Hamas Islamist movement that rules the Gaza Strip warned of the possibility of renewed hostilities if the march goes ahead, less than a month after a ceasefire ended 11 days of cross-border hostilities with Israeli forces.

Kenya To Reopen Its Embassy In Somalia

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Zoe Maven

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June 14, 2021

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Nairobi authorities announced on Monday said the country will reopen its embassy in Somalia “as soon as possible”, responding favorably to a proposal from their neighbour for the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The Somali Minister of Foreign Affairs had sent a letter this weekend to his Kenyan counterpart inviting him to reopen the Kenyan diplomatic representation in Mogadishu, which was closed since December after Somalia broke off diplomatic relations between the two states.

The unilateral decision according to Mogadishu came “in response to Kenya’s recurrent and blatant political violations against Somalia’s sovereignty”.

The situation led to the expulsion of the Kenyan ambassador in Mogadishu while the Somali ambassador in Nairobi was recalled.

In a letter published Monday on its Twitter account, the Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the Government of the Republic of Kenya acknowledges and welcomes the invitation of the Federal Government of Somalia to restore diplomatic relations between Somalia and Kenya.

The Kenyan government “will proceed to reopen its embassy in Mogadishu as soon as possible” and “invites the ambassador of the Federal Republic of Somalia to return to Nairobi and resume his duties,” it added.

On May 6, the Somali government announced the resumption of diplomatic relations with Kenya.

The authorities in Nairobi had simply indicated that they would “take note” of this initiative and “look forward to the continued normalization of relations by the Somali authorities.

The two East African neighbors, who share a 700-kilometre border and are in theory allies in the fight against the Shebab Islamists, have had tumultuous relations.

Residents Of Gbagbo’s Hometown Ready For His Return

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Zoe Maven

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June 14, 2021

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Local villagers in Ivory Coast could be seen shouting and dancing as they ready for the return of Laurent Gbagbo to his hometown of Mama.

After ten years of legal procedures, the former president is expected to arrive in Ivory Coast on Thursday.

He should soon make the trip to the Western town of Mama, where his supporters, whilst awaiting his return, are already celebrating.

In Mama, some even showed their devotion to the former ruler, by repainting his father’s house.

Without Gbagbo there will be no reconciliation. We prayed for Laurent Gbagbo to come back to us. Thank God he is coming back to us alive. We are so happy. We are ready to welcome him, to send him to his village. Without Gbagbo there will be no reconciliation,”

‘Gbagbo or nothing’ activist Béatrice Kragba says, as she steps off a bus coming from Gagnoa, a town located at a thirty minutes drive from which buses keep bringing Gbagbo supporters.

Many of Laurent Gbagbo’s supporters hope he will go back to politics after his return this Thursday. A possibility, that has angered victims of the 2010-2011 crisis, who still demand justice.

France To Invest $4.6 Billion In Egypt’s Infrastructures

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Zoe Maven

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June 14, 2021

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French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has signed agreements with Egypt to invest $4.6 billon in the most populous Arab country’s public transport and renewable energy sectors.

The first tranche will be for transport giant Alstom to supply 55 underground trains for Cairo Metro’s Line 1, for a total of $969 million financed by a loan from the Treasury.

The line used by over a million commuters daily has dilapidated carriages that are over three decades old.

Speaking to reporters in Cairo, Le Maire said Cooperation has been expanded to cover renewable energy, water purification and public transport as well funding for universities and social safety nets,.

Cairo, with a population of over 20 million renowned for its gridlocked roads, suffers from a dire lack of safe and efficient public transport.

The Metro has three lines which are currently being extended and three other connecting lines are expected to be built.

Egypt has also been one of France’s biggest arms clients since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi took power in 2014. In December, French President Emmanuel Macron awarded Sisi the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, the country’s highest award, sparking outrage among human rights critics

Ethiopia’s Abiy Vows To Hold A “Peaceful, Democratic” Election

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Zoe Maven

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June 14, 2021

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Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed says the government wants a “peaceful, democratic” election and urges for unity during the inauguration of the rebuilt Meskel Square ahead of the country’s approaching election.

He stressed the fact that the country was facing an election that will develop or destroy our country, build it or demolish it. We, Ethiopians, firmly know that the division that has been borne out of conflict is not a better option.

The reputation of the Nobel Peace Prize winner has been tarnished as he has waged a military campaign in the Tigray region, where the United Nations warned Friday that tens of thousands of children risk starvation.

The United States on Friday voiced alarm over conditions ahead of Ethiopia’s elections, saying that ethnic violence and detentions of opposition figures will raise doubts about the vote’s credibility.

Ethiopia’s elections are going ahead after two delays. Election authorities last year pushed back polls due to the coronavirus pandemic, and then delayed the vote from June 5 due to logistical concerns.

E’Guinea: Officer And Solider On Trial For Fiery Manslaughter

By

Zoe Maven

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June 14, 2021

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An officer and a soldier of Nkoa-Toma military camp situated in the economic capital Bata, are on trial for negligent homicide in Equatorial Guinea

This is according to the indictment read on Saturday evening on state radio and television (TVGE) by the military prosecutor Alejandro Mitogo.

Camp base head Lieutenant-Colonel Valentin Nzang Ega and Corporal José Antonio Obama Nsue appeared in court before a military court for “homicide, damage, fire, negligence and punishable imprudence causing death.”

The charges arose as a result of at least three devastating explosions on the army base and its many surrounding residential areas that killed 107 people and injured 615 on March 7.

The powerful blasts, literally ravaged the Nkoa-Toma camp after a fire caused by a poorly controlled burning set the arsenal and armoury of the military compound ablaze.

Consequently, the blaze razed the buildings of the camp housing of the special forces soldiers and gendarmes, as well as their families — as it gutted and flattened countless houses within proximity

The prosecutor’s office wants a sentence of 70 years imprisonment and President Teodoro Obiang Nguema — who has ruled this small Central African country with an iron fist for nearly 42 years, announced the opening of an investigation.

The city of Bata is home to about 800,000 of the 1.4 million inhabitants of this small state, rich in oil and gas, but where the vast majority of the population lives below the poverty line.