Africa

Ivory Coast Constitutional Court ruled last week that only four out of 44 presidential hopefuls would be allowed to run in the country's presidential election. Because they face criminal convictions, former President Laurent Gbagbo and former rebel leader Guillaume Soro, both giants of Ivorian politics, were among those prevented from running. Most of the others whose candidates were deemed invalid had failed to garner sufficient public support - a new electoral reform required candidates to request signatures from at…

Ivory Coast's head of state, Alassane Ouattara, has blown up two rivals' attempt to challenge next month's presidential election as "provocation", saying one of them is behind bars. In an interview published Thursday by the French magazine Paris Match, the 78-year-old sitting fired a verbal breadth against former President Laurent Gbagbo and former rebel leader Guillaume Soro. Both men live outside the country, but retain strong support at home, in a country still scarred by a post-election conflict that claimed more…

Bah Ndaw, a retired colonel who has been appointed Mali's interim president after last month's coup, made his first public appearance on Thursday and met with a regional mediator, AFP reporters said. Ndaw, 70, met former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in Bamako on a mission for the 15-nation bloc ECOWAS on the eve of his inauguration. Ndaw's appointment was announced Monday by Colonel Assimi Goita, who is leading a junta of young military officers who seized power on August 18, removing President-elect Ibrahim…

French prosecutors have launched an investigation by banking giant BNP Paribas into allegations of complicity in crimes against humanity, genocide and torture in Sudan, sources said on Thursday. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), which had lodged a complaint against the French bank, announced on Twitter that an investigation had been launched, confirming information to AFP from a legal source. Almost a year ago, nine Sudanese victims backed by rights groups, including FIDH, filed a criminal complaint…

Toxins in water produced by cyanobacteria killed more than 300 elephants in Botswana this year, officials said Monday, announcing the outcome of an investigation into the deaths that had confused and alerted conservationists. Cyanobacteria are microscopic organisms that are common in water and are sometimes found in soil. Not everyone produces toxins, but scientists say that toxins occur more often as climate change drives global temperatures. Cyril Taolo, deputy director of the Department of Wildlife and National…

Four Cameroonian soldiers received 10-year prison sentences Monday for the killing of two women and two children in an incident that sparked international insurgency, their lawyers said. They and three other soldiers were arrested after a video surfaced on social media in July 2018 showing uniformed men leveling rifles and firing at the victims, one of whom had a baby strapped to his back. The video was one of several that emerged in recent years with alleged atrocities by Cameroonian forces during operations against…

Former Malidefence minister and retired Colonel Bah Ndaw was appointed interim president on Monday, while the leader of the junta who seized power last month was appointed vice president, state television announced. Mali's ruling junta has come under heavy pressure from leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to bring power back to civilians after the August 18 coup that toppled President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. It was unclear whether the arrangement would satisfy ECOWAS, which last week…