Africa

In Madagascar, about thirty opposition political parties met on Friday 25 September at the Panorama Hotel in the center of the capital Antananarivo. Among them the TIM party of former President Marc Ravalomanana and the HVM of the outgoing head of state Hery Rajaonarimampianina. The latter rejects the holding of the senatorial election on 11 December 2020. An election that they consider constitutional and hasty, especially because several municipalities do not have large voters, and because validation of the executive…

In Senegal, it is the 18th anniversary of Joola's sinking this Saturday, one of the deadliest in history. On September 26, 2002, the ferry connecting Casamance in the south of the country to Dakar sank off the coast of Gambia. Nearly 2,000 people died, only 64 survived. With our correspondent in Dakar, Charlotte idrac In the context of the pandemic, the memorial is marked with sobriety this Saturday: no large gatherings, the victims' associations call for a minute of silence at. 12 UT. But for the survivors and…

Ivory Coast should allow former President Laurent Gbagbo, who is barred from running in next month's main presidential election, to vote in the vote, the African Court of Human Rights and Peoples' Rights said on Friday. The court, set up by members of the African Union in 2004, asked Côte d'Ivoire to "take the necessary steps to immediately remove all obstacles" that prevented Gbagbo from being added to the electoral roll. Ivory Coast withdrew its recognition of the Court's jurisdiction back in April this year.…

36 days before the Côte d'Ivoire presidential election, the African Court of Human Rights re-enters the debate. Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, whose candidacy was invalidated by the Constitutional Council on 14 September, scores one point. The court ordered the postponement of his conviction of Ivorian justice in the so-called "breach of the BCEAO" case and his re-registration on the electoral roll. With our correspondent in Abidjan, Pierre Pinto It is an ordinance, that is, a preliminary ruling of the…

Mali's interim president, Bah Ndaw, elected to lead a transitional government after last month's coup, was sworn in during ceremonies in the capital Bamako on Friday, AFP reporters witnessed. A committee appointed by the military junta that seized power on August 18 and overthrew President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita elected Ndaw, a 70-year-old retired colonel, as interim president. The Ndaw must lead a transitional government for a maximum of 18 months before organizing national elections. In a speech, Ndaw said he…

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…