Saturday, 16 March 2024

‘We want Sonko’: Senegal opposition boosted after leaders freed before vote

Celebrations broke out among Senegal’s opposition supporters after two of their top leaders were freed from jail 10 days before the country’s delayed presidential election.
Firebrand politician Ousmane Sonko and his close aide Bassirou Diomaye Faye were released late on Thursday in a move that could boost the opposition’s chance to win in the March 24 election and replace outgoing President Macky Sall.
Sonko, the charismatic anti-establishment politician who has won over crowds of youngsters by promising to fight corruption, had been behind bars since July, serving a two-year sentence for corrupting the youth. He was barred from running for the presidential race due to a separate case involving defamation charges.

Al-Shabab fighters killed as overnight siege of Mogadishu hotel ends

A 13-hour siege of a popular hotel near government buildings in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, has ended after the al-Shabab fighters who had taken control of the building were killed by security forces.
“All the terrorist gunmen were killed, and the situation has returned to normal now,” police officer Abdirahim Yusuf told the Agence France-Presse news agency on Friday. “The security forces are carrying out a thorough clearance and investigations.”
The Reuters news agency reported that three soldiers were killed in clashes, with 27 people wounded. It was not immediately clear how many fighters from the al-Qaeda-linked group were killed.

In the heart of Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, a poster advertising free Russian language courses has been attached to the large, iconic model of a globe on a road intersection which locals refer to as the “United Nations roundabout”.

Three decades since Russia left large parts of Africa amid the breakup of the Soviet Union, however, signs of its return are visible in Burkina Faso, where the capital’s walls are adorned with pro-Russian graffiti, and Russian flags fly in the streets.

Widespread outages were reported on Thursday in countries including South Africa, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Benin, Ghana and Burkina Faso.
Since then, services have largely been restored in Liberia and South Africa.
The cause of the cable failures was not immediately clear, to the frustration of millions of customers around the continent.

An Indian navy warship has intercepted the hijacked cargo ship Ruen and demanded the Somali pirates on board surrender, a navy spokesperson said on Saturday.
The pirates who allegedly hijacked the Maltese-flagged bulk cargo vessel on Dec. 14 opened fire on the navy ship in international waters on Friday, the spokesperson said without providing further details.
The navy had called on the pirates to surrender and release the vessel and any civilians they may be holding.

Nearly five million people in Sudan could suffer catastrophic hunger in parts of the war-torn country in the coming months, United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths warned the Security Council on Friday in a note seen by Reuters.
Griffiths said acute levels of hunger were being driven by the severe impact of the conflict on agricultural production, damage to major infrastructure and livelihoods, disruptions to trade flows, severe price increases, impediments to humanitarian access and large-scale displacement

Chinese President Xi Jinping said he would support Chinese firms that invest in Angola's agriculture and manufacturing sectors, state media reported on Friday, as the African oil producing nation seeks help in diversifying its economy.
Lourenco's visit follows Angola's announcement in December it would leave producer group the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and agreements with China on cooperation.
Xi told Lourenco on Friday Chinese firms could "help Angola achieve agricultural modernisation, industrialisation and economic diversification," the state media report said, as Beijing's long-term drive to deepen economic and political ties with Africa.