Bellinzona, Switzerland – AFP Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court on Wednesday sentenced Gambian ex-interior minister Ousman Sonko to 20 years in prison for crimes against humanity committed under the regime of former dictator Yahya Jammeh. Sonko, 55, is the highest-ranking official ever convicted in Europe under universal jurisdi...
Thousands of Malians participated in the annual re-plastering of the Great Mosque of Djenne, crucial for preserving the world’s largest mud-brick building. The mosque has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2016. The mosque and its town, which is renowned for Islamic learning, face threats due to ongoing conflict in Mali, which ...
Tunis, Tunisia – AFP Tunisian security forces stormed the bar association in Tunis and arrested lawyer and political commentator Sonia Dahmani after she made comments on television about the state of the country, her lawyers said. The arrest late on Saturday was covered live by the France 24 news channel, which said it was forced [&helli...
Dakar, Senegal — AFP Hundreds of participants in a Malian national dialogue mainly boycotted by the opposition have recommended that military rulers who took power in 2020 keep power for several more years. They also said that when elections were eventually held junta chief Colonel Assimi Goita should be a candidate for the presidency, a...
N’Djamena, Chad — AFP Chadian soldiers have been deployed in large numbers across several districts of the capital after late-night celebrations marked the presidential election victory of junta leader General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno. Even before the official results gave Deby more than 61 percent in Monday’s ballot, the pre...
Casablanca, Morocco — AFP North African football fans are using the sport to express solidarity for the Palestinians amid Israel’s ongoing genocidal war in Gaza. As early as October 8, supporters of Raja Club Athletic in Casablanca revived an old chant: “You for whom my heart is saddened,” goes the song which spread thr...
Dakar, Senegal — AFP A Boeing passenger plane came off the runway during takeoff from Dakar international airport, injuring 11 people and shutting the hub for almost 12 hours, its operator said. The Air Senegal flight was bound for the Malian capital Bamako and had 78 passengers onboard, airport management company, LAS, said in a [&helli...
NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat has condemned Israel’s incursion into Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, saying it has resulted in continuous loss of life and widespread devastation for civilians. Mahamat said in a statement that the African Union “firmly condemns the extension of this ...
BANJUL, GAMBIA: The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit called for “an immediate halt to the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip”. “The principled position of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation” is “to support the Palestinian people and their just cause”, said Hissein Brahim Taha, the Secre...
Tunis, Tunisia – – AFP Tunisian journalists and opposition figures have voiced alarm about a surge of prosecutions since President Kais Saied issued a decree outlawing what authorities deem to be “false news”. Rights groups and lawyers say the measure stifles dissent in the North African country that was the birthplace ...
