World
Niger Republic cuts ties with Ukraine over support for terrorist groups
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The Niger Republic junta says it has severed ties with Ukraine after accusing the European country of supporting “terrorist groups”.
Amadou Abdramane, junta spokesperson, announced on Tuesday that the decision was “with immediate effect” — two days after Mali made a similar move.
The Malian army suffered heavy losses at the hands of jihadists and separatist forces late July, which they partly blamed on Ukraine.
Almost half of the murdered soldiers were Wagner mercenaries.
The row occurred after Andriy Yusov, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s military spy agency, said the Malian rebels had received the “necessary” information to conduct the attack.
After Mali cut ties with Ukraine, the European country rejected the accusation and said it regretted the “hasty” decision Bamako made.
“The government of the Republic of Niger learned with great amazement and deep indignation, the subversive and unacceptable remarks of Mr. Andriy Yusov,” Abdramane said.
“The government of the Republic of Niger, in total solidarity with the government and people of Mali, decides in complete sovereignty to sever diplomatic relations between the Republic of Niger and Ukraine with immediate effect.”
The spokesperson said Niger would ask the United Nations (UN) security council to debate Ukraine’s “aggression”.
Niger and Mali are run by military governments.
The former French colonies snapped defence agreements with France and the US — countries that played key roles in the fight against insurgencies in both nations — and turned to Russia for help.
World
Abdelmadjid Tebboune re-elected Algerian president
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Abdelmadjid Tebboune has been declared the winner of Saturday’s presidential election in Algeria.
Mohamed Charfi, head of the Algerian electoral commission, told journalists on Sunday that Tebboune, the incumbent president, had won with over 90 percent of the votes.
“Of 5,630,000 voters recorded, 5,320,000 voted for the independent candidate Abdelmadjid Tebboune, accounting for 94.65 percent,” he said.
Charfi said, while announcing the results, that the body had worked to ensure transparency and fair competition among all candidates.
The closest contenders, Abdelaali Hassani Cherif and Youcef Aouchiche, amassed three percent and two percent of votes respectively.
The total turnout was said to have been 48 percent.
Cherif’s campaign team reportedly said polling station officials were pressured to inflate results.
The campaign team, citing its own rallies from regions, added that the candidate had won far more votes than had been announced.
Throughout the campaign period, activists and international organisations, including Amnesty International, railed against the campaign season’s “repressive atmosphere” and the alleged harassment and prosecutions of those involved in opposition parties, media organisations and civil society groups.
During his campaigns, Tebboune had promised to raise unemployment benefits, pensions and public housing programmes, all of which he increased during his first term as president.
He was first elected in 2019 during the mass “hirak” (movement) protests that forced Abdulaziz Bouteflika from power after 20 years.
The protests brought hundreds of thousands of people into the streets every week for more than a year demanding an end to corruption and the ousting of Bouteflika.
World
‘She laughs infectiously’ — Putin says Russia supports Kamala over Trump
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that Kamala Harris has Russia’s support in the forthcoming US presidential election.
Harris is up against Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, in the race for the White House. Trump is widely perceived as Putin’s ally.
Speaking in a tongue-in-cheek manner at the Eastern economic forum in Vladivostok on Thursday, Putin said Russia would follow US President Joe Biden’s lead and back Harris ahead of the vote.
“We will do the same, we will support her,” Putin said with a chuckle.
“She laughs so expressively and infectiously that it means that everything is fine with her.”
The Russian leader said Trump oversaw the most sanctions on Russia as US leader.
“Ultimately, the choice is up to the American people, and we will respect that choice,” he said.
Last month, Trump praised Putin’s leadership style, saying he was on top of his game.
The former US president also claimed that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if he were president because he would have stood up to Putin.
In 2016, US intelligence agencies accused Russia of running a disinformation campaign to boost Trump’s electoral chances against Hillary Clinton. Russia denied the claims.
Moscow has also been accused of interfering in the 2024 US election.
World
Burkina Faso launches new passport without ECOWAS logo
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Burkina Faso has issued new biometric passports without the logo of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) — solidifying its decision to withdraw from the regional bloc.
Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso severed ties with the 15-member body after sanctions were imposed on them in the wake of military coups.
ECOWAS said the countries have to return to constitutional order if they want the sanctions lifted.
All three countries have since accused the alliance of abandoning the spirit of pan-Africanism for selfish interests.
Although ECOWAS only issued a suspension, the countries have denounced plans to return.
Mahamadou Sana, Burkinabe security minister, announced the passport facelift on Tuesday.
“On this passport, there’s no ECOWAS logo, and no mention of ECOWAS either. Since January, Burkina Faso has decided to withdraw from this body, and this is just a realisation of the action already taken by Burkina Faso,” Sana said.
Out of 198 passports globally, Burkina Faso’s ranks 78 with access to 60 visa-free destinations including ECOWAS member-countries, according to the Henley passport ranking.
ECOWAS said the withdrawal of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger would undermine the freedom of movement and common market of the 400 million people living within the 50-year-old bloc.
President Bola Tinubu, ECOWAS chairman, and his team have been persuading the trio to reconsider their decision to exit.
Tinubu also said the bloc would remain friendly to the countries.
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