Politics

Zimbabwe’s main opposition party has confirmed that it will not seek to overturn the presidential election result in court. Official results show that incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa won last month’s poll with close to 53% of the vote, which international observers said fell short of democratic standards. He is now …

The lawyers of Sylvia Bongo, Franco-Gabonese wife of deposed Gabonese president Ali Bongo, filed a complaint in France on Friday for arbitrary detention, Me François Zimeray and Jessica Finelle announced to AFP. Since the military seized power in Gabon last Wednesday, deposed President Ali Bongo and his wife Sylvia Bongo …

European Union foreign ministers ruled out a military solution as they met to discuss the political situation in Niger. As tensions between the putschists in Niger and Ecowas escalate, the European Union reiterates its support for the decisions taken by the sub-regional organization. For the head of European diplomacy, Josep …

Prisoners from six penitentiaries in Ecuador are holding 57 guards and police officers hostage in retaliation for operations by the state’s armed forces in the prisons, the organization in charge of the latter (SNAI) said on Thursday. In the middle of a day of violence caused by the explosion of …

The African Union announced the suspension of Gabon from all its activities, following Wednesday’s military takeover, which it strongly condemned. The decision followed a meeting on Thursday of the bloc’s Peace and Security Council. Earlier, the Gabonese junta said it would phase in what it is calling transitional institutions after …

Josep Borrell, the head of European diplomacy, insisted on Thursday on the difference between the coups in Niger and Gabon, declaring that the elections in Gabon were marred by irregularities. “Naturally, military coups are not the solution but we must not forget that in Gabon there were elections full of …

Russia, Bamako’s ally, vetoed on Wednesday a UN Security Council resolution extending sanctions against Malians threatening peace in the country, which the Malian junta was demanding be lifted. The resolution which planned to extend for one year the sanctions regime put in place in 2017 against individuals endangering the 2015 …

Gabon’s putschists have appointed the head of the Presidential Guard, General Oligui Ngema Brice, to lead the country after the overthrow of President Ali Bongo. “General Oligui Nguema Brice has been unanimously appointed as president of the Commission for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions (CTRI),” Colonel Ulrich Manfounbi, spokesman …

Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba, whose re-election after 14 years in power had just been announced, has been “retired”, said Wednesday the head of the Republican Guard, General Brice Oligui Nguema. Ali Bongo, currently under house arrest, “is retired, he enjoys all his rights. He is a normal Gabonese, like …

French opponent Jean-Luc Mélenchon accused President Emmanuel Macron this Wednesday of having “once again compromised France in supporting the unbearable to the end”, with his support for Gabonese President Ali Bongo. His comments come after the overthrown of President Ali Bongo, in power for 14 years. “Now, Gabon has only …