Politics

Nigerian authorities said on Wednesday they had cut off electricity supplies to their northern neighbor Niger after a military coup in the country. The move follows sanctions by Niger’s West African neighbors, local media reported. Niger is 70% energy dependent on Nigeria. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), …

A Moroccan man accused of criticising the country’s king on social media has been sentenced to five years in prison local media reported, citing his lawyer. Said Boukioud was charged with “undermining the monarchy” for comments he posted on Facebook in 2020 criticising Morocco’s normalisation of ties with Israel. He …

Kenya’s interior ministry said on Wednesday that it had suspended the local activities of cryptocurrency project Worldcoin while government agencies assess potential risks to public safety, Reuters reported. The project founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman launched last week. It requires users to give their iris scans in exchange for …

South African former President Jacob Zuma has returned from Russia where he has been receiving medical treatment. “The check-up and observations went well,” his foundation said in a statement. His trip came after he lost a case last month at the Constitutional Court, where he had tried to overturn a …

Meta Group began blocking Canadians’ access to media content on Facebook and Instagram on Tuesday (August 1) in response to a new law forcing digital giants to pay publishers. Links and content posted by Canadian and foreign media “will no longer be visible to people in Canada,” Meta said, stressing …

Tunisian President Kais Saied has announced the dismissal of the country’s first female prime minister, Najla Bouden. Ms Bouden was hand-picked by President Saied to lead the government after he removed her predecessor two years ago and took control of almost all state powers. Her late-night dismissal was followed by …

Former Ivorian President Henri Konan Bédié died Tuesday (August 1st) at the age of 89, local media reported. It comes on Tuesday when the former president, who was in Daoukro, his native village, became unwell. Evacuated to PISAM in Abidjan around 6 p.m., he died few hours later. Head of …

The UK and its allies stand ready to support all efforts by the leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to restore democracy to Niger where President Mohamed Bazoum was recently overthrown, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said. “It was important for African leaders to head up …

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has fleshed out the details of a raft of measures to tackle the rising cost of living, which has prompted civil unrest and looting. In a televised address to the nation, Mr Tinubu said he had ordered the release of 200,000 tonnes of grain from strategic …

The military leaders of Mali and Burkina Faso issued a joint statement warning authorities of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The warning comes after the regional bloc threatened to intervene militarily in Niger in order to reinstall the ousted president, Mohamed Bazoum. According to the press release, …