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The Muslim leader has emerged as the leader of an opposition movement seeking the Malian president’s departure.
A longing campaign of dozens of protests in Mali has presented the most formidable challenge to the presidency of Ibrahim Boubacar Keita since he came to power in 2013.
The discontentment has stemmed from economic woes and perceived government corruption, as well as from the government’s drastic failure to contain a worsening security situation that has seen various armed groups jockey for power and has rendered vast swathes of the country ungovernable.
The multilayered conflict broke out in 2012 and has since killed tens of thousands of people and displaced hundreds of thousands, while an increasingly unpopular French military intervention and 15,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping force have failed to stop the violence from spilling out to neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso.
Leading the calls is not a seasoned politician but an imam – Mahmoud Dicko.
Mali protesters wants Keita to stop down despite winning the election.
Source___Aljazeera
Sudan’s Bashir on trial over 1989 coup that brought him to power
Sudan’s ex President Omar al-Bashir, who was overthrown last year by the military in the face of mass protests against his rule, is about to undergo trial over his role in a coup that brought him to power more than 30 years ago.
If convicted, the 76-year-old, who is already in prison for corruption, could face the death penalty.
Al-Bashir came to power in 1989 after he led a military coup against democratically elected Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi
Al-Bashir, 76, is scheduled to appear in court in the capital, Khartoum, on Tuesday to face charges of undermining the constitution, violating the Armed Forces Act and fomenting a coup in 1989 against the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi.
Al-Bashir, who has been jailed in Khartoum since his overthrow, will be in the dock with 10 military personnel and six civilians, including his former vice presidents, Ali Osman Taha and Bakri Hassan Saleh, as well as former ministers and governors.
Source___Aljazeera
Trump threatens to send officers to more US cities
President Donald Trump of US has threatened to send more law enforcement officers to more US cities to control ongoing protests of black killings.
Mr Trump on Monday also criticised a number of cities run by “liberal Democrats”, including Chicago and New York, saying their leaders were afraid to act.
Democrats accuse Mr Trump of trying to rally his Conservative base.
Trump also said officers sent to Oregon had done a “fantastic job” restoring order amid days of protests in Portland.
President Trump, a Republican, has been trailing in opinion polls behind his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, ahead of November’s election.
Just the past month, Mr Trump declared himself the “president of law and order” in the wake of widespread protests over the death in police custody of African-American man George Floyd.
Speaking at the White House on Monday, Mr Trump reiterated his call for law and order.
Source___BBC
US to forfeit former president Jammeh’s $3.5 million mansion in Maryland
The Department of Justice in US filed a civil forfeiture complaint asking for the forfeiture of a Maryland property acquired with a sum of $3,500,000 in corruption proceeds by the ex-president of The Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, through a trust set up by his wife, Zineb Jammeh.
As per the complaint, Yahya Jammeh undemocraticly gained millions of dollars through the misused of public funds and the solicitation of bribes from businesses seeking to obtain monopoly rights over various sectors of the Gambian economy.
The complaint further accused that Yahya Jammeh conspired with his family members and friends corruptly make talks to utilize a host of shell companies and overseas trusts to launder his corrupt proceeds throughout the world, including through the purchase of a multimillion-dollar mansion in Potomac, Maryland, which the United States seeks to forfeit through the filing of the civil forfeiture complaint.
“Yahya Jammeh is a former president of The Gambia who allegedly plundered hundreds of millions of dollars from his country and laundered part of those funds to corruptly acquire real estate in the United States,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt. “Our action today highlights the tireless work of the Criminal Division’s Kleptocracy Initiative and their global law enforcement partners to protect the integrity of the U.S. financial system and recover the ill-gotten gains of corrupt officials.”
“Ex-Gambian President Yahya Jammeh and his wife thought that they could hide funds stolen from the Gambian people by buying a mansion in Potomac, Maryland,” said U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur for the District of Maryland. “This action demonstrates that the United States will not allow criminals to profit from their crimes and will seek justice for crime victims both here and abroad.”
Source___Standard Newspaper
Mali opposition insists President Keita must resign
Mali’s protest movement has kneeled on with a demand for embattled President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to quit, as international peace keepers tried to defuse the crisis in the conflict-riven country.
At a news conference in the capital Bamako on Friday, the June 5 Movement also insisted that the West African state’s parliament be dissolved, and called for a “republican transition” from the current government.
The movement came during soaring political tensions in Mali, which a delegation from the 15-nation West African regional bloc ECOWAS is trying to calm.
The June 5 Movement has outrage a showdown with the government with relentless demands that Keita resign for his perceived failures in tackling the dire economy and Mali’s eight-year conflict with armed fighters.
Three days of violence between protesters and security forces ensued, leaving 11 dead and 158 injured, according to an official tally, in the bloodiest bout of political unrest in years.
The June 5 Movement – a disparate alliance of political, social and civil-society leaders – has stuck to its core demand and rejected conciliatory gestures from the president.
Source___Aljazeera
Lagos Street Sweepers Get Insurance Cover from Lagos State Government
The Lagos State Government has insured street sweepers in the state owing to the risks they face while discharging their daily duties.
This was disclosed by the Lagos Waste Management Authority in a statement issued yesterday.
Lagos Waste Management Authority noted that the development is to help that the welfare of the sweepers in the state is being taken care of.
While describing the workers as front liners in the management of waste in the state, the agency praised them for their efforts in ensuring that the megacity remains squeaky clean
Under the LAWMA CEO programme, the insurance policy will cover amongst others: death while in active service, permanent disability and medical expenses.
The waste agency explained that its acting “Managing Director, Ibrahim Odumboni, has made a resolve and unequivocally so, that the primary focus and the mandate of the Authority in managing and regulation of waste will not be compromised, deploying the best global practices in achieving same, in line with the “THEMES” agenda of Mr.Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu in achieving a cleaner and healthier environment and the general well-being of Lagosians.”
Source___Channels TV
Kano Govt of Nigeria Approves N490m To Avert Collapse Of Bridge
The Kano State Government of Nigeria has approved N490 million to avert the collapse of a bridge in the state.
According to Channels Television, the money is meant for the extension of Shimar Bridge along Karfi-Rano Road to avoid total cut-off of the road in the face of heavy downpour being confirmed during this rainy season.
The State Executive Council also gave way for the proposed construction and establishment of an ultra-modern and Multi-Purpose Shopping Mall at former Daula Hotel premises, located at Murtala Muhammad Way by Mudatex Mudassir and Brothers Ltd.
Briefing journalists on the conclusion of the meeting which held at the Government House on Friday, the Commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba, said N338.9m has also been approved as the counterpart fund for the implementation of the 2020 Health Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Work Plan for improving healthcare delivery.
He explained that the council also made other approvals including the release of funds for the award of contract for the revised estimated cost of N724.1m for quantity adjust upward of the Underpass and Flyover at Dangi Roundabout along Zaria Road among others.
Meanwhile, the state government brought forward N27m for the production of two million assorted seedlings for venue, departmental and institutional planting, and distribution to farmers.
Source___Channels TV
Federal Government of Nigeria Evacuates 324 Nigerians From US
The Federal Government if Nigeria has evacuated another batch of 324 Nigerians who are stranded in the United States of America.+
This was rmake known by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama on Saturday via Twitter.
According to him, the Nigerians coming from US are being expected into the country from Newark Airport, New Jersey.
Onyeama noted that the flight left the American soil on Friday and is due to arrive at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at about 15:35 pm today.
Onyeama noted that the flight left the American soil on Friday and is due to arrive at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at about 15:35 pm today.
The Minister explained that following the development of the third evacuation of these citizens, two more evacuation flights are expected from the country on July 28 and 31 respectively.
Source___Channels TV
Civil rights icon and congressman John Lewis dies aged 80
Rep John Lewis, a well known leader in the civil rights movement and later US congressman, has died at the age of 80.
Lewis was one of the “Big Six” civil rights leaders, which included Martin Luther King Jr, and helped organise the historic 1963 March on Washington.
As a congressman he was a Georgia Democrat, and represented an area which covered most of its capital Atlanta.
In December 2019 Lewis announced that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
“I have been in some kind of fight – for freedom, equality, basic human rights – for nearly my entire life,” he said in a statement released at the time. “I have never faced a fight quite like the one I have now.”
During the civil rights movement, Lewis was one of the founders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and then became its chairman from 1963 to 1966.
Lewis was the last surviving speaker from the march.
He co-organised and spoke at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the rally at which Dr King delivered his historic I Have a Dream speech.
Source___BBC
Indian actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan taken to hospital with Covid-19
Famous actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has been taken to hospital after testing positive for Covid-19 earlier this week.
The Indian actress, a former Miss World and one of Bollywood’s most known faces, is being treated at Mumbai’s Nanavati Hospital, ANI agency reports.
Her daughter Aaradhya has also been taken to hospital, PTI agency confirms.
Aishwarya’s husband Abhishek and father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan, both also famous actors, have been in hospital since Saturday with the virus.
On Sunday, 77-year-old Amitabh Bachchan – a Bollywood superstar who has achieved global fame during his long and illustrious career so far – tweeted that he had tested positive for the virus.
Another series of tweets from his son Abhishek, also a famous actor, confirmed that he, his 46-year-old wife Aishwarya and eight-year-old daughter Aaradhya had also tested positive.
Jaya Bachchan, also a famous actress and Amitabh Bachchan’s wife, tested negative.
Source___BBC
D5 Creation