Update: Mali prime minister offer to form inclusive government “very quickly” as violent protests continue

Protests continued in the capital  BAMAKO, July 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) —The prime minister of Mali has promised to form an inclusive government “very quickly” after thousands of protesters called on the president to step down. Four people died in Friday’s protest in the capital Bamako, authorities say. Several leaders of the protest movement…

Russian jets intercept US spy plane over Sea of Japan

MOSCOW, July 13 (NNN-XINHUA) — Russian fighter jets chased away an RC-135 reconnaissance plane belonging to the US Air Force over the Sea of Japan on Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry has said. Russian airspace control detected an air target over the neutral waters of the Sea of Japan flying…

Exit poll: Duda leads Poland’s tight presidential runoff

WARSAW, July 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A late exit poll in Poland’s presidential runoff Sunday showed the conservative, populist incumbent, Andrzej Duda, leading against the liberal, pro-Europe mayor of Warsaw, but with the race still too close to call. It appeared to be the closest election in Poland’s history, reflecting the…

Burkina Faso ruling party backs President Kabore for re-election

OUAGADOUGOU, July 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Burkina Faso President Roch Marc Christian Kabore won his party’s backing to run for a second term, despite struggling to crush a bloody jihadist insurgency. Simon Compaore, president of the People’s Movement for Progress (MPP), made the announcement to cheering supporters at a stadium rally…

US shooting: Two officers investigating domestic disturbance killed, suspect commit suicide

Police officers console one another as they gather outside the McAllen Medical Center HOUSTON, July 13 (NNN-Xinhua) — Two police officers were killed in the city of McAllen in southern Texas while responding to a domestic disturbance call and the suspect shot himself dead, local authorities said. The officers were…

Power blackouts continue in South Africa amid escalating COVID-19 pandemic

CAPE TOWN, July 13 (NNN-XINHUA) — Massive rolling power blackouts continued in South Africa on Sunday for three days running, dealing another heavy blow to the economy already battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The severely constrained generation system will most likely persist through the coming week, said state-run electricity utility…

Mali president dissolves constitutional court after unrest

BAMAKO, July 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Mali’s embattled President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita announced the dissolution of the constitutional court in an attempt to calm major civil unrest in the vulnerable African country. The court has been at the centre of controversy for months since it overturned provisional results for a parliamentary…

Sudan ratifies law banning female genital mutilation

Anyone found guilty of performing the procedure will be sentenced to up to three years in prison KHARTOUM, July 13 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — Sudan’s ruling body ratified a law banning the widespread practice of female genital mutilation, the justice ministry announced, handing the movement for women’s rights in the African country…

Power struggle: Five killed in attack on South African church, hostages freed

Photos tweeted by the police showed more than a dozen men lying on the ground, subdued JOHANNESBURG, July 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Five people were killed in an attack on a church west of Johannesburg in the early hours of Saturday, South African police said, with some of the attackers taking…

Covid-19: Rwanda arrests four escapees from coronavirus centre

KIGALI, July 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Rwandan police have arrested four people who escaped from a Covid-19 treatment centre at a school in the eastern region. The four escaped at about 19:30 local time on Wednesday and were arrested the following day. “Following information that four detainees had escaped, security organs…