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by Amal JAYASINGHE Agence France-Presse COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Sri Lanka’s embattled president flew out of his country to the Maldives early Wednesday, in a likely prelude to his resignation after months of widespread protests against his island nation’s worst-ever economic crisis. Gotabaya Rajapaksa had promised at the weekend to resign on Wednesday and clear the way for a “peaceful transition of power” after fleeing his official residence in Colombo just before tens […]
by Amal Jayasinghe with Faisal Kamal in Galle Agence France Presse COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Sri Lankan protesters refused to budge from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s residence on Sunday after storming his home, forcing him to flee with the navy and to announce his resignation. The dramatic events on Saturday were the culmination of months of protests by people enraged by the South Asian island nation’s unprecedented economic crisis and the Rajapaksa clan’s incompetence […]
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AFP) — Suspected jihadists killed at least 34 people in attacks on villages in northern Burkina Faso at the weekend, officials and sources said Monday. In the northwest of the country, 22 people, reportedly including children, were killed late Sunday at Bourasso in Kossi province, said Boucle du Mouhoun regional governor Babo Pierre Bassinga. “Armed men moved around the village at around 5:00 pm, firing in the air. They came back at […]
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AFP) — At least eight Sudanese demonstrators were killed Thursday as security forces sought to quash mass rallies of protesters demanding an end to military rule, pro-democracy medics said. In one of the most violent days this year in an ongoing crackdown on the anti-coup movement, AFP correspondents reported security forces firing tear gas and stun grenades to disperse tens of thousands of protesters. “Even if we die, the military will not rule […]
JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will visit Turkey next week, his office said Sunday, days after he urged Israelis to leave that country over threats of attacks by Iranian operatives. Sunday’s announcement came after Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke by telephone with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan and “thanked” him “for the efforts to thwart terrorist activities on Turkish soil”, according to a statement from the Israeli presidency. “President Herzog […]
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AFP) — The death toll from a weekend attack in northern Burkina Faso rose by seven, taking the number killed to 86, authorities said on Wednesday. The massacre at the village of Seytenga is the second worst in the history of Burkina’s insurgency, which started in 2015 when jihadists launched cross-border raids from Mali. Attacks mainly by groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have since claimed thousands of […]
KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — The Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday condemned neighbor Rwanda for “supporting, financing and arming” the M23 rebel group that seized an important trading hub near the Ugandan border. “We will defend every centimeter of our territory,” added a Congolese communications ministry statement, which came a day after M23 rebels took the town of Bunagana in the eastern province of North Kivu. The statement cited 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner […]
by Frankie Taggart Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A congressional panel investigating last year’s mob assault on the US Capitol laid out its case Thursday that Donald Trump and his claims of a stolen election were at the heart of what amounted to an “attempted coup” to remain in power. In a prime-time presentation of its findings from a year-long probe, the special committee sought to persuade a divided country of the existence […]
LAGOS, Nigeria (AFP) — Gunmen who attacked a Catholic church on Sunday with explosives in southwest Nigeria killed at least 21 worshippers, including some children, local officials said. The violence in St Francis Catholic Church in Owo town during a Sunday service prompted international condemnation after a rare attack in Nigeria’s usually safer southwestern region. Richard Olatunde, spokesman for the Ondo State governor’s office, told AFP that dynamite exploded inside the church before gunmen […]
A bomb blast killed one person and injured nine others in a busy district of central Yangon on Tuesday, a Myanmar police source told AFP. The blast occurred around 3:20 pm local time (0850 GMT) near a bus stop,” the police source said, requesting anonymity. “One man died in hospital and nine others are injured.” A bomb squad team was working to determine if the blast came from a grenade or mine, the police source […]
by Amal JAYASINGHE and Sean GLEESON Sri Lanka’s new prime minister struggled Friday to forge a unity government and forestall an imminent economic collapse as opposition lawmakers refused to join his cabinet and demanded fresh elections. Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in late Thursday to navigate his country through the worst downturn in its history as an independent nation, with months of shortages and blackouts inflaming public anger. The 73-year-old insists he has enough support to govern […]
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Sri Lanka’s parliament will convene Tuesday in its first session since a state of emergency was imposed as the country grapples with protests and mounting demands for the president’s resignation over a worsening economic crisis. Severe shortages of food, fuel and other essentials — along with record inflation and crippling power cuts — have inflicted widespread misery across the island nation, which is enduring its most painful downturn since […]
