African News Today

Mali Replace Nigeria At Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022

3Jun

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Mali, News, Nigeria, Sports

Mali Replace Nigeria At Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022

Mali has replaced Nigeria at the 2022 Women's Basketball World Cup set to be played in Australia in September and October. The sport's world governing body, FIBA, announced the move after the Nigerian government's decision in May to withdraw from international basketball for two years. FIBA added it will announce whether there will be any other decisions related to the Nigeria Basketball Federation's participation in other FIBA competitions and any potential disciplinary measures in due course. Those measures look set to involve the men's team and whether they will take part in the ongoing African qualifiers for the 2023 World Cup, which are due to continue in July in Rwanda. "It has become clear that given the circumstances created by the government's decision, ...

Three Italians Kidnapped In Southern Mali

21May

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Crime, Mali, News, Security, Terrorism

Three Italians Kidnapped In Southern Mali

Armed men kidnapped an Italian couple and their son in southern Mali overnight, their church said on Friday, as violence spreads in a country ravaged by an Islamist insurgency. A spokesman for the Jehovah's Witnesses church in neighboring Senegal said the couple is in their 70s and their son is about 50. They were living in Mali for personal reasons and are not missionaries, he said. It was not immediately clear who took them, he said. Media outlets reported that a Togolese national was kidnapped along with the Italians, but the spokesman said he could not confirm that. Italy's foreign affairs ministry confirmed the kidnapping in a statement. “The Crisis Unit is making every effort - in coordination with the competent State bodies - to find a positive solution to the case,...

Niger President Says Mali’s Withdrawal Marks ‘Death’ Of G5 Sahel Alliance

19May

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Mali, News, Niger, Security, Terrorism

Niger President Says Mali’s Withdrawal Marks ‘Death’ Of G5 Sahel Alliance

Niger's President has said Mali's withdrawal from the G5 Sahel, a multinational force created to fight Islamist militants, will mark the end of the alliance. President Mohamed Bayoum made the remarks in an interview with French daily La Croix. Bazoum said Mali's isolation was undermining the fight against insurgents. Bamako this week announced that it was quitting the G5 Sahel, after being blocked from assuming the group's rotating presidency. It blamed 'a state outside the region' for trying to foment divisions among the member states. Created in 2014, the alliance which also includes Mauritania, Chad, Burkina Faso, and Niger was to help the countries jointly tackle Islamist militants. Read Also: Mali Withdraws From Regional Anti-jihadist Force Since 2020, Mal...

Mali Withdraws From Regional Anti-jihadist Force

16May

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Armed Forces, Mali, News, Security

Mali Withdraws From Regional Anti-jihadist Force

Mali said Sunday it was withdrawing from a west African force fighting jihadists to protest its being rejected as head of the G5 regional group, which also includes Mauritania, Chad, Burkina and Niger. "The government of Mali is deciding to withdraw from all the organs and bodies of the G5 Sahel, including the joint force" fighting the jihadists, it said in a statement. The G5 Sahel was created in 2014 and its anti-jihadist force launched in 2017. A conference of heads of state of the G5 Sahel scheduled for February 2022 in Bamako had been due to mark "the start of the Malian presidency of the G5." But nearly four months after the mandate indicated this meeting "has still not taken place," the statement said. Bamako "firmly rejects the argument of a G5 member state whic...

World’s Only Nonuplets Celebrate First Birthday

5May

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Mali, Morocco, News

World’s Only Nonuplets Celebrate First Birthday

The world’s only nonuplets – nine babies born at the same time – are “in perfect health” as they celebrate their first birthday. "They're all crawling now. Some are sitting up and can even walk if they hold on to something," said Abdelkader Arby, an officer in the Malian army. They are still in the care of the clinic in Morocco where they were born. He said their mother Halima Cissé, 26, was also doing well. "It's not easy but it's great. Even if it's tiring at times, when you look at all the babies in perfect health, [in a line] from right to left we're relieved. We forget everything," he told BBC Afrique. He has just returned to Morocco for the first time in six months, along with their elder daughter, Souda, aged three. "I'm overwhelmed to be reunited with all my ...

AFCON 2021: Why Referee, Janny Sikazwe Stopped Tunisia Vs Mali Early

14Jan

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

AFCON, Africa, Mali, News, Sports, Tunisia

AFCON 2021: Why Referee, Janny Sikazwe Stopped Tunisia Vs Mali Early

Janny Sikazwe, the referee at the centre of the controversy at the end of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations match between Tunisia and Mali on Wednesday, was suffering from heat stroke and severe dehydration. It has been revealed that Sikazwe was taken to hospital after the game. Tunisia have appealed for their Group F opening fixture to be replayed, after Sikazwe blew the final whistle after just 85 minutes and then again 17 seconds before 90 minutes were up. Mali eventually won the encounter 1-0. AFCON’s head of referees, Essam Abdel-Fatah, has now come out to defend the performance of Sikazwe, claiming he was suffering from the effects of the 34-degree heat level and 65 percent humidity in Limbe, Cameroon. “The referee suffered from heat stroke and very severe dehydration, wh...

ECOWAS to Convene Emergency Meeting Over Mali Coup

28May

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Mali, News

ECOWAS to Convene Emergency Meeting Over Mali Coup

The Heads of State and Government arm of the Economic Community of West African State is set to convene an emergency meeting to address the democratic decadence in Mali, following the military overthrow of the interim President and Prime Minister of the country. This was disclosed by the Chairman of the Authority and President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, during the opening of the 2021 First Extra Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament in Abuja on Thursday. Akudo-Addo spoke against the military overthrow in Mali coordinated by Col. Asimi Goita on Monday. Recall that the military in Mali overthrew the country’s Interim President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane and took them to a military base outside the capital on Monday following a cabinet reshuffle in which two officer...

Ousted President of Mali Flown Abroad for Medical Attention

6Sep

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Armed Forces, Mali, News

Ousted President of Mali Flown Abroad for Medical Attention

Former Malian president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, recently deposed by mutinying soldiers was flown to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for medical attention in the late hours of Saturday, a top diplomat said. Keita, 75, was hospitalised in Mali after his release from detention by the military junta who held him for 10 days. The former president departed Mali for medical treatment along with his wife, Aminata Maiga Keita, an aide, two doctors and four security personnel, said the diplomat who sought anonymity Sahara Reporters reports. He was flown to UAE following a request from Malian authorities and Keita, so he could access medical care at a military hospital in Abu Dhabi. Keita had returned to his residence earlier I the week after hospitalisation at a private hospital under tig...

Mali Coup: Jonathan Led ECOWAS Delegation Meet Coup Leaders as Talks Continue

23Aug

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Armed Forces, Mali, News

Mali Coup: Jonathan Led ECOWAS Delegation Meet Coup Leaders as Talks Continue

A meeting of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) delegation led by former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan with Mali's coup leaders ended barely after 20 minutes. The coup in Mali is celebrated by many Malian citizens though the international community has condemned the ouster of Ibrahim Boubacar Keita at a time when the country faces Islamist insurgency and months of mass protests. An ECOWAS delegation arrived in the capital, Bamako, for deliberations aimed at returning the country to civilian rule. Head of the delegation, Jonathan sounded optimistic of persuading the coup leaders ahead of a series of meetings with the mutineers and other groups. Jonathan in a chat with reporters said, “I believe at the end of the day we will come up with something that i...

20Aug

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Armed Forces, Mali, News

ECOWAS Set to Convene Over Mali Coup

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is set to convene a videoconference meeting on Thursday to discuss the crisis in Mali which led to President Ibrahim Keita’s removal. The regional body has been vocal against the change of government in Mali by Mutinying soldiers. In a statement in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja it said, “The Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will hold an extraordinary summit on the socio-political situation in Mali on Thursday.” ECOWAS had been involved at finding a solution to the unrest in the member state prior to Tuesday’s coup. Colonel Assimi Goita, Malian army officer on Wednesday announced himself as the coup leader. Mali’s membership of the African Union (AU) was suspe...