Afrique

Sierra Leone Times - ?Constraints? imposed by Niger's military government reportedly played a role in the decisionThe French government intends to shutter its embassy in Niger indefinitely, Reuters reported on Thursday. According to a letter from the embassy to its staff, seen by the news agency, the restrictions imposed by the military government mean the mission can no longer carry out its diplomatic duties.

Sierra Leone Times - TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Iran's men's beach soccer team was defeated against Senegal 5-4 in a friendly match on Wednesday. - Sports news - The match was held in the southern Iranian city of Bushehr as part of preparation for the 2024 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.Team Melli had also lost to the African powerhouse in its first match on Tuesday.Iran will open the 2024 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup on Febru

Sierra Leone Times - CARACAS, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Alex Saab, a Venezuelan diplomat, has returned after more than three years' imprisonment in the United States, authorities said Wednesday. "The government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela celebrates with joy the release and return to his homeland of our diplomat Alex Saab, who until today was unjustly being held in a U.S. prison," said Communication and Information Minister Fr

Sierra Leone Times - The U.S. has secured the freedom of 10 Americans from Venezuelan prisons, in exchange for the release a close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro."We can confirm that 10 Americans who have been detained have been released and are on their way home. That includes all six Americans who are classified as wrongfully detained, including Joseph Cristella, Eyvin Hernandez, Jerrel Kenemore, and Savoi Wright. At

Sierra Leone Times - FREETOWN, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Sierra Leone on Wednesday lifted a nationwide curfew that has lasted for more than 20 days following a failed coup attempt on Nov. 26. Announcing the decision in a public notice, the Ministry of Information and Civic Education thanked the public for their continued cooperation with the security forces to bring to justice those responsible for the failed coup attempt. Meanwhil

Sierra Leone Times - CONAKRY, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of the Guinean capital Conakry fuel depot fire Sunday night has risen to 18 from 14, Guinean government spokesperson Ousmane Gaoual Diallo has said. "Despite the efforts made by the medical profession, today we deplore four new... deaths, bringing the number of victims to 18," the spokesperson said on national television Tuesday night. More than 200 people were

Sierra Leone Times - KIGALI, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- BioNTech, a leading biotechnology company, on Monday inaugurated its first manufacturing plant for mRNA vaccines in Africa in Rwanda's capital of Kigali. The inauguration comes after the German company signed deals in 2021 with Rwanda and the Institut Pasteur de Dakar in Senegal to set up manufacturing sites on the continent. The facility construction was launched last year. Bi

Sierra Leone Times - TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Iran basketball climbed two spots to 66th in the FIBA World Ranking Girls. - Sports news - Reigning world champion the US retained its position as the world's number one side over second-place France, which is also unmoved.At number three is Canada, which is the first of several climbers in the most recent rankings.Slovenia improved its position with a four-place jump into si

Sierra Leone Times - CONAKRY, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- At least 13 people were killed and more than 170 others injured in a major fire that broke out Sunday night at the large fuel depot in the commune of Kaloum, the Guinean capital of Conakry, said Oumar Diouhe Bah, minister of Health and Hygiene, in a statement Monday. The bodies of the victims as well as most of the injured were received in the two main hospitals in Conakry, namely th

Sierra Leone Times - CONAKRY - The death toll from a blast at an oil terminal in Guinea's capital Conakry on Monday has risen to 13, a senior police source said, as the government warned the incident could have repercussions for the wider population.The explosion at the West African nation's main oil terminal rocked the Kaloum administrative district in downtown Conakry early in the morning, blowing out the windows of nearby homes a

Sierra Leone Times - The West African nation's leader has called the incident a tragedy At least 11 people have been killed and more than 80 injured in an explosion at a fuel depot in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, local media have reported, citing emergency services. The city's two main hospitals, Ignace Deen and Donka, are said to be o

Sierra Leone Times - Depuis 2012, la journee mondiale de la langue arabe, est celebree le &_ decembre de chaque annee, conferant ainsi à cette langue semitique une stature de langue de communication internationale. La date du 18 decembre a ete retenue pour commemorer le jour où l'arabe est devenue langue officielle et de travail de l'ONU en 1973.Cette jo

Sierra Leone Times - Bamako, Mali - A South African paramedic who had been held by jihadists in Mali for over six years has been released, security and humanitarian sources told AFP on Sunday.Gerco van Deventer, 48, was kidnapped in Libya on November 3, 2017, on his way to a power plant construction site around 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) south of the capital Tripoli.Three other Turkish engineers seized at the same time were

Sierra Leone Times - LONDON - Yemen's Houthi rebels have escalated attacks on ships passing through the Red Sea during the Israel-Hamas war, raising concerns about the impact on the flow of oil, grain and consumer goods through a major global trade artery.Israeli-linked vessels have been targeted, but the threat to trade has grown as container ships and oil tankers flagged to countries such as Norway and Liberia have been attacked o

Sierra Leone Times - New Delhi [India], December 17 (ANI): Benin's Foreign Minister Olushegun Adjadi Bakari arrived here on Sunday on an official visit to further strengthen bilateral ties with India. "Warm welcome to FM @shegunbakari of Benin as he arrives in New Delhi on an official visit. The visit will further strengthen India-Benin ties," MEA Official Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi wrote on 'X'. Benin which is a member of several internatio

Sierra Leone Times - Niger's military leaders have agreed a plan for restoring democratic rule which will be presented to regional bloc ECOWAS for approval, Togo's foreign minister Robert Dussey said.Dussey went to Niger to negotiate with the junta on behalf of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which is pushing for a quick return to constitutional order after military officers seized power in a coup in July.

Sierra Leone Times - Editor's note: Here is a look at immigration-related news around the U.S. this week. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: Federal Judge Accepts Sett

Sierra Leone Times - Washington, DC [US], December 16 (ANI): In attacks from Yemen's Houthi group, two Liberian vessels were hit by missiles in the Red Sea corridor, US Central Command said on Saturday. A ballistic missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels slammed into a cargo ship on Friday in the Red Sea near the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait, following another attack only hours earlier that struck a separate vessel. Earlier, the Houthi group

Sierra Leone Times - ABUJA, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- The 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has formally suspended Niger's membership in the regional bloc until constitutional order is restored in the country. In a statement sent to Xinhua Friday, the ECOWAS Commission said the suspension followed a decision of the Authority of Heads of State and Government at the recently concluded 64th ordinary session, held i

Sierra Leone Times - The move comes after the West African country signed a defense agreement with Russia Washington plans to resume security and development cooperation with Niger, Molly Phee, US assistant secretary of state for African affairs, announced on Wednesday. The US, along with France and other Western partners, had suspended a

Sierra Leone Times - (AFP) - An international media watchdog on Thursday urged Guinea's military-led authorities to lift restrictive measures against some of the country's privately owned media, condemning "attacks on press freedom on a considerable scale." After coming to power in a coup in 2021, the military rulers pledged to respect press freedom, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in a press release. But since Ma

Sierra Leone Times - A Senegalese judge on Thursday ordered that jailed opposition leader Ousmane Sonko be reinstated on the electoral roll, clearing the way for him to stand in next year's presidential election.The judge upheld a regional court ruling from October overturned by Senegal's top court last month, which said the question of whether Ousmane Sonko should be restored to the electoral roll should go back to the lower court

Sierra Leone Times - The ongoing withdrawal of French troops participating in an anti-jihadist mission in Niger will be complete by 22 December, the Sahel country's army said Tuesday.Niger's military rulers scrapped defence agreements with France, its traditional security partner, as relations nosedived following a July coup.French President Emmanuel Macron announced the forces would leave by the year's end, with a first cont

Sierra Leone Times - FREETOWN, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- A total of 80 suspects have been named following a failed attempted coup on Nov. 26 in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, local police have said. William Fayia Sellu, inspector general of the Sierra Leonean police, told a press conference Tuesday that the suspects include former President Ernest Bai Koroma, 50 currently serving military officers, and five dismissed military offi

Sierra Leone Times - After eleven years of senseless civil war in my country Sierra Leone, the main opposition APC (All People's Congress) tried so hard to put the stability of the country. they tried to put certain modalities in place by providing basic amenities like adequate water supply, electricity, and transportation, constructing new roads, and bringing in various sectors that would give thousands of Sierra Leoneans jobs whi

Sierra Leone Times - In a year when headlines have been dominated by conflict in Europe and the Middle East, and geo-economic tensions between China and the West, China-Africa relations were, in comparison, a steady and stable norm.Having followed China-Africa relations for two decades, I wanted to flag a few key moments from this year. These reveal that the relations between China and the continent have focused on building momentum

Sierra Leone Times - BAMAKO, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) has officially ended its 10-year deployment, MINUSMA head El-Ghassim Wane said in Bamako, the capital city. Regarding the MINUSMA withdrawal process, 10 of the 13 areas occupied by the UN force have already been closed and handed over to the Malian authorities, Wane told an official ceremony Monday

Sierra Leone Times - West African leaders on Sunday kept sanctions imposed on Niger after a July military coup and demanded progress towards a short transition to civilian rule before easing the measures.The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) leaders met for a summit in Nigeria's capital Abuja with the region in crisis after coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Niger since 2020 and two attempted coups elsewhere in

Sierra Leone Times - UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is set to convene an emergency special session on Gaza on Tuesday, said Monica Grayley, the UNGA president's spokesperson. "President of the UN General Assembly, Dennis Francis, has just informed member states that he will convene the 45th plenary meeting of the tenth Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly on Tuesday, Dec.

Sierra Leone Times - Abuja - West African leaders met in Nigeria's capital Abuja on Sunday for talks on their region in deepening crisis, after four countries fell under military rule and with risks growing from Sahel jihadist conflicts.After coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Niger since 2020, the Economic Community of West African States or ECOWAS saw member states Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau report attempted coups in rece

Sierra Leone Times - ACCRA, Ghana - The United Nations' top peacekeeping official defended the organization's missions worldwide as concerns grow that they've gone into retreat as African leaders demand their withdrawal from Mali to Congo.Under Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix said Wednesday that the force operates on a $5.5 billion budget, which is less than that of the New York City Police Department, eve

Sierra Leone Times - UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali has completed its withdrawal from the country's central regions, said the press office of the UN Secretariat. The mission, known by its French acronym MINUSMA, closed its camp in Sevare in Mopti region on Friday, marking the end of its presence in central Mali, it said. The closure of the Sevare camp, which followed the closure of the