Sporadic gunfire yesterday rang out in Burundi’s capital, the day after an army general announced he had ousted Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza, whose decision to seek a third term in office had provoked street protests.
Explosions and gunshots could be heard in central Bujumbura.
Thousands on Wednesday took to the streets to celebrate after Burundian Major General Godefroid Niyombare announced on a private radio station that Nkurunziza had been relieved of his duties.
Photo: AP
Nkurunziza was in neighboring Tanzania for a summit on his country’s troubles at the time. His whereabouts remained unclear, but the presidency said on Twitter that Nkurunziza urged the nation to remain calm amid the attempted coup and that the situation was under control.
The military is divided between Nkurunziza loyalists and those who back Niyombare, who was fired in February as the country’s intelligence chief.
Burundian Army chief of staff Major General Prime Niyongabo said on state radio late on Wednesday that he is “against Major General Niyombare.”
A grenade attack on Wednesday night seriously damaged the building of private broadcaster Renaissance TV, where Niyombare also made his coup statement, station director Innocent Muhozi said.
One of his offices was also burned overnight, he said.
Police withdrew from the streets of Bujumbura after Niyombare’s coup statement, while people applauded soldiers who rode by in tanks and trucks.
However, some officials remained loyal to Nkurunziza, whose office said a statement posted on the president’s Twitter and Facebook accounts on Wednesday evening that the coup attempt was unsuccessful.
At least 15 people have been killed during protests since April 26 over Nkurunziza’s bid for a third term. During the unrest, the military acted as a buffer between police and protesters, who said Nkurunziza’s bid for a third term violated the Burundian constitution and Arusha peace accords that ended a civil war.
Tanzanian President Jikaya Kiwkete said the regional leaders condemned the coup and called for constitutional order.
The constitution says a president can be popularly elected to two five-year terms. Nkurunziza maintains he can run for a third term because parliament elected him for his first one, leaving him open to be popularly elected to two terms.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)