Opponents of Ivory Coast's President Laurent Gbagbo yesterday vowed to try again to march in the main city Abidjan, despite vicious clashes in which at least 25 people were killed.
Opposition groups in the West African country attempted to hold a rally in the city center on Thursday, ignoring a ban by authorities, but as they gathered in different suburbs clashes broke out with security forces and Gbagbo supporters.
Two policemen were shot and hacked to pieces while 12 other people died from machete wounds, police and army officials said.
Military helicopters clattered overhead, soldiers sealed off the city center and gunshots rang out in several districts.
The death toll -- state radio said it was 25 but the opposition put the figure at nearly 40 -- was the highest in the city since a failed coup attempt in September, 2002 sparked civil war in the world's top cocoa grower.
The conflict was officially declared over in July last year but rebel forces still control the north of the country and most of the peace accord has yet to be implemented.
The rebel movement and two opposition parties suspended their participation in a power-sharing government in protest at Thursday's violence, accusing security forces of shooting unarmed demonstrators. Police said they were fired on first.
The PDCI froze its participation in the government.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
RSS