Madagascar opposition leader Andry Rajoelina, in conflict with President Marc Ravalomanana since the start of the year, will boycott talks to resolve the crisis, a spokesman said yesterday.
“It’s a categoric refusal,” said spokesman Augustin Andriamananoro, referring to the two-day conference that was due to start today.
He said time was not right for the talks and that the church leaders who were acting as mediators lacked the credibility to organize the discussions. He called again on the president to resign.
Madagascar’s army chief warned on Tuesday his troops would wrest control if political leaders failed to resolve the worsening crisis in the Indian Ocean Island within 72 hours.
More than 100 people have been killed in a wave of opposition protests against Ravalomanan’s rule since the start of the year.
Chief of staff Edmond Rasolofomahandry called on political groups and leaders across Madagascan society, as well as foreign envoys, to work for a solution.
Rasolofomahandry said that his forces “promised not to take sides,” but said they were ready to step in if necessary.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
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Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
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