Guinea’s ruling junta announced on Saturday that it had closed the West African country’s borders — a move that a military source said was linked to an imminent ruling on challenges to the outcome of this month’s presidential poll.
“The government has decided to close land, sea, air and river borders,” said an announcement read out on state television that gave no further details.
SUPREME COURT
A military source said the step had been taken because the Guinean Supreme Court would soon rule on challenges to preliminary results that put opposition leader Alpha Conde ahead of former Guinean prime minister Cellou Dalein Diallo in the Nov. 7 election, which is aimed at restoring civilian rule in the top bauxite exporter.
The Supreme Court has until Thursday to rule on complaints of irregularities in several constituencies, which Diallo believes would reverse Conde’s preliminary victory, in which he won 52.5 percent and Diallo 47 percent.
CURFEW
The government has already declared a state of emergency and imposed an overnight curfew after the announcement of the results triggered three days of violence in which at least 10 people were killed, according to one rights group.
Diallo’s supporters are mostly from the Peul ethnic group, which comprises around 40 percent of the population. Conde is from the slightly smaller Malinke group and managed to win more votes from other ethnic minorities.
SACKING
Separately, the army announced that deputy chief of staff Aboubacar Sidiki Camara had been sacked. It gave no reason, but the same military source said the move appeared to be linked to internal rivalries within the fractious armed forces.
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
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
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