Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | Former Ivory Coast rebel chief and presidential candidate Guillaume Soro landed Monday in neighbouring Ghana after his private flight was diverted “against his will”, his party said. Soro’s planned return to the Ivory Coast as candidate in next year’s ballot is raising tensions in …
Read More »Smartphone moviemakers take the limelight at African festival
Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | “It’s not because you don’t have the means that you don’t dream,” says Guy-Serge Namane, a director at the second Bushman Film Festival, a cornucopia of global smartphone cinema. “Action!,” his assistant director calls. Namane asks actress Berenice Irie, in full make-up, to …
Read More »Belgium agrees to host Ivory Coast ex-president Gbagbo
Brussels, Belgium | AFP | Belgium said Saturday it has agreed to host Ivory Coast ex-president Laurent Gbagbo pending a possible appeal against his acquittal by the International Criminal Court in The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity. On January 15, the tribunal acquitted Gbagbo and his aide, Charles …
Read More »ICC halts release of I.Coast’s Gbagbo after new appeal
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | The International Criminal Court on Wednesday halted the release of former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo following a fresh appeal by prosecutors, a day after he was acquitted of crimes against humanity. Judges had earlier ordered Gbagbo and his right-hand man Charles Ble Goude …
Read More »Pressure mounts on ICC war crimes court after Gbagbo blow
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | As prosecutors failed to land the scalp of yet another former national leader accused of crimes against humanity, the question echoed in the hallways of the International Criminal Court: is it fit for purpose? The acquittal on Tuesday of former Ivory Coast president …
Read More »ICC acquits former Ivory Coast strongman Gbagbo
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | The International Criminal Court on Tuesday acquitted former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo over post-electoral violence in the West African nation in a stunning blow to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Judges ordered the immediate release of the 73-year-old deposed strongman, the first …
Read More »Millions invested but gold mining ‘under-exploited’ in W.Africa: experts
Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | Mining companies have invested at least $5 billion towards gold exploration in West Africa in the last decade but significant reserves are under-exploited, mineral industry experts said on Tuesday. Delegates at the Ecomof mining and petroleum forum in the Ivory Coast commercial capital Abidjan …
Read More »I. Coast says nearly 400 tonnes of fake drugs seized in two years
Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | Nearly 400 tonnes of fake medicines have been seized over two years in Ivory Coast, whose main city Abidjan is a West African haven for counterfeit drugs, the health ministry said Tuesday. Counterfeit medicine is the scourge of Africa and the cause of around …
Read More »Ivory Coast to send 450 peacekeepers to C. Africa
United Nations, United States | AFP | Ivory Coast will send 450 troops to the Central African Republic to serve as UN peacekeepers in one of the most demanding missions, the foreign minister said Thursday. The announcement from Ivorian Foreign Minister Marcel Amon-Tanoh came after Gabon last month announced that …
Read More »Researchers warn ‘Ebola for plants’ hitting Africa’s cassava crop
Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | A new disease infecting cassava — dubbed “Ebola for plants” — could spell a looming food crisis for Africa, researchers have warned, fearful that the emerging blight could decimate one of the continent’s most vital food crops. Africa is the world’s largest producer of …
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