Author: JT

An Australian goldmining company has agreed to pay $160m ($A247m, £126m) to Mali’s government after the west African country’s junta detained its chief executive and two other employees. Resolute Mining’s chief executive, Terence Holohan, and the other two employees were detained on 8 November in Mali’s capital, Bamako, at the end of a meeting with government officials over tax and other state claims that the miner had previously said were “unsubstantiated”. Resolute, which is headquartered in Perth, said in a stock market announcement on Monday that it had already paid Mali $80m, with the money coming out of its $157m cash reserves, and would…

Two days shy of the second anniversary of a hate-fueled mass shooting at a queer nightclub in Colorado Springs, victims and mothers of those killed have filed lawsuits against the club for lax security and against the sheriff’s office for failing to trigger the state’s red flag law to disarm the shooter and ensure they could not purchase any more weapons. “Club Q advertised itself as a ‘safe place’ for LGBTQIA+ individuals. But that was a facade,” read the two complaints, which contain allegations of negligence. The suits were filed on Sunday and allege that the 19 November 2022 murders of five…

A Hong Kong court has sentenced 45 pro-democracy activists to jail terms ranging from four to 10 years in the territory’s largest national security trial, following a prosecution that was widely criticised as politically motivated. Benny Tai, a legal academic and activist, was sentenced to 10 years in jail on Tuesday over his role as an organiser of pre-election primaries that the court found were an attempt to cause a constitutional crisis. Tai’s is the longest sentence handed out so far under the city’s national security law, which was passed in mid- 2020. Joshua Wong, one of the most public faces…

Meaza Teklemariam was seven months pregnant when the soldiers came to her home in January 2021, dragged her husband, Tsegaye, outside and bound his hands together, before taking him away with other men from their neighbourhood in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. “They said to him, ‘You are a fighter, you are a fighter’,” says Meaza, tears rolling down her cheeks. “He kept saying, ‘No, no. I’m a farmer, I’m a civilian.’” Europe is turning a blind eye because Ethiopia is an important partner in Africa Videos filmed by the soldiers and posted on social media show what happened next. The…

Somalia has announced that more than $1.1bn (£860m) of outstanding loans will be cancelled by the US, a sum representing about a quarter of the country’s remaining debt. The announcement is the latest in a series of agreements in which Somalia’s creditors have committed to forgiving its debt obligations. Most of Somalia’s debt had built up during the era of Siad Barre’s military dictatorship, which collapsed in the early 1990s and triggered a ruinous three-decade civil war. Somalia’s president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, said the country had been “suffocating under the huge weight of unsustainable debt” as interest payments that could not be…

After Donald Trump’s US election victory, here’s what will happen next:

Ghana: The flag-bearer of the NPP, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has reiterated his determination to transform the country’s economy through digitalisation and the use of technology. He said government would launch the country’s first credit scoring system on November 7, this year, to help make it easy for Ghanaians to acquire items on a credit basis and thereby, improve their living conditions. The credit scoring system will be the second in Africa after South Africa, which already had the system in place. Speaking at a campaign rally at Nyinahin in the Atwima Mponua District to begin his 15-day tour of the…

Doyin Okupe, former director-general of the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential campaign, has publicly withdrawn his support for Peter Obi, citing Obi’s recent comments about the economic situation in the south-west as reason. In a viral clip, Obi stated, “Let us talk about what is happening today. Rice is about N100,000. We are not even sure where we are going to be. ‘It’s our turn’, ‘he is a Yoruba man’ — ask the people in Ogun, here is there any place you people buy bread cheaper?” Okupe, who spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, described Obi’s remarks as an…

Nigeria: A former Senator from Anambra State, Ishaku Abbo has disclosed a new plan which he said will significantly lower petrol costs by early 2025. During a press briefing on Monday in Yola, Abbo said the details of his proposal has been formally sent to President Bola Tinubu. He claims the plan if approved, could bring petrol prices down to N480 per litre by February next year. Currently, Nigerians are facing record-high fuel prices, with many stations selling petrol for over N1000 per litre. The drastic increase came after the federal government completely removed the fuel subsidy, which had previously…

Boeing’s US West Coast factory workers accepted a new contract offer on Monday, their union said, bringing an end to a bitter seven-week strike that halted most jet production and deepened a financial crisis at the troubled planemaker. The union said members voted 59% in favor of the new contract, which includes a 38% pay rise spread over four years, easing pressure on new Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg after two previous offers were voted down in recent weeks. “This is a victory. We can hold our heads high,” the union’s lead negotiator Jon Holden told members after the results were announced. “Now it’s our…