Coup D’état in Mali

Malian president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was arrested and forced to resign, an escalation in the political crisis that has been felt for several months, marked by anti-government protests, and failed mediations by regional leaders.

After the arrest and seizure of power by the military, there were several reactions and calls that arose for the return to political normality. The heads of state of the Economic Community of West African States called for the reinstatement of the President and the United Nations condemn the Coup D’état.

The situation had deteriorated, which materialized into multiple demonstrations against corruption and electoral fraud. The opposition group ‘’June 5 movement’’ accused Keita of allowing the collapse of the Malian economy and of poor management of security issues in the north and center of the country, which led to UN intervention. Ideologically motivated movements revealed ethnic tensions and political aspirations, leading to an increase of violence in the Sahel, with violence spreading to countries like Niger or Burkina Faso.

Suspected poisoning of the main opponent of Vladimir Putin

Alexander Navalny, Vladimir Putin’s political opponent, is unconscious, following suspected poisoning. Navalny has been for several years a staunch critic of Putin, having stated in June that the votes to amend the constitution were a ‘coup’ and a violation of the constitution.

The activist was taken to Berlin to be treated for suspected poisoning, after his wife and friends begged Vladimir Putin to transfer him from the Siberian hospital where he was staying. Doctors in the city of Omsk refused to allow him to leave the hospital, however, he eventually obtained permission to fly in an air ambulance sent by a German charity in the early hours of Saturday. 

Over the past century, several political opponents of Putin have mysteriously fallen ill, many of whom have died. All of them, apparently, were victims of the secret poison laboratory in Moscow, created by Lenin in 1921, which was in charge of dealing efficiently with the enemies of the state. After Vladimir Putin became president of Russia in 2000, political assassinations returned intensely, so it was speculated that the laboratory would be functioning again.

Other stories

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• A former intelligence officer was arrested and accused by Washington of spying for Beijing. Mr. Ma worked for the CIA from 1982 to 1989, having subsequently joined the FBI as a translator.
• Death Valley reached 54.4C, a record temperature in one of the hottest areas on the planet.
• Israeli warplanes bombed observation posts in Gaza for seven nights in a row, which Israel claims was a response to the Palestinian border fire-balloon attacks.
• Tsikhanouskaya, Lukashenko’s political opponent, urged the population to mobilize and strike, at a time when the Belarusian authorities arrested a union leader on strike and called in prominent opposition activists for interrogation.
• After a long investigation, a UN backed court came up with just one conviction, that of a minor figure in Hezbollah, for the 2005 attack that killed the former Lebanese prime minister.
• This week the Democratic Party Convention took place, in which Joe Biden was confirmed as Donald Trump’s opponent in the 2020 presidential election, as well as the confirmation of Kamala Harris as a candidate for the vice presidency.
• After the United Arab Emirates reached an agreement to normalize its relations with Israel last week, Sudan also started negotiations to proceed with it, and this process is being mediated by the UAE.
• Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s former advisor and campaign director was arrested for allegedly setting up a scheme to embezzle millions of dollars from the ‘’We Build the Wall’’ fundraising initiative, and is awaiting trial.
• According to information provided by the South Korean secret services, Kim Jong-Un is said to have delegated some of his powers over to a small group of outstanding officials.