Thousands protest in Ivory Coast after opposition leader barred from presidential race

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Thousands of protesters gathered in Ivory Coast 's capital Abidjan on Saturday to demand the reinstatement on the electoral list of main opposition leader Tidjane Thiam, a former CEO of Credit Suisse, who was barred from running in the presidential election set for October.
Despite heavy rain, protesters peacefully gathered near the independent electoral commission, the body responsible for organizing the vote, in Abidjan.

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New York Times

4 hours ago

• New York Times

U.S. rejects visas for Senegal women's national basketball team members, staff

The Senegal women's national basketball team cancelled a 10-day training camp in the U.S. from June 22 to July 3 after the U.S. rejected visas for five players, six staff members and a ministerial delegation, the Senegalese Basketball Federation announced in a statement Friday. The rejected visas come weeks after the Trump administration announced a travel ban on 12 countries and visa restrictions on another seven. That original group did not include Senegal, but The Washington Post and other outlets reported last week that the administration was considering expanding the ban to 36 more countries, including Senegal. The expanded ban has not yet taken effect. Advertisement The travel ban includes exemptions for the World Cup, Olympics and any 'other major sporting event,' though it's unclear what constitutes a 'major' event. 'Informed of the refusal to issue Visas to multiple members of the national women's basketball team of Senegal, I gave instruction to the Ministry of Sports to cancel, purely and simply, the ten-day preparation program initially set to be in the United States of America,' Senegal Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko said in a statement on Facebook on Friday. The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The training camp, which will now take place in Senegal, is in preparation for the Women's AfroBasket, Africa's continental championship. Senegal leads the medal table and has won 11 titles, the most in Women's AfroBasket history. Sonko also praised China in his statement on Friday. With the Trump administration pulling foreign assistance and restricting travel from many African countries, some foreign policy experts predict that China will strengthen its relationship with the continent and fill that gap. 'I would like to express my profound gratitude to the People's Republic of China, who have agreed to several tens of grants for the preparation of our athletes along with their supervisors, with the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar 2026 in mind,' Sonko said. The Athletic's Max Mathews contributed reporting.

News24

5 hours ago

• News24

Ramaphosa urges renewed commitment to constitutionalism at 30th anniversary of Constitutional Court

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News24

6 hours ago

• News24

Oil drops, Sasol slumps as Trump delays Iran move

• For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page. Oil prices retreated Friday while stock markets gained ground as concerns over a war escalation in Iran eased. International crude benchmark contract Brent dropped more than two percent, weighing on the share prices of energy majors, after US President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would decide whether to join Israel's strikes on Iran within the next two weeks. Traders said it suggested Trump preferred negotiations to end the fighting, as top European diplomats met Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva on Friday to discuss a "diplomatic solution" to end the war. The JSE's All-Share index ended flat, while Sasol lost almost 6% to R95.36. The synthetic fuel producer's shares jumped along with oil prices since the attacks on Iran. It was trading around R87 before the conflict. The rand lost half a percent over the past week, spiking to almost R18.16/$. By Friday afternoon it was back below R18. US indices opened slightly higher Friday, though analysts said volumes were likely to be lacklustre with many traders taking a four-day weekend after Thursday's Juneteenth holiday. European stock markets were up in afternoon deals while Asian equity indices closed out the week mixed. "News that president Trump would delay any decision on joining Israel's attacks against Iran has boosted the market mood," said Kathleen Brooks, an analyst at trading firm XTB. "Brent crude has dropped... as traders price out the worst-case scenario for geopolitics," she said. Crude futures had soared and global equities slumped in recent sessions as the Israel-Iran conflict showed no signs of easing, with investors pricing in the risk of tighter oil supplies that would likely weigh on economic growth. "While the immediate prospect of a US intervention in Iran may have diminished, the fact this is reportedly a two-week hiatus means it will remain a live issue for the markets going into next week," said Dan Coatsworth, an investment analyst at AJ Bell. "A meeting of European ministers with their Iranian counterparts to try and formulate a deal today could be crucial." While the Middle East crisis continues to absorb most of the news, Trump's trade war remains a major obstacle for investors as the end of a 90-day pause on his April 2 tariff blitz approaches. "While the worst of the tariffs have been paused, we suspect it won't be until those deadlines approach that new agreements may be finalised," said David Sekera, chief US market strategist at Morningstar. "Until then, as news emerges regarding the progress and substance of trade negotiations, these headlines could have an outsize positive or negative impact on markets," he said. In Europe, Eutelsat shares soared 27 percent on the Paris stock exchange after the French government said it would lead a 1.35 billion euros in the European satellite operator. French President Emmanuel Macron urged a "speedy reconquest" for Europe in the space sector in the face of growing American competition, in a speech at the Paris Air Show.