Author: Village Reporter

Malian investigators have ruled out terrorism as a motivation in the attempted stabbing attack on the head of the country’s ruling junta Colonel Assimi Goita, French broadcaster RFI reported on Saturday. Citing a source close to the probe, RFI reported that the suspect had been trained to handle weapons and that he was not acting alone. Goita was attacked during eid al-Adha prayers at the Grand Mosque in Bamako on Tuesday. The attacker missed him and wounded Goita’s guard instead. He was immediately evacuated from the scene to the Kati…

The ravine stretches several kilometres. Years of soil erosion have caused devastation in the Republic of Congo’s port city of Pointe-Noire. What started as gullies has now grown into ravines, swallowing more homes and farmland every year. You see this house? That’s where we used to live but we lost everything,” said Ngombi Jacque, pointing to the spot where his house used to stand. Residents blame the unfinished project of building dikes to evacuate waves from the Atlantic for aggravating the problem. But authorities say the area’s sandy soils easily…

Sierra Leonean lawmakers voted to abolish the death penalty Friday, becoming the latest African country to move toward banning capital punishment. A majority of MPs voted in favor of an amendment abolishing the death penalty, according to an AFP journalist who was present in the chamber. Capital punishment will be replaced with life imprisonment or a minimum 30-year jail term for crimes such as murder or mutiny. No execution has taken place in the country since 1998, and death sentences have often been commuted. But Sierra Leone, which is still…

The body of slain Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was returned to his hometown Friday for a private funeral amid heavy security following violent protests and fears of political volatility in the Caribbean nation Moïse’s body arrived shortly after dawn at his family’s seaside property where the funeral is being held. Six officials carried the brown casket up a stage where they saluted it and stood before it in silence for several minutes before draping a large red and blue Haitian flag over it. At the end of the funeral, Martine…

The final leg of what started out has an Olympic dream ended on Friday for Ugandan Athlete Julius Ssekitoleko as he returned home. The 20-year-old weightlifter fled during pre-Olympics training in western Japan last week leaving behind a note saying he didn’t want to return to his country. Ssekitoleko had wanted to stay in Japan and work, officials said. He did not meet Olympic standards in the latest international rankings released after he arrived Japan. Speaking to the media while waiting for the return of her husband at Entebbe at…