Headline

Gabon Junta Chief Wins Presidency

Published

1 year ago

April 13, 2025

Gabon’s junta chief, Brice Oligui Nguema, has won the presidential election with 90.35 per cent of the vote, according to provisional results released Sunday by the interior ministry.

Oligui, who ended more than five decades of corruption-plagued rule by the Bongo family in August 2023, assuming the role of transitional president, had promised to return the country to democratic rule.

Earlier Sunday, Gabon 24 television had reported that he was “well ahead” in several of the central African country’s provinces.

On Saturday, voters had flocked to the ballot boxes to have their say in an election marking the end of military rule. The latest provisional figures from the interior ministry put the participation rate at 70.4 per cent.

The day after voters poured into polling stations, the streets of the capital Libreville were calm — in contrast with previous elections in 2016 and 2023 marked by tensions and unrest.

“I hadn’t voted in a long time, but this time, I saw a ray or something that made me go out and vote,” 58-year-old Catholic Olivina Migombe told AFP while en route to church on Sunday.

“I believe in change this time,” the professed Oligui voter added.

– Debt and poverty –

Whoever wins will have to reckon with the oil-rich country’s litany of problems, from crumbling infrastructure to widespread poverty, all while labouring under a crushing mountain of debt.

If Oligui is elected president “he will have lots of work to do,” Patrick Essono-Mve, a 48-year-old unemployed technician, also on the way to mass, told AFP.

Oligui has sought to shed his military strongman image and even ditched his general’s uniform to run for a seven-year term.

The junta leader has dominated the campaign, with his seven challengers, led by ousted leader Ali Bongo’s last prime minister, Alain-Claude Bilie By Nze, largely invisible by comparison.

But critics accuse Oligui of having failed to move on from the years of plunder of the country’s vast mineral wealth under the Bongos, whom he served for years.

For the first time, foreign and independent media were allowed to film the ballot count.

International observers at polling stations across the country did not notice any major incidents, according to first reports.

In total, some 920,000 voters were called to cast their ballots at 3,037 polling stations, of which 96 were abroad.

Already, in the first results released by state media CTRI News on Sunday morning, Oligui was the overwhelming favourite to win in around 30 polling stations, some of them returning results of 100 percent of the vote in his favour.

AFP

Headline

Indian Court Denies Bail To Nigerian Man Over Drug Charges

Published

2 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

A court in India has denied bail to a 44-year-old Nigerian national, Cristian Soporuchukwu, who is currently facing drug trafficking charges in the country.

Cristian Soporuchukwu initially entered India on a business visa but was later arrested over allegations of involvement in the sale of hard drugs.

Reports indicated that after arriving in India, Soporuchukwu travelled through Goa, Delhi, and Mumbai, where he allegedly established links with suspected drug traffickers.

He was accused of purchasing MDMA crystals and distributing them to college students and information technology workers.

According to reports, operatives of the Beguru Police arrested Cristian Soporuchukwu in April 2025 for allegedly selling MDMA crystals around Begur Lake and the AECS Layout Road area.

The New Indian Express reported that the High Court of Karnataka subsequently dismissed the Nigerian’s bail application.

“The anti-narcotics wing seized about 1 kg of MDMA crystals, a pocket weighing machine, 10 zip-lock covers, a mobile phone and a scooter from him,” the report stated.

Justice V. Srishananda, while ruling on the bail application, reportedly held that errors relating to the grounds of arrest could not automatically justify bail in serious narcotics-related offences under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, NDPS, Act.

The court further noted that Cristian Soporuchukwu had allegedly overstayed his visa in India, according to the report.

Headline

Strait Of Hormuz: US Announces Sanctions Against Iran

Published

2 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

The United States Treasury has announced sanctions against Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority.

Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, said this in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement extended the threat of sanctions to anyone paying the fees, saying they may be providing support to and receiving services from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, and therefore may be exposed to sanctions risk.

“The Iranian military’s latest attempt to extort global maritime trade is proof that Economic Fury has left the regime desperate for cash.

“Treasury has deprived the Iranian regime of revenue for their weapons programs, terrorist proxies, and nuclear ambitions,” Bessent said.

Bessent added that the US has succeeded in disrupting tens of billions of dollars’ worth of revenue from being accessible to Tehran.

Headline

US Launches New Airstrikes On Iran

Published

2 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

The United States has launched new airstrikes in southern Iran.

The strike shot down four one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz and then a ground control site.

A US official revealed that American forces struck an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone.

The official described the strikes as purely defensive, saying the US intended to maintain the ceasefire.

Report says this is the second time in three days that the US has carried out self-defense strikes against Iranian military targets in southern Iran.

Recall that on Monday the US carried out airstrikes against Iranian missile locations and boats that US Central Command said were preparing to launch mines in the Strait of Hormuz.