Headline
Mali, France Suspend Issuing Visas In Escalating Row
Published
2 years agoon
By
Editor
France and Mali have suspended issuing visas to each other’s citizens in a heightening of a row between the former allies, diplomats said Thursday.
The French embassy suspended issuing new visas in the Malian capital Bamako earlier this week after Paris placed the country in a “red zone” of countries its citizens are strongly advised not to travel to.
Mali’s junta responded by freezing new visas for French citizens at its embassy in Paris in the act of “reciprocity”, the Malian foreign ministry said.
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On Monday, the French foreign ministry issued a travel guidance update advising that “in the current context of strong regional tensions, all travel to Mali is strongly not advised. French citizens in Mali are urged to show the greatest vigilance,” it said.
The higher security classification has entailed a “reorganisation” of services at the French embassy, which means it is “unable to issue visas until further notice”, according to the French online visa service provider Capago.
In a statement posted to social networks late on Wednesday, Mali’s foreign ministry said it had learned of the reclassification “with surprise”.
It said it would apply “reciprocity” and suspend visas issued in Paris.
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France and Mali fell out after the military seized power in Bamako in 2020, ousting elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita over failures to stem a bloody jihadist insurgency.
As the dispute escalated and the junta brought in Russian paramilitaries, France began to pull out its anti-jihadist force, under a phased withdrawal that ended last year.
The bilateral spat has coincided with a surge of regional tensions sparked by a coup on July 26 in Niger, a key French ally.
According to the Capago website, France has also suspended issuing visas in Burkina Faso, another one-time ally in the Sahel, which underwent two coups in 2022.
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Headline
UK PM Says Latest Russia Strikes On Ukraine Shows Putin ‘Not Serious About Peace’
Published
7 hours agoon
September 7, 2025By
Editor
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned Russia’s barrage of air strikes against Ukraine on Sunday, saying they showed that Russian President Vladimir Putin “is not serious about peace”.
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“I’m appalled by the latest brutal overnight assault on Kyiv and across Ukraine,” Starmer said in a statement. “These cowardly strikes show that Putin believes he can act with impunity. He is not serious about peace.”
Headline
Teenager Angry, Poisons Uncle’s Soup Because He Snores Too Much
Published
16 hours agoon
September 7, 2025By
Editor
A high school student in Japan has been arrested for allegedly poisoning his uncle’s soup in an attempt to kill him because he couldn’t stand his snoring, the country’s media reported.
The 18-year-old teenager from Ichibara, Japan’s Chiba prefecture, was arrested and charged with attempted murder after allegedly mincing leaves from a toxic oleander plant and pouring them into his uncle’s soup, because he had become exasperated by his loud snoring.
According to the police report, on August 17, during lunch, the teen’s uncle sensed an unusual taste in the soup he was served and spat it out, but soon started exhibiting symptoms like mouth numbness and stomach pain, which required medical attention.
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Samples from his bowl of soup were found to contain a lethal amount of the toxic substance known as oleandrin.
“I couldn’t stand my uncle’s loud snoring and decided to kill him,” the 18-year-old teenager allegedly told police during questioning.
Oleander is an evergreen tree that blooms with red or white flowers and is commonly planted as a street or park tree. Its branches and leaves are toxic.
Luckily, the teen’s uncle, a 53-year-old self-employed man who lived with the boy and his mother, made a full recovery.

Six people have been killed and up to 20 others are feared trapped after a gold mine collapsed in northern Sudan, authorities said on Saturday.
The accident occurred on Friday in the Um Aud area, west of the city of Berber in River Nile state, said Hassan Ibrahim Karar, executive director of the Berber locality.
“Efforts are ongoing to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble,” Karar said, without specifying the cause of the collapse of the artisanal mine.
Since fighting erupted in April 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, both sides have largely financed their war efforts through the country’s gold industry.
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Official and NGO sources say nearly all of Sudan’s gold trade is funnelled through the United Arab Emirates, which has been widely accused of supplying arms to the RSF — a charge it denies.
Despite the conflict, the army-backed government announced record gold production of 64 tonnes for 2024.
Sudan, Africa’s third-largest country by area, remains one of the continent’s top gold producers.
However, most gold is extracted through artisanal and small-scale mining operations, which lack proper safety measures and often use hazardous chemicals, resulting in severe health risks for miners and nearby communities. Buy vitamins and supplements.
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Before the war pushed 25 million Sudanese into acute food insecurity, artisanal mining employed more than two million people, according to industry figures.
Today, mining experts say much of the gold produced by both warring factions is smuggled through Chad, South Sudan and Egypt before reaching the UAE — currently the world’s second-largest gold exporter.
The conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced roughly 10 million people, creating the world’s largest displacement crisis. An additional four million Sudanese have fled across borders.
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