Category: Foreign

Kazakhstan interior ministry said on Monday that the number of people detained during the mass unrest in Kazakhstan since early 2022 has reached 7,939.

The ministry in a statement, as quoted on the government’s Telegram, said “a total of 7,939 persons were detained throughout the country.

“Law enforcement officers, together with members of the National Guard and Special Forces in Almaty, detained 207 people at 2 markets.

“Five stolen cars, stolen inventory items, two units of smooth-bore and four cold weapons were seized,”

Local authorities added that over 2,700 people suspected of participating in the unrest were detained in Kazakh city of Shymkent.

READ ALSO: 164 dead, 6,000 held in Kazakhstan unrest

The statement of the commandant’s office in Shymkent reads “In Shymkent, 2,716 persons suspected of participating in the disturbances were detained.

“A total of 177 citizens have already been charged with administrative offenses, including 175 people arrested for 15 days and two fined.

“Administrative responsibility for violating the curfew was imposed on 33 offenders, 25 of them were arrested. In all the initiated criminal cases, 52 participants of the riots were placed in temporary detention facilities.

“Regional law enforcement officers have found several weapons and ammunition during the car inspection at the checkpoints. Over 7,000 cars have been examined.

Meanwhile, in Nur-Sultan, 64 people have been brought to account for violating the state of emergency, the capital’s government said.

Mass protests in Kazakhstan began in Jan. 2 with residents of western cities of Zhanaozen and Aktau protesting against a twofold increase in the price of liquefied gas.

(Sputnik/NAN)

Representatives from the United States (U.S) and Russia have scheduled a meeting in Geneva on Monday to address soaring tensions over Ukraine.

Moscow and Washington both sent their deputy foreign ministers to lead the delegations.

Their talks to kick start a week of diplomacy aimed at de-escalating the crisis.

On Wednesday, a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council was scheduled in Brussels the first in two and a half years.

This was to be followed on Thursday by talks in Vienna within the framework of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

READ ALSO: Russia: no deals ahead of talks with U.S. over Ukraine

The focus was on a build-up of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine.

The U.S. and its allies have threatened massive sanctions in the event of a Russian invasion, while Russia was demanding guarantees that NATO would not expand further east and would reduce troops and weapons in Europe.

The talks in Geneva were taking place within the framework of the strategic security dialogue that Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin agreed on at their summit in the Swiss city in June.

This is the third round.

They took place alternately at the U.S. and Russian diplomatic missions in Geneva.

Both sides had already dampened expectations for any breakthrough. (dpa/NAN)

Buckingham Palace has unveiled the full programme of events to celebrate the British queen’s platinum jubilee, marking 70 years on the throne.

The celebrations will include the 95-year-old monarch opening her private estates to the public and some of the world’s biggest stars performing outside Buckingham Palace in London.

It was not clear which events Queen Elizabeth II would attend or take part in as she was ordered to rest by doctors in October last year, following an overnight hospital stay for unspecified preliminary investigations.

The bulk of the jubilee duties was thought to likely be given to the rest of the royal family, including Prince William and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cornwall.

The Queen usually spent the anniversary of her accession privately at Sandringham.

Official jubilee celebrations would begin on Monday when Fortnum & Mason launches the Platinum Pudding Competition to find a dish to dedicate to the queen’s reign.

Recipes would be judged by an expert panel including “Great British Bake Off” star Mary Berry.

It was hoped that it would serve as a long-lasting reminder, alongside the queen’s Green Canopy initiative, which would continue to plant new trees to present to her at the end of the year.

From May 12 to 15, more than 500 horses and 1,000 performers were expected to take part in a show in the grounds of Windsor Castle, which would take the audience through history from Elizabeth I to the present day.

READ ALSO: British parliament warned after eight test positive for COVID-19

More ceremonies are to take place later in the year, starting on Thursday, June 2, the first day of the special four-day bank holiday, when the queen’s birthday parade, known as “Trooping the Colour,’’ would take place in Horse Guards Parade.

On the same day, the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and UK Overseas Territories would come together to light a beacon at the same time as the principal beacon at Buckingham Palace.

On Friday, June 3, a service of thanksgiving for the queen’s reign would be held at St Paul’s Cathedral, before the star-studded Platinum Party at The Palace on Saturday, June 4.

Performers have yet to be named but it was being billed as bringing together some of the world’s biggest names in entertainment.

People across the country would sit down together for the Big Jubilee Lunch on Sunday, June 5, the final day of the bank holiday break.

Sandringham and Balmoral would also be open for residents and visitors to enjoy the celebrations across the long weekend.

Performers, dancers, musicians, military personnel, key workers and volunteers will tell the story of the queen’s reign in the Platinum Jubilee Pageant, which will see a River of Hope, made up of 200 silk flags make its way along the Mall.

Schoolchildren across the country have been invited to create a picture of their hopes for the planet over the next 70 years, and some of their designs would be put onto the flags.

From July, three displays marking the queen’s accession to the throne, the Coronation and jubilees would be put on at the official royal residences.

(dpa/NAN)

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has resolved to withdraw all its ambassadors from Mali and close land and air borders between member countries and Mali.

This resolution was conveyed in a communiqué issued after an Extraordinary Summit of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government in Accra, Ghana.

The summit was held on Sunday to discuss the political situation in the Republic of Mali.

The communiqué said that after reviewing the situation, the regional leaders rejected the transition schedule proposed by the Malian military junta as ‘totally unacceptable.’

ECOWAS also imposed additional sanctions on the junta.

“Withdrawal of all ECOWAS Ambassadors in Mali; closure of land and air borders between ECOWAS countries and Mali.

“Suspension of all commercial and financial transactions between ECOWAS Member States and Mali, with the exception of the following products: essential consumer goods; pharmaceutical products; medical supplies and equipment, including materials for the control of COVID-19 products, and electricity

“ Freeze of assets of the Republic of Mali in ECOWAS Central Banks; freeze of assets of the Malian state and the state enterprises and parastatals in commercial Banks

“Suspension of Mali from all financial assistance and transactions from financial institutions.’’

The communiqué also disclosed that the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government instructed all community institutions to take steps to implement the sanctions with immediate effect.

It said that the sanctions would only be gradually lifted after an acceptable and agreed transition chronogram was finalised and monitored satisfactory to ensure progress.

On the situation in Guinea, ECOWAS said it remained concerned about the slow progress of the transition process four months after the coup.

“The Authority regrets the absence of chronogram for the election and the non-setting up of the National Council of Transition (CNT).

READ ALSO:ECOWAS hits Mali with economic sanctions

“ It also directs that a mission be fielded to Conakry to discuss the transition,” the communiqué said.

Earlier in his remarks at the opening session of the Summit, President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana and Chairman of ECOWAS, praised the commitment and support of West African leaders to the progress and prosperity of the sub-region.

“As you did through the entire year of 2021, you continue to demonstrate your commitment of responding to urgent and critical evolving situations in the region.

“This is the 6th Extraordinary Summit since I assumed the chair of the authority that Your Excellencies have participated in concerning the vexed issues of Mali and Guinea.

“It is strong testimony to your leadership and concern to the progress of ECOWAS,” he said.

Aside Osinbajo and Akufo-Addo, other West African leaders present at the summit were Presidents Macky Sall of Senegal, George Weah of Liberia, Patrice Talon of Benin Republic, Christian Kaboré of Burkina Faso, and Alassane Ouattara of Cote d’Ivoire.

Other Heads of State present included Umaro Embalò of the Republic of Guinea Bissau, Mohamed Bazoum of Niger Republic, Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone, and the Vice President of The Gambia, Isatou Touray.

The summit was also attended by former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who is the ECOWAS Mediator for Mali, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Mr Jean-Claude Kassi Brou and representatives of international organisations.

(NAN)

Russia said yesterday it would not make any concessions under United States (U.S.) pressure at talks this week on the Ukraine crisis and its demands for Western security guarantees, and that there was a risk they might end quickly.

The hard line from Moscow underscored the fragile prospects for negotiations that Washington hopes will avert the danger of a new Russian invasion of Ukraine, at the tensest point in U.S.-Russia relations since the Cold War ended three decades ago.

Talks are due in Geneva, Brussels and Vienna but the state-owned RIA news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying it was entirely possible that diplomacy could end abruptly after a single meeting.

“I can’t rule out anything, this is an entirely possible scenario and the Americans … should have no illusions about this,” he was quoted as saying.

“Naturally, we will not make any concessions under pressure and in the course of threats that are constantly being formed by the Western participants of the upcoming talks.”

Interfax news agency quoted Ryabkov, who will lead the Russian delegation in Geneva, as saying Moscow was not optimistic going into the negotiations.

The comments from Ryabkov, who has compared the situation to the 1962 Cuban missile crisis when the world stood on the brink of nuclear war, were consistent with the uncompromising line that Russia has been signalling for weeks.

Tens of thousands of Russian troops are gathered within reach of the border with Ukraine in preparation for what Washington and Kyiv said could be an invasion, eight years after Russia seized the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine.

Russia denies invasion plans and says it is responding to what it calls aggressive and provocative behaviour from the NATO military alliance and Ukraine, its former Soviet neighbor, which has tilted towards the West and aspires to join NATO.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had accused Russia of pushing a false narrative. “That’s like the fox saying it had to attack the hen house because its occupants somehow pose a threat. We’ve seen this gaslighting before,” he said last week.

Further complicating the picture, Russia sent troops into neighbouring Kazakhstan last week after the oil-producing former Soviet republic was hit by a wave of unrest. Its foreign ministry reacted furiously on Saturday to a jibe by Blinken that “once Russians are in your house, it’s sometimes very difficult to get them to leave”.

Last month, Russia presented a sweeping set of demands, including for a bar on further NATO expansion and an end to the alliance’s activity in central and eastern European countries that joined it after 1997.

The United States and NATO have said large parts of the Russian proposals are a non-starter.

A senior Biden administration official on Saturday said the United States was not willing to discuss limits on U.S. troop deployments or the U.S. force posture in NATO countries in the region.

MORE than 164 people have died and almost 6,000 have been arrested in Kazakhstan following violent riots in Central Asia’s largest country this week, media reported citing the health ministry.

Kazakhstan authorities said yesterday the situation in the country had stabilised following deadly violence across the nation.

The office of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced that authorities had secured control of administrative buildings in the country that were overrun by protesters, according to The Associated Press. Some of the buildings had reportedly been set on fire.

Security and intelligence personnel told Tokayev that “clean-up” efforts were still underway, according to Reuters.

The energy-rich nation of 19 million people was rocked by a week of upheaval, with a number of foreigners detained over the unrest.

At least 164 people were killed in the riots, including 103 in the largest city Almaty, which saw some of the fiercest clashes between protesters and security forces.

The new figures — which have not been independently verified — mark a drastic increase in the death toll.

Officials previously said 26 “armed criminals” had been killed and that 16 security officers had died.

In total, 5,800 people have been detained for questioning, the presidency said in a statement.

The figures included “a substantial number of foreign nationals”, it said without elaborating.

“The situation has stabilised in all regions of the country,” even if security forces were continuing “clean-up” operations, the statement added after President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev held a crisis meeting.

Fuel price rises sparked the unrest that broke out a week ago in the country’s west but quickly spread to large cities, including the economic hub Almaty, where riots erupted and police opened fire using live rounds.

The interior ministry, quoted yesterday by local media, put property damage at around 175 million euros ($199 million).

More than 100 businesses and banks were attacked and looted and more than 400 vehicles destroyed, the ministry reportedly said.

Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has urged U.S. President Joe Biden to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba which has been operational for 20 years this month.

The camp stands for arbitrariness, injustice and torture, Amnesty’s U.S. expert, Sumit Bhattacharyya, told dpa in Washington.

Bhattacharyya urged Biden to close the camp and bring people who were involved in torture or other illegal activities there to justice.

The camp now has 39 detainees left.

It was established under the government of Republican President George W Bush to hold suspected Islamist terrorists without trial after Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington DC.

READ ALSO: Nigeria, USA and Amnesty International’s Corruption Perception Index

Bush’s successor, Democrat Barack Obama, wanted to close it, but failed due to opposition in the U.S. Congress, while Republican Donald Trump wanted to keep the camp open.

Biden, who was Obama’s vice-president, is trying to push through with plans to close the facility.

To mark the upcoming 20th anniversary of the opening of the camp, Amnesty International is planning protests in several cities in Germany and other countries on Saturday.

The first prisoners were brought to the Guantanamo camp – located on a U.S. military base in Cuba – on Jan. 11, 2002.

(dpa/NAN)

Nigerian Citizens Association South Africa (NICASA) has expressed shock over alleged killing of a Nigerian, Mr. Kingsley Ezeh, by the South African Police.

President General of NICASA Benjamin Okoli told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that Ezeh’s death on Tuesday, was circumstantial in the hands of members of the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD).

According to him, members of the JMPD had invaded Ezeh’s Tyre shop in the late evening of Jan. 4, where he was allegedly manhandled in the course of extracting information from him.

He alleged that the deceased was choked by the police, which eventually led to his death.

Okoli said Ezeh was going about with his business, when metro police officers with unmarked black-BMW vehicle came with his brother they arrested earlier at a different location.

The NICASA boss said: “What led to the death of Ezeh on Jan. 4, remains a mystery, which will be unraveled by police investigation.

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari yesterday urged the transitional government in Mali to do everything within the tenets of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to restore constitutional order in the country.

The President, who gave the charge when he received briefings from a Special Envoy of the Malian Transitional President, Col. Assimi Goita, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, also assured that Nigeria will do its best to support the country, according to ECOWAS rules.

Col. Abdoulaye Maiga, Mali’s Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, led a team, which briefed President Buhari on conclusions from the National Conference on State-Rebuilding in Bamako held between December 27 and 30, 2021.

Responding to the comprehensive briefing, the President said nobody could love Mali more than Malians themselves, counselling that everyone should work within the tenets of ECOWAS to restore constitutional order to the West African country at the shortest possible time.

“I am pleased you have briefed the ECOWAS Chairman too. Nigeria will work within ECOWAS limitations to assist Mali. Every country has its issues. We fought our own Civil War before. So, we may not know the totality of the internal politics of each country. But we will make as much sacrifice as we can for Mali, within ECOWAS requirements,’’ said President Buhari.

The special envoy expressed gratitude to Nigeria for supporti to his country in terms of bilateral relations, and for the help rendered to the ECOWAS Mediation Team, led by former President Goodluck Jonathan.

He said the vision of Col. Goita was speedy return to democracy, adding that Mali wants to review laws guiding elections, “and professionalise the process.”

President Buhari also yesterday met with his predecessor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, ahead of the upcoming special ECOWAS meeting in Ghana.

Former President Jonathan is ECOWAS Special Envoy on Mali political situation and has constantly advised the regional body on developments in the country.

A statement issued by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, disclosed that the Special ECOWAS meeting in Ghana is being convened to deliberate the political situation in Mali.