Burundi Holds Legislative Vote, Excludes Main Opposition Leader
Burundi is holding elections for the National Assembly and local councils that have excluded the main opposition in one of the world's poorest nations.
Agathon Rwasa, whose faction was blocked from participating, has claimed the vote won't be fair because the electoral commission is not independent. He's also alleged that voters and opposition politicians have been the victims of intimidation by the youth league of the ruling party, which has been in power for two decades.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
3 hours ago
- CBS News
Russia-backed Wagner Group says it is leaving Mali, but Africa Corps will remain
The Russia-backed Wagner Group said Friday it is leaving Mali after more than three and a half years of fighting Islamic extremists and insurgents in the country. Despite Wagner's announcement, Russia will continue to have a mercenary presence in the West African country. The Africa Corps, Russia's state-controlled paramilitary force, said on its Telegram channel Friday that Wagner's departure would not introduce any changes and the Russian contingent will remain in Mali. Wagner is a group of entities that operate as a private military company, or PMC. These PMCs can be hired by governments for security or combat services. "Mission accomplished. Private Military Company Wagner returns home," the group announced via its channel on the messaging app Telegram. It said it had brought all regional capitals under control of the Malian army, pushed out armed militants and killed their commanders. Mali, along with neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger, has for more than a decade battled an insurgency fought by armed groups, including some allied with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. As Western influence in the region has waned, Russia has sought to step into the vacuum, sweeping in with offers of assistance. Moscow initially expanded its military cooperation with African nations by using the Wagner Group of mercenaries. But since the group's leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was killed in a plane crash in 2023, after mounting a brief armed rebellion in Russia that challenged the rule of President Vladimir Putin, Moscow has been developing the Africa Corps as a rival force to Wagner. Africa Corps is under direct command of the Russian defense ministry. According to U.S. officials, there are around 2,000 mercenaries in Mali. It is unclear how many are with Wagner and how many are part of the Africa Corps. Beverly Ochieng, a security analyst specializing in the Sahel for Control Risks consultancy, said the Russian defense ministry had been negotiating with Mali to take on more Africa Corps fighters and for Wagner mercenaries to join Russia's state-controlled paramilitary force. "Since the death of Prigozhin, Russia has had this whole plan to then make the Wagner Group fall under the command of the Ministry of Defense. One of the steps they made was to revamp or introduce the Africa Corps, which is the way in which the Russian paramilitaries would retain a presence in areas where the Wagner group has been operating," Ochieng said. Wagner has been present in Mali since late 2021 following a military coup, replacing French troops and international peacekeepers to help fight the militants. But the Malian army and Russian mercenaries struggled to curb violence in the country and have both been accused of targeting civilians. Last month, United Nations experts urged Malian authorities to investigate reports of alleged summary executions and forced disappearances by Wagner mercenaries and the army. In December, Human Rights Watch accused Malian armed forces and the Wagner Group of deliberately killing at least 32 civilians over an 8-month span. The announcement of Wagner's withdrawal comes as the Malian army and the Russian mercenaries suffered heavy losses during attacks by the al-Qaida linked group JNIM in recent weeks. Last week, JNIM fighters killed dozens of soldiers in an attack on a military base in central Mali. Rida Lyammouri, a Sahel expert at the Morocco-based Policy Center for the New South, said the major losses might have caused the possible end of Wagner's mission. "The lack of an official and mutual announcement from both the Malian authorities and Wagner indicate possible internal dispute which led to this sudden decision. Simultaneously, this could point to a new framework for Russian presence in the country," he said. Replacing Wagner with Africa Corps troops would likely shift Russia's focus in Mali from fighting alongside the Malian army to training, said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. "Africa Corps has a lighter footprint and focuses more on training, providing equipment and doing protection services. They fight less than the 'Rambo-type' Wagner mercenaries," Laessing said.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Activist endures painful history to embark on inspiring work to save critical species: 'The mountain gorillas have really shaped my life'
Conservationist and veterinarian Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka has been on a decades-long mission to save critically endangered mountain gorillas in Uganda. As CNN reported, she fell in love with the great apes over 30 years ago after visiting Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable National Park — one of just two patches of forest in the world where the animals live. "You don't hear them, but you see their trails as you're walking," Kalema-Zikusoka told the news outlet. "You can be looking for them, thinking will I ever see them? Then suddenly — they're there. It's such a magical feeling." Describing the first time she saw a mountain gorilla up close, she added, "I looked into his very intelligent brown eyes, and I felt a really deep connection. He was just willing to let us into his presence, and not at all threatening." She had originally visited the park as part of a summer placement after graduating from the Royal Veterinary College in London, but the month-long internship revealed a deeper calling, and she decided to pursue conservation work in the park full-time. For three decades now, she's been helping the mountain gorilla population rebound, with their numbers in Bwindi growing from less than 300 individuals to nearly 460. According to the IUCN Red List, the species was downgraded from critically endangered to endangered thanks to Kalema-Zikusoka's dedication. Over the last century, mountain gorillas have faced numerous pressures from poaching, deforestation, and violence in Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Compounding these issues, the brutal eight-year dictatorship of Idi Amin in Uganda devastated remaining gorilla populations and many other wildlife. During the military coup, Kalema-Zikusoka's father — who was a minister in the government — was abducted and never seen again. As she got older and learned more about what happened that day, she felt it was her duty to keep his legacy alive by restoring Uganda through conservation work. Mountain gorillas have been pushed to near-extinction, confined to just two isolated areas: the Virunga Mountains, which straddle the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda, and Bwindi in southwest Uganda. All these events sparked Kalema-Zikusoka's passion to become a veterinarian and help the wildlife return to Uganda's ecosystems. Part of the mission involved efforts to improve public health as well, which isn't usually in the job description for a vet. Should the U.S. invest in building more wildlife overpasses? Absolutely Depends on how we do it Depends on where we do it Nope Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. But after a scabies outbreak in low-income communities bordering Bwindi spread to some of the gorillas, Kalema-Zikusoka saw an opportunity to better the lives of both humans and animals. She launched the nonprofit Conservation Through Public Health to enhance the well-being of rural communities. Through the organization, community volunteers are trained to educate families about the importance of proper hygiene, family planning, infectious disease prevention, and other aspects of health. Meanwhile, local farmers escort wandering gorillas back to their forest homes if they venture close to humans. Kalema-Zikusoka's conservation efforts have also led poachers to give up their livelihoods in favor of gorilla tourism, a booming industry in Uganda. Some are also training to become farmers, guides, and rangers after learning about the importance of protecting gorillas. Ensuring the gorillas have a safe place to live has also positively impacted people, bringing them more jobs and opportunities. It's another example of the interconnected nature of life on our planet, proving that humans and animals can coexist with a little planning and goodwill. "The mountain gorillas have really shaped my life," Kalema-Zikusoka told CNN. And in turn, "the gorillas have really transformed Uganda, and brought Ugandan conservation and tourism back on the map." "Gladys, I think she's born with conservation in her blood. If you go through the life of her family, how she was brought up, she was brought up in that life of being a conservationist and I think she'll die a conservationist," Joshua Masereka, the community conservation warden at Uganda Wildlife Authority, added. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
A few votes can swing a ward race. Morris County has a few wild ones in 2025
Local elections, particularly in election years not involving presidential or midterm congressional races, are often decided by a handful of votes cast among low voter turnouts. In towns where council or committee elections are split into separate geographic wards, the voter margins are often razor-thin, with as few as two or three votes sometimes making the difference. That should come as an added incentive for ward residents in towns such as Dover and Rockaway Township to make their vote count. This year, both of those towns feature some of the most contentious campaigns in Morris County. In Dover, two well-known town leaders are challenging incumbent council candidates backed by Mayor James Dodd in separate ward races in the Democratic primary on Tuesday, June 10. The winners will be heavily favored in the majority Democratic town to win office in November. In 2023, the last non-presidential election year, only 1,978 votes were cast in the Dover Democratic primary's four ward races, or about 495 votes per ward. The average margin of victory was about 65 votes. This year, the two most notable and noisy campaigns have been seen and heard in wards 1 and 2. The Ward 1 race pits first-term incumbent Claudia Toro against former Dover Board of Education President Daniella Mendez. Toro, who owns a family tax service in Dover, touts her achievements as a successful female Hispanic business owner and public servant. She's been a Dover resident since immigrating from Colombia in 2004. Mendez made headlines in 2023 as the first trans woman in the state to be elected as a public school board president. After completing two terms leading the board, she stepped down last year to focus on her council campaign, which she launched in December. Raised in Paterson, she's been a Dover resident for 10 years. The race has featured heated rhetoric from both sides, particularly from the Toro campaign and its supporters, which has produced literature, social media and video alleging improprieties in Mendez's personal life. Speaking to the Daily Record a week before the primary, Mendez said she wanted to focus beyond "the smear campaign" of her opponents and stick to the issues. She said the work she does as a director of community engagement for the nonprofit Edge NJ in Parsippany gives her insight into the mental health and other needs of vulnerable, low-income people often found in Dover. Mendez said she is proud of her accomplishments but looks forward to the day when "the fact that I was the first is not a big deal." Her motivation to run for council starts with "I love Dover." "Dover is my adopted hometown," she said. "Serving in an elected office, I feel, is my way of giving back to a town that has given me so much in this chapter of my life. And quite frankly, I think that we have work to do in Dover, and I think that we can do better than we are doing, and I think that I am the right person to contribute to the team that moves us forward." Toro also loves her adopted hometown and launched her professional career after beginning studies for business administration at the former Dover Business College. She opened Toro Taxes on Blackwell Street in 2018. Her campaign lists accomplishments, including launching a senior care program and supporting a community and immigration programs initiative. Toro acknowledges it's been a turbulent first term while supporting the mayor as he has taken controversial steps in his return to office, including a recent decision to hold council meetings virtually without public attendance, seeking to sidestep out-of-town activists who have disrupted meetings in recent months. Mendez and others have accused her of being "simply a puppet" for Dodd. But Toro says she is up to taking some criticism in exchange for the chance to serve the community. "I am a strong woman," she said. "Politics can be intimidating, for women more than men. But I am strong. And I am prepared for this." Dover's Democratic primary in Ward 2 features a rematch between first-term incumbent Sergio Rodriguez against Judith Rugg, whom he unseated in the 2023 primary by 114 votes. Rodriguez's first term is well-documented as he accumulated multiple assault charges resulting from confrontations with men downtown whom he accused of drinking alcohol in downtown public spaces. His next court date to answer those charges is scheduled for June 16. The resulting controversy has generated frequent public calls for Rodriguez to resign, but with Dodd's support, he's eager to tackle a second term. The biggest misconception about his actions and methods, Rodriguez said in a Daily Record interview, is that he is "extremely, sometimes to a fault, transparent." "That comes out in various ways," said Rodriguez, 30, who owns a small business consulting and social media service. "And one of the ways that comes out is through my social media. And so where some people see that as an effort to try to make myself this hotshot politician that cares about his public image and only that, that's the misconception that can sometimes be made if you don't know me. But if anybody has followed me before my political career, they knew I was very vocal on social media. That's where my push comes from, from trying to give out as much information as possible." He brought up the issue of public drinking as an example, saying one of his first-term accomplishments was "shining a huge spotlight on that, to the point where it made everyone else act. It made our law enforcement act. It made our community leaders act. It made our elected officials act." Rugg, a career nurse who came into office with former Mayor Carolyn Blackman in 2019, lost her seat in 2023 as Dodd's "Rescue Dover" ticket, including Rodriguez, swept into office. Pleas from her Ward 2 neighbors to run again, she said, pushed her back into the race. "I believe in the truth," she said. "We don't know how this will turn out, but he was not being challenged on the ballot, and I thought that was wrong." Her top priority back in office would be healthcare. "We need a health department that can meet the needs of our elderly residents, of our uninsured residents, and of our newly arrived residents," she said. "As a nurse, I know how important this is. I served on the council during COVID and witnessed firsthand how devastating the pandemic was for Dover." Other priorities for Rugg would be addressing the need for affordable housing and improving communication between Town Hall and the residents. Another contentious ward rematch is unfolding among Republicans in Ward 6 of Rockaway Township, where incumbent Rachel Brookes is once again facing Tucker Kelley, whom she unseated from the council in 2021 by 96 votes. Brookes is running for re-election with a list of accomplishments and leaning into Kelley's reputation as a controversial figure around town, known for filing frequent OPRA requests and filing lawsuits to uncover what he has seen over the years as corruption and fiscal mismanagement by the governing body. A mother of four boys, marketing director for Crunch Fitness and a former board of education member, Brookes, 43, is seeking a second term. Her campaign literature touts first-term accomplishments, including increased hiring, funding and resources for first responders, ensuring the safety of recreational fields and "open communication and strong collaboration with residents, local groups, schools, and township departments." Kelley, 55, is a lifelong Rockaway Township resident who lives with his wife and daughter in the Lake Telemark section. A real estate entrepreneur, emission-control expert and construction-excavation business owner, he also owns and rents multiple commercial and residential properties throughout town. "I have a background in contract negotiations, municipal budgets as well as a large skill set in multiple trades and property management," he said. Brookes said she resigned from the school board to run for council against Kelley because she was "disheartened" by his behavior on the council. "We became an embarrassment," she told the Daily Record. "I had to make a choice, I felt no one else would do it, and decided to run for that seat." Even out of office, she said, he continues to harass township employees and file costly lawsuits against the town. "He's not a collaborative communicator," she continued. "He doesn't work well with others." Kelley doesn't apologize for his methods in a town he feels burdens residents with tactics that obstruct transparency and fiscal responsibility, stating, "I'm not afraid to stand up." "I am somebody who doesn't welcome the status quo," he said. "It's so costly, it's not effective. It's only helping the few rather than the many." Kelley also disputed Brooke's leadership in the accomplishments she is taking credit for in her campaign, adding she voted to raise council's and the mayor's salaries, while he donated his salary while in office to the Rockaway Township Volunteer Fire Company. Should he win, Kelley says his priorities would include lowering taxes for the next budget cycle, addressing necessary infrastructure upgrades, creating an economic committee to prepare for fiscal issues and increasing the morale of police officers and municipal employees. Both claim a record of fiscal stewardship and holding down tax increases. Kelley calculates he reduced the town's tax burden by $1.5 million through wasteful spending cuts during his term. The two are also at odds over social issues, with Kelley accusing Brookes of supporting a "woke" agenda during her time on the school board. "It's time to stop using our children as pawns in political games," he said. "I strongly oppose the radical woke agendas Rachael supported, such as transgender Policy 5756 (the state's "transgender student guidance" for districts), men participating in female sports and removing Columbus Day from our township calendars." "One of the biggest things is he likes to go on and on about woke agendas," Brookes said. "To me, that's just nonsense. It's just using hot words to be divisive, to divide the community, to not really talk about the needs of our evolving community." "We've increased our first responders," Brookes said. "We have added positions to our police department to hire officers to combat overtime and fatigue of our officers. We've really done a lot of work with the community." Kelley says the biggest misconception among his critics is his overlooking his passion for Rockaway Township and "community." "When I see my tax dollars wrongfully being misplaced to projects that benefit a very few amount of people, including some of our elected officials and their family, rather than the many, it makes me look into areas or topics and try to find a better way of directing our monies to serve the many," he said. Polls on primary day will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. The early-voting period began June 3 and runs through June 8. May 20 was the deadline to register for the primary. Applications for mail-in ballots must be received by 3 p.m. on June 9. Mail-in ballots must be received by the Post Office by June 10. County clerks must certify election results by June 23. The 2025 general election takes place on Tuesday, Nov. 4. The voter registration deadline is Oct. 14. This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Morris County NJ has few wild ward races in June 10 primary
