Gabon’s constitutional court confirms Nguema’s victory

Gabon's President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, China, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024, ahead of the Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). (AP)
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Updated 26 April 2025
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Gabon’s constitutional court confirms Nguema’s victory

  • The Constitutional Court announced a turnout of 70 percent in the election in which some 920,000 voters, including over 28,000 overseas, were registered to participate across more than 3,000 polling stations

DAKAR: Gabon’s constitutional court has confirmed that Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, Gabon’s interim president who staged a 2023 coup, won the Central African nation’s April 12 presidential election.
According to the final results announced by the Constitutional Court, Oligui Nguema won the election with 58,074 votes, which accounts for 94.85 percent.
Oligui Nguema’s tally increased by almost 5 percent compared to the provisional results announced the day after the April 12 vote by the Ministry of the Interior.
He defeated seven other candidates, including the immediate past Prime Minister Alain Claude Bilie-By-Nze, who came in a distant second with 3 percent of votes cast. None of the other six candidates crossed the 1 percent mark.
Bilie-By-Nze recently said that Oligui Nguema took advantage of state resources to support his campaign. The government denies this.
Local observers deemed the conduct of the election satisfactory in nearly all the polling stations monitored.
The Constitutional Court announced a turnout of 70 percent in the election in which some 920,000 voters, including over 28,000 overseas, were registered to participate across more than 3,000 polling stations.
The Interior Ministry had previously announced a higher turnout of 87.21 percent in its provisional results announced the day after the vote.
Gabon’s first election since the 2023 military coup ended a political dynasty that lasted over 50 years.
It was seen as a crucial election for the central African nation’s 2.3 million people, a third of whom live in poverty despite its vast oil wealth.
Oligui Nguema, the former head of the country’s Republican Guard, toppled President Ali Bongo Ondimba nearly two years ago.
He hopes to consolidate his grip on power for a seven-year term in office and is set to be inaugurated on May 3.

 


Air India plane with 242 on board crashes at India’s Ahmedabad airport

Updated 4 sec ago
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Air India plane with 242 on board crashes at India’s Ahmedabad airport

  • The plane was reportedly a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, one of the most modern passenger aircraft
  • It was headed to Gatwick airport in the United Kingdom when it crashed in a civilian area near the airport

NEW DELHI: An Air India plane headed to London with 242 people on board crashed minutes after taking off from India’s western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, the airline and police said, without specifying whether there were any fatalities.

The plane was headed to Gatwick airport in the UK, Air India said, while police officers said it crashed in a civilian area near the airport.

Aviation tracking site Flightradar24 said the plane was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, one of the most modern passenger aircraft in service.

“At this moment, we are ascertaining the details and will share further updates,” Air India said on X.

The crash occurred when the aircraft was taking off, television channels reported. One channel showed the plane taking off over a residential area and then disappearing from the screen before a huge cloud of fire rising into the sky from beyond the houses.

Visuals also showed debris on fire, with thick black smoke rising up into the sky near the airport.

They also showed visuals of people being moved in stretchers and being taken away in ambulances.

According to air traffic control at Ahmedabad airport, the aircraft departed at 1.39 p.m. (0809 GMT) from runway 23. It gave a “Mayday” call, signalling an emergency, but thereafter there was no response from the aircraft.

Flightradar24 also said that it received the last signal from the aircraft seconds after it took off.

“The aircraft involved is a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with registration VT-ANB,” it said.

Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The last fatal plane crash in India involved Air India Express, the airline’s low-cost arm.

The airline’s Boeing-737 overshot a “table-top” runway at Kozhikode International Airport in southern India in 2020. The plane skidded off the runway, plunging into a valley and crashing nose-first into the ground.
Twenty-one people were killed in that crash.


Air India passenger plane with 244 aboard crashes in India’s northwestern Ahmedabad city

Updated 3 min 17 sec ago
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Air India passenger plane with 244 aboard crashes in India’s northwestern Ahmedabad city

NEW DELHI: An Air India passenger plane with 244 people onboard crashed Thursday in India’s northwestern city of Ahmedabad, the airline and local media reported.

Visuals on local television channels showed smoke billowing from the crash site near the airport in Ahmedabad.

Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, the director general of the directorate of civil aviation, told The Associated Press that Air India flight AI 171, a Boeing 787, crashed into a residential area called Meghani Nagar five minutes after taking off at 1:38 p.m. local time.

The flight was bound for London’s Gatwick Airport.

There were 232 passengers and 12 crew members onboard and emergency teams have been activated at the airport, Kidwai said.

The 787 Dreamliner is a widebody, twin-engined plane. This is the first crash ever of a Boeing 787 aircraft, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.


Beijing hails improving Vatican ties after Pope Leo names first Chinese bishop

Updated 12 June 2025
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Beijing hails improving Vatican ties after Pope Leo names first Chinese bishop

  • China recognizes appointment of Joseph Lin Yuntuan as auxiliary bishop of Fuzhou, capital of eastern Fujian province
  • The Vatican and China do not have formal diplomatic relations because the Holy See recognizes Taiwan

BEIJING: Beijing hailed on Thursday improving ties with the Vatican after the first appointment of a Chinese bishop under Pope Leo XIV, signaling the new pontiff’s support for a controversial accord on nominations struck by his predecessor.

The Holy See expressed “satisfaction” on Wednesday at the recognition by China of the appointment of Joseph Lin Yuntuan as auxiliary bishop of Fuzhou, capital of eastern Fujian province. The pope made the nomination on June 5.

Beijing’s foreign ministry said the naming of the first Chinese bishop under the new pope had “enhanced understanding and mutual trust through constructive dialogue” with the Vatican.

“China is willing to work together with the Vatican to promote the continuous improvement of China-Vatican relations,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular news briefing.

The Vatican and China do not have formal diplomatic relations because the Holy See recognizes Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its own territory.

However, they agreed in a historic deal in 2018 to let both sides have a say in the naming of bishops in China, home to about 12 million Catholics.

The deal – the text of which has never been made public – has drawn criticism within the Church, with some seeing it as allowing the Communist Party government a stranglehold over China’s Catholics.

The deal was renewed several times as Pope Francis sought to make inroads for the Church in China, most recently in October 2024 for four years.

“With the joint efforts of both sides, the provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops has been smoothly implemented,” Lin Jian said.


Rescuers in South Africa search for the missing after floods leave at least 49 dead

Updated 12 June 2025
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Rescuers in South Africa search for the missing after floods leave at least 49 dead

  • The missing included four high school students who were swept away when their bus was caught up in the floods near a river on Tuesday
  • The floods hit early Tuesday after an extreme cold front brought heavy rain, strong winds and snow to parts of eastern and southern South Africa

CAPE TOWN, South Africa: Rescue teams began a third day searching for missing people Thursday after floods devastated parts of South Africa’s rural Eastern Cape province and left at least 49 dead.

Authorities said they expected the death toll to rise.

The missing included four high school students who were swept away when their bus was caught up in the floods near a river on Tuesday. Six students on the bus were confirmed dead, while three were rescued after clinging onto trees and calling out for help, according to the provincial government.

The floods hit the province early Tuesday after an extreme cold front brought heavy rain, strong winds and snow to parts of eastern and southern South Africa. Forecasters had warned about the damaging weather last week.

Eastern Cape provincial government officials said they believed people were still missing but did not give an exact number. They were working with families to find out who was still unaccounted for, they said.

On Wednesday, rescue teams brought bodies out of the water in blue body bags, while witnesses said many people had taken refuge on the top of buildings or in trees.

The floods centered on the town of Mthatha and its surrounding district, which is around 430 kilometers (267 miles) south of the east coast city of Durban.

Officials said at least 58 schools and 20 hospitals were damaged, while hundreds of families were left homeless after their houses were submerged under water or washed away by the floods. Critical infrastructure including roads and bridges has been badly damaged, Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane said.

He said it was one of the worst weather-related disasters his province had experienced.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced he had activated the National Disaster Management Center to help local authorities in the Eastern Cape, while national officials were expected to visit the province on Thursday.


Ukrainian pea prices may rise amid expected exports to China, producers say

Updated 12 June 2025
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Ukrainian pea prices may rise amid expected exports to China, producers say

  • UAC said an increase in demand could push pea prices up to as much as 16,000 hryvnias ($385.33) per metric ton

KYIV: Prices for Ukrainian peas may rise significantly by mid-summer on the back of expected significant supplies to China, which opened its market to Ukrainian peas this spring, Ukrainian producers union UAC said on Thursday.

Farmers sowed 250,000 hectares of peas in 2025 compared with 212,000 hectares in 2024, farm ministry data shows.

“China has opened its market, and a significant part of the peas will probably go there,” UAC said in a statement.

UAC said an increase in demand could push pea prices up to as much as 16,000 hryvnias ($385.33) per metric ton ex works (EXW) in late summer against the current 14,000 hryvnias.

The farm ministry has said pea production in Ukraine could increase to 476,000 metric tons in the 2025/26 July-June season from 409,000 tons in 2024/25.

Ukraine exports its peas mostly to Turkiye, India, Italy, Malaysia, the ministry said.