Mali: Vantagem para Ibrahim Boubacar Keita

Selon les résultats provisoires annoncés mardi 30 juillet par le ministre de l'Administration territoriale, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, dit "IBK", bénéficie d'une "large avance sur ses concurrents" sur un tiers des bulletins de vote dépouillés. Le taux de participation au premier tour a été de 53,5%. Il est bien le grand favori de l'élection présidentielle malienne. D’après les premiers résultats provisoires annoncés mardi par le ministre de l’Administration territoriale, Moussa Sinko Coulibaly, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, surnommé « IBK » par ses compatriotes, bénéficie d’une « large avance sur ses concurrents » après le dépouillement d’un peu plus d’un tiers des bulletins de vote du premier tour. « Nous en sommes à un tiers du dépouillement sur l’ensemble des résultats, a annoncé le ministre devant des nombreux journalistes, après plus d’une heure et demi d’attente. Nous avons déjà des tendances. Un candidat, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, dit IBK, a une large avance sur ses concurrents. Si cette avance est confirmée, il n’y aura pas besoin de deuxième tour. » D’après le ministre, Soumaïla Cissé arrive en deuxième position, bénéficiant également d'une importante marge sur le troisième candidat, Dramane Dembélé. Selon Moussa Sinko Coulibaly, le taux de participation, qui s’élève à 53, 5 % sur l’échelle nationale, a été « exceptionnel ». La participation a été particulièrement forte dans la capitale, Bamako, avec un taux avoisinant les 60 %. Elle a en revanche été très basse dans les représentations diplomatiques maliennes à l'étranger, ne dépassant pas les 10%. ___ Benjamin Roger/Jeuneafrique.com

Líbia: Fortes explosões em Benghazi

The eastern Libyan city of Benghazi was rocked by three loud explosions on Sunday, according to Reuters. “It was very loud and I saw the smoke,” resident Hassan Bakoush told Reuters by telephone, adding that he heard the blast at the court in the north of the city. “Some balconies of nearby buildings are damaged.” A security source told Reuters there were two more blasts – one near an office of the Justice Ministry and the other near a court in the south of the city. Al Arabiya’s correspondent reported that there was a lot of material damage to the ministry as well as to the surrounding residential buildings. He also said that tens were wounded in an explosion when a bomb planted under a parked car in front of a building near the court went off, adding that there was material damage to the building. People have taken to the streets to protest against the government, said the correspondent. They are chanting: "People want the fall of the [Muslim] Brotherhood." (With Reuters)

Iémen: Raid aéreo mata seis pessoas

Six membres présumés d'Al-Qaida ont été tués dans un raid visant deux voitures dans la nuit de samedi à dimanche 28 juillet, probablement par un drone américain, dans le sud du Yémen, près de Mahfad. Al-Qaida reste actif dans cette région où deux villes, Zinjibar et Jaar, ont été contrôlées par le réseau terroriste pendant un an, jusqu'à ce qu'il en soit chassé par une offensive des forces armées en juin 2012. Les combattants de la mouvance islamiste se sont ensuite repliés dans les zones montagneuses, d'où ils ont poursuivi leurs attaques contre l'armée et les services de sécurité chargés de les traquer. Al-Qaida avait profité de l'affaiblissement du pouvoir central en 2011, à la faveur de l'insurrection populaire contre l'ancien président Ali Abdallah Saleh, pour renforcer son emprise sur le sud et l'est du Yémen, où il avait regroupé ses partisans. Plusieurs responsables d'Al-Qaida dans la péninsule Arabique (AQPA) – parmi lesquels le numéro 2 du réseau terroriste, le Saoudien Saïd Al-Chehri – ont été tués dans des attaques de drone menées par les Etats-Unis, les seuls à disposer de ce type d'appareil dans la région. Le Monde

Egipto: Centenas de mortos e/ou feridos

The Muslim Brotherhood has announced that nationwide protests in support of deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi would continue on Saturday and Sunday, following a day of mass rival demonstrations which turned deadly. Egypt’s health ministry on Saturday said at least 21 people were killed and 180 wounded in overnight clashes between security forces and supporters of deposed President Mohammed Mursi in Cairo. Earlier, the Brotherhood said at least 31 people were killed on Saturday when the security forces attacked a protest by Mursi supporters. The move to continue protesting defies the Egyptian army’s deadline which gives the Muslim Brotherhood until Saturday afternoon to sign up to the country’s military-backed process. On Friday, hundreds of thousands of pro- and anti-Mursi demonstrators took to the streets of several cities and towns across Egypt. "They are not shooting to wound, they are shooting to kill," Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad told Reuters news agency, adding that demonstrators had been hit by gunshot in the head and chest. The Brotherhood said earlier at least 23 had died in the violence. At least 175 other people had been wounded with gunshot, he added. The toll could not immediately be verified. The casualties had all been taking part in the rally, he added. Meanwhile, at least seven people were killed when rival demonstrators clashed in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, AFP news agency reported. Earlier on Saturday, Egyptian authorities announced they will bring pro-Mursi sit-in protests “to an end soon and in a legal manner”, interim Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim was quoted as saying by state-run news website al-Ahram. Ibrahim said the protests would be cleared in line with complaints filed by residents in the area, according to Reuters. Supporters of Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood have been manning two main vigils in the capital for a month, demanding Mursi be reinstated after his July 3 overthrow by the army.

Sudão do Sul: 100.000 deslocados

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Aid agencies have begun airlifting food by helicopter to tens of thousands of people displaced by escalating violence in the east of South Sudan, where many have spent weeks hiding in the bush. Fighting between the army, rebels and rival tribes has uprooted an estimated 100,000 people in the east of Jonglei state. Insecurity combined with heavy rains which have waterlogged roads are making it impossible for aid workers to reach most of the displaced. Some children are eating weeds to survive. “We believe these people need food now and cannot wait for much longer after hiding in the bush for weeks,” said Chris Nikoi, South Sudan country director for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). “We are sparing no effort to provide lifesaving assistance, but we need more food supplies in the country and more helicopters to take this food to those who most need it.” The WFP, which is sharing two helicopters with other aid agencies, has launched a $20 million appeal for three extra helicopters and over 3,600 tonnes of food to help 60,000 people for the rest of the year. Local politician David Yau Yau is leading a rebellion in Jonglei, and new clashes have broken out between rival Lou Nuer and Murle tribes. Western powers are worried the violence could escalate into civil war in South Sudan, which seceded from Sudan in 2011. Last week aid agencies managed to reach civilians in the Dorein and Labdab areas in Pibor County for the first time since March, when the latest violence erupted. “What I saw immediately was a lot of women and children looking really tired and really hungry,” said WFP spokesman George Fominyen, speaking from Pibor County. “One of the women I was talking to said she had gone nearly four months without a proper meal. She had three children and they were basically surviving on weeds and wild fruits.” HELICOPTERS Fominyen said aid agencies had only been able to reach about 30,000 displaced people, but the WFP estimates that about 60,000 are in desperate need of food. “We believe that they have already missed the planting season, and being uprooted from their homes means their livelihoods have been disrupted and they need urgent assistance,” he added. Fominyen said people he saw around Dorein were living in makeshift shelters cobbled together from straw and sticks. “This was in an area that the humanitarian community has been able to access so I can only imagine what the situation is for the people living in the bushes,” he added. Even before the upsurge in violence, Pibor County was suffering serious food insecurity. Murle communities are now resorting to extreme coping strategies, according to the U.N. news service IRIN. Families have started to eat female cattle which means they cannot replenish their stocks and will lose a source of milk.

Sudão do Sul: catástrofe iminente

Sudan's president has sacked his entire cabinet in what analysts have warned is the climax of a ruthless power struggle inside the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement that could turn into "a full-blown catastrophe". Those fired by Salva Kiir include his chief political rival, vice-president Riek Machar, and Pagan Amum, the SPLM's secretary-general and the country's senior negotiator in crucial oil and security talks with Sudan, who has also publicly criticised Kiir's leadership. The collapse of the government raised the prospect of escalating violence in the world's youngest country, which gained independence from Sudan two years ago this month. Kiir's popularity has suffered from a perceived failure to end high poverty rates, lack of infrastructure, internal repression, and widespread official corruption. With Kiir giving no indication when a new government may be formed, sources in the capital Juba suggested a prolonged standoff between the president and his opponents that could split the SPLM into two or more rival camps, raise tensions between the powerful Dinka and Nuer tribal groups, and wreck plans for elections in 2015. The UN and aid agencies warned last week that up to 120,000 people have been displaced by fighting between the army, rebels and rival tribes in eastern Jonglei state. South Sudan is also embroiled in several border disputes with Sudan and other neighbours. A Juba-based analyst who asked not to be identified said: "The international community must urgently ensure this crisis does not spiral into a full-blown catastrophe. They must appeal for calm and demand President Kiir respect the constitution and uphold democracy. "This is a crisis that has been looming for months, if not years. The international community – and particularly South Sudan's strongest backers in the US and Europe – have done a great disservice to the people of the new country by ignoring the signs, allowing the corruption, poor governance, and political repression at the root of yesterday's events go unchecked for so long. "[The crisis] threatens not just the country and its people, but also the fragile relationship between South Sudan and Sudan." Edmund Yakani of the independent Community Empowerment for Progress Organisation (Cepo) in Juba said Kiir's actions reflected deeper problems. "This is the indicator of a power struggle within the ruling party. Dismissal of the vice-president, party secretary-general [and] the national ministers and their deputies is indicator of political instability in the system." The Guardian

Profunda crise no Sudão do Sul

South Sudan's president has sacked his entire cabinet, in an apparent power struggle with other senior leaders. Salva Kiir issued a decree dismissing all ministers and deputy ministers, as well as Vice-President Riek Machar. No clear reason was given for the sackings, but analysts say Mr Kiir and Mr Machar have been embroiled in a power struggle for months. South Sudan has suffered from chronic economic problems since it split from Sudan in 2011. There was tight security outside ministry buildings on Wednesday, while radio broadcasts urged people to remain calm, the AFP news agency reports. Its stability has been hampered by lingering rows over territory and oil with its northern neighbour. Recently some of Mr Kiir's colleagues have hinted at discontent with his leadership. Local reports say Mr Kiir is battling to maintain control of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), the former rebel group that now runs the country. Mr Machar, who had been stripped of some of his powers in April, had hinted that he may stand against Mr Kiir for leadership of the SPLM before the next presidential election in 2015. Juba -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dissolving the cabinet in South Sudan hints at a wider attempt by the president to restructure not only the government but power and access to power in the country. There have been reports in recent weeks of strained relations within the governing SPLM and the relationship between the president and his deputy are said to be at an all-time low. Although the cabinet restructuring has been a long time coming, its timing is curious and raises suspicions that the president could be using his executive powers to stamp out dissent in the party and disagreement within his government. Whether the sacking of the entire cabinet will succeed in calming the disquiet within South Sudan's political circles remains to be seen -there is also a real fear that this might further divide the country along ethnic lines. The BBC's Nyambura Wambugu in the capital, Juba, says there is a real fear that the sacking could further divide the country along ethnic lines. Mr Kiir is from the Dinka community, which is the largest in South Sudan, while Mr Machar is from the second-largest group, the Nuer, some of whom have complained about Dinka domination. Under-secretaries have been put in charge of the departments and the government insists it can function smoothly until new ministers are appointed. BBC