[VOA] Nairobi, Kenya -- Mali's military government says its forces have killed a senior Islamic State commander, Abu Huzeifa, during a joint operation with Burkina Faso and Niger. Huzeifa, who had a $5 million bounty on his head, has been linked to high-profile attacks in Africa's Sahel region, including the killing of four U.S. soldiers. Some experts say the junta will use this success to justify its stay in power.
[MFWA] The transitional government in Mali was supposed to have ended on march 26, 2024. But the much-anticipated deadline for a return to constitutional order has passed in a casual manner, with the military government, which was formed after the August 2020 coup, still ensconced on the throne.
[MFWA] The military authorities in Mali have banned the media from covering the activities of political parties and all activities of political nature in the continuing squeeze on the county's civic space.
[DW] In addition to banning the activities of political parties, Mali's ruling junta has also imposed a ban on media coverage of political life.
[RFI] Political parties and civil society groups in Mali have rejected the suspension of political activities by the country's military rulers and plan to mount a legal challenge to the order from the junta which also banned media coverage of political parties.
[HRW] Nairobi -- Action Undermines Fundamental Freedoms
[HRW] Human Rights Watch welcomes the opportunity to provide input to the report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls to the United Nations General Assembly on violence against women and girls in sport. This submission covers sexual and gender-based violence in sport in Mali, Haiti, and Afghanistan; child abuse in sport in Japan; and sex testing of women athletes.
[CPJ] Dakar -- The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Mali's media regulator to lift its ban on political reporting in the country and allow journalists to cover the news without restrictions.
[DW] Citing the need to maintain public order, the Malian junta suspended all political party activities until further notice.
[Spotlight Initiative] Koulikoro -- With a determined step, Aminata Fofana walks into the courtyard and sits down on a chair. The teenager unlocks her phone with a swipe of the screen and starts a conversation with her new friends from the adolescent girls' group. This small community allows young girls who were married off early to share their experiences and support each other.
[RFI] Attacks by jihadists are on the rise in both Niger and Mali, where juntas are keen to hold on to power. The volatile situation in the Sahel region is casting a long shadow over future elections and the return to civilian rule, which now look increasingly distant.