Noticias

Activists and analysts in Mali hope that a landmark deal between the government and a Tuareg-led rebel coalition will bring stability to the north, the cradle of several Tuareg uprisings since the 1960s. But there is only cautious optimism that the Algiers Accord, signed this weekend will end years of unrest.

The UN-brokered peace accord calls for the creation of elected regional assemblies but stops short of autonomy or federalism, a long-time rebel demand.

Two ladies have been approved by the parliamentary bloc of the Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) to serve as deputy speaker for the parliament.

Badria Suleiman from the NCP and A’isha Mohamed Ahmed from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) led by Mohamed Osman al-Merghani will hold the post for the first time in Sudan’s history.

Suleiman is a well known legal advisor who participated in the drafting of the recent constitutional amendments. She also headed the committee which was tasked last week with amending the National Assembly’s regulations.

Egypt's Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Transitional Justice Ibrahim Al-Heneidy disclosed Sunday that the justice ministry has finalised drafting a new law aimed at cracking down on terrorist crimes. 

"The new 52-article anti-terrorism law is primarily aimed at stemming the tide of funding terrorist activities and organisations and giving new definitions for terrorist crimes," said Heneidy in a press conference.

Albanians on Sunday go to the polls to elect 61 new mayors and 1,610 councillors in local elections that are considered a double challenge for the country.

Polling stations opened at 7am and close at 7pm. About 3.37 million Albanians are eligible to cast votes.

In Albania, the Central Election Commission (CEC) published a little before Sunday midnight, the turnout percentages based on its district.

Following a calculation of the majority of polling stations, the turnout is one million and 530 thousand voters or 57.54% out of 3.4 million eligible voters.

The highest turnout has been marked in the north, in Diber, with around 58% and the lowest turnout in Vlora with around 37%. The counting process has started in a small part of ballot boxes.

Early results indicate a strong advantage of the governing majority.

Amendments to three laws aimed at paving the way for Egypt's long-delayed parliamentary elections are expected to be discussed by the cabinet in a plenary meeting this week. 

The three laws regulate the division of electoral constituencies, the workings of the House of Representatives, and the exercise of political rights.

The steering committee responsible for developing the organic draft law on the constitutional court within the Ministry of Justice has finalised its work this week.

Chaired by lawyer Amin Mahfoudh, the committee has handed the draft law to Minister of Justice Mohamed Salah Ben Aissa to send his comments before its submission to the cabinet meeting next week. 

“Albanian courts have become like burlesques and I’m looking forward to autumn when we will pass the package of the reform in justice”.

This was said by PM Edi Rama a day ago, warning a revolution in the Albanian justice system.

Mr. Rama says that he considers courts as “the most corrupt, abusive and ridiculous powers that have made Albania a disgrace”.

Recalling the national operation against the theft of power supply, Rama warns: “What we have done with power supply is nothing to what we have done with the judicial system”.

Leaders of the main Bosniak and Croat parties in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Party of Democratic Action, SDA, and the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, have started talks with parties on forming a new ruling coalition. 

Some Western diplomats have expressed concerns that the new coalition, possibly including a larger number of smaller parties, could be even more difficult to manage than the last government.