Foreign

*Will Be In Solitary Confinement Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has arrived at La Santé prison in Paris today , 21 October, to start a five-year prison term, Reuters reports. Sarkozy, who was the conservative President of France between 2007 and 2012, was handed a five-year jail term in September for criminal conspiracy over a plan for late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi to fund his electoral campaign. Sarkozy’s lawyer Christophe Ingrain said the ex-president will remain in solitary confinement in prison for at least three weeks to a month, after confirming a request had been immediately filed for his release,…

*America Hates Authoritarianism, They Say Millions are expected to show out for protests today at more than 2,500 locations across America, from small towns to large cities, to speak against the Trump administration. No Kings, the coalition behind a mass demonstration last June, is again calling people to the streets to send the simple message that Donald Trump is not a king, pushing back against what they see as increasing authoritarianism in the world's most admired and functional democracy. Several US cities now have a militarised presence on the ground, most against the will of local leaders. Trump has promised…

*How Youths Toppled Madagascar's President *'Ousting, Lesson To Some African Leaders' As the sun set on Place du 13 Mai in Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo, thousands of people danced, waved and cheered to pulsating rap and reggae beats and rousing speeches. When young people started protesting on 25 September, first against water and power cuts, then demanding a complete overhaul of the political system, military police stopped them from reaching the square. The site has been a symbol of democracy and the focal point of anti-government protests on the Indian Ocean island since 40 student demonstrators were killed there by security…

*Ex-wife Is Daughter Of Former President The Supreme Court has struck down a South Korean lower court's order for billionaire Chey Tae-won to pay his ex-wife a 1.38tn won ($1bn; £788m) settlement, in a case dubbed by local media as the 'divorce of the century'. Citing a miscalculation that increased the value of the couple's assets, it has ordered the case to be reviewed. The case has gripped South Korea as Mr Tae-won heads the powerful SK Group conglomerate while his ex-wife, Roh So-young, is the daughter of a former president. The marriage unravelled in 2015 after Tae-won admitted to…

*Parliament Impeaches Runaway President An elite military unit said it had taken power in Madagascar today, 14 October, after the country’s parliament impeached President Andry Rajoelina after weeks of anti-government protests. Rajoelina, who said on Monday in a Facebook live video that he had gone into hiding after attempts to kill him, had refused demands to step down, but the demonstrators won the backing of the influential Capsat military unit at the weekend. On Tuesday, the Presidency posted a statement saying there had been an “attempted coup d’état”. It continued: “The President of the republic remains fully in office and…

*But Govt Warns Against Such Declaration *Trouble Looms Cameroun opposition leader, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, has declared himself winner of the 12 October presidential election and called on the incumbent, Paul Biya, to accept the end of his 43-year rule. “Our victory is clear, it must be respected,” Bakary,more popularly known as Tchiroma, said in a video statement on Facebook with the national flag in the background, before directly addressing 92-year-old Biya: “We call on the regime in power to show greatness and to honour the truth of the ballot box with a long-awaited gesture: that phone call of congratulations, which…

Madagascar’s President, Andry Rajoelina, said he had to flee the country in fear for his life after a military rebellion but did not announce his resignation in a speech broadcast on social media late on Monday from an undisclosed location. The 51-year-old has faced weeks of Gen Z-led anti-government protests, which reached a pivotal point on Saturday when an elite military unit joined the protests and called for the President and other Ministers to step down. That prompted Rajoelina to say that an illegal attempt to seize power was under way in the Indian Ocean island and to leave the…

Hamas has started deploying armed fighters and police across parts of Gaza in an apparent attempt to reassert authority in the devastated Palestinian territory after the ceasefire deal agreed with Israel last week. Images showed dozens of Hamas fighters at a hospital in southern Gaza during the release of Israeli hostages on Monday morning, 13 October, and there were reports of shootings and executions elsewhere in the territory. Telegram channels associated with Hamas said “collaborators and traitors” had been targeted, a reference to Israel-backed militia in the territory, while Hamas gunmen also engaged in bloody clashes with a powerful local…

*President Cries Out Over Military Coup Plot Madagascar’s President said an “attempt to seize power illegally and by force” was under way, as an elite military unit that joined protesters on the streets on Saturday announced it was taking over the army. The Capsat unit’s intervention comes after weeks of youth-led protests, which started on 25 September against water and electricity shortages and expanded to calling for the resignation of the president, Andry Rajoelina, an end to corruption and radical overhaul of the political system. Some keen analysts of political happenings in Africa say, should the Madagascar protests succeed in…

*Situation May Be Test Case For Other Countries *Leaders In Frenzied Meetings To Satisfy Students' Demands Madagascar’s Prime Minister called for calm after an elite group of soldiers joined thousands of protesters against the country’s President on the streets of the capital on Saturday afternoon,11 October. Protesters marched alongside soldiers from the Capsat unit, who drove armoured vehicles, some waving Madagascar flags, from their base in Soanierana in the south of Antananarivo, the country's capital. A Capsat leader, Lylison René de Rolland, then addressed the cheering crowds in front of the city hall in 13 May Square, which protesters had…