• Clashes have left nearly a dozen dead in Senegal after a court in Dakar sentenced, Thursday, June 1, the opponent Ousmane Sonko, candidate for the presidential election of 2024, to two years in prison for "corruption of youth". Ousmane Sonko, who was forcibly returned to Dakar after disappearing for a few hours on 28 May, was acquitted of alleged rape.

  • Senegalese President Macky Sall opened Wednesday (May 31st) a "national dialogue" aimed at reducing political tensions in his country, nine months before the 2024 presidential election. "The State is and will remain standing to protect the Nation, the Republic and the institutions," said the Head of State during this meeting boycotted by part of the opposition.

  • Accusing the paramilitaries of not respecting the truce, the Sudanese army has suspended its participation in ceasefire negotiations, a government official said on Wednesday (May 31st). On the ground, air raids, artillery fire and tank movements continue.

  • The Prime Minister of Burkina Faso assured the Transitional Legislative Assembly on Tuesday (May 30th) that elections could not be held "without security" while the country is facing multiple terrorist attacks. The latest, which occurred the previous weekend, caused about forty deaths in the ranks of the army and among the civilian population.

  • The law toughening the prosecution of homosexuals in Uganda was promulgated on Monday (May 29th), the presidency announced, despite the outrage it arouses among many NGOs and Western governments. While a revision of the text had been requested in response to pressure from the international community, it still includes a provision making "aggravated homosexuality" a capital crime, which means that repeat offenders can be sentenced to death.

  • Elected in February in a controversial election, Nigeria's new president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was sworn in on Monday (May 29th). He will have to lead a country that is sinking into an economic crisis and face widespread insecurity.

Intertitle Wide Angle © FMM Graphics Studio

Senegal: Dakar two-wheelers forced to stop, waiting for the verdict of opponent Sonko

Motorcycles and mopeds are banned from circulation for 48 hours throughout the Dakar region, in accordance with an order issued by the governor of Dakar. This measure was taken for security reasons, while the country is experiencing political tensions and violence, on the sidelines of the verdict, expected this Thursday, June 1, in the trial for alleged rape of the opponent Ousmane Sonko. Measures that worry delivery drivers and in the delivery and e-commerce sectors. Our correspondent reports from Dakar.

The two-wheelers are stationary in the garage of Car Rapide Prestige, one of the pioneering delivery companies in Senegal. © Elimane Ndao, France 24

Nabil Ammar, head of diplomacy: "In Tunisia, what is happening is the application of the law"

In an interview with France 24, Tunisian Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar comments on the sentencing of Rached Ghannouchi to one year in prison for glorifying terrorism. "Just because you're an activist, a former politician or a journalist doesn't mean you're or should be above the law," he said.

11:10

Nabil Ammar, Tunisian Minister of Foreign Affairs. © France 24

In Senegal, opposition leader Ousmane Sonko sentenced to two years in prison

Violence broke out on Thursday, June 1, in Dakar, Senegal, after the sentencing of Senegalese opponent Ousmane Sonko, accused of rape, to two years in prison for "corruption of youth", a sentence that further compromises his candidacy for the presidential election of 2024. He is presumed to be blocked by security forces at his home in the capital, "kidnapped" according to him. He can now be arrested "at any time", according to Justice Minister Ismaila Madior Fall.

14:32

Senegal and Guinea tackle trafficking in fake medicines

According to a United Nations report released earlier this year, sub-Saharan Africa records nearly 270,000 deaths a year linked to falsified or substandard antimalarials. And this is just one example of the scourge of what are commonly known as "fake medicines" on the African continent. Counterfeit or expired products often sold in markets. The cost and difficulties of access to treatments sold in pharmacies largely explain the use of these products of very variable quality, even dangerous. In Dakar and Conakry, our correspondents Elimane Ndao, Sarah Sakho, Malick Diakité and Aminatou Diallo report.

05:08

Focus © France 24

Blick Bassy: "Art allows us to break into people's brains and hearts"

"Mádibá" does not refer to the hero Nelson Mandela, but refers to "water" in the Douala language. A vital resource to which Blick Bassy dedicates his new album in the form of a collection of fables. Throughout his songs emerge a bird desperately looking for a water point for its survival, an old man who tells his grandchildren about the disappearance of the rain or a cat who begs an elephant to help him block the way to humans about to pollute the last source...

13:20

In DR Congo, a businesswoman pays the bills of young mothers detained at the maternity ward

02:22

In DR Congo, a businesswoman pays the bills of young mothers detained at the maternity hospital © France24

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by FRANCE 24 (@france24)

The summary of the week France 24 invites you to look back on the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news with you everywhere! Download the France 24 app