Sri Lanka hunts for police chief over deadly raid

DAKAR: A mission by a West African regional bloc sent to Guinea-Bissau to resolve a dispute over elections there has left the country following threats by President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, according to a statement.

The dispute over the end date of Embalo’s term has escalated tensions and raised fears of unrest in the West African nation of Guinea-Bissau, which has endured multiple coups since gaining independence from Portugal over 50 years ago. The opposition argues that Embalo’s term, which began in 2020, should have ended last week, while the country’s Supreme Court ruled that it ends on Sept. 4. 

Last month, Embalo announced that the next presidential and parliamentary elections would be held on Nov. 30.

The bloc, ECOWAS, said its mission left early on Saturday. 

It was deployed from Feb. 21 to Feb. 28, together with the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel, to help broker a consensus on when to hold the presidential election.

ECOWAS is West Africa’s top political and economic authority, often collaborating with states to solve various domestic challenges. 

In recent years, however, it has struggled to reverse coups in the region and disputes with citizens complaining of not benefitting from their country’s natural resources.

Embalo says he has survived two attempts to overthrow him. 

After the most recent one in Dec. 2023, which involved a shootout between the national and presidential guard, he dissolved the opposition-controlled parliament, accusing it of passivity.

Last week, Embalo met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss potential economic and security ties. Russia has emerged as the security partner of choice for many African governments, displacing traditional allies such as France and the US.

NEW DELHI: India’s top court allowed a podcaster charged with obscenity to resume airing his shows on the condition they met standards of “morality and decency,” relaxing on Monday its previous order that the program should stop until further notice.
Popular fitness influencer and podcaster Ranveer Allahabadia, known by his moniker BeerBiceps, was accused of obscenity over remarks he made on a YouTube show, drawing multiple police complaints.
A two-judge Supreme Court bench was, on Monday, hearing Allahabadia’s request that all the cases be bundled into one.
“Subject to the petitioner furnishing an undertaking... that his own podcast shows will maintain the standards of decency and morality, so that viewers of any age group can watch, the petitioner is permitted to resume ‘The Ranveer Show’,” the court said.
The 31-year-old, who has nearly 20 million subscribers on two YouTube channels, has hosted Bollywood stars, businessmen and ministers on the widely watched podcast.
Supreme Court Judge Surya Kant also said that the show was being permitted to resume “since livelihood of 280 employees” depended on its telecast.
The court, however, barred Allahabadia from airing any shows that could have a “bearing” on merits of the case.
Allahabadia’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for a comment on Monday’s order, which came nearly a fortnight after the court asked him to stop airing shows.
The podcaster last year shared the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a social media stars’ event.
“India’s Got Latent,” the show on which Allahabadia made the comments, involves a team of comedians judging newcomers’ stand-up comedy.
India does not censor online platforms such as Google-owned YouTube but remains a largely conservative society in which many espouse family and religious values, prompting complaints about shows seen as transgressing decency norms.