The bus fell off a bridge en route to neighboring Burkina Faso, carrying both locals and foreigners. Road accidents are common in Mali, with roads and vehicles suffering from poor conditions. A bus fell off a bridge in southeastern Mali on Tuesday, killing 31 people, the Transport Ministry said. "The provisional toll is 31 killed on the spot and 10 injured, some of them seriously," the ministry said. What we know about the crash The bus was en route to neighboring Burkina Faso when it "overturned," the Transport Ministry said in a statement on Facebook. It crashed near the western town of Kenieba around 5 p.m. local time (1700 GMT). The accident occurred at a bridge crossing the Bagoe River, the ministry said. The victims included Malians and citizens from other West African countries, it added. "The probable cause was the driver's failure to control the vehicle," the ministry said. Road accidents are common in Mali and West Africa, where many roads and vehicles suffer from poor conditions.

An elephant that was kept alone in a cage for more than four decades has died. Mali, a popular attraction at Manila Zoo, was at the center of a global campaign to relocate her. Zoo officials in the Philippine capital, Manila, on Wednesday announced that an elephant that lived a solitary existence in a cage for several decades had died. While Mali was a popular attraction at the city's zoo, she was also at the center of a global campaign to be relocated to join other members of her species. What the officials said The animal's death was announced at a news conference by Manila City Mayor Honey Lacuna. "Mali was our prized possession and was the star attraction here at the Manila Zoo," Lacuna said, recalling that her parents had taken her to the zoo to see the elephant. "It saddens me because she was part of our lives." Zoo veterinarian Heinrich Domingo told reporters that an autopsy had found that Mali had pancreatic cancer and rejected accusations she had been neglected. "We were her family," he said. What others said about Mali's treatment Meanwhile, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) group condemned authorities for keeping Mali alone for so long, given that elephants are known to be social creatures that live in herds in the wild. "Because of indifference and greed, Mali the elephant died the same way she had lived for nearly 50 years: alone in a concrete pen at the Manila Zoo," PETA said in a statement. "The Manila Zoo and the city of Manila sentenced Mali to decades of solitary confinement, which is torturous for female elephants, who naturally would spend their lives among their mothers and sisters, protecting one another and raising each other's calves," PETA said. The group also accused the zoo and the Philippines government of ignoring Mali's "clearly painful foot problems." Celebrities including prominent animal behavior expert Jane Goodall and music legend Paul McCartney had joined PETA's campaign to call for Mali to be moved to a sanctuary, where she could have enjoyed the company of other elephants. Some social media users expressed sadness over Mali's death but also hit out at the zoo and city officials for her treatment. "No more small enclosure for you. Run free Mali," said one Facebook user, with another commenting that "they killed her long before her physical death." Mali was presented as a gift from Sri Lanka in 1977 to then Filipino first lady Imelda Marcos, the wife of dictator Ferdinand Marcos and mother of current President Bongbong Marcos. The elephant was only three years old when she arrived in Manila. A similar outcry surrounded the treatment of another elephant, Kaavan, who was moved from Islamabad zoo to a sanctuary in Cambodia in 2020 after a campaign spearheaded by the US singer Cher.   Source: Deutsche Welle

Malians started tallying ballots in a constitutional referendum proposed by the ruling junta. The junta says the proposal, which greatly expands the powers of the military, paves the way for civilian rule. Malians voted Sunday in a referendum on a new constitution that would expand the role of the president and the military. Vote counting began Sunday evening and provisional results are expected by Tuesday. The West African nation is ruled by military officers, who seized power in a 2020 coup, followed by another coup nine months later that removed the interim civilian government at the time. Back then the prime minister and the president were to lead a government to steer the country towards new elections. The ruling junta has said the proposed measures are meant to kickstart a gradual transition to civilian rule, with parliamentary elections to be held in October. "I am convinced this referendum will pave the way for a new Mali, a strong Mali, an efficient Mali, a Mali in the service of the well-being of its population," military junta leader Assimi Goita said on Sunday.  A presidential election would follow in February 2024. Mali has been battling an Islamist insurgency and violence, with civilians bearing the brunt of the instability and conflict. Election observer group MODELE reported a voter turnout at midday of only about 21% of eligible voters. The organization also reported the closing of dozens of polling stations due to security issues. The referendum also did not the entire northern region of Kidan. What are Malians deciding? Malians faced the choice of accepting or rejecting the draft constitution, seen as being a test for Goita. The proposed changes would expand the role of the president and the military at the expense of the parliament. The military would be entrusted with the "execution of the law" and the president would have more power over the prime minister and the Cabinet. Goita has not said whether he would run for president. He oversaw the arrest of the nation's acting civilian leader and prime minister in 2021. Ahead of the vote, Malians received text messages to persuade them to vote in favor of the proposed measures. While opposition parties and groups have been critical of the new constitution, the vote is expected to go in favor of the military junta. The Freedom House's flagship annual report 2023 labeled Mali as a country that was "not free." The political situation in Mali Mali built up its democratic institutions for about 20 years after transitioning away from authoritarian rule in the 1990s. However, state fragility led to a coup in 2012 and insecurity followed in the years since. Over the years fighting has displaced hundreds of thousands of people. On Saturday, Mali ordered foreign troops out of the country. France, which stationed troops in 2013 to fight terrorism, withdrew troops from Mali in August 2022. Germany is due to pull back troops from Mali in the summer of 2024.

Nearly 100 people have been killed in attack in a village in central Mali inhabited by the Dogon ethnic group, reports say. The attack happened in Sobane-Kou, close to Sanga town, according to French-language news outlet RFI. The bodies of the dead have been burned, says a local official, and the search for more bodies is ongoing. There have been numerous attacks in Mali in recent months, some ethnic, some carried out by jihadist groups. Clashes between Dogon hunters and semi-nomadic Fulani herders are frequent. The mayor of nearby Bankass, Moulaye Guindo, told Reuters news agency that Fulanis from that district had attacked Sobane-Kou after nightfall. A local official in the Koundou area, where the village is located, told the AFP agency: "Right now we have 95 dead civilians. The bodies are burned, we are continuing to look for others." In the same region in March, more than 130 Fulani villagers were killed by armed men wearing traditional Dogon hunters' clothing. Clashes between the two groups have increased since a militant Islamist uprising in northern Mali in 2012. The Dogon people have lived in central Mali for centuries, and live a largely traditional way of life as settled farmers. The Fulani, on the other hand, are semi-nomadic herders who move across large distances in West Africa. Friction between farmers and the roaming herders over resources is long-standing. Previously, disagreements between the Fulani and Dogon had often been settled through negotiation, but the uprising - which spread to the centre of Mali by 2015 - decreased government control and increased the availability of weapons. Both sides accuse the other of carrying out attacks amid the unrest. The Fulani, a largely Muslim ethnic group, have been accused of having links with the Islamist uprising. But for their part, the Fulani accuse a Dogon self-defense association, Dan Na Ambassagou, of attacks on their villages. Source: BBC AH

Ethnic clashes in central Mali kill at least 13 at the weekend in inter-ethnic clashes between Fulanis and Bambaras, the interior ministry said on Monday, escalating a conflict over resources in a region increasingly outside state control, reports Reuters. Other sources put the death toll much higher, including the head of a Fulani rights group who said that 45 people were killed and that fighting was still going on. The Fulani, or Peul in French, are a cattle-herding people who have long co-existed peacefully with farmers from Mali’s largest ethnic group, the Bambaras, but economic pressures and Islamist militant infiltration have stoked tensions. The clashes began when a Bambara storekeeper was killed in a town near Macina, about 300 km (185 miles) northeast of the capital Bamako, said Modibo Dicko, head of a group of associations that defend the rights of Fulanis. Villagers took up arms the next day and burned down the huts of Fulanis they blamed for his death, he said. The security ministry said that 13 people had been killed and a number of houses set on fire, but that calm had returned on Monday and security forces were patrolling the area. But Dicko said at least 45 people were killed and that fighting continued on Monday, with over 100 families having fled by foot and on motorbikes. “Everyone who didn’t flee was assassinated,” he said. Kader Ba, a retired politician from Macina, said he had reports that 30 people were killed on Sunday and five on Monday, including at least two who were burned alive. Members of his family were among those killed. Violence in Mali, once confined to the desert north, has spread south in recent years partly due to jihadist recruitment among the marginalized Fulani based mostly in the center of the country. Rising violence and ethnic tensions have led many state officials to flee the area. FU