
Burkina Faso ruling junta dissolves independent electoral commission
Since taking power in a 2022 coup, the West African country's military leaders have launched sweeping reforms, including postponing elections that were expected to restore civilian rule .
The government passed a law late Wednesday abolishing the Independent National Electoral Commission, which is responsible for organizing elections, citing its high cost, Minister of Territorial Administration Emile Zerbo said after a Cabinet meeting.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Washington Post
11 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Syria to hold first parliamentary elections since Assad's fall in September
DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria will hold parliamentary elections in September, the head of a body tasked with organizing the election process told state media Sunday. Mohammed Taha al-Ahmad, chairman of the Higher Committee for People's Assembly Elections, told state news agency SANA that elections will take place between Sept. 15 and 20. They will be the first to take place under the country's new authorities after the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a lightning rebel offensive in December.


Associated Press
11 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Syria to hold first parliamentary elections since Assad's fall in September
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria will hold parliamentary elections in September, the head of a body tasked with organizing the election process told state media Sunday. Mohammed Taha al-Ahmad, chairman of the Higher Committee for People's Assembly Elections, told state news agency SANA that elections will take place between Sept. 15 and 20. They will be the first to take place under the country's new authorities after the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a lightning rebel offensive in December. The announcement of impending elections comes at a time when the country is increasingly divided in its views of the new authorities in Damascus after sectarian violence broke out in the southern province of Sweida earlier this month. The fighting killed hundreds of people and threatened to unravel Syria's fragile postwar transition.


Fox News
4 hours ago
- Fox News
Rubio rips Venezuela's Maduro as 'narco-terrorist' leader threatening US one year after disputed election
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is hammering Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro on Sunday as the South American country holds municipal elections to fill hundreds of mayoral positions and thousands of council seats. The municipal contests are happening one day before the one-year anniversary of Venezuela's presidential election, which was widely condemned by the United States and other international observers as illegitimate. The Trump administration, meanwhile, has been escalating pressure against Maduro in recent days, as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday accused the foreign head of state of being the leader of an entity aiding terrorism against the U.S. "One year since dictator Nicolás Maduro defied the will of the Venezuelan people by baselessly declaring himself the winner, the United States remains firm in its unwavering support to Venezuela's restoration of democratic order and justice," Rubio said in a statement on Sunday. "Maduro is not the President of Venezuela and his regime is not the legitimate government." "Maduro is the leader of the designated narco-terrorist organization Cartel de Los Soles, and he is responsible for trafficking drugs into the United States and Europe," Rubio continued. "Maduro, currently indicted by our nation, has corrupted Venezuela's institutions to assist the cartel's criminal narco-trafficking scheme into the United States." The Justice Department charged Maduro and 14 other former and current Venezuelan officials with narco-terrorism, corruption, drug trafficking and other criminal charges in March 2020. At the start of this year, 10 days before President Donald Trump returned to office, the State Department increased its reward for information leading to Maduro's capture from $15 million to up to $25 million. "For years, Maduro and his cronies have manipulated Venezuela's electoral system to maintain their illegitimate grip on power," Rubio added on Sunday. "By scheduling the municipal elections on the eve of the anniversary of the stolen July 28 presidential election, the regime once again aims to deploy the military and police to suppress the will of the Venezuelan people." "The United States will continue working with our partners to hold accountable the corrupt, criminal and illegitimate Maduro regime. Those who steal elections and use force to grasp power undermine America's national security interests," Rubio said. Maduro became the Venezuelan president in 2013, but the U.S. has not recognized his presidency since 2019. The U.S. and other countries have refused to recognize Maduro as the winner of the July 2024 Venezuelan election, citing widespread fraud. The Treasury Department on Friday sanctioned the Cartel de los Soles, also known as Cartel of the Suns, as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist." The U.S. alleges that Cartel de los Soles is headed by Maduro and other Venezuelan high-ranking individuals in his regime "who corrupted the institutions of government in Venezuela, including parts of the military, intelligence apparatus, legislature, and the judiciary, to assist the cartel's endeavors of trafficking narcotics into the United States." The U.S. claims the Venezuela-based group provides material support to Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel. The Trump administration classified Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel as foreign terrorist organizations in February. According to the Treasury Department, the name Cartel de los Soles is derived from the sun insignias often portrayed on the uniforms of Venezuelan military officials. The cartel "supports Tren de Aragua in carrying out its objective of using the flood of illegal narcotics as a weapon against the United States," according to the Treasury Department. Bessent said on Friday that the new action "exposes the illegitimate Maduro regime's facilitation of narco-terrorism through terrorist groups like Cartel de los Soles." "The Treasury Department will continue to execute on President Trump's pledge to put America First by cracking down on violent organizations including Tren de Aragua, the Sinaloa Cartel, and their facilitators, like Cartel de los Soles," he added.