"Down with Imperialism"Thousands of people demonstrate in Mali, denouncing the increasing French pressure

Tens of thousands joined a government-sponsored rally in Mali's capital, Bamako, to protest against new regional economic sanctions as well as increasing pressure from France, the country's former colonial master, after the ruling military junta postponed promised elections for four years.

Tens of thousands joined a government-sponsored rally in Mali's capital, Bamako, to protest against new regional economic sanctions as well as increasing pressure from France, the country's former colonial master, after the ruling military junta postponed promised elections for four years.

Friday's demonstration, which was organized in Bamako's Independence Square, included the country's prime minister and other ministers in the transitional government led by Colonel Asmi Guetta, who declared himself president after the second military coup last year.

"Down with imperialism, down with ECOWAS, down with France," the demonstrators chanted.

The demonstration included the country's prime minister and other ministers in the transitional government led by Colonel Asimi Gueta (Reuters)

ECOWAS, a 15-nation West African regional bloc, imposed tougher economic sanctions on Mali last Sunday, saying the transitional government had failed to make progress toward holding presidential elections as promised at the end of February, 18 months after Mali's first-led coup. Guetta.

Gueta insists that it is impossible to organize the promised elections due to the worsening insecurity.

Militants have expanded their influence in central Mali over the past decade, repeatedly targeting the Malian army and United Nations peacekeeping forces.

After nine years of beefing up security in its former colony, France began reducing its troop presence in Mali. Critics fear that the departure of French forces will only lead to more chaos.

Corona a non-stop rise in injuries in Australia and Spain, and calls for vaccination in Palestine

Australian authorities said today, Saturday, that the country is likely approaching the peak of the mutated Omicron wave of the Corona virus, while data from the Spanish Ministry of Health showed that the number of Covid-19 infections exceeded eight million people since the start of the pandemic.

Australian authorities said Saturday that the country is likely approaching the peak of the mutated Omicron wave of the Corona virus, but warned that daily infections will remain close to record levels in the “next few weeks” after recording more than 100,000 cases for the fourth consecutive day.

More than 1.2 million injuries were recorded this year, compared to 200,000 injuries during 2020 and 2021 combined.

"We're not done with that yet and I think the next few weeks will see a significant number of cases in Australia," Chief Health Officer Paul Kelly told a news briefing, referring to the Omicron outbreak.

Official data showed a decline in injuries over the past three days, and a slight decrease in the increase in hospital admissions in the hardest-hit state of New South Wales, which is Australia's most populous state.

Authorities say unvaccinated young people make up a "significant number" of hospital admissions in Australia.

Australia is one of the most vaccinated countries against Covid-19 in the world, as more than 92% of people over 16 years of age have received two doses of anti-virus vaccines, while the pace of vaccination with a booster dose is accelerating.

8 million injuries in Spain

In Spain, data from the Ministry of Health showed on Friday that the number of people infected with Covid-19 in the country since the start of the pandemic in 2020 exceeded eight million, while the number of deaths reached 90,759.

The number of cases has increased by 162,500 since Thursday.

Calls for vaccination in Palestine

On Friday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that the number of infections with the Omicron mutant among Palestinians had risen to 699, after 222 new cases were recorded.

The spokesman for the Ministry of Health, Kamal Al-Shakhra, said in a statement, a copy of which was obtained by Anadolu Agency, that 222 new cases of the Omicron mutant were recorded in the West Bank, bringing the death toll from this mutant in Palestine to 699, distributed over all governorates.

Al-Shakhrah called on the citizens to "go to vaccination centers in the governorates to take the anti-Coronavirus vaccines, to protect themselves and their families."

He also called for adherence to safety and prevention measures and to wear masks.

The number of coronavirus infections among Palestinians reached 474,762, of whom 5,07 people died, according to a statement by the Palestinian Ministry of Health Thursday.

Since November, infections worldwide have risen nonstop, driven by the emergence of the rapidly spreading mutant Omicron and the mixing of large segments of the population during the Christmas holiday period, although hospital admissions are still much lower than those recorded during previous waves.

"A blatant violation" Moroccan authorities condemn Germany's burning of the body of a Moroccan in Frankfurt

The Moroccan authorities condemned the German authorities' "cremation" of the body of a Moroccan citizen in the city of Frankfurt, central western Germany, and considered it "a precedent of its kind and a flagrant violation."

On Friday, the Moroccan authorities considered the German authorities’ “cremation” of the body of a Moroccan citizen in the city of Frankfurt, central western Germany, as a “precedent of its kind and a flagrant violation.”

This came in a statement by the Moroccan Consulate in Frankfurt, which Anatolia reviewed, days after activists and members of the Moroccan community circulated news that Germany had burned the body of a Moroccan.

The consulate's statement stated that the competent German authorities "created on December 29 the corpse of the Moroccan citizen named Omar Qishouh, who is still alive."

He said that this happened "without notifying the consulate of the news of the death or searching for his family residing in Frankfurt, contrary to what is usual in such a case."

The statement added that "the sister of the deceased informed the consulate's interests that her brother was alive and suffering from a disease and resides in a social housing allocated by the German state to people with special needs in the city of Frankfurt, and that his family did not know the news of his death and the burning of his body until several days later."

The consulate explained that the measure taken by the German authorities is "a precedent of its kind and a flagrant violation of the procedures (procedures) in place."

And she confirmed that she had contacted "the concerned German authority, which bears full responsibility in the matter (it did not specify it) to inquire about the circumstances and reasons that hastened the implementation of the operation that led to the violation of the sanctity and dignity of the deceased."

The consulate continued, "It is still waiting for the response of the competent German authorities, while following up on this matter in order to ensure the dignity of all Moroccan citizens in their country of residence."

There was no comment from the German authorities about what was stated in the Moroccan statement until 21:00 GMT.