Mali
The saga of Mali’s coup within a coup continues. Colonel Assimi Goita, responsible for coups in August 2020 and May 2021, today promised regional bloc ECOWAS that he would reveal a timetable for democratic elections in January 2022. ECOWAS has expelled Mali, sanctioned senior coup officials, and is threatening further action. Goita said a “national consultation” is necessary before any election can be held. But several civil society organizations have already said they’re boycotting the process.
More from Al Jazeera here.
Israel-UAE
Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett today made a trip to the United Arab Emirates, becoming the first Israeli leader to do so. Relations between the two were normalized under the controversial “Abraham Accords” - a series of diplomatic accords between Israel and Arab states, brokered by the US and seen as a betrayal by the Palestinian people. The UAE and Israel share a foe in Iran, and Bennett is on a diplomatic blitz trying to prevent Iran and Western powers from re-entering a nuclear deal they agreed in 2015, which was torn up by Donald Trump three years later.
More from Reuters via France 24 here.
India
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Twitter account, which has more than 73 million followers, was briefly compromised on Sunday, posting a message saying India had declared Bitcoin as legal currency and would be distributing the digital currency to every citizen. Several big-name Twitter accounts, including then US presidential candidate Joe Biden, former US President Barack Obama and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, were hacked in July 2020 and used to solicit Bitcoin.
More from TechCrunch here.