Scheduled to take place for the first time in almost forty years, local and municipal elections in the Central African Republic have been once again postponed. 

Initially planned for the end of August, officials say the vote will now be held in December, in conjunction with the legislative and presidential elections. 

President Touadéra, who has been in office since 2016, launched a biometric voter registration exercise last year to update the electoral roll.

Authorities say the postponement is due to a delay in mobilizing funds as well as technical and organizational hiccups. 

Members of the opposition BRDC are calling for an overhaul of the electoral authority and a dialogue with President Touadéra.

CAR has been battling conflict since 2013 when predominantly Muslim rebels seized power and forced the then-president from office. The United Nations has said the elections represent a ”crucial opportunity” to strengthen democratic governance, promote reconciliation and consolidate stability.

The landlocked country is one of the poorest in the world, despite having significant natural resources, including uranium, oil, gold and diamonds. 

After 10 days of negotiations, including a final overnight marathon, France has reached an agreement with New Caledonia. The deal grants the South Pacific territory more autonomy — but stops short of the independence sought by many indigenous Kanaks. 

President Macron hailed the deal as historic but it still needs final approval in New Caledonia. If passed, it would create a state of Caledonia within the French Republic incscribed in the French constitution and a Caledonian nationality alongside French nationality.  

The talks stemmed from deadly rioting last year prompted by proposed changes to electoral rules that pro-independence groups said would marginalize Indigenous voters.

The territory has held three referenda on the question of independence, with voters each time opting to remain with France.

A special congress will be held to finalize next steps. Media reports say they could include more sovereignty for New Caledonia over international affairs, security and justice. 

The accord could also eventually allow New Caledonians to change the territory’s name, flag and hymn.

Negotiators stressed the importance of rehabilitating and diversifying New Caledonia’s indebted economy, which depends heavily on nickel mining, and making it less reliant on the French mainland.

France colonized the Pacific archipelago in the 1850s, and it became an overseas territory after World War II, with French citizenship granted to all Kanaks in 1957.

Iran’s foreign minister said Saturday that his country would accept a resumption of nuclear talks with the US if there were assurances of no more attacks against it, state media reported.



Abbas Araghchi said in a speech to Tehran-based foreign diplomats that Iran has always been ready and will be ready in the future for talks about its nuclear program, but, “assurance should be provided that in case of a resumption of talks, the trend will not lead to war.” 



Referring to the 12-day Israeli bombardment of Iran’s nuclear and military sites, and the US strike on June 22, Araghchi said that if the US and others wish to resume talks with Iran, “first of all, there should be a firm guarantee that such actions will not be repeated. The attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities has made it more difficult and complicated to achieve a solution based on negotiations.”



Following the strikes, Iran suspended cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, which led to the departure of inspectors.

Araghchi said that under Iranian law, the country will answer the agency’s request for cooperation “case by case,” based on Iran’s interests. 



He also said any inspection by the agency should be done based on Iran’s “security” concerns as well as the safety of the inspectors.

“Danger of proliferation of radioactive materials is high, danger of explosion of ammunition that remained from the war is a serious one.” he said.



He reiterated Iran’s position on the need to continue enriching uranium on its soil. US President Donald Trump has insisted that cannot happen.



Israel claims it acted because Tehran was within reach of a nuclear weapon. US intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency had assessed Iran last had an organized nuclear weapons program in 2003, though Tehran had been enriching uranium up to 60% — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.



Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in an interview published Monday said the US airstrikes so badly damaged his country’s nuclear facilities that Iranian authorities still have not been able to access them to survey the destruction.