The United States banned former Argentine president Cristina Kirchner and one of her ministers from entering the US on Friday, accusing them of corruption.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Kirchner and former planning minister Julio Miguel De Vido of receiving millions of dollars in kickbacks from public works contracts.

Kirchner was president of Argentina between 2007 and 2016 and has since been sentenced in her home country to six years in prison for corruption and barred from public office, a ruling she has appealed.

In a statement, Rubio said “CFK”, De Vido and their close relatives had been designated under US law as credibly involved in “significant corruption.”

“This action renders CFK, De Vido, and their immediate family members generally ineligible for entry into the United States,” he said.

Since leaving the presidency and while awaiting the result of her appeal, Kirchner has continued to pursue political activities and seek elected office under the banner of Argentina’s Peronist opposition.

This has made her a high-profile opponent of Argentina’s current leader, President Javier Milei, a right-wing populist and an ally of US President Donald Trump.

AFP

Russia announced on Wednesday that it has suspended its attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure following a phone call between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.

The Kremlin also stated that it had shot down its own Ukraine-bound drones while they were in the air.

During their call on Tuesday, Putin agreed to temporarily halt attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities but declined to approve a full 30-day ceasefire, as proposed by the US president.

“They were just lining up in combat order—six of them were shot down by ‘Pantsirs’ (a surface-to-air missile system), and another one was destroyed by a (Russian) military aircraft,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Peskov accused Ukraine of failing to honour the proposed 30-day moratorium on strikes against each other’s energy infrastructure, claiming that Kyiv had attempted to attack Russian energy facilities overnight.

Meanwhile, the Russian military earlier on Wednesday accused Ukraine of deliberately attempting to sabotage the temporary moratorium by launching a drone attack on an oil depot in southern Russia.

A coalition of African groups filed fraud complaints Wednesday against French billionaire Vincent Bolloré, accusing him of illegally obtaining the rights to run ports and money laundering. French investigators have in the past looked into allegations the Bolloré Group illegally backed political campaigns in exchange for port concessions.

Groups from five African countries filed fraud and corruption complaints Wednesday accusing French billionaire Vincent Bolloré and one of his sons of illegally obtaining and benefitting from port concessions.

A collective made up of non-governmental organisations in Togo, Guinea, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Cameroon called Restitution for Africa are accusing the Bolloré Group, Bolloré and his son of unlawfully receiving the rights to run ports and then “laundering” money in those countries through the sale of its Africa logistics business.

Bolloré Group’s African ports and logistics business, which the tycoon sold off in 2022, employed more than 20,000 people in 20 African countries, running 16 ports as well as warehouses and transport hubs across the continent.

Cyrille Bolloré, his youngest son, became head of Bolloré Africa Logistics in 2019, taking over from his father.

French investigators have already looked into allegations that the Bolloré Group had, through its consulting business, illegally backed the 2010 presidential campaigns of Faure Gnassingbe in Togo and Alpha Conde in Guinea, in exchange for port concessions in Lome and Conakry.

The group’s lawyers managed to negotiate a settlement, but French financial prosecutors in 2024 requested Vincent Bolloré be tried on charges of corruption and complicity in breach of trust.

Wednesday’s complaint now accuses Bolloré of corruption, benefitting from influence peddling and unlawfully accepting favours from local officials in Cameroon, Ghana and Ivory Coast.

It charges that this is how the group obtained concessions to run the ports of Douala and Kribi in Cameroon, Tema in Ghana, and Abidjan in Ivory Coast.

The collective alleges that the 2022 sale of Bolloré Africa Logistics, whose profits came from these allegedly illegally obtained port concessions, amounted to money laundering.

Bolloré’s holding company sold Bolloré Africa Logistics to the MSC shipping group for €5.7 billion ($6.05 billion) in 2022.

It was thought at the time to be the mainstay of the tycoon’s fortune. Bolloré and his family are estimated to be worth $9.9 billion, according to Forbes.

Bolloré owns several right-wing media outlets in France.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)