Saturday, May 16, 2015

Burundi: 17 Officials Charged For Plotting Failed Coup

Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza, centre, is escorted on his way to the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, May 13, 2015.

Seventeen security officials, including five generals, accused in the attempted coup of Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza appeared Saturday before a prosecutor who charged them with an attempt at destabilizing public institutions, lawyers of some of the suspects said.

The suspected coup plotters are three army generals and two police generals, said Presidential spokesman Gervais Abayeho. Others are four lower-ranking officers and eight soldiers. The suspected coup leader, Maj. Gen. Godefroid Niyombare, is still at large.

President Goodluck Jonathan

A Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos has granted injunctions restraining President Goodluck Jonathan and other relevant government agencies from carrying out the order to relocate the US$500 million oil project from LADOL Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in Lagos to Agga in Bayelsa State.

Also restrained in the judgment given by the Presiding Justice of the Court, J.T Tsoho on Tuesday May 12, 2015 are the National Assembly, the Federal Ministers of Transport and Justice/Attorney General of the Federation.

The court said they were being restrained from implementing the directive of President Jonathan that oil and gas-related cargoes must be discharged at Intels facilities in Onne, Warri and Calabar Ports.

Behind bars: Ex-President Mohammed Morsi during a previous court hearing in February. Photo: Getty; Image source: Mirror UK

An Egyptian court has sentenced ex-President Mohamed Morsi to death over a 2011 mass prison break. The verdict will now be handed over to the country’s Grand Mufti and a final decision will be reached on June 2.

Morsi is among a total of 106 Muslim Brotherhood members sentenced to capital punishment over the incident. The Wadi al-Natrun prison break took place during the 2011 January revolution and eventually led to the deposition of Hosni Mubarak.

Mount Rainier is pictured as the last rays of sunlight hit its western side, taken from the tarmac of Seattle Airport (Reuters/Jason Reed)

Washington Governor Jay Inslee declared a statewide drought emergency, citing historic low levels of snow, shrinking rivers and water restrictions to farmers already in place. Authorities are expecting a US$1.2 billion crop loss this year.

“We have some tough, challenging months ahead of us,” Inslee said in a statement. “We’re ready to bring support and relief to the hardest hit areas of the state. We’re going to do everything we can to get through this.”

Putin Puts His Skates On For NHL, Scores 8 Goals (VIDEO)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken to the ice in one of Sochi's Olympic sports arenas. The state leader played along the country's other top officials, sportsmen and businessmen in an NHL (Night Hockey League) match.

Lindela Repatriation Centre Deportees awaiting dispatch

More than 400 Mozambicans have returned home after being deported from neighboring South Africa, many spending their first night in the country sleeping in tents at a local repatriation centre.

In South Africa, they were arrested when they were found without proper documents, some told the Associated Press. In nationwide raids, South African police arrested about 750 immigrants living in the country illegally.

HIV Alarm: Number Of Infected In Russia May Double In 4 Yrs, Expert Warns

Reuters / Nacho Doce

Top AIDS expert, Vadim Pokrovsky, has warned there could be two million registered HIV carriers in Russia in just 4 years. He says sexual education at schools and replacement therapy is the key to arresting the spread of the deadly virus.

The official number of HIV carriers in Russia has grown to over 930,000 people from around 500,000 five years back. However, Vadim Pokrovsky told Kommersant daily: "Official figures can be multiplied at least by two, since the disease is asymptomatic for a long time, so many people do not even know that are already infected." He added that Russians don’t think it necessary to take regular HIV tests, because there's still a stereotype in society that the virus threatens only homosexuals and drug addicts.

Governor Adams Oshiomhole slips puts a ring on the finger of former Miss Iara Forte at a private marriage registry at Iyamho, Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State, on Friday.

Edo State Governor, Adam Oshiomhole has married his Cape Verdean Iara Forte, five years after he lost his wife. The wedding was solemnized Friday at the marriage registry of Auchi Etsako West Local government Council of Edo state.

A reception ceremony was later held at the governor’s Iyamho country home.

Leaders meet for first time since election as Sturgeon denies second referendum claims. Image source: STV News

Prime Minister David Cameron has arrived in Glasgow to meet Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon. The Scottish First Minister is warning of a second independence referendum if Cameron fails to deliver on devolution pledges.

Sturgeon shook hands with Cameron on the steps of Bute House before heading inside to debate what powers should be handed over.

In last week’s general election the SNP devastated its rivals, securing 56 out of 59 contested parliamentary seats.

Lead poisoning continues to affect many in Nigeria – UN (Image source: un.org)

At least 28 children under the age of five have been killed by drinking stream water contaminated with lead in Niger state, Nigeria's health minister Fidelis Nwankwo said, and officials blamed the contamination on illegal mining.

Villagers "were mining for gold, and (the water was made toxic) by its impurities," said Mohammed Usman, a government health official in Niger state on Friday.

Reuters / Ronen Zvulun

Israel is offering illegal immigrants US$3,500 and a one-way ticket home as it begins to crack down on refugees, who face prison if they don’t take up the deal. Rights groups are appalled at the move, saying Israel should be doing more to protect them.

Israel says the tough move is necessary to send a message to migrants that making the journey is not worthwhile in the first place. As deterrents it has built a steel fence along the border with Egypt, houses migrants in a detention camp in the middle of a desert, and has stopped issuing work permits to deter would-be migrants.

Ziyanda Palesa Tutu, 30, tweeted that she would hand herself over today. None of the Tutus would reveal the nature of the charge. Image by: Gallo Images/Oryx Media Archive

South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu said Friday he was "distressed and deeply saddened" over a family dispute in which his wife has accused his granddaughter of malicious damage to property.

Details of the criminal charge have not been revealed.

Tutu, an anti-apartheid hero respected around the world as a moral authority, issued a brief statement via his foundation confirming that charges had been made against his eldest granddaughter Ziyanda Palesa Tutu, 30.

Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza has returned to the capital Bujumbura in the wake of a failed coup attempt.

Mr Nkurunziza was in Tanzania when military leaders moved against his bid for a third term on Tuesday.

Three of the coup leaders have been arrested, though the coup leader is still on the run, a presidential spokesman said.

Greece's Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis.(Reuters / Francois Lenoir)

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, who has been sidelined from Greece debt negotiations, says he wished the country still had the drachma, and that Greece would never sign any bailout plan on unfavourable terms.

Continuing the war of words with Eurozone policymakers Varoufakis said, at a conference in Athens Thursday, he would reject any agreement in which “the numbers do not add up.”

He also said that deep down each member of the Eurozone now agreed Greece should never have joined, adding that it “was very badly constructed.”

“But once you are in, you don’t get out without a catastrophe,” he said.

Image from Facebook.com/CarunUK

Britain’s first-ever cannabis pharmacy, selling health and beauty products made of hemp, is set to open its doors this week.

The pharmacy Carun UK, based in Twickenham, southwest London, uses the “healing super-powers of hemp” which is the “ultimate skin savior and well-being booster.”

However, the company said the products, including oils and hand creams, cannot get their customers high.

President Goodluck Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan has directed that a US$500 million oil and gas investment project be relocated from LADOL Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in Lagos to Agga in Bayelsa State, The Nation learnt yesterday.

The project is a partnership between LADOL Integrated Logistics Enterprise and Samsung Heavy Industries, Korea.

The two companies are to build fabrication and integration yards for Egina Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) facility for the use of local and foreign-owned oil companies.

The multi-million dollar project is in phases, and billed to be completed in the next five years.

The project is said to have reached an “advanced stage” before Jonathan issued a directive that it should be relocated.

President Pierre Nkurunziza (Image source: Reuters)

Two senior army officers and a police general accused of taking part in an attempted coup in Burundi have been arrested, a presidential spokesman said on Friday as it became apparent that a military plot to oust President Pierre Nkurunziza had fizzled out.

Gervais Abayeho told The Associated Press Friday that the leader of the attempted coup, Maj. Gen. Godefroid Niyombare, is at large and that security forces are looking for him. He did not name the attempted coup plotters in custody.

Chuka Umunna withdrew his candidature in less than a week after throwing hat into the ring. Photo: Press Association

An up-and-coming British politician who was considered a front-runner to replace Labour leader Ed Miliband abruptly withdrew from the contest Friday, saying he had underestimated the intense scrutiny to which he would be subjected.

Chuka Umunna, who announced his leadership bid just three days ago, blamed the "added level of pressure that comes with being a leadership candidate."

President-Elect Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari addressing members of the 8th assembly legislators-elect during their induction course in Abuja on Wednesday

A think tank established by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to study critical areas of the economy and make recommendations to guide the incoming government yesterday submitted its report to President-elect General Muhammadu Buhari.

The committee, which was established four months ago under the Centre for Human Security of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, studied five key areas – education, power, the economy, security and infrastructure.

Footballer Ronaldo Campaigns For Nepal But US$8 Million Personal Donation Is False —Charity

Cristiano Ronaldo (Photo: Reuters / Juan Medina)

Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo has actively campaigned to help raise funds for victims of the Nepal earthquakes but he has not donated US$8 million himself as widely reported, the charity Save the Children said on Thursday.

The 30-year-old Real Madrid striker appeal led to his 100 million-plus Facebook followers to donate to the charity after the first of two quakes struck, killing more than 8,000 people.

He was reported to have given 7 million euros (US$7.8 million) of his own money.

But the charity said the report, which originated in the French magazine So Foot on May 7 and has since been published widely by other international media, was false.

President Jacob Zuma. Photo by: Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters

President Jacob Zuma has told the National Council of Provinces that government will continue to root out illegal immigrants but that those here with proper documentation were "welcome".

Zuma said: "We are not generally xenophobic as South Africans. We value the presence of foreign nationals in our country as many bring much needed skills. We have a responsibility to protect refugees and asylum seekers."

German paediatrician Ingeborg Rapoport speaks during an interview in her house in Berlin.(Reuters / Thomas Peter)

A woman aged 102 qualified for a doctorate on Wednesday – 77 years after her first attempt. She was forced out of the university in Nazi Germany because of her Jewish background.

Ingeborg Rapoport is a retired neonatal specialist who tried to attain a doctoral degree when she was 25 in 1938, five years after Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany. Her work was dedicated to diphtheria, a disease which was one main causes of infant mortality at that time.

Her studies were curtailed when she was not allowed to take an oral examination.

Yorkshire-born David Hockney lives in Los Angeles

Painter David Hockney has revealed he did not vote in the general election - and does not "care" about the result.

Hockney, considered Britain's greatest living artist, recently described himself as an anarchist-socialist in a newspaper interview.

But the 77-year-old shrugged off last week's general election, which saw the Conservatives unexpectedly sweep to power and Labour suffer its worst defeat since 1987.

AFP Photo / Bay Ismoyo

Indonesian authorities have been urged to cease the “invasive” and “discriminatory” practice of “virginity tests” for female recruits and fiancées of military officers in the country’s armed forces.

International military physicians are set to gather in Bali, Indonesia on May 17-22, 2015, to urge the country’s president, Joko Widodo, to stop the practice, according to Human Rights Watch.

“The Indonesian armed forces should recognize that harmful and humiliating ‘virginity tests’ on women recruits does nothing to strengthen national security,” Nisha Varia, women’s rights advocacy director at the International Committee of Military Medicine (ICMM), said.

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) waiting to be moved to their habitual residences in Abadam and Mobbar Local Government Areas of Borno from their camp in Maiduguri on Tuesday (21/5/15), following liberation of the communities by Nigerian troops.

A dusk to dawn curfew has been imposed on Maiduguri, the Borno State capital following Wednesday’s attempted attack by the Boko Haram insurgents on the city.

The army described the decision as a measure to protecting lives and property in the city, The Nation reports.

Firemen carry the dead bodies of victims after a fire gutted a footwear factory in Valenzuela city in suburban Manila, on May 13, 2015 ©Ted Aljibe (AFP)

Seventy-two people died in a huge blaze at a footwear factory in the Philippine capital, authorities said on Thursday, as angry relatives and workers described sweatshop conditions including dismal fire safety standards.

Firefighters and police pulled dozens of corpses out of the ruins of the two-storey building on Thursday, a day after the blaze trapped the terrified workers with apparently few exits and no fire safety training.

The U.S. Capitol Building. (Reuters/Larry Downing)

A day after Democrats stalled President Barack Obama’s trade agenda, Senate leaders reached a deal to vote on two controversial bills before moving to a wide-open debate on granting the White House “fast-track” authority to negotiate future trade deals.

The US Senate will vote Thursday on a customs and enforcement bill that would require a response to countries that intentionally keep the value of their currency low. Another measure would expand trade with sub-Saharan Africa by allowing countries there to sell goods in the US duty-free. Both bills require 60 votes to pass.

Heavy fighting between rival Burundian troops erupted in the capital on Thursday, the day after a top general launched a coup to oust the east African nation's President Pierre Nkurunziza.

Military sources and witnesses said troops loyal to the president, who was outside the country when the coup was launched and who has been blocked from returning, were fighting off an attack against the state television and radio complex.

President-elect Muhammadu Buhari

President-elect Muhammadu Buhari is not supporting any candidate for the leadership of the National Assembly.

Gen. Buhari will support “due process” in the election of the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, his spokesman said yesterday.

Mallam Garba Shehu, in a statement issued in Abuja, said Gen. Buhari was willing to work with any leader of the Senate, irrespective of what part of the country he or she hails from.

Nigeria President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (retd)

The President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) said he will not “forgive or forget” the evil acts of perpetrators of violence before, during and after the recent governorship elections in Rivers State.

Buhari spoke, yesterday, when the state chapter of All Progressives Congress, APC, paid him a congratulatory visit in Abuja.

Buhari, who said he owed the people a duty to ensure justice in the land, also assured that every Nigerian deserved respect and dignity.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday assured President-elect Muhammadu Buhari of the international community’s support.

Blair told reporters after a meeting with Buhari at the Defence House that with the successful conclusion of the elections, Nigeria has earned respect in the comity of nations.

He said the future of Nigeria lies in the hands of Nigerians, pointing out that there is tremendous support for this country.

A Burundi army soldier riding in an armored vehicle raises his gun in the air as he joins demonstrators celebrating what they perceive to be an attempted military coup d'etat, in the capital Bujumbura, Burundi Wednesday, May 13, 2015. Police vanished from the streets of Burundi's capital Wednesday as thousands of people celebrated a coup attempt against President Pierre Nkurunziza. (AP Photo/Berthier Mugiraneza)

Sporadic gunfire is being heard in the Burundian capital, a day after an army general announced he had ousted President Pierre Nkurunziza.

Loud explosions were also heard Thursday in the center of Bujumbura, which has been the scene of unrest and daily protests stemming from Nkurunziza’s controversial bid for a third term.

A United Nations peacekeeper is seen standing on patrol behind a U.N. flag.

A group of activists is calling for the United Nations to remove immunity granted to civilian and police personnel in peacekeeping missions, saying doing so will deter sexual abuse and exploitation of the people they are sent to help.

Paula Donovan of Aids-free world, the group that launched the campaign Wednesday in New York, said that currently U.N. civilian and police personnel on peacekeeping missions are protected by immunity until the U.N. secretary-general waives it.

“[Let] everybody in the world know that when the secretary-general and the United Nations say zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, it doesn’t mean we will put that on hold until the secretary-general decides whether we will have just a little bit of tolerance or a little bit more,” said Donovan.

Members of Scene of the Crime Operatives of the Philippine National Police line up body bags containing the remains of victims Thursday, May 14, 2015, a day after a fire gutted Kentex rubber slipper factory in Valenzuela city, a northern suburb of Manila, Philippines. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Police recovered 58 bodies and about a dozen more people are still missing Thursday from a Philippine factory fire that an angry relative said had trapped workers on the second floor of the building where iron grills on windows prevented their escape.

The search for bodies resumed after it was suspended late Wednesday because of the heat and worries about the instability of the two-story building, a rubber slipper factory in the outskirts of the Philippine capital, Manila.

Pope Francis welcomes Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) upon his arrival at the Vatican June 8, 2014. (Reuters/Riccardo De Luca)

The Vatican has become the latest country to recognize the state of Palestine, after a new treaty was finalized on Wednesday. Unsurprisingly Israel has hit out at the move, saying that it damages prospects for peace in the region.

The treaty, which was agreed, though has yet to be formally signed states the Vatican has switched its diplomatic allegiance from the Palestinian Liberation Organization to the state of Palestine. It was finalized days before the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is due to visit Pope Francis.

Asian Nations Take 5 Top Spots In Major Global School Rankings

Reuters

The OECD has published the biggest ever global school rankings with Asian countries coming in the top five, in the first truly global survey of education standards.

Singapore is in the lead again followed by Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.

Finland, well known for its high quality education, was the top European country coming in sixth, while Sweden fell to 35th place, following warnings from the OECD that it had serious problems in its education system. The US was well down in 28th place.

African countries dominated the bottom rankings with South Africa and Ghana coming in last.

Nelson Mandela's widow, Graca Machel, seen here in Johannesburg on November 21, 2014, joined prominent activists to call for a full inquiry on sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers and personnel ©Mujahid Safodien (AFP)

Nelson Mandela's widow, Graca Machel, joined prominent activists on Wednesday to call for a full inquiry on sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers and personnel following the furore over alleged child sexual assault by French troops in the Central African Republic.

The campaign dubbed "Code Blue" is to demand change in the United Nations' handling of sexual abuse allegations and hopes to enlist countries in a push for action.

Machel, who headed a UN study 19 years ago on the sexual abuse of children in conflict, lamented that "things have not changed, not improved."

Senate President David Mark

The senate will no longer continue with the process of overriding President Goodluck Jonathan’s veto on the 2015 constitution amendment bill, developments at the upper chamber have shown.

The bill, which has been gazetted, was scheduled for legislative treatment on Tuesday, but the process was suspended.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo (Image source: Wikipedia.org)

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has rebuffed repeated pleas from concerned members of the Peoples Democratic Party to help revive the party following its defeat in the March 28 presidential election.

President Goodluck Jonathan, who flew the PDP flag in the March 28 election, lost to his All Progressives Congress challenger, Muhammadu Buhari, a former military head of state.

The party, which has ruled Nigeria since the return of democracy 16 years ago, also lost its majority status in the National Assembly just as it won a fewer number of states unlike in the past election.

Burundi's Major-General Godefroid Niyombare

Burundi General Godefroid Niyombare, who announced the overthrow of the president Wednesday, is a former member of a feared rebel army, powerful spy chief, diplomat and respected army officer.

An ex-chief of staff of the army and one-time ambassador to Kenya, Niyombare has a reputation for professionalism and integrity, commanding respect among rank and file soldiers in the new Burundi that emerged after the end of a brutal civil war in 2006.

South African Police officers backed by soldiers from the South African Defence Force SADF arrest illegal immigrants and foreign nationals during a raid in in the Johannesburg CBD last week Photo: Mujahid Safodien/AFP

South Africa’s High Court on Wednesday in Johannesburg halted the deportation of hundreds of African immigrants who were arrested in the wake of the recent wave of xenophobic violence.

David Cote, the lawyer for Human Rights Organization, said that the migrants, believed to number between 280 and 400, were detained at a Johannesburg Church and in the central business district on Friday.

He said that a court order was obtained on Tuesday to halt their deportation for two weeks and to gain access to them to discuss their situation.

Philippine firemen try to put out a fire after it gutted a footwear factory in Valenzuela city, suburban Manila, on May 13, 2015

A fire razed a rubber slipper factory in a suburb of the Philippine capital Wednesday and dozens of workers reported missing were feared to have perished, the city mayor and fire officials said.

At least three bodies have been recovered and fire officials said there were no survivors found after the fire was put under control, said Mayor Rex Gatchalian of Valenzuela city north of Manila.

Migrants disembark from the German Navy ship Hessen, at the Reggio Calabria harbor, southern Italy, Saturday, May 9, 2015. Ireland and France are the latest European Union nations answering Italy's pleas for help with the rescue of migrants' who are risking their lives on smugglers' boats in the Mediterranean. Two German ships and a British vessel are already pitching in, after Italy appealed for help with the migrants, who arrive daily by the hundreds or by the thousands on overcrowded, unseaworthy fishing boats and dinghies setting sail from Libya, where the smugglers are based. (AP Photo/Adriana Sapone)

The European Union will on Wednesday unveil its plan to confront the challenge posed by a massive influx of migrants fleeing war and poverty in Syria, Eritrea and elsewhere.

EU border guards are struggling to deal with a boat-borne exodus that has seen more than 10,000 people plucked from the Mediterranean off Libya in the last month. No one knows exactly how many have drowned, but around 1,700 are feared dead.

Niyombare’s announcement follows more than two weeks of protests in the East African nation over President Pierre Nkurunziza’s plan to seek a third term in office. Photo: Desire Hatunga/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Burundi’s former head of intelligence declared a coup in the East African nation after more than two weeks of protests sparked by President Pierre Nkurunziza’s plan to seek a third term in office.

“Burundian President Nkurunziza is no longer president,” Major-General Godefroid Niyombare said in a broadcast on state radio in the capital, Bujumbura, on Wednesday. “The government is dissolved, permanent secretaries of ministries will ensure” day-to-day business, he said.

Alain Lobognon

Côte d’Ivoire's youth and sports minister said on Wednesday he had left the government amid a scandal involving missing player bonuses for its African championship-winning soccer team.

The minister, Alain Lobognon, said that he had done nothing wrong and would make his case in court. A government spokesman declined to say whether Lobognon had been sacked or stepped down.

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Friday, May 15, 2015

Thursday, May 14, 2015

President-elect Muhammadu Buhari

Wednesday, May 13, 2015