Monthly Archives: August 2012

South African police charge mineworkers with murder

Posted on August 31, 2012 by

By Richard Luce The South African ruling African National Congress (ANC) seems to have shot itself in the foot when on Thursday it charged at least 270 miners for the murder of 34 of their colleagues shot in the back of the head by the country’s police force. The mine workers, arrested at the Rothenberg Platinum Mine barely two weeks ago, were charged under what is known as ‘the Common Purpose Law Doctrine often used against the ANC during the apartheid era. Speaking on BBC Newsnight programme last night, the Rt Rev Paul Verryn, the Methodist Bishop of Johannesburg said South Africans were ‘stunned’ that this could happen just 18 … Continue reading →

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Why Angola’s Dos Santos is set to win Friday’s General Election

Posted on August 30, 2012 by

A four-lane avenue separates the shelled ruins of the art deco Ruacana Cinema from Huambo’s shiny new Chinese-built railway station, a symbol of the leaps Angola has made to recover from a devastating 27-year civil war that ended a decade ago. As Angolans prepare to go to the polls on Friday for only the second time since the end of the war, President Jose Eduardo dos Santos’s ruling MPLA party reminds them daily of the rewards of peace and boasts of its reconstruction achievements. In power for nearly 33 years in Africa’s second-largest oil producer after Nigeria, Dos Santos – who turns 70 on Tuesday – is expected to lead … Continue reading →

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Osama bin Laden ‘executed’ not ‘killed in self defence’

Posted on August 29, 2012 by

A firsthand account of the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden, the ex-founder and chief of Al Qaeda,  contradicts previous accounts by administration officials, raising questions as to whether the terror mastermind presented a clear threat when SEALs first fired upon him. Bin Laden, who had admitted while he was alive to having ordered the attack on the US Twin Towers in New York on September 11, 2001, was apparently shot in the head when he looked out of his bedroom door into the top-floor hallway of his compound as SEALs rushed up a narrow stairwell in his direction, according to former Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette, writing under the pseudonym … Continue reading →

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Americans urge African countries to form a united Air Force

Posted on August 29, 2012 by

The United States has urged African nations to pool their air force assets in a NATO-style effort to take on terrorists and international criminals rather than struggle to fund costly independent operations. Speaking to African air chiefs at a meeting held in the West African country of Senegal, Gen Philip Breedlove, commander of the US Air Force in Europe said many African air forces are small components of the national military and Washington, concerned about Africa-based al Qaeda agents, traffickers and illegal fishing, wants to help improve cooperation across the continent. He said the situation meant any one nation would struggle to tackle groups operating across borders. “Taking them on … Continue reading →

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Rebels kill 24 South Sudanese soldiers in ambush

Posted on August 28, 2012 by

At least 24 soldiers were killed when rebels ambushed a South Sudanese army convoy in Jonglei State. A group led by rebel leader David Yau Yau, one of several militias fighting the government, attacked the convoy of 200 soldiers near Pibor, a remote corner of the eastern state on Jonglei, army spokesman Philip Aguer said. During the attack which took place last Wednesday, twelve soldiers were wounded in the attack on Wednesday and 17 are missing, he said.  The troops had been sent to investigate reports that Yau Yau had been sighted in the area, Aguer said. He added that he suspected the rebels were joined by youth from the … Continue reading →

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