Four officials suspended in South Africa’s ‘Gupta scandal’

Posted on May 4, 2013 by

South Africa suspended four top security officials on Friday, including two brigadier-generals, in a widening scandal over a plane chartered by a family with close ties to President Jacob Zuma using an air force base without proper permission. The affair – dubbed “Guptagate” after the influential Indian-born Gupta family – has transfixed South Africa since the private flight landed at Pretoria’s Waterkloof Air Force base on Tuesday with nearly 200 guests for a lavish family wedding. It has also shone an uncomfortable spotlight on Zuma’s relationship with Gupta brothers Atul, Ajay and Rajesh, whose South African business empire stretches from mining and resources to aviation and technology. In a news … Continue reading →

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Ethiopian evangelists ‘push for death penalty for homosexuals’

Posted on May 4, 2013 by

An anti-gay organisation says it is hopeful a death penalty for homosexuals will soon be introduced in Ethiopia. United For Life Ethiopia, a Western Evangelical Christian organisation which receives funding from the UK and the US, last week held a workshop to discuss the social “evils” and “disastrous” effects of homosexuality in the country, Egypt-based Bikya News reported.  It adds government officials, religious leaders, health professionals, charities and members of the public attended the event at the Bethel Teaching Hospital in Addis Ababa. Gay Star News reports the presence of a member of the Ethiopian Inter-Religious Council Against Homosexuality (EICAH), who apparently told participants homosexuality “is a result of inappropriate … Continue reading →

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Saif al-Islam Gaddafi appears in court for first time

Posted on May 2, 2013 by

Saif al-Islam, the son and presumed heir of deposed Libyan leader, Col Muammar Gaddafi, has briefly appeared in court to face criminal charges and has been appointed two local lawyers. The case relates to a visit last year from a lawyer from the International Criminal Court (ICC) who was accused of passing information to Mr Gaddafi. Mr Gaddafi has also been indicted for war crimes during the 2011 uprising. Both Libya and the ICC claim jurisdiction for that trial. When asked whether he was in good health, Mr Gaddafi said that he was and gave a thumbs-up sign, the BBC’s foreign editor, John Simpson, reports from Zintan. Mr Gaddafi faces … Continue reading →

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C.A.R. leader calls for public order as his fighters loot capital

Posted on May 2, 2013 by

Central African Republic’s leader is calling on his fighters to restore public order as anger mounts over pillaging in the capital more than a month after they seized power. In an address televised late Wednesday, Michel Djotodia also called on police and security forces to return to their jobs in an effort to help stabilize the volatile country. “Weapons should be silenced. I want public order to be re-established across the nation and for security to return to Central African Republic,” he said. Thousands of fighters belonging to a rebel coalition known as Seleka overtook the capital in late March, overthrowing the president of a decade who fled to Cameroon. … Continue reading →

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Deteriorating security situation in Libya alarming observers

Posted on May 1, 2013 by

Armed protests targeting Libya’s ministries and media in the capital this week have alarmed international observers who say the deteriorating security conditions are becoming a matter of serious concern. Reporters without Borders said there was cause for “grave concern about recent violent attacks on Libyan journalists, whose safety conditions are deteriorating drastically” and called on the government to act. Gunmen in heavily armed vehicles remained in control of Libya’s Foreign Ministry for a fourth day on Wednesday, while the Justice Ministry was similarly surrounded on Tuesday and other institutions including the media have been targeted. Recent attacks included the detention and beating of a correspondent for Al-Arabiya, who was led away … Continue reading →

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DRC residents ‘have high hopes’ for Intervention Brigade – UN

Posted on May 1, 2013 by

Residents in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) see better prospects for peace in the region now that preparations are underway for stationing a U.N. “intervention brigade” in the region, according to a U.N. official. Madnodje Mounoubai, spokesman for the United Nations Stabilization Mission to the DRC (MONUSCO), said hopes in the region are rising after completion of a barracks complex where the U.N. troops will be housed. “They hope that with this new intervention brigade, we will see the end of the armed groups, and with the end of the armed groups, peace will return and with peace, we can see stabilization, reconstruction and development … Continue reading →

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Fund your own development – Britain tells South Africa

Posted on May 1, 2013 by

By Staff Writer Her Majesty’s Department for International Development (DfID)has informed the Republic of South Africa that it would no longer qualify for development aid from Britain as it is in a position to fund its own development. Britain’s International Development Secretary Ms Justine Greening yesterday informed South Africa that Her Majesty’s Government’s £19 million a year aid programme to South Africa has come to an end. Ms Greening made the announcement at the Times CEO Summit in London attended by African ministers and business leaders. She said Britain’s relationship with South Africa should in future be based on trade rather than aid. “We are proud of the work the … Continue reading →

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Armed protest in Libya prompts congress to postpone sitting

Posted on April 30, 2013 by

Libya’s foreign ministry remained surrounded on Monday by heavily armed protesters, a tense demonstration of militia force that prompted the legislature to postpone its next sitting. Militiamen surrounded the ministry on Sunday with pick-up trucks loaded with anti-aircraft guns and armed groups also tried unsuccessfully to storm the interior ministry and the state news agency, posing a challenge to state control of key parts of the capital. The General National Congress (GNC) said its lawmakers would not now meet as scheduled on Tuesday but would postpone their next sitting until Sunday. A spokesman said this would give them time to study the legislation that the protesters are calling for – … Continue reading →

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Sudanese rebels’ fight getting closer to Khartoum

Posted on April 28, 2013 by

Rebels from Sudan’s Darfur region launched a dawn attack on the city of Um Rawaba on Saturday, taking their fight closer to the capital Khartoum, witnesses said. The attack marks the biggest push by a rebel alliance that is seeking to topple President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. Fighting had hitherto been limited mainly to remote regions of Darfur and South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, which border South Sudan. The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), which launched an unprecedented assault on Khartoum in 2008, said the rebel alliance stormed Um Rawaba in North Kordofan state, around 500 km (300 miles) south of the capital. Sudan’s army said late in the evening … Continue reading →

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NGO moves to support raped Karimojong girls in Karamoja

Posted on April 28, 2013 by

By Steven Ariong in Moroto Teddy Nakiru, a 20 year old girl was gang raped by allegedly 12 UPDF soldiers in Tapac Sub County in Moroto district on her way home from an overnight church function on New Year’s Eve of 2011. The 12 soldiers were arrested but were released by the Army Court in Moroto District. One of the soldiers, Pte James Manana, admitted to have participated in that gang raping but was only dismissed from the Army for not being on duty at the time the gang raping of Ms Nakiru happened. The dismissal of the soldier who admitted to have participated in the gang rape of  Nakiru ended the … Continue reading →

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