Breaking News

26, December 2016

2 killed, 5 injured on Christmas Day shootings in New York ⁰

At least two people have been killed and five injured as a result of two shootings in New York City on Christmas Day. In a mass shooting that took place on Sunday morning, a gunman opened fire on people inside the Mansion nightclub in Mount Vernon, killing two and injuring four. Police said O’Neal Bandoo, the club’s owner, was killed during the attack. The name of the second person who died in the shooting was not revealed.

The victims were found in the lobby and on the street outside the club, a sign that the shooter had chased them. The suspect managed to flee the scene, police said, describing him as a Bronx resident with a pending attempted murder case. According to eyewitnesses, around 200 people were inside the club when the shooting broke out.

In another incident on Christmas Day, rapper Roland Collins, aka Troy Ave, survived a shooting in Brooklyn, police said. The 34-year-old performer was sitting in his car at a red light when a gunman approached him and shot him twice. The bullets grazed Collins’ head and injured his arm, police said, adding that the rapper was rushed to a nearby hospital.

Accused of an attempted murder, Collins himself was out on a $500,000 bail following a May shootout at a concert that left a member of his entourage dead. The weekend leading to Christmas has seen similar mass shootings in other major American cities. In Chicago, for example, police said Sunday that 27 people were shot in a 48-hour period, seven of them fatally.

Four more people were killed in Wilson, North Carolina, after a shooting on New Year’s Eve, according to police. Statistics by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that firearms kill more than 33,000 people in the US every year, a number that includes accidental discharges, murders and suicides.

Presstv

26, December 2016

Bamenda: 49 year old man killed in Christmas Day road tragedy ⁰

One person, AGWE Solomon AFI, 49, has died and several others injured in a road accident around Finance Junction, North West regional capital Bamenda. A 70 Seater bus matriculated NW 470 AV belonging to the Moghamo travel agency which left Douala 10 Pm Saturday to Bamenda, upon descending the Finance Junction around 5am missed tract, somersaulted and landed beside the road few meters to Sand Bank.

The tires of the bus were hanging vertically facing the road, the windscreens shattered. Passengers only succeeded to escape through broken windows. As rescue team from the Bamenda Army rescue unit arrived, a certain AGWE Solomon was discovered dead on the spot, dozens of others were injured. Others who were trapped in the bus were finally taken out by rescuers after tedious exercise.

Survivors told reporters that the driver of the vehicle seemed tired and worn and had made several attempts to throw them in the bush. The injured victims were taken to the Bamenda regional hospital for prompt medical attention and the deceased victim taken to the mortuary.

Cameroun Info.net

25, December 2016

Senegal defends UN vote to halt Israel’s illegal settlement ⁰

Senegal has defended its recent UNSC vote to halt Israel’s illegal settlement activities on Palestinian territories, after Tel Aviv recalls its ambassador to Dakar. “Senegal’s position must be saluted. The international community hails Senegal’s stance, especially the Muslim nations,” said government spokesman Seydou Gueye in a televised statement on Sunday.

On Friday, the UNSC Resolution 2334 was passed with 14 votes in favor and one abstention — by the US. It condemned the establishment of settlements by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories a “flagrant violation under international law,” which it said was “dangerously imperiling the viability” of peace and the establishment of a Palestinian state. “Senegal abided by its diplomatic vision. Since 1975, Senegal has been a member of the (UN) Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People,” he added.

In relation to reports that Israel had also canceled all its aid programs in the west African nation, he noted that the government had not yet been officially informed of such a move. “When it is informed of such a decision, it will issue a response,” Gueye noted. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has summoned the US ambassador to Israel to discuss the Washington’s abstention in the UNSC vote. Earlier, Israel summoned the ambassadors to Britain, China, Russia, France, Egypt, Japan, Uruguay, Spain, Ukraine and New Zealand over the resolution.

Palestinian factions in the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip have collectively welcomed the resolution, with Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki describing the vote as a “victory for the Palestinian people.” Prior to the vote, Tel Aviv attempted to block the vote and prompt a veto by its strongest ally, the United States.More than half a million Israelis live in over 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds.

Presstv

25, December 2016

Nigeria police building collapsed, kills 2 ⁰

A two-story building belonging to Nigeria’s police has collapsed, leaving two people dead. National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said Sunday that the incident took place at about 04:00 a.m. (10.00 p.m. ET) in the densely populated Ikeja district in the commercial capital of Lagos.

A spokesman for Lagos state police said that the search for potential victims under the rubble was over. “Two people lost their lives. Nobody is inside the rubble,” said Dolapo Badmus. A NEMA official also confirmed that search for other people in the building, which was located in a police training center, was over.

There was no report on whether the cadets of the Nigerian police were also affected in the incident. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, has seen frequent building collapses over the past years with officials keep blaming contractors for using cheap material in construction.

More than 150 people were killed in the collapse of a church southeast of Nigeria in December. In that case, prosecutors charged the engineers and church trustees with negligence, saying structural failures and detailing errors were to blame.

Presstv

25, December 2016

Oh lucky man: Kabila to stay in power for another one year ⁰

The opposition and the government in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have agreed on a deal to allow President Joseph Kabila remain in office for an additional year in return for not seeking a third term, the opposition has announced. “Kabila stays for one year,” opposition leader Martin Fayulu said on Friday, adding, “He will not try to stand for a new term.”

The unexpected deal between the opposing sides came after dozens of people were killed in anti-government protests this week. The United Nations (UN) said on Friday that some 40 people were killed. A government spokesman declined to comment on the specifics of the deal, which requires final approval by all the delegates at negotiations mediated by the country’s Catholic Church. Jean Marc Kabund, the secretary general of the DR Congo’s largest opposition party, the UDPS, warned that the deal was not yet closed. “Today is the last day (of talks),” he said, adding, “It’s make it or break it.”

President Kabila’s second term in office expired on Tuesday. According to the constitution, a new president must be elected now. However, Kabila has remained in office as a presidential election scheduled for last month was postponed because of what the government said were delays in registering voters.

This image, taken on December 20, 2016, shows a man screaming as people gather to protest in the neighborhood of Yolo in Kinshasa, the DR Congo. (By AFP)

His father, former president Laurent Kabila, was assassinated in 2001 in the country, which has never witnessed a peaceful transition of power.He took office just ten days after the assassination of his father.

The protests and killings this week have raised fears that the African state is headed toward more instability and a major conflict.

Presstv

25, December 2016

Search for French aid worker begins in Mali ⁰

French and Mali authorities have started search operations for a French aid worker abducted by militants in the West African country. France’s Foreign Ministry confirmed on Sunday that Sophie Petronin, a Frenchwoman who runs an organization for malnourished children in Mali, had been kidnapped in Mali’s restive north a day earlier, adding that a joint search operation had been launched to find the aid worker.

The ministry said that French and Malian authorities were working together “to find and free our compatriot as quickly as possible.” It added that the family of Petronin has been contacted by the ministry. Other sources said French military forces were also contributing to the search operation. “French soldiers of the Barkhane force (in Mali) are actively taking part in the search alongside the Malians,” a military source said in France without elaborating.

As the director of a non-governmental organization in the Malian city of Gao, Petronin has been helping children suffering from malnutrition in Mali for a long time. The women, who is believed to be in her sixties, has a specialty in nutrition and tropical diseases. Petronin had escaped a kidnapping by militants in Gao in 2012.

Reports from Mali on Saturday had suggested that a woman with dual French and Swiss nationality had been abducted Gao. The Swiss Foreign Ministry, however, later said that it found no evidence showing that Petronin had Swiss citizenship.

Violence erupted in Mali’s volatile north after groups linked to al-Qaeda seized areas in the territory beginning from March 2012. The government, groups backing it and ethnic Tuareg rebels managed to reach a peace pact last year following some lengthy negotiations but clashes continue unabated.

Presstv

25, December 2016

Fako Chiefs reject 5,000,000 FCFA offer to buy support for La Republique ²

Fako Chiefs have reportedly rejected the sum of five million francs (5000’000 frs) offered to each traditional ruler to denounce the struggle for freedom from Francophone slavery.

Cameroon Concord News was reliably informed that of the fifty four (54) members who were present in the town hall meeting, thirty four (34) of them walked out rejecting the offer while twenty signaled their intention to receive the money. The chiefs have declared their unflinching support for change and the new Anglophone nationalism.

Our informant is keeping a close watch over this issue and we will publish the names and full addresses of the chiefs who will eventually accept the payments.

By Rita Akana

25, December 2016

Christians have celebrated the birth anniversary of Jesus Christ ⁰

Christians around the world have celebrated the birth anniversary of Jesus Christ, with a solemn mood presiding over many ceremonies, as war, terror and discord continue to plague many nations across the globe. Thousands of pilgrims and tourists converged on the city of Bethlehemin the Israeli-occupied territory of the West Bank for the occasion.

Crowds of worshipers gathered in the Church of Nativity, the biblical birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem, where a midnight mass was led by the Latin Patriarch of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa. The ceremony was attended by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah as well as other dignitaries.

In his homily, Archbishop Pizzaballa expressed his sympathy for asylum seekers and pleaded for measures to stop the spiral of violence in the Middle East which has destroyed many countries across the region and taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians, especially children.

“Closed doors, defended borders before personal and political choices are a metaphor for the fear that inevitably breeds the violent dynamics of the present time,” he warned.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas congratulates Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa (R), the apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, during the Christmas Midnight Mass in Saint Catherine’s Church in Bethlehem December 25, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Meanwhile in Vatican City, head of the Roman Catholic Church Pope Francis marked the birth of Jesus Christ. During his address, he called on the world to open their eyes to the plight of those in need, including Middle Eastern refugees, especially those from Syria and Iraq who fled to Europe, as well as those who are in war-torn countries.

In his Christmas message delivered at Saint Peter’s Basilica, the pontiff urged all worshipers to ponder on the situation of children “hiding underground to escape bombardment.” In Europe, people are celebrating Christmas amid fears of the repeat of the terror attacks they have witnessed in recent months, especially the latest truck attack which took place in the German capital Berlin on Monday.

Security has been tight in various parts of Europe as the holiday season reaches its peak. In Germany, authorities have worked through the Christmas to ensure public safety especially in Berlin where Tunisian national and Daesh sympathizer, Anis Amri, killed 12 people after crashing a truck into a crowded Christmas market. Many locals have visited the market, lit candles and laid flowers for the victims.

Also in Italy, security remains tight. Milan’s Cathedral has been highly secured by Italian police with concrete barricades set around the historic Piazza del Duomo. Also, in the Vatican people were on high alert following the shooting dead of the man believed to be behind the Berlin market attack.

Not far from Italy, France has deployed around 100,000 police forces and soldiers to guard public spaces including churches and markets.

Police carry out searches on visitors as they access a security perimeter in front of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in central Paris, December 24, 2016, ahead of Christmas Eve Midnight Mass. (Photo by AFP)

Christmas has also been observed elsewhere in the world including in Muslim countries.

In Iran, Christians have gathered in churches to celebrate the occasion.

Iranian Christians sing during Christmas Eve Mass at the St Joseph Armenian Catholic Church in Tehran on December 24, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Also, Christians in Iraq held a Christmas Eve service in the town of Bartella, near Mosul for the first time since it was captured from Daesh terrorists in 2014. Iraqi forces were deployed there to provide maximum security.

Volunteers prepared the church for the service which had been destroyed and set ablaze by the terrorists. Meanwhile, in Syria’s northwestern city of Aleppo, Christian residents prepared for celebrations just days after the army liberated the city from the clutch of militants. The celebrations in Syria’s second largest city came amid army operations against the terrorists in the suburbs of Aleppo.

Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All East John X Yazigi leads prayers during Christmas Mass at the Elias Orthodox Church in Aleppo on December 24, 2016. (Photo By AFP)

Culled from Presstv

25, December 2016

As pressure mounts on Biya: Over two dozens of Anglophones arrested in Bamenda released ⁰

Over two dozens of youths arrested in Bamenda, North West region during two separate strike actions staged on November 21, 2016 and December 8 have gained freedom. A former detainee who wanted to be called only by his surname, Elvis reveals that over 25 of them incarcerated at the Bamenda Central prison were released on bail Friday December 23, 2016 .

He said they were presented before state council and that their case was defended by some lawyers and Human rights activists. According to information independently gathered those who are still in prison are unable to bail themselves or pay for charges levied against them. The 25 were among others arrested during the uprising in Bamenda when a strike action initiated by Common law Lawyers and Anglophone Teachers turned violent and the Bamenda population joined in to denounce among others poor road networks and limited water supply.

The youths also staged a strike action and prevented the CPDM party from holding a unity meeting on December 8, 2016 but they met with police brutality as live bullets, tear gas and water cannons were used on them. Over half a dozen died but government sources counted just two deaths. However the fate of other youths over 50 transported to Yaoundé on helicopter is still to be determined. Common Law Lawyers and Allophone Teachers have set their release as a pre condition for dialogue with the government, without which dialogue will end on deadlock.

What has left untold about the Bamenda twin strike action on November 21 and December 8 this year leaves much to be desired. Most of those arrested were never part of the strike; in fact they were just unfortunate passer bys. Elvis who was released Friday sells plantains in Bamenda. That fateful December 8, he was returning from his site of sale and was intercepted by police forces who asked to see his palms, immediately they saw that they were dirty, they arrested him with pretext that he too was involved in burning tires and throwing stones. Like Elvis, several other youths were randomly arrested and detained, some brutalized.

Some of the youths who died were taken to their early grave by stray bullets. At City Chemist roundabout a youth went to fetch water but died on the spot after a stray bullet got him. Another youth went outside their home to eat his Pawpaw but a bullet came from nowhere and struck her mouth denying him the Pawpaw and squeezing life out of him.

Contrary to a situational report from North West Governor Adolphe LELE L’Afrique to Communication Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary, which indicated that only two persons died, there have been more than six corpse removals from the Bamenda hospital mortuary, an indication that over half a dozen persons died. There are still some youths who were critically injured in hospitals as fear heightens they might give up the ghost.

Culled from Cameroun Info. Net

24, December 2016

Congo-Kinshasa: Opposition parties near deal on power transition ⁰

Political parties in the Democratic Republic of Congo have stopped negotiations before finalizing a power transition agreement, under which President Joseph Kabila will leave office next year. Participants in the negotiations said the talks between the opposition and the government in the DR Congo, which lasted for 12 hours, came to an end at about 5:30 a.m. local time (0430 GMT) on Saturday.

The negotiations were set to resume at 11 a.m. local time. “At that time … it will be possible to propose a final document that can be signed this afternoon,” opposition delegate Francois Mwamba said. Mwamba noted that the negotiating parties had failed to agree on some points of the deal, which was recently brokered by the country’s Catholic Church. The deal would allow President Joseph Kabila to remain in office for an additional year but the constitution could not be changed to let him run for a third term.

Under the agreement, presidential elections would also be held in 2017. The unexpected accord came after dozens of people were killed in anti-government protests this week. The United Nations put the death toll at some 40. Opposition leaders Martin Fayulu and Jose Endundo said a prime minister would be chosen from the main opposition bloc and veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi would supervise the implementation of the agreement.

Kabila has not immediately commented on the news. President Kabila’s second term in office expired on Tuesday. According to the constitution, a new president must be elected now. However, Kabila has remained in office as a presidential election scheduled for last month was postponed because of what the government said were delays in registering voters.

Kabila has been accused of trying to cling on to power. His supporters, however, say that he is committed to the constitution but stepping down from power would possibly spark a power struggle that could put his life in danger. His father, former president Laurent Kabila, was assassinated in 2001 in the country, which has never witnessed a peaceful transition of power. He took office just ten days after the assassination of his father.

Presstv