News

Italy: Death toll from powerful earthquake reached 247

25, August 2016

Italy: Death toll from powerful earthquake reached 247 0

The death toll from a powerful earthquake that devastated parts of central Italy has reached 247 as rescue and search operations are underway to find possible survivors. On Thursday, Italy’s civil protection agency said a tally by local officials showed that 190 people were killed Rieti Province and 57 in the province of Ascoli Piceno.

According to local media, Italian emergency crews are vigorously searching search through the debris of collapsed houses in the affected areas to find more than 100 people missing a day after the quake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale flattened scores of towns and villages in the central parts.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said many people were still trapped under the rubble, and vowed that “no family, no city, no hamlet will be left behind.” Officials in Italy’s civil protection agency also said there have been more than 300 aftershocks following the tremor, which was also felt in Rome, adding that searching for survivors is the top priority. The 2,000-population town of Amatrice, one of the areas hardest hit by the Wednesday quake, is now in ruins with only a few buildings left standing.

 

Presstv

US has urged its citizens to leave Gaza

24, August 2016

US has urged its citizens to leave Gaza 0

The United States has urged its citizens staying in Gaza to leave the coastal enclave “as soon as possible” over the Israeli bombardments of the area.

The warning came after the Israeli military Sunday pounded targets in the Gaza Strip and injured four, including two in the town of Beit Hanun.

The State Department warned Tuesday against “all travel” to the Gaza Strip and “urges those present to depart as soon as possible when border crossings are open.”

“The security environment within Gaza and on its borders is dangerous and volatile,” the department added. It also said that Americans have been killed or wounded in the Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 2015. However, it added that “there is no indication that US citizens were specifically targeted based on nationality.”

 

Presstv

Cameroon lawyers have denounced a hundred sentences of capital punishment in the Far North region

23, August 2016

Cameroon lawyers have denounced a hundred sentences of capital punishment in the Far North region 0

Legal practitioners in Cameroon have denounced the mistreatment of people sentenced in connection with the fight against terrorism. Cameroon Concord News has gathered that between July 2015 and July 2016, the courts in the Far North Region of Cameroon have delivered over a hundred sentences of capital punishment.

Barrister Mohamad Al Amine, lawyer of the Cameroon Bar, practicing in the city of Maroua who confirmed the information also revealed that these death sentences all involved suspected Boko Haram militants. Lawyer Mohamad Al Amine who is one of only seven lawyers in the region ravaged by rampant attacks orchestrated by the Nigerian Islamic sect Boko Haram deplored the conditions under which those convicted, including “more innocent” are judged.

A journalist reporting for Cameroon Intelligence Report recently opined that the defense of all terrorism related cases have been left to CPDM appointed lawyers for a fee of 5,000 CFA francs per accused. Cameroon-info.net noted in a story on the Boko Haram trials that most of the lawyers appointed by the state counsel cannot even gain access to case files let alone to visit their clients. The prisoners have no contact with their families, lawyers and doctors.

Cameroon government spokesman and minister of communication, Issa Tchiroma has failed to provide a detailed report on the goings-on in the Far North region. We now can reveal that our forces of law and order backed by the CPDM regime are only interested in applying the so-called new terrorism law voted by the national assembly. Calls by members of the Cameroon Bar Association for more humanity in the treatment of those sentenced to death are being ignored by the Biya Francophone Beti-Ewondo regime.

The testimony about the poor treatment of those on the death row in the Far North Region was made public during the launching of activities by the Network of Cameroonian Lawyers against the death penalty in Cameroon (RACOPEM) that took place in Limbe . Members of the body have adopted a firm stand to abolish the death penalty. For them, this type of condemnation not only violates the constitution and international treaties signed by the government but is also not effective in deterring criminals. Barrister Eta Besong Junior, former president of the Cameroon Bar has called on his colleagues to fight this battle with courage and abnegation.

By Rita Akana with files from Cameroon-info.net

Demands for new national identity card on the rise in Yaounde

23, August 2016

Demands for new national identity card on the rise in Yaounde 0

300 demands for the new national identity cards are recorded daily at the Yaounde 10th District Public Security Station; one of the four pilot identification posts set up in the capital city to issue national identity cards under the new identification system set up by the service provider, GEMALTO.

At 10.00 am yesterday, August 22, 2016, crowds of citizens requesting new national identity cards could be seen lined up in the courtyard of the 10th District Public Security Station in the Bastos neighbourhood. Guided each day by officers and men of the station as from 4:00 am, those seeking the national identity card for the first time or after the loss of the former, go through stages that involve writing their names on lists as they come, submitting their documents in the secretariat and proceeding to the identification posts where two computers integrated with cameras, electronic fingerprints and signature pads as well scanner-printers record details before a receipt is delivered. Notices outlining requirements and costs are pasted on walls to guide users.

“It takes just 10 minutes when the Internet connection is at its best. Out of 300 demands recorded daily, we issue at least 60 receipts,” stated the Head of the Police Station, Senior Superintendent of Police Ze née Fouda Isabelle. Despite the huge number of requests, she said operations were going on normally since the day after the August 9 2016 launch of the new system. Besides the cost per card that stands at FCFA 2,800, instead of FCFA 5,000 under the old system, users say the procedure is shorter and police officers more welcoming. “I am very satisfied,” Bogni Brondon Richard, a high school leaver from the West Region told Cameroon Tribune after receiving his receipt for his first ever identity card.

“We no longer do fingerprints with ink but use electronic machines instead. This new system will limit fraud,” said Fridoline Elomo Mvogo, a Yaounde resident who received a receipt for a new identity card after she lost the first. According to Senior Superintendent Ze Isabelle, challenges recorded so far include users’ ignorance of requirements and influence-peddling by some personalities for their acquaintances or “protégés” to be given preferential treatment.

 

Cameroon Tribune

Nigeria: 30 gunboats, patrol vessel commissioned by the Navy

23, August 2016

Nigeria: 30 gunboats, patrol vessel commissioned by the Navy 0

The Nigerian Navy has commissioned 30 locally made and nine Sri Lankan gunboats into service, and unveiled an indigenous 38 metre long patrol vessel. The vessels were commissioned in Lagos on 17 August in a ceremony attended by Ministry of Defence Permanent Secretary Danjuma Sheni and Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ete-Ibas, amongst others. The 30 gunboats, which are 8.2 metres long, were built by the Epenal Boat Yard in Port Harcourt. Officials said they would be used to patrol the Niger Delta. The vessels displayed last Wednesday appear to be armed with ST Kinetics 40AGL automatic grenade launchers.

Sheni said another 20 of the locally built gunboats would be delivered to the Nigerian Navy.  Ete-Ibas was reported by local media as saying that said the Epenal-built boats were an improvement on 30 others unveiled in Port Harcourt in February and featured modifications that improved sea-keeping, amongst others. He said the vessels contribute to Nigeria’s national security and prosperity and come at half the cost of acquiring vessels from overseas, something that is important as “mounting operational challenges in the face of [the] progressively dwindling economy necessitated the navy to explore more cost saving options through local construction of these patrol boats.”

Nine of the boats were earlier acquired second hand from Sri Lanka for $4.2 million. They were handed over on 6 May in a ceremony in Sri Lanka. According to the Sri Lankan Navy, six Arrow class boats and three Wave Rider class boats were handed over in what the Navy said was its first international defence sale. The 14.5 metre long and 3.5 metre wide inshore patrol craft are powered by two 350 HP engines. They are equipped with a radar system, GPS and electronic compass. The contract included training for Nigerian personnel in Sri Lanka.

In addition to the smaller gunboats, the Nigerian Navy will receive a locally built patrol boat, which was apparently also commissioned last week. NNS Karaduwa is the second Seaward Defence Boat to be built in Nigeria and is 38.9 metres long. In June 2012 the Nigerian Navy commissioned the NNS Andoni, Nigeria’s first locally built warship, into service, and laid the keel for the second Seaward Defence Boat. The 33 metre NNS Andoni had its keel laid at the Naval Dockyard in December 2007, with full construction beginning in January the following year.

Also seen at the Nigerian Naval Dockyard last week was the Ekpe-class patrol boat NNS Damisa and two of the three Combattante IIIB vessels, which were having work carried out at the dry dock. Several other vessels were also seen in Channels Television footage at the yard, including a Yola-class patrol boat.

Senate Committee Chairman on the Navy, Isa Aman-Isa, was reported by Nigeria’s National Daily Newspaper as saying “our plan is to increase the [naval] platforms with the hope that the force would get more from the loan from China-African relations of about $60 billion. In the 2017 budget, we have started making adequate provision for the navy to get more funding. By next year, the issue of Niger Delta Avengers would be a thing of the past.”

Last week the Nigerian government contracted Almarine, a division of John Holt Plc, to manufacture naval vessels, reports This Day. The company said it would manufacture gunboats, as well as ambulance boats, patrol boats and transport boats that may be needed by the Nigerian Navy.

 

Defenceweb

Nigeria: Boko Haram down but far from over

22, August 2016

Nigeria: Boko Haram down but far from over 0

The Takfiri Boko Haram terrorist group has invaded a village in Nigeria, killing at least ten people and abducting 13 others before burning down the entire village. The terrorists riding on motorcycles opened fire on residents in Kubrrivu village near the northeast town of Chibok at dawn on Saturday, locals said on Sunday.

Residents said the militants attacked the village as residents slept, adding they burnt down the whole village after looting food supplies and livestock and taking away women and children. A community elder said seven women, five boys and a girl were abducted by the violent group which has pledged allegiance to Daesh terrorists in the Middle East.

The terrorist group first raided the village in 2014, during which the villagers were forced to flee. The residents returned and reconstructed their homes one year later after Nigerian troops retook swathes of territory from the terrorists. Boko Haram has been active in Nigeria since 2002, but its attacks had not been significant until 2010, when the gunmen managed to free 700 inmates from a prison in Bauchi and raid a mosque in Maiduguri.

This file photo taken on March 25, 2016 shows Nigerian soldiers in Damboa, Borno State northeast Nigeria. ©AFP

Boko Haram in Nigeria: A timeline of events

  • September 2010: In a prison break in Bauchi, militants free 700 inmates.
  • May-December 2011: The group intensifies terror attacks by raiding government officials, police officers, students and religious leaders.
  • January, 20, 2012: Terrorists carry out a series of coordinated attacks in Nigeria’s largest city of Kano, killing almost 200 people
  • April 2012: They attack a church in in Kaduna, killing at least 38 people.
  • June 2012: Militants attack three churches in Kaduna, killing at least 19 people.
  •  August 2012: Gunmen raid a church in Kogi State, killing 19 people.
  • December, 2012: More than 40 people are killed in separate attacks in the country.
  • April 2013: Boko Haram insurgency kills more than 200 people in the city of Baga in the northeastern state of Borno.
  • May 2013: At least 200 heavily armed militants raid the northeastern town of Bama, killing dozens of people and freeing 100 militants from a prison. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan declares a state of emergency in the northeast.
  • May 2013: Nigeria announces a military offensive in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe against the terrorists.
  • June 2013: In a series of attacks, Boko Harm raids several churches in different states and kills more than 50 people.
  • September 17, 2013: Gunmen kill 143 people by dressing in military uniforms and staging a fake checkpoint near Benisheik in Borno.
  • November 13, 2013: The US State Department announces Boko Haram as a terrorist organization.
  • January 2014: Gunmen kill at least 45 people in a raid on a market in Kawuri in Borno.
  • April 14, 2014: Militants abduct more than 250 teenage girls from a boarding school in Chibok. Some of the girls, however, manage to escape.
  • May 13, 2014: Terrorists raid three villages in Borno. Villagers fight and kill more than 200 militants.
  • May 20, 2014: Twin bomb blasts kill 118 people at a market in the city of Jos.
  • May 21, 2014: The US declares that it has sent 80 troops to Chad to help search for the kidnapped schoolgirls.
  • May 2014: The United Nations Security Council imposes sanctions against Boko Haram.
  • June 3,4, 2014: Boko Haram militants kill hundreds of people in Borno. Some sources put the death toll at 500.
  • June 2014: Militants hold a village in Borno hostage for four days. They kidnap over 60 women and children and kill 30 men.
  • October 16, 2014: The Nigerian government says it has reached a ceasefire agreement with Boko Haram under which the militants pledged to release schoolgirls.
  • November 1, 2014: In a video, Boko Haram’s leader denies the government’s claim of a ceasefire.
  • March 7, 2015:  Boko Haram pledges allegiance to the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.
  • April 2015: Mass graves of at least 400 men and women are found in northeastern Nigeria.
  • April 28-30, 2015: Nigerian forces destroy Boko Haram camps and rescue some 450 women and girls in an operation in Sambisa Forest.
  • July 1, 2015: Gunmen storm three villages in Borno, killing at least 145 people.
  • September 3, 2015: At least 30 people are killed and 145 wounded after Boko Haram attacks a crowded market in Kerawa, Cameroon and a hospital near a Cameroonian military camp.
  • February 2016: Mlitants raid two villages in northeast Nigeria, killing at least 30 people. In another attack, two female bombers kill 58 people at a Nigerian refugee camp for villagers fleeing the insurgency.
  • April 14, 2016: Boko Haram releases a video purportedly showing the girls abducted from Chibok in 2014.
This image taken from a video released on August 14, 2016 shows a Boko Haram militant standing in front of teenage girls kidnapped from Chibok in April 2014. ©AFP

In the April footage, one of the militants claimed that some of the girls were still alive and the others had been killed in airstrikes by the Nigerian air force. He said a number of the girls, “about 40 of them”, had also been married to the militants.

Last year, Amnesty International said at least 2,000 women and girls had been kidnapped by Boko Haram in Nigeria since the beginning of 2014, and many of them forced into sexual slavery or combat.

Presstv

Nigeria: Niger Delta Avengers announces ceasefire, says it supports holding talks with Abuja

21, August 2016

Nigeria: Niger Delta Avengers announces ceasefire, says it supports holding talks with Abuja 0

The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), known for its attacks on Nigeria’s oil installations, has announced a ceasefire, saying it will support the notion of holding talks with the government in Abuja. The group said in a message on its website late Saturday that it would support efforts to negotiate with “the federal government of Nigeria, representatives from the home countries of all multinational oil corporations and neutral international mediators.” It said NDA would “observe a cessation of hostilities” and will honor its pledge “unless the ruling political APC (All Progressives Congress party) continues … to arrest, intimidate, invade and harass innocent citizens and invade especially Ijaw communities.”

The Ijaw ethnic people are the dominant militant group in the southern Niger Delta region. They have vowed to resume fighting if the current window for talks expires and the government fails to address their demands. “We promise to fight more for the Niger Delta, if this opportunity fails,” the NDA said in its message. Attacks on Nigeria’s oil pipeline and facilities have left a devastating impact on the African country’s economy. Reports say Abuja has lost a third of its oil income as a result of the militancy affecting its oil facilities.

The government blamed two such attacks on Friday on the DNA while a second group, identifying itself as the Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate (NDGJM), carried out another attack on the state-owned pipeline on the same day. The DNA has yet to comment on reports that it has been holding talks with government representatives in Abuja over the past weeks. The group has also refused to publicly support efforts by community figures from the Niger Delta region to resolve the conflict.

 

Presstv

Breaking: Horror in Mora as Boko Haram strikes again

21, August 2016

Breaking: Horror in Mora as Boko Haram strikes again 0

Boko Haram militants have struck Cameroon again. The suicide attack took place today Sunday, August 21, 2016, in the town of Mora, capital of Mayo-Sava Division, located just over 80 km from Maroua, the chief city in the Far North region.

Our chief correspondent in the Far North say at least 5 people including the bomber have been pronounced dead. We also gathered that 25 people have life threatening injuries from the blast and a dozen more were seriously affected.

The death toll is expected to rise in the coming hours as first aid did not arrive on time. The kamikaze attack took place not far from the entrance of the main market of the city, where traders had gathered to buy cargoes of onions. The suicide bomber detonated his device near a group of traders.

The attack comes at a time when the Cameroon army recently announced the weakening of Boko Haram, which has pledged allegiance to the organization of the Islamic state and is now called Islamic state in Africa.

By Soter Agbaw-Ebai with files from Sama Ernest

Former US navy officer who published book on the killing of Osama Bin Laden forced to give up all profits

21, August 2016

Former US navy officer who published book on the killing of Osama Bin Laden forced to give up all profits 1

A former Navy Seal who penned a bestselling book about his role in the killing of Osama Bin Laden has to pay $7m to the US government. Matt Bissonette violated a non-disclosure agreement by failing to get clearance from the Pentagon for his book No Day Easy, which was published in 2012. Mr Bissonette has now agreed to give up all profits and royalties as well as any film rights or speaking fees.

The government has agreed to dismiss other liability claims as part of the agreement, in which he has to pay the equivalent of £5m. Bin Laden – the leader of terror group al-Qaeda – was killed in a raid on his compound in Pakistan in 2011 and buried at sea.

The school wine built: Boozing Brits help children in Argentina through Fairtrade range Navy Seals traditionally abide by a code of silence and do not speak publicly about their actions. Mr Bissonette accepted he had failed to enter his book for review by the Pentagon at a district court in the state of Virginia.

In a statement, he apologised and said he had been acting on the incorrect advice of his lawyer. “It was a serious error that I urge others not to repeat,” he said. “Although I never intended to endanger my former colleagues, I now recognise that failing to seek pre-publication review could place them and their families at greater risk, for which I especially apologise.” The Mirror

636072810732526175-AFP-513514179

Cameroon holds send-off ceremony for troops assigned to the Central African Republic

20, August 2016

Cameroon holds send-off ceremony for troops assigned to the Central African Republic 0

The national flag was handed over to the deputy commander of the troops projected on a peacekeeping mission to the Central African Republic. The Cameroonian contingent is part of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission to the Central African Republic, MINUSCA.

The ceremony at the Military Headquarters was the first of its kind for Cameroonian soldiers going on an international assignment. The Minister Delegate at the Presidency, Joseph Beti Assomo said the tradition has been instituted by the Commander in Chief of the Defence Forces; a farewell and a welcome ceremony will, henceforth, be organised for soldiers before departure and upon return from international missions.

Joseph Beti Assomo indicated that the innovation was among other measures taken by the Head of State to render the soldiers more efficient and effective in preserving and promoting Cameroon’s diplomacy of peace. Prior to the send-off ceremony, the soldiers of the peacekeeping force and gendarmes of the Formed Police Units took part in pre-deployment refresher courses in Douala and Yaoundé on the notion of peacekeeping. They also signed individual contracts and their mission bonuses had an increment of two hundred thousand CFA Francs per month per person.

The Minister insisted on the respect of military discipline within the ranks expressing outrage at the strike action staged by some previous MINUSCA contingent. He added that their mission should reflect Cameroon’s foreign policy of peace and her efforts to provide sustainable peace and security in neighboring Central African Republic.  In a bid to reinforce discipline, a senior officer in charge of discipline will be deployed and the military security unit will be beefed up, security and health units will also be reinforced.

The soldiers are expected to remain professional and respect UN procedures in the execution of their mission in the Central African Republic during their one year stay in the CAR. A military parade with stamina, courage and enthusiasm reminiscent of Cameroon’s military prowess marked the end of the first part of the ceremony. The soldiers and their close relatives later wined and dined with the Minister Delegate at the presidency in charge of Defence before their take off.

 

CRTV

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