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27, December 2016

Uganda: Overloaded boat capsized killing 30 members and fans of a local football team ⁰

At least 30 members and fans of a local soccer team have lost their lives when their overloaded boat capsized in Lake Albert, police say. “There was a party on the boat, the passengers were dancing and others were drunk. The boat was overloaded with 45 people, all members of the football team and local fans,” said police commander John Rutagira on Monday.

The victims were all from the village of Kawaibenda in the Buliisa district in western Uganda, near the border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and their doomed voyage to Runga Landing site in Hoima District was meant to be a fun boat ride ahead of a highly anticipated local match to be held as part of the Christmas Day festivities.

Rutagira, citing eyewitnesses, added that the lake was calm in the searing temperatures of the day; however, the tragedy struck them just about 100 meters from the shoreline “when the merrymaking team and fans tilted on one side of the boat… It capsized killing about 30 people.”

He went on to say that by Monday morning rescue workers and locals had managed to retrieve nine bodies, reporting 21 others as missing, presumably dead by the time. Fifteen passengers of the ill-fated boat, however survived, either by swimming to safety of the shores or being rescued by local fishermen and police.

Godfrey Opira, the Buliisa District chairperson of soccer referees, who witnessed the accident, confirmed that none of the frenzied merrymakers on-board the boat had worn life jackets. The Sunday accident followed a similar accident on Lake Victoria on Friday which killed 20 people. Fatal accidents are quite common on Ugandan waters. Back in November, a further 10 people lost their lives in Lake Albert, the seventh largest lake in Africa.

Presstv

27, December 2016

Ntumfor Barrister Halle Nico snubs Yang Philemon’s ad hoc Committee ⁰

The Peace Crusader who doubles as president of the general assembly of the Cameroon Bar Association has announced that he will not participate in the committee created to examine and propose solutions to the grievances of Southern Cameroons lawyers.

Barrister Halle Nico is reportedly surprised that the presidents of the Fako and Meme Lawyers Association who championed the strike action are not on the Committee thereby giving the impression that it is a North West and not an Anglophone problem.

The legal luminary is also requesting that the seat of the Committee should be Buea or Bamenda and not Yaoundé. The senior Barrister has also questioned why the Chairperson of the Committee is a francophone who cannot articulate the common law.

Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle observed that he has already informed the Prime Minister about his decision not to sit on the Committee which is supposed to meet in Yaoundé today December the 27^th 2016.

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)

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.

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.