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15, August 2016

Sudan: Over a hundred killed by flash flooding ⁰

Flash flooding triggered by days of heavy torrential rainfall has claimed the lives of at least 100 people in Sudan over the past two weeks.

The Sudanese Red Crescent Society said on Sunday that at least 25 people died in the impoverished eastern state of Kassala, which borders Eritrea.

It confirmed that at least 100 people died nationwide and about 8,000 houses had been destroyed since heavy rains lashed several regions across the African country two weeks ago.

Presstv

15, August 2016

Obama issues major disaster declaration for the state of Louisiana ⁰

US President Barack Obama has issued a “major disaster” declaration for the state of Louisiana, where historic flooding has killed at least five people and stranded thousands more.

Obama called Governor John Bel Edwards to inform him of the decision, the White House said in a statement on Sunday night, two days after Edwards requested a state emergency as heavy rains soaked southeast Louisiana southern Mississippi.

The president told Edwards that the federal government will help Louisiana with its ongoing rescue and recovery missions.

“We are thankful for the federal government’s quick response to our request for an emergency declaration,” Edwards said in response.

The declaration makes federal funding available to those who were affected by the flood in at least four parishes of Tangipahoa, St. Helena, East Baton Rouge and Livingston that were hit the hardest.

Presstv

14, August 2016

Swiss police say no indication that attack on train carried out with terrorist motives ⁰

The Swiss police say there is no indication that an attack on a train east of Switzerland had been carried out with terrorist motives, as the attacker and a victim die of injuries. Police from Switzerland’s eastern Saint Gallen region said in a statement on Sunday that there was so far no indication that the knife attack near Salez station close to border with Liechtenstein and Austria was an act of terror.

“To date there is no indication this was a terrorist or politically motivated act,” said the statement, adding that the question of motive remains. Police spokesman Bruno Metzger said terrorism is not the main theory and that “other motives” were higher on the list for the security forces, but he would not elaborate. Police said the attacker, a 27-year-old Swiss national, died of the injuries he received during the attack. He reportedly used flammable liquid to start a fire on the train running between Buchs and Sennwald before starting to stab the passengers.

Six people aboard the train were critically injured, including a woman who was doused with flammable liquid. Police said the woman also succumbed to her injuries earlier on Sunday. She had been drenched with a large amount the flammable liquid, leading to speculations that the 34-year-old might have been the main target of the attack.

Metzger said the attacker was not of immigrant origin and had no criminal record. Local media said the man had a “typical Swiss name” and was on fire when he was apprehended. Five other people were injured in the attack, including one who had been on the platform and rushed in to pull out the attacker out of the train. Police said they were in relatively stable condition.

Switzerland has been immune to a spate of terror and hate attacks hitting Western European countries over the past months. The Takfiri group Daesh, which is based in Iraq and Syria, has carried out deadly assaults on civilians and security forces in France and Germany, two of Switzerland’s neighbors in west and north.

Presstv

14, August 2016

New Boko Haram video shows Chibok girls ⁰

The Takfiri Boko Haram militants have released a new video purportedly showing some of the girls who they kidnapped from the Nigerian town of Chibok in 2014.

In the footage released on Sunday, one of the militants claims that some of the girls are still alive, and the others were killed in airstrikes by the Nigerian air force on the Boko Haram compound.

“They should know that their children are still in our hands,” said a Boko Haram militant who appeared before rows of the schoolgirls in the 11-minute video, adding, “Some of them have died as a result of aerial bombardment.”

“There is a number of the girls, about 40 of them, that have been married,” the man said.

Presstv

13, August 2016

President Putin congratulates Fidel Castro on his 90th birthday ⁰

Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a message to the former Cuban president and revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro, congratulating him on his 90th birthday. “You enjoy deep respect in Russia as an outstanding statesman who devoted his entire life to serving the people of Cuba,” Putin wrote in a telegram message posted on the Kremlin’s website on Saturday.

Putin underlined Castro’s “personal contribution to the development of friendship and cooperation” between Russia and Cuba. The Russian leader wished Castro “good health, longevity, vitality and prosperity.” Castro served as the president of Cuba from 1976 to 2008 and as the first secretary of the central committee of the Communist party of the country from 1961 to 2011.

The revolutionary leader is one of the giant figures of modern history who defied the United States to turn his island nation into a firm ally of the Soviet Union. Cuba and Russia have maintained diplomatic relations since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Moscow-Havana ties increased after Putin came into power in 2000. In December 2000, Putin visited Cuba, where he along with Castro called for the lifting of US sanctions against Cuba. Russia is still Cuba’s leading creditor and the two countries maintain close economic ties.

Presstv

13, August 2016

Prime Minister Philemon Yang holds ceremony to honour the mayor of Lagdo and 10 others freed in CAR ⁰

Prime Minister Philemon Yang has met with the Lagdo hostages recently freed from captivity in the Central African Republic. During the brief ceremony, the head of government saluted the courage and shared in the pains suffered by the mayor of Lagdo, Abakaï Mama and 10 others who spent 15 months in the hands of rebel groups operating in the Central African Republic.

Philemon Yang also conveyed the encouragement of President Paul Biya to the hostages and their families during the Friday meeting. The former hostages will now leave Yaounde for Ladgo in the coming days. Released on the night of 8 to 9 July 2016, only 11 out of the 14 survived following the brutal murder of three members of the group.

By Sama Ernest

13, August 2016

UN authorizes the deployment of a 4,000-strong protection force in South Sudan ⁰

The United Nations Security Council has authorized the deployment of a 4,000-strong protection force to the conflict-hit South Sudan despite Juba’s strong opposition to the move. On Friday, the Security Council approved the US-drafted resolution with 11 votes in favor, while Russia, China, Egypt and Venezuela abstained, granting extended powers to the peacekeepers present in the African country and authorizing them to exert “all necessary means” to protect UN personnel and installations there.

There will be a total of 17,500 soldiers in South Sudan after the new deployment from a number of African nations. The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has been under fire during the past few weeks both for its inability to fully protect civilians when UN sites came under attack in the capital Juba last month, and for allegedly failing to intervene in cases that government forces reportedly committed sexual assaults outside UN camps in the city.

South Sudan has witnessed a new wave of conflict since early July, when gunfire erupted near the state house in Juba, where President Salva Kiir and then Vice President Riek Machar were meeting. The gunfire turned into a much heavier fighting, which involved tanks and helicopters, between the two sides during the next several days. More than 300 people were killed in the clashes. The UN resolution also calls for an arms embargo on South Sudan if the government blocks the regional force.

Presstv

12, August 2016

Russia deploys advanced S-400 air defense missile system to Crimea ⁰

Russia has deployed a regiment of its advanced S-400 air defense missile system to Crimea as a dispute deepens between Moscow and Kiev over the security situation in the Black Sea peninsula. Russian news agencies made the announcement on Friday, citing a statement from Russia’s Defense Ministry.

The ministry had earlier in the day announced that its navy would start to hold three-day military exercises in the Black Sea to practice repelling underwater attacks by saboteurs. Russia’s Black Sea Fleet based in Crimea is taking part in the military exercises. More than 10 warships, MI-8 and Ka-27PS helicopters are participating in the training.

“During the drill we are going to practice the issues of both operational and technical support. These include operations to counter underwater sabotage, navigational and hydrographic exercise, search and rescue missions,” said Russian Navy Commander Admiral Viktor Chirkov. Meanwhile, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday that Moscow could break diplomatic relations with Kiev over the security incidents in Crimea.

Presstv

12, August 2016

Cameroon: US military experts share border patrol skills with the National Gendarmerie ⁰

Military experts from the United States of America have shared rural border patrol skills with twenty three elements from the National Gendarmerie’s elite Multipurpose Intervention Group (GPIGN) and the National Police Force. The trainees received their end-of-course certificates on August 11, 2016 at GPIGN’s shooting range in the Mbankomo locality, near Yaounde in the presence of the Director of Central Coordination of the National Gendarmerie, Brigadier General Elokobi Daniel Ndjock who represented the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Defence in charge of the National Gendarmerie.

The major highlight of the event was the “dynamic” demonstration exercise by the trainees who simulated a foiled planned terrorist attack on four strategic places in Yaounde from a Boko Haram base in the Mbankomo neighbourhood. In effect, a counter-operation enabled an arms supplier and three accomplices from the armed group to be followed, intercepted, neutralised and their arms cache raided thanks to the efficiency of raid, reconnaissance and interception units backed by a central crisis command unit.

Amazed at the effectiveness of the exercise like other senior Gendarmerie and Police officers present, General Elokobi instructed the trainees to daily use the skills acquired to be really operational in border areas. He also hailed the US for the continuing multifarious technical military assistance to boost the capacity of Cameroon’s defence and security forces in the fight against Boko Haram. On his part, the Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy in Yaounde, Stewart Wilson used the opportunity to reaffirm his country’s commitment to continue assisting the National Gendarmerie and the National Police Force to perform their role in fighting terrorism in Cameroon.

Cameroon Tribune

12, August 2016

New Boko Haram leader appointed by Takfiri Daesh ⁰

The Takfiri Daesh terrorist group has purportedly appointed a new leader for its Nigeria-based affiliate, Boko Haram. According to Daesh-linked media, Abu Musab al-Barnawi, a former spokesman for Boko Haram, has replaced Abubakar Shekau, who had been in charge since 2009.

It was not clear why the change has taken place. Later on Thursday, Shekau released an audio message saying, “People should know we are still around,” apparently defying Daesh and the decision to oust him.

Barnawi claimed his group remains “a force to be reckoned with,” adding that the fight would go on against West African countries. “They strongly seek to Christianize the society… They exploit the condition of those who are displaced under the raging war, providing them with food and shelter and then Christianizing their children,” he said, referring to the West African states.

Al-Barnawi said the Takfiri militant group will respond to that threat by “booby-trapping and blowing up every church that we are able to reach, and killing all of those (Christians) who we find from the citizens of the cross.”

Presstv