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11, September 2016

The Hajj: Pilgrims celebrate Day of Arafat ⁰

About 1.5 million Muslims from across the world have started to observe the Day of Arafat, an occasion for repentance and supplication considered as the pinnacle of the annual Hajj pilgrimage. On Sunday, the worshipers began day-long prayers and recitals of the holy book of Qur’an on a rocky hill known as Mount Arafat, east of the Saudi city of Mecca, where Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) gave his last Hajj sermon.

The Day of Arafat falls on Dhu al-Hijjah 9, the final month in the Islamic calendar. It comes one day before Eid al-Adha (the Feast of Sacrifice). After preliminary rituals this week at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the pilgrims moved eastwards on Saturday to Mina neighborhood and then several kilometers further to Mount Arafat. The worshipers are following in the footsteps of Prophet Muhammad, who performed the same rituals about 1,400 years ago. Muslim pilgrims mark the Day of Arafat on Mount Arafat, east of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, September 11, 2016.

For the first time in more than three decades, Saudi Arabia’s radical Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Sheikh will not be delivering this year’s Hajj sermon. He preaches Wahhabism, a radical “ideology” that inspires Takfiri terrorists across the world.

Iranians are not attending the Hajj pilgrimage this year because of the failure of Saudi authorities to ensure the pilgrims’ safety following last year’s human crush during the rituals in Mina. The tragic incident took place when two large masses of pilgrims converged at a crossroads during the symbolic ceremony of the stoning of Satan in Jamarat in September 2015.

Saudi Arabia claims that nearly 770 people were killed in the incident; however, Iran, which had the greatest number of deaths among foreign nationals, has put the death toll at about 4,700. The Hajj is one of the five pillars of the holy faith of Islam that every able-bodied and financially able Muslim is obliged to undertake during their lifetime.

Presstv

10, September 2016

UN mission has evacuated some 300 supporters of South Sudan’s opposition leader Riek Machar ⁰

The United Nations has announced that its peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has evacuated nearly 300 supporters of South Sudan’s opposition leader Riek Machar, many of them wounded or malnourished.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric stated on Friday that the armed militants and civilians crossed into DR Congo from South Sudan with Machar, who was evacuated from Garamba National Park with his wife, son and 10 aides on August 17, AFP reported.

According to Dujarric, the UN mission evacuated some 300 of Machar’s followers from Garamba Park in northeast Congo near the border with South Sudan between August 24 and September 5 on humanitarian grounds since many of them were either injured, acutely malnourished or in life-threatening conditions.

South Sudanese Rebel Leader Riek Machar (AFP photo)

He further added that the UN peacekeepers, known as MONUSCO, handed 117 individuals including Machar, his spouse and son to Congolese authorities. The UN spokesman then noted that as of Thursday there were an additional 183 individuals in two MONUSCO-run facilities, where they are getting medical treatment or recovering while Congolese and South Sudanese work on a longer-term solution to the persisting conflict.

Dujarric also stated the UN is making efforts to promote a solution between authorities in both African nations and “regional actors” regarding the presence of South Sudanese opposition fighters in Congo. South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011, but it was soon hit by a major civil war that began in December 2013 when government forces loyal to President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, battled rebels led by Machar, his former deputy who is a Nuer.

At least 50,000 people have been killed in the fighting and over two million people have been displaced. Even after a peace deal reached in August 2015 established a unity government, it has been violated regularly by continued fighting.

South Sudan civil war: A timeline of events

December 2013: Fighting erupts after Kiir accuses Machar of plotting to overthrow him.

January 2014: A ceasefire is signed between the government and the opposition.

August 2014: The first round of talks begins in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, as fighting continues in violation of the peace deal.

February 2015: The government calls off general elections due in a few months because of the ongoing conflict.

August 2015: The president signs an internationally-mediated peace deal under which, Machar would return as vice-president.

April 2016: Machar returns to Juba and is sworn in as first vice-president in a new unity government.

July 2016: Kiir sacks Machar after a new wave of fighting erupts. Machar leaves Juba with his troops, saying he would return only if an international peacekeeping force guarantees his safety.

August 2016: The opposition figure flees the country.

Presstv

8, September 2016

Cameroon: National Communication Council to organize first media excellence award ⁰

The National Communication Council NCC will this year organize the very first edition of the Media Excellence of Responsible Journalism Awards dubbed excell’ com. In preparation towards the forth coming event, a press briefing was organized today 8th September 2016 in Yaounde under the Chairmanship of NCC’s President Peter Essoka.

During the close to an hour meeting, Mr. Peter Essoka, noted that instead of always meeting to deliberate on the number of media organs and reporters who deserve sanctions for either not respecting professional deontology or operating illegally, it was better to initiate such a healthy competition which is out to help media men and women excel in the profession.

The criterion for selection has been scheduled in the days ahead. The competition which has been slated for 16th to 17th December 2016 in Yaounde will be marked by an exhibition, a sports walk, and an official evening ceremony during which winners will be awarded with distinct prizes. Journalists and media houses eligible for the award are those in the Print Media, Radio, Television and online journalism.

CRTV

8, September 2016

Kenya: Plane crash has left Polish national dead, five others injured ⁰

A plane crash has left one Polish national dead and five others injured in Kenya’s Rift Valley. A light aircraft belonging to Sanctuary Farm in the town of Naivasha was flying on a tour over Lake Naivasha when it crashed and burst into flames near the airstrip shortly after takeoff on Thursday, area police chief Titus Munyoki said.

The dead person was a Polish woman. The other occupants were the Kenyan pilot and four British passengers. The injured were rushed to Naivasha District Hospital. The police official said it was not clear what had caused the plane crash.

Presstv

8, September 2016

Egyptian President el-Sisi named five former army generals as provincial governors ⁰

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has named five former army generals as new provincial governors as part of appointments that increase the influence of military and security figures on crucial bodies. The five new provincial governors were sworn in during a ceremony at the presidential compound on Wednesday. Atef Abdel-Hamid, a former army officer and the minister of transportation in the 2011 Essam Sharaf government, was named as the new governor of the most populated and capital province of Cairo. The position had been vacant for six months.

Amr Abdel-Moneim, a former military official and the current secretary-general of the Egyptian cabinet, was appointed as the new governor of the northern province of Qalyubia. Alexandria’s new governor is former police general Reda Farahat. Former police general Essam el-Din el-Bedawai was appointed as the governor of Minya Province in the Upper Egypt region, while Air Force Major General Ahmed Mohamed Hamed was named governor of Suez.

University professor Gamal Sami was appointed the governor of Fayoum Province, located about 100 kilometers (62 miles) southwest of Cairo. Sisi also named retired 64-year-old army general Mohamed Ali el-Sheikh as the new minister of supply. His nomination had been approved by the parliament on Tuesday.

Sheikh succeeds Khaled Hanafi, who had to step down last month amid corruption allegations and implication in a scandal related to fraudulent wheat subsidy payments. Egyptian provincial governors normally have held senior roles in homeland security and the military before their appointment. With the recent appointments, only eight of the country’s 27 provincial governors now have civilian backgrounds.

The Egyptian government has been engaged in a crackdown on the opposition since democratically-elected President Mohamed Morsi was ousted in July 2013 in a military coup led by Sisi who was then the head of the armed forces. Sisi has been accused of leading the suppression in which hundreds of Morsi supporters have been killed in clashes with security forces. Rights groups say the army’s crackdown has led to the deaths of over 1,400 people and the arrest of 22,000 others, including some 200 people who have been sentenced to death in mass trials.

Presstv

8, September 2016

Libreville: Gabon’s new strong woman takes command ⁰

Denise Mekamne has replaced Seraphin Moundounga at the Ministry of Justice. The information was made public on Wednesday night on the airwaves of the national television by Prime Minister Daniel Ona Ondo.

In all President Ali Bongo made just three ministerial changes in the government. Former Justice Minister Seraphin Moundounga was a close ally to the former President of the National Assembly and it is rumoured that they could create a political party.

Désiré Guedon, Minister in charge of Town Planning and Housing replaced Alexis Boutamba Mbina.

By Chi Prudence Asong

8, September 2016

Revealed: 5000 members of the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group living in Europe ⁰

An estimated 5,000 members of the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group are currently living in the countries of the European Union. The revelation was made at a conference called the European Security Policy in the Belgian capital, Brussels, on Wednesday, where it was also revealed that the vast majority of the Takfiri terrorists living in the EU are themselves European citizens. Experts at the conference discussed the EU’s failed security police, saying the terrorists, who are scattered all across the 28-member bloc, have ambitions to carry out more deadly attacks on European soil.

The conference criticized the lack of a coordinated approach to tackling terrorism and poor levels of intelligence sharing among EU countries. “These threats, in Europe at least, stem from dysfunctional and difficult domestic politics, more than they stem from external sources,” said Jeremy Shapiro (pictured below), the research director of the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Stressing the need for securing the borders of EU countries, former EU Commissioner Michel Barnier said at the conference that the refugee crisis faced by Europe could potentially be exploited by the terrorists who might enter the bloc disguised as asylum seekers.

“There are about 250,000 Syrians in Libya waiting for the opportunity to cross the sea and about 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey without mentioning those in Lebanon and Jordan, so it is not over,” Barnier said. Large numbers of refugees fleeing from conflict zones in the Middle East and Africa have been arriving in Europe in search of a better life. Most of them take sea routes to the external borders of the EU.

Meanwhile, European states have been seeing a number of their citizens attempting to join terrorist groups in the Middle East over the past few years. In February, the EU’s criminal intelligence agency, Europol, said some 30,000 militants from over 100 countries have reportedly traveled to Syria and Iraq since 2011 to join the ranks of Takfiri terrorist groups.

The European terrorists can potentially return to their home countries, battle-hardened, to carry out attacks there. Back in November last year, Daesh launched a series of attacks in the French capital of Paris, killing a total of 130 people. Investigations into the incident revealed that the perpetrators were mostly Belgium-based.

In March, two bomb attacks in Brussels killed at least 14 people and left nearly 100 people wounded, while a separate bombing in a metro station killed around 20 people and injured about 100 others. Belgium, home to the main institutions of the European Union and the NATO headquarters, has been viewed as the prime source of recruitment for Daesh in Europe. Daesh terrorists are mainly operating in Syria and its eastern neighbor, Iraq.

Presstv

8, September 2016

Mali: President Ibrahim Boubacar fires Defense Minister ⁰

Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has fired Defence Minister Tieman Hubert Coulibaly after suspected Islamist militants briefly seized the village of Boni in the centre of the country on Friday, state television said.

Coulibaly is being replaced by Abdoulaye Idrissa Maiga, a former minister for territorial administration, who was also the president’s campaign director at the 2013 election. The attackers, who are suspected of belonging to the Ansar Dine group, burned public buildings and took an elected local official hostage before withdrawing after a few hours. No one was killed and the army is back in control, witnesses said.

The raid was the latest in a series this year in Mali, reflecting a rise in the power of Islamist groups which have spread a campaign of violence from the north to the centre of the country only a few hundred miles from the capital Bamako. Armed groups have proliferated since Islamists took advantage of an ethnic Tuareg uprising in 2012 to seize the north of the desert country.

A French-led intervention drove Islamists back in 2013 but instability has continued and undermines a fragile UN-backed peace process. Islamist militants killed 17 Malian soldiers and wounded 35 when they attacked an army base in the central Malian town of Nampala in July. Ansar Dine and a Peul ethnic militia both claimed responsibility for that attack.

Reuters

8, September 2016

Abuja: Cameroonian wins Africa Environmental Hero Award ⁰

Cameroonian born Dr. Richard Munang has won the 2016 Africa Environmental Hero Award after a series of faithful services rendered as United Nations Environment’s Climate Change Coordinator for Africa since 2013.

Dr Richard Munang was conferred the title on 1st September 2016 by the International Environmental Round table for Africa in Abuja-Nigeria.

The award was handed by Nigeria’s Honorable Minister of State for Environment Ibrahim Usman Jibril. Dr. Richard dedicated the award to the entire people of the continent and most especially his parents.

7, September 2016

Paralympic Games: Cameroon in Rio with one athlete, 7 man delegation ⁰

The Paralympic Games will begin this Wednesday in the city of Rio and the competition will see only one Cameroonian taking part. Unlike the Olympics when Cameroon was represented by 24 athletes in four disciplines, the Paralympic Games scheduled to end on the 18^th of September will have Christian Gobe based in Switzerland since 2000 fighting for Cameroon.

Broken by polio and confined to a wheelchair since the age of 4 years, Christian was a gold medalist at the All Africa Games (shot put). He was also a silver medalist at the Grand Athletics CPI in Dubai in 2014. He has never been supported by the CPDM regime in Cameroon on lame and ridiculous reason that there are no financial means for disabled athletes.

Interestingly, a man whose name we got as Jean Jacques Ndoudoumou, the so-called President of the Cameroon National Paralympic Committee, left Cameroon on Monday at the head of a delegation of six members to encourage our Christian Gobe.