13, January 2017
Gunfire erupts in Ivory Coast’s second largest city 0
Gunfire has erupted in Ivory Coast’s second largest city, Bouake, ahead of planned talks between the defense minister and a group of mutinous soldiers. Witnesses said the troops began firing in the air during a protest by residents against the mutineers near a cultural center in the city on Friday.
At least 100 heavily armed mutineers poured into the city center aboard military transport trucks and pickups, according to witnesses. Shops were closed across the volatile area. Disgruntled soldiers seized control of Bouake on Friday. Rocket launchers were used in the streets, terrifying residents.
“I’m going home. With this shooting starting up again, I prefer to be at home,” said a local man.Defense Minister Alain-Richard Donwahi is to negotiate with soldiers who staged a two-day mutiny last week. The soldiers want bonuses, pay raise, housing, and swifter promotion. On Sunday, the mutineers briefly held hostage Donwahi and his team as they were negotiating a deal over the matter.
President Alassane Ouattara has announced that a deal has already been reached between the two sides. Ouattara has, however, refrained from giving the exact details of the deal. Most of the people involved in the armed revolt are reportedly former rebels who were later integrated into the army.
Presstv
15, January 2017
Scores of refugees feared dead off Libya coast 0
Scores of people are feared dead in an incident involving a boat that capsized in the Mediterranean Sea while carrying 110 asylum seekers. The Italian coastguard said four people had been rescued in the waters between Libya and Italy, where the incident occurred, media reported on Sunday. A spokesman for the coastguard added that 13 bodies had so far been recovered from the boat, which capsized around 50 kilometers off the coast of Libya. Italian, Spanish, and French naval and merchant vessels as well as a plane and a helicopter were involved in rescue operations, the spokesman said.
According to the Italian government, 181,000 asylum seekers arrived in Italy last year, all of them having departed from Libya. The refugees, desperate to leave and thus at the mercy of human traffickers, are often loaded onto rickety vessels in the waters of the Mediterranean. Countless incidents of boats capsizing have occurred and hundreds have perished as a result. In 2016, 5,000 asylum seekers died during the perilous crossing, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The exodus of refugees from North Africa and the Middle East has also led to a refugee crisis in Europe, their desired destination. In reaction to the crisis, European countries have mobilized resources to reduce refugee arrivals and deport those that do arrive to other countries. Tougher border controls, strict refugee policies, and deals with countries to return asylum seekers are part of the measures enforced by European authorities to cope with the crisis. This is while analysts believe Western policies are the root of the crisis, as those policies fan the flames of wars and conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa and force locals to leave their homes.
Presstv