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f85cb5a1589d413408c5dd42684083e0 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24746490 | Ghana arrests Chinese and Indian illegal gold miners | Ghana arrests Chinese and Indian illegal gold miners
Ghanaian police have arrested 46 foreign nationals from China and India accused of illegally mining gold.
They were detained in overnight raids in the country's Central region where they were operating small barges to dredge the bed of the River Offin.
More than 4,500 Chinese nationals have been repatriated this year after a series of swoops on illegal goldmines.
Officials says since the clampdown began, some illegal miners have been going out at night to avoid detection.
Ghana is Africa's biggest gold producer after South Africa.
Ghanaian law prevents foreigners from working in small-scale gold mines.
The authorities say the illegal mining pollutes the rivers and destroys the environment.
Illegal miners use makeshift barges to dredge mud from river beds which is then sifted for gold.
The BBC's Sammy Darko in the capital, Accra, says illegal miners also mine in the forest leaving behind huge holes and cutting down trees.
The holes collect with water and chemicals like mercury used to sieve through the mud for gold drain into rivers.
Our reporter says officers set fire to the illegal miners' equipment during the raid near the mining town of Dunkwa-on-Offin.
Officers also fired in the air to warn off any other illegal miner who might have been working, but did not engage in a shoot-out, he says.
Police said if the 43 Chinese and three Indians who were detained did not have the correct paperwork they would be deported.
|
a553ad2aa3e2efc8f6e8fbb0ca6f067b | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24783828 | Horn of Africa piracy 'netted $400m' from 2005-12 | Horn of Africa piracy 'netted $400m' from 2005-12
Pirates operating off the Horn of Africa netted more than $400m (£251m) in ransom money between 2005 and 2012, a new World Bank and UN report says.
It says the financiers behind the piracy, and not the pirates themselves, collect most of the cash.
The money is then used to fund other criminal operations, including arms and human trafficking.
The report calls for a financial task force to root out the money laundering networks.
Its key findings suggest that financial kingpins collect 30%-50% of the total ransom, which rose to an average of $5.04m in 2011 from $3.67m in 2010.
But the "foot soldiers" receive only a standard fee amounting to $30,000 to $75,000 per ship.
The report says the local community in Somalia "provides goods and services to pirates, including food, repair services and khat".
Khat is a legal stimulant in Somalia.
The report,
Pirate Trails
, says the financiers invest in both criminal activities and legitimate business interests.
It says: "The proceeds are typically moved by cross-border cash smuggling, trade-based money laundering, bank-wire transfer and the abuse of the Money of Value Transfer Services."
The report's co-author, Stuart Yikona, said: "Unchallenged piracy is not only a menace to stability and security, but it also has the power to corrupt the regional and international economy."
The report recommends increased monitoring of the financial flows from piracy, improved cross-border controls and better regional co-operation.
Mr Yikona said: "The international community has mobilised a naval force to deal with the pirates. A similarly managed multinational effort is needed to disrupt and halt the flow of illicit money that circulates in the wake of their activities."
The haul in ransom cash between 2005 and 2012 was put at between $339m and $413m.
Up to 10 EU naval ships now patrol the waters off the Horn of Africa, which are some of the world's busiest shipping and humanitarian aid routes.
The anti-piracy force's mandate, which first started in 2008, was expanded earlier this year and it is now allowed to carry out attacks on the Somali coast against suspected pirates.
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9ddd9b0b15bcaac3e5bcdc43f93dc16f | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24787682 | Two French journalists killed in Mali town of Kidal | Two French journalists killed in Mali town of Kidal
Two journalists for French radio station RFI have been killed after they were kidnapped in the northern town of Kidal in Mali.
Claude Verlon and Ghislaine Dupont were abducted after interviewing a local political leader. Their bodies were found outside the town soon after.
French President Francois Hollande called the killings "despicable".
The killings come days after France was celebrating the release of four hostages from neighbouring Niger.
Radio France Internationale said Claude Verlon and Ghislaine Dupont were on their second assignment in Kidal, having travelled to the town in July to cover the first round of the presidential election.
Ambeiry Ag Rhissa, a local official of the MNLA ethnic Tuareg separatist group, said the pair had just left his house after interviewing him when they were kidnapped.
"I heard an unusual noise in the street," he told France 24. "Their car was parked in front of my house, about 10m from the door.
"I went out to see what was happening. Once I got to the door, I saw a car, a pick-up, parked next to theirs. There was a man on the ground who had a weapon. He immediately pointed it at me and said: "Go back inside, go back in!"
"So I went in, and shortly afterwards they took off with the two journalists. They left in a great hurry."
He said he did not see how many kidnappers were there, but other sources said four men forced the journalists into a beige truck which was then driven off into the surrounding desert.
One report said the kidnappers' vehicle was being pursued by the security forces; a French attack helicopter was seen above Kidal a few hours after the abduction occurred.
A spokesman for France's armed forces said its troops never had any visual or physical contact with the gunmen following the abduction.
Two helicopters flew over the area after a French patrol found the journalists' bodies on a desert track some 10km (six miles) to the east of Kidal, Col Gilles Jarron said.
Nicolas Champeaux, a journalist with RFI's African service, said he and his colleagues were "devastated" by what had happened.
He called 57-year-old Ghislaine Dupont a "relentless, tenacious reporter" with a great sense of humour who was "always encouraging us to dig more, to look out for more, to get closer to the action on the front line but also to investigate".
Sound technician Claude Verlon, 55, was a true professional who was "fun and interesting to work with". "He was also used to difficult areas" and "loved challenges", Mr Champeaux said.
Confirming their deaths, the French foreign ministry said it would "in conjunction with the Malian authorities, make every effort to find out as soon as possible about the circumstances of their death".
A statement from President Hollande's office said he "expresses his indignation over this despicable act", adding that he is meeting ministers on Sunday to discuss the incident.
A spokesman for Mali's government said it condemned "in the strongest terms this barbaric and cowardly act" and "reiterates its determination to continue to fight against terrorism and organised crime."
Their deaths bring to 42 the
number of journalists around the world killed so far in 2013
.
The BBC's international development correspondent Mark Doyle, who was in Kidal just two days ago, describes it as a small place with a population of some 10,000.
He says it is at the epicentre of a political dispute between ethnic Tuareg nomads and the rest of the population of Mali, who are black Africans.
There are 200 French troops and 200 UN peacekeepers as well as a Malian army base in Kidal.
It is extremely surprising, our correspondent says, that such an attack could have happened in broad daylight under the noses of so many troops.
Earlier this week, four Frenchmen were released three years after being kidnapped by al-Qaeda-linked gunmen targeting French firms operating a uranium mine in neighbouring Niger.
The hostages had been held in the deserts of northern Mali.
Jubilation at their release was tempered by speculation that the French government had paid as much as a 20m euros (£17m; $26m) ransom.
Hostage-taking has become a big money-making business by extremist groups in the Sahara, say observers.
Much of it goes towards buying the means to carry out more kidnappings: Procuring four-wheel drive jeeps, fuel, weapons and GPS systems, BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner reports.
France led an operation to oust Islamist rebels from northern Mali - its former colony - earlier this year, sending in thousands of troops.
It handed over responsibility for security to a UN force in the summer.
But French troops are still in the country helping to prevent a resurgence of militant activity in the region.
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8cd949e97bca4d98e154a4d5e7ff3f1b | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24901315 | Somalia gets 888 emergency police line number | Somalia gets 888 emergency police line number
Police in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, have launched an emergency police telephone service for the first time in more than 20 years.
Residents can call the emergency number - 888 - and the authorities say a police car will be sent out.
Police spokesman Mohamed Yusuf Madaleh told the BBC it was part of efforts by international donors to revamp the country's police service.
The government is fighting Islamist militants for control of the country.
The Islamist al-Shabab group has been driven out of Somalia's major towns by a UN-mandated African Union force of some 18,000 soldiers, which is backing the government.
But it still controls many towns and rural areas of southern Somalia - and frequently launches attacks in Mogadishu.
Gen Madaleh told the BBC Somali Service the emergency calls will be rooted to call centres in different areas of the city.
He said the service now had enough cars and officers to deal with requests.
The 888 number is being advertised in the local media. Police promise to send out officers to investigate as soon as possible after a call is logged.
Before the collapse of central government in 1991, Mogadishu had three separate emergency numbers for the police, fire service and ambulance service - none of them available countrywide.
The other two numbers are not yet up and running.
During the civil war, the 888 number was taken over by a private company, which agreed to give it back when asked by the police service, Gen Madaleh said.
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abae862c02f7aa84726c6fc85f883d17 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24904924 | Liberian leader's guard arrested over 'drug smuggling' | Liberian leader's guard arrested over 'drug smuggling'
The head of the presidential motorcade in Liberia has been arrested for allegedly smuggling drugs in an official vehicle, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has said.
Perry Dolo was arrested with 297kg (654lb) of marijuana after crossing over from Sierra Leone, it alleged.
The jeep used is "Escort 1", which normally leads President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's convoy, the DEA said.
Mr Dolo had used the vehicle on his day off, it said.
He has not yet commented on the allegation.
Mr Dolo was arrested with a Liberian, a Guinean and a third person believed to be a member of the Sierra Leonean military, the DEA said.
DEA head Anthony Souh said the accused were being interrogated.
"They are still with me going through the process,'' he said.
"We want to speedily send them to court... because the case is too high. Using a presidential car? It's too big."
Security sources at the Bo-Waterside border crossing said Mr Dolo had been under surveillance for two weeks before he and the other three were apprehended at the weekend in the town of Tienne, about 20km (12 miles) inside Liberia and 120km west of the capital, Monrovia.
"He [Mr Dolo] was not on duty, but he used the official car,'' Mr Souh said.
The BBC's Jonathan Paye-Layleh in Monrovia says Liberia's DEA has in recent years stepped up efforts to curb marijuana farming in Liberia's countryside, but they often complain of a lack of resources.
According to the 2012 UN Office on Drugs and Crime report, 9% of Liberian high school students use the drug,
Liberia is recovering from a brutal civil war that ended about a decade ago.
|
3090c8b691f7617af1af8d138ab2d957 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24922833 | Nigeria: US 'to name Boko Haram as a terrorist group' | Nigeria: US 'to name Boko Haram as a terrorist group'
The US state department is expected to designate the Nigerian Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, as a foreign terrorist organisation.
The move, expected to take place on Wednesday, means US regulatory agencies are instructed to block business and financial transactions with Boko Haram.
It will become a crime under US law to provide material support to the group.
Boko Haram wants to impose Islamic law in northern Nigeria and has been blamed for thousands of deaths.
The group began its insurgency in 2009, and targets both the military and civilians, including schools, and frequently clashes with the Nigerian armed forces.
While Boko Haram's main focus is Nigeria, the US has cited links to the al-Qaeda affiliate in West Africa, and extremist groups in Mali.
The US state department has not formally announced its decision to brand the group a terrorist organisation.
However, the Associated Press news agency cited an unnamed US official, whilst Reuters quoted congressional sources and others briefed on the matter.
Nigeria's government declared Boko Haram and another militant group Ansaru as terrorist organisations in June, warning that anyone who helps them will face a minimum prison sentence of 20 years.
The BBC's Nigeria analyst, Naziru Mikailu, says the US's decision will be welcomed by the Nigerian government and the Christian Association of Nigeria, which has long been campaigning for the US to declare Boko Haram a terrorist group.
The Obama administration had so far refused, fearing that it could give Boko Haram greater legitimacy in global jihadi circles, our correspondent says.
The US is unlikely to identify Boko Haram's financial backers, when the Nigerian government has up to now failed to do so, he says.
Last year, top US diplomat for Africa Johnnie Carson said Boko Haram exploited popular discontent in northern Nigeria, and the government needed to tackle the political and economic grievances of the mainly Muslim population in the region.
However, Mr Carson acknowledged "reports of contact and growing relationships between elements of Boko Haram and other extremists in Africa, including al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb".
In August 2011, an attack on a UN building in Abuja, Nigeria, marked a turning point as a threat to US interests.
Last year, Lisa Monaco - now the chief counter-terrorism adviser to President Barack Obama - sent a letter to the state department saying Boko Haram met the criteria to be listed as a "foreign terrorist" group because, she said, it either engages in terrorism that threatens the US or has a capability or intent to do so.
The state department later designated three alleged Boko Haram leaders as terrorists, but stopped short of a wider declaration against the group.
|
b1202c2f4c9cd16fe58f4856d77887a8 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24986947 | Libya spy chief Mustafa Nuh freed 'by Zintan militia' | Libya spy chief Mustafa Nuh freed 'by Zintan militia'
Libya's deputy intelligence chief has been freed a day after being abducted at the airport in Tripoli, military sources have told the BBC.
Mustafa Nuh had reportedly been held by gunmen from the western town of Zintan.
Meanwhile, Tripoli is observing a three-day strike after militias from Misrata city opened fire on demonstrators, killing more than 40 people on Friday and Saturday.
The Misrata militia have been ordered to leave Tripoli within three days.
Two years after its revolution, Libya still lacks a stable government.
The rival militias from across the country which united to topple Col Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 have so far refused to disarm.
Several different groups entered the capital to force Col Gaddafi from power and some have remained there ever since.
The BBC's Rana Jawad in Tripoli says that in the absence of a central government to exercise power over the whole country, each city - and militia - is looking out for its own political and financial interests.
Some are believed to have links to al-Qaeda, others want to gain more power for their region, or town, while some realise they would lose their influence if they gave up their weapons.
Mr Nuh was bundled into a car after arriving at Tripoli international airport on Sunday, but military sources told the BBC he was released on Monday morning.
He was kidnapped with former rebel commander Alaa al-Hafs, who managed to escape.
Mr Hafs told the BBC Mr Nuh had been taken captive by men from Zintan.
"I know that he was beaten but also that he's OK," Mr Hafs added.
Mr Nuh was freed following the intervention of the Shura Council of Zintan, made up of local elders, he said.
Zintan has the most powerful brigades in Tripoli and some of them are loosely attached to the defence ministry, our correspondent says.
Militias from Zintan are still holding Col Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, are and refusing to hand him over to the authorities in Tripoli.
At least 43 people were killed on Friday and Saturday when Misrata gunmen opened fire on protesters who were demanding they leave Tripoli.
In a joint statement on Sunday, Misrata's local council and the council of elders said all militia groups from the city - without exception - must pull out of Tripoli within 72 hours.
Shortly afterwards, Khalil al-Ruwaiti, who heads a unit under the Misrata Shield brigade, confirmed to the BBC that his fighters would leave the capital.
The brigade is not part of the militias which clashed with the protesters on Friday.
Emotions have been running high in Tripoli since the clashes, and Misrata's statement will be seen as a positive development, our correspondent says.
Some of the heaviest fighting of the 2011 conflict took place in Misrata and some residents and militiamen want this to be recognised.
|
8cd1e42ebe40e72c0957cbe30a9b01d3 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25120108 | South Africa outrage at rape scene school exam question | South Africa outrage at rape scene school exam question
South Africans have been outraged by a question in the national school-leavers' drama exam which asked students to direct a rape scene.
They were asked to describe how they would get an actor to maximise the horror of the rape of a baby, using a broomstick and loaf of bread as props.
Anti-rape activists and the author of the play, Lara Foot Newton, have said the question was "insensitive".
South Africa has one of the highest rates of sexual violence in the world.
Ms Foot Newton's award-winning play Baby Tshepang is based on the actual rape of a nine-month old by her mother's boyfriend.
South Africa's Education Department has defended the question's inclusion in the paper, sat by students on Monday.
"Nowhere is it expected of the candidate to have to literally describe the actual act of raping a nine-month-old baby," it said in a statement.
It was aimed at assessing the pupils' concept of using metaphor as a theatrical technique, it said.
But some students were disturbed by the question.
"Everyone was in shock that we were asked such a question. It was so gruesome and we were not sure how to answer it," South Africa' Times newspaper quotes a Durban pupil as saying.
The local Witness newspaper reports that many student it interviewed were too embarrassed to repeat what they had written in their answers.
"While drama is all encompassing, we never expected such a question or topic. This is sickening to say the least," one pupil, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the paper.
"How does a 17-year-old describe the rape of a baby? We have been forced to imagine the unimaginable."
Another pupil said one of her friends was most upset as she had a younger sister who had been sexually abused.
Rape trauma counsellor, Michelle Smith, agreed it was "incredibly insensitive to the thousands of children who are being sexually abused daily".
"You cannot put something like this in an exam paper and call it raising awareness," the Witness quoted her as saying.
Ms Foot Newton told South Africa's ENCA TV that the questions was "insensitive to the play".
"I think it's [also] inappropriate for a drama student to have to answer that kind of question at that level," she said.
Eureka Olivier, from the child rights advocacy group Bobbi Bear, said she was "absolutely disgusted".
"What are we teaching our children by having such a question in an exam paper?" she told the Witness.
The internal moderators for the exam paper said it was a "valid and fair" question.
"The rape of babies is a relevant societal issue. In technical terms it is also asking the learner to present how the horror of the act can be conveyed, theatrically, to an audience," the moderators said in a statement.
"This is not to create hysteria, but to sensitise an audience to the horror and, at best, to have them walk out of the theatre determined to prevent such horrific and brutal acts from being perpetrated."
More than 60,000 people are raped each year in South Africa and experts say most rapes happen in poor communities, carried out by people known to the victim.
|
0f194ccd933dab023c437c4784448a0f | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25249520?utm_source=wnd&utm_medium=wnd&utm_campaign=syndicated | South Africa's Nelson Mandela dies in Johannesburg | South Africa's Nelson Mandela dies in Johannesburg
South Africa's first black president and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela has died at the age of 95.
Mr Mandela led South Africa's transition from white-minority rule in the 1990s, after 27 years in prison for his political activities.
He had been receiving intensive medical care at home for a lung infection after spending three months in hospital.
Announcing the news on South African national TV, President Jacob Zuma said Mr Mandela was at peace.
"Our nation has lost its greatest son," Mr Zuma said.
"Although we knew that this day would come, nothing can diminish our sense of a profound and enduring loss."
Mr Zuma said Mr Mandela - who is known affectionately by his clan name, Madiba - had died shortly before 21:00 local time (19:00 GMT). He said he would receive a full state funeral, and flags would be flown at half-mast.
Crowds have gathered outside the house where Mr Mandela died, some flying South African flags and wearing the shirts of the governing African National Congress, which Mr Mandela once led.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate was one of the world's most revered statesmen after preaching reconciliation despite being imprisoned for 27 years.
He had rarely been seen in public since officially retiring in 2004. He made his last public appearance in 2010, at the football World Cup in South Africa.
His fellow campaigner against apartheid, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, said he was "not only an amazing gift to humankind, he made South Africans and Africans feel good about being who we are. He made us walk tall. God be praised."
BBC correspondents say Mr Mandela's body will be moved to a mortuary in the capital, Pretoria, and the funeral is likely to take place next Saturday.
Mr Zuma said in his statement
that "what made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human. We saw in him what we seek in ourselves.
"Fellow South Africans, Nelson Mandela brought us together and it is together that we will bid him farewell."
Tributes have come in from around the world.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was "a giant for justice and a down-to-earth human inspiration".
"Many around the world were greatly influenced by his selfless struggle for human dignity, equality and freedom. He touched our lives in deeply personal ways."
US President Barack Obama said Mr Mandela achieved more than could be expected of any man.
"He no longer belongs to us - he belongs to the ages," he said, adding that Mr Mandela "took history in his hands and bent the arc of the moral universe towards justice".
Mr Obama, the first black president of the United States, said he was one of the millions who drew inspiration from Mr Mandela's life. He has ordered that the White House flag be flown at half-mast.
FW de Klerk, who as South Africa's last white president ordered Mr Mandela's release, called him a "unifier" and said he had "a remarkable lack of bitterness".
He told the BBC Mr Mandela's greatest legacy "is that we are basically at peace with each other notwithstanding our great diversity, that we will be taking hands once again now around his death and around our common sadness and mourning".
The Elders - a group of global leaders set up by Mr Mandela to pursue peace and human rights - said they "join millions of people around the world who were inspired by his courage and touched by his compassion".
The group's chair, Kofi Annan, said the world had lost "a clear moral compass".
"While I mourn the loss of one of Africa's most distinguished leaders, Madiba's legacy beckons us to follow his example to strive for human rights, reconciliation and justice for all."
UK Prime Minister David Cameron said "a great light has gone out in the world".
Earlier this year, Mr Mandela spent nearly three months in hospital with a recurring lung infection.
He was moved to his home in the Houghton suburb of Johannesburg in September, where he continued to receive intensive care.
Born in 1918, Nelson Mandela joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1943, as a law student.
He and other ANC leaders campaigned against apartheid. Initially he campaigned peacefully but in the 1960s the ANC began to advocate violence, and Mr Mandela was made the commander of its armed wing.
He was arrested for sabotage and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964, serving most of his sentence on Robben Island.
It was forbidden to quote him or publish his photo, but he and other ANC leaders were able to smuggle out messages of guidance to the anti-apartheid movement.
He was released in 1990 as South Africa began to move away from strict racial segregation - a process completed by the first multi-racial elections in 1994.
Mr Mandela, who had been awarded the Nobel Prize in 1993 jointly with Mr de Klerk, was elected South Africa's first black president. He served a single term, stepping down in 1999.
After leaving office, he became South Africa's highest-profile ambassador, campaigning against HIV/Aids and helping to secure his country's right to host the 2010 football World Cup.
He was also involved in peace negotiations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and other countries in Africa and elsewhere.
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3e5db8caef19ca463ec33c98953b1205 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25250082 | Nelson Mandela death: World reaction | Nelson Mandela death: World reaction
People around the world have been reacting to the news that South Africa's first black president and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela has died, aged 95.
South African President Jacob Zuma
announced Nelson Mandela's death
, saying South Africa had lost "its greatest son" and calling on South Africans to conduct themselves with the "dignity and respect" that Mr Mandela personified.
"Although we knew this day was going to come, nothing can diminish our sense of a profound and enduring loss," he said.
US President Barack Obama
spoke shortly afterwards. "We've lost one of the most influential, courageous and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this earth," he said.
"Through his fierce dignity and unbending will to sacrifice his own freedom for the freedom of others, Madiba transformed South Africa and moved all of us. His journey from a prisoner to a president embodied the promise that human beings and countries can change for the better."
Russian President Vladimir Putin
said: "Mandela, having gone through the most difficult ordeals, was committed to the end of his days to the ideals of humanism and justice."
Chinese President Xi Jinping
said the Chinese people would always remember Mr Mandela's "outstanding contributions to the China-South Africa relationship and the course of progress of mankind".
French President Francois Hollande
said Mr Mandela's message would "continue to inspire fighters for freedom, and to give confidence to peoples in the defence of just causes and universal rights".
Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel
said Mr Mandela's "political legacy of non-violence and the condemnation of all forms of racism" would continue to inspire.
President Assad of Syria
, who is currently fighting a revolt against his rule, said Nelson Mandela's life was an inspiration to freedom fighters and a lesson to tyrants.
Ghana's President John Mahama
told the BBC Mr Mandela was the greatest African who ever lived.
Senegalese President Macky Sall
said "Nelson Mandela was undoubtedly the most influential man of the century", a "role model for Africans and also for humanity". He said Mr Mandela gave Africans "pride in being black - a dignity in being a black man".
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta
praised him for living "an extraordinary life in a very ordinary way. His legacy encrypts the story of humanity now and tomorrow."
Mr Mandela was an "inspiration to the oppressed peoples all over the world" and had made "unparalleled personal sacrifices", said
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan
.
Liberia's President and Nobel peace prize laureate Ellen Johnston Sirleaf
told the BBC that Mr Mandela was a constant inspiration and would never be forgotten: "Nelson Mandela lives on as his life will continue to be the guiding light for those who excel, for those who have suffered for freedom and for peace."
Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff
said Mr Mandela would "guide all those who fight for social justice and for peace in the world".
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro
compared the death of Mr Mandela to the passing of the late Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chavez: "Nine months after the departure of our commander, today another giant of the people leaves this world. Madiba you will live forever!"
Cuban leader Raul Castro
said he was grateful for Mr Mandela's friendship and and steadfast support of the Cuban people.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
said: "This is as much India's loss as South Africa's. He was a true Gandhian. His life and work will remain a source of eternal inspiration for generations to come.''
For
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
, Mr Mandela "was a giant for justice and a down-to-earth human inspiration".
Queen Elizabeth II
, who met Mr Mandela on several occasions, said in a statement she was deeply saddened to learn of his death and remembered their meetings with great warmth.
"A great light has gone out in the world,"
said British Prime Minister David Cameron
. Mr Mandela was "a towering figure in our time; a legend in life and now in death - a true global hero", he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
described Nelson Mandela as "the most honourable figures of our time". He added: "He was the father of his people, a man of vision, a freedom fighter who rejected violence. He set a personal example for his people in the long years he spent in prison."
For
the Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmud Abbas,
Mr Mandela was "a symbol of the liberation from colonialism and occupation". Mr Abbas added that "the Palestinian people will never forget his historic statement that the South African revolution will not have achieved its goals as long as the Palestinians are not free".
Afghan President Hamid Karzai
called him "an icon of our time, for man's dignity, equality and freedom".
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani
said in a statement that Mr Mandela "had a firm belief in the freedom and equality of all humans, not only in his country South Africa, but also across the world", adding his life had been a "rough and rugged road full of hardship".
South African ex-President FW de Klerk
, who freed Mr Mandela from prison in 1990 and shared the Nobel Peace Prize with him in 1993, said: "Tata, we shall miss you - but know that your spirit and example will always be there to guide us to the vision of a better and more just South Africa."
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay
said Mr Mandela "was perhaps the greatest moral leader of our time".
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
said Mr Mandela's appeal had been universal: "To combine within one's self the contradictions that he lived with, a lawyer and a freedom fighter, a prisoner and a leader, a man of anger and of forgiveness, has so captured the hearts of people not only in his country, but as we are seeing with the outpouring of response to his death, people around the world."
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev
said the world would not forget Mr Mandela. "his life sets a tremendous example. He was loyal to the cause of freedom."
Former Irish President Mary Robinson
said: "His death leaves us bereft - it is felt by all of us as a personal loss."
"We will remember him as a man of uncommon grace and compassion, for whom abandoning bitterness and embracing adversaries was not just a political strategy but a way of life," said
former US President Bill Clinton
.
"It's not just what he did but the way he did it that makes him so special," said
former British Prime Minister Tony Blair
. "He did it with a grace and a dignity that I think really inspired people everywhere."
From the Vatican,
Pope Francis
paid tribute "to the steadfast commitment shown by Nelson Mandela in promoting the human dignity of all the nation's citizens and in forging a new South Africa".
The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the
Dalai Lama
, said not it was time for people "to develop determination and enthusiasm to carry on in his spirit".
US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson
described Mandela as a global "force for good - with his suffering and his vision, he chose at a critical moment reconciliation over retribution."
"He was a unifier from the moment he walked out of prison," said
South Africa's Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu
. "We are relieved that his suffering is over, but our relief is drowned by our grief."
"Mr Mandela made us all understand that nobody should be penalised for the colour of his skin or the circumstances into which he was born,"
Burmese opposition leader and Nobel peace prize laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi
said. "He also made us understand that we can change the world."
"Nelson Mandela's commitment to human rights was epitomised by his unswerving resolve to stamp out racial inequality during apartheid, followed by his vital work in combating HIV/Aids in South Africa," said
Amnesty International Secretary-General Salil Shetty
.
"All of us who admired him must carry on his struggle."
"How to conceive of a South Africa - no, a world - without Nelson Mandela, our Madiba, whose matchless humanity was bountiful enough for us to share with the world?" wrote Nobel Prize-winning South African poet
Nadine Gordimer
in
a Globe and Mail piece
.
"For myself, I can only be infinitely grateful that I knew him personally, that he touched my life."
Another South African writer,
Zakes Mda,
questioned Mandela's legacy in
an article for the New York Times
: "It is ironic that in today's South Africa, there is an increasingly vocal segment of black South Africans who feel that Mandela sold out the liberation struggle to white interests."
Eddie Daniels
was imprisoned with Nelson Mandela on Robben Island for a number of years: "Mr Mandela was the first person to befriend me when I went to Robben Island. I was all alone and Mr Mandela came and he befriended me and throughout my prison career Mr Mandela was there to help me to guide me to sympathise with me whenever."
Christo Brand
was one of the prison guards responsible for Mr Mandela during his time in jail. He and Mr Mandela developed a friendship over the course of many years: "I miss my, like I said, Mandela my prisoner, my friend and my father. We miss him a lot."
Idris Elba
, who played the lead role in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, said: "What an honour it was to step into the shoes of Nelson Mandela and portray a man who defied odds, broke down barriers, and championed human rights before the eyes of the world. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.''
Another actor who played Mandela,
Morgan Freeman
, said the world had lost "one of the true giants of the past century. Nelson Mandela was a man of incomparable honour, unconquerable strength, and unyielding resolve - a saint to many, a hero to all who treasure liberty, freedom and the dignity of humankind."
"Among the many things one can say about our Madiba (Nelson Mandela's tribal name) is that he never thought of himself as big," said South African male choral group
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
. "He was one of us, one of the people."
Boxing legend
Muhammad Ali
said: "What I will remember most about Mr Mandela is that he was a man whose heart, soul and spirit could not be contained or restrained by racial and economic injustices, metal bars or the burden of hate and revenge.''
"He was one of the most influential people in my life. He was my hero, my friend, and also a companion to me in our fight for the people and for world peace" said Brazilian football icon
Pele
.
"It was as if he was born to teach the age a lesson in humility, in humour and above all else in patience," said Irish rock star and campaigner
Bono
.
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5e6185c98dd2b172971deb991c4ab8e8 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25436316 | Kenya's anti-terror forces face accusations after Westgate | Kenya's anti-terror forces face accusations after Westgate
The attack on the Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi in September has drawn attention to tensions in Kenya - and now the country's security services, funded by the UK and the US, stand accused of carrying out "pre-emptive" killings of suspected radicals, writes the BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse.
Kiunga is Kenya's final frontier and Superintendent Samuel Obara has one of the toughest jobs in the police force.
"Even the al-Shabab are now escaping from Somalia and trying to penetrate into Kenya," he says, standing on a strip of no-man's land between the two countries on the Indian Ocean coast.
When Kenya invaded Somalia two years ago, it took the fight to al-Shabab, the Islamist militant group with links to al-Qaeda, which still controls large areas of southern Somalia.
The invasion was supposed to make Kenya safer. And to some extent it has. Mr Obara waves his arm over the acres of coast and scrubland he and his men patrol that in the past, he points out, would come under attack.
But he admits his force is under-equipped and under-staffed.
"Porous the way the border is, I am sure people must be penetrating without our catching [them]."
Indeed, it was somewhere here, security officials believe, the four men believed to be responsible for the attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi slipped across the border into Kenya.
Many of the details of the attack remain a mystery. But a picture is beginning to emerge of a bungled security operation and a frustrated Kenyan police force, funded by the West, lashing out at those they see as a threat.
On the day of the attack, there was chaos. It took the security forces 90 minutes to arrive at the scene, by which time many of the 67 people who lost their lives had already been killed.
But by mid-afternoon, teams from the Kenyan Paramilitary police (the GSU), appeared to have the attackers pinned down at the back of the building.
Until the army arrived. That, says former GSU officer George Musamali, is when things started to go wrong.
"Each unit was coming in with its own command. The operation was bungled," he says.
"The GSU was effectively handling the situation. But when the army came, everybody else was kicked out, and this is where the operation started going badly."
Forensic investigators say they have retrieved the remains of three or four individuals, which they believe belong to the bodies of the attackers. The remains are being tested but have yet to deliver a positive DNA match.
After the New York Police Department (NYPD) sent officers to Nairobi to assist in the investigation, it said it is possible some or all of the gunmen could have escaped.
Mr Musamali, who maintains close links with Kenya's police and intelligence services, says some of his former colleagues agree with the NYPD.
"They also believe the attackers might have left the building. The intelligence services are telling me they slipped out of Westgate and left the country," he says.
At the moment, it is unclear whether the attackers are alive or dead.
In the early hours of 4 October, less than two weeks after the Westgate attack, a radical preacher by the name of Ibrahim "Rogo" Omar was shot dead as he travelled in a car on the outskirts of Mombasa, Kenya's second city.
He has not been officially linked to Westgate but his followers believe he was killed by a branch of the Kenyan police known as the Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU).
Officially, the Kenyan police deny any involvement in his killing but, speaking on condition of anonymity, a serving member of the Anti-Terror Police Unit said the ATPU was behind the shooting.
"The justice system in Kenya is not favourable to the work of the police," he said.
"So we opt to eliminate them. We identify you, we gun you down in front of your family, and we begin with the leaders."
Mr Omar's case appears in a report by the Kenyan non-governmental organisation Muslims for Human Rights,
detailing dozens of instances of extra-judicial killings, disappearances, torture and rendition allegedly carried out by the ATPU
, which receives funding and training from the United States and the UK.
"They want to impress the British, they want to impress the Americans, because they are getting funding," says Francis Auma, who compiled the report.
The ATPU did not respond to BBC requests for an interview. In a statement, the UK Foreign Office said it took allegations of human rights abuse very seriously.
It added: "The UK has significant interests in Kenya. We consider that there is a threat to these interests, as demonstrated by the recent attack on the Westgate shopping centre, and to the UK mainland - primarily from foreign fighters in the East Africa region - a significant number of whom have UK links.
"We are working with the authorities to tackle this threat and to support the rule of law in Kenya."
Mr Musamali says many involved in counter-terrorism in Kenya feel that the country's legal system is hampering their efforts.
"If police are involved in this, I believe it is out of frustration.
"They have specific facts and probably they know this person is involved in terrorism. But you take him to court and tomorrow he is out on bond, doing the same things."
Few doubt that Kenya has a problem with radicalisation.
Muslim cleric Abubakar Shariff Ahmed, who is known more commonly as Makaburi and appears on UN and US sanctions lists accused of recruiting young Kenyan Muslims for violent militant activity in Somalia - a charge he denies, says Kenyan security services are systematically targeting those they perceive as a threat.
"They are pre-empting attacks by killing anybody who has the potential to do an attack or who they think has the potential to instigate an attack."
But are the security services targeting the right people?
"Maybe yes but mostly no," Makaburi thinks.
"I know they are going to kill me. But I do not fear for my safety. I am a true Muslim. I believe that my life and death is in the hands of Allah."
And police efforts to combat radicalisation appear to be having the opposite effect in a run-down part of Nairobi known as Majengo.
"They are killing us," one young man told me, who along with others complained that anyone of Somali origin or of the Muslim faith was suspected of being a member of al-Shabab. All denied knowing anyone who had joined the militant group.
"But there is no problem if they join al-Shabab or al-Qaeda," said Ahmed Abdurahman, a 20-year-old student, adding that it was a way of providing money for their families if they were unemployed.
|
26e622ed18ca45f6a8357c79fee81afa | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25467445 | South Sudan crisis: Voices from Juba | South Sudan crisis: Voices from Juba
Two residents in South Sudan's capital, Juba, tell BBC about their experiences following clashes between rival army factions which have spread around the country.
At least 500 people are believed to have died since last weekend, when President Salva Kiir accused his ex-deputy Riek Machar of a failed coup.
There are concerns that the unrest could descend into civil war and inflame ethnic divisions between the majority Dinka group and Mr Machar's Nuer community.
I'm currently in Nimule [on the border], just processing my car document to cross to Uganda.
Juba is becoming very, very unsafe for the little children and their mum because we are not sure when this will happen again. Currently things are calm but it is uncertain at the same time.
First of all forces that defected withdrew to Bor and captured Bor town and we're hearing that they're regrouping and reorganising to attack Juba.
Number two, the soldiers have gone out of discipline; they're shooting randomly and also looting.
Personally I haven't seen any dead bodies on the streets, although I was living 200m from the battle scene - but we evacuated people from that area. Some people told me they had seen bodies.
I don't think my family will be back in the next three or four months until it cools down. I have a house in Uganda. Myself I'll be coming back after the first week in January.
I'll be able to protect myself and we really have to be there to see how things work out. I'm not completely pessimistic… things might work out with the intervention of the international community.
There is over 150 cars here - cars with families. Southern Sudanese in their diversity and foreigners as well - Ugandans, Kenyans and I can also see Lebanese types.
You know this thing in not tribal completely - it's a power struggle. If you follow South Sudanese politics you'll known that Dr Riek [Machar] has been so much interested to take over power, it's just a power struggle and it's existed for a very long time… it's only that those allied to Mr Riek are his tribesmen.
Many [high-ranking army] officials are Nuer - the element of tribalism is being taken up by the media. I have Nuer friends.
My dad remains with his family [in Juba] and that is a fear for me - I want to get them to Aweil [a town in the north-west].
My major fear is [an] escalation of this conflict and South Sudan running into civil war and that is something that we cannot afford at the moment.
Juba is calm, the problem is outside Juba where things are getting worse. There are six medical doctors in Bor and now they've run out to the bush because there was shelling at the hospital. I texted one of them this morning, they're still hiding in the bush.
They're bringing a lot of bodies to the hospital here - every day bodies have come in - some of them were burned, some with gunshots - some died here.
The first day after the tragedy I think 15 people died, the next day things began increasing. There are quite a lot of civilians amongst the dead - the first day were mainly soldiers but then there were lots of civilians - even civilians holding American passports we found.
It's very hard to identify them as some corpses are very burnt.
Today we have around 80 bodies - yesterday people started doing mass burials because the mortuary is full - putting 20 or 50 bodies in one grave - that is what is going on.
I don't want you to use my name because things have got out of hand - it's become so sectarian and when somebody expresses an opinion, people might take it the wrong way; it's a big problem.
People are leaving in their thousands, you can see the airport is busy - and taking buses.
I tried to look for a ticket because I want to take some members of my family to Nairobi, but it's impossible to get a flight. People are asking you to pay about 1,500 Sudanese pounds ($265) for a one-way ticket - the prices are very high. I have the money but there are no flights.
But I myself want to stay because if we medical staff leave, who's going to help?
For now in the hospital, it's OK.
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e1cb63792c903559d6549da9b6574f34 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25511595 | Thousands dead in South Sudan violence, UN says | Thousands dead in South Sudan violence, UN says
Thousands of people must have been killed in the past week of violence in South Sudan, the top UN humanitarian co-ordinator there has told the BBC.
Toby Lanzer, who is in Bentiu in northern Unity state, said it had been "a devastating week for South Sudan".
The UN Security Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to almost double the number of peacekeepers to 12,500.
Earlier President Salva Kiir said his forces had recaptured the key town of Bor days after it was seized by rebels.
The rebels are led by Riek Machar, of the ethnic Nuer, who has been battling President Kiir, of the Dinka.
The UN also said on Tuesday that it had reports of at least three mass graves.
One was in Bentiu in the north, and two in the capital, Juba.
In a Christmas message, Mr Kiir said "innocent people have been wantonly killed", adding: "There are now people who are targeting others because of their tribal affiliation. It will only lead to one thing and that is to turn this new nation into chaos."
Mr Lanzer told the BBC's Newshour programme: "I think it's undeniable at this stage that there must have been thousands of people who have lost their lives.
"When I've looked at the hospitals in key towns and I've looked at the hospitals in the capital itself, the range of injuries, this is no longer a situation where we can merely say it's hundreds of people who've lost their lives."
Mr Lanzer also said that the number of people seeking shelter from the fighting was "tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands".
He said that the tensions between different communities in South Sudan was even evident within a UN base he had just visited where some 7,500 people are seeking protection.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said: "There is a palpable fear among civilians of both Dinka and Nuer backgrounds that they will be killed on the basis of their ethnicity."
The UN says at least 80,000 people have been displaced by the South Sudan crisis - about half of them seeking shelter with the UN.
Late on Tuesday the UN Security Council voted to increase its peacekeepers from 7,000 to 12,500, and its international police force from 900 to 1,323.
It authorised temporary transfers from missions in DR Congo, Darfur, Abyei, Ivory Coast and Liberia.
The council called for "an immediate cessation of hostilities and the immediate opening of a dialogue".
President Kiir earlier told journalists in Juba that his forces had "retaken Bor and are now clearing whatever forces that are remaining there".
Bor, 200km (125 miles) north of Juba, had been one of the major successes for the rebels. They are believed to still be in control of Bentiu.
Radio Tamazuj said government troops of the Sudan People's Liberation Army had launched attacks on positions held by Nuer commander and army defector Peter Gadet on Tuesday afternoon in Bor.
Mr Kiir said there was also fighting in the town of Malakal and that his troops were "ready to capture Bentiu".
President Kiir and Mr Machar have both said they are willing to talk.
However, Mr Machar has said his detained political allies must first be freed, while Mr Kiir says there should be no preconditions.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday said there could be "no military solution to this conflict. This is a political crisis which requires a peaceful, political solution".
Mr Kiir has accused Mr Machar, who he sacked in July, of plotting a coup. Mr Machar denies he is trying to seize power.
Sudan suffered a 22-year civil war that left more than a million people dead before the South became independent in 2011.
|
5d1cc95ae17546cc0e1bc0c187820bd8 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25528728 | South Sudan government agrees to truce | South Sudan government agrees to truce
The government of South Sudan has agreed to an immediate end to fighting with rebels but warned its forces would defend themselves if attacked.
Welcoming the commitment from President Salva Kiir's government, East African states urged rebel leader Riek Machar to do likewise, as fighting continued.
But Mr Machar told BBC News conditions for a truce were not yet in place.
He did confirm that two of his allies had been freed from custody but called for the other nine to be released too.
The release of the 11 politicians, accused of plotting a coup, has been a key rebel condition for any negotiations.
Recent fighting left at least 1,000 people dead, with fierce new battles reported in the town of Malakal, in oil-rich Upper Nile State.
More than 121,600 people have fled their homes in the world's newest state, with about 63,000 seeking refuge at UN compounds across the country, according to a
statement
by the UN.
The first UN reinforcements have arrived since the UN Security Council voted to almost double the number of peacekeepers to 12,500. A detachment of 72 Bangladeshi police officers based in Democratic Republic of Congo arrived by plane in Juba.
They are trained in crowd management and security, and will be deployed immediately to help with the growing number of people seeking shelter at UN compounds.
Mr Kiir is engaged in a deadly power struggle with Mr Machar, his former vice-president. Members of Mr Kiir's Dinka ethnic group and Mr Machar's Nuer community have both been targeted in the violence.
East African regional leaders held talks in the Kenyan capital Nairobi a day after the leaders of Kenya and Ethiopia met Mr Kiir in South Sudan's capital, Juba.
They said they would not accept a violent overthrow of the government in South Sudan and called on the government and rebels to meet for talks within four days.
Neither President Kiir nor rebel representatives attended the talks in Nairobi but the government in Juba
tweeted
to say: "We have agreed in principle to a ceasefire to begin immediately, but our forces are prepared to defend themselves if attacked."
Presidential spokesman
Ateny Wek told regional broadcaster Radio Tamazuj
: "It is not a unilateral offer, but it is a conditional offer to be accepted by the other party."
In Nairobi, South Sudanese Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth said the government had agreed to suspend a planned offensive to recapture Bentiu, the capital of oil-producing Unity State.
"We are not moving on Bentiu as long as the rebel forces abide by the ceasefire," he was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
In Juba, Mr Kiir reportedly told US envoy Donald Booth he had agreed to release eight out of the 11 detained politicians.
Speaking to BBC World Service by satellite phone "from the bush", Mr Machar said he was ready for talks but any ceasefire had to be negotiated by delegations from the two sides, with a mechanism agreed to monitor it.
Claiming the allegiance of all rebel forces in South Sudan, he called for the release of all 11 detainees.
Violence has continued through the week with conflicting reports on Friday about the situation in Malakal, capital of Upper Nile State, where some 12,000 people have been sheltering at a UN base.
Both the army and rebels claimed to be in control of the town.
According to Radio Tamazuj, government forces drove rebel soldiers out of the town on Friday, shelling them from tanks.
Dozens of houses were destroyed in the fighting, with a tank shell killing a family of four inside one of them, while three dead bodies were found inside another, the radio said.
In another state, Jonglei, the aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) treated gunshot victims who had walked for three days from the war-torn town of Bor in search of safe access to healthcare.
|
eb4a951ed68884a3f1470d670438b24e | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25588324 | Madagascar poll: Rajaonarimampianina wins | Madagascar poll: Rajaonarimampianina wins
Madagascar's former finance minister, Hery Rajaonarimampianina, has won the presidential election, officials in the Indian Ocean nation have announced.
Mr Rajaonarimampianina, allied to incumbent President Andry Rajoelina, won 53.5% of the vote in December's run-off, the electoral commission said.
His rival, Richard Jean-Louis Robinson, has said the second round was rigged and is demanding a recount.
The election is intended to end years of political unrest.
Foreign election observers have urged both parties to respect the electoral process.
The vote has yet to be confirmed by the electoral court which will make the announcement within 15 days.
The elections were the first to be held since a 2009 military-backed takeover, when Mr Rajoelina, who backed Mr Rajaonarimampianina, overthrew the democratically elected government of Marc Ravalomanana.
Electoral officials said Mr Robinson, a former health minister in Mr Ravalomanana's government, took 46.5% of the run-off vote, held on 20 December.
Following the coup, the international community imposed sanctions and the country has since suffered economic paralysis.
The election is an attempt to restore normality to the country and to induce foreign investment and boost anaemic growth.
A relative new comer to politics, Mr Rajaonarimampianina, 55, holds a degree in economics and accounting from the University of Quebec in Canada.
Amongst other election pledges, he promised to help the unemployed, build infrastructure to improve agriculture and reform the education system.
More than 92% of the country's 21 million people live on less than $2 (£1.2) a day, according to the World Bank.
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e49a8367dfdfb68e7bee0234a0d14e63 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25660385 | The unequal battle over West Africa's rich fish stocks | The unequal battle over West Africa's rich fish stocks
Whether still trapped in the mesh of a net, on a market stall or on your plate with rice and an onion sauce, fish are everywhere to be seen in Senegal's peninsula capital, Dakar.
"Families have lived off fish for generations," says Issa Fall, who co-ordinates the Fisherman Committee at the small bay of Soumbedioune on the coastal road that leads to the city centre.
The bay forms a large curve with one of Dakar's main fish markets on its shore.
A dug-out canoe carrying a handful of fishermen slows down on the last wave before it reaches the sand. It is coming back with the day's catch.
Dozens of similar boats or "pirogues" are lying on their flanks while a couple of others are being sculpted a few metres away. They are hand-built from local timber.
Illegal fishing is a sensitive subject, which sparks anger and bitterness here.
"Fish stocks have been reduced, it's become scarce," Mr Fall says.
"For this market alone, we used to offload 3,500 tonnes each year; we can't even do 3,000 tonnes now."
The ocean off West African coasts is home to one of the world's richest fishing grounds.
From Morocco up north down to Guinea, sardines, grouper, snapper, shrimp and mackerel are part of a rich marine fauna exploited by fishing vessels on an industrial scale.
"These underwater grounds are now at risk of collapse," warns the Senegalese Fisheries Minister, Haidar El-Ali.
A famous former environmentalist and campaigner, Mr El-Ali is currently handling a near diplomatic incident with Russia after the Oleg Naydenov trawler was seized by the Senegalese navy for allegedly fishing with no licence in the country's waters.
In a statement posted on its website on Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Russian diplomats in Dakar were collaborating with the local authorities to obtain the vessel's release.
The Russian vessel's owners face a $800,000 (£486,000) fine - double the usual fee because the Oleg Naydenov is a "repeat offender", having been caught once before in the last two years.
But in an incredibly valuable industry, fines are no deterrent; foreign vessels always come back and can easily cover or change their identification markings.
"Fines represent only a fraction in their operational costs," says Steve Trent, executive director at the UK-based campaign group Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF).
EJF researchers estimate that West African waters have the highest levels of illegal catch in the world, at about 37% of the region's total.
If West Africa stands out, it is part of a global problem putting a strain on the planet's fish stocks.
Up to 26 million tonnes of fish, worth more than $23bn, are estimated to be lost annually to what is officially called "Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated" (IUU) - or pirate fishing.
In Sierra Leone alone, one of the world's poorest countries still recovering from civil war, the EJF estimates losses at $29m each year.
Mr El-Ali wants a tougher law.
"Vessels we caught pay a fine and go, but they do it again," he says.
"We must be able to keep them when we seize them, so there's a real punishment."
As the world's largest fish importer, the European Union holds a massive responsibility.
Maria Damanaki, the EU commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, has recently blacklisted Guinea, Cambodia and Belize.
These three countries, some of the most valuable sources of seafood, are now banned from exporting fish to the EU for failing to act on pirate fishing.
South Korea has been officially warned it may soon end up on that list.
Vessels registered there have been illegally operating off the coasts of West Africa repeatedly.
"There is a problem, it would be very irresponsible to say that there isn't," Oliver Drewes, the EU fisheries spokesman, said.
"We're doing our best to control our boats, we are making progress but there's still a long way to go."
An EU diplomat, who refused to be named, insisted that "the issue of control in West Africa is huge".
"But these states also have to take deterrent measures and clamp down on corruption."
A source at the Senegalese fisheries ministry admitted that vessels' crews often pay bribes to get away as soon as they are caught in national waters.
The EU has also come under fire for fisheries agreements that it has signed with North and West African countries.
Campaigners often argue that EU countries are doing elsewhere what they have done at home, depleting seas of fish stocks at the expense of local communities.
Mr Drewes acknowledges the need for more "open and transparent agreements, under fair economical and environmental conditions".
A bilateral agreement with Morocco - one the most controversial deals - was revised last month.
Concerns have also been raised that the agreements are only benefiting the European fisheries industry without helping local fishermen.
"Agreements must take into account that it is some of the poorest countries' resources after all," says Mr Trent.
"They must provide employment, food security and income for the generations to come."
In Senegal, more and more unemployed youth jump on boats to make a bit of money.
While fishing used to be a family business, these newcomers do not hesitate to join illegal operations.
"Not only we have to face non-authorised foreign vessels but we also have to check our own artisanal fishermen," says Cheickh Sarr, head of the national Protection and Surveillance of Fisheries Agency.
"Artisanal practices can also violate the law while others work with illegal foreign crews for better money," he says.
He explains that it was a French plane assisting the Senegalese navy which spotted the Russian trawler a few days ago.
"We lack the resources to patrol everywhere," he says.
The Oleg Naydenov was reportedly caught with 1,000 tonnes of fish on board - an amount local fishermen are unable to scoop up in such a short time.
On the shore of the Soumbedioune bay, Mr Fall points at the ocean and says he fears it is becoming "empty."
"We are forced to go further out, which means spending more on fuel," he says.
"Our revenues have come down. We used to be able to save a bit for our children's education or to fix our boats but it's now become hard to make ends meet."
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c65a1e89e0e7d643c300164faf173ad9 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25666470 | Somalia's al-Shabab militants issue internet ban | Somalia's al-Shabab militants issue internet ban
Islamist militants in Somalia have issued a directive banning companies from providing internet services.
The al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab group has given firms 15 days to shut down mobile internet and fibre optic services, which are due to launch soon.
Those who do not comply would be seen as "working with the enemy" and dealt with according to Islamic law, it said.
Correspondents say the group often executes those it accuses of spying for Somalia's government or Western powers.
Al-Shabab was driven out of the capital, Mogadishu, in August 2011, but still controls many southern and central areas of the country.
According to Internet World Stats, in June 2012
Somalia had more than 126,000 internet users, about 1.2% of the population
.
Analysts say this is set to grow as more internet services come to Mogadishu, with a returning diaspora and the imminent connection to fibre optic cables.
The BBC's Mohamed Moalimu in Mogadishu says telecom firms have begun advertising cut-price deals ahead of the broadband launch.
They currently provide internet services via dial-up or satellite.
Al-Shabab's statement was issued on the Facebook page of its Al-Andalus radio station.
"Services known as mobile internet and fibre optics must be stopped in Somalia," it said.
"Any firm or individual who does not comply will be seen to be working with the enemy and will be dealt with in accordance with Islamic law," it said.
African Union (AU) and government troops have been battling al-Shabab fighters for years.
They have been driven out of some key cities, but still hold sway over many small towns and much of rural Somalia where they have imposed a strict version of Sharia.
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10c61a0bdce4d0a29b39f609c093e69e | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25698119 | CAR conflict: Ex-president 'heads to exile' in Benin | CAR conflict: Ex-president 'heads to exile' in Benin
Former Central African Republic interim President Michel Djotodia has arrived in Benin, where it is thought he will go into exile.
Mr Djotodia resigned his post on Friday, at a summit aimed at ending the ongoing religious violence.
He was met off the plane by Benin's foreign minister, Nassirou Bako Arifari.
At least 1,000 people have been killed since violence broke out between Christians and Muslims in December.
Mr Djotodia's resignation, and that of his Prime Minister Nicolas Tiengaye, appear to have failed to quell the violence in the CAR's capital, Bangui.
Clashes between rival militias have continued since his departure. The Red Cross said at least six people were killed in Bangui.
Muslim homes and shops have reportedly been looted.
The French news agency AFP reports sporadic gunfire, with several people killed, and quotes some residents as saying they saw shocking incidents of cannibalism.
Michel Djotodia, CAR's first Muslim leader, seized power last year.
But although he officially disbanded the Seleka rebels who enabled him to take the presidency, he has proved unable to keep them in check.
Their actions prompted Christians to form vigilante groups, sparking a deadly cycle of revenge attacks.
Since he seized power, 20% of the population have fled fighting between Christian and Muslim militias.
The African Union now has some 4,000 peacekeepers in the country and France has deployed 1,600 troops to try to restore peace.
Following Mr Djotodia's resignation announcement, thousands of people took to the streets in Bangui, most of them Christians who were celebrating the news.
Muslims largely stayed at home, the BBC's Paul Wood reports from Bangui.
Many Christians now want to go back to the way things were with their Muslim neighbours, our correspondent says.
Meanwhile, the International Organisation for Migration has begun airlifting thousands of foreigners out of the country.
The first flight evacuated some 800 Chadians, according to AFP.
The UN has warned of an impending humanitarian disaster in the country.
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0bcdd5f401c107c19963be60951fcc61 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25749308? | Nigeria Islamic court tries gay suspects in Bauchi | Nigeria Islamic court tries gay suspects in Bauchi
An Islamic court in Nigeria's northern state of Bauchi has put on trial 11 Muslim men accused of being homosexuals in violation of their religion, a religious leader has told the BBC.
A 12th person arrested - a Christian - would be tried under secular law, a BBC reporter says.
Under Islamic law, a person can be sentenced to death by stoning if convicted of homosexuality.
It is also illegal to have gay sex in Nigeria, according to its secular laws.
Earlier this month, President Goodluck Jonathan signed a parliamentary bill which tightens laws against homosexuals, banning same-sex marriages, gay groups and shows of same-sex public affection.
The new legislation applies across Nigeria, affecting all citizens.
Most states in the predominantly Muslim north of Nigeria have adopted Islamic law, known as Sharia, since the end of military rule in 1999.
Nigeria is a deeply conservative country, with an influential Christian evangelical movement in the south and strong support for Islamic law among many Muslims in the north.
Hostility towards gay people has escalated since parliament debated the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act last year, Dorothy Aken'Ova, a rights activist with the Nigeria-based International Centre for Reproductive Health and Sexual Rights, told the BBC.
She said that she was aware of 38 people being arrested in Bauchi state last month, and was trying to confirm reports of more arrests in both the north and south of Nigeria since the new law was approved.
"What this act is saying is that they [gay people] do not deserve to exist," she told the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme.
"It is heartbreaking that we have come to this point in Nigeria."
Jibrin Danlami Hassan, the commissioner of Bauchi state's Sharia Commission, said the alleged homosexuals were arrested by residents of Bauchi city.
They were handed to the Islamic police force, which interrogated them, he said.
"They accept that they are doing that dirty game," Mr Hassan said.
Ms Aken'Ova said some of those arrested had been beaten up and tortured, but Mr Hassan denied this.
The BBC's Ishaq Khalid in Bauchi says the Sharia Commission confirmed to him that a Christian had been arrested with the 11 Muslims, and would be tried in a "conventional court".
The Muslims could be sentenced to death by stoning if they are convicted, but the court would decide, Mr Hassan said.
Several stoning sentences have been handed down by Sharia courts in northern Nigeria since 1999; however, none have so far been carried out.
The UK, US and UN human rights chief Navi Pillay have condemned Nigeria's Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act as discriminatory and draconian.
Mr Hassan said told the BBC he was "happy" that Mr Jonathan had signed it into law, despite threats by Western powers to cut aid to Nigeria.
"The threat they are doing cannot make us change our religion," he said.
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b12237fc6e7fa7f3d37c32e5ae0abd84 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25908340 | Tunisia assembly passes new constitution | Tunisia assembly passes new constitution
Tunisia's parliament has adopted a new constitution - the first since the ousting of President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali three years ago.
The National Constituent Assembly passed the text by 200 votes from 216.
Analysts say politicians hope it will send out a message of stability after months of deadlock between Islamist and secular forces.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister-designate Mehdi Jomaa says he has formed a new caretaker government.
The cabinet consists mainly of independents and technocrats, and is expected to run the country until new elections. No date has been set for the polls.
After the vote on Sunday, the Tunisian flag was unfurled and parliamentarians embraced each other inside the chamber.
"This constitution, without being perfect, is one of consensus," AP quoted assembly speaker Mustapha Ben Jaafar as saying.
Parliament agreed the text on Friday after the governing Ennahda party granted a number of concessions, including dropping references to Islamic law.
It guarantees freedom of worship but says Islam is the state religion. It also forbids "attacks on the sacred", which analysts say is open to interpretation.
The text also recognises equality between men and women for the first time.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon hailed the agreement as a "historic milestone".
"Tunisia's example can be a model to other peoples seeking reforms," his spokesman said, reports the AFP news agency.
Tunis-based journalist Naveena Kottoor says large parts of the Tunisian public remain unconvinced that this constitution will actually make a difference to their lives, with many more concerned about the country's economic problems.
Ennahda, a moderate Islamist party, won the first democratic elections after long-time ruler Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was forced from power in 2011.
But it has faced fierce opposition from secular groups, who have accused it being too close to militant groups - charges it strongly denies.
It has also been unable to end an economic crisis, another factor in widespread street protests.
The constitution required two-thirds of assembly members to vote in favour. A signing ceremony is expected to follow.
The killing of two secular politicians last year sparked a political crisis in Tunisia.
Earlier this month, Ennahda Prime Minister Ali Larayedh stepped down and was replaced by Mehdi Jomaa, who will head a non-partisan, caretaker government, which is expected to be named in the coming days.
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b3f3025c78d270837022101e72f3b6d0 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-26004268 | South Sudan conflict: 3.7m in 'need of food', says UN | South Sudan conflict: 3.7m in 'need of food', says UN
The United Nations has said it estimates 3.7 million people are in acute need of food in South Sudan as a result of the civil conflict there.
The UN's humanitarian co-ordinator in South Sudan Toby Lanzer told the BBC $1.3bn (£790m) was needed to deal with the crisis.
Violence broke out in South Sudan on 15 December, starting as violence between rival army factions.
It has now killed thousands of people and displaced around 860,000.
Mr Lanzer said it had also had profound effects on the country's economy. "Largely because markets have been disrupted, people have been living under extreme duress, people aren't able to move as they normally would," he said.
"Nobody in mid-December... could have foreseen the scale of the emergency that now faces us. We are doing everything we can to avoid a catastrophe," he added.
The number of those needing food represented around a third of South Sudan's population, he said.
He said that in the city of Malakal, some civilians had stormed a warehouse where aid was being kept and "helped themselves".
"Most of the looting was done by people who were so desperate for the aid that they simply couldn't wait," he said.
He said over that of 863,000 people who have been displaced; 740,000 of them are still in South Sudan and the others have left for neighbouring countries.
A fragile ceasefire was agreed last week between the two sides ahead of a second round of peace talks due to start on 7 February.
However, earlier this week, the medical charity MSF says 240 of its staff in South Sudan were forced to flee into the bush because of continuing insecurity.
MSF said the workers were among thousands of people trying to escape fighting in Unity State between government forces and rebels.
The fighting was sparked by a political dispute between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar on 15 December.
Although both men have supporters from across South Sudan's ethnic divides, fighting has often been communal, with rebels targeting members of Mr Kiir's Dinka ethnic group and government soldiers attacking Nuers, the group from which Mr Machar hails.
A ceasefire was agreed after talks between the two but fighting has continued in some areas and correspondents say it could be further jeopardised by treason charges against some of Mr Machar's allies over what authorities say was a "coup attempt" in December.
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132cf95f45102972c18a5f930ab39687 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-26121995 | Will FDLR rebels ever leave Congo and return to Rwanda? | Will FDLR rebels ever leave Congo and return to Rwanda?
Twenty years after the Rwandan genocide, some of those responsible are still wreaking havoc in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, where they are terrorising the local population and profiting from the area's rich natural resources. The BBC's Grainne Harrington reports on the UN's attempts to persuade them to lay down their weapons and return home.
"Vincent Miranzi" is on the legal affairs commission of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) but he won't tell the BBC his real name.
He arrived in what is now Democratic Republic of Congo after the Rwandan genocide, though he denies taking part in the slaughter of some 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus, which has led to two decades of unrest across the region.
The FDLR has been accused of recruiting child soldiers, rape and systematic looting.
"It's true that not everybody in our ranks is an angel," he says calmly.
"Some can engage in repressive behaviour. That exists in other countries too, in all societies. But we have ways of dealing with that. Each time a case is identified, then they have to submit to strict regulations."
Mr Miranzi has come to meet me in the village of Luofu, a small village nestled in the lush green hills of North Kivu, DR Congo's eastern province, bordering Rwanda, which has borne the brunt of years of conflict.
Luofu is now just outside FDLR territory, but for most of the past decade, it was dominated by the Rwandan rebels.
They extorted money from locals, pillaged farmers' harvests and set up road blocks, demanding money or goods from anyone travelling through.
People here accuse the Congolese army of collaborating with them, leaving locals to fend for themselves.
"At one point, they [FDLR] came to burn the villages… more than 200 houses," says Eric Kambale, a trainee priest at Luofu parish.
"People burned inside, can you imagine? It terrified people. The Congolese army was one kilometre away when that happened."
He says the people of Luofu lived under the constant threat of war until UN forces regained control in 2010.
The UN mission in DR Congo (Monusco) has said that, after helping defeat the mainly Tutsi M23 rebels last year, the Hutu-led FDLR are next in the sights of its well-equipped special intervention brigade.
In the meantime, it is hoping to persuade the rank and file that their best option is to go back to Rwanda.
Monusco has set up mobile radio stations in remote areas, broadcasting messages of encouragement and success stories from reformed fighters living in Rwanda.
They give out their mobile phone numbers on the radio, and in leaflets airdropped from UN helicopters across rebel territory.
When the rebels call, the demobilisation team has to set up a meeting point and extract them before their commanders discover their plans.
"It's not always easy. People who want to leave need to do it secretly, because if they want to surrender, they'll be betrayed, and they risk being executed," says Abdulli Mohammed, the Monusco demobilisation officer for the FDLR territory just south of Luofu.
"Sometimes we go out on patrol and we don't find them, either because they've changed their minds, or they've been betrayed."
Mr Miranzi says that fighters are free to leave if they want, and that the reasons the FDLR stays in the North Kivu are to be found across the border.
"The riches of Rwanda are concentrated in the hands of a tiny number of people," he says.
"The rest are rotting in hardship. Nobody knows what's happening to them - they're dying of hunger."
Although some of the FDLR fighters are Congolese recruits and others are too young to have taken part in the genocide, the group's leaders say their lives would be in danger if they returned home.
The Rwandan government is now led by Tutsi former rebels who forced the Hutu authorities who perpetrated the genocide from power in 1994.
It has rejected calls for negotiation with the FDLR.
And there is another explanation for the rebels' refusal to return home.
Lying between FDLR territory and Rwanda is the Virunga National Park.
It is the oldest national park in Africa, home to rare mountain gorillas, lions and elephants.
Park director Emmanuel de Merode has had years of dealings with the FDLR.
"They're very intent on making money," he says.
"There's the artisanal mining sector, where they loot from very poor mining communities. There are the park's forests, which are being cut down for charcoal.
"The charcoal industry has a turnover of about $35m a year. A significant proportion of that is channelled back though armed groups, in particular the FDLR."
In recent weeks, the FDLR has announced another ceasefire.
But attacks have continued on communities in its territory.
The UN says it is not the first time it has promised to stop fighting, and there is no sign yet of it disarming.
Twenty years since the genocide that brought them to DR Congo, FDLR leaders have found not only shelter, but status and riches.
As the legacy of mistrust continues between them and the Rwandan government, little wonder that disarmament and a return to their homeland holds little attraction.
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e75a2a3e57ed05b0a78cec565f712f63 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-26286264 | Sudan court convicts Ethiopian woman over 'gang-rape' | Sudan court convicts Ethiopian woman over 'gang-rape'
An Ethiopian woman who says she was gang-raped in Sudan has been convicted of "indecent acts".
The woman of 18 was three months' pregnant at the time of the alleged attack.
She was arrested after video of her allegedly being sexually abused was circulated on social media.
Three men who admitted having sex with the woman and two who distributed the video were reportedly sentenced to being whipped.
The three were each sentenced to 100 lashes for adultery, while two got 40 lashes for distributing indecent material,
according to women's rights group Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA).
The woman was sentenced to a one-month jail term but this was suspended because she is pregnant, her lawyer, Samia al-Hashmi, told the AFP news agency.
She was also fined 5,000 Sudanese pounds ($880; £530).
She had also faced charges of adultery and prostitution, which could have led to a penalty of death by stoning, but these were dropped after she convinced the court she was divorced, reports SIHA.
The campaign group says the woman was house-hunting when she was lured to an empty property and attacked in Omdurman, just across the River Nile from Khartoum.
It says she now faces deportation.
The group's regional director Hala Elkarib condemned the conviction, saying it would prevent women from reporting sexual abuse.
"The levelling of immigration charges against the victim further denies her protection by the state and protracts the punishment and emotional stress against her whilst she has been subjected to the most brutal of crimes," she said.
Sudanese law is based on Sharia and women have been punished for wearing trousers or not covering their hair.
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4d585e3355c172688db481dbe03d2406 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-26853788 | South Africa to use flavoured condoms to tackle HIV | South Africa to use flavoured condoms to tackle HIV
South Africa's government will distribute coloured and flavoured condoms among students to end "condom fatigue", the health minister has said.
Aaron Motsoaledi's comments came after a survey showed that condom usage had fallen in South Africa.
The decline in usage may be because "the standard-issued choice condoms just aren't cool enough", he added.
South Africa has some 6.4 million HIV-positive people - more than any other country.
The survey
, by South Africa's Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), showed the rate of people with HIV had risen from 10.6% in 2008 to 12.2% in 2012.
This was because of the combined effects of "new infections and a successfully expanded antiretroviral treatment [ART] programme", the report said.
Many of those infected with HIV are living longer because they are being given treatment which a previous government refused to make available in state clinics.
Some two million people are now on the ART programme, however charities have warned that local clinics are running short of the drugs, Reuters news agency reports.
The latest study shows that condom use had declined, especially in the 15 to 24 age group.
The 2008 survey showed that 85% of males used them and 66% of females, but this had dropped to 67% and 50% respectively in 2012.
"The increases in some risky sexual behaviours are disappointing, as this partly accounts for why there are so many new infections still occurring," said Leickness Simbayi, an investigator on the study.
Some three-quarters of those surveyed said they had a low risk of contracting HIV, even though 10% were already infected.
In his response to the report, Mr Motsoaledi said: "We need to inject enthusiasm into the condom campaign, and we are about to start rolling out new types of free, coloured condoms which are also flavoured."
The condoms will be distributed for free at South Africa's universities and colleges, he added.
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a0fdfd3ffe69c58db5e709c81776e21b | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-26973587 | Somalia in high speed internet 'culture shock' | Somalia in high speed internet 'culture shock'
Some residents of Somalia's capital have been experiencing a form of "culture shock" since fibre optic services launched over the last week, an internet provider has told the BBC.
"Any video or site just pops up... they're very excited about the speed," Somalia Wireless's Liban Egal says.
Until now access to the internet has been via dial-up or satellite links.
Earlier this year, 3G mobile phone services were cut off because of a threat from Islamist militants.
The al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab group issued a directive in January ordering all internet services to be stopped, saying those who did not comply would be seen as "working with the enemy" and dealt with according to Islamic law.
Al-Shabab was driven out of the capital, Mogadishu, in August 2011, but still controls many smaller towns and rural areas in the south and centre of the country where they have imposed a strict version of Sharia.
Following their threat, 3G networks nationwide were turned off but the project to launch fibre optic cable services continued in the capital, the BBC's Moalimu Mohammed reports from Mogadishu.
He says the fibre optic connections, which have been rolled out over the last week by several internet providers, are only available in Mogadishu.
People have been flocking to hotels and internet cafes to try out the fast service - some seeing video platforms like YouTube and social networking sites for the first time, our correspondent says.
Mr Egal said the difference in speed was like the difference between "day and night".
For those residents who have recently returned from the diaspora the development was a relief, he said.
It was "almost a culture shock" for those who have never left Somalia, he added.
He said the move would be a huge boost for the country, which is recovering from more than two decades of civil war.
"Every time a fibre optic cable is connected to a country they see their GDP [gross domestic product] going up because their communication costs go down," Mr Egal said.
"All life will be affected - businesses, the government, universities - they all will see the benefits."
Our reporter says the current security situation will limit the rollout of fibre optic services to the rest of the country.
Since 1991 Somalia has seen clan-based warlords, rival politicians and Islamist militants battle for control - a situation that has allowed lawlessness to flourish.
An African Union force has been helping the UN-backed government fight al-Shabab, which wants to create an Islamic state in Somalia.
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7b002df088fe12ed219db874c80d50c5 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-27146976 | South Africa's 'born-free' generation | South Africa's 'born-free' generation
South Africa's so-called "born-free" generation now accounts for some 40% of the population. Born since the country's first fully democratic elections in 1994, they have grown up without apartheid and the struggles of South Africa's older generation.
Here, six "born frees" talk about life growing up in the new South Africa.
Ballet dancer Thabang Mabaso grew up in Orange Farm, a poor township outside Johannesburg, before going to art school. There he started to train as a dancer and is now a professional dancer in the Johannesburg ballet company.
He gives ballet lessons in the townships and knows his life would have been very different under apartheid.
"If we hadn't gained democracy in 1994," he says, "I'd have been perhaps a gardener but definitely not a ballet dancer."
He readily acknowledges that few blacks attend his performances and adds that there has been opposition to his chosen profession closer to home.
"My mum never saw my ballet as a proper job or career, she would always say: 'Oh you're going to go play ballet now?'
However, Thabang believes that South Africa has the diversity and the potential to develop like the United States.
"I think we have similar histories and I believe that South Africa definitely could become like America."
Trainee nurse Nisha Lutchman runs a small novelty cake business with her sisters.
She lives with her family in a semi-rural location just outside Walkerville, south of Johannesburg, where violent robberies are a constant source of fear. Their house has been robbed so often that the TV is now in a cage bolted to the wall.
"I have heard from older people what it was like before 1994, how you had to carry your pass around with you to go to different areas but the crime was much less then," she says.
"I don't have freedom. I can't walk to the shops without taking off my jewellery. I passed my driving test but I have never driven on my own for security reasons," she says.
"Many things about South Africa are better now. I can be friends with whoever I want, I don't have to worry about what race they are. But crime is much worse than before. I just want it to be a safer place."
Tyron Miller is an up-and-coming motocross rider competing in national events. When he is not competing, he works for his father's ophthalmology business.
"I think for my parents' generation it was a really big change," he says of the end of white-minority rule.
"I am conscious that I am one of the first generation to be born free in South Africa but because of that I don't think about it," he says.
"I have only known this South Africa. I love it. No other country has the diversity that South Africa has. There is nowhere else I'd rather be."
Mahlatse Legodi was jailed for four months for stealing a mobile phone and now is determined to set his life on the right track.
Living in the Pretoria township of Atteridgeville, he says he fell in with a bad crowd.
"I would hang around with my friends in the street and they would say: 'Do this,' and I would do it. I began stealing. There was no-one to say what was right or wrong."
He credits his uncle, a former prisoner who now runs an NGO (non-governmental organisation) rehabilitating offenders, with inspiring him to complete his education and turn his life around.
"My uncle has done a lot to help me realise what I can do if I go back to school. For me, freedom is the freedom to live a better life."
Khensani Khoza, aka Ms Candy K, is a radio DJ who presents a show on VOW FM, a university radio station in Johannesburg.
A child of South Africa's new black middle class, she is a law student but has ambitions to become a star radio or TV presenter.
"I don't want to imagine if 1994 hadn't happened, but I can imagine it: I would not have been able to go to university, to study law," she says.
She believes the ANC government of the last 20 years should be given more time to make changes.
"I am one of those people who believes in giving my government time. It is very easy to criticise but I think people should remain optimistic and hope they can deliver on their promises."
Chanelle is one of the top female skateboarders in South Africa. Also a student, she has studied ballet as a hobby.
"I think the ballet helps with skateboarding, it's all about balance," she says.
But the world of competitive skating is a male-dominated one that she discovered almost by accident.
"A friend got me into playing skating games on the computer and then we started skating for real," she explains.
Chanelle says the skating community is close-knit and racially mixed,
"It's like a family. It's a small skating scene in South Africa and there's a sense of community, it's not really competitive like in some other countries."
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3586f5f8b04a78bc72f7352d2dc46742 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-27293418 | Will Nigeria's abducted schoolgirls ever be found? | Will Nigeria's abducted schoolgirls ever be found?
Nigeria's militant Islamist group Boko Haram abducted more than 200 girls from a boarding school in the northern town of Chibok on 14 April. An estimated 200 heavily armed militants arrived at night in 20 vehicles to steal supplies and kidnap the students. It has now released a video showing 136 of the girls.
In the local Hausa language, Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden". So the abductions show the group's visceral hatred for Western education. Moreover, the group promotes the puritanical Islamic view that a woman's place is in the home. The abducted children include Muslims and Christians. In the 12 May video, Boko Haram says some of the Christians have converted to Islam and, dressed in Islamic attire, they are heard reciting Koranic verses.
The militants have attacked schools before. The school in Chibok, which was hosting final year exams for Christian and Muslim schoolgirls, was one of the only ones still open in this remote area of Borno state and had no security protection that night.
Nigerian students living in fear
Who are Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamists?
When it attacked a rural boarding school in Yobe in March, Boko Haram killed at least 29 males - but spared the lives of girls, ordering them to go home and get married. Some analysts believe that Boko Haram felt its order had been defied, and it retaliated with the Chibok abductions in order to impose its will.
However, there is a precedent for abductions - in May 2013, Boko Haram released a video, saying it had taken women and children - including teenage girls - hostage in response to the arrest of its members' wives and children. At the time, the group said it would treat the women as slaves - something it has also said about the Chibok girls. This has fuelled speculation that it is adhering to the ancient Islamic belief that women captured in conflict are part of the "war booty".
Boko Haram timeline: From preachers to slave raiders
US-based Boko Haram analyst Jacob Zenn says in some cases there have been "tit-for-tat trade offs", with both the militants and security forces releasing women and children in their custody. Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has offered a similar swap for the Chibok girls who have not converted.
In February 2013, Boko Haram also abducted a French family of seven, including four children aged between five and 12, who were visiting a nature park in neighbouring Cameroon. They were later released.
Reuters news agency reported at the time that it had seen a Nigerian government document which indicated that a ransom of more than $3m (£2m) had been paid for their freedom. The French and Cameroonian governments denied this. In January this year, French priest Fr Georges Vandenbeusch was freed by Boko Haram after nearly seven weeks in captivity. Again, France denied a ransom was paid.
Boko Haram: Is terror designation a badge of honour?
The government has fuelled speculation that it wants to secure their release through negotiations, saying that it is taking "discreet" action and it does not want to do anything that could lead to the abductors killing them. In March 2013, another Nigerian militant group, Ansaru, killed seven foreign hostages, including a UK national, after accusing British and Nigerian forces of launching an operation to free them. The government's main problem is that its intelligence agencies have largely failed to infiltrate Boko Haram - if anything, the group has been more successful in infiltrating official agencies. So the chances of the government having much inside information on the group's activities are slim.
Nigeria has accepted help from the US, China, UK, France and Israel to deal with the crisis. Some of them have sent specialist teams, including hostage negotiators and soldiers. Aerial reconnaissance and satellites are not as helpful as they could be because of the region's rugged and dense terrain.
Profile: Who are Nigeria's Ansaru militants?
Nigeria abductions: 'My family is crying and grieving'
It is thought that they are in the Sambisa forest, Boko Haram's main hide-out near the Cameroonian border. It is not clear whether all of them are in one place or they are with different groups of militants, scattered across the forest.
Mr Zenn says it could take more than a decade to free all of them. He draws parallels with Uganda, where the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group, which is fighting for a biblical state, specialises in kidnapping children, using them as soldiers, sex-slaves and servants. LRA abductors roam with the children through dense bush and across porous borders. Some manage to escape; others are released as part of peace initiatives, while many others remain in captivity all their lives.
Survivors of Uganda's LRA insurgency
Fifty-eight children have escaped, some of them by jumping off trucks in which they were being transported after some 200 gunmen captured them at the school. "We ran into the bush and waited until daybreak before we went back home," one girl told the BBC.
Associated Press news agency reported that an intermediary is in contact with the abductors. It reported that two children had died of snakebites and 11 were ill. But just how many are still in captivity is unclear. Children from neighbouring areas had been at the school to write their exams when Boko Haram carried out its offensive. School records were burnt during the attack, making it difficult to establish, officials say, how many were taken away. Officials also say more children may have escaped, with their families failing to report their return to the authorities.
Women tell of Boko Haram escape
With outrage. Nigeria is heavily split along religious and ethnic lines, but all the main groups have united to put pressure on the government to secure their release. Protests have been organised over social media using the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls. President Goodluck Jonathan's critics says the government has handled the crisis badly, and he should step down rather than run for another term in elections next year. His allies respond that the abductions took place in an opposition-controlled state, and the abductions reflect more badly on the opposition than the federal government.
Nigeria leader under pressure over abducted schoolgirls
Nigeria school abduction sparks social media campaign
President Jonathan imposed a state of emergency in the three insurgency-hit states, Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, in May 2013, but Boko Haram has retaliated by stepping up attacks and the insurgency has entered its bloodiest phase. More than 1,500 have died this year alone in the violence. Government troops say they are poorly resourced and do not have the firepower to rival Boko Haram.
Not only does the group operate like a guerrilla movement, but it also resembles an army with ground forces. Hundreds of its fighters have marched into villages, backed by pick-up trucks and armoured vehicles mounted with machine guns. So it has a military arsenal usually found in a national army. No-one knows how many fighters it has but the number is likely to run into the thousands.
Did Nigerian splits help Boko Haram?
It is not clear where Boko Haram gets its weapons or financing - it may have made money from its recent kidnapping of foreigners and from looting banks. The government suspects it is backed by certain politicians and disloyal security officers - and it has forged ties with jihadi groups such as al-Shabab in Somalia and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
Although some dispute this, the increasingly sophisticated nature of its attacks - including bombings and assassinations - suggest that it has received foreign training. There are also unconfirmed reports that it recruits poor people from neighbouring states, including Chad and Niger, and pays them to fight.
Somalia's al-Shabab: Striking like mosquitoes
Niger hit by Nigeria's Boko Haram fallout
Nigeria is Africa's largest economy and one of the world's biggest oil producers, but the mainly Muslim north-east of the country is relatively undeveloped compared to other areas. Now money that should be spent on infrastructure is being spent on a burgeoning security budget and on rebuilding homes destroyed in militant attacks.
The government says the insurgency has displaced about 250,000 people since the beginning of the year and more than three million people are facing a humanitarian crisis.
Boko Haram has carried out mass attacks on villages, killing, looting and torching buildings in both Muslim and Christian communities. It has also raided markets in small towns for food, banks for money and police stations for guns.
Boko Haram's grip on Maiduguri
It was popular in the northern city of Maiduguri, its birthplace, when it emerged in 2002 as a religious sect, capitalising on public anger over corruption, poverty and perceptions that the north is marginalised by the federal government. However, it lost support after it took a more militant path by assassinating moderate Muslim leaders, and bombing churches and other public places.
Now, it is said to draw its fighters mainly from the Kanuri ethnic group to which Mr Shekau, its leader, belongs. He is far more militant then his predecessor, Muhammad Yusuf, who was killed by the security forces in 2009. The US has offered a reward of up to $7m for information about Mr Shekau's location. He is presently the most wanted man in Africa.
Profile: Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau
Nigeria profile
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649a9b84a0a458513a8d6de59c6c22a4 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-27417778 | Nigeria soldiers 'fire at army commander in Maiduguri' | Nigeria soldiers 'fire at army commander in Maiduguri'
Soldiers in Nigeria have opened fire on their commander in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri, witnesses say.
Maj-Gen Ahmed Mohammed escaped unhurt after soldiers shot at his car at the Maimalari barracks, the sources said.
The soldiers blamed him for the killing of their colleagues in an ambush by suspected Boko Haram militants.
Meanwhile, Nigeria's president has ruled out freeing Boko Haram prisoners in exchange for the release of more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls.
A government minister had earlier said authorities were ready to negotiate with Boko Haram, but President Goodluck Jonathan insisted on Wednesday that this was out of the question.
"He made it very clear that there will be no negotiation with Boko Haram that involves a swap of abducted schoolgirls for prisoners," said British Africa Minister Mark Simmonds after meeting Mr Jonathan in the capital, Abuja, to discuss an international recue mission for the girls.
Their kidnapping in Borno state on 14 April has caused international outrage, and foreign teams of experts are in the country to assist the security forces in tracking them down.
Army spokesman Maj-Gen Chris Olukolade described the incident in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, as an internal matter and said there was no need for public concern.
But the shooting shows that morale within the army is low as it battles Boko Haram, says BBC Nigeria analyst Naziru Mikailu.
Analysis: Why Nigeria has not defeated Boko Haram
The Islamist group has stepped up its insurgency, despite a year of emergency rule in Borno and its neighbouring state of Adamawa and Yobe.
President Jonathan has asked parliament to extend the emergency for another six months.
According to sources who were inside the Maimalari barracks, the soldiers accused Maj-Gen Mohammed of putting their lives and the lives of their families at risk by failing to ensure that they were well-equipped to tackle Boko Haram.
They also alleged that the military top brass had failed to give them a promised special allowance for fighting on the front line, they told the BBC Hausa service.
Colleagues of the protesting soldiers were killed in an ambush while driving back on Tuesday from Chibok town, from where Boko Haram abducted the schoolgirls a month ago.
UK Prime Minster David Cameron has offered to send a spy plane to Nigeria to help in the hunt
.
Meanwhile, residents of three villages in Borno repelled an attack by suspected Boko Haram fighters on Tuesday, an eyewitness told the BBC.
About 200 militants were killed during the fighting in the Kala-Balge district of Borno state, he said.
The witness, who asked not to be named because of security concerns, said the residents had formed a vigilante group.
Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden" in the local Hausa language, is notorious for raiding towns and villages, burning homes, looting banks and police stations, and killing people.
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6840e79325f975c0468518feaec32cf8 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-27492354?xtor=AL-72-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Byahoo.north.america%5D-%5Blink%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D | Khalifa Haftar: The Libyan general with big ambitions | Khalifa Haftar: The Libyan general with big ambitions
Khalifa Haftar has been part of the Libyan political scene for more than four decades, shifting from the centre to the periphery and back again as his fortunes changed.
On 4 April he ordered his Libyan National Army (LNA) to advance to the capital, Tripoli, where the internationally recognised government is based. The LNA says its aim is to restore security and fight armed gangs and "terrorism".
The push comes months after the LNA made advances elsewhere in Libya, a situation likely to have spurred Mr Haftar on to seek military control of the whole country.
Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj of the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) has vowed to defend Tripoli, accusing Mr Haftar - who is popular in the city of Benghazi for his role in driving out Islamists - of launching a coup.
The offensive by Mr Haftar, who has his powerbase in the east of the country where he is allied to a rival government, comes amidst UN-led plans for talks to help facilitate the delayed general elections which were to be held last year.
Born in 1943 in the eastern town of Ajdabiya, Mr Haftar was one of the group of officers led by Col Muammar Gaddafi which seized power from King Idris in 1969.
Gaddafi put Mr Haftar - recently promoted to field marshal - in charge of the Libyan forces involved in the conflict in Chad in the 1980s. This proved to be his downfall, as Libya was defeated by the French-backed Chadian forces, and Mr Haftar and 300 of his men were captured by the Chadians in 1987.
Having previously denied the presence of Libyan troops in the country, Gaddafi disowned him. This led Mr Haftar to devote the next two decades towards toppling the Libyan leader.
He did this from exile in the US state of Virginia. His proximity to the CIA's headquarters in Langley hinted at a close relationship with US intelligence services, who gave their backing to several attempts to assassinate Gaddafi.
After the start of the uprising against Gaddafi in 2011, Mr Haftar returned to Libya, where he became a key commander of the makeshift rebel force in the east.
With Gaddafi's downfall, Mr Haftar faded into obscurity until February 2014, when he outlined on TV his plan to save the nation and called on Libyans to rise up against the elected parliament, the General National Congress (GNC), whose mandate was still valid at the time.
His dramatic announcement was made at a time when Libya's second city, Benghazi, and other towns in the east had in effect been taken over by the local al-Qaeda affiliate, Ansar al-Sharia, and other Islamist groups who mounted a campaign of assassinations and bombings targeting the military, police personnel and other public servants.
Although Mr Haftar did not have the financial capacity to put his plan into action, his announcement reflected popular sentiment, especially in Benghazi, which had become disenchanted with the total failure of the GNC and its government to confront the Islamists.
In May 2014 Mr Haftar launched Operation Dignity against Islamist militants in Benghazi and the east. In March 2015 Libya's elected parliament, the House of Representatives (HoR) - which had replaced the GNC - appointed him commander of the LNA.
After a year of little progress, in February 2016 the LNA pushed the Islamist militants out of much of Benghazi. By mid-April this had been followed up by further military action that dislodged the Islamists from their strongholds outside Benghazi and as far as Derna, 250km (155 miles) east of Benghazi.
The HoR appointed him from lieutenant general to field marshal after he helped secure key oil terminals known locally as the Oil Crescent.
Mr Haftar's popularity is not necessarily shared elsewhere in the country where he is remembered more for his past association with Gaddafi and his subsequent US connections. He is also detested by Islamists who resent him for confronting them in Benghazi and elsewhere in the east.
The LNA, however, is likely to have gambled on local groups in Tripoli to come out in support of its latest operation to seize the capital. But an umbrella group of the city's most powerful militias, affiliated to the GNA, launched a counter-attack hours after the LNA announcement.
Before the latest offensive Mr Haftar was in Saudi Arabia where he met King Salman, leading to speculation that he was backing the Libyan general.
Egypt and the United Arab Emirates have also been named as supporters of Mr Haftar.
France has also provided tacit backing for Mr Haftar, which has resulted in a public falling out with Italy, which supports the UN-backed government.
The two European countries see Libya as a key partner in stopping the wave of migration from sub-Saharan Africa.
France, for example, carried out unprecedented air strikes on the LNA's biggest opponents - Chadian opposition fighters - in the midst of battles in the south.
"Haftar has understood that migration for him is what the Islamic State is for the Kurds" - the key to international legitimacy,"
Mattia Toaldo, senior policy fellow at London's European Council on Foreign Relations, told Foreign Affairs magazine.
Russia, which has long stressed it deals equally with Libya's rivals, has expressed concern over airstrikes against the LNA during its latest offensive. And US Secretary of State Pompeo said the US was "deeply concerned about fighting near Tripoli" and stressed the need for talks.
While Mr Haftar has been ambiguous about his own political ambition, it is likely that this is confined to a key role for himself in the new army under the national unity government and, more generally, for the LNA in the new armed forces.
BBC Monitoring
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366f7c7a38bfe08f779b925b2086f856 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-27611802 | Niger sees first slavery conviction over 'fifth wife' | Niger sees first slavery conviction over 'fifth wife'
A man has been sentenced to four years in jail in Niger in the first ever conviction for slavery in the country.
The pressure group Anti-Slavery International told the BBC the 63-year-old man was convicted of having what is known as a "fifth wife".
Men in Niger are allowed to have four wives under a local interpretation of Islamic law.
With a "fifth wife", no marriage takes place and the woman is treated solely as property.
Niger officially banned slavery in 2003 but anti-slavery organisations say thousands of people still live in subjugation.
The conviction took place in the town of Birnin Konni in south-west Niger, close to the border with Nigeria.
Anti-Slavery International
says "fifth wives" are often girls of slave descent sold to wealthy men who view the purchase of young women as a sign of prestige.
The women face a lifetime of physical and psychological abuse and forced labour, the group says.
The case was taken to court by Anti-Slavery's partners in Niger, Timidria.
Sarah Mathewson, Africa Programme Co-ordinator at Anti-Slavery International, said it was "incredible" to achieve a conviction.
"It's been over 10 years since the law against slavery was passed in Niger and we've worked since then to bring perpetrators of slavery to justice," she said.
"We hope that this judgment will serve as a catalyst for more prosecutions, as we are pursuing many other cases before the courts."
In a landmark case in 2008, the West African regional body Ecowas found Niger's government guilty of failing to protect a woman from slavery. It ordered the government to pay compensation to the victim.
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5f75b4dc9d2f637e9dd2e3d5f7450a10 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-27662890 | Rape 'routine' in DR Congo prisons | Rape 'routine' in DR Congo prisons
Security officials "routinely" rape women in prisons in DR Congo as punishment for their political activities, a UK-based charity says.
Freedom From Torture said medical reports of 34 women showed many of them had been brutally gang-raped.
The women - who included traders and professionals aged between 18 and 62 - are seeking asylum in the UK.
Democratic Republic of Congo government spokesman Lambert Mende told the BBC the report lacked credibility.
It did not contain enough facts and details, he said.
Two Congolese human rights groups told the BBC they had not received any reports of political rape in the country's prisons, although they said it might happen in secret detention centres.
In its report, Freedom From Torture said
one woman was arrested and raped after organising a protest against sexual violence.
The group's Dr Juliet Cohen told the BBC: "There are some striking consistencies in the experiences of sexual violence and torture of the women in this report which strongly suggests that this horrific abuse is being routinely carried out in prisons in the DRC."
DR Congo is often dubbed the "rape capital of the world", with rights groups saying that rape and sexual violence has become a weapon of war since conflict broke out in the early 1990s in the east of the country.
In May, two soldiers were convicted of rape by a military court.
Freedom From Torture said women were raped by security force members to stop "women speaking out about politics, human rights and, in some cases, rape itself".
It says women were abused at several locations in the capital, Kinshasa 1,500 km (1,000 miles) from the conflict zones.
One woman, named as Faith in the report, said security agents raided her home in early 2013 after she organised an anti-rape protest in the province of Bas Congo, west of Kinshasa.
"One of them said: 'You are talking about rape, now we'll show you what rape means'. They raped my niece in front of us. Then they took me to prison," she is quoted as saying in the report.
"Now I know, because I have been there, that it is normal for women to be sexually abused in prison," she said.
"The soldiers and the prison guards, they don't see women as human beings, they don't see any value in women. I can't even remember how many times I was raped."
Since her arrival in the UK, Faith has been admitted to hospital, Freedom From Torture said.
"She suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression and she no longer likes being around other people," it added.
Josephine Mfulu-Batonda, who has monitored human rights abuses in prisons for several years for the organisation ACIDH, told the BBC's Maud Jullien that, in the past year, eight of the 100 women in Kinshasa's main prison, Makala, had reported being sexually abused but these were not political detainees.
Makala is one of the places where Freedom From Torture documented political rape.
Ms Mfulu-Batonda said it was common for prison staff and other inmates to force female prisoners into prostitution and to share the profit.
La Voix des Sans Voix (Voice of the Voiceless) works closely with inmates of visits Kinshasa's main prison and says it hasn't had any reports of rape there since 2006.
The group's Rostin Manketa says if there were any cases of female activists being raped as a result of their political activity, this would be an extremely serious issue and they would have reported it.
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6432fda6475c30732757c7ce9d52474e | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-28374679 | Nigeria's Boko Haram crisis: 'Many dead' in Damboa | Nigeria's Boko Haram crisis: 'Many dead' in Damboa
Many people are feared dead after suspected Boko Haram Islamist gunmen attacked a town in north-east Nigeria.
Eyewitnesses told the BBC that half of Damboa had been burnt down, including the town's main market.
At least 18 bodies so far have been recovered from the attack, which lasted for several hours. The death toll is expected to rise, residents say.
Boko Haram's violent campaign to establish an Islamic state has killed thousands of people in recent years.
In April, it sparked international outrage by abducting more than 200 girls from their boarding school in Chibok, in Borno state, like Damboa.
Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden", has often targeted schools since it launched its insurgency in 2009.
Borno state governor Kashim Shettima on Thursday said that 176 teachers had been killed and 900 schools destroyed since 2011.
Damboa, 85km (53 miles) from the state capital Maiduguri, is now said to be deserted as many people have fled to neighbouring towns.
"Those who could not flee surrendered and were killed by the insurgents," a local official, who did not want to be named, told the AFP news agency.
Boko Haram attacked the barracks in the town two weeks ago, killing several soldiers.
Nigeria's defence ministry said the military had repelled that attack and killed at least 50 insurgents.
But residents say that since then the town has only been defended by vigilante groups.
"We were defenceless because all the security personnel, including soldiers and policemen, have withdrawn," resident Ahmed Buba told AFP.
On Tuesday, Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan asked the National Assembly for an extra $1bn to help the military fight Boko Haram.
But the parliamentarians have now gone on a two-month recess without debating the request.
Nigeria's soldiers have frequently complained that the insurgents have superior firepower.
Nigeria has a military budget of about $6bn a year but large sums are lost to corruption, critics say.
The US, UK, China, France and Israel have all sent military assistance to help rescue the schoolgirls.
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5db52f6518f3dedabf59d7185f43a74f | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-28461875 | Central African Republic's road to anarchy | Central African Republic's road to anarchy
On a map, the RN (Route Nationale) 2 looks like a rather important highway linking the central town of Sibut with the entire eastern half of the Central African Republic (CAR) and beyond.
If you want to drive from the capital, Bangui, towards South Sudan, Uganda and the Indian Ocean, then the RN2 is your only option - a vital artery for commerce and migration that runs through valleys and forests, past gold and diamond mines and dozens of major towns as it forges eastwards just north of the equator and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The reality is rather more underwhelming. A sow and two piglets interrupted our journey east of Sibut. We'd covered about 60km (37 miles) in three hours, grinding along a rutted dirt track hemmed in by thick forests and head-high grass.
The pigs - sensibly avoiding the deeper ponds swamping the road - were frolicking in one of the smaller, rain-filled potholes that marked the path ahead like glistening brown cats-eyes.
Our car slid to another shuddering stop - spare tyres piled on the roof rack - and the pigs heaved themselves out of their afternoon bath and disappeared into the grass.
The state of the RN2 is a reminder of the poverty and uneven development that has blighted this mineral-rich nation for decades.
But it also helps to explain how the horrors currently taking place in this isolated region can remain almost completely hidden from the outside world. "Horrors" is not an exaggeration.
I'm writing this in diary form, as we push further east towards the town of Bambari, where thousands of families are seeking shelter from a new surge of violence.
Doctors in Bambari have already told me by phone that the local hospital is being overwhelmed with civilian casualties, as surrounding villages are burned and Christian and Muslim communities turn on each other once again.
But first we have to negotiate another 100km on the RN2.
We'd been warned before we set off about "les coupeurs de routes" - the road-blocking bandits, who have taken to looting the handful of aid vehicles that venture east towards towns like Grimari.
And sure enough, we're waved down in one roadside village after another by men armed with homemade rifles and machetes.
The anti-Balaka are mainly Christian self-defence groups that emerged across much of the country last year in response to the brutal attacks of the largely Muslim Seleka rebels who briefly seized power in CAR.
Source:
Index Mundi
In theory, the conflict is now winding down as African Union, French and European Union peacekeepers intervene, a larger UN force prepares to replace them, an interim president pushes for new elections, and peace negotiations have this week finally produced promises of a ceasefire.
But in practice, while the capital, Bangui, may be relatively calm, much of the countryside remains in a state of seething anarchy, with far too few foreign troops available to fill the power vacuum.
"I'm pessimistic about the countryside. It's extremely volatile - and very hard for humanitarians to access. We've seen increased banditry on the roads," Claire Bourgeois, the United Nations' Humanitarian Coordinator, told me before we left Bangui.
"Cigarettes? A gift? Something to eat?" said one anti-Balaka fighter - a teenage boy with a machete tucked inside his belt - as we paused in front of another tree branch dragged across the road near Grimari.
Fortunately for us, the fighters seemed content with the cheap cigarettes we'd stocked up on for just such encounters, and were more interested in telling us about the marauding ex-Seleka fighters they had killed on the road two days earlier. So we continued unscathed towards Bambari.
It is clear though that in CAR - as in so many other conflicts - the lines between soldier and bandit have blurred and that all sides are targeting civilians.
As night fell we arrived at Grimari, 120km from Sibut. A lone French Foreign Legionnaire, standing beside two military patrol vehicles, checked our papers and waved us on.
"There's nothing here. You could try the Catholic church," he said, gesturing towards the dark woods ahead.
Sure enough, Father Sylvain graciously let us camp on his porch, and we woke the next morning to the competing sounds of roosters, an early morning Mass, and some 6,000 displaced civilians who had recently congregated in the church compound to seek safety.
Ordinarily, we would have stopped to talk. But we knew worse was ahead - that the rains and the "coupeurs de routes" could block us at any moment - and so we got back on the RN2 for the last 80km to Bambari.
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884e3d9e827b896d31e3a17c22a31a38 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-28650035 | Ebola crisis: Nigeria records second case in Lagos | Ebola crisis: Nigeria records second case in Lagos
Nigeria has recorded its second Ebola case - that of one of the doctors who treated a man who died from the virus after his arrival from Liberia.
The health minister said a further eight people who came into contact with him have been placed in quarantine.
This year's outbreak, the worst ever, has centred on Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, killing 887 people.
New figures from the UN show that between 31 July and 1 August, 61 deaths were reported.
Meanwhile, Liberia has ordered that the bodies of people killed by the Ebola virus must be cremated following the refusal of some communities to allow the burial of Ebola victims on their land.
The virus spreads by contact with infected blood and bodily fluids - and touching the body of someone who has died of Ebola is particularly dangerous.
Health experts say burial ceremonies have played a role in the transmission of the virus.
The evacuation of the second US health worker to become infected in Liberia
is expected early on Tuesday morning
.
Nancy Writebol will be flown to Atlanta in the US to a special isolation ward at Emory University Hospital, where Dr Kent Brantly, who arrived from Liberia on Saturday, is being treated by infectious disease specialists.
Nigeria's Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said that in total 70 people were traced who had come into contact with the man who died there, Patrick Sawyer.
Sawyer, an employee of the Liberian finance ministry, had arrived by plane in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, from Monrovia after changing planes in Togo's capital, Lome, on 20 July.
He was immediately taken to hospital in Lagos and died five days later in quarantine.
On Friday, Margaret Chan, head of the World Health Organization, met the leaders of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to launch a new $100m (£59m) Ebola response plan.
According to the UN, more than 60 of the Ebola deaths so far have been health care workers.
There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola - but patients have a better chance of survival if they receive early treatment.
The current outbreak is killing between 50% and 60% of people infected.
Initial flu-like symptoms can lead to external haemorrhaging from areas like eyes and gums, and internal bleeding which can lead to organ failure.
In Sierra Leone, the army is in the process of deploying about 750 troops to the east of the country to help health officials quarantine areas affected by Ebola.
Code-named Operation Octopus, the deployment, which includes military doctors and nurses, began on Sunday and is expected to take three days.
Meanwhile, Sierra Leoneans did not go to work on Monday and the capital, Freetown, is eerily quiet, the BBC's Umara Fofana reports from the city.
They are observing a "national stay-at-home day" called by the president so that all citizens can pray to help end the crisis and educate one another about the disease, he says.
And the country's football association
has suspended all football matches because of the outbreak until further notice.
According to new UN figures on the West Africa Ebola outbreak
, over two days last week, there were 13 new cases reported in Guinea, 77 in Liberia, and 72 cases in Sierra Leone.
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fcc8ee2b4f7b1bf3b4bf1d98ba254213 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-28702356 | WHO: Ebola 'an international emergency' | WHO: Ebola 'an international emergency'
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said the spread of Ebola in West Africa is an international health emergency.
WHO officials said a co-ordinated response was essential to stop and reverse the spread of the virus.
In Nigeria, one of the latest countries to be affected, President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a national state of emergency.
More than 960 people have died from Ebola in West Africa this year, two of them in Nigeria, the WHO says.
There were 68 new cases and 29 deaths reported over the course of two days this week, the United Nations health agency revealed on Friday.
It brings the total number of cases to 1,779.
There were 26 new cases in Sierra Leone and 38 in Liberia, but no new cases in Guinea, where the outbreak began.
The WHO said the outbreak was an "extraordinary event".
"The possible consequences of further international spread are particularly serious in view of the virulence of the virus," it said after the meeting.
WHO director-general Dr Margaret Chan appealed for help for the countries hit by the "most complex outbreak in the four decades of this disease".
She said there would be no general ban on international travel or trade.
A fifth year medical student in Guinea tells the BBC French Service about how she is being shunned since recovering from Ebola which she caught whilst working as an intern at a clinic in March:
We are stigmatised - you know when they look at us like that, even in my own family people are rejecting me. I live with my uncle - my parents are in the village. In the house I eat alone. I feel lonely.
When I felt better, I started going back to medical school. Many distanced themselves from me. Four of us used to sit together, but I ended up sitting by myself.
The treatment centre gave me a certificate showing I had been healed. I showed it to my teachers as I'd missed some assessments while sick. But I haven't done the two exams. The head of department told me to stay at home and get treated. I can't even get an internship.
However, states should be prepared to detect, investigate and manage Ebola cases, including at airports, she said.
States of emergency are in place in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Other WHO recommendations include:
The decision by the WHO to declare Ebola a public health emergency is, by its own definition, an "extraordinary event" which marks "a public health risk to other states through the international spread of disease".
The WHO has declared emergencies only twice in recent years - swine flu in 2009 and polio in May. Although the recommendations stop short of international flight and trade restrictions, they have symbolic significance. The measures are designed to "galvanise the attention of leaders of countries at a top level," says director-general Dr Margaret Chan.
According to Dr Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, the recommendations will help provide global leadership. While Ebola continues to pose a very serious health threat for people in West Africa, it remains "very unlikely that the outbreak will turn into a global pandemic", he says.
Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's head of health security, said that with the right steps and measures to deal with infected people, Ebola's spread could be stopped.
"This is not a mysterious disease. This is an infectious disease that can be contained," he said. "It is not a virus that is spread through the air."
Prof David Heymann of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said the recommendations were "comprehensive and evidence-based".
Prof Tom Solomon, of the UK's NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections, welcomed the emphasis on outbreak control in local areas, including the use of full personal protective equipment (gowns, masks, gloves and goggles) with proper training.
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b8ebd766a883685fe6f6a38fedfd231b | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-29348295 | Profile: Herve Gourdel | Profile: Herve Gourdel
French tourist Herve Gourdel, who has been beheaded by Algerian militant group Jund al-Khilafa following his abduction in the north-east Kabylie region, was a 55-year-old qualified mountain guide.
He was once quoted as saying he had two passions in life: travel and photography.
"I was born in Nice in 1959 and soon discovered the mountain in Mercantour (in the French Alps) with my father and walked the first peaks. So I've had one desire: to return as often as possible," he told France's Le Monde newspaper.
He said he was simply lucky that his qualifications allowed him to "earn a living away from the offices", climbing and skiing.
For years he had trained mountain guides in Morocco, Nepal and Jordan and other places - depending where his clients wanted him to go. He had also visited Algeria several times, according to his friends.
But they say Mr Gourdel had always tried to combine his love for mountains with photography.
"He is mad about mountains and never travels without his camera," Mr Gourdel's friend Elisabeth was quoted as saying by the Aujourd'hui en France daily.
"He is a very nice man, who loves nature and is passionate about his work," Manea, one of Mr Gourdel's photoshoot models, told the newspaper.
"He is adorable, a bit hyperactive. He is the first amateur photographer who enabled me to launch myself as an amateur model," she added.
His friends say he went to Algeria for a hiking holiday and also to explore a new climbing route.
Mr Gourdel was married and had two grown-up children, French media say.
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a052250662084f486285d25531f7f485 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-29680934 | Liberia's Ellen Johnson Sirleaf urges world help on Ebola | Liberia's Ellen Johnson Sirleaf urges world help on Ebola
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf says the whole world has a stake in the fight against Ebola.
In a "letter to the world" broadcast on the BBC, she said the disease "respects no borders", and that every country had to do all it could to help fight it.
President Johnson Sirleaf added that a generation of Africans were at risk of "being lost to economic catastrophe".
The Ebola outbreak has killed more than 4,500 people across West Africa, including 2,200 in Liberia.
International donations have so far fallen well short of the amounts requested by UN agencies and aid organisations.
In the worst-affected countries - Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone - about 9,000 people have been found to have the Ebola virus, which kills an estimated 70% of those infected.
Fragile states
The letter, commissioned by the BBC and
read out on the World Service's Newshour programme
, starts with the words "Dear World".
She goes on to say that the fight against Ebola "requires a commitment from every nation that has the capacity to help - whether that is with emergency funds, medical supplies or clinical expertise".
"We all have a stake in the battle against Ebola," she says. "It is the duty of all of us, as global citizens, to send a message that we will not leave millions of West Africans to fend for themselves."
She said it was not a coincidence that Ebola had taken hold in "three fragile states... all battling to overcome the effects of interconnected wars".
Liberia, she noted, had about 3,000 qualified doctors at the start of the civil war in the late 1980s - and by its end in 2003 it had just three dozen.
"Ebola is not just a health crisis," she added. "Across West Africa a generation of young people risk being lost to an economic catastrophe."
The latest crisis in West Africa is the worst-ever Ebola outbreak.
The virus spreads between humans by direct contact with infected blood, bodily fluids or organs, or indirectly through contact with contaminated environments.
Donors have given almost $400m (£250m) to UN agencies and aid organisations, short of the $988m requested.
Separately, the UN has also appealed for donations to a $1bn Ebola trust fund, intended to act as a flexible source of back-up money to contain the disease.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon said on Friday that the fund, which was launched in September, had received just $100,000 (£62,000) in donations so far.
Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan told the BBC he was "bitterly disappointed" with the international community's response.
"If the crisis had hit some other region it probably would have been handled very differently," he said in a BBC interview.
How not to catch Ebola
:
Ebola basics: What you need to know
How Ebola attacks
What virus has hit - in maps
Uncertainty over figures
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1c868852a22ed93dd61fd0ca2cbdbbcf | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-29762713 | Rwanda suspends BBC broadcasts over genocide film | Rwanda suspends BBC broadcasts over genocide film
Rwanda has suspended BBC broadcasts in the Kinyarwanda language with immediate effect because of a film questioning official accounts of the 1994 genocide.
The Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (Rura) said it had received complaints from the public of incitement, hatred, revisionism and genocide denial.
At least 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus died in the genocide.
The BBC has denied that any part of the programme constitutes a "denial of the genocide against the Tutsi".
On Wednesday, Rwandan MPs approved a resolution calling on the government to ban the BBC and to charge the documentary-makers with genocide denial, which is a crime in the country.
Those killed in the genocide are generally believed to be mostly members of the minority ethnic Tutsi group, and Hutus opposed to the mass slaughter.
The BBC programme Rwanda, The Untold Story, includes interviews with US-based researchers who say most of those killed may have been Hutus, killed by members of the then-rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which has been in power since 1994.
The programme also included interviews with former aides of RPF leader President Paul Kagame, accusing him of plotting to shoot down the presidential plane - the act seen as triggering the slaughter.
He has consistently denied previous such accusations.
Rura said it had established a commission of inquiry to investigate the allegations it had received about the programme, after which further action may be taken.
The cabinet is meeting next week to discuss parliament's recommendations.
The BBC broadcasts affected by the suspension are produced by the BBC Great Lakes service, which was initially set up in the aftermath of the genocide as a lifeline service.
Its first broadcast - BBC Gahuzamiryango, meaning "the unifier of families" - was a 15-minute transmission aimed at bringing together families who had been separated.
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f4611a70097f12f60c42cf57c830b139 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-30138998 | Tunisia police rape: 'Meriem' attackers' sentences doubled | Tunisia police rape: 'Meriem' attackers' sentences doubled
Two Tunisian policeman convicted of raping a woman in a police car have had their sentences more than doubled in a high-profile court case.
The officers were jailed for seven years in March, drawing accusations of leniency.
The sentences were extended to 15 years on Thursday after an appeal by the victim, known as Meriem Ben Mohamed.
Her lawyer described the verdict as "a great step forward" in the way rape cases are prosecuted in Tunisia.
She told the AFP news agency she was "satisfied" the penalty had been toughened.
"But it's still not enough, in my view, for the filthy crimes which they committed," she said.
Speaking to AFP, defence lawyer Sami Rebai described the sentences as "excessive", without saying if the policemen would appeal to a higher court.
Meriem Ben Mohamed was attacked in 2012 after officers stopped her in a car with her boyfriend in a suburb of the capital, Tunis. She was 27 at the time.
The accused policemen denied the charges, saying they found the couple in an "immoral position".
Officials originally tried to prosecute the couple for indecency, triggering angry protests and a campaign in support of the victim.
It prompted Tunisia's President Moncef Marzouki to offer Meriem a state apology.
A third officer, who tried to extort money from Meriem's boyfriend at a bank cash machine, had his two-year prison sentence upheld on Thursday.
A psychologist's report seen by AFP said the ordeal caused Meriem to suffer "depression aggravating a state of post-traumatic stress".
The case comes amid renewed focus on women's rights following the 2011 uprising that toppled long-time ruler Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali from power.
Secular Tunisians, especially women, are worried about the growing influence of ultra-conservative Islamists since the uprising.
A first round of voting in the country's presidential elections is due to take place on Sunday.
The polls will be the first since the country adopted a new constitution, which includes a clause guaranteeing gender equality in legislative assemblies and puts a burden on the state to protect women against violence.
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c4d2d0573b15c34ab1cf5637989f6229 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-30307333 | Grace Mugabe: Who is Zimbabwe's former first lady? | Grace Mugabe: Who is Zimbabwe's former first lady?
Zimbabwe's former first lady Grace Mugabe, a polarising figure, had for years been positioning herself as a potential successor to her 93-year-old husband Robert as president.
Once a quiet figure known for her shopping and her charity work, she became more high-profile in the ruling Zanu-PF party as the head of its women's league. She was instrumental in the ousting of several alternative potential successors to her husband's presidency.
However, she did not get the better of her main rival, former Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The former president accused him of disloyalty and sacked in early November 2017, but the subsequent chain of events undermined both the former president and former first lady. Members of the military seized state TV and put Mr Mugabe under house arrest.
Mr Mnangagwa was appointed leader of Zanu-PF on 19 November.
At 52, Mrs Mugabe is four decades younger than her 93-year-old husband, once the world's oldest ruler, who governed Zimbabwe from the end of white-minority rule in 1980 till his resignation was announced in November 2017.
Mrs Mugabe has always been a staunch supporter of her husband
- earlier this year she memorably said that he could even win votes as a corpse.
She has not denied wanting to take the helm of the country, and at a 2014 rally she said: "They say I want to be president. Why not? Am I not a Zimbabwean?"
Robert Mugabe - hero, or villain?
Political opponents had warned against a dynasty taking shape, and
Mrs Mugabe was criticised for seeking to use her diplomatic immunity when accused of assaulting a 20-year-old South African model
with an electrical plug. This was not the first time she had been accused of physical assault.
Along with her husband, Mrs Mugabe is subject to EU and US sanctions, including travel bans, imposed over the seizure of land and accusations of rigged elections and crackdowns on political opposition.
Former President Mugabe began wooing Grace Marufu while she was working as a young typist in the country's state house. The two began an affair while he was married to his terminally ill first wife, Sally.
"He came to me and started asking about my family," she said in a rare interview about their first encounter in the late 1980s.
"I looked at him as a father figure. I did not think he would at all look at me and say: 'I like that girl.' I least expected that."
Mr Mugabe has said Sally did give her consent to the union before she died in 1992 - though he did not marry Grace until four years later.
The couple have three children: Bona, Robert and Chatunga.
Occasionally referred to as "Gucci Grace", Mrs Mugabe has been criticised by some for an alleged appetite for extravagant shopping.
The former first family has vast properties, businesses and farms dotted around the country, mainly in the rich western and northern Mashonaland provinces.
Over the years, Mrs Mugabe has attempted to grow herself into a powerful businesswoman and sees herself as a philanthropist, founding an orphanage on a farm just outside the capital, Harare, with the help of Chinese funding.
She controversially earned a PhD in sociology from the University of Zimbabwe in just two months in 2014, although her thesis, unlike those of other students, was never filed and has never been made available.
Nevertheless, her doctorate title was used on campaign material as she prepared to take over the leadership of the Zanu-PF women's wing.
Since becoming more active in politics, she has become known for her sharp tongue and tough reputation. Pulling no punches while attacking political opponents, Mrs Mugabe often fiercely defends her husband.
She has been accused of washing the ruling party's dirty linen in public by calling on people to resign or apologise.
Mrs Mugabe spearheaded the ousting of a former ally, then-Vice-President Joice Mujuru, in 2014.
She said the vice-president should be sacked from government because she was "corrupt, an extortionist, incompetent, a gossiper, a liar and ungrateful", and accused her of collaborating with opposition forces and white people to undermine the country's post-independence gains.
A few months later, Mrs Mujuru was expelled from Zanu-PF. She remains a leader of the opposition National People's Party (NPP) and is spearheading a People's Rainbow Coalition (PRC), where she urged people to register to vote to prevent the perpetual rule of Mr Mugabe and his wife.
The new vice-president was Mr Mnangagwa, a former justice minister who Mrs Mugabe had called "loyal and disciplined". But by 2017, Mrs Mugabe was publicly calling on her husband to remove Mr Mnangagwa. She suggested that his supporters were planning a coup.
When he fell ill at a rally and had to be airlifted out of the country for treatment, his supporters blamed poison administered through ice cream from Mrs Mugabe's dairy farm, a suggestion she denied.
He later said he had been poisoned, but it was "false and malicious" to suggest it was at the hands of the former first lady.
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07d229f59833b25a592a9a520e750f65 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-30384481 | In pictures: Tanzanian acrobat school | In pictures: Tanzanian acrobat school
In Tanzania, it is not unusual to see children and adults performing acrobatic stunts in the streets. But where does the country's reputation as the home of Africa's best acrobats come from? The BBC's Rafael Estefania went to Dar es Salam to find out.
When Zimbabwean circus performer Winston Ruddel started a quest for circus talent for his world-renowned Mama Africa show, his first stop was the Tanzanian city, Dar es Salam. It was here that he later founded Mama Africa's acrobat school.
"It all started as a mistake," says Mr Ruddel. "I was offered a contract in Las Vegas for a circus show so I came to Tanzania to find youngsters with some good basics of acrobatics. We put a show together, but the Americans didn't like the boys. I had already promised them a contract so I started to look for jobs for them. In the end, we got so much work that I had to open an acrobats' school to meet the demand. It went from a small mistake to a big success."
One of those who has trained at the school, Selemani Mohamedi Nomondo, says: "I started doing contortion when I was three years old. If you start early enough your body adapts and your bones almost become flexible. It is not painful at all for me now. To be honest, it looks harder than it really is."
The Mama Africa show uses music as an integral part of performance and it is also used at the school during training. The drum is the heart of this, keeping acrobats' spirits high and being the base for all the choreography put together by the dancing group.
Rajab Zubwa says he was Tanzania's first acrobat. "I studied acrobatics for four years in China in the 1960s. Tanzania and China were close politically then so both governments created sport exchanges programmes," he says. "I benefited a lot from the great Chinese circus school and when I returned, I became a teacher of acrobats."
The Mama Africa show has now been performed in venues on five continents, including New York's Broadway. There are often several productions running at the same time, but it is not easy to be part of the show and only the most skilful graduates of the school make it onto the international stage.
Children are welcome at the Mama Africa school during weekends and school holidays. Teachers say the combination of skill, discipline, fun and danger make circus training an appealing activity for children.
Since the Mama Africa school opened in 2003 more than 300 students have graduated. Many have ended up working for the show's various productions. Others have joined circus companies around the world.
Conditions at the school are very basic. In spite of the acrobatic tradition in Tanzania, circus school programmes are not sponsored either by government or the private sector. Mr Ruddel's school is in the Magomeni neighbourhood of Dar es Salam, one of the poorest parts of the city. At the end of a hard day's training, the students get a plate of food.
"My name is Tumaini and I am Mama Africa's tailor. There is not a great tradition of big costumes in African shows as there is in Europe. Here we try to put real African dresses on the stage, using the colourful fabrics people wear in the street. This is real Africa not an unimaginable Africa."
"My name is Deborah Dixon and I am one of the few girl contortionists in the school. Most girls prefer to do the hula hoop or the dance routines because for some traditional families it is not right for their daughters to be spreading their legs and rolling on the floor. For me contortion is an art."
Ally Kibwana Ally says: "For me, getting involved with Mama Africa meant that I was able to make a living out of my skills. I have toured the world and learned a lot from my experiences abroad. I am now passing that knowledge to other students so they can have the same chances I had."
He adds: "The big difference between performers here and in other parts of the world is that here people enjoy what they do. We may not be as skilful and technical as the Chinese or Russian acrobats but we have a positive energy that really connects with audiences."
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f69ca058c949c80204e711f205710563 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-30512185 | Floating arsenals: The boats full of guns for hire against pirates | Floating arsenals: The boats full of guns for hire against pirates
The MNG Resolution may not immediately catch the eye but it is one of many floating arsenals, moored in the Gulf of Oman. The shipping container it is carrying is full of weapons, to be used by private security firms protecting ships from pirates. But as BBC Africa editor Mary Harper reports, these maritime armouries could be a security risk.
The explosion of piracy off the coast of Somalia, which reached its peak between 2008 and 2010, led to a similar explosion in the maritime security industry.
International naval patrols struggled to cope with the vast ocean area in which the pirates operated.
So, private companies, many of them British, stepped in to fill the gap by providing armed guards for merchant vessels. Somali piracy has reduced dramatically as a result.
But how to arm the private security guards, and how to store the weapons when they are not in use?
Initially, most weapons were stored in state-run, land-based armouries. But governments, such as that of Sri Lanka, became increasingly uneasy about having such large quantities of arms, ammunition, body armour, night-vision goggles and other military equipment on their territory.
And so the floating armouries were born. Tugs, patrol boats, de-mining craft and other vessels have been converted by private companies into floating arms stores.
Most are based in international waters around the edges of the Indian Ocean.
Some are based at either end of the so-called High Risk Area of the Indian Ocean so guards can easily collect and drop off their arms.
Private maritime security companies can, for a fee, keep their weapons on board, ready to be collected and transferred onto merchant vessels when required. Some floating armouries also offer weapons for hire.
"It's not the Hilton," said Mark Gray, a director of the British company MNG Maritime, who has a floating armoury in the Gulf of Oman.
"As well as storing their weapons, we provide hotel services for security guards who are between jobs. We have bunk beds in cabins, the kind of accommodation they were used to during their military careers. Plus two chefs, a gym on deck and the ever essential WiFi," he told the BBC.
It is difficult to obtain information about exactly how many floating armouries there are, how many weapons they store, and where the arms end up.
The UK government said in September 2014 it had granted licences for UK-registered security companies to use 31 floating armouries.
But as this only refers to facilities used by UK companies, the true number is probably higher.
Concern has been expressed about the lack of transparency, regulation and oversight of floating armouries.
A new report
commissioned from the Omega Research Foundation by the UK-based Remote Control Project, a body which examines the changing nature of warfare, has called for swift, co-ordinated international action.
Why we use floating arsenals: Gerry Northwood, MAST Ltd
Private maritime security firms use floating armouries in the Red Sea and off Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates so that commercial ships transiting the Gulf of Aden can embark and disembark armed security teams without incurring an expensive detour off their track.
For the ship owner, this is reliable and efficient, saving time and fuel.
From the perspective of the individual nation states sitting on the route that the vessels are following, the position of the armouries in international waters reduces the risk of storing so many weapons in one location.
Regulation of the security industry and armoury providers is important so that governments have the necessary reassurance that the weapons are accounted for and are being kept securely when stored in the vessels.
For companies like MAST Ltd, all our weapons are registered and licensed with UK authorities. The level of regulation that the UK government mandates ensures that at any time they can be confident the weapons are secure, and that the whereabouts of the weapons are known.
"Floating armouries with large ranges of weapons are operating without any kind of international agreement or control," says Paul Rogers of Bradford University, who is on the steering group of the project.
"The weapons could get into the wrong hands, and nobody would know, because there is often no inventory of what arms, ammunition and other equipment are on board."
As the armouries are moored in waters close to unstable states, such as Somalia and Yemen, there is a fear that pirates or al-Qaeda-linked groups could seize the weapons, hijack the vessels or blow them up.
Mark Gray of MNG Maritime insists that his floating armoury is properly secured and guarded.
"We have a licence from the UK government, which imposes strict controls. The weapons are overseen by our fully qualified ex-British military Class One armourer. We have sufficient armed personnel on board to fight off a swarming attack by terrorists," he says.
There have already been cases of floating armouries being detained by the authorities in India and the United Arab Emirates after reportedly straying into their territorial waters.
India has raised its concerns with the United Nations shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
In a document submitted on 19 August 2014, India said it stood "exposed and seriously threatened due to the presence of largely unregulated floating armouries with large amounts of undeclared weapons and ammunition".
The IMO's Maritime Safety Committee said that while it was "sympathetic to India's concerns" it "noted different views expressed by Member States on the legal implications of the proposals" and invited others to submit proposals for discussion in June 2015.
The Remote Control Project report says floating armouries operate in "legal grey areas", allowing unscrupulous companies to act with impunity.
It says 12 of the vessels used as armouries to store weapons licensed by the UK are flagged to blacklisted states, such as Mongolia, the Comoros and Sierra Leone.
These countries, it says, do not have proper safety and security regulations.
The UK government should immediately revoke permission for UK companies to store weapons on armouries registered to "black flag" states, the report says.
"There is nothing to stop any private vessel being turned into an armoury in international waters," it adds.
"If the flag state is a country with limited (or no) controls over the storing and transfer of military equipment, then such vessels may operate with no oversight whatsoever."
UK maritime lawyer Stephen Askins argues that too much regulation could push up costs and put security companies out of business.
"The status quo is working at the moment. There have been great improvements since the early days when anyone could just grab a vessel, an old tug or yacht, and store weapons in rooms that were not robust," he says.
"Most floating armouries are now run properly, particularly those subject to UK trade control licences. I don't see a scandal coming around the corner," Mr Askins adds.
There is a delicate balance to play in this new privatised world of maritime security. If stringent regulation makes it impossible for the more reputable companies to stay in business, it is possible the industry will go underground.
Maritime experts say some less responsible companies provide their guards with cheap weapons, which are thrown overboard once the job is completed.
But, as the Remote Control Project says, without more transparency and proper international oversight, the risks are significant, especially if the weapons on the floating armouries fall into the wrong hands.
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f7d290d51f863b8c56d7570411815874 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-30709581 | Dominic Ongwen - from child abductee to LRA rebel commander | Dominic Ongwen - from child abductee to LRA rebel commander
Known as the "White Ant", convicted war criminal Dominic Ongwen is estimated to have been between nine and 14 years old when he was abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) as he was walking to school in northern Uganda - going on over the next 27 years to become a ruthless rebel commander.
Warning: Some people may find details in this story upsetting
"It is a story of a child, like many in the LRA, forced to grow up in the image of their oppressors," campaign group LRA Crisis Tracker says.
Shortly after his abduction in 1987 or 1988, he tried to escape with three others and when they failed, he was forced to skin alive one of the other abductees as a warning, a psychiatrist at his war crimes trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague said.
"They skinned this person, removed his gut, and put it up on trees,"
Dickens Akena told the court
. "And he [Ongwen] said he wouldn't eat meat for two to three months."
Ongwen - whose surname means "born at the time of the white ant" - went on to rise rapidly in rebel ranks, becoming a brigadier by his late 20s after winning the confidence of LRA leader Joseph Kony, LRA Crisis Tracker says.
But he had a fractious relationship with the LRA warlord, managing to escape his clutches in 2015 when he surrendered - 10 years after he, Mr Kony and three other senior commanders had been indicted by the ICC.
He has now been found guilty of
61 of the 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity
committed between July 2002 and December 2005.
They relate to attacks on four camps, guarded by the security forces, set up for those forced to flee their homes because of rebel raids. He was also convicted of charges relating to sexual slavery and conscripting and using children under the age of 15 in hostilities.
Claiming to fight for a biblical state, the LRA has killed more than 100,000 people and kidnapped more than 60,000 children during the three-decade long conflict which spread to several of Uganda's neighbours.
Ongwen, who had pleaded not guilty, said he should have been regarded as a victim too, telling the court: "I'm one of the people against whom the LRA committed atrocities."
Described as a quiet and playful child, his uncle, Johnson Odong, a court witness, said Ongwen's parents were both dead within a month of his abduction - his mother allegedly bludgeoned by the rebels and his father mistaken for a rebel by the security forces.
Primary school teacher P'Atwoga Okello said in a defence witness statement that the boy enjoyed cultural dance classes "and other areas of the arts".
His teacher in the LRA was Vincent Otti, who went on to become Mr Kony's deputy, with whom he lived after his abduction,
according to academic Erin K Baines.
A good teacher could command fierce loyalty after indoctrinating captives through brutal beatings and rituals - followed by military training and looting raids, she says.
Ongwen was reportedly eager to please, but initially struggled with the demands of life on the hoof - the long distances travelled on foot, and one ICC witness said he had to be carried across big rivers.
In the mid-1990s he moved to what is now South Sudan from where the LRA conducted operations. By 2001 he was a field commander and he became known for replenishing forces through abduction raids in Uganda, Ms Baines says.
"[He] earned the reputation of being able to emerge from the bloodiest of battles with few casualties among his fighters," the Enough Project, another campaign group, says.
Dominic Ongwen at a glance:
Has Joseph Kony been defeated?
One former abductee called him "a tough fighter who was always on the move" - though with a limp from a bad leg injury.
During the trial, the prosecution presented LRA radio communications intercepted by Ugandan security agencies, showing how Mr Kony - who convinced his army of abductees that his "spirits" could read their minds - kept tight command and control over his battalions.
"Successful commanders were praised by Kony and other senior officers. I remember Dominic Ongwen, referred to as Odomi, frequently being singled out for praise,"
said a radio surveillance officer, whose identity was kept secret
.
But Ongwen also had a volatile relationship with Mr Kony, opposing the execution of Otti in 2007 after the two fell out amid stalled peace talks.
"LRA defectors report that Ongwen was the only commander who pleaded with Kony to spare Otti's life, a move that weakened his influence within the LRA," says LRA Crisis Tracker.
"However, Kony spared Ongwen from the subsequent purge of Otti loyalists due to Ongwen's value to the LRA, particularly his ability to lead troops on daring missions."
The peace initiative took place in a jungle clearing on the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo and what is now South Sudan - with incredible footage of the rebels interacting with mediators.
With his trademark dreadlocks and boyish looks, Ongwen is seen looking on cautiously at the proceedings, which observers say ultimately failed because of the refusal to withdraw the ICC's 2005 indictments.
For some - including his "bush wife", Florence Ayot - this was an injustice.
"Dominic used to tell us he was abducted when he was very young. Everything he did was in the name of Kony, so he's innocent," she told the BBC in 2008.
Granted amnesty after escaping from the LRA in 2005, she had been abducted as a nine-year-old and first became the "wife" of LRA commander Obwong Kijura, who had raped her at the age of 13.
After his death,
she told the ICC
she willingly became Ongwen's "wife" as the LRA leader would not allow women to live on their own.
She said he treated her son like his own children by his other three "wives" at the time and was never violent to her. They had two children together.
"I loved him because of the way he would live with people. He was not quarrelsome, and I felt it was good for me to go to him. There was nothing I disliked about him because I had not seen anything wrong he had done before… We lived happily together."
This jarred with testimony of seven others at the trial,
including witness P-227, another of Ongwen's "wives"
. Abducted in April 2005, she was allegedly forced to have sex with Ongwen a month later: "I started crying, I was screaming and my voice was really loud.
"He asked why I was crying; he told me if I continued crying - he showed me his gun… I felt like my whole body was being torn apart." She says she was repeatedly raped until her escape in 2010.
And escape was a dangerous endeavour - the LRA would threaten to destroy your village if you did so. According to Ms Ayot's testimony, she and Ongwen did plot to go in 2003, but their plan was discovered and her "husband" was placed "under arrest" by Otti for several weeks.
Some psychiatrists at the trial felt Ongwen was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and a dissociative identity disorder at the time of the attacks on the camps, when the prosecution said was he a battalion commander in the Sinia Brigade - becoming its overall commander in March 2004.
ICC prosecutors quote witness testimony as saying that on at least one occasion
he ordered his men "to kill, cook and eat civilians"
.
More than 4,000 victims have participated in the trial - represented by two legal teams - most of them former camp residents - and the trial has detailed the lives lost, destruction, abductions and psychological damage to these communities in northern Uganda.
With reports of his killing in 2005 proving to be untrue, Ongwen remained on the run for many more years as the rebels moved west into DR Congo and its other neighbours.
In 2013, the US - which had joined the hunt for LRA commanders - offered a $5m (£3.3m) reward for information leading to Ongwen's capture.
An LRA escapee alleged
that Mr Kony ordered that Ongwen be severely beaten for insubordination at the end of 2014.
In bad shape he eventually escaped from the LRA camp in Darfur, making it from Sudan to neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR), where he was taken into custody.
At the time he asked for forgiveness from the Ugandan people, but within 10 days he had been transferred to the ICC.
According to Justiceinfo.net
, during his pre-trial incarceration he seemed to enjoy his chance to pursue an education, including piano-lessons.
Though
he threatened suicide
and went on
hunger strike
in 2016 in rows over phone calls to his family - he had initially been barred from talking to his children.
Some argue that the trial has been a proxy prosecution of Mr Kony, whose rebel movement is much weaker these days but is still active outside Uganda.
Nonetheless two versions of Ongwen emerged during his trial: one of a brutal killer, the other of a traumatised child soldier who grew up to be a conflicted man.
His defence team argue he should now be sent home for local Acholi leaders to oversee justice through their traditional reconciliation rituals - as has been done with thousands of other fighters before him.
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a151d01ad27cf79c22f8514fbdf73204 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-30794831 | Tanzania bans witchdoctors over albino attacks | Tanzania bans witchdoctors over albino attacks
Tanzania has banned witchdoctors in a move intended to stop attacks on people with albinism.
Home Affairs Minister Mathias Chikawe said there would be a nationwide operation to "arrest them and take them to court" if they continued to work.
Albino people, who lack pigment in their skin, have faced attacks for their body parts, which witchdoctors believe bring good luck and wealth.
The Tanzanian Albinism Society (TAS) has welcomed the ban.
"If we and the government come together and show strength as one and speak as one, we can deal with the problem head-on," the society's chairman, Ernest Njamakimaya, said.
"I believe this way we can get rid of these incidents once and for all."
'
Evidence mishandled'
More than 33,000 people in Tanzania are believed to have albinism.
Seventy have been killed in the past three years but only 10 people have been convicted of murder.
Mr Chikawe said action to find and prosecute witchdoctors would begin in two weeks' time in the northern areas of Mwanza, Geita, Shinyanga, Simiyu and Tabora, where most of the attacks have taken place.
The ban has emerged from the work of a special joint task force between police and the TAS.
The task force's work will now entail reviewing previous cases of albino attacks for new evidence and conducting further research on the motive of attackers.
Correspondents say some previous cases against alleged attackers have collapsed over the loss, mishandling or mislabelling of evidence.
Mr Chikawe acknowledged that further training of police was required.
The United Nations recently condemned the abduction of a four-year-old albino girl in north-west Tanzania.
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a6c5ae5e5084fbde2cc99cc2f4dae932 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-30826582 | Nigeria's Boko Haram: Baga destruction 'shown in images' | Nigeria's Boko Haram: Baga destruction 'shown in images'
Satellite images of Nigerian towns attacked by Boko Haram show widespread destruction and suggest a high death toll, Amnesty International says.
They show some 3,700 structures damaged or destroyed in Baga and Doron Baga last week, the human-rights group said.
Nigeria's government has disputed reports that as many as 2,000 were killed, putting the toll at just 150.
Amnesty cited witnesses saying that militants had killed indiscriminately. It said the damage was "catastrophic".
There has been a surge in violence linked to Boko Haram. In the past week there have been several attacks, including by suspected child suicide bombers.
Nigeria is to hold elections next month, amid growing doubts whether they can successfully go ahead in all parts of the country.
President Goodluck Jonathan made a surprise visit to the north-east on Thursday - the main focus of Boko Haram violence. It was his first trip to the region since March 2013.
In Maiduguri, capital of Borno State, he met survivors of the latest attack now living in a refugee camp.
"I want to assure you that you will soon go back to your houses," he said, according to the AFP news agency.
President Jonathan cancelled a trip to the region last year, leading to claims that he was indifferent to the fate of 200 schoolgirls kidnapped from the town of Chibok.
Amnesty said the attack on Baga and neighbouring Doron Baga, in the far north-east of Nigeria, was the largest and deadliest Boko Haram assault that it had analysed.
It said about 620 structures had been destroyed in Baga, and more than 3,100 in Doron Baga.
A businessman from Baga told the BBC how he fled from the town along with some 5,000 others.
He said people were being killed like animals.
Amnesty's before and after satellite images were taken on 2 January and 7 January. Healthy vegetation is shown in red on the graphics.
Many wooden fishing boats that dot the shoreline on 2 January are no longer visible five days later.
"These detailed images show devastation of catastrophic proportions in two towns, one of which was almost wiped off the map in the space of four days," Daniel Eyre, an Amnesty researcher, said in a statement.
"It represents a deliberate attack on civilians whose homes, clinics and schools are now burnt out ruins," he said.
The BBC's Will Ross says that while the images show the destructive nature of Boko Haram, they do not help establish just how many people were killed.
Last week, Musa Alhaji Bukar, a senior government official in the area, said that fleeing residents told him that Baga, which had a population of about 10,000, was now "virtually non-existent".
"It has been burnt down," he told the BBC Hausa service.
03 January:
Social media reports of Baga attack first emerge
04 January:
Boko Haram claims to have captured Baga
08 January:
Reports emerge of bodies strewn on the streets in Baga, with some saying 2,000 people killed
12 January:
The government says that the number of people who lost their lives in Baga was no more than 150, including militants
15 January:
Satellite images released by Amnesty International suggest the number of dead is far higher than officially admitted
Officials said militants had attacked Baga on 7 January, four days after overrunning a multinational military base in the town that had been abandoned by Nigerian troops.
Amnesty's Adotei Akwei told the BBC that although it was still difficult to access the area where the attack took place, the Nigerian government was "grossly understating" the death toll.
"They killed so many people," one man told the group. "I saw maybe around 100 killed at that time in Baga. I ran to the bush. As we were running, they were shooting and killing."
Who are Boko Haram?
Why Nigeria has not defeated Boko Haram
One witness was quoted as saying that victims included small children and a woman in labour.
Afterwards, militants drove into the surrounding country, rounding up women, children and the elderly, unnamed witnesses told the group.
"Boko Haram took around 300 women and kept us in a school in Baga," one woman, who Amnesty said had been held for four days, was quoted as saying.
"They released the older women, mothers and most of the children after four days but are still keeping the younger women."
|
fadff30611264948ba54d3eb0fa373bd | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-31019887 | Kenya's Christian-owned Hope FM radio hijacked | Kenya's Christian-owned Hope FM radio hijacked
Suspected hackers briefly hijacked a popular Christian radio station in Kenya, and played Islamic verses before it went off air.
Hope FM said on its Facebook account
that a "foreign signal" had interfered with its broadcast on Tuesday night.
It resumed transmission about three hours later.
Last week, a hacker infiltrated the website of Kenya's privately owned The Star paper and posted terror-related material on it, local media reported.
The newspaper had reprinted a cartoon of controversial French magazine Charlie Hebdo depicting the Prophet Muhammad, causing outrage among many Muslim readers.
Kenyan government cyber-crime experts confirmed to local media that Hope FM's signal had been hijacked and said a thorough investigation was being conducted into the incident.
Many of the station's listeners expressed concern about the hijacking on social media.
Hope FM, which broadcasts from Kenya's capital, Nairobi, is owned by a Pentecostal church.
In 2006, hooded men petrol-bombed its offices, killing a security guard.
Militant Islamists killed 12 people in an attack on Charlie Hebdo's Paris offices on 7 January.
They accused the magazine of blaspheming the Prophet Muhammad.
|
e414df30c323dfdef978b3212b309ea1 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-31624149 | Ebola crisis: Sierra Leone's Augustine Baker dies | Ebola crisis: Sierra Leone's Augustine Baker dies
A Sierra Leonean who worked with children orphaned by Ebola has died of the disease himself.
Augustine Baker had been admitted to an Ebola treatment centre after becoming ill last week.
He had worked for an orphanage run by a UK charity on the outskirts of Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown.
Thirty-three children and seven staff at the St George Foundation orphanage have been in quarantine since Mr Baker was diagnosed with the deadly virus.
Ebola has killed more than 9,500 people in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
But in recent weeks, the crisis has eased and the governments of the three countries have pledged to achieve zero Ebola infections within the next two months.
Augustine Baker was an unsung hero.
At the height of the Ebola crisis he would go into high-risk communities to help children who had been orphaned by the disease.
With his backpack on and his notebook and pen handy, Mr Baker would collect data and go and find the children to take them to the orphanage.
His colleagues, who are locked in quarantine at the orphanage, were grieving as news of his death broke.
Jestina Conteh was sobbing as she spoke to me on the phone. He said Mr Baker was "a dedicated colleague who never said 'No' in search of Ebola orphans".
When Mr Baker was diagnosed with Ebola, orphanage co-founder Philip Dean said he had "worked tirelessly to help children orphaned by the disease".
"He knew that he was at risk but did the job because it needed to be done," Mr Dean added.
The orphanage was set up in 2004 and, until the Ebola outbreak, was mainly concerned with rescuing street children.
In the last year it has helped care for some 200 children orphaned by Ebola.
|
94501d6b8bbb41d2a8cba3b0ae6ce8a6 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-31849531 | Tanzania albino murders: 'More than 200 witchdoctors' arrested | Tanzania albino murders: 'More than 200 witchdoctors' arrested
More than 200 witchdoctors and traditional healers have been arrested in Tanzania in a crackdown on the murder of albino people.
The killings have been driven by the belief - advanced by some witchdoctors - that the body parts have properties that confer wealth and good luck.
President Jakaya Kikwete has described the murder of albino people as an "evil" that has shamed Tanzania.
Nearly 80 albino Tanzanians have been killed since 2000, the UN says.
The latest victims include a one-year-old albino boy, killed in north-western Tanzania a few weeks ago.
The government banned witchdoctors in January as part of its efforts to prevent further attacks and kidnappings targeting people with albinism.
Last week, 32 witchdoctors were detained.
According to the
Red Cross
, witchdoctors are prepared to pay $75,000 (£50,000) for a complete set of albino body parts.
Tanzanian police arrested 225 unlicensed traditional healers and soothsayers across the country, the AFP news agency reports.
"Some of those arrested were found in possession of items like lizard skin, warthog teeth, ostrich eggs, monkey tails, bird claws, mule tails and lion skin," police spokesperson Advera Bulimba told the agency.
Albinism is particularly prevalent in Tanzania with one in 1,400 affected, according to a 2006 BMC Public Health report. This compares with one in 20,000 in Western countries.
Some researchers believe the higher rate is a result of inbreeding.
|
fdf0c8d9878f1711fd5fb8eb59a72435 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-32332744 | South Africa's Durban city rallies against xenophobia | South Africa's Durban city rallies against xenophobia
Up to 5,000 people have taken part in a rally against xenophobia in South Africa's coastal city of Durban following attacks on foreigners.
President Jacob Zuma condemned the violence, which have claimed at least five lives, as "shocking", and called for calm to be restored.
The Zulu king has been accused of fuelling the attacks. He denies this.
Many jobless South Africans accuse foreigners of taking jobs in a country where the unemployment rate is 24%.
"No amount of frustration or anger can justify the attacks on foreign nationals and the looting of their shops," President Zuma told parliament on Thursday.
For the latest news, views and analysis see the
BBC Africa Live page.
Protesters marched through Durban chanting "Down with xenophobia" and "A United Africa", led by the city mayor and the premier of KwaZulu-Natal province.
Marcher Vanessa Govender told the BBC: "It's just a mammoth show of support for all those foreigners who have fallen victim to the past two weeks of xenophobic violence."
As the march was held, anti-immigrant protesters clashed with police, but were reportedly dispersed by water cannon and pepper spray.
The latest wave of violence against foreigners erupted in the Durban area before spreading to other parts of the country.
In Johannesburg on Thursday, police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at a crowd chanting anti-immigrant slogans after attacks on foreign-owned shops. Dozens of migrants sought refuge in a police station.
Malawi has said it would evacuate its nationals from South Africa and Kenya says it is preparing to do the same. Mozambique has set up border camps to cope with the exodus of its citizens.
Parts of Benoni look like a ghost town.
Foreign-owned shops were forced to bring down the shutters because of skirmishes earlier in the day. I met shop owner Sharif Danis, originally from Nigeria and resident here for more than 15 years.
He tells me that he is scared because if he does not open the shop, he does not know where he is going to get money to pay the rent and buy food for his four children.
Mr Danis points out that the tavern next door - run by a South African businessman - is the only place open in the area. But he gets along with his neighbour and the South African insists that Sharif is his "brother from another mother" and should be operating and making money.
Like President Jacob Zuma, people here are worried and ashamed by what their compatriots have done.
Many foreigners, mostly from other African states and Asia, have moved to South Africa since white-minority rule ended in 1994.
At least 62 people died in xenophobic attacks that swept South Africa in 2008.
The government-backed South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) is investigating complaints of hate speech made against Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini.
He was widely quoted as saying last month that foreigners should "go back to their countries". However, he said that his comments had been distorted.
|
5ba7da0a7107af6e4ede2808a06dad19 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-32412212 | Angola police raid Kalupeteka sect in Huambo | Angola police raid Kalupeteka sect in Huambo
Police in Angola have denied reports that some 200 members of a sect have been killed but they have confirmed 22 deaths, including nine officers.
The main opposition party, Unita, says police carried out a massacre in revenge for the officers' deaths.
The clashes occurred in central Huambo province when police raided a camp looking for sect leader Jose Julino Kalupeteka on 16 April.
He is accused of inciting civil disorder and is now in police custody.
Mr Kalupeteka, who formed his Seventh Day Light of the World church 14 years ago after being expelled from the Seventh Day Adventist Church, has thousands of followers across Angola.
Unita and human rights activists say
that the Angolan army has now sealed off the area around Caala town
.
"The area is surrounded, people are banned from moving around, and anything that breathes or moves risks death," the statement reads.
Police spokesman Paulo Gaspar de Almeida told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that 13 of Mr Kalupeteka's private guards had been killed because they were "snipers", who had opened fire, killing nine officers.
"Those people killed our comrades. And we had to react. Yes… we reacted and killed 13 people."
He said that opposition parties were exaggerating the number of deaths for political reasons.
Mr Kalupeteka preaches that world will end in 2015, and urges the sect's followers to abandon all their belongings and go on seclusion in camps the mountains.
|
86a0e2d40f6cc45aaa4e0e51d2b09d5d | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-32874236 | 'Nigerians now depend on the black market to survive' | 'Nigerians now depend on the black market to survive'
A big Nigerian bank is shortening its opening times in the latest sign of the impact of the fuel shortage.
The party of President-elect Muhammadu Buhari has accused the outgoing government of "sabotage" as it is
failing to deal with the crisis
.
The shortage, which has been going on for more than a month, means that Africa's biggest economy is slowly grinding to halt, says the BBC's Will Ross in Lagos.
You have been showing us what is going on in Nigeria via
Twitter
and
WhatsApp
.
"The queues at fuel stations are terrible and fuel prices are rising hourly.
Fuel stations get the oil overnight at 1am when people are sleeping.
I don't know how they get it.
There are massive queues in the morning as soon as people wake up.
There is no power at the moment either."
"A lot of people are going behind closed doors to buy fuel.
The prices are not the problem now, it is actually getting the fuel.
It is very difficult to get to work. We have to walk to work, but that's not possible for me as it's too far.
This crisis has been going on for three weeks but has now reached a critical situation"
"It's a very terrible situation. Everything in Nigeria is shutting down.
The prices of every commodity are rising. It's been like this for the last couple of weeks.
It's the government's fault. The government should be paying more attention to creating more refineries"
Francis
filmed scenes and took photos of people looking for petrol
and and sent them to us via
WhatsApp.
"It's a very, very critical situation. I would say a national security crisis.
There is no fuel and no light. I cannot power my business premises now.
We are threatening to call a workers' strike in Nigeria.
Nigerians now depend on the black market to survive.
The illegal gas sellers get constant supply but we have empty gas stations.
I am saving the little diesel for evening when it will be dark."
The fuel crisis has been
trending on Twitter
for most of the day. Some of the most popular trends on Twitter have been: GTBank, Capital Oil, scarcity, #fuelscarcity, outages and fuel.
Amen Omere
in
Abuja
tweets:
@BBC_HaveYourSay the situation in Abuja is terrible, no filling station is selling so far, no Light for more than 4 days in gwarinpa area
Abiodun Ayotope
tweets:
@BBC_HaveYourSay @BBCWorld we can't even get domestic gas coupled with lack of electricity and fuel
L
ookman Asha
in
Lagos
tweets:
@BBC_HaveYourSay @BBCWorld Am in Lagos and the whole city looks like a public holiday. Most offices and banks are shutting down.
Ose Okpeku
tweets:
@BBC_HaveYourSay @BBCWorld this is becoming ridiculous! Just bought diesel for the office at 220 naira a litre.
Uncle Samuel Asimi
tweets:
@BBC_HaveYourSay all activities have come to a complete halt, electricity seems like luxury Nigerians are 'sick of been sick and tired'.
Nkem Opara
in
Lagos, Nigeria
: The fuel scarcity is so bad in Nigeria and due to a lack of electricity as well, businesses are shutting down, and the rest of the masses are in pitch darkness. I just got emails from Guaranty Trust Bank and Airtel apologising for their inability to carry out normal business operations going forward. Our President GEJ is making no effort to resolve the fuel crisis among other issues, as the country slowly comes to a halt. This might be the worst president we've ever had.
Otunola Seyi
in
Niger state, Nigeria
: There is no fuel and no light. I cannot power my business. Please help us.
Awoyemi Gbenga
in
Lagos, Nigeria:
The economy is going down and Nigeria is the largest oil production in Africa. #PrayforNigeria
Adesola David
in
Nigeria
: Nigeria is really in a devastating state. Even the salaries of some workers are yet to be paid. We are hoping the incoming government will do something about it.
Are you in Nigeria? Please can you tell us what is happening in your country by emailing
haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk
.
If you would be happy to speak further to a BBC journalist, please include a contact telephone number.
Email your pictures to
yourpics@bbc.co.uk
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or text 61124. If you are outside the UK, send them to the international number +44 7624 800 100 or
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Read our
terms and conditions
.
|
40d8284e73e751398313a4783e582fda | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-33228207 | Ethiopia election: EPRDF wins every seat in parliament | Ethiopia election: EPRDF wins every seat in parliament
Ethiopia's ruling party, the EPRDF, and its allies have won every single parliamentary seat in May's elections, according to official results.
This includes the one seat held by an opposition politician following the 2010 poll.
Election commission chairman Merga Bekana made the announcement saying the elections were credible and free and fair.
Opposition parties have said that the process was rigged.
African Union observers described the 24 May vote as "calm, peaceful and credible" and that "it provided an opportunity for the Ethiopian people to express their choices at the polls".
Beyane Petros, the leader of Medrek, one of the main opposition coalitions, said last month that there was no election to speak of as it was not conducted in a fair way, according to the
Horn Affairs website
.
Medrek has said that hundreds of its members and supporters have been arrested and beaten in recent months, according to an opposition website.
The EPRDF has been in power since the overthrow of the military government in 1991.
In 2005 official results said the opposition won more than 150 seats, but the opposition claimed the figure was much higher.
More than 190 people were killed as protesters clashed with police in the wake of the announcement of those results, an independent report found.
The government says the number was much lower.
In the two elections since then the EPRDF has dominated the parliament.
|
8f3a38f1d55ed681e489a108d7e8a06a | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-33455563 | Ghardaia clashes: At least 22 dead in Algerian oasis city | Ghardaia clashes: At least 22 dead in Algerian oasis city
At least 22 people have died in clashes between Arab and Berber communities around the Algerian oasis city of Ghardaia, the state news agency says.
The city has seen clashes for the last two years, with rivalry among communities for jobs, housing and land.
But the two days of clashes in Ghardaia and two nearby cities - Guerrara and Berianne - are the most violent yet.
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika convened an emergency meeting on Wednesday.
A statement by the president urged people in Ghardaia "to help to restore calm and to preserve the age-old bonds of brotherhood which have always marked the region".
Interior Minister Noureddine Bedoui arrived in Ghardaia, a Unesco world heritage site, earlier in the day.
Mozabites - members of the local Berber community - called for better protection in a protest in the capital, Algiers, 600km (373 miles) to the north.
"The situation is very serious," one Mozabite leader told AFP. "This is not just clashes any more, it's terrorism."
Algeria's official news agency, APS, said most of the deaths were from "projectiles". It is not known to which groups the dead belonged.
A cemetery belonging to Mozabites was desecrated in December 2013, leading to fighting between groups. At least a dozen people had been killed before violence flared up again this week, AP said.
|
02ab5c7af4abc360ba215dc91340cff0 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-33702738 | Anti-Boko Haram force 'to cross borders to fight' | Anti-Boko Haram force 'to cross borders to fight'
Multinational troops fighting Boko Haram in West Africa will be able to pursue the militants across borders, Nigeria's presidential spokesman says.
Garba Shehu told the BBC this was there was now trust between those contributing troops since the election of President Muhammadu Buhari in May.
He was speaking ahead of the Nigerian leader's visit to Cameroon.
A boosted force with 8,700 troops from Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria is to become fully operational next month.
Relations between Nigeria and Cameroon have been fraught for years because of territorial disputes, in particular over the Bakassi peninsula.
The oil-rich region was eventually awarded to Cameroon by an international court.
BBC Nigeria analyst Naziru Mikailu says Mr Buhari is trying to smooth over these diplomatic tensions as he meets President Paul Biya as both nations now face a new enemy threatening their territorial integrity.
On Tuesday, Cameroon announced it would deploy an extra 2,000 troops along its northern border with Nigeria to fight Boko Haram.
It follows an upsurge in suicide attacks in northern Cameroon blamed on the Nigerian militants.
With the help of troops from Chad and Niger, earlier this year the Nigerian army managed to retake most of the areas taken over by the militants in north-eastern Nigeria.
Although the militants have lost their strongholds, they are still active and there has been an upsurge in suicide attacks since Mr Buhari took office.
"Boko Haram is in disarray and it is doubtful they have any central command,"
Mr Shehu told the BBC's Newsday
programme.
President Buhari has made the multinational force central to his government's strategy in tackling the insurgency.
The force of soldiers, police and civilian personnel will be based in Chad's capital, N'Djamena, which has also been affected by the violence.
"All the countries agreed this operation will not recognise international boundaries - wherever terrorists are they will be chased to these locations and they will be fought until they are finished," Mr Shehu said.
At least 17,000 people have been killed since Boko Haram launched its insurgency in northern Nigeria 2009, according to Amnesty International.
Will new military base help defeat Boko Haram?
Why Boko Haram remains a threat
|
ec0027f170b3d5fa317b6dc18ce6c9cc | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-33912156 | South Sudan: Obstacles to a lasting peace | South Sudan: Obstacles to a lasting peace
This was a peace deal signed under duress - as President Salva Kiir made very clear in his speech.
So although millions of South Sudanese are rejoicing, there are legitimate doubts about whether the agreement will bring lasting peace.
Until Wednesday's dramatic signing ceremony, a year-and-a-half of peace processes had not stopped South Sudan's collapse.
Soldiers slaughtered young boys, women were raped and millions fled as ceasefires were ignored.
An expanded mediation team from the regional body Igad and several other interested nations, known as Igad Plus, pushed through this supposedly permanent peace deal.
Here are five of the main obstacles to a lasting peace in South Sudan:
The key question.
President Salva Kiir
and rebel leader
Riek Machar
have in the past committed to stopping the fighting, only for both sides to break their word and launch offensives.
Do the leaders realise or care how much the people are suffering? Are both sides prepared to make the necessary compromises to end the war?
Will a tougher stance from the US and regional leaders make a difference? What about the growing
economic crisis
?
Mr Machar arguably has more to gain from the agreement: He will become first vice-president, his movement will get political posts and his troops will become integrated into the army. But what happens if he does not get everything he wants from the deal - or if he does not get the nomination of the governing SPLM party for the 2018 elections?
Mr Kiir has made it very clear he dislikes the deal - and his animosity with Mr Machar is well known too. Will Mr Kiir respect an agreement he feels was imposed upon him and South Sudan? Will he allow Mr Machar and his movement the powers the peace deal grants to them?
And can the two men, who have fought each both in the past and over the last 20 months, work together again?
Finally, what will happen if Mr Kiir, Mr Machar or other senior officials are found guilty of atrocities in the hybrid court that is to be set up?
President Kiir expressed his dissatisfaction with the deal, including some of the power-sharing and security components.
Many of his key supporters, including ethnic Dinka elders and powerful generals, had advised him not to sign it.
They say it is a foreign-backed attempt to weaken President Kiir and the country.
The rebels had objections too, but the fact they signed earlier suggests these were less serious.
South Sudanese civil society groups have also criticised the agreement for putting too much emphasis on power-sharing among the elite, rather than insisting on accountability and justice, or resolving the underlying issues that caused the conflict.
The government and the rebels have signed a power-sharing agreement, essentially fine-tuning a return to the status quo ante.
But if the root causes of the conflict aren't resolved, it is difficult to see it bringing lasting peace.
Over the past 18 months, South Sudan's neighbours have taken a leading role in mediating between the warring parties.
Yet this has been compromised by their own involvement in the conflict.
Uganda intervened militarily
in support of President Kiir, to the frustration of the rebels. Sudan is allegedly providing logistics, weapons and bases to Mr Machar's army.
Other countries are not implicated militarily in South Sudan, but have important economic interests there (Kenya) or wish to drive the mediation process (Ethiopia).
This peace deal will only last if all of South Sudan's divided neighbours value keeping the peace as much as the South Sudanese citizens do.
Mr Machar's rebel group was always an uneasy coalition of civilian militias and military units that defected from the national army, the SPLA.
The recent split announced by well-known generals including
Peter Gadet
and Gathoth Gatkuoth was no surprise: The men had been sidelined, in part because of their opposition to Mr Machar's apparent willingness to consider a power-sharing deal.
There had always been concern about whether Mr Machar could bring all his movement with him. Now we are about to find out.
Two key questions here: do the generals have enough support on the ground to constitute a powerful military force of their own?
And will they receive the external military support they will need to flourish?
This would be most likely to come from Sudan, as Gen Gadet has fought for Khartoum several times in the past.
Equally relevant here: Will all the hardliners in Mr Kiir's camp respect the agreement he has just signed?
His critics often accuse the army chief of staff, Paul Malong Awan, of wanting to scupper the peace process - but he is not the only potentially frustrated figure.
Many officials, in particular in Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei states, stand to lose their jobs to rebels. How will they react?
Millions of South Sudanese have known hardly anything but war.
At the time of the united Sudan, the first north-south civil war lasted from 1955-1971, and the second was even longer (1983-2005).
After South Sudan's
independence
in 2011, it wasn't long before this new civil conflict erupted - in December 2013.
Tragically, war is part of life for many. South Sudan is a
militarised society
, where the military men run politics.
Those in command often have ethnic power bases, bringing an ethnic dimension to most conflicts.
The current war has deepened animosity between the Nuer and the Dinka, the country's two biggest ethnic groups.
The picture is even more complicated than this: for example, many Bul Nuer (a Nuer sub-group) have fought for the government against the largely Nuer rebels, creating tensions within the Nuer.
In South Sudanese society, the culture of revenge is also prominent - a worrying ingredient in a conflict in which tens of thousands have been killed.
All these factors will be difficult to resolve, even though a peace deal has been signed.
Nevertheless, the country has strong traditions of peace-making and reconciliation, often through the chiefs or the church.
Their best efforts will be needed if a lasting peace is to be achieved.
|
53b4f63f45532d9296ba6e23aff12215 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-34313745?utm_source=Frontier&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=Kenya_ivory_burn&utm_campaign=most_poached_animals | Kenya's ivory inferno: Does burning elephant tusks destroy them? | Kenya's ivory inferno: Does burning elephant tusks destroy them?
The largest ever pile of ivory will be set alight in Kenya on Saturday. But will it actually burn?
The fire will be seven times bigger than any previous ivory fires - 105 tonnes of tusks have been piled in pyramids, some three metres high (10 feet).
The idea is that this will help tackle the illegal ivory trade and curb poaching, which is killing some 30,000 elephants a year.
The practice of burning ivory goes back to July 1989 when Kenya's then-President Daniel arap Moi ignited a pile of 12 tonnes of elephant tusks and helped change global policy on ivory exports.
After that, the trade was banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
This was a "desperate measure meant to send a message to the world about the destruction through poaching of Kenya's elephants," says Paul Udoto from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).
Since then many countries have followed suit but does setting fire to ivory actually destroy it?
The US chose to
crush, rather than burn, one tonne of its ivory stockpile in public last year
because ivory "doesn't catch fire the way you might imagine but rather just chars on the outside", says Gavin Shire from the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).
Other countries have also opted for the crushing method.
The FWS forensic laboratory
carried out an experiment in 2008
where it set fire to a piece of ivory at an ultra-high temperature.
The results, quoted by National Geographic online, showed that burning ivory at 1,000C led to it losing just 7g per minute - meaning that it would take around a week to destroy an average male elephant tusk.
Kenya has become something of an expert in the field of burning ivory, having done it three times, and is well aware of the time and effort needed to destroy the tusks.
According to the KWS, after the dignitaries have driven off the pyre continues burning for at least a week.
Kuki Gallmann was one of those behind the 1989 fire and knew, from an experiment with some ivory in a domestic fire, that a high temperature was needed.
She helped devise a method using jet oil and a network of pipes under the tusks, which has been used on the other two occasions that Kenya has set fire to ivory, said Mr Udoto.
The
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) says that 14 countries have carried out ivory destructions
through either burning or crushing - or sometimes a mixture of both.
But there is a wider debate about how effective these acts are when it comes to ending the illicit ivory trade and reducing poaching.
"The destruction of ivory is a political mechanism to signal the government's commitment to curbing elephant poaching," says Tom Milliken from Traffic, which monitors the trade in wildlife.
"But there is no proof that destroying supply leads to a decline in demand."
The WWF argues that destruction should be combined with greater efforts on the ground to combat poaching.
Even though it may be difficult to actually destroy 16,000 tusks through burning, as the KWS's Mr Udoto says, it has been a way "to get the world to listen to its message" about the dangers of wildlife poaching.
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d2b67004aca64e32949e0deb3ab0ceb3 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-34398899 | Timbuktu mausoleum destruction suspect appears at ICC | Timbuktu mausoleum destruction suspect appears at ICC
A suspected Islamist militant accused of destroying cultural sites in Timbuktu has appeared before the International Criminal Court (ICC), in the first case of its kind.
Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi is suspected of war crimes over the destruction of nine mausoleums and a mosque in the ancient Malian city in 2012.
He was handed over by Niger after the ICC issued a warrant for his arrest.
Islamists occupied the city until they were ousted by French forces in 2013.
Wearing a navy-blue suit and wire-rimmed spectacles, Mr Faqi told the court: "My name is Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi, I am from the al-Ansar Tuareg tribe."
He told the court he was born "about 40 years ago" in Agoune, 100km (60 miles) west of Timbuktu, and was a "graduate of the teachers' institute in Timbuktu and... a civil servant in education in the Malian government beginning 2011".
He said he wished to be spoken to in Arabic, but gave no other statement during the proceedings at which the charges were read out.
The judge said the next hearing would be on 18 January, where a decision would be taken whether to put the suspect on trial.
Treasures of Timbuktu
Saving Timbuktu's manuscripts
In pictures: Timbuktu's manuscripts
Why do we know Timbuktu
According to the prosecutor, Mr Faqi was a "zealous member" of Ansar Dine, a Tuareg extremist militia with links to al-Qaeda, reports the BBC's Anna Holligan who was in court.
He is alleged to have been head of the Hesbah - or what some call the "manners' brigade" - which enforced strict Islamist law in Timbuktu during the unrest that rocked Mali in 2012 and 2013, and of being involved with and executing the decisions of the so-called Islamic Court of Timbuktu.
During their occupation, the militants vandalised and destroyed mosques and mausoleums, and burnt tens of thousands of ancient manuscripts.
The city - which is listed as a World Heritage Site by Unesco - was considered the centre of Islamic learning from the 13th to the 17th Centuries.
At one time it counted nearly 200 schools and universities that attracted thousands of students from across the Muslim world.
The mausoleums were shrines to Timbuktu's founding fathers, who had been venerated as saints by most of the city's inhabitants.
But this practice is considered blasphemous by fundamentalists.
Earlier this year, 14 mausoleums were rebuilt by local stone masons using traditional techniques.
The case against Mr Faqi is the first to be brought before the ICC "concerning the destruction of buildings dedicated to religion and historical monuments".
The court, which has until now always focused on attacks against people, hopes the charges against Mr Faqi will deter others who may seek to destroy these treasured pieces of history, our correspondent says.
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af674c74507ac65edce437c931a6c009 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-34508552 | Why I cannot tell 'the African story' | Why I cannot tell 'the African story'
Ugandan TV journalist Nancy Kacungira has won the first BBC World News Komla Dumor Award for Africa-based journalists. Here, she explains her dilemma when she is asked to tell "the African story".
What comes to your mind when you think of "the African story"? Is it poverty, war and disease?
It is commonly accepted that journalism is mostly about bad news - planes landing successfully are not news, but plane crashes are.
In the case of Africa the focus on things going wrong is particularly harmful because of the relative dearth of other widely accessible sources of knowledge about the continent.
The system of storytelling on Africa is too often incomplete, stereotyped - and specious.
For example, reports on conflict in some African countries seem to give the impression that all of Africa is at perpetual war.
Yet no-one would associate the violence in East Timor, Syria, Sri Lanka and elsewhere with Asia as a whole.
Media reporting on Africa rarely focuses on everyday matters or the curiosities of daily life.
The result is an idea that the African crisis is "normal" - and any "good news" about the continent is an exception to the rule.
This narrative needs changing, and there have been numerous calls for more journalists especially from Africa, to tell "the African story".
I am a journalist from Africa. I have lived and worked in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya, and have an intimate relationship with the East African region.
But I cannot tell "the African story".
African countries share some similarities, for sure.
But when reporting on the political, economic and socio-cultural fabric of Africa, lumping all 54 countries into a single category just doesn't cut it.
More than a billion people live in Africa. There are more than 3,000 distinct ethnic groups; more than 2,000 languages are spoken.
It's a huge continent: the US, China, India, Europe and Japan combined could all fit into Africa.
So what could possibly inform a collective identity for such a vast and diverse part of our world?
Historically, much of the African identity has been not so much about what we are, but what we are not.
As Mwalimu Julius Nyerere put it: "Africans all over the continent, without a word being spoken either from one individual to another, or from one country to another, looked at the European, looked at one another, and knew that in relation to the European they were one."
Perhaps this is the crux of the problem: Africa continues to be defined as a country because it is always being compared to something from the outside.
Maybe that is why we call it either the "Dark Continent" or the "Rising Continent"?
To define Africa as a whole makes it necessary to look at it from the outside.
But constantly doing so results in tropes that undermine the perspectives of those that live on the continent.
Rather than "the African story" there are very many African stories, and what I can do, as a journalist, is to tell some of them.
Journalists from every corner of the continent need to do the same. But African journalists will not always tell the best stories just because they are African.
Many African news outlets rely on foreign/western-based international news agencies to tell stories about other African countries - and become complicit in spreading misleading dominant narratives.
An African journalist who parrots cookie-cutter storylines will not tell a better story than a foreigner who strives to understand context and nuance.
But what is needed now, more than ever, is a multiplicity of stories from within to challenge the dominant narratives from without.
Reliance on a dominant external narrative is not just a philosophical issue: it can have very tangible effects.
Donald Kaberuka, former President of the African Development Bank, recently
told a think tank in Beijing
it "had become necessary to ensure that potential business opportunities in African countries are not jeopardised by a single story line whereby negative issues in one country are attributed to all 54 countries on the continent".
Look at the Ebola epidemic which hit Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia: the World Bank
estimates
the outbreak has cost other countries in sub-Saharan Africa more than $500m (£320m) in 2015.
It
blames ignorance
of African geography. For instance, the Hotels Association of Tanzania said that
advance bookings for 2015 were 50% lower
.
This in spite of the fact that Rome and Madrid are closer to the centre of the Ebola outbreak than Tanzania, which unlike Spain has never had a single case of the disease.
It is simply impossible to define Africa with just one description.
In Africa you'll find Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast and Mozambique - four of the world's 10 fastest growing economies.
You'll also find some of the world's poorest countries.
You'll find Equatorial Guinea with a 94% literacy rate (the global average is 84.1%) and South Sudan with a 27% literacy rate.
You'll come across local inventions like:
But you will also discover that female genital mutilation occurs in 27 African countries and in Tanzania people with albinism are at risk of being attacked and mutilated by those wanting to use their
body parts for witchcraft
.
Five largest:
Nigeria: 568.5
South Africa: 349.8
Egypt: 286.5
Algeria: 214.1
Angola: 131.4
Five smallest:
Seychelles: 1.4
Guinea-Bissau: 1.0
The Gambia: 0.8
Comoros: 0.6
Sao Tome and Príncipe: 0.3
Source: World Bank, 2014
Africa is not rich or poor, educated or illiterate, progressive or archaic.
What Africa is depends on which part of it you are referring to.
No single story can adequately reflect that, but a multiplicity of stories can and should broaden our received wisdom about the continent.
With more platforms and opportunities than ever before, there has never been a better time to challenge that confusing and costly concept of a single African story.
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30cf17f276c2954f7a8afe775c19ce8b | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-34630556 | Ivory Coast holds first post-war presidential poll | Ivory Coast holds first post-war presidential poll
Ivory Coast is holding a bitterly contested presidential election, the first since the civil war ended in 2011.
The poll has been marred by prominent opposition candidates pulling out, citing widespread irregularities.
President Alassane Ouattara is running for a second term in the world's largest cocoa producer.
Some 3,000 people were killed in the conflict which ended with Mr Ouattara coming to power in 2011.
The conflict broke out after former President Laurent Gbagbo refused to accept Mr Ouattara's victory in the 2010 election.
Mr Gbagbo was subsequently arrested and is due to stand trial next month at the International Criminal Court (ICC), where he denies war crimes charges.
President Alassane Ouattara arrived at Lycee Sainte-Marie polling station to chants of "Win in the first round" from his supporters.
He was relaxed and confident as he cast his vote in the upmarket neighbourhood of Cocody of the commercial capital Abidjan.
Smiling alongside his wife Dominique, he praised the smooth and peaceful election so far and urged the people of Ivory Coast to come out and vote.
But not everyone in Abidjan decided to go out and vote.
In Yopougon, a run-down area known to be pro-Gbagbo, the maquis, or bars, were full and blasting out coupe decale, a local style of music that shot to fame in this region during a previous war.
People here told us that there was no-one for them to vote for in this election.
"We're waiting for Gbagbo to come back," said one young man.
Others told us they'd been drinking beer in this bar since this morning because there was no point in this election - "we know who is going to win so we'd rather wait to vote in 2020", one said.
Across the road an elderly man approached us shouting: "I've torn up my voters card because we still don't have the results from 2010. Gbagbo is still in prison so we're still in prison."
Ivory Coast: Key dates, facts and figures
Mr Ouattara's main challenger is former Prime Minister Pascal Affi N'Guessan, the candidate of Mr Gbagbo's Ivorian Popular Front.
Three of the 10 opposition candidates, including Charles Konan Banny, another former prime minister, have withdrawn from the election.
They allege that the process has been rigged to guarantee victory for Mr Ouattara, a former senior official at the International Monetary Fund.
The president denies the charge, and called on people to turn out in massive numbers.
Voting was delayed for between two and three hours in some polling stations in both Abidjan and the second city, Bouake, according to reporters for BBC Afrique, which is running
a live page in French
.
In both cases, the equipment to enable biometric voting, such as special tablet computers, had not been delivered in time, they report.
In the pro-Gbagbo Abidjan district of Yopougon, turnout is low, according to BBC Afrique's Caroline Loyer. She says that the problems with the biometric material have led some to question the integrity of the vote.
The results are not expected for several days.
For several years, Bouake was the headquarters of anti-Gbagbo rebel forces.
Mr Gbagbo portrayed himself as representing "true Ivorians" in contrast to Mr Ouattara, a Muslim who has family ties to neighbouring Burkina Faso.
Under Mr Gbagbo and his predecessors, many northern and Muslim Ivorians said they were prevented from getting ID cards, and taking part in elections.
After refusing to admit defeat in November 2010, Mr Gbagbo was eventually arrested by a combination of French, UN and pro-Ouattara forces in April 2011.
Since taking power, Mr Ouattara has overseen an economic boom but been accused of ignoring atrocities allegedly committed by his supporters, while prosecuting his rivals.
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06a2c0fa020b16e6558e670ffe913b0a | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-34670600 | Living under a shadow of fear in Central African Republic | Living under a shadow of fear in Central African Republic
Working days start early in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic, and they end early too because of a dusk-to-dawn curfew.
The country has been in turmoil since a loose alliance of mainly Muslim rebel groups, operating under the name Seleka, left their strongholds in the north and marched south and seized power in March 2013 from then-President Francois Bozize.
Their main leader, Michel Djotodia, briefly took over before being replaced by an interim head of state.
Since then, the CAR has lived under a shadow of fear, uncertainty and violence which has left some 6,000 people dead.
And the unrest has not gone away, far from it.
As we arrived in the capital, we were told that several people we had agreed to meet in the centre of town would not be able to make it.
It just was not safe anymore, they told us.
Three Seleka officials had been abducted and had disappeared; their bodies still have not been found.
The tit-for-tat response was immediate. The following day, three Muslims were killed. An accusing finger is being pointed at the mainly Christian "anti-balaka" vigilante militias.
News of the latest killings was broadcast for everyone to hear on Radio Ndeke Luka, one of the most listened to radio stations in the CAR.
Even the journalists there have had to adapt to the changing situation, with staff getting in to work later and leaving earlier because of the insecurity in Bangui.
"It's a small price for us to pay if we want to continue reporting on events," the morning show presenter, Ingrid Sandanga, told me.
And she points to a large, plastic-covered, sign on the table - the station's mission statement: "Ensemble, combattons la division dans notre pays", meaning "Together, let us fight division in our country".
Religious leaders are at the forefront of reconciliation efforts, with representatives of different faiths working hand in hand.
One of them is imam Abdoulaye Ouasselegue, vice-president of the CAR's Islamic Council.
As if to highlight what he is trying to achieve, he made a point of meeting us not at his mosque but on the grounds of Bangui's Catholic archdiocese, an island of tranquillity on the banks of the Ubangi River.
He is hopeful that stability will return, but says that he no longer wears anything that may identify him as a Muslim because it is too risky.
Source:
Index Mundi
When asked about the importance of the international military presence in the country under the flags of the UN and France, he lets out a long sigh of resignation, before answering: "What's the point of having peacekeepers here if there is no peace to keep?"
Father Xyste Mbredjeze-Ngasha is also hoping to build bridges.
But this Catholic priest faces a huge task - he has just been put in a charge of a new parish in PK5, Bangui's now notorious fifth district.
Home to many of the capital's Muslims, it has become a flashpoint in the current conflict.
The first time Father Xyste entered a Muslim neighbourhood in his parish, he had to be escorted by armed UN peacekeepers.
"I fear for my safety, but I must do God's work," he says.
As the afternoon begins to draw to a close, anxious Bangui residents head for home.
But for some, beating the curfew is the last thing on their minds.
They have no homes to go to. They are the thousands of people living in the capital's 28 camps for the displaced.
Keeping the peace in CAR
At the Benzvi camp, half of the tarpaulin tents are in bad need of repair, there is little sanitation, limited access to clean water and the camp becomes a quagmire of mud with each heavy rainfall.
A few months ago, the aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres, who provide much-needed medical assistance and food relief there, were hoping to close it down.
But then violence broke out again in September and terrified Christians rushed to the camp.
More than 2,500 people survive in dire and cramped conditions, too afraid to venture beyond the camp's gates.
"Even here, I don't feel safe, I'm scared that the Seleka fighters will attack us again," one young woman now living in Benzvi told me, echoing the thoughts of many.
With peace still a long way off, the transitional government led by the interim President, Catherine Samba-Panza, is pressing ahead with plans to hold elections.
They have already been postponed once.
But President Samba-Panza still hopes to see the country go to the polls before 31 December, when her mandate expires.
"We have no other choice - our priority is to secure the electoral process," she says.
"When the time comes, we shall see if we are really able to go ahead."
As the president speaks, Rwandan soldiers from the UN's
Minusca
force look on.
They have been tasked with guarding the presidential compound.
It is a sobering reminder that security in the CAR cannot be guaranteed without outside help.
Julian Keane will be presenting
Newsday
from Bangui on Friday 30 October 2015 from 06:00 GMT to 08:30 GMT on the BBC World Service.
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4b684945bed218893399ea300932f4e3 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-34852971 | Nigeria blast: Yola market explosion kills 30 | Nigeria blast: Yola market explosion kills 30
More than 30 people have been killed in a suicide attack at a market in the northern Nigerian city of Yola, officials say.
The blast, heard across the city, struck a busy vegetable market where traders were closing up on Tuesday.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari visited Yola on Saturday, declaring that the Islamist militant movement Boko Haram was close to defeat.
Following the attack,
Facebook activated its safety check feature
.
This is the first time the feature has been activated in Nigeria, and follows criticism that it was done after the Paris attacks but not elsewhere.
Yola has twice been hit by deadly bomb attacks this year.
The city lies in the north-eastern state of Adamawa, one of the worst hit by the Boko Haram insurgency.
More than 80 people have been taken to hospital, some with serious injuries, emergency workers say.
Using football to tackle Boko Haram
Who are Boko Haram?
|
62e28622ccd984a196a71191c3d120fc | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-34903828 | Burundi violence: US to place sanctions on officials | Burundi violence: US to place sanctions on officials
The United States is to put sanctions on four current and former officials in Burundi in connection with the continuing violence there.
They include the minister of public security and the deputy director of police.
The four will face an asset freeze and visa restrictions.
The US says President Pierre Nkurunziza's pursuit of a third term has "precipitated" violence which has left at least 240 dead since April.
The violence increased in recent weeks, with bodies found on the streets on a daily basis.
Those facing the US sanctions are
The White House said it had received "multiple, credible, and ongoing reports of targeted killings, arbitrary arrests, torture, and political repression by security forces, as well as violence and abuses by youth militia affiliated with the ruling party".
"Recent dangerous rhetoric by government officials has further contributed to the climate of fear and risks inciting further violence," the statement added.
"At the same time, some of those opposed to the Nkurunziza government have resorted to violence against the government."
Earlier this month, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution strongly condemning the escalating violence.
The French-drafted resolution also paves the way for a possible deployment of blue-helmeted UN peacekeepers.
Burundi's constitutional court backed Mr Nkurunziza's third-term bid, as his first term as president did not count towards the constitutional two-term limit because he was chosen by MPs, rather than in a popular election.
Mr Nkurunziza was duly re-elected with 70% of the vote in July.
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58e7438b9c1439d958a87304b45b21f8 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-35059563 | Nhlanhla Nene: South Africa uproar after finance minister sacked | Nhlanhla Nene: South Africa uproar after finance minister sacked
The decision by South Africa President Jacob Zuma to sack the finance minister has been widely criticised.
South Africa's currency fell close to a record low against the dollar on Thursday morning as the markets were digesting the news.
BBC Africa business reporter Lerato Mbele says that Nhalnhla Nene's attempt to rein in spending may have unsettled some people loyal to the president.
The sacking comes as South Africa's economy is struggling to grow.
President Zuma said Mr Nene
was being moved to "another strategic position"
, but did not elaborate on the reasons behind the decision.
He has replaced him with the relatively unknown David van Rooyen.
The rand fell to below 15 to the dollar on Thursday morning and stock prices also fell in Johannesburg as trading began, Reuters reports.
"The removal of a technocratically sound, decent, hard-working, well respected, fiscally conservative and reform-minded finance minister is a serious blow," Peter Montalto, an analyst at Nomura, told the AFP news agency.
South Africa's main opposition leader Mmusi Maimane
criticised the sacking on Twitter
saying that Mr Zuma "has again proven himself to be a President incapable of making the right decisions".
Another opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, said the president appointed Mr Van Rooyen because he knows he "
will not stand up to him when he wants to do wrong things
".
Shock, surprise and sarcasm dominate the reaction to the sacking of Mr Nene.
A cartoon called "Zuma's wrecking ball" of the president's head, cast in stone, butting everything in sight is being widely shared on social media.
The general feeling is that President Zuma has dismissed a minister who stood for integrity and prudence in managing the country's finances.
Although Mr Nene was finance minister for just over 18 months, he has already been able to stand his ground on issues of wasteful government expenditure.
He has openly criticised wage increases for public servants; questioned the management of public utilities; opposed a bailout for the national airline and did not approve a proposal to buy the president a new private jet.
In the main, investors regarded him as a safe pair of hands steering South Africa's economy in uncharted waters, especially in the midst of the recent global volatility and the steep decline in commodity prices.
South Africa's finance ministry has come under "the most intense political pressure in recent months", reports the
economic news website Fin24
.
It suggests that Mr Nene's removal was down to his lack of "politcal clout".
He was seen as one of the few people in government to oppose certain spending plans, including a programme to build new nuclear plants,
reports Business Day newspaper
.
Last week, two credit ratings agencies downgraded their assessments of South Africa.
Fitch reduced its rating to just above junk status and Standard and Poor's moved its outlook from stable to negative.
Unemployment in South Africa is above 25% and the economy is growing very slowly.
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36499106ca038995ae715fad8ea4ef67 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-35159024 | Nigeria's Boko Haram 'forces one million out of school' | Nigeria's Boko Haram 'forces one million out of school'
An Islamist insurgency has kept about one million children out of school in Nigeria and three neighbouring states, the UN children's agency has said.
More than 2,000 schools were shut, while hundreds had been attacked, looted or set ablaze, Unicef said.
Boko Haram's six-year insurgency has devastated north-eastern Nigeria, and has spread to Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari gave the military a deadline of the end of the month to defeat the group.
But it is likely to be extended as Boko Haram is still bombing areas despite losing towns under its control in March, says the BBC's Bashir Sa'ad Abdullahi in the capital, Abuja.
The insurgency is said to have killed some 17,000 people and left more than two million people homeless.
Our correspondent says many schools in north-eastern Nigeria, especially in Borno state, have turned into camps for those who have been forced from their homes.
Boko Haram has also targeted schools because of its opposition to Western education, which it believes corrupts the values of Muslims.
In April 2014, it abducted more than 200 girls from a boarding school in north-eastern Chibok town, an incident which drew international attention to the insurgency.
Our correspondent says the north-east has always been seen as one of the poorest parts of Nigeria with low levels of education, and the insurgency has worsened the the social and economic crisis in the region.
In September, Borno governor Kashim Shettima said $1bn (£670m) would be needed to rebuild infrastructure destroyed in the insurgency.
Using football to tackle Boko Haram
Why Boko Haram remains a threat
|
01ed91dad77d7ee129073dcecdc20d2b | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-35492525 | Kenya refuses to register atheist group | Kenya refuses to register atheist group
A group of Kenyan atheists say they have suffered "blatant discrimination" after the authorities refused to register their society.
They were told the application was turned down because of concerns that registration could affect the "peace... [and] good order" in the country.
The 60-member Atheists In Kenya applied for official recognition last year.
More than 97% of Kenyans indentify themselves with a religion, according to Pew Research.
Head of Atheists In Kenya (AIK) Harrison Mumia has
accused the official registrar Maria Nyariki
of running her office "through guesswork", as she cannot possibly know what impact registration would have.
He also complained that there are "church leaders who have defiled minors" who have been allowed to register.
AIK does have the right to appeal against the decision but Mr Mumia told the BBC that he will be taking the issue to court because he argues the constitutional right to freedom of association had been violated.
AIK believes that official recognition would allow it to participate more fully in public affairs, as well as allow it to do things like open a bank account.
Mr Mumia said that as an atheist in a religious society, he has personally suffered discrimination.
Last year, AIK failed in its court attempt to overturn the government's decision to have a public holiday coinciding with Pope Francis' visit.
|
01b1cc2f5e1ea2f899335d1f42f728e6 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-35577300 | Uganda opposition candidate Kizza Besigye held by police | Uganda opposition candidate Kizza Besigye held by police
One of Uganda's main opposition candidates has been briefly detained by police ahead of presidential elections on Thursday.
Kizza Besigye has been arrested on many occasions in the past but this is the first time during this campaign.
Mr Besigye has in the past lost three disputed elections against long-time leader Yoweri Museveni.
Mr Museveni, 71, has been in power for 30 years and is running for a fifth term in office.
The BBC's Catherine Byaruhanga in the capital Kampala reports that Mr Besigye was released by police, who told her that he was being taken to his next rally.
Thousands of supporters then followed his convoy into Kampala and many more lined the streets, she says.
Our correspondent says that shortly before he was detained, his car was driving along one of the main highways in the capital, escorted by hundreds of supporters.
Teargas was fired to disperse the crowd.
The police told our correspondent that Mr Besigye was not under arrest but had been held because he had disobeyed orders not to disrupt city traffic.
Mr Besigye used to be President Museveni's personal doctor, but he went on to become his political opponent and has referred to him as a "dictator".
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864a0fd8a45e18be482bbe15f32a82af | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-35882396 | Boko Haram militants 'took my children' in Chad | Boko Haram militants 'took my children' in Chad
Boko Haram has been driven out of most of its bases in northern Nigeria but in the past year, it has moved across the border to Chad. The BBC's Thomas Fessy met one family who have been devastated by the Islamist militant group.
Djibrilla, 64, sits quietly in the corner of the hut. Gusts of dusty wind blow through the walls of reeds. Months have passed without a sign of life from five of his eight children.
Aged between two and 15, they were abducted by Boko Haram militants last year.
Where are they? How are they doing? Are they being forced to fight? So many questions he cannot answer.
"I can't understand even though I am trying to make sense of it," he says.
"I am so shocked, they are too young to defend themselves. I have to give it up to God, there's nothing I can do."
The five children were seized during an attack on their village. Those who survived the deadly raid, like Djibrilla, are now living in a makeshift camp.
Many of these camps have sprung up between the sandy tracks and dunes that surround Lake Chad, which forms the border between Nigeria and Chad.
People who lived on the lake islands were forced to settle in the desert, away from their fishing grounds and farmlands.
Boko Haram fighters attacked their homes or they were told to move out by Chadian soldiers who fear jihadis may infiltrate them.
Chad, Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger are among the countries that have finally come together to form a regional task force to tackle the militants, who have staged attacks on all four countries.
Djibrilla's community is obviously not receiving much assistance.
In this desolation, "a day of joy", as he describes it, eventually happened last September.
Trucks from the Chadian army stopped by the camp. Soldiers were bringing his eldest son, Youssouf (not his real name), back to him.
Youssouf, 26, had left home before his brothers and sisters were seized. He had gone to join the militant group of his own free will.
But he was not the only one.
"Men came to our village and told us we should join Boko Haram," says Adam (not his real name).
He is 16 and he spent two months last year with the group.
He is sitting on his left leg, holding his toes while he speaks. As he looks down, his face shows some kind of embarrassment.
Next to him, Youssouf says: "There was nothing to do at home and we were told we would get lots of money.
"We would get everything we wanted."
Most young people in the region have not had any education, except at Koranic school.
On top of the state neglect, a devastating environmental shift has caused Lake Chad to shrink to a small portion of its original size, pushing families who depend on it further into poverty.
The lack of infrastructure, education and prospects has pushed many into the hands of Boko Haram, lured by the promised gold.
"The drying of the lake is creating socio-economic problems among young people," the regional traditional chief, Youssouf Mbodou Mbami, says.
"They have no activity and Boko Haram is telling them that they have money. So they go join their ranks."
"It has had a very serious impact on them."
Returning from a visit to the region, the UN Regional Humanitarian Co-ordinator for the Sahel, Toby Lanzer, points the finger of blame in the same direction.
"The extreme violence is the most visible driver of instability and need for emergency relief," Mr Lanzer says.
"But the root of the crisis lies in the abject poverty and environmental degradation which has been plaguing the region for decades.
"It is one of the hardest situations I have seen anywhere," he says.
"The scale of the needs is simply immense."
Back at the dusty camp, Adam and Youssouf describe fighters from Chad who recruited them, proof that the Nigerian insurgency has taken on a regional dimension.
"We were split into groups," Youssouf explains.
"Those who had been there longest were trained with weapons and they would gather to recite the Koran; but we were kept apart."
'How I almost became a suicide bomber'
On patrol against Boko Haram
Surviving Nigeria's Boko Haram
Boko Haram 'paying recruits in Niger'
Who are Boko Haram?
Both young men said they were under the watch of fighters wearing civilian clothes rather than uniforms, and carrying weapons.
They did not know how long they must have stayed before any training would start.
Under pressure from regional troops, the group was constantly on the move, travelling to different islands on Lake Chad.
For Adam and Youssouf, it soon felt more like a trap than a money-making opportunity.
Out on the lake, it becomes clear that water is all that separates Boko Haram's stronghold in Nigeria from Chad.
The jihadis have been using boats to carry out their attacks, navigating between the many lake islands.
Fear is now ever-present, putting towns and villages on alert.
In the town of Baga Sola, local volunteers are manning a makeshift check-point at the entrance of the market. They have stretched a piece of string across the road to stop passers-by.
"We're like security guards," one of them says. "We search everyone who comes into the market, and the cars must stop here so we can check them too."
People seem to naturally comply with the new order as the volunteers pat them down for weapons.
Last October, four suicide bombers made their way through the crowds and caused carnage in the market. Dozens were killed or wounded.
The community suffered another blow when they discovered that those who detonated the bombs were locals.
Major General Lo Adeosun, who commands the Multi-National Joint Task Force, has come to visit the troops on the ground.
Advancing with a folding seat cane in hand, privilege of hierarchy, he says they have forced the Islamist militants into "splinter groups".
"If you look at it on the grounds of insurgency and terrorism, you can see that the insurgency aspect of it is defeated," he says.
"But the terrorism, we are still battling with."
The soldiers have indeed retaken territory from the jihadis but Boko Haram still has the power to strike the nations around Lake Chad. They are vulnerable from within.
"The money never came so we found a way out," Youssouf says.
The Chadian army kept him in custody for a month after he surrendered to their barracks. Only then, soldiers took him back to his father.
"I was so happy when my son came back," Djibrilla says, "but I warned him: you must stay with us even though we live in poverty."
The community that both Youssouf and Adam left behind has offered them a second chance but the terms are clear; they have their place and they must accept it.
But Djibrilla will not know peace until his five other children return home.
|
65df095221fe090994c46826a5fa27f1 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-35971793 | Djibouti’s thin-skinned democracy | Djibouti’s thin-skinned democracy
Djibouti is clearly a little nervous about democracy, as within 48 hours of arriving to report on the forthcoming elections, I was among a three-man BBC team detained and expelled without explanation.
The Red Sea nation is an important security hub, hosting military bases from the US and France.
It was my first visit and I was most looking forward to seeing how the country operated with so many military personnel representing different interests.
As well as focusing on the election and its attraction to the world's military powers, we wanted to see how its economy was developing.
The heavy military presence is a win-win situation, Foreign Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf told me a few hours after our arrival.
Djibouti, which borders Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea, gains revenue and expertise from some of the best military forces the world had to offer as well as also enjoying good security, he said.
Later that evening, we went out for dinner to have a feel of Djiboutian life and a taste of the election fever.
Our team included a cameraman and producer, and as we weaved through several narrow streets, at one point a group of children ran past chanting: "I-O-G! I-O-G!"
We had seen these initials, referring to President Ismail Omar Guelleh, on buildings and vehicles everywhere - and on a brief drive out of the capital city the next day we noticed that they had even been painted in white on the hills in the distance.
It was a strong reminder of the dominance of the man who has led Djibouti for 16 years - and looks likely to defeat any opposition challenge in this week's elections.
Omar Elmi Khaireh is one of two candidates actually running against the president, with three of the country's seven opposition parties choosing to boycott the poll entirely.
Mr Khaireh is no stranger to confronting authority, having got into trouble with French colonialists during the struggle for Djibouti's independence.
On the day after our arrival, we interviewed him just before he set out for a rally.
With a yellow sash draped around his neck, he complained that the government was not providing a good atmosphere for opposition parties to operate.
Djibouti is not generally considered a safe haven for dissent.
It ranked 170 out of 180 on last year's World Press Freedom Index by the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, with reports that legal and illegal means have been used to stifle journalists.
So we were not surprised to see the silver Suzuki car trailing us as we moved around the city, or the man secretly filming us on his mobile phone when we stopped outside a shop.
But we didn't anticipate what happened next: A group of at least six men approached us in a tranquil cafe where we were having lunch.
They flashed green ID cards and said they were from "national security".
Their leader, a tall man, possibly in his mid-thirties, announced they were taking us back to our hotel to get our equipment.
Our hotel was just across the street, but bizarrely, they tried to force us into a minivan with blacked out windows to get there.
We refused and eventually they agreed to walk with us, having confiscated our mobile phones.
The receptionist at our hotel tried to stick up for us, protesting at the aggressive behaviour of the men as they crowded the entrance to the hotel, demanding we hand over our cameras.
But his attempts only brought trouble on himself, and soon two men with "Police" spelled out in bold on the back of their polo shirts descended on him and bundled him into another vehicle.
They drove our team away in the first minivan, forcing us to put our heads down unless we wanted to be blindfolded.
We headed east from our hotel, stopping at a building where we were held for most of the next 19 hours.
We met a man who hesitantly identified himself as Abdi. He appeared to be the person in charge and said this was a matter of national security. He offered us coffee and water.
We were interrogated for about eight hours in total, sometimes as a group, but mostly individually.
Why were we interviewing an opposition candidate?
Why had we chosen this specific time to be in Djibouti?
At times, their questions made me wonder if we had got the election dates wrong.
They also accused us of posing a threat to the president and of being sponsored by the opposition.
They scanned and photocopied our passports.
It was almost laughable how they could not even decide what they wanted to charge us with.
Eventually Abdi, the man in charge, said the decision had been made from higher up to expel us from the country.
At this point in our detention, we had still not been allowed to communicate with anyone in the outside world.
The people holding us left for the day and handed us over to another bunch.
These ones were younger, mostly in their twenties and appeared less willing to reason with us, preferring to focus on chewing mouthfuls of khat, the plant traditionally used as a stimulant in the region.
At one point they told us it was time to leave. They took us to the airport but they could not get us on the 23:30 GMT Kenya Airways flight, so we were taken back to the national security building.
This time we were shown a room, which I suppose was for security guards. In it there were mattresses on the floor for us.
As the three of us lay there, we thought and talked about our loved ones and colleagues who would be trying to reach us.
We barely slept until daylight. Later in the morning we were taken to the airport again.
We rushed to the plane, which had been delayed for us.
This time we had our mobile phones in hand and were able to announce that we were safe.
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2ac096740e50a77bfb6b96dfe378ff5f | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-35974641 | Libya's Tripoli government to step down | Libya's Tripoli government to step down
One of two rival governments in Libya has announced that it is stepping down, a justice ministry statement has said.
The announcement comes less than a week after the arrival in Tripoli of a UN-backed national unity government.
The Tripoli-based administration said it was standing down to prevent further bloodshed.
Since 2014 Libya has had two competing administrations, the one in Tripoli backed by powerful militias and the other in the eastern city of Tobruk.
The Tobruk-based administration, formed by the House of Representatives, still opposes the UN-backed body.
Has Libya pulled back from the brink?
Why is Libya so lawless?
Guide to key Libyan militias
More on this and other African news stories
"We inform you that we are stopping our work as an executive power, as the presidency and ministers of the government," said the statement by the self-declared National Salvation government.
This authority was set up by the former parliament, the General National Congress (GNC).
The UN-brokered unity government arrived in Tripoli last week and is now operating from the city's naval base as it strives to restore peace in a country ravaged by factional conflict.
Western countries want the unity government to unite as many factions in Libya as possible against an increasingly powerful affiliate of the group known as Islamic State.
But it is not clear how the new administration, led by the Presidency Council, will be able to assert its authority given the opposition it will inevitably face elsewhere in the country.
Some rival lawmakers in December signed up to the
United Nations
agreement to form a unity administration, but the deal has not yet been backed by all the country's many militia brigades that formed after the uprising.
The deal saw the formation of a nine-member Presidency Council, which includes the unity Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj.
The UN says it is considering lifting sanctions on Libya's estimated $67bn (£46.8bn) sovereign wealth fund if the government can regain control of the country.
The decision of one of Libya's two rival governments to dissolve itself a week after the UN-backed Presidency Council arrived in Tripoli does not mean the parliament there has ceded power - in fact it is split over the UN-backed deal.
But it does draw a line under one of three rival authorities that have technically existed in recent weeks.
The government led by Abdullah al-Thinni in Tobruk remains in place but is also split over the UN-backed agreement which was signed in December by members of both rival parliaments.
The Tobruk government is backed by what is still the internationally recognised parliament and Libya's only legislative body under a UN-backed agreement.
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0ef7773978a3072a29c6402d02174db3 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-35989401 | Nigeria Boko Haram militants offered olive branch by army | Nigeria Boko Haram militants offered olive branch by army
Nigeria's army says 800 militants from the Islamist Boko Haram group who have surrendered and shown remorse will be rehabilitated into society.
They would be profiled, documented and offered training in new skills at several camps currently being set up, the army spokesman told the BBC.
Until now militants who surrender have been held in jail awaiting trial.
The army has been criticised in the past for its treatment of Boko Haram insurgents and suspects.
Last June, Amnesty International
said
that 7,000 young men and boys had died in military detention in
Nigeria
since 2011.
The BBC's Abdullahi Kaura Abubakar in the capital, Abuja, says the programme, known as Operation Safe Corridor, hopes to persuade others who are yet to renounce their membership of the jihadi group to do so.
It is also an attempt by the army to show that human rights will be respected in future - a key promise made by President Muhammadu Buhari when he came to power last year.
The seven-year insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria has killed some 17,000 people and forced more than 2.6 million from their homes.
Army spokesman Brigadier General Rabe Abubakar said there would be two or three camps by the military - the locations of which would be made public when they were officially launched in the next few months.
"They will be very big and all facilities will put in place... to rehabilitate them to become good members of society," he told our correspondent.
Other government agencies would be involved in this new de-radicalisation programme, he added.
Asked if the repentant militants would be paid whilst they underwent training, Brig Gen Abubakar said: "I believe the government will definitely ask the relevant agencies to do what is needful."
On questions about whether those who surrendered would be tried or given amnesty, he said that things needed to be taken "phase by phase".
"The most important thing for us is to have them rehabilitated. Since they have shown remorse and come on board, I think it is our duty to ensure that we help them to become very productive members of this great country," the army spokesman said.
'Boko Haram took my children'
Town divided by Boko Haram legacy
On patrol against Boko Haram
Who are Boko Haram?
Our reporter says as commendable as this arrangement is, there are many who doubt if communities are ready to wholly accept them.
It is likely that many victims of the cruelty of these former gunmen may find it difficult to forgive, he says.
Meanwhile, a committee set up by Nigeria's defence minister is due to submit its report how areas liberated from Boko Haram should be handed back to civilian authorities.
At the moment the military is solely in control of most of the towns and villages recaptured from Boko Haram.
The majority of those displaced by the conflict have yet to return to their homes.
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81b4acd0a0b5a82030eddfe38cbdaac3 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-36041860 | Boko Haram abductions: Freed 'bride' tells of stigma ordeal | Boko Haram abductions: Freed 'bride' tells of stigma ordeal
Zara is 17 years old and she has a terrible story. It is the story of Boko Haram and what this brutal Islamist group is doing to thousands of people in north-eastern Nigeria and surrounding countries.
Zara was kidnapped by Boko Haram and then freed by the army, but now finds herself sometimes wishing she was back in the forest rather than suffering the stigma of life as a Boko Haram bride.
She wasn't one of the missing Chibok schoolgirls, and until now didn't have her own social media hashtag, but like thousands of others - free or still captive - is deeply traumatised.
In telling
#ZarasStory
it's the first time she has spoken to outsiders about her terrible experience a year on, and the pain she still suffers to this day.
"They gave us a choice - to be married, or to be a slave. I decided to marry," she said.
There is little difference, but for the child she was soon bearing.
Life was tough and dangerous. The air force jets bombarded the vast Sambisa Forest where the militants have their camps and from where soldiers rescued her and eventually returned her to her relatives.
"The women in our family realised she was three months pregnant," said her uncle Mohamed Umaru, who told us more of her story.
"In our family it happens that some of us are Christians and some are Muslims. She was a Christian before she was kidnapped but the Boko Haram who married her turned her into a Muslim."
There was a split in the family over what to do and they took a vote as to whether she should abort or keep the child.
The majority prevailed and she gave birth to a boy.
"She said her husband's father is called Usman, so that is how she named the child," Mohamed said.
And then the insults began.
"People call me a Boko Haram wife and called me a criminal. They didn't want me near. They didn't like me," Zara said as a tear slowly slipped down her cheek.
She now sits inside the small walled compound around her house, afraid to go outside because of the cruel insults of the neighbourhood children - messages of hate learned from their parents.
"They didn't like my child. When he fell sick nobody would look after him," she said.
Last weekend, as Zara slept outside with Usman because of the heat, a snake got into their compound and the boy was killed. He was just nine months old.
Half the family celebrated what they called God's will.
"Some were happy that he died," Zara said. "They were happy the blood of Boko Haram had gone from the family."
"They said thank God that the kid is dead, that God has answered their prayers," Mohamed explained.
"Sometimes she says she wants to go to school and become a doctor and help society, but sometimes, when people insult her, she says she wants to go back to the Sambisa Forest.
"She always talks about her husband who happens to be a Boko Haram commander. She says the guy is nice to her and that he wants to start a new life with her."
Listening to Zara's story, told quietly with eyes flicking down at the ground, it is hard to imagine anyone going through what she has gone though, let alone a 17-year-old girl.
Mohamed said Zara's life had become so intolerably hard that on one occasion she had said she wanted to "go and do a suicide mission".
"She will, she will, she will definitely do that if she gets the chance," he added.
But there is so much confusion in her face and in her answers - she is not a killer, she is just a child.
"The feeling for the forest is strong now, but it will go away. I will forget the time with Boko Haram, but not yet," Zara said.
She says she is in love with her husband although she believes she has been brainwashed. She feels abandoned by her family and stigmatised by her community.
She is sad, she is angry, she is confused. She is 17.
"People should understand that these children didn't create this, but if we continue to stigmatise people with such trauma we might create something much, much bigger than Boko Haram in the future," her uncle says.
"You are creating a more dangerous thing than Boko Haram if you grow up not welcomed by society and with nobody wanting to help you.
"My prayer is for the government to do something. They should come to their aid and reintegrate them and show them love."
So many girls like Zara have been abducted, so many others are still being held.
There is torment for those who wait and hope, and there is pain for those who survive.
|
be95b71a870357206073c8d868fd5913 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-36047601 | Zimbabwe: 2,000 people join anti-Mugabe protest in Harare | Zimbabwe: 2,000 people join anti-Mugabe protest in Harare
Two thousand Zimbabwean opposition supporters, some holding placards calling for 92-year-old President Robert Mugabe to resign, have rallied in the capital Harare.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai called for countrywide demonstrations against the deteriorating economy.
The march went ahead after a ruling by the High Court. Police had initially denied permission.
It is the biggest such protest in many years.
Africa Live: BBC News updates
"Mugabe has no solution to the crisis. We are here to tell Mugabe and his regime that you have failed," Mr Tsvangirai said in a brief speech to supporters.
"This is about jobs and improving the economy, which is in dire straits," he added.
This march was sanctioned by the High Court, not the police.
The placards told a story of displeasure. The young and the old, in red, took to the streets. The police couldn't do much besides watching about 2,000 MDC supporters, supported by trade unions and students, express their misgivings against the state of the economy and President Robert Mugabe's continued rule.
This had not been seen in Harare for many years.
The police ruthlessness against voices of dissent is well documented.
The march was peaceful and countrywide demonstrations are planned in the coming weeks, although it is not clear if those rallies will be allowed.
But the march shows that Mr Mugabe's long-time rival, Morgan Tsvangirai (above), who had been dormant since losing the 2013 election, remains a force to reckon with.
Elections are due in 2018 and President Mugabe, 92, says he will run again.
Opposition to that is now building both within his party and outside.
Mr Mugabe has been in power since independence in 1980.
He remains active but his increasingly fragile health has sparked speculation over his successor and the direction the country will then take.
Zimbabwe's economy has struggled since a government programme seized most white-owned farms in 2000, causing exports to tumble.
Unemployment and poverty are endemic and political repression commonplace. Many Zimbabweans have left the country in search of work in South Africa.
|
b61b54fbc6ece96755e2e55179a7ec2a | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-36141930 | South African inventor wins Vodacom 'Please Call Me' battle | South African inventor wins Vodacom 'Please Call Me' battle
A South African man has won his legal bid to force leading mobile phone firm Vodacom to pay him for inventing a popular messaging service.
The country's highest court ordered the firm to compensate ex-employee Nkosana Makate for the Please Call Me service.
He waged a nine-year court battle, accusing Vodacom of breaching an agreement to pay him.
Please Call Me was introduced in 2001, allowing prepaid phone users to send a free text asking to be phoned back.
"I have no hard feelings towards Vodacom. I love the company. I worked for it since I was 18-years-old‚" a visibly elated Mr Makate said after the judgment, South Africa's Times Live news site
reports
.
"I've been on this road for 16 years‚ nine years now in trial‚ after three dismissals by the lower courts. It's been a long journey for me‚" he added.
The Constitutional Court overturned a ruling of a lower court, which said that while Please Call Me was Mr Makate's idea he could not claim payment as he only had an oral agreement with Vodacom's director of product development, Philip Geissler, who lacked the authority to make a deal on behalf of the firm.
Mr Makate has previously told local media that the invention had generated about 70bn rand ($5bn; £3bn) for Vodacom and he wanted a 15% cut of that.
A lawyer for Vodacom was quoted by local media as saying they were studying the judgement.
|
ea10b658fa03dbfd71d311eeb0aea2e6 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-36159583 | Nigeria's Buhari orders crackdown on Fulani cattle raiders | Nigeria's Buhari orders crackdown on Fulani cattle raiders
Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the security forces to crack down on cattle raiders accused of killing hundreds of people this year.
Soldiers and police would "go after the groups terrorising innocent people all over the country", he said.
The raids are seen as the biggest security threat facing Nigeria after the Islamist-led insurgency.
Nomadic herders from the Fulani ethnic group and farming communities often clash for control of land and water.
The announcement comes after national outrage over the killing of at least 20 people on Monday in a raid on the Ukpabi Nimbo community in south-eastern Enugu State.
In a statement, Mr Buhari said he deeply sympathised with those who had lost their lives.
He had ordered Nigeria's army and police chiefs to "secure all communities under attack by herdsmen", Mr Buhari added.
"This government will not allow these attacks to continue," the president said.
In February, about 300 people were killed and tens of thousands left homeless in a tit-for-tat raid in central Benue state, local media reported.
Homes, food stores and churches were also destroyed, reports said.
More than 1, 200 people were killed in 2014 by different groups of Fulani herders, according to the
Global Terrorism Index
.
Who are the Fulanis? By Naziru Mikailu, BBC News
The Fulanis are believed to be largest semi-nomadic group in the world and are mainly based in West and Central Africa.
In Nigeria, there are two types: The semi-nomadic herders and those who live in the city.
Unlike the more integrated city dwellers, the nomadic groups spend most of their lives in the bush and are the ones largely involved in these clashes.
They herd their animals across vast dry hinterlands, something that often puts them at odds with many communities, especially farmers who accuse them of damaging their crops.
However, the Fulanis have sometimes been attacked and have their animals stolen by bandits, prompting reprisal attacks.
The conflict has been going on for about two decades, but following the upsurge in attacks this year the government is under increasing pressure to take steps to curb it.
|
4410958fac24865d5728802d81f424b3 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-36300592 | Somaliland: Making a success of 'independence' | Somaliland: Making a success of 'independence'
Exactly 25 years ago, after a ferocious civil war, north-west Somalia broke away from the rest of the country and declared itself independent.
A quarter of a century later, not a single country recognises Somaliland, but this territory of about 3.5 million people is arguably one of the more stable, democratic places in the Horn of Africa.
At the BBC, we don't call Somaliland a country because officially it isn't one. We call it a "self-declared republic", inviting criticism from many Somalilanders.
But the territory has its own currency, passport, army and legal system. Its presidents come to power through fiercely-fought elections, sometimes won with the narrowest of margins. Unlike many other African countries, the results are respected, even when the opposition wins.
Somaliland is by no means perfect. Large parts of the east are disputed, sometimes violently, with other regions of Somalia. People in the west agitate for autonomy. There are reports of sleeper cells of the Islamist militia,
al-Shabab.
Some migrants who die in the Mediterranean are from Somaliland, where youth unemployment is estimated at 75%.
On recent visits to the territory, I have seen lines of young men walking along the roadsides, carrying small bags. "They are on tahrib," I am told - starting their long, uncertain journey to Europe or the Gulf.
The authorities are harsh towards the media, sometimes arresting journalists and shutting down newspapers. In January, six prisoners found guilty of murder were executed.
And such is the hostility towards Somalia proper that last year four members of the popular Horn Stars band
were arrested
on their return to Somaliland from Somalia. Their alleged crime was waving a blue Somalia flag at a concert in the Somali capital Mogadishu.
Somaliland has its own green, white and red flag. Somalilanders take great pride in presenting giant versions of this flag to visiting diplomats who sometimes blush as it is unfurled in front of them because it puts them in a somewhat difficult position regarding the territory's unrecognised status.
Perhaps most importantly, Somaliland has peace and relative stability. I sometimes travel between Somalia and Somaliland in a single day and the contrast could not be greater.
In Somalia, as a western journalist, I cannot move around without six heavily-armed bodyguards, racing around in a two-vehicle convoy, hidden behind blacked-out windows. When I am in Mogadishu, there are often suicide bombings, mortar raids and grenade attacks.
In Somaliland, I walk around on my own, even at night.
Many Somalis also take advantage of this peace, especially in the summer when Somaliland becomes a kind of "Disneyworld" for Somalis from all over the world.
Large Somali families from the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, the Gulf and other parts of Somalia come there for their holidays.
Parents show their children traditional Somali ways of life, sometimes taking them into the bush to experience nomadic culture. Men feast on camel milk and meat. Diaspora girls visit beauty parlours for intricate henna decorations. Romantic relationships develop, young couples discreetly sharing ice creams.
The differences between Somalia and Somaliland raise interesting questions about recognition.
Somalia is a fully recognised country. Billions of dollars have been spent and many lives lost trying to restore a country devastated by more than a quarter of a century of conflict.
There has been some progress but there are no signs of full stability returning any time soon.
Somaliland is not recognised and does not receive much outside help. But it has built itself up from the devastation of civil war.
I first visited the territory in the early 1990s, when the capital Hargeisa had been reduced to rubble. When I returned in 2011, as I stood on a hill above the city, I was astonished is to see a whole new Hargeisa below me.
With the international gaze so firmly fixed on Mogadishu, it is unlikely Somaliland will be recognised in the near future - but that may be a blessing in disguise.
The independence cause is the glue that binds Somalilanders together. If they were granted recognition, could it be possible that they too might fall to fighting, just like their southern neighbours?
More about Somaliland
|
c558564f2febd1c0687201b85ed8f4f7 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-36553127 | Ugandan soldier shoots seven dead in Kampala barracks | Ugandan soldier shoots seven dead in Kampala barracks
A Ugandan soldier has killed seven people, including three children, in a shooting spree at a military police barracks in the capital, Kampala.
The soldier, Sgt Isaac Obua, was then shot dead himself.
Military police spokesman Maj Edward Birungi said Sgt Obua had had a dispute with his wife.
He is reported to have got drunk and then started shooting while searching for his wife, who managed to escape.
Africa Live: BBC news updates
As well as the three children, Sgt Obua killed a female soldier and three soldiers' wives. Two others are said to be injured during the shooting at Makindye barracks in the south of Kampala.
Army spokesperson Lt Col Paddy Ankunda
tweeted
"Sgt Obua... has just gone bonkers killed seven people".
He then tweeted: "We are all mourning."
The BBC's Patience Atuhaire in Kampala says that there have been several incidents of soldiers going on the rampage in Uganda.
In May, three people were killed and six injured in a bar. And in 2014, a soldier killed 10, also in a bar.
|
6e2c19d5ee3843488f802a4130b5d88a | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-36776401 | Zimbabwe shutdown: What is behind the protests? | Zimbabwe shutdown: What is behind the protests?
Zimbabweans are being urged on social media and the messaging service WhatsApp to observe a two-day national "shutdown" in protest at the government's alleged mismanagement of the country.
A one-day stay away was organised last week and led to a complete shutdown of schools, businesses and shops across the country.
It was the biggest strike action since 2005.
Zimbabwe has run out of money.
Last month, all civil servants were paid late. Soldiers and police were paid after a two-week delay and teachers and nurses were among those who were only paid in the wake of last week's stay away.
These salaries have to be paid in foreign currency as Zimbabwe abandoned its own currency in 2009 in order to stem runaway inflation.
As the country is importing more than it is exporting, it cannot pay its bills.
The coalition government formed with the opposition, which was in power from 2009 until 2013, halted the economic free-fall.
But things started to flounder again after President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party won elections in July 2013 on a mandate of "indigenisation" and a promise to create two million jobs.
This has required all companies to cede economic control to black Zimbabweans.
With echoes of the country's land reform programme, which saw the seizure of land from some 4,000 white farmers, some detractors say this has discouraged much-needed foreign direct investment.
Many people literally cannot afford to feed themselves. This has been exacerbated by a severe drought - the worst in decades.
Even if Zimbabweans have money in their bank accounts, strict limits have been imposed on how much they can withdraw, leading to long bank queues.
With unemployment at more than 90%, many rely on cross-border trading to make a living.
In an attempt to stop money leaving the country, last month the government banned the importation of many goods - from coffee creamers and body cream to beds and fertiliser.
This led to demonstrations at the South African border and a warehouse belonging to the tax agency used to hold seized goods was set alight in Beitbridge.
Ten days later, police in the capital, Harare, had to use tear gas and water cannons to break up a protest by minibus drivers who were angered at constant harassment at roadblocks by officers demanding bribes.
The government wants to introduce bond notes as a cash substitute. They are to be pegged to the US dollar and would have no value outside Zimbabwe.
Many Zimbabweans are sceptical about this and do not trust the scheme backed by the central bank governor and a $200m (£151m) bond facility from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).
Memories of hyperinflation, when the highest denomination was a $100 trillion Zimbabwean dollar note - and prices would go up by millions from one hour to the next - are still fresh.
They fear that within months, the specially designed two, five, 10 and 20 dollar notes would have very little value - and as one market trader put it "wouldn't even buy a sweet".
It has not helped that the announcement of the bond notes came shortly after Mr Mugabe revealed that $15bn of the country's diamond wealth had been looted - something he blamed on foreign mining firms but which many Zimbabweans find hard to believe.
Charismatic pastor Evan Mawarire began a social media movement in May under the hashtag #ThisFlag, when he spontaneously posted a video online, expressing his frustration at the state of the nation.
It went viral and spurred him to continue urging Zimbabweans to find their voice and demand accountability from their government.
His outspoken videos in English and Shona are careful to say that non-violence is key, but other agitators are not so guarded.
Younger activists under the banner Tajamuka, meaning "we strongly disagree", are less moderate.
Shutdown activists' five demands:
Its supporters are young men who are fed up of waiting for jobs. Their brazen approach is similar to that of "Occupy Africa Unity Square", a group founded by Itai Dzamara, an anti-corruption activist who disappeared in mysterious circumstances last year.
Another agitator is young politician Acie Lumumba, who was recently expelled from Zanu-PF because of his vocal criticism of the government. He has recently launched his own party, and publicly insulted the 92-year-old president, saying: "You have never really seen Zimbabweans angry so here is the red line… I have drawn the line."
There are bound to be more arrests, the pastor has already been charged with inciting public violence. The authorities are determined to find those activists sending out the messages on WhatsApp.
Protests are likely to continue if civil servants are not paid on time. Churches and women's groups also appear to be joining in criticism of the government - and young people feel they have nothing to lose.
According to the Financial Times
, the government is hoping to negotiate an emergency loan to pay off arrears totalling nearly $2bn with the World Bank, African Development Bank and IMF.
This would allow the country an emergency injection of funds from these institutions.
At the moment, South Africa is in talks with Zimbabwean officials over the import ban and some have suggested that switching to the South African rand as the currency of choice would also help boost the economy.
But to date Zimbabweans have been reluctant to hold the rand because of its falling value.
Another option would be to reintroduce its own currency
and peg it to the rand
, like in Lesotho and Swaziland. But that may dent national pride and signal a loss of financial independence.
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121dbb894aa5c621b3684f77be1442dd | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-36794384 | Zimbabwe's pastor 'hero': #ThisFlag preacher | Zimbabwe's pastor 'hero': #ThisFlag preacher
A Zimbabwean pastor is being hailed by many of his countrymen as a hero on social media for calling for an end to the country's economic woes.
With no known political credentials but with a powerful mix of religion and patriotism, Evan Mawarire seems to have won over Zimbabweans who are sick of politicians from all political parties.
In the wake of the pastor's appearance in court this week, when a magistrate threw out charges by the state prosecutor that he was trying to overthrow President Robert Mugabe, one Zimbabwean in the UK spent hours on Photoshop to create an image of Mr Mawarire as superhero "Captain Zimbabwe".
"I did it with the younger generation of Zimbabwe in mind who might not understand what the struggle in Zimbabwe is about," Tawanda Sibotshiwe told the BBC after sharing the picture on Twitter.
"I did it so they can visualise the man who has inspired Zimbabweans to seek dialogue with their government in a peaceful manner."
The pastor has galvanised people outside and inside Zimbabwe, where the governing elite is viewed by some as ruining a once-thriving economy and where the opposition is fractured and ineffectual.
Through his social media movement, which uses the hashtag #ThisFlag, he has been backing a stay-away campaign this month to protest about perceived corruption and economic mismanagement
So does the Baptist preacher have any political credentials?
He told the BBC's Brian Hungwe in the capital, Harare, that his first brush with politics was as a child after a naughty spell at school in the mid-1990s.
After getting bad grades one term he was moved to another school where he thrived - so much that he was nominated as a child parliamentarian to represent Harare.
The child parliament mirrors Zimbabwe's real legislative chamber with each constituency having a representative on the body.
Mr Mawarire was then made child president and met the real president.
He described his first encounter with Mr Mugabe as full of "respect and admiration".
"It's 23 years now since I met him. He was my hero then," the 39-year-old
told Zimbabwe Independent.
"Today I look back and say: 'What changed?' Either I grew up or he messed up big time for sure."
After leaving school, he qualified as an auto electrician before starting his church, getting married and having two daughters.
His social media fame came after he spontaneously
posted a video online
, expressing his frustration at the state of the nation.
He told the Daily Maverick
that he filmed the unscripted speech in April in a moment of clarity after a day of struggling to work out how to pay his children's school fees - most of his income comes from his bookings as a master of ceremonies.
"I was very disappointed. I remember looking at this flag [in my office]. I thought if I was in another country I could not have failed to have what I need," he told the Zimbabwe Independent.
The video that went viral started with the pastor saying: "I'm not a politician; I'm not an activist... just a citizen."
Wrapped in the stripped Zimbabwean flag, he then pointed out what each of the flag's colours was supposed to represent.
"They tell me that the green is for the vegetation and for the crops. I don't see any crops in my country," he said, leaning over to fit in the frame of the phone camera while emotive music played the background.
After listing all the ways the flag had let him down, he turned to each colour again stating how it should be an inspiration.
The green "is the power of being able to push through soil, push past limitations and flourish and grow", he said.
He ended by promising to stop standing on the sidelines and start fighting for his country.
He has gone on to produce many videos posted to Facebook and Twitter. An inspiring orator, he delivers one sentence in English and then repeats it in Shona, Zimbabwe's most spoken language.
But in all his messages urging people to refuse to pay bribes and to stand up for their rights, he stipulates that all protest must be peaceful.
"Our protest - non-violent, non-inciting, stay-at-home - is the best because it is within the confines of the law," he told the BBC.
Shutdown activists' five demands:
What is behind the protests?
The flag and the bible are his symbols - and the only two things he carried with him when turned himself in for questioning before his arrest on Wednesday.
At his hearing a day later - with crowds of supporters, many draped in the national flag, spilling out of the court, singing and praying for him outside - the case was dismissed.
Prosecutors first charged him with inciting public violence and then at the last minute added subversion, which his lawyers successfully argued would deny him a fair trial.
His critics complain that the preacher does not speak for everyone and there has been no proof of how widespread his support is.
"A Facebook wall or Twitter feed does not equate to a polling booth granting him an electoral mandate,"
writes Bernard Bwoni in the state newspaper The Herald.
Mr Mawarire argues that it his religion that has given him the courage to continue, despite attempted abductions and threats, including one to strangle him with a flag.
"I go back to the bible," he told the Zimbabwe Independent.
"It says unless the watchman watches with God, he will watch in vain. The God factor is driving me."
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dd296457e503c207971a326b52059ae1 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-36875676 | Koffi Olomide case: Kenya deports singer over airport 'kick' | Koffi Olomide case: Kenya deports singer over airport 'kick'
The Kenyan authorities have deported one of Africa's biggest musicians, Koffi Olomide, after he was filmed apparently kicking a woman.
Footage of the incident at Nairobi's international airport was posted online and sparked outrage on social media.
Olomide, from Democratic Republic of Congo, denied assaulting anyone but was arrested hours after arriving in Kenya for a concert.
He was deported to the DRC capital, Kinshasa, with three of his dancers.
Olomide, 60, was accused of kicking one of the women dancers but, speaking to the BBC, he denied kicking anyone and said he had tried to "stop" a "girl who wanted to fight the dancers I came with".
The video
shown on Kenya's KTN News
shows police intervening to stop the apparent attack on the woman, identified by Kenyan media as one of his dancers.
A Kenyan minister, Youth and Gender Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki, said the singer should be deported and his visa permanently revoked.
"His conduct was an insult to Kenyans and our constitution," she said. "Violence against women and girls cannot be accepted in any shape, form or manner. It is a blatant violation of their human rights."
The star has been in similar trouble in the past:
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7d8ddcada96fcb17c27e1ad1beccf85b | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-36940906?SThisFB | What is behind Ethiopia's wave of protests? | What is behind Ethiopia's wave of protests?
Ethiopia's Olympic marathon silver medallist Feyisa Lilesa crossed his hands above his head as he finished the race in Rio - bringing the world's attention to a wave of protests in his home country.
It is an anti-government gesture used by protesters in the Oromia region.
Ethiopia's government normally keeps a tight grip on the country and there has not been anything on this scale in the last 25 years.
There has not been a specific trigger and what we are seeing is an accumulation of years of frustration from ethnic groups who say they have been marginalised by the government.
Demonstrations began in Oromia last November. Protests have also sprung up more recently in the Amhara region.
Oromia and Amhara are the homelands of the country's two biggest ethnic groups.
New York-based Human Rights Watch says that more than 400 people have been killed in clashes with the security forces in Oromia, although the government disputes this figure.
The Oromos, who make up around a third of the population, have long complained that they have been excluded from the country's political process and the economic development which has seen the capital, Addis Ababa, transformed in recent years.
The protests were initially over a plan to expand the boundaries of Addis Ababa into the Oromia region.
That plan was dropped
, but the demonstrations exposed some underlying issues and protests continued with the latest round taking place on Saturday in many places in Oromia and the capital, Addis Ababa.
At the root of the recent demonstrations in Amhara is a request by representatives from the Welkait Amhara Identity Committee that their land, which is currently administered by the Tigray regional state, be moved into the neighbouring Amhara region.
The Welkait committee says community members identify themselves as ethnic Amharas and say they no longer want to be ruled by Tigrayans.
Amharas used to form the country's elite and the language, Amharic, remains the most widely spoken in the country.
Source:
CIA World Factbook
estimates from 2007
Observers say that Ethiopia's governing coalition is dominated by the party from the small Tigray region (TPLF), that led the guerrilla war against the military regime of Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam. Some see both sets of protests as a way of criticising the country's government.
There is no formal connection between the Amhara and Oromia demonstrations but at a recent protest in Gondar, banners could be seen expressing solidarity with people from the Oromia region.
Oromo activists referred to the demonstrations in Amhara in their Facebook post calling for protests on the first weekend in August - when Amnesty International said that more than 100 people died - but highlighted the fact that they thought the protesters there had been treated more leniently.
The central government, a close ally of the West, is in a very powerful position and has total control over the security forces.
There is not a single opposition member in parliament, so it faces no real political threat.
But its reaction to a big protest at the beginning of August suggests that it is worried: It shut down the internet across the country for two days, fearing that was how the demonstrations were being organised.
There is only one, state-controlled internet service provider so this was fairly straightforward.
Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn then issued a veiled threat to protesters saying that the government was obliged to ensure the rule of law. But he did not specify what that meant in practice.
He also appeared to be concerned that the country was sliding into ethnic conflict, which could become difficult to contain.
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b86e20c2b72ae7fc25ddd5591670affc | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-37365835 | US lifts decades-long trade sanctions against Myanmar | US lifts decades-long trade sanctions against Myanmar
Long-standing trade sanctions against Myanmar are to be lifted, US President Barack Obama has said.
The news came as Myanmar's de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, arrived in Washington on her first official visit.
Myanmar's access to trade benefits for poorer nations had been suspended in 1989 over human rights abuses.
President Obama said the country should now be allowed to benefit from preferential tariffs as it emerges from decades of military rule.
He confirmed the move in a letter to Congress on Wednesday, adding Myanmar - also known as Burma - to the Generalised System of Preferences, a list which exempts certain countries from high import taxes.
Though many companies will now enjoy lower tariffs, there are some sanctions which remain in place.
These include a "blacklist" of at least 100 companies and individuals with links to the former military junta, as well as trade in jade and rubies.
President Obama said the lifting of some sanctions would happen "soon", but did not give further details.
"It is the right thing to do to ensure the people of Burma see rewards from a new way of doing business, and a new government," he said.
He also paid tribute to the efforts made towards peace in the country, and the "enormous potential" of the country.
Ms Suu Kyi called on the US Congress to eliminate all remaining sanctions against Myanmar.
"Unity also needs prosperity," she said. "People, when they have to fight over limited resources, forget that standing together is important."
"We think that the time has come to remove all of the sanctions that hurt us economically," she said.
Ahead of Aung San Suu Kyi's visit,
Human Rights Watch said the sanctions targeted military officials
, and "shouldn't be fully lifted until the democratic transition is irreversible."
Ms Suu Kyi, who as opposition leader was kept under house arrest for 15 years, led her National League for Democracy party to victory in Myanmar's first openly contested election for decades in November 2015.
She is barred from the role of president under the country's constitution - instead holding the title of state counsellor - but is widely seen as the country's leader in all but name.
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ff2f65d56adc638483ced029d02972ea | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-37840961 | UN sacks South Sudan peacekeeping chief over damning report | UN sacks South Sudan peacekeeping chief over damning report
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has sacked the commander of the UN force in South Sudan after a report said it had failed to protect civilians in July.
The report
backed claims by aid workers that the UN troops refused to respond when government soldiers attacked an international aid compound in Juba.
In the fighting between the army and former rebels, a local journalist was killed and aid workers were raped.
The clashes derailed efforts to form a unity government and end the civil war.
The fighting began with clashes between President Salva Kiir's guards and bodyguards of the sacked Vice-President Riek Machar.
Mr Ban "has asked for the immediate replacement of the force commander" Kenyan Lt Gen Johnson Mogoa Kimani Ondieki, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced on Monday.
The independent special investigation into the violence on 8-11 July in South Sudan's capital was commissioned by the UN.
In three days of fighting, at least 73 people were killed, including more than 20 internally displaced people who had sought UN protection. Two peacekeepers also died.
Among the targets of the attack by government troops were a UN peacekeeping base, known as UN House, and the nearby Terrain Camp.
The report found that "a lack of leadership on the part of key senior mission (Unmiss) personnel culminated in a chaotic and ineffective response to the violence".
It said the peacekeepers "did not operate under a unified command, resulting in multiple and sometimes conflicting orders to the four troop contingents from China, Ethiopia, Nepal and India, and ultimately under-using the more than 1,800 infantry troops at UN House".
"This included at least two instances in which the Chinese battalion abandoned some of its defensive positions," the document said.
It also said a Nepalese police unit had "performed inadequately" in its efforts stop looting.
During the attack on Terrain camp, the report said that "civilians were subjected to and witnessed gross human rights violations, including murder, intimidation, sexual violence and acts amounting to torture perpetrated by armed government soldiers".
Five survivors later described the horror of the attack in a special programme
by BBC's Newsnight programme.
Unmiss has 13,000 peacekeepers deployed in South Sudan.
Both President Kiir's and Mr Machar's followers have been accused of perpetrating atrocities during the country's bitter civil conflict.
More than 2.5 million people in South Sudan have been displaced since the fighting first began in December 2013.
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7ce469a41e81cf47637619bdd1b2e9dd | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-37948866 | Zimbabwe drops charges against Cecil the lion hunter | Zimbabwe drops charges against Cecil the lion hunter
A Zimbabwe court has dropped charges against a professional hunter alleged to have helped an American dentist to kill a famous lion named Cecil.
It ruled that the charges against Theo Bronkhorst "were too vague to enable to him to mount a proper defence".
His lawyer, Perpetua Dube, told the BBC the offence did not have the force of the law and was not criminal in nature.
American dentist Walter Palmer who killed the famed lion last year was not charged.
The lion - a favourite at Hwange National Park - was shot by Mr Palmer with a bow and arrow.
He is said to have paid about $50,000 (£32,000) to hunt the lion.
Cecil's killing sparked international outrage, and prompted a global campaign to end lion trophy hunting.
Mr Bronkhorst said in court that he had obtained all the permits required to kill an elderly lion that was outside the national park boundaries.
He is now a free man, though the state could still press fresh charges, the BBC's Shingai Nyoka in Zimbabwe's capital Harare reports.
Cecil attracted photographic safaris and was part of an Oxford research project into lions at the Hwange National Park.
What Cecil the lion means to Zimbabwe
Cecil the lion in pictures
How the internet hunted the hunter
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3d75b48b925169ed5836f16dcead154e | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-38078238 | Bamenda protests: Mass arrests in Cameroon | Bamenda protests: Mass arrests in Cameroon
At least 100 people have been arrested following days of protests against the use of French in courts and schools in English-speaking parts of Cameroon.
Several others are being treated with bullet wounds in hospital in the region's main city, Bamenda.
Lawyers are opposed to the employment of court workers who do not understand the application of British common law.
Areas controlled by Britain and France joined to form Cameroon after the colonial powers withdrew in the 1960s.
The country has 10 semi-autonomous administrative regions - eight are Francophone and use the French civil law.
English-speakers have long complained that they face discrimination.
They often complain that they are excluded from top civil service jobs and that government documents are often only published in French, even though English is also an official language.
Bamenda is the founding place of Cameroon's largest opposition political party, the Social Democratic Front.
Africa Live: Updates on this and other news stories
Find out more about Cameroon
The BBC's Frederic Takang in Bamenda says there is tension in the north-western city and businesses and schools have been closed.
At least one person was shot dead on the first day of the protests, 10 others were admitted to hospital with four in critical condition, he says.
Teachers and local residents joined the protests which started on Monday.
Educators in the English-speaking regions have been opposed to the employment of teachers who only speak French in technical schools.
Cameroon was colonised by Germany and then split into British and French areas after World War One.
Following a referendum, British-run Southern Cameroons joined the French-speaking Republic of Cameroon in 1961, while Northern Cameroons voted to join English-speaking Nigeria.
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11eed3ba1a323ee3e1bc47c176e57848 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-38239138 | Kenya Muslims 'targeted in extrajudicial killings' | Kenya Muslims 'targeted in extrajudicial killings'
Kenya's anti-terror police have carried out at least 81 extrajudicial killings in country's mainly Muslim coastal region since 2012, a rights group says.
Haki Africa said the figure could be higher but some families were reluctant to come forward for fear of victimisation by state security agents.
The police oversight body said 52 officers were on trial in connection with such killings countrywide.
The coastal region has suffered several terror attacks in recent years.
The Somali Islamist militant al-Shabab group has been targeting Kenya over the deployment of Kenyan forces to Somalia.
Most of the victims were youths including returnees from Somalia who had surrendered after the government promised them amnesty, Haki Africa's report said.
Others were allegedly killed as a result of excessive use of force during police crackdowns on protests and other religious groups that had been accused of radicalising young people.
Saada Suleiman, who attended the report's launch in the capital, Nairobi, said her husband had been missing for two years since his arrest in a raid on Masjid Musa mosque in Mombasa known for its radical sermons.
Haki Africa Executive Director Hussein Khalid said some of those killed were terror suspects, including several radical Muslim clerics, but this was no excuse for the state to execute them without due process.
The BBC's Abdinoor Aden in the capital, Nairobi, says officers from the anti-terror unit have been heavily implicated in the report.
Murshid Nassir, who heads the National Police Service Commission which vets officers, told the BBC that so-called "death squads" did not exist within the force and extrajudicial killings were not condoned.
While the chairman of the Independent Policing Oversight Authority promised to take action against officers found guilty of engaging in the killings.
Macharia Njeru said 52 officers had been charged and more than 300 officers were being probed for gross human rights violations.
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8c0879383856d4e025314ee05342b5c1 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-38402728 | Africa's top shots: 16-22 December 2016 | Africa's top shots: 16-22 December 2016
A selection of the best photos from across Africa this week:
Images courtesy of AFP, EPA, Reuters
|
32a7616e4ee06d8f8cd6f13072a10399 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-38574457 | Morocco 'bans the sale and production of the burka' | Morocco 'bans the sale and production of the burka'
Morocco has banned the sale, production and import of the burka, according to local reports.
Letters announcing the ban were sent out on Monday, giving businesses 48 hours to get rid of their stock, the reports stated.
There was no official announcement from the government, but unnamed officials told outlets the decision was made due to "security concerns".
It is unclear if Morocco is now intending to ban the garment outright.
A high-ranking interior ministry official confirmed the ban to the Le360 news site, adding that "bandits have repeatedly used this garment to perpetrate their crimes".
The burka, which covers the entire face and body, is not widely worn in Morocco, with most women favouring the hijab, which does not shroud the face.
Women in Salafist circles, and in more conservative regions in the north, are more likely to wear the niqab, which leaves the area around the eyes uncovered.
The decision has split opinion in the North African kingdom, led by King Mohammed VI, who favours a moderate version of Islam.
Hammad Kabbaj, a preacher barred from standing in parliamentary elections in October over his alleged ties to "extremism", denounced the ban as "unacceptable", mocking the "Morocco of freedom and human rights" which "considers the wearing of the Western swimsuit on the beaches an untouchable right".
Meanwhile, the Northern Moroccan National Observatory for Human Development said it considered the measure an "arbitrary decision that is an indirect violation of women's freedom of expression and wearing what reflects their identities or their religious, political or social beliefs".
But Nouzha Skalli, a former family and social development minister, welcomed the ban as "an important step in the fight against religious extremism".
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5d073979e81f87e964b912dd57af73b0 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-38663693 | Al-Qaeda affiliate claims Mali car bomb attack in Gao | Al-Qaeda affiliate claims Mali car bomb attack in Gao
Al-Qaeda's North African affiliate says a group linked to it carried out the suicide attack that killed at least 50 people in northern Mali.
A vehicle packed with explosives detonated at a camp housing soldiers and members of rival armed groups in the region's main city, Gao.
Mali's northern desert region has been restive since it was captured by militant Islamists in late 2012.
Despite French military intervention in 2013, the region remains tense.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) said the suicide bombing was meant to punish rebel groups co-operating with France, according to a statement obtained by the SITE Intelligence Group.
AQIM said a group called
al-Mourabitoun
was responsible and named the bomber it said carried out the attack. Malian media had earlier suggested several bombers took part.
The victims were involved in conducting patrols in this highly volatile area under a deal backed by the UN in a bid to stop the violence there.
The accord between the government and rebel groups was signed in June 2015.
Al-Mourabitoun also said it was behind the hostage-taking at the Radisson Blu hotel in the Malian capital, Bamako, in November 2015, and a deadly raid on the Splendid Hotel in the capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou, in January 2016.
It is not the first time the military in Mali has been targeted by a deadly attack.
In July last year, about 17 soldiers were killed and 30 others wounded in an attack on a military base in the central town of Nampala.
Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has declared three days of national mourning in a tweet following the latest attack.
The fight against extremist groups is one of the major challenges of Mr Keita's government.
But a
new report by Human Rights Watch
says the Malian government is not doing enough to protect civilians from the militants.
Wednesday's attack shows that even soldiers aren't safe, says the BBC World Service Africa editor James Copnall.
"If the security situation continues to deteriorate, then soon there won't be any peace to keep in Mali," UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous told the UN Security Council.
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2d1c1d9838a46726e9a0f6a45076c60a | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-38730741 | Nigeria air strike dead 'rises to 115' in Rann | Nigeria air strike dead 'rises to 115' in Rann
The number of people mistakenly killed last week in an air attack on a camp for those who have fled conflict in north-east Nigeria has been revised to 115, an official has told the BBC.
Camp residents and aid workers were among those killed when the air force bombed Rann, in Borno state, thinking it was a base of Boko Haram militants.
It was the biggest known botched attack in eight years of fighting the group.
The Nigerian army says it is engaged in a "final push" against the Islamists.
Commanders have apologised for the "accidental" bombing, which they said was because of "the fog of war".
Human Rights Watch said this did not absolve them of responsibility, and called for compensation for the victims.
A local government official from the area, Babagana Malarima, said a mistake had been made when it was earlier reported that the number of those killed had risen to 236.
The error had been made by those in the camp settlement who had added the number of dead to the number of injured to come up with the figure, he told the BBC.
In the immediate aftermath of the attack last Tuesday, the medical charity MSF said 52 people had died.
The wounded were treated in an MSF tented clinic as there are no hospitals in Rann, where displaced people are living in makeshift shelters.
An aid worker
told the BBC
that the attack, in which at least two bombs were dropped, caused terror and chaos at the camp.
He said he saw dead children lying on the ground, others left as orphans and terrible injuries among survivors.
Aid workers estimated 20,000-40,000 people had been sheltering in Rann, near the border with Cameroon, after fleeing attacks by Boko Haram.
The emergency services official, who spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity, said all those who had died at Rann had now been buried.
Those critically injured were still receiving treatment in the state capital, Maiduguri, while others were being treated locally by international aid agencies and local services.
The Red Cross has said it has distributed food to more than 25,000 people in Rann since Saturday.
It said they had received enough rice, beans, oil, salt and corn soya blend to last for five weeks.
"People in Rann were happy to receive food. They have been isolated by rains and poor quality roads since June and running very low on food supplies," said Red Cross economic security coordinator Mohammed Sheikh-Ali.
"At the beginning of January, we laid sand bags on the road for our trucks to be able to cross. We got 12 trucks full of food to Rann last week on the day of the air strike, which prevented us [from distributing]. As soon as medical evacuations were over, we organised the distribution with the help of the community."
Twenty aid workers from the Nigerian Red Cross were among the casualties in the air attack.
Who are Boko Haram?
Torment of a freed Boko Haram 'bride'
The town that lost its girls
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8438a01061296defce3366207f7048db | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-39096885 | South Sudan conflict: The hungry emerge from swampland for aid | South Sudan conflict: The hungry emerge from swampland for aid
Three years of civil war in South Sudan have driven thousands of families into the marshes of the Nile to hide from the fighting. A famine has been declared some parts. The BBC's Alastair Leithead has been to the rebel-held town Thonyor in Leer County, where people have been told to gather to get help.
They emerged from the marshlands of the Nile in their thousands, as word spread that help had come.
Forced by fighting to live on the isolated islands of the Sudd swamps, they have been surviving for months on wild plants.
Now they sat on the dry, cracked earth in long lines under a brutal sun - mostly women and children - waiting to register for the food aid which would be air-dropped in a few days time.
"We are only surviving by eating wild honey and water lilies from the river," said Nyambind Chan Kuar as she sat with 16 of her children and grandchildren.
"The fighting has been disastrous - children have been killed, they are taking our things, our cattle, our goats, taking everything, even though we have nothing to do with this war."
Each person is given a card that entitles them to 30 days of food rations when supplies arrive. Their finger is then stained with ink to avoid duplication.
"People are dying because of this hunger," said Mary Nyayain. "That's why we are here queuing for these tokens."
The town of Thonyor in Leer County was chosen as the central point for distributing aid after long negotiations with both sides in the civil war.
It's one of the four counties in Unity State suffering pockets of famine, which the latest hunger assessment says is affecting 100,000 people.
Leer is the birthplace of the former vice-president turned rebel leader Riek Machar which is perhaps why it has been the centre of so much fighting.
Thonyor is controlled by the rebels or the "IO" as they're known - forces "In Opposition" - but the government troops are just 20 minutes up the road.
"The war has been so difficult for us," said another woman waiting in line for a cholera vaccination.
"Especially for the old women who are not able to run to the river to survive in the islands. Our cows and goats were taken so that's why we are only able to survive through the food agency."
Under each tree is a different medical post - with health checks for the children.
The worst cases of malnutrition are treated straight away.
"You may think this child is actually very healthy - he's fat, he's looking OK," said James Bwirani from the Food and Agriculture Organisation.
"But this is just water accumulating in the body and he has not been consuming adequate food for some time."
The child has a distended belly and his face and limbs are swollen.
"If left untreated for between a week to two weeks, this child is going to be dead," Mr Bwirani said.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is coordinating this emergency response, expecting about 36,000 people to come in from the swamps for help.
But there are many thousands more who are too far away, cut off by rivers or in areas where the government and the rebels have not agreed to provide access.
"For many, many months humanitarian agencies have not been able to make it into this area. This is first time we're doing so," said George Fominyen from the WFP.
"Without safety, without assurance of security for the people that are in need and the aid workers, we'll be having a catastrophic situation down the line."
The UN describes this as "a man-made famine" - created by the civil war which has divided the army and the country largely along ethnic lines.
A political row between President Salva Kiir and Mr Machar led to killings in the capital and fighting which has spread across the country.
The war has displaced millions of people, many into neighbouring countries, and 40% of the population now depends on international aid.
Mr Machar fled South Sudan in July when a fragile peace deal collapsed.
He is currently in South Africa, unable to return but apparently still commanding his troops by phone.
Leer county commissioner Brig Gen Nhial Phan said there won't be peace until Mr Machar is allowed back to take part in a proposed national dialogue.
He believes President Kiir wants to drive people out of his county.
"The government kills people - their militia is raiding, taking cows, killing and burning the church and the houses, forcing people into the islands," he said.
There are scorch marks where the market used to be and the remains of a Medecins Sans Frontieres clinic, destroyed when the government forces took the town for two days last November.
By getting help in fast, aid agencies hope to pull this region back from famine and stop the famine from spreading - if they are allowed to access to the worst affected areas.
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581063d6ccb025bd89a5e702e5df9668 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-39266509 | Libya's Khalifa Haftar 'retakes oil ports from Islamist militia' | Libya's Khalifa Haftar 'retakes oil ports from Islamist militia'
Forces loyal to Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar say they have retaken key oil-rich areas in the country's east.
Ground, sea and air forces were engaged in the fight for sites at Ras Lanuf, Sidra and Ben Jawad from a rival Islamist militia, a spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Russia has denied reports that it has deployed special forces to the region in support of Gen Haftar.
Libya has been in chaos since the overthrow of Colonel Gaddafi in 2011.
The oil terminals had been seized by the Benghazi Defence Brigades (BDB) - a mix of militias that includes Islamists - earlier this month, which then handed them over to the Petroleum Facilities Guard, affiliated to the UN-backed unity government based in Tripoli.
Gen Haftar is allied to an administration based in the eastern city of Tobruk, which is challenging the authority of the UN-backed government.
The clashes in Libya's vital Oil Crescent are likely to continue, locking the rival sides in a tug-of-war over power and resources. Neither side appears willing to give up its claim to the oil sites, Libya's economic lifeline.
Clashes are also likely further east in the country if the BDB militia follows through on its vow to advance on Benghazi. The city falls under the control of Gen Haftar's forces, which have fought to expel Islamist fighters there for over three years.
This would further polarise the rival political camps and could draw in more among the myriad of Libyan militias into a wider, protracted battle around the country's second city.
Russia's defence ministry denied allegations that it had special forces at an Egyptian base, some 60 miles (100 km) from the Libyan border.
"There are no Russian special forces in Sidi-Barrani. It's not the first time such leaks from anonymous sources to certain Western media have got people excited," defence spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
The report
by Reuters news agency, quoting unnamed Egyptian officials, had said that a 22-strong unit of Russian special forces were at the base.
The Egyptian military has also denied the reports.
Gen Haftar has held talks with senior Russian officials in recent months.
In January he was given a tour of a Russian aircraft carrier the Admiral Kusnetsov in the Mediterranean and spoke by video link to Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.
In November last year he met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow and asked for Russian assistance in fighting Islamist militias in Libya, Reuters reported.
Libya remains regionally split with two centres of power that politically oppose each other, and a myriad of rival armed groups that the country's two governments cannot control.
Gen Haftar's forces, known as the Libyan National Army (LNA), have been battling Islamist and other militias in the area since forcing them out of much of the country's second city, Benghazi, in February 2016.
Extremist groups, including so-called Islamic State (IS), gained a foothold in Libya after Nato-backed forces ousted veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
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7538334fb23d466f76a9561c4115b78e | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-39279210 | Ethiopia landslide: Number of dead at rubbish dump hits 113 | Ethiopia landslide: Number of dead at rubbish dump hits 113
The death toll from Saturday's landslide at a vast dump in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, has now risen to 113 people, local officials say.
A search operation at the Koshe landfill will continue overnight. As many as 150 people are believed to have been at the site during the landslide.
Meanwhile, the funerals of some of the victims have taken place.
The dump, which has served the city of four million for more than five decades, provided shelter for some.
The country is currently observing three days of mourning for those who died.
Hundreds of people attempt to make a living by scavenging at the landfill site, sifting through the rubbish for items they can sell. Some resided at the rubbish dump permanently.
More than 350 residents have now been moved from the site, the officials say.
A number of makeshift houses were buried under tonnes of waste in the landslide. Rescue teams are now using excavators to dig through piles of rubbish.
The authorities have been building
Africa's first waste-to-energy plant near the landfill.
They plan to burn rubbish generated by Addis Ababa and convert it into electricity.
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04b1d0c69f6c90216ccf2dd7d99d0e8f | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-39283911 | Somalia ship hijack: Maritime piracy threatens to return | Somalia ship hijack: Maritime piracy threatens to return
The hijacking of a merchant fuel tanker by pirates off the Somali coast this week has sent shockwaves through parts of the shipping industry.
It is the first successful hijacking of a major commercial vessel in the Somali Basin since 2012 and is prompting debate over whether shipping companies have become complacent about the risk of maritime piracy.
The MT Aris 13 was travelling from Djibouti to Mogadishu on 13 March when, instead of giving the Somali coast a wide berth as advised, it took a short cut between the tip of the Horn of Africa and the Yemeni island of Socotra.
Somali pirates then ambushed the vessel just 11 miles (17km) from shore with two fast speedboats, known as skiffs, while aiming their weapons at the crew.
The vessel and its crew of eight Sri Lankan seafarers have now been seized by the pirates and are being held pending either ransom negotiations or a rescue attempt by the regional Puntland authorities. This brings to 16 the number of seafarers currently being held by Somalia-based pirates, the remaining eight being Iranians.
"For a vessel passing that close to the coast of Somalia without armed guards shows a level of complacency," said a spokesman for Neptune Maritime Security, which is currently running armed protection teams on around 70 vessels this month as they pass through the area of the western Indian Ocean known as the High Risk Area (HRA).
Employing armed teams, usually former servicemen, is seen by many shipping companies as prohibitively expensive. Shipping industry analysts say many vessels, especially those with a high freeboard (the vertical distance between the surface of the sea and the deck) have simply been speeding up to avoid capture. This is part of what is known as Best Management Practice, or BMP4.
Although pirates have, in the past, been incredibly adept at scaling the sides of big ocean-going vessels while in motion, this becomes very hard to do at speeds of 15 knots or more, especially if the captain takes evasive action, creating an unpredictable bow wave that can sink the pirates' skiffs.
In recent years the European Union and other nations, including China, have mounted naval patrols to deter Somali piracy and escort convoys along the coast of Yemen. But the area is so vast that their ships were rarely able to reach a vessel in distress in time. Once pirates were onboard it became a hostage situation which most naval vessels' rules of engagement prevented them from getting involved in.
"The navies' presence is good," says John Steed from the seafarers' welfare group Oceans Beyond Piracy, "but the primary factor in deterring Somali piracy has been the presence of armed guards onboard, along with best practice like speeding up," he added.
The ship that was captured on Monday had a low freeboard and was travelling so slowly that it was, he says "almost a sitting duck".
So will this latest hijacking be a wake-up call that prompts more precautions being taken at sea or will it signal the start of a new wave of piracy?
Worryingly, the factors that drove many Somali coastal fishermen to become pirates nearly a decade ago are still there. Somalia is currently in the grip of a famine and poverty is widespread; there are few employment options for young people.
There is massive and growing local resentment at the poaching of fish stocks off the coast by Asian trawlers. According to Oceans Beyond Piracy, some foreign vessels have "dubious" licences issued by officials in Puntland, but the local people never get to see any benefit from them.
The high point in Somali piracy came in 2010, both in terms of vessels hijacked and the number of seafarers taken prisoner for ransom. Soon after that, shipping companies began placing armed guards onboard who would "show weapons" to circling pirates and if necessary fire warning shots to ward them off.
This effectively broke the pirates' business model as, until then, they had been able to approach a ship, often at dawn after a night of chewing the narcotic qat leaf, open fire on the bridge to scare the captain into slowing down and stopping, and then they would board it using ladders.
They would then hold the vessel, its crew and its cargo for ransoms of millions of dollars.
After 2010 they were no longer able to do this with impunity. But now that news will have spread that many vessels are not carrying that armed protection there are concerns that the lucrative business of Somali maritime piracy may be set to return.
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7e3829f0872481a4afcf203504a039c5 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-39332438 | Chad's ancient Ennedi cave paintings defaced | Chad's ancient Ennedi cave paintings defaced
Ancient cave paintings at a world heritage site in the Sahara desert have been defaced with graffiti, Chad's minister of culture has told the BBC.
The graffiti drawn on the paintings, which are about 8,000 years old, was "a tragedy... offensive to the whole history and memory of Chad," Mahamat Saleh Haroun said.
Vandals scrawled their names on top of the artworks in French and Arabic.
The Ennedi plateau was declared a Unesco world heritage site in 2016.
"It's an African story and they wanted to destroy that.
"That's why I'm talking about a tragedy, because it's a part of us," said Mr Haroun, who is also an award-winning filmmaker.
Local youths are suspected of being behind the vandalism.
A team has now been sent to the site in north-eastern Chad to assess the damage, with a view to sending experts to follow up.
The head of the UN's cultural body in the country, Abdelkerim Adoum Bahar, told the BBC that he thought the damage could be repaired.
Thousands of images of people and animals have been painted and carved into the rock surface of caves, canyons and shelters in the area, according to UN cultural agency
Unesco
.
Mr Haroun stressed the historical importance of the site, which he said belonged not just to Chad but to the whole world.
"This is a part of our memory. It helps us to understand who we are... We cannot destroy it. If you don't know your past you cannot deal with the present," he said.
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589823d35c552a2c7f10aedfc56aabf1 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-39846326 | Nigeria Chibok girls: Parents learning if daughters among those freed | Nigeria Chibok girls: Parents learning if daughters among those freed
Parents of the missing Chibok girls are slowly learning if their daughters are among the 82 freed by Boko Haram militants in Nigeria two days ago.
The girls' names were put on Twitter by the president's office on Sunday. They were flown to the capital Abuja.
But in Chibok, their home region in north-eastern Nigeria, not everyone has access to the social media site.
It is unclear if the government has made other attempts to let them know if their daughters are now safe.
On Monday, people were checking the newspapers to see who was on the list and decide whether to make the journey to Abuja,
according to the Associated Press news agency.
Even parents in Abuja - where the 82 girls were flown in order to meet President Muhammadu Buhari before
he left the country for medical treatment
- were waiting to see if they would be reunited with their daughters.
Esther Yakubu told the BBC the last three years had been a "horrible nightmare" but that even the possibility of her daughter having been rescued was giving her hope.
"Whether she is among the freed ones or not, I am very happy," she said. "We started this year with 24 [returned girls] and now we have 106. It is a large number, and we have hope that, if they are alive, they will come back.
"I have never been happy in my life like today. I am a mother. I accept any child that is back. My baby will be back soon, if she is among them or if she isn't."
It is being reported that the girls were handed over on Saturday in exchange for five Boko Haram suspects after negotiations - a deal which has been criticised by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by Senator Ahmed Makarfi.
In a statement, the PDP faction said the exchange had allowed terrorists to escape punishment and would embolden them to carry out further kidnappings, while the "piecemeal" release of the girls meant they still held bargaining chips.
But according to lawyer Zannah Mustapha, who has acted as a mediator between the Nigerian government and the extremists, some of the girls rejected the opportunity to return home. Exactly what their motivations are remains unclear, but there is speculation they may have been radicalised, or are too ashamed to return.
"Some girls refused to return... I have never talked to one of the girls about their reasons," Mr Mustapha told Reuters news agency.
Boko Haram is thought to still be holding more than 100 of the original 276 girls taken from a school in north-eastern Nigeria in 2014.
They are far from the only people abducted by the extremist group.
Amnesty International has recorded
41 cases of mass abductions in the last three years. It puts the number of women and children kidnapped at at least 2,000.
For those parents receiving good news in the coming days, the wait may not be over.
None of the 21 girls who were released in October have been able to move back home, and nearly seven months later they are still being held on a military re-integration programme.
They did go back to Chibok at Christmas time last year, but they were held in the house of a local politician and the families had to go there to see them.
The 82 released in May were sent to a secret location in Abuja after meeting the president.
There are also concerns that those girls who go back to their communities may have trouble reintegrating.
One girl, Zara, who was kidnapped by Boko Haram, though not from Chibok, told the BBC how she was stigmatised on her return because she was pregnant. She was called a Boko Haram bride and was shunned.
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2fd7772735c71d5bff1a22a39247f349 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-39855735 | How do you solve a problem like Somalia? | How do you solve a problem like Somalia?
This Thursday, the great and the good will descend on London to discuss
Somalia
, a country that has topped the
Fragile States Index
for eight of the past 10 years.
The London Somalia Conference, co-chaired by the UK, Somalia and the United Nations, will be held in Lancaster House, a grand mansion in the exclusive district of St James's. Many of the delegates will stay in swish hotels nearby.
This is the third such London gathering since 2012, and there is an element of "cut and paste" to its agenda, which focuses on security, governance and the economy.
The official conference document emphasises how much progress has been made.
But its description of Somalia from the time of the first meeting still applies: "Chronically unstable and ungoverned", and threatened by Islamist militants, piracy and famine.
There has been some improvement.
Piracy, which at its height cost $7bn (£5.4bn) a year, is much diminished, although
there has been a recent resurgence
.
US drones, African Union troops, Western "security advisers" and Somali forces have pushed al-Shabab from most major towns, although the jihadists still control many areas and attack at will.
A recent electoral process resulted in a new and - for the time being - popular president,
Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, nicknamed Farmajo
, and more female and youth representation in parliament.
Somalia is in a "pre-famine" stage rather than the full-blown disaster of 2011, in which more than 250,000 people died.
But it is perhaps surprising that the current water shortage will not be a headline topic at the conference.
The country is in the grip of its worst drought in decades. Four successive rainy seasons have failed.
Even before you enter Burao Regional Hospital, in the self-declared
Republic of Somaliland
's drought-stricken Togdheer region, you hear the haunting, high-pitched wailing of malnourished children.
One boy, dressed in purple, stares blankly at the wall. "His brain is damaged due to a prolonged lack of adequate nutrition," says Dr Yusuf Ali, who returned home to Somalia from the UK two years ago. "He will never recover."
According to Unicef, the number of children who are or will be acutely malnourished in 2017 is up by 50% from the beginning of the year, to a total of 1.4 million, including 275,000 for whom the condition is or will be life-threatening.
Most are too sick to go to school or help herd animals, making the life of the country's many nomads even more precarious.
People are already dying from hunger and diseases that strike those weakened by lack of food.
Severely malnourished children are nine times more likely than healthy ones to die from illnesses such as measles and diarrhoea.
The World Health Organization says there were more than 25,000 cases of cholera in the first four months of 2017, with the number expected to more than double to 54,000 by June.
More than 500 people have already died from the disease.
It is not just humans who are suffering.
In Somaliland, officials say, 80% of livestock have died.
Livestock is the mainstay of the economy - the ports in Somaliland and nearby Djibouti export more live animals than anywhere else in the world, mainly to the Gulf.
In south-western Somalia, tens of thousands of drought-affected people have fled to Baidoa, clustering into flimsy, makeshift shelters on the outskirts of the city.
This area - known as the "triangle of death" - was the epicentre of the famines of 2011 and 1991.
"Al-Shabab is harvesting the boys and men we left behind on our parched land, offering them a few dollars and a meal," says one woman. "Against their will, our children and husbands have become the jihadists' new army."
"The biggest problem in dealing with this drought is insecurity," says Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, president of South West State, in his modest palace in Baidoa.
The city, which is protected by a ring of Ethiopian troops, is right in the heart of al-Shabab country. "The militants have closed all the roads so we cannot deliver help to those who need it most."
This brings home in the starkest of terms why security is top of the London Somalia Conference agenda.
As long as Somalia remains violent, with different parts of the country controlled by a multitude of often conflicting armed groups, it will be impossible to deliver emergency assistance, let alone long-term development.
The recently created South West State is one of the regions making up the new federal Somalia.
Critics fear this will lead to balkanisation, and risks introducing another dimension to conflict, as the new states rub up against each other and start fighting. This has already happened in central Somalia, where last year there were deadly clashes between Puntland and Galmudug states.
The attitude of people in South West State shows how much of a gamble the federal system is.
"We have always been marginalised and looked down on by other Somalis," says a farmer, Fatima Issa.
"We do not want the federal troops here. They don't hunt down al-Shabab the way our local militias do. We should push for more autonomy, maybe even break away and declare independence like Somaliland did in 1991."
One aim of the London Somalia Conference is to push for more progress on the sharing of resources between the regions and the centre. This contentious issue has been debated since before the first London gathering in 2012.
South West State has a special friendship with Ethiopia, which is not on the best of terms with the new federal government. This highlights another possible problem - some foreign powers have started to sign bilateral agreements with regional states.
For instance, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is building a military base in Somaliland, a territory the federal government considers an integral part of Somalia. The UAE has also given military hardware to Jubaland State in southern Somalia.
Somalia's former special envoy to the US, Abukar Arman, has described the London Somalia Conference as a "predatory carnival", with foreign powers gathering to slice up Somalia for their own benefit.
Some in Somalia see it as a waste of time.
"It is an expensive talking-shop," says Ahmed Mohamed, a rickshaw driver in the capital Mogadishu. "The politicians and diplomats are obsessed with the conference instead of taking action on the drought."
But lessons have been learned, and there is now a far more nuanced approach to Somalia than there was when the crisis began, in the late 1980s.
The US response to the Somali famine of 1991 was to send in nearly 30,000 troops. This ended in a humiliating withdrawal,
following the shooting down of two US Black Hawk helicopters in 1993
.
Now, much of the talk is of "Somali-owned" processes, although the shadows of a growing number of foreign powers can be seen lurking in the background.
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035f3f035117059eb3d1ee175da96e9c | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-40236808 | Gaddafi's son Saif freed in Libya | Gaddafi's son Saif freed in Libya
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, second son of the late deposed Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, has been freed from jail under an amnesty law.
His father's preferred successor, he had been held by a militia in the town of Zintan for the past six years.
The Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Battalion said he had been released on Friday but he has not been seen in public.
It is feared the move could fuel further instability in Libya.
His lawyer, Khaled al-Zaidi, confirmed he had been released.
He declined to say which city Saif al-Islam had travelled to for security reasons. A source has told the BBC he is in the Tobruk area of eastern Libya.
The Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Battalion said it was acting on a request from the "interim government" based in the east of the country.
However, he has been sentenced to death in absentia by a court in Tripoli, in the west of the country, where control is in the hands of the rival, UN-backed Government of National Accord.
Saif al-Islam is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity during his father's unsuccessful attempts to put down the rebellion against his rule.
The Zintan Military Council - which had previously been involved in his detention - and Zintan's municipal council have condemned his release by the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Battalion.
The councils said in a statement that freeing Saif al-Islam was "a form of collusion, a betrayal of the blood of the martyrs and stab in the back of the military body to which they [the brigade] claim to belong".
The release of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi will add another unpredictable element to Libya's unstable mix.
He was detained in the desert in November 2011 trying to flee to Niger, and later appeared missing several fingers.
The former playboy often appeared in the West as the public face of the Gaddafi regime and was his father's heir-apparent.
While reviled by many - at home and abroad - he retains some support in Libya and could try to re-enter the political fray here.
The 44-year-old Saif al-Islam - who was controversially granted a PhD by the London School of Economics in 2008 - was captured in November 2011 after three months on the run following the end of Muammar Gaddafi's decades-long rule.
He was previously known for playing a key role in building relations with the West after 2000, and had been considered the reformist face of his father's regime.
But after the 2011 uprising, he found himself accused of incitement to violence and murdering protesters.
Four years later, he was
sentenced to death by firing squad
following a trial involving 30 of Gaddafi's close associates.
Reaction on social media to Saif al-Islam's release has been mixed.
One Twitter user said: "When the world is upside down, the killer becomes innocent and the victim becomes a terrorist. The blood of the martyrs disappears and Saif al-Islam becomes a free man!"
By contrast, another Twitter user posted a video showing celebrations of Saif al-Islam's release in the north-western town of Asabea, in which people appeared be carrying the green flags associated with his father's rule. He was also described as a "lifeline to the Libyan people".
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f4f423d204e86a36da251757f55814f3 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-40261913 | Fin - the secret Facebook group of Nigerian women | Fin - the secret Facebook group of Nigerian women
It is one of Facebook's fastest growing communities and has become such a phenomenon that last week, Mark Zuckerberg asked to meet its founder. But what is Fin?
Female IN or Fin is a "secret" Facebook group that has recently clocked up over a million members, largely from Nigeria.
But it's a secret that founder Lola Omolola wants you to know all about - if you're a woman that is.
Though it has a vaguely romantic air, secret is just Facebook terminology, Ms Omolola says. It means invitation-only - you need to know a member to get in.
"It's a safe place, for a woman who has something to say," Ms Omolola explains.
"You don't have to agree but it is her story, she can say it."
The group is a sort of confessional space, where women share stories that they might be uncomfortable - or even afraid - to tell in person.
It doesn't offer anonymity - members have to post under their real names.
And the stories are stunning, although they remain strictly confidential.
In the few days that I've been a Finster, I've read testimonies on domestic abuse, physical and emotional violence, child abuse and rape.
One woman speaks about the moment she told her parents she was about to have a child as a single girl of 17, another about finally being accepted as a lesbian by her mother after many years.
They are brave and intimate, telling of failed relationships or unconventional sexual preferences.
The posts are brutally honest but many of them are laced with self-deprecating humour.
Like the woman who mortified herself on a first date in front of a banquet hall of people or the lady who stole the keys of a bus driver after he bumped her car and refused to apologise.
Many of the stories speak of a distinctly Nigerian experience.
Until recently the group was called Female In Nigeria, so it's not a surprise that most of its members are just that.
"The Nigerian woman has been the core of this process, because I am a Nigerian woman," says Ms Omolola.
A former journalist, she moved from Nigeria to the US in the early 2000s at the age of 24 and started the group in 2015.
She had had an idea to start something for some time - a forum where Nigerian women could talk openly about the issues that affected them. But it was the kidnap of the
Chibok girls
that drove her to do it.
"I knew the cause of it," she says.
"When you grow up in a place where a woman's voice is not even valid, everything reinforces that idea that we're not good enough."
It didn't surprise her that a group of men could kidnap and enslave these girls, because they didn't see them as equals.
"Between the ages of three and six I noticed that whenever a girl shows any sign of self-awareness she gets silenced. When I said anything I got a pinch - a real, live pinch."
Those pinches came from aunties, uncles, even her mother but never from her father. And it's him that Ms Omolola traces her early feminism to.
Her father was a part-time businessman and was often at home with the children while her mum worked as full-time haematologist.
"We never felt any gender disparity," she says.
"I realise now how much effort it must have taken. It was not something he was just stumbling into. It was an active choice."
Fin started out as a group where women could discuss women's issues - one of the first blogs was on domestic violence - and Ms Omolola expected it to be an abstract conversation.
But women responded with their own stories.
Almost instantly it became a place where people could share things they had never shared before.
"When we started I used to cry. I stopped sleeping, I stopped eating," she says. "I was not ready for the stories that were coming out."
"There were women who had been abused for 40 years and hadn't told anyone. No-one should live like that."
Now the group gets hundreds of applications for posts every day but they are managed and approved by a group of 28 volunteers. About 40-100 make it on the page.
Fin has strict rules. Above anything else, Finsters are not allowed to judge each other. Any negative comments are removed, as is the member who posts them.
"I noticed that those people who try to shut women up in real life, they came there," says Ms Omolola.
"They are so deeply conditioned to work against their own interest.
"It's the online version of the pinch and the shush."
But the pinchers and shushers were persistent.
In a religiously conservative society like Nigeria, expressions of female sexual freedom were never going to go unchallenged.
Some members tried to get around the ban by commenting with passages from the bible which condemned the woman's actions.
That inspired a second rule - no preaching.
"We prohibit religious-themed advice," it says in the rules. "Fin is not a place of worship."
People have likened Fin and its founder to the devil, they've called the group evil, a corrupter of young women.
Ms Omolola says she has been the subject of concerted attacks by church groups. But she's not worried.
"Most people think that the controversy would kill me," she says. "They don't realise that it's actually empowering me."
After amassing a million-strong membership and a high-profile meeting with Mr Zuckerberg, what is next for Fin?
Ms Omolola has dreams of expanding the group into bricks and mortar, providing centres where women can go to talk about their experiences in a safe space.
But that may be a long way off.
"It needs money and right now I have none," she says. "I can't even pay my rent."
It's something that she discussed with Zuckerberg and though Facebook haven't offered funding yet, she's still in conversation with it on how to move the group forward.
From day one, she says, she had offers from companies who want to advertise on Fin but she has refused to monetise women's stories.
On Mr Zuckerberg's prompt she is now focusing on promoting the message of the site - female empowerment and tolerance.
And she's doing interviews for the first time.
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4838f888f4c4ff9bf594df5163134332 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-40733455 | Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma - South Africa's first female leader? | Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma - South Africa's first female leader?
South Africa's President Jacob Zuma is keen to hand over the reins of power to the mother of his children.
Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma, 68 - a senior member of the governing African National Congress (ANC) - has been criss-crossing the country in recent months seeking a mandate to be its first woman president.
Since returning from a five-year stint in Addis Ababa running the African Union, Ms Dlamini-Zuma has addressed crowds at events from funerals to political rallies.
The eldest of eight children, she was born in the rolling hills of KwaZulu-Natal province in 1949 and joined the underground anti-apartheid student movement in the early 1970s while at medical school there.
This raised the ire of the apartheid regime. She was forced to flee into exile and eventually completed her studies at Bristol University in the UK in 1978.
The newly qualified Ms Dlamini-Zuma worked at Mbabane Government Hospital in Swaziland. This is where she met and was charmed by Mr Zuma, then also an exiled member of the ANC.
Mr Zuma is a polygamist, and she was one of his three wives until she divorced him in 1998. Ms Dlamini-Zuma, who had four children with her ex-husband, never remarried.
Nevertheless, President Zuma, who steps down as party leader in December, has endorsed her to succeed him as ANC president, and preferably of the country after elections due in 2019.
Pressure has been increasing on him to step down earlier amid accusations of corruption, which he denies.
Asked whether she should rise to the very top of the political landscape, he said: "She has grown in the struggle. She has run a number of positions. She has been a minister in a number of departments, there's no question at all.
"If the ANC says we think we can give this responsibility and she agrees, then that's not a concern at all."
She reported the local Sunday Times newspaper to the independent press council after it quoted unnamed sources in January as saying that she was spending "a lot of time" at the president's rural homestead.
The council ordered the newspaper to apologise for presenting the allegation "as fact in its headline".
Her lawyers had dismissed the report as "untruthful, inaccurate and unfair", and accused the newspaper of publishing a "bizarre story that an African woman, despite divorcing her husband to whom she had been married in terms of the Civil Law, remains in the claws of the ex-husband in the name of polygamy".
A former leader of the women's wing of the ANC, she had the confidence of South Africa's first black president, Nelson Mandela, who appointed her as health minister after the end of white minority rule in 1994.
She was widely credited with introducing legislation which made it illegal for people to smoke in public areas such as restaurants and airports.
Her tenure as health minister was followed by a 10-year stint as foreign minister, during the rule of Mr Mandela's successor - and Mr Zuma's rival - Thabo Mbeki.
Mr Mbeki had offered her the post of deputy president after he sacked Mr Zuma in 2005, following allegations of corruption against him.
The rise of NDZ - as she is sometimes referred to nowadays - has not come without controversy.
While health minister she became embroiled in the first big corruption scandal to hit the ANC government.
Her department awarded a 14 million rand ($1,2m; £700,00) tender to renowned playwright Mbongeni Ngema to come up with a sequel to Sarafina, a musical to educate people about the dangers of HIV/Aids.
Following a public outcry over the huge cost of the musical, an anti-corruption body - the public protector's office - carried out an investigation.
It led to the termination of the contract.
"Mr Ngema's company had not adhered fully to the spirit and terms of the contract, and it appeared they had tendered a defective service," the public protector's office said.
Ms Dlamini-Zuma refused to resign, despite pressure from the opposition.
Also as health minister, she was criticised for supporting Virodene, a toxic substance which had been rejected by the wider scientific community, as a remedy for HIV/Aids.
After spending most of her life fighting for the downtrodden, she has uncharacteristically chosen to walk with the wolves during the current campaign. Some of her current backers have a litany of corruption scandals hanging around their necks.
Many of her old comrades are irked by her political expediency, even if it is for the top job in Africa's most industrialised economy.
More recently, she was chastised for labelling nationwide protests calling for President Zuma to step down as "rubbish" in a tweet which was then deleted from her timeline.
Some said Mr Zuma was trying to protect himself from prosecution over corruption allegations, because if his former wife becomes president, she would be reluctant to send the police to lock him up during his retirement in his village of Nkandla.
However NDZ was incensed at the suggestion she wants to be president in order to protect her former husband from his legal woes.
She said: "I am my own woman and I have worked hard to be here," she told the Johannesburg Star newspaper.
"I have my own track record in the ANC and in government. I am a doctor and one of the longest-serving cabinet ministers under former Presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki. Before Zuma became president," she was quoted as saying.
Those who know her well describe Ms Dlamini-Zuma as firm, controlling and someone who at times tells it like it is. But at home some of her stories are of a motherly figure.
Even though there are other women aspiring to the number one spot, she has become the face of the ANC Women's League's call that "South Africa is ready for a woman president."
The diminutive figure I have come to know over the years is a humble and intellectually astute individual. But unlike her former husband, her personality cannot be described as charming.
But the question is whether the people will follow her as she continues to soldier on towards the presidential seat.
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8854ea0af29031cb47ed66fdd477e44f | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-40740359 | Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe urged by first lady to name heir | Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe urged by first lady to name heir
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, 93, has been urged by his wife to name his successor in order to end divisions over who the next leader will be.
The president should not be "afraid" to choose his heir and his word would be "final", Grace Mugabe said.
Mr Mugabe is the world's oldest ruler, and his Zanu-PF party has nominated him to stand for re-election next year.
But rival factions have been vying to strengthen their position as concern about his health mounts.
Mr Mugabe looks increasingly frail, and has been on three medical trips to Singapore this year.
However, his aides have played down fears about his health, saying he goes to Singapore only for specialised eye treatment.
"President, don't be afraid. Tell us who is your choice, which horse we should back," Mrs Mugabe told a meeting of Zanu-PF's women's wing, AFP news agency reports.
"If you tell us the horse to back, we will rise in our numbers and openly support that horse. Why should our horse be concealed?" she added, in a speech switching between English and local language Shona.
Mr Mugabe was present when his 52-year-old wife made the comments, but did not respond.
She has been rumoured as a potential successor, as has Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Mr Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, and is expected to defeat his main rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, in next year's poll.
The opposition says the electoral commission is biased and will rig the poll in Mr Mugabe's favour.
Last year, Zanu-PF youth leader Kudzai Chipanga said that "it was written in the Bible that he [Mr Mugabe] won't just rule the country but would die in office".
In February, Mrs Mugabe said her husband was so popular that if he died, he
could run as a corpse
and still win in an election.
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