ICC acquits Congo militia boss of war crimes

The ICC freed Congolese ex-militia chief Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui Tuesday after acquitting him of war crimes in the 2003 deaths of 200 villagers. The verdict has cast doubt over the ICC's ability to collect evidence of atrocities in faraway conflicts.

Group claims kidnap of French citizen in Nigeria

The radical Islamist group Ansaru claimed responsibility on Sunday for the recent kidnapping of a French citizen in Nigeria, saying the abduction was in response to France’s push for a military intervention in northern Mali.

Gunmen kill six at Nigerian Christmas service

Gunmen attacked a church in northern Nigeria during a midnight mass on Christmas Eve, killing six people including the pastor, before setting the building ablaze, residents and police said Tuesday.

UN, US issue warnings in Central African Republic

The UN has begun evacuating staff and families from the Central African Republic, while the US has also urged its citizens to leave the country as rebel forces close in on the capital, Bangui.

Rwanda's genocide and the bloody legacy of Anglo-American guilt

The United States is allowing one tragic foreign policy failure to compound another.
Eighteen years ago, President Bill Clinton watched passively as the Hutu extremist regime in Rwanda oversaw the murder of hundreds of thousands of Tutsis. His administration refused even to utter the word genocide for fear it would oblige the US to intervene.

DR Congo's rebel kaleidoscope

While the M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have dominated headlines in recent months, they are just one of more than two dozen armed groups fighting in this resource-rich region.

A new report by the aid agency Oxfam, published along with a remarkable map, shows that the recent unrest in Goma - a strategically important trading city - is just the tip of an iceberg of human suffering.

Nigerian governor, ex-security head die in air crash

The governor of Nigeria's volatile Kaduna state and a former national security adviser were among six killed when a helicopter crashed in the southerly oil-producing Bayelsa state on Saturday, officials said.
The helicopter wobbled in the sky before nose-diving into a forest in Ogbia Creek at around 3:30 p.m. (0930 ET), a local resident who witnessed the crash told Reuters.
"By the time we got to the scene it was in flames," said Hitler Adunion, a local community leader. "We tried to put them out but it was difficult. We saw the roasted bodies of those inside."
The Nigerian Navy confirmed that its Agusta helicopter had crashed while carrying VIPs to Port Harcourt but it didn't give a reason and civilian authorities declined to speculate on the cause. President Goodluck Jonathan ordered an investigation.
"(The) President has expressed utter shock and sadness over the crash ... (he) extends deep and heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the deceased," a statement from the presidency said.
The statement confirmed the deaths of Kaduna state governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, former national security adviser General Owoye Azazi, their aides Dauda Tsoho and Mohammed Kamal and the two pilots, Muritala Mohammed Daba and Adeyemi Sowole.

  (Patrick Yakowa)

Post-election tension shakes African beacon of stability

Political leaders as well as election observers in Ghana have called for calm after the top opposition party threatened to contest the results of the recent presidential poll. Are Ghanaians likely to listen?

 

 

Congo rebels withdraw from Goma

Rebels have withdrawn from the Democratic Republic of the Congo's (DRC) eastern city of Goma, following an agreement brokered by neighbouring countries, according to a UN official.
On Saturday, hundreds of M23 fighters packed into trucks and headed in the direction of Kibumba, 20km north of the city, bringing an end to their 10-day occupation of Goma, which they seized control of on 20 November.

Congo rebels' withdrawal from Goma 'purely tactical', say analysts

After much initial confusion, reports indicate that rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo have finally withdrawn from the eastern city of Goma. This is, very tentatively, good news. Just a week ago, no one was quite sure whether the rebels intended to make good on their threat to march on the capital Kinshasa and overthrow the Congolese government, a move that could well have escalated into another regional war centered on the DRC.

Africa records 57% drop in HIV infections

AS nations approach the 1,000 day deadline to achieve global AIDS targets, African countries have made the most significant reduction in the rate of new Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) with an average of 57.4 per cent reduction in the rate.
A new World AIDS Day report released Wednesday by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), showed that more than 50 per cent reduction in the rate of new HIV infections has been achieved across 25 low- and middle-income countries – more than half in Africa, the region most affected by HIV.
According to the report, in some of the countries, which have the highest HIV prevalence in the world, rates of new HIV infections have been cut dramatically since 2001; by 73 per cent in Malawi, 71 per cent in Botswana, 68 per cent in Namibia, 58 per cent in Zambia, 50 per cent in Zimbabwe and 41 per cent in South Africa and Swaziland.
The UNAIDS report noted that in addition to welcome results in HIV prevention, sub-Saharan Africa has reduced AIDS-related deaths by one third in the last six years and increased the number of people on antiretroviral treatment by 59 per cent in the last two years alone.

Telecoms expansion projects in Ghana, Nigeria, and others gulp $16.5 bilion in 5 years

BETWEEN 2007 and 2012, investment profile in various telecommunications’ network expansion in Nigeria, Ghana and three other countries in the sub-Saharan Africa rose to $16.5 billion.
The other three countries are Tanzania, South Africa and Kenya. Investment in the five countries was put at $2.8 billion in 2011, due to increase in the number of their Base Tranceiver Stations, which were said to have increased by 250 per cent.

Ivory Coast military guilty of 'mass arrests and torture'

A new report released by Human Rights Watch on Monday accused Ivory Coast's army of carrying out mass arrests and beatings on perceived supporters of former president Laurent Gbagbo in response to last year's post-election violence.

Nigeria church attack prompts sectarian reprisals

At least eight people were killed and more than 100 injured Sunday when a suicide bomber drove an explosive-laden vehicle into a Catholic church in northern Nigeria. At least two more people were killed in reprisal attacks against Muslims.

 

Libya assembly approves new cabinet

Libya’s national assembly on Wednesday gave its approval to a cabinet line-up proposed by Prime Minister-designate Ali Zeidan, state media reported, a day after protesters prevented a first attempt to vote on the new cabinet.

Libya's national assembly gave its approval on Wednesday to a cabinet line-up proposed by prime minister designate Ali Zeidan, a day after protesters derailed a vote, state media reported.
"The General National Congress gives its confidence to the government of Ali Zeidan," the official LANA news agency reported.

Nigeria 'committing human rights abuses' in fight against Islamists

Amnesty International claimed on Thursday Nigerian security forces are committing brutal human rights abuses in the battle against Islamist insurgents Boko Haram. Amnesty said the abuses, including executions, are merely fuelling the conflict.

Human rights abuses committed by Nigeria’s security forces in their fight against Islamist sect Boko Haram are fuelling the very insurgency they are meant to quell, Amnesty International said on Thursday.