IGIHE

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  • South Sudan says cutting oil flows on Sudan’s insistence

    {{South Sudan has reduced its oil output and plans to shut it off completely after northern neighbor Sudan insisted production be shut down by August 7, officials said, over allegations of support for rebels that operate across their border.}}

    Sudan said a month ago it would close two cross-border oil pipelines within two months unless South Sudan, its former civil war foe, gave up support for the rebels. Juba denies this.

    The move is a blow to the economies of both sides, which were hit hard by South Sudan’s 16-month oil shutdown in a row over pipeline fees and disputed territory. Flows of oil, the lifeline for both, had only resumed in April.

    South Sudan has cut output to 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 200,000 bpd, officials of its foreign affairs and oil ministries said.

    “The reduction started yesterday,” Foreign Affairs ministry spokesman Mawien Makol Arik said.

    “It is going to go down gradually until it goes off,” he said. “This is a decision made by Khartoum … still accusing us of supporting rebels, which is a position we denied. We said we don’t do that.”

    He said South Sudan had called on China, which dominates the oil industry in both countries, to mediate between the two countries, which fought one of Africa’s longest civil wars until 2005. South Sudan became an independent country in 2011.

    Sudanese officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

    Landlocked South Sudan needs to export its crude through the Sudanese port of Port Sudan. Both countries restarted oil flows in April after South Sudan shut its entire production of around 300,000 bpd in January 2012 as disputes over oil fees, border security and territory escalated.

    Sudan allowed the sale of oil that had already reached its territory after it informed Juba in June it would halt flows unless support for rebels stopped.

    Khartoum accuses Juba of supporting the “Sudanese Revolutionary Front”, an umbrella of groups operating in the borderlands, which complain of neglect at the hands of the wealthy Arab Khartoum elites.

    South Sudan in turn accuses Sudan of backing rebels in its Jonglei state, where escalating fighting is making it impossible to realize government plans to search for oil with the help of France’s Total and U.S. Exxon Mobil.

    The main foreign firms operating oilfields in South Sudan are China National Petroleum Corp, Malaysia’s Petronas and Indian firm ONCG Videsh.

    {wirestory}

  • EU Floats Plan to Break Hezbollah Deadlock

    {{The European Union could blacklist Hezbollah’s military wing while stressing it is open to talking to the militant Lebanese movement’s political faction, under a proposal by the EU’s foreign policy chief, EU diplomats said on Wednesday.}}

    European governments have been deadlocked over the issue since May when Britain asked for the Shi’ite Muslim group’s military wing to be put on the EU terror list, citing evidence it was behind a deadly bus bombing in Bulgaria last year.

    Several EU capitals had objected, arguing such a move could destabilize Lebanon where Hezbollah is part of the government, and questioning whether there was sufficient evidence linking the group to the attack in the seaside resort of Burgas.

    Before further talks on the issue in the coming days, the EU’s Catherine Ashton suggested a compromise that could allay concerns that a blacklisting would complicate the EU’s relations with Lebanon.

    {agencies}

  • China Media Accuses Japan PM of Dangerous Politics

    {{Two of China’s top newspapers accused Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday of dangerous politics that could threaten regional security, as Tokyo warned Beijing not to expand gas exploration in disputed waters of the East China Sea.}}

    The People’s Liberation Army Daily said Abe was trying to play the “China threat” angle, to win votes in July 21 elections, with a visit on Wednesday to Japan’s southern island of Ishigaki, near islets claimed by both China and Japan.

    Territorial claims by Japan and China over the uninhabited islets and resource-rich waters in both the East China Sea and South China Sea rank as one of Asia’s biggest security risks.

    During the visit to Ishigaki island, Abe repeated Tokyo’s stand that the nearby disputed Senkaku islands, called the Diaoyu by China, are inherent Japanese territory, adding that he has no intention of conceding even one step.

    “This kind of ‘drinking poison to slake ones thirst’ not only threatens regional stability, it gives encouragement to Japan’s ‘turn to the right’,” said the daily.

    Abe wants to revise Japan’s constitution, drafted by the United States after World War Two, to formalize the country’s right to have a military. Critics say his plan could return Japan to a socially conservative, authoritarian past.

    The People’s Liberation Army Daily said Abe could not have chosen a worse time to visit Ishigaki, which lies some 160 km (100 miles) from the uninhabited islets the two nations contest.

    “You cannot criticize a national leader for visiting his country’s own territory but in a situation where the dispute over the Diaoyu Islands is continuing and the situation is complex and sensitive, Abe’s actions are doubtless extremely dangerous and irresponsible,” the paper, the official publication of China’s military, said in a commentary.

    The ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily warned that China would never allow itself to be trampled on again, a reference to China’s bitter memories of Japan’s invasion of the country ahead of and during World War Two.

    In a commentary published under the pen name “Zhong Sheng”, or “voice of China”, the newspaper said that Abe was looking for excuses to re-arm Japan and that the dispute with China was a convenient way of pushing this.

    “The aim is to create tension and provoke incidents, to push Japan’s military development,” it said.

    Patrol ships from both nations routinely shadow each other near the islands, raising concerns about an unintended clash.

    On Thursday, three Chinese surveillance vessels sailed into what Japan considers its territorial waters near the isles on what Beijing said was a routine patrol.

    The Japan Coast Guard said the ships later left its territorial water but remain in the contiguous area.

    {wirestory}

  • Police Siezes 1000 litres of illicit Brew

    {{Residents of Bugari, Katarara and Ndago cells in Nyanza District have taken an upper hand in fighting illicit brew, which they say had caused other crimes in the area.}}

    As a results, the residents in the three cells on July 17 intercepted about 1000 litres of the illegal brew called ibikwangari, which they handed over to police, and the latter arrested seven people in connection with the act.

    The illicit brew was destroyed in presence of the residents.

    The suspects are identified as Nepomscene Ndayambaje, Emmanuel Munyampeta, Emmanuel Rucamubyuma, Calixste Kalinijabo, Vitar Murihano, Nsabimana and Gaston.

    RNP

  • U.S. Embassy Visits PEPFAR/CDC Programs at CHUK in Kigali

    {{The Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) for the U.S. Embassy, Jessica Lapenn, Dr. Douglas Shaffer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Country Director, and the Honorable Minister of Health, Dr. Agnes Binagwaho, visited Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Kigali (CHUK), to review U.S. government funded programs.}}

    The mission of CHUK, the main state hospital in Kigali, is ensuring the provision of care to the population, providing education, developing clinical research, and giving technical support to district hospitals in Rwanda.

    Through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)/CDC funds, much has been accomplished in the strengthening of Public Health Systems in Rwanda.

    CDC provides technical assistance to the Rwandan Ministry of Health in the areas of facility-based clinical services, strategic information, public health laboratory services, and human capacity development.

    With this support, the Rwandan Ministry of Health provides comprehensive, integrated HIV clinical care and treatment services directly to the Rwandan population, serving approximately one-third of all Rwandan HIV patients eligible for treatment.

    DCM Lapenn, Minister Binagwaho, and Dr. Shaffer saw the reorganized Emergency ward that will serve as a model for improved healthcare services in Rwanda. The new reorganization of space has reduced serious overcrowding of those waiting for treatment.

    A new triage area and the completion of an isolation room have saved lives. DCM Lapenn also met the Human Resources for Health (HRH) U.S. and Rwandan faculty led by Dr. Theobald Hategekimana, Director General of CHUK, and Rex Wong of Yale University.

    With the commitment to meeting the health needs of its citizens by 2020, the Government of Rwanda, through the Ministry of Health, launched the Human Resources for Health (HRH) Program in July 2012.

    It is a seven-year partnership with the Government of Rwanda; the U.S. government; the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria; and 14 U.S. medical, nursing and public health schools.

    The HRH Program will build the healthcare education infrastructure and workforce necessary to create a high quality, sustainable healthcare system in Rwanda by addressing the country’s most challenging health care obstacles.

  • ‘Steadily improving’ Mandela celebrates 95th birthday

    {{Anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela is “steadily improving”, South Africa’s government said on Thursday as the former president celebrated his 95th birthday in hospital showered by tributes from around the world.}}

    Thousands of South Africans led the global outpouring of support for the man regarded as the father of the multiracial ‘Rainbow Nation” established in 1994 when he was elected its first black president at the end of apartheid.

    He has been receiving intensive treatment since June 8 for a recurring lung infection, his fourth stay in hospital in six months.

    While many carried out volunteer work on U.N.-declared Nelson Mandela Day, his daughter Zindzi led government workers in singing “Happy Birthday” to the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, one of numerous celebrations across the country.

    “His doctors have confirmed that his health is steadily improving,” President Jacob Zuma’s office said in a statement.

    “On behalf of government and all the people of South Africa, we wish Madiba a joyous 95th birthday,” it said using Mandela’s traditional clan name.

    The fragile health of Mandela, who for weeks has been in a critical condition, has served as a reminder of the mortality of the man globally admired as a symbol of struggle against injustice and of racial reconciliation.

    Many in South Africa celebrated Mandela Day with 67 minutes of public service to honor the 67 years Mandela served humanity by first fighting against white-minority rule and then consolidating racial harmony when he was president.

    His former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela called the 95th birthday “a gift to the nation”.

    “There are some prophets of doom who say the country will come to a standstill (when he dies),” she told Talk Radio 702.

    “The country will continue as it has always done. If anything, the country will solidify, come together and carry on.”

  • Angola Pound Malawi 3-2

    {{Angolan side edged out Malawi 3-2 on their way to the plate final of the Cosafa Cup at Arthur Davies Stadium in Kitwe Wednesday.}}

    The winners had to come from two goals down on both occasions to grab their first win of the competition.

    Malawi were chasing their first win after going down to defending champions Zimbabwe 5-4 on post-match penalties on Sunday and were the more determined side as they went ahead in the fifth minute through Justin Simekonda, who tapped home a well laid cross by Chiukepo Msorumweya.

    Seven minutes later Angola were back in the match after Cristiviao Prancieca netted the equaliser.

    He squeezed in a header from the left flank when Arie Papel had sent a high ball into the Malawi defense that failed to be cleared.

    Malawi kept up the pressure and were nearly rewarded in the 19th minute, but Bongani Kaipa who was near the Angola goal shot wide.

    The scores stood 1-1 at the break. Malawi kept up the pressure as the second half kicked off and were rewarded two minutes into resumption when Abdul Nzaniwao headed into his own net while trying to clear a dangerous ball.

    The lead did not last long and Angola were back into the match in the 54th minute through Prancieca who headed home his second goal of the match, his third of the tournament.

    Antonio Nzayinawo killed off the game for Angola in the 84th minute, heading home after catching the Malawi defence napping.

    In the second match, Mozambique edged out Namibia 1-0. The lone goal for Mozambique came at the stroke of half time through Apsone Manjare.

    {wirestory}

  • Kenya Teachers end Strike After Government Withholds Pay

    {{The prospect of striking Kenyan teachers going without pay for three months after the government closed down primary schools indefinitely may have prompted Wednesday’s about-turn by Knut.}}

    After a 23-day standoff, authorities resorted to the drastic action exclusively reported by The Standard on Wednesday, which sent the Kenya National Union of Teachers ( Knut) in panic.

    With teachers’ June salaries withheld, the early closure of schools meant the freeze would have extended to August. That and fears among the union leadership that the Industrial Court could find top leaders in contempt of court would appear to have forced Knut’s hand.

    Indeed, during a meeting late yesterday with Deputy President William Ruto, union officials pleaded with government to withdraw the contempt case filed by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).

    The court proceedings are against Knut national chairman Wilson Sossion and the acting secretary general Mudzo Nzili. “We have a court case which can ruin us on Monday please we would like the government to intervene,” said Nzili told the meeting in the DP’s office.

    The Industrial Court will on Monday rule on the fate of the officials whom TSC wants jailed for disobeying orders to call off the strike.

    Sossion for his part told the meeting also attended by Education PS Belio Kipsang: “Whatever has a beginning must have an end… this is our country and we must work together and get things moving.”

    Sossion and Nzili led officials to Ruto’s office where they camped for over two hours as he was away in Kitengela. Ruto was adamant the government would not yield to demands for higher pay and he ruled out payment of commuter allowances in one tranche.

    “The deal you have been given by the Teachers Service Commission on commuter allowance cannot be added or reduced…we are operating within a very tight budget,” Ruto said. “We want to negotiate in a structured manner so that the agreement is honoured irrespective of who is in office,” he added.

    standard

  • Iran’s New President Dismisses Israeli Threats

    {{Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s president-elect, has brushed off threats of military action by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu over Tehran’s nuclear programme.}}

    Referring to the US and Israel, Rouhani said: “When some say that all options are on the table and when a miserable regional country says such things, it makes you laugh.”

    In an address to Iran-Iraq war veterans on Wednesday, in which he rebuked Netanyahu, Rouhani said: “Who are the Zionists to threaten us?”

    He also said that warnings of an Iranian retaliation had stopped Israel from carrying out its threats to launch strikes on the country.

    According to the semi-official Mehr news agency, the Iranian foreign ministry characterised Netanyahu’s remarks as Israel’s’s interference in the internal affairs of other countries and its attempts to damage other countries’ relations with Iran.

    Netanyahu on Sunday renewed his threat to take unilateral military action to halt Iran’s nuclear programme.

    {aljazeera}

  • EU Pushes Ethiopia to Release Journalists & Revise Terror Law

    {{A European Union parliamentary delegation urged Ethiopia on Wednesday to release journalists and opposition politicians jailed under an anti-terror law, and revise the legislation that critics say is used to stifle dissent.}}

    Ethiopian opposition parties routinely accuse the government of harassment and say their candidates are often intimidated in polls. All but two of the 547 seats in the legislature are held by the ruling party.

    Critics point to a 2009 anti-terrorism law that makes anyone caught publishing information that could induce readers to commits acts of terrorism liable to jail terms of 10-to-20 years.

    Last year, an Ethiopian court handed sentences of eight years to life to 20 journalists and opposition figures on charges of conspiring with rebels to topple the government.

    “We note flaws in the impartiality of the judicial system,” said Barbara Lochbihler, who led the delegation to the Horn of Africa country.

    “Therefore we also call on the Ethiopian authorities to release all journalists, members of the opposition and others arbitrarily detained or imprisoned for exercising their legitimate right to freedom of expression, freedom of association, as well as freedom of religion and belief.”

    Government officials were not immediately available for comment, but they often dismiss claims that they are cracking down on dissent. They say the law is needed to fight separatist rebels and armed groups they say are backed by arch-foe Eritrea.

    The delegation’s visit came after thousands staged an anti-government procession in June in the first large-scale protest since a disputed 2005 election ended in street violence that killed 200 people.

    A smaller protest in the northern towns of Gonder and Dessie followed over the weekend, and opposition officials said dozens have since been detained ever since.

    The delegation said they were denied access to a prison where some of the journalists and politicians were being held.

    “We acknowledge and recognize the highly volatile situation of Ethiopia’s immediate neighborhood,” Lochbihler said.

    “However, when we look at the anti-terrorism legislation in this country, you think (about) how this legislation is implemented and being understood and being interpreted. This leads to a lot of arrests.”

    Analysts say the opposition may have found renewed vigor since the death last year of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who was praised abroad for delivering strong economic growth but criticized for keeping a tight grip on power for 21 years.

    {agencies}