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  • More UK Soldiers Commited Suicide than Afghan Deaths

    {{More British soldiers and veterans took their own lives in 2012 than died fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan over the same period.}}

    An investigation by British media indicated that 21 serving British soldiers killed themselves last year, along with 29 veterans.

    The Afghanistan death toll was 44, of whom 40 died in action.

    Some of the soldiers’ families say the men did not get enough support. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said every suicide was a “tragedy”.

    The 21 figure was obtained through a Freedom of Information request to the MoD.

    The MoD said that rates of suicide and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) within the serving military were lower than comparative rates in the civilian population.

    Seven serving soldiers have been confirmed as having killed themselves last year, and inquests are pending for a further 14 deaths where suicide is suspected.

    The British government, unlike its American counterpart, does not record the suicide rate among ex-soldiers.

    But media has independently established that at least 29 veterans took their own lives in 2012.

    It wrote to every coroner in the country to ask for the names of soldiers and veterans who killed themselves last year and also analysed newspaper reports of coroners’ inquests.

    BBC Panorama

  • Controversy Trails Al-Bashir’s Visit To Nigeria

    {{Sudan’s Ruler Gen. Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan’s planned visit to Abuja for the HIV/AIDS international conference starting Monday may put Nigeria in the eye of the storm as a result of his indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC).}}

    This news broke the same day UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, in reference to the recent Yobe attack on a school, cited Nigeria as being among countries where children are being killed for embracing education.

    Ban spoke on Friday at the UN office in New York at a Youth Assembly session held to honour Malala Yousafzai, the survivor Pakistani girl, who was shot in the head by the Taliban for attending school, last year.

    The news about Omar El-Bashir’s trip to Abuja first came through the Sudanese media on Friday night that Bashir, indicted by the ICC since 2009, would be among the over 30 African Heads of State at the international conference.

    Besides, Western news media, like the Washington Post and the Associated Press, have also started focusing on the news by yesterday morning.

    At about the same time, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, had briefed the Nigerian press that over 30 African Heads of State would be participating at the conference.

    She attributed the expected large turnout of African leaders to what she said is Nigeria’s rising significance in the world.

    However, Onwuliri was not reported to have specifically listed the names of the heads of state and presidents expected at the meeting, nor was she reported to have specifically mentioned the name of the controversial Sudanese president.

    But some countries have welcomed the Sudanese President, including Kenya, Chad and Djibouti.

    An African Union’s decision not to cooperate with the ICC is what some African diplomats allude to in advocating Al-Bashir’s visit to some African countries. But, as a signatory to the ICC, Nigeria and several other African countries are expected, under their treaty obligations, to actually arrest the Sudanese President if he sets foot on their soil.

    In an email interaction with a top presidency official over the weekend, it was confirmed that the Sudanese President might even have a sideline meeting with President Jonathan.

    According to the source, “Presidents Jonathan and Omar Al-Bashir have always met on the sidelines of meetings to discuss the Sudanese situation and other issues. Another meeting between them can be expected.”

    Human Rights Watch (HRW), a global human rights organisation headquartered in New York expressed serious concern about the possibility.

    HRW’s Associate Director, Elise Keppler, said if Bashir is allowed this visit, “it would be a new low for Nigeria.”

    “Al-Bashir is a fugitive charged with heinous crimes committed in Darfur and he belongs in custody,” Keppler stated.

    She recalled that before this attempt by Bashir to visit Nigeria, “many other African states have made clear he will not be welcomed, or avoided his visits, including South Africa, Malawi, Zambia, and Uganda. Nigeria should side with victims and arrest or bar entry to Al-Bashir.”

    Indeed Zambia, Central African Republic, and Uganda canceled plans to welcome Bashir at the last minute, and Kenya did not allow a second visit.

    As for South Africa and Botswana, both nations told the Sudanese President clearly that he would not be welcomed on their soils.

    Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General said in New York on Friday, “Governments and partners around the world have made important progress in education. UNESCO and UNICEF have helped lead the support of the UN family.

    But he added that there is still “much work to do… 57 million children are not in school. We have to bring all 57 million people to school by the end of 2015. That is our strong commitment at the United Nations.”

    Referencing Nigeria’s recent terrorist killings in Yobe, the UN Secretary-General said, “as we have tragically seen in several countries around the world – most recently in Nigeria – where children were attacked by terrorists at school, schools must be a safe haven, a safe place, for all children –girls and boys– and their teachers who have been targeted in schools. This is an unacceptable situation.”

    Continuing, Secretary-General Ban stated, “They have been threatened, they have been assaulted. They have been killed. We cannot let this happen again. No child should have to die for going to school. Nowhere should teachers fear to teach or children fear to learn. Together, we can change this picture.”

    {agencies}

  • Toppled Egyptian President to be Investigated

    {{Egypt has announced a criminal investigation against deposed President Mohamed Morsi, with prosecutors saying they were examining complaints of spying, inciting violence and ruining the economy.}}

    The public prosecutor’s office issued a statement on Saturday saying it had received complaints against Morsi, eight other named Islamist figures including top Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie, and others it did not identify.

    The prosecutors did not say who had made the complaints.

    Egypt’s first freely elected leader has been held at an undisclosed location since the army removed him from power on July 3, but has not yet been charged with any crime.

    In recent days Washington has called for him to be freed and for the authorities to stop arresting leaders of his Muslim Brotherhood.

    The complaints are a first step in the criminal process, allowing prosecutors to begin an investigation that can lead to charges.

    Announcing the step was unusual: typically prosecutors wait until charges are filed before making public statements.

    Badie and several other Brotherhood officials already face charges for inciting violence that were announced earlier this week, but most of them have not been arrested.

    Egyptian law allows them to investigate complaints from police or any member of the public.

    {aljazeera}

  • France & Germany Disagree over EU Banks Plan

    Germany and France were split on Friday over European Union plans for a new agency to wind down troubled banks, with Berlin saying they go too far in centralizing control in Brussels.

    The body would form part of a banking union designed to underpin confidence in the euro zone and end the previously chaotic handling of cross-border bank collapses.

    But German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said in a letter to the EU official in charge of the plans that the European Commission is trying to pocket too much power.

    Schaeuble wrote in his letter to Michel Barnier, Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, that the proposal for the Commission to make the final decision on whether to wind down banks was out of step with European Union law.

    “The proposal published by the Commission regrettably envisages too high a degree of centralization with regard to the boundaries of the existing (EU) law,” reads the letter, which was seen by Reuters on Friday and is dated July 11.

    “The proposal does not match the current legal, political and economic realities and would create major risks,” Schaeuble wrote, adding that the transfer of powers to the Commission was not backed by EU treaties.

    French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici welcomed the proposal, saying it would be a pillar of the euro zone’s new banking union.

    “Now we have to work out the details of the mechanism for resolving banking crises within the euro zone, which requires the capacity to respond quickly,” Moscovici said in a statement.

    The Commission on Wednesday presented plans for an agency to salvage or shut troubled banks, in which it would call the final shot. This would be the second of three pillars of the ‘banking union’ meant to galvanize the response to the euro zone crisis.

    As Europe’s biggest country, Germany’s support is crucial for the proposal to become law. But looming federal elections make it unlikely the government will sign up to anything which could be seen as exposing it more to the euro zone’s troubles.

    Sources close to Berlin say the government is confident it could line up enough support from others to shoot down the Commission proposal, if necessary.

    agencies

  • Congo Refugees Cross into Uganda After Rebel Attack

    More than 30,000 people have fled their homes in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and crossed into neighbouring Uganda after a rebel group that had been hiding out in eastern Congo attacked a town.

    Families streamed across a bridge over a river near the border, clutching belongings. Some carried firewood over their heads, many brought livestock and women held small babies.

    The Ugandan military said the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan rebel group that was driven across the border into the dense jungle of the DRC after a violent campaign in the late 1990s, overran the town of Kamangu on Thursday.

    They briefly occupied it and, though they have since left, Ugandan military spokesman Paddy Ankunda said people are still crossing into Uganda for fear of the rebels. Ugandan troops have been sent to reinforce the border.

    The ADF waged an insurgency against the Ugandan government in the late 1990s from bases in the Ruwenzori Mountains and across the frontier in eastern Congo. At its peak, it was blamed for a series of deadly blasts in the capital.

    {wirestory}

  • U.N., EU Pledge aid For CAR

    {{UN and EU aid chiefs promised help on Friday to victims of a “forgotten crisis” in Central African Republic, where armed groups are preying on civilians four months after a rebel takeover plunged the country into chaos.}}

    In the town of Kaga-Bandoro, deep in the jungle 350 km (220 miles) north of the capital Bangui, inhabitants have fled constant attacks by gunmen to live in the nearby forests and fields, surviving on roots and the leaves of manioc plants.

    The school, government offices and U.N. agency buildings in the town of 26,000 people have been pillaged since the Seleka rebel group seized power in Bangui in March, ending any semblance of state control outside the capital.

    “We want to draw the attention of the international community to what is happening to you,” Valerie Amos, deputy U.N. security general in charge of humanitarian affairs, told locals. “Central African Republic will no longer be a forgotten crisis.”

    Since the interim government led by rebel leader Michel Djotodia seized power, its fighters have been accused of reprisal killings and other atrocities.

    Aid groups say health services across the country are close to collapse. Attacks and looting are common.

    Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) this week accused the international community of turning its back on the landlocked former French colony.

    reuters

  • Guantanamo Prisoners Suspend Hunger Strike

    {{Most prisoners on hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay have resumed eating, the US military has said.}}

    The inmates of the army-controlled detention centre ended, or at least paused, the hunger strike on Friday as 99 of the 102 prisoners have now eaten at least one meal in the past 24 hours.

    They are still considered hunger strikers because the military requires several days of sustained eating and a minimal caloric intake before a prisoner is removed from the list.

    It was not clear whether prisoners intended to abandon completely the protest that has roiled Guantanamo for more than four months and prompted President Barack Obama to renew his efforts to close a prison that holds 166 men.

    Navy Captain Robert Durand said it had been unusually peaceful in the camps, largely free of conflict between guards and prisoners since the start of Ramadan.

    “We are just pleased that they are for the most part eating and for the most part we are having good order and discipline in the camps,” Durand said.

    Prison officials issued a “pardon” that erased the men’s accumulated disciplinary infractions and permitted many of them to pray together this week after having spent recent weeks largely isolated from each other.

    Durand declined to speculate about whether the hunger strike might flare again after Ramadan.

    “I don’t pretend to understand the psychology of the detainees and they don’t always necessarily declare their motives.”

    agencies

  • Dreamliner Fire Classified as Serious

    {{Investigators classified the fire that broke out on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner parked at London’s Heathrow airport as a “serious incident” but have found no evidence it was caused by the plane’s batteries, Britain’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said on Saturday.}}

    The question of whether the fire was connected to the batteries is crucial because the entire global fleet of Dreamliners, Boeing’s groundbreaking new flagship jet, was grounded for three months this year due to battery-related problems.

    The AAIB designation fell just short of a full-blown “accident” on the scale it uses to describe investigations. The agency’s preliminary probe is expected to take several days, opening up Boeing to more questions about its top-selling plane.

    Despite the uncertainty surrounding the blaze, airlines around the world continued to operate the Dreamliner. Some 18 787s took to the skies Saturday afternoon, about the same as Friday.

    The fire broke out on the Ethiopian Airlines plane on Friday afternoon, and was discovered when smoke was seen on the plane eight hours after arriving from Addis Ababa. No one was injured.

    “There has been extensive heat damage in the upper portion of the rear fuselage, a complex part of the aircraft, and the initial investigation is likely to take several days,” the AAIB said in a statement.

    “However, it is clear that this heat damage is remote from the area in which the aircraft main and APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) batteries are located, and, at this stage, there is no evidence of a direct causal relationship.”

    Media reports on Saturday indicated that airline staff had discovered a problem with the aircraft’s air conditioning system during a routine inspection and had seen sparks but no flames.

    {wirestory}

  • 7 Peacekeepers Killed in Darfur

    {{At least seven international peacekeepers have been killed and 17 wounded when they came under heavy fire from a large group of unknown assailants in Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region, the peacekeeping force UNAMID has said.}}

    The incident on Saturday took place in an area where peacekeeping is the responsibility of Tanzanian forces, and was the force’s worst death toll from a single incident since it was deployed five years ago.

    The “extended firefight” happened near Khor Abeche in South Darfur, the African Union/United Nations-led force said in a statement, without confirming nationalities. Two of the 17 wounded soldiers and police officers were female.

    Years of international peace efforts have failed to end conflict in Sudan’s western region of Darfur, where mainly African tribes took up arms in 2003 against the Arab-led government in Khartoum, which they accuse of discriminating against them.

    Violence is down from its peak in 2004-05, but has picked up again this year as government forces, rebels and Arab tribes, which were armed by the government early in the conflict, are now fighting among themselves over resources and land.

    About 300,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Darfur this year due to fighting, according to the United Nations.

    The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and some aides on charges of masterminding war crimes in Darfur. They deny the charges and refuse to recognise the court.

    Events in Darfur are hard to verify as Sudan severely restricts travel by journalists, aid workers and diplomats.

    {Source: Agencies}

  • Kenyan Peacekeepers Aided Illegal Somalia Charcoal export – U.N.

    The case of the failed ban on Somali charcoal outlined in the report highlights the difficulty of cutting off al Shabaab militants’ funding and ensuring compliance with U.N. sanctions when there is little appetite for enforcing them on the ground.

    The Kenyan military denied the allegations in the U.N. Monitoring Group’s latest annual report to the Security Council’s sanctions committee on Somalia and Eritrea.

    The report was completed before recent clashes in Kismayu.

    In that fighting, rival militias battled for control of the strategic port city after Ahmed Madobe, leader of the Ras Kamboni militia and a former Islamist warlord, became leader of the Jubaland region, which includes Kismayu, in May.

    The situation remains tense though the Mogadishu government, which initially opposed Madobe, is letting him stay on as interim leader.

    Kismayu is a lucrative prize for clan leaders, bringing with it generous revenues from charcoal exports, port taxes and levies on arms and other illegal imports.

    The Security Council banned the export of charcoal from Somalia in February 2012 to cut off one of the main sources of income for al Shabaab, which has been fighting for control of Somalia for years and enforces a strict version of sharia law in the areas it occupies.

    Kenyan forces in the African Union’s AMISOM peacekeeping mission, which has a U.N. Security Council mandate and receives funding from the European Union and United States, helped the Somali government retake control of Kismayu when the al Qaeda-aligned militants fled in September 2012.

    Afterwards, the AU almost immediately urged the Security Council to lift the charcoal export ban, at least temporarily.

    Kenya supported the idea, arguing that Kismayu’s angry charcoal traders could undermine the security of its troops. The Monitoring Group, which reports on compliance with the Somalia/Eritrea sanctions regime, disputed Nairobi’s analysis.

    reuters