IGIHE

Author: Théophile Niyitegeka

  • Rwandese,Ugandan post-poll-loss claims split Kenya House team

    {MPs are divided whether foreigners should be paid Sh538 million in claims over losses incurred in the 2008 post-election violence before it is confirmed that all claims by Kenyans have been settled.}

    The National Assembly Committee on Administration and National Security Tuesday heard a petition in which businessmen from Uganda and Rwanda, are seeking compensation for losses they suffered during the chaos.

    {{SH4.7 billion }}

    The amount has been reduced from their initial claim of Sh4.7 billion after investigations revealed that most of claims were fraudulent.

    Attorney-General Githu Muigai said an inter-ministerial committee investigated the mater and could not verify the claims made and drastically reduced the figure.

    “An inter-ministerial committee established that some of the claims were fake and only Sh538 million of the claims were found to be verifiable and the matter is now before Cabinet,” he said.

    {{IDPS case }}

    Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma said Kenyans who suffered during the 2007/08 post-poll turmoil should be compensated fully, including the internally displaced persons, yet to receive compensation before the government can compensate outsiders.

    “The mention of PEV causes tears to well in the eyes of many Kenyans, including IDPs who are yet to be sorted, returnees, those with dead relatives and the maimed who should first be compensated as a matter of public interest before the government can deal with non-Kenyans,” he said.

    {{EAC protocol }}

    However, Kandara MP Alice Wahome said those who suffered during the PEV period should be compensated whether Kenyans or not, since everyone was entitled to justice.

    Prof Muigai said there was East African protocol on settlement of losses suffered in any of the countries, adding that even if the country postponed the payments, the matter could be raised at the regional forum, where Kenya has less influence.

    “The country seems not to learn its lesson because I5 years after failing to pay the Anglo Leasing claimants, it was forced to do so after it decided to float the Eurobond. If we bury our heads in the sand, we could in future be forced to settle the payment when the country decides to float an international instrument,” he said.

    {{Win-Win }}

    Committee Chairman Asman Kamama (Tiaty) said the government should go for a “win-win situation” where both Kenyans and the neighbours would be compensated for their losses.

    Mr Kaluma asked whether it had been ascertained if Kenyan businessmen had suffered similar losses in the neighbouring countries and whether they had been reparations, but Prof Muigai said in the spirit of diplomacy and “good neighbourliness” the government should settle the bill as had been claimed by the regional traders.

    {{‘No hurry’}}

    Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery said his ministry was not “keen” on making the payment to settle the regional dispute, saying the government focus was on the ongoing drought, national security and the August 8 general elections.

    “The matter is before the Cabinet but it is not an issue my ministry is in a hurry to settle because we have other pressing national issues,” he said.

    Treasury Director General of Budget and Economic Affairs Geoffrey Mwau said there was no policy direction on how to settle such payments, saying that was the reason the matter had been forwarded to Cabinet, but added that Parliament would be required to appropriate the funds once the issue is approved.

    {{Framework }}

    Dr Mwau also called for a “clear framework” to deal with such compensation in the region, saying losses was happening every day in the various East African countries and not only in 2008, and that the issue required to be looked into holistically.

    Prof Muigai said a senior police officer had been appointed to ascertain the claims made by the regional traders, but a ministerial committee was later tasked with the matter, in which it established that only a fraction of the billions claimed were authentic.

    National Security Committee chairman Asman Kamama. He urged a win-win approach to the foreigners' case.

    Source:Daily Nation

  • Rwandan arrested in Malawi over swindling

    {The Malawi Police are keeping in custody a Rwandan national 42-year old Donald Dawayezi on allegations that he swindled Malawian farmers produce worth millions of kwacha before fleeing to Zimbabwe. }

    He was arrested by Zimbabwean Immigration Authorities and was deported to Malawi because he holds a Malawian passport, Nyasa Times can reveal.

    The arrest comes barely two months after Malawi police also netted another Rwandese genocide suspect Vincent Murekezi who has been hiding both in Zimbabwe and Malawi after he fled Rwanda to escape the law for the role he played in the 1994 genocide against Tutsi.

    Lilongwe police public relations officer Kingsley Dandaula confirmed that indeed Dawayezi is in their custody having being deported from Zimbabwe and the Malawian police picked him up from Mwanza border.

    “He was a businessman who was involved in trading of farm produce like rice, beans, maize, and soya beans. After receiving numerous complaints we liaised with our Zimbabwean counterparts who arrested him and handed him over to us,” Dandaula said.

    He said currently the amount of money which he is accused of defrauding people has not yet been quantified as more people are coming in to lodge complaints.

    “We have charged him with obtaining goods by false pretence and will soon be taken to court when the investigations are finalized,” said Dandaula.

    At the moment it is not clear whether the Rwandan was also involved in the genocide in Rwanda which saw more than one million killed.

    Another source alleges that Uwayezu fled the country for Zimbabwe after defrauding fellow Rwandese, indigenous Malawians and Malawians of Asian origin carrying out various businesses in Lilongwe and commercial banks tens of millions of kwachas.

    “He also obtained K31million on usury [katapila] from his fellow Rwandese by the name of Selemani and fled the country when he could no longer pay the money,” said the source.

    A source within the police who is privy to the arrest said Uwayezu once served in the Rwandan military before he fled the country for undisclosed reasons.

    ‘’While in the country he was operating shops in Lilongwe’s popular Devil Street, which is very synonymous with foreign nationals, and Likuni and he also owns real estate in upper town suburb of Area 14,” said the source.

    The source further said it is not clear how he obtained the Malawian passport.

    Rwanda has been persuading their Malawian counterparts to send back home Rwandan nationals who were allegedly involved in the 1994 genocide against Tutsi who have been hiding in the country but failed to make any breakthrough because of the corrupt system of government officials who have been giving citizenship, passports and work permits in exchange of kickbacks.

    Currently, Malawi is hosting about 5,000 Rwandese nationals in Dzaleka Refugee Camp while some have been integrated in the townships of cities like the capital Lilongwe and are running businesses but 36 of these were allegedly directly involved in the 1994 genocide.

    As Murekezi is facing extradition, another Rwanda national has been arrested for swindling Malawians.

    Source:Nyasa Times

  • Trump: Agency to support ‘victims of immigrant crimes’

    {In first speech to Congress, new president announces special office to assist victims of crimes committed by immigrants.}

    President Donald Trump said he has given orders to create a special office to assist victims of crime by immigrants: “VOICE” – Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement.

    According to the Independent, the VOICE agency is expected to publish a weekly list of all crimes committed by immigrants, suggesting that anyone who has moved to the US, both documented and undocumented, could find their name on the public document.

    Trump announced the initiative on Tuesday during his first speech to Congress, where there were audible groans and sounds of surprise from people in the audience when he said the name of the new office.

    The president said the United States must support law enforcement and victims of crime, adding it will provide a voice to people ignored by the media and “silenced by special interests”.

    Trump paid tribute to four guests in the audience, who, he said, had lost loved ones in violent crimes committed by immigrants living in the country illegally.

    He also suggested a new merit-based system to regulate entry to the United States, as he tried to square his campaign rhetoric with the goal of broad immigration reform.

    Addressing Congress, Trump stood by his plan to subject travellers from several mainly-Muslim countries deemed a risk to extreme vetting, insisting: “We cannot allow a beachhead of terrorism to form inside America.”

    But – alongside this promise of “strong measures to protect our nation from radical Islamic terrorism” – he held out the prospect of a merit-based immigration system that might win cross-party support.

    Arguing that mass immigration by unskilled workers costs US taxpayers billions of dollars and depresses wages and job opportunities of the working poor, Trump urged lawmakers to get behind reform.

    “If we are guided by the well-being of American citizens then I believe Republicans and Democrats can work together to achieve an outcome that has eluded our country for decades,” he argued.

    A merit-based system – such as those in use in Canada and Australia – would, he argued “save countless dollars, raise workers’ wages, and help struggling families – including immigrant families – enter the middle class”.

    {{Path to papers}}

    “It is a basic principle that those seeking to enter a country ought to be able to support themselves financially,” Trump told lawmakers.

    “Yet, in America, we do not enforce this rule, straining the very public resources that our poorest citizens rely upon,” he added.

    US lawmakers, encouraged by the previous administration under Barack Obama, have long sought to agree on a broad-based package to provide roughly 11 million undocumented migrants with a path to legal residency.

    But Republican members, in particular, faced opposition from their electoral base to any measure that smacked of an “amnesty” for illegal immigrants – a sentiment that Trump played up during his campaign.

    Vowing to build a wall on the Mexican border to keep out migrants he branded “drug-dealers, murderers and rapists”, Trump gave every appearance of planning a still tougher line on immigration.

    But his attempts to introduce a visa ban on visitors from seven mainly-Muslim countries have been halted by the courts and he faces opposition from influential quarters to toughen general controls.

    Silicon Valley software giants, with their huge lobbying reach, rely on recruiting foreign engineers – particularly from the Indian sub-continent – and Republican backers in construction and agriculture employ millions of migrants.

    Federal officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and from Customs and Border Protection have set about enforcing existing immigration law with renewed vigour – but their dragnet has triggered popular protests.

    Earlier Tuesday, Trump suggested in a meeting with television news anchors that he was open to a deal that would legalise millions of undocumented immigrants as part of a bipartisan compromise.

    {{‘Build the wall’}}

    That would mark a dramatic shift in policy.

    “The time is right for an immigration bill as long as there is compromise on both sides,” Trump reportedly told the anchors.

    But there is clearly a line that Trump cannot cross if he is to placate his electoral base. Blue-collar crowds in the key states that gave him victory cheered his “Build the Wall” mantra to the rafters.

    And Trump has firmly tied his pledge to fight illegal immigration to the prospect of jobs and security at home.

    “By finally enforcing our immigration laws, we will raise wages, help the unemployed, save billions and billions of dollars and make our communities safer for everyone,” he said.

    Al Jazeera’s James Bays, reporting from Capitol Hill, said the address was very different from previous Trump speeches.

    “It was a conventional speech, a presidential speech … with no references to ‘fake news’ or ‘dishonest media’”.

    “He said in his speech that ‘the time for trivial fights is behind us’… This feels a bit like a reset speech from the president. A new tone, but not much new in terms of policy,” said Bays.

    Source:Al Jazeera

  • Friends and family mourn for slain Srinivas Kuchibhotla

    {Hundreds of family and friends join funeral of slain engineer in his hometown amid growing fears of hate crimes in US.}

    Hundreds of grieving family and friends in southern India have attended the funeral of a 32-year-old man killed in an apparently racially motivated shooting in the United States that shocked the Indian American community.

    Srinivas Kuchibhotla, an engineer with the US GPS-maker Garmin, died after a navy veteran is suspected of opening fire in a crowded Kansas bar last week. Witnesses said the suspect yelled “Get out of my country!” before the shooting on Wednesday night.

    Kuchibhotla’s body was brought home late on Monday night to his hometown of Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana state, and cremated on Tuesday.

    His mother, Parvatha Vardhini, wailed as the flower-laden body was taken in an open carriage from his home to the crematorium in Jubilee Hills area where it was placed on a wooden pyre and lit as part of Hindu last rites.

    “I had asked him to return to India if he was feeling insecure there. But he used to say he was safe and secure,” she said as tears rolled down her face.

    Vardhini said she would not allow her younger son, also employed in the US, to return to the country.

    “My son had gone there in search of a better future. What crime did he commit?”

    The deceased engineer’s father, Madhusudhan Rao, was more philosophical. “I believe in destiny. Whatever was destined has happened,” he said.

    “Now I want the US government to take care of the security of our Indians who are working there.”

    Targeting of immigrants

    Adam Purinton, a 51-year-old US navy veteran, was arrested in Missouri on murder and attempted murder charges after the shooting at Austin’s Bar and Grill in Olathe.

    Another Indian, 32-year-old Alok Madasani, and 24-year-old American national Ian Grillot were wounded in the incident, which is currently investigated by local law enforcement agencies and the FBI.

    In a statement on Tuesday, the FBI confirmed for the first time that it is investigating the shooting as a hate crime, basing its probe on “the initial investigative activity” involving the attack.

    At a news conference in Kansas on Friday, Kuchibhotla’s widow Sunaina Dumala said she had expressed concerns about the targeting of immigrants in the US before the attack, but her husband told her not to worry.

    The couple was planning their first child.

    A statement by the Indian foreign ministry on Tuesday said that the US government and senior authorities in Kansas “have pro-actively responded to the unfortunate death of Kuchibhotla.

    “It is important to note that the US authorities are engaged with us on the larger concern regarding safety of Indians in the US, a matter which continues to receive the government’s top priority,” the statement said.

    US President Donald Trump has faced criticism for not commenting on the shooting incident, but the White House on Tuesday condemned the attack as an apparent act of “racially motivated hatred”.

    India’s Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, who visited the bereaved family over the weekend, strongly condemned the attack.

    “Such incidents should not happen in one of the oldest democracies of the world,” he said.

    Kuchibhotla's last rites were performed at a crematorium in Hyderabad

    Source:Al Jazeera

  • Russia and China veto UN resolution on Syria sanctions

    {Moscow and Beijing prevent UNSC from imposing sanctions on Syrian government for alleged use of chemical weapons.}

    Russia and China have vetoed a UN Security Council resolution backed by Western powers that would have imposed sanctions on Syria over the alleged use of chemical weapons by the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

    Drafted by Britain, France and the United States, the measure on Tuesday won nine votes in favour, while three countries – China, Russia and Bolivia – opposed it.

    Kazakhstan, Ethiopia and Egypt abstained.

    It was Russia’s seven veto in five years to save its Syrian ally. China, also one of the five veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council, has joined Russia in vetoing six resolutions on Syria.

    The resolution would have put 11 Syrians, mainly military commanders, and 10 entities linked to chemical attacks in 2014 and 2015 on a UN sanctions blacklist.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin had warned that imposing sanctions on Syria during the ongoing Geneva conference was “completely inappropriate” and would undermine the effort to end Syria’s nearly six-year war.

    Russian Deputy Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov echoed Putin’s view that imposing sanctions would have undermined peace talks and described the draft resolution as a “provocation” by the Western “troika”.

    ‘Sad day’

    The proposal marked the first major Security Council action by the new US administration under President Donald Trump, which is seeking warmer ties with Russia.

    “This resolution is very appropriate,” US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley told the Council after the measure was defeated in the vote.

    “It is a sad day on the Security Council when members start making excuses for other member states killing their own people.”

    “The world is definitely a more dangerous place,” she said, criticising the vetoes as “abominable and indefensible choices”.

    Commenting on Haley’s choice of words, Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, pointed out that one could not differentiate between the US ambassador under ex-President Barack Obama and the current US envoy to the UN under the Trump administration.

    “In Washington, they don’t know what’s their policy in the Middle East,” he said, adding that the US strategy in the region was not articulated.

    “At the end of the day, everyone is reflecting their own core geopolitical calculus.”

    For his part, Safronkov described the statements made against Moscow in the Security Council as “outrageous”.

    “Today’s clash or confrontation is not a result of our negative vote. It is a result of the fact that you decided on provocation while you knew well ahead of time our position,” said Safronkov.

    The proposed resolution followed a UN-led investigation which concluded in October that the Syrian air force had dropped chlorine barrel bombs from helicopters on three opposition-held villages in 2014 and 2015.

    The joint panel of the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) also found that Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters used mustard gas in an attack in 2015.

    Russia and China also blocked in 2014 a request for the International Criminal Court to open up investigations of war crimes committed during the war in Syria.

    The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons in the war that has killed nearly 400,000 people and displaced almost half the country’s population since 2011.

    Source:Al Jazeera

  • Donald Trump vows to ‘demolish and destroy’ ISIL

    {Addressing Congress, US president also honoured Navy Seal killed in raid against in al-Qaeda in Yemen.}

    President Donald Trump said military plans have been set in motion to “extinguish” ISIL group as he vowed to keep “terrorists” from operating in the United States.

    During his speech to the US Congress on Tuesday night, Trump said it was the responsibility of his new administration to ensure improved vetting procedures to “keep those out who will do us harm”.

    The president said national security data shows the vast majority of people convicted of “terrorism” offences came from outside the United States.

    “We have seen the attacks at home from Boston to San Bernardino to the Pentagon. And, yes, even the World Trade Center. We have seen the attacks in France, Belgium, Germany and all over the world.

    “We cannot allow a beachhead of terrorists to form inside America. We cannot allow our nation to become a sanctuary for extremists,” said Trump.

    He specifically addressed the threat from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as ISIS, during his address.

    “As promised, I’ve directed the Department of Defense to develop a plan to demolish and destroy ISIS – a network of lawless savages that have slaughtered Muslims and Christians and men, women and children of all faiths and all beliefs.

    “We will work with our allies, including our allies in the Muslim world, to extinguish this vile enemy from our planet,” the president said.

    Trump also honoured an American commando killed in a Yemen raid against al-Qaeda on January 29, which was ordered by the new administration in its first days.

    The widow of Navy Seal William “Ryan” Owens sat in the guest box with tears streaming down her face as the crowd stood and applauded at length.

    Owens’ death – as well as the killing of civilians, possibly including women and children – has raised questions about the effectiveness of the raid.

    Trump quoted his defence chief Jim Mattis in defending the operation. “Ryan was a part of a highly successful raid that generated large amounts of vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemies,” he said.

    Owens’ father, Bill, has denounced the operation that took his son’s life and refused to meet with Trump. He told the Miami Herald newspaper last week the raid was a “stupid mission” and called for an investigation.

    President Trump pledged to "extinguish" ISIL from the planet

    Source:Al Jazeera

  • Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom Break Up After Less Than a Year

    {Katy Perryand Orlando Bloom have gone their separate ways after about 10 months together, E! News has learned. In a statement from Perry and Bloom’s reps they share, “Before rumors or falsifications get out of hand we can confirm that Orlando and Katy are taking respectful, loving space at this time.”}

    The now-exes posed for a photo during Vanity Fair’s 2017 Oscars After-Party, though did not walk the red carpet by each other’s side. In mid-January, the “Chained to the Rhythm” songstress hosted a surprise 40th birthday bash for Bloom, which his mom attended. Additionally, the British actor joined Perry’s family over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

    Last March, E! News confirmed the lovebirds had become an “official couple” after taking their romance public at the 2016 Golden Globes. In the months that followed, it appeared Orlando and Katy were enjoying getting to know each other as they traveled abroad, enjoyed steamy makeout sessions and hit the campaign trails ahead of the presidential election.

    Over the summer, a source told E! News the duo had even discussed marriage and children, revealing, “They are in love and happier than ever. [Orlando] would like to get engaged to [Katy] before the year is up.”

    As for Perry’s mindset, our insider shared, “[Marriage and children] is something Katy has always wanted when she met the man she was ready to settle down with.” And during the 2016 UNICEF Snowflake Ball in November, she had nothing but kind words to say about Orlando, sharing with E! News, “He’s just got the most kind heart, ever.”
    Perhaps both stars’ demanding schedules are to blame for the surprise split as Katy is in the midst of promoting her upcoming fourth studio album with multiple award show performances and press appearances. Bloom, on the other hand, has dedicated much of his recent time to ongoing charity efforts with UNICEF.

    Katy Perry

    Source:E News

  • Commonwealth Games 2022: Durban ‘may drop out as host’

    {Durban may be unable to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games because of financial constraints, South Africa’s sports minister has said.}

    “We gave it our best shot but we can’t go beyond. If the country says we don’t have this money, we can’t,” Reuters quoted Fikile Mbalula as saying.

    He said a final decision would be made by the Commonwealth Games Federation.

    Durban was awarded the Games in 2015 after being the only city to make a confirmed bid.

    In December, South African officials had said the country was “fully committed” to hosting the event.

    The government had estimated the Games could generate up to 20 billion rand ($1.5 bn; £1.2bn) in economic benefit.

    But Mr Mbalula said the government had been forced to reconsider.

    “I don’t want to raise your expectations and say everything looks good, it doesn’t because we don’t agree on the fundamentals and that is the operational budget,” he told a media briefing.

    The Commonwealth Games Federation said it was in the final stages of reviewing a submission by Durban and it would make a recommendation as soon as the evaluation was complete.

    The possible withdrawal of Durban has sparked interest in the British city of Liverpool.
    A spokesperson for the city council said: “Liverpool is interested in hosting the games in 2022. We had heard rumours that Durban might be unable to deliver the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and have already indicated to the government that we are very willing to host them instead.”

    The Games were first staged in 1930 and are held every four years. They feature athletes from more than 50 countries, mostly former British colonies.

    The 2022 event is due to be the first time the Games are hosted in Africa.

    Durban won the bid to host the Games in 2015

    Source:BBC

  • Tunisia beach attack: British families to sue TUI

    {Relatives of the British victims of the Tunisia terror attack will sue tour operator TUI, a lawyer representing many of the families has said.}

    The announcement was made after a coroner ruled the victims were “unlawfully killed” by a gunman at a hotel in Sousse in June 2015.

    Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith rejected a finding of neglect against the tour firms and the hotel.

    The 38 dead included 30 Britons. TUI has denied gross failure.

    Judge Loraine-Smith ruled the Tunisian police response was “at best shambolic and at worst cowardly”.

    On 26 June 2015, a gunman opened fire on holidaymakers staying in the popular resort of Port El Kantaoui, just north of Sousse in Tunisia, killing 30 British tourists and eight others.

    So-called Islamic State (IS) said it was behind the attack by Tunisian student Seifeddine Rezgui.

    “The simple but tragic truth in this case is that a gunman armed with a gun and grenades went to that hotel intending to kill as many tourists as he could,” the coroner said.

    But Kylie Hutchison, a solicitor for 22 of the families, said it was crucial that the travel industry learned from what happened in Sousse.

    She added: “On behalf of our clients who lost members of their family and those who suffered injuries in this terrible incident, we will now be preparing to commence civil proceedings against TUI.”

    TUI maintained it was “wholly erroneous” to claim it had been neglectful and there was insufficient evidence of any gross failure.

    Officers near the scene ran in the opposite direction to get more guns while the Islamist gunman sprayed bullets at sunbathers on the beach and threw grenades, the inquest heard.

    He then stormed into the hotel to kill more victims.

    It was only after an hour-long killing spree that Seifeddine Rezgui was shot dead by police.

    There were emotional scenes in the packed courtroom of London’s Royal Courts of Justice as the coroner described how each of the victims came to their death, in alphabetical order.

    The dead were aged between 19 and 80. Among them were three generations from one family – a young man, his uncle and his grandfather.

    Families had wanted the coroner to consider whether neglect by holiday firm TUI or the hotel owners was a factor in their relatives’ deaths.

    But he told them he could not because the law regarding neglect did not cover tourists who voluntarily agreed to go on holiday.

    He added that he had not found a direct and causal link between the response of armed officers in the area and the deaths.

    He said there were a lot of “what ifs” around the case, and better hotel security may simply have meant more people died on the beach.

    The only factor that might have made a difference was if the hotel guards had been armed, he added.

    “Having reviewed the legal advice on gun law in Tunisia, it’s clear this was not a realistic option,” he said.

    In summing up at the end of a six-week hearing, the judge said holidaymakers had been “reassured” about safety before booking.

    One man said his wife had raised the March 2015 attack at the Bardo museum in the capital Tunis with a travel agent, who told her it had been a “one-off” and the place was “100% safe”.

    A Thomson travel agent said she would not say somewhere was completely safe, the inquest heard.

    The families of those killed are bound to be disappointed by the coroner’s ruling that he could not include neglect in his conclusions today.

    If he had, it would have potentially bolstered their cases when they launch personal injury and fatal accident claims against the holiday company TUI sometime over the next year.

    All thirty British tourists killed in the attack had booked their holidays through TUI’s subsidiary, Thomson.

    The inquest had heard earlier that TUI did not carry out any security checks at the hotel where they were staying, until after the attack.

    TUI denies the allegations of neglect saying security at hotels was not its responsibility.

    The families may latch on to what the coroner then went on to say in his summary of the evidence.

    He chose to highlight a document which he described as a crib sheet, circulated by TUI to its staff.

    It told them how to respond to questions from customers about safety in Tunisia in the aftermath of an earlier attack in 2015 on foreign tourists in the capital Tunis in which more than twenty people were killed.

    They were to tell customers that the overall level of the Foreign Office travel advice had not changed.

    If asked what is the atmosphere like in beach resorts, the coroner said the TUI crib sheet said the answer was “It’s business as usual, customers continue to enjoy their holidays.”

    “It did not mention terrorism or a risk of terrorism.”

    Although the Foreign Office had not advised against people travelling to Tunisia, it had warned on its website of a “high threat from terrorism, saying “attacks could be indiscriminate including in places visited by foreigners.”

    After the ruling, 42-year-old Scott Chalkley’s family said: “What is perhaps the saddest is that Scott was taken when he had found true happiness with his partner Sue.

    “We have been robbed of a future that held promise and laughter of a wonderful man so needlessly and heartlessly snatched from our lives.”

    The attack was the deadliest on Britons since the 7 July 2005 London bombings.
    Survivor Allen Pembroke told the BBC how he found people lying in pools of blood among sun loungers close to the water’s edge.

    He gave first aid to British holidaymaker Cheryl Mellor, who was still alive after being shot in the leg and arm, but drifting in and out of consciousness.

    He said he was alone on the beach for 20 minutes checking on the dead and injured, with no help from anyone else.

    “I saw no military or medical staff and it’s only in recent reports that I found out that the police waited, they fainted, they hid.

    “That’s unforgivable, they need to be accountable for that,” he said.

    The Tunisian ambassador to the UK, Nabil Ammar, said his country had been unprepared for such an attack and it was unfair to blame police.

    Since the attack, he said security in the country and in hotels had improved, and Tunisia should be shown the same solidarity as other countries which had experienced similar attacks.

    Following the inquest, Nick Longman, managing director of travel operator TUI, said: “We have now heard the coroner’s findings and his comments regarding the provision of security and visibility of travel advice.

    “These are complex matters and we have already taken steps to raise awareness of the FCO’s Travel Aware campaign. As an industry we have adapted and we will need to continue to do so.”

    A spokesperson for the association of British travel agents (ABTA) said they would be reviewing the Coroner’s report “to see if there are any learnings for the industry”.

    The Foreign Office says further attacks are highly likely in Tunisia, including against foreigners, and advises against all but essential travel.

    A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We welcome the thorough work by the coroner and his team for more than a year on this important investigation, resulting in today’s conclusions.

    “Our deepest sympathy remains with all those people caught up in this horrific attack and we hope that the inquest process has been of some help to the families.”

    Source:BBC

  • Somalia declares ‘national disaster’ over drought

    {More than 6.2 million people in need of urgent humanitarian aid, including nearly three million who are going hungry.}

    Somalia’s new leader has declared a national disaster for a prolonged drought that has forced about half of the country’s population to seek urgent food assistance and sparked fears of a potential famine.

    The announcement on Tuesday by President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed’s office came a day after the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that Somalia was at risk of its third famine in 25 years – the last one in 2011 killed some 260,000 people.

    “The president has appealed to the international community to urgently respond to the calamity in order to help families and individuals to recover from the effects of the drought disaster to avoid humanitarian tragedy,” read a statement from the presidency.

    According to WHO, more than 6.2 million people – half of Somalia’s population – needed urgent humanitarian aid, including almost three million who are going hungry.

    The agency said more than 363,000 acutely malnourished children and 70,000 severely malnourished children needed urgent, life-saving support.

    Somalia is one of three countries, along with Yemen and Nigeria, on the verge of famine which has already been declared in South Sudan.

    Last week, the UN said more than 20 million people face starvation in the four countries, adding it needed $4.4bn by the end of next month to prevent “a catastrophe” of hunger and famine.

    Aid agencies are concerned that the drought is exacerbating the country’s on-going humanitarian crisis, while there are reports that the ongoing conflict with the al-Shabab armed group is further blocking access to food.

    Al Jazeera’s Fahmida Miller, reporting from Dolow in southern Somalia, said she spoke to a number of refugees and internally displaced people.

    “One woman we spoke to said it took her 11 days to find food and water. She said trying to get the assistance was near impossible because of threats from al-Shabab,” she said.

    “People here are losing livestock; rivers and water points have dried up; and there is a huge issue around internally displaced people and refugees moving through Somalia looking for food and water,” Miller added.

    “As the rainfall is expected to stay low, there have already been a number of failed crop seasons, and people can’t grow their own food and have to move through the country looking for assistance.”

    There are worries that the drought is exacerbating the country's on-going humanitarian crisis

    Source:Al Jazeera