IGIHE

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  • Ugandan Soldier Shoots 10 over Woman

    Ugandan Soldier Shoots 10 over Woman

    {{A Ugandan soldier shot 10 people dead, including five soldiers and left 25 others injured in a shooting spree following a bar brawl over a woman in Ntoroko District on Friday night.

    The killer soldier, Private Chris Amanyire, attached to Rhino Battalion at Kanyansi Barracks, also shot himself dead.}}

    The District Police Commander, Mr Bosco Bakashaba, said the soldier went on a shooting spree after fighting with boda-boda riders over a woman at a drinking joint in Karugutu Town Council in Ntoroko.

    Eyewitnesses said the tragedy began when Private Amanyire and boda-boda riders developed a quarrel over a woman in the bar.

    The boda-boda riders attacked Private Amanyire and grabbed his mobile phone and smashed it. A fight broke out between the soldier and the cyclists.

    The witnesses say the soldier, who sustained bruises in the fight, retreated to the barracks and returned with a gun and dressed in a pair of jeans and an army jacket.

    Upon reaching the pub, Amanyire started shooting randomly at the revellers who were drinking inside, killing eight on the spot.

    The UPDF 2nd Division spokesman, Major Ronald Kakurungu, said the army was investigating the matter to establish the main cause of the tragedy.

    – Sunday Monitor

  • President Uhuru Criticised for New Media Law

    President Uhuru Criticised for New Media Law

    Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has been criticised for signing into law legislation giving the state the power to decide what journalists report.

    The criticism came during the official opening of the International Press Institute 43rd world congress in Cape Town, South Africa, on Sunday.

    In her formal report to the congress on the state of press freedom worldwide, IPI executive director Alison Bethel McKenzie told delegates of increasing attacks on journalists.

    “Kenya is another concern. President Kenyatta has signed legislation … the Information and Communication Act … that we believe would lead to state control of news and information during emergencies, plus give the government the power to perform functions currently executed by the country’s Media Council.”

    She said IPI had protested the new measures by the Kenya government and acknowledged that local journalists had moved to the courts to fight for their freedom.
    “Kenyan journalists are not about to have their rights trampled on.

    They’ve filed legal challenges against the Information and Communication Act on the grounds that it is unconstitutional,” Ms McKenzie said.

  • Libyan Prime Minister to Step Down After Attack on His Family

    Libyan Prime Minister to Step Down After Attack on His Family

    {{The newly appointed Libyan Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni is stepping down after he and his family were attacked by a militia.}}

    A statement released by the Prime Minister said that “no one was injured in the attack, but it was very close.”

    Mr al-Thinni was only confirmed as PM last week after Ali Zeidan was sacked for failing to improve security.

    Libya has been plagued by instability since armed groups toppled Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011.

    In a letter published on the government website, Mr al-Thinni said he and his family had been victims of a “cowardly attack” and he could not “accept to see any violence because of my position”.

    Details of the attack remain sketchy and it is not clear who was behind it, but it appears to have been carried out on the road to the airport in Tripoli.

    Ahmed Lameen, a spokesman for the Prime Minister, told reporters that Mr al-Thinni and his cabinet would continue in their roles until a new PM was appointed by the Libyan congress.

    Mr al-Thinni was appointed earlier this month as interim Prime Minister and his mandate was extended last week on the condition he formed a new government to bring some stability to Libya.

    The Libyan cabinet has been in a state of limbo since the sacking of former Prime Minister Ali Zeidan last month.

    Mr Zeidan was dismissed by parliament after a North Korea-flagged tanker laden with oil from a rebel-held port was said to have broken through a naval blockade.

    The ship and its cargo was eventually handed over to Libyan authorities after the US intervened and sent Navy Seals to board the ship south of Cyprus.

    BBC

  • Nigeria to Get ‘Mobile Electricity’ for First Time

    Nigeria to Get ‘Mobile Electricity’ for First Time

    {{MTN and utility provider Nova-Lumos will collaborate to bring ‘mobile electricity’ to Nigeria for the first time}}

    The service will be aimed at those living in rural Nigeria and other parts of the country that are not connected to the main electricity grid, said Nova-Lumos.

    An MTN official said that the service would be provided using a solar panel and an indoor unit that would allow MTN customers to subscribe to alternative electricity on demand using their mobile phone.

    A subscriber can purchase the unit for around US$60, as well as purchase airtime through a mobile phone with an MTN SIM card.

    MTN users can replace kerosene, candles and flashlights with modern electricity that can power significant lights, cellphones, fans, PCs or laptops, radios, TVs and other small electronic devices.

    Michael Ikpoki, CEO of MTN Nigeria, said, “By paying for usage only in small payments, the same way our customers purchase airtime and other mobile services, MTN and Nova-Lumos will offer an innovative and widely-accessible service for all MTN customers. MTN is committed to investing in the future of mobile electricity to our customers across Nigeria.”

    The number of mobile phones in Africa has only sharply over the past few years – as of June 2013, there were 502 million mobile connections, stated a Reuters report.

    Statistics by the World Bank, GSMA and Informa Telecoms and Media showed that mobile subscriptions every 100 people rose from two per cent in 2001 to 53 per cent in 2011. Over the past couple of years, mobile companies and energy producers have demonstated that they are keen on tapping into this extensive user base to increase access to power.

    Nova-Lumos has claimed to be the world’s first distributed utility provider, bringing affordable and clean electricity to communities that have been living off the grid.

    David Vortman, CEO and co-founder of Nova-Lumos, said, “We are very excited about our partnership with MTN, which will enable us to distribute the Nova-Lumos power systems across Nigeria and touch millions of lives.

    One of our guiding principles is that the Nova-Lumos service must be affordable and accessible to anyone in Nigeria in order to have a meaningful impact on the Nigerian electricity market.”

    Reports added that Nova-Lumos in partnership with MTN Nigeria received funding from the GSMA’s Mobile Enabled Community Services (MECS) Innovation Grant Fund with the support of the UK Government.

    {wirestory}

  • Kenya’s Kipsang Wins Second Title in London

    Kenya’s Kipsang Wins Second Title in London

    Mo Farah finishes eighth on full London Marathon debut

    British Olympic champion Mo Farah finished eighth on his marathon debut as Kenyan world record holder Wilson Kipsang won his second title in London.

    Farah, 31, failed to break Steve Jones’s 29-year-old British record of two hours, seven minutes 13 seconds and finished in 2:08:21.

    Kipsang set a course record 2:04.27 with compatriot Stanley Biwott second.
    Edna Kiplagat pipped fellow Kenyan Florence Kiplagat in the women’s race with debutant Tirunesh Dibaba third.

    Farah elected to sit among the second pack of elite runners, but soon found himself 38 seconds behind the lead group, headed by Kipsang, at the halfway mark.

    That gap increased to 49 seconds after 15 miles and then over a minute by the time they reached 19 miles.

    The Briton, who won 5,000m and 10,000m gold at the 2012 Olympics and last year’s World Championships, also made errors at two drinks stations when he tried to pick up fluids.

    Despite missing out on the British record, Farah recorded the fourth fastest time by a Briton and set the fastest time by an Englishman.

    Asked if he would do another marathon, Farah, who finished almost four minutes behind the winner, said: “Yeh, definitely, 100%. I’m not going to finish it like this. I will be back.

    “I would have been disappointed to do my first marathon somewhere else. I gave it my all but I just wish I gave a little bit more to the crowd and all the supporters.

    “It was pretty tough. I’m quite disappointed but you try things and if they don’t work, at least you gave it a go. It was really just the pace – I should have gone with the front group. The pacemakers I had were slightly ahead of me but you learn – life goes on.”

    Former British world champion Paula Radcliffe believes Farah made the correct decision in choosing to make his marathon bow in London.

  • Pistorius ‘Concocting Evidence’

    Pistorius ‘Concocting Evidence’

    {{South African athlete Oscar Pistorius is “concocting his evidence” at his murder trial, the prosecutor has said as his cross-examination resumed.}}

    “Your version of events is untrue,” said prosecutor Gerrie Nel.

    He also said Reeva Steenkamp was trying to leave the athlete’s house after an argument, when she was shot dead.

    Mr Pistorius admits killing his girlfriend in February last year but says he fired his gun after mistaking her for an intruder.

    On Friday, Mr Pistorius said Ms Steenkamp did not scream or shout as he grabbed a gun and fired the shots that killed her through a door in the toilet.

    Mr Pistorius said he could not explain why she had not shouted out.

    Mr Nel said the fact that a pair of Ms Steenkamp’s jeans was lying on the bed showed that she was in the middle of getting dressed in order to leave when she was shot.

    This was denied by Mr Pistorius.

    The prosecutor also pointed to forensic evidence that showed Ms Steenkamp had eaten within a couple of hours of her death.

    The South African athlete, a double amputee, says the couple had last eaten together about 19:00, some eight hours before she was shot.

    The athlete says there was no row and they had a quiet evening together, before he woke up on hearing a noise in the bathroom.

    Prosecution witnesses have testified to hearing a woman scream, but the defence disputes their testimony.

    The Olympic sprinter, 27, faces life imprisonment if convicted of murdering the 29-year-old model and law graduate.

    If he is acquitted of murder, the court must consider an alternative charge of culpable homicide, for which he could receive up to 15 years in prison.

    Mr Pistorius also faces charges of illegally firing a gun in public and of illegally possessing ammunition, both of which he denies.

    There are no juries at trials in South Africa, and his fate will ultimately be decided by the judge, assisted by two assessors.

    {wirestory}

  • South Korea’s State Health Insurer Sues Tobacco Firms

    South Korea’s State Health Insurer Sues Tobacco Firms

    {{South Korea’s state health insurer is suing three tobacco firms, including the local unit of Philip Morris, to offset smoking-related treatment costs.}}

    The local arm of British American Tobacco has also been named in the lawsuit, along with market leader at home, KT&G Corp.

    The insurer is seeking an initial sum of $52m (£31m) in damages.

    The state insurer has said previously it spends more than $1.6bn each year on treating smoking-related diseases.

    South Korea’s National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) said in a statement: “Smoking is a serious issue affecting people, particularly the youth and women.

    “So we will push ahead with this suit with a strong determination, for the future of our nation and sustainability of our health insurance.”

    The lawsuit from NHIS comes days after South Korea’s Supreme Court said there was a lack of proof that smoking causes lung cancer.

    The country’s highest court made the statement when it threw out a lawsuit filed against the government and formerly state-run KT&G, in a legal fight that dates back to 1999.

    In that lawsuit, 36 cancer patients and family members claimed that KT&G added elements to their cigarettes that increased the risk to smokers’ health and raised the chance of addiction.

    {{Industry value}}

    According to industry estimates, the tobacco industry in South Korea is valued at about $9.3bn. About a quarter of South Korean adults smoke.

    KT&G Corp has a majority foothold, with a market share of about 60% and annual sales of $2bn.

    The local units of Philip Morris and BAT together have a combined market share of 33%.

    Japan Tobacco has the smallest market share in South Korea of about 6%. It was not named in the lawsuit.

    The country’s ministry of health and welfare drew up new anti-smoking regulations in 2012. As part of the new measures, smoking in restaurants will be banned from next year.

    BBC

  • World Must End ‘Dirty’ Fuel Use — UN

    World Must End ‘Dirty’ Fuel Use — UN

    {{A long-awaited UN report on how to curb climate change says the world must rapidly move away from carbon-intensive fuels.}}

    There must be a “massive shift” to renewable energy, says the study released in Berlin.

    It has been finalised after a week of negotiations between scientists and government officials.

    Natural gas is seen as a key bridge to move energy production away from oil and coal.

    But there have been battles between participants over who will pay for this energy transition.

    The report is the work of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was set up to provide a clear scientific view on climate change and its impacts.

    The Summary for Policymakers on mitigation paints a picture of a world with carbon emissions rising rapidly.

    “The high speed mitigation train needs to leave the station very soon, and all of global society will have to get on board,” the IPCC’s chair Rajendra Pachauri told journalists in Berlin at the launch of the report.

    Dr Youba Sokono, a co-chair of the IPCC’s working group 3, which drew up the report, said science has spoken.

    He added that policy makers were “the navigators, they have to make decisions, scientists are the map makers”.

    The UK’s Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey said global warming needed to be tackled using “all technologies”.

    “We can do this, we have to because it’s so challenging and threatening to our economies and societies, our health, our food security. The report today shows we can do it if we have the political will.”

  • Movie Review: Main Tera Hero

    Movie Review: Main Tera Hero

    {{When you think about it, David Dhawan’s latest comedy is more tragic than comic. In almost every frame of “Main Tera Hero”, you see glimpses of a film-maker desperately trying to restore his former glory by using the same gags in a newer, more polished setting — and failing miserably.}}

    When Dhawan hit box-office gold in the 1990’s, the humour in his films was often crude and irreverent. His most successful leading man, Govinda, often played a flashy, street-smart but pudgy hero.

    In “Main Tera Hero”, Dhawan’s leading man — his son Varun — has a perfectly sculpted body (which he is not averse to showing off; even the film’s credits show him flexing muscles and working out) and there are holier-than-thou lectures on how men should stop objectifying women.

    Keep in mind though that 10 minutes after this lecture, Dhawan’s character Seenu (short for Srinivas Prasad) compares a girl to a pre-paid SIM card that has been registered in someone else’s name.

    This is the launch film that Dhawan clearly had in mind for his son. Varun gets to do everything — fighting off villains, dancing with two women, making funny faces. The rest of the cast, it would seem, is around just to service these actions. As a college student who does everything but study, Seenu displays his buff body at every opportunity.

    He falls in love with Sunaina (Ileana D’Cruz) on the first day of college, but his overtures are discouraged because Angad (Arunoday Singh), a local policeman with an anger management problem, is in love with her.

    To add to the chaos, Sunaina is kidnapped by Ayesha (Nargis Fakhri), the daughter of “the biggest drug lord in Asia and Africa”. Ayesha is in love with Seenu, and is sure that kidnapping Seenu’s girlfriend would make him come after her. Why not just kidnap Seenu then, you might ask. But this is not the time and place for logic.

    Thus, Seenu finds himself in a plush villa, surrounded by two women lusting after him. Ayesha’s drug lord father (Anupam Kher) and his trusty sidekick (Saurabh Shukla) keep an eye on Seenu. A wedding date for Ayesha and Seenu is set, and then Angad arrives.

    There are murders; people hiding in closets; wedding songs; and long discussions between Seenu and various gods — including Jesus, Ganesha and Krishna (Jesus speaks in English; the others speak in Hindi).

    “Main Tera Hero” has dialogue as puerile as, “since the time I have been in Pampers (a diaper brand), my father has pampered me.” The comedy just gets more tedious and unfunny as the film progresses. Except for a couple of jokes, nothing, and I mean nothing, is salvageable in this disaster of a film.

    {(Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and not of IGIHE)}

  • Bomb Blast in Abuja Kills 35

    Bomb Blast in Abuja Kills 35

    {{A bomb at a crowded bus station on the outskirts of Abuja killed at least 35 people during rush hour on Monday morning, witnesses said, the first such attack near the Nigerian capital for two years.}}

    Body parts and blood were strewn across the station and an unruly crowd of several hundred onlookers were roaming around with security forces unable to keep them away.

    “I was waiting to get on a bus when I heard a deafening explosion then saw smoke. People were running around in panic,” said Mimi Daniels, who works in Abuja.

    A Reuters cameraman saw 20 bodies at the station near Nyanyan bridge, about 8 km (5 miles) south of Abuja. A second Reuters correspondent saw at least 15 bodies separately loaded into waiting ambulances.

    “More than two buses carrying workers were cut up by the blast,” witness Kingsley Ajimobi said. “I saw many people in the bus dead, and many were injured.”

    Police and the military did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

    There was no immediate claim of responsibility but suspicion is likely to fall on Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which has waged an increasingly bloody insurgency in the northeast.

    Suspected Islamist militants killed at least 60 people in an attack on a village in northeast Nigeria late last week. Eight people were killed in a separate attack at a teacher training college.

    The Islamists, who want to carve an Islamic state out of Nigeria, have in the past year mostly concentrated their onslaught in the northeast, where their insurgency started.

    There had been no attacks near the capital since suicide car bombers targeted the offices of Nigerian newspaper This Day in Abuja and the northern city of Kaduna in April 2012.

    Security forces at the time said that was because a Boko Haram cell in neighboring Niger state had been broken up.

    A Christmas Day bombing of a church in Madalla, on the outskirts of Abuja, killed 37 people in 2011, although the main suspect in that attack is now behind bars.

    Boko Haram also claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on the United Nations’ Nigeria headquarters that killed 24 people on August 26, 2011.

    Boko Haram, which in the Hausa language of largely Muslim northern Nigeria means “Western education is sinful”, is loosely modeled on the Taliban movement in Afghanistan, and has forged ties with al-Qaeda-linked militants in the Sahara.

    reuters