{{Botswana is the top choice in Africa and twenty fifth in the world to conduct mining and exploration activities, according to Canadian research firm Fraser Institute’s Policy Perception Index (PPI)}}
Botswana is the preferred country for diamond mining in the world with an overall score of 74.2. Canada’s Ontario comes second with a score of 73.1 and Namibia stands third with a score of 68.3.
Other African nations that made it to the list include Zambia (48), Tanzania (43), South Africa (39.8), Mozambique (29.9), DR Congo (23.4) Malawi (15.6), Zimbabwe (14.6) and Angola (10.7).
Factors examined by the study conducted by PPI included policy attractiveness, government uncertainty, environmental regulations, legal system, taxation, infrastructure, trade barriers, labour, geological databases and security.
PPI is based on an annual global survey of 112 jurisdictions worldwide including sub-national jurisdictions in Canada, Australia, the US, and Argentina.
The results of the survey represent the opinions of 1,400 executives and exploration managers in mining and mining consulting companies operating around the world.
{{South Africa’s Skytrain Construction Company has announced that it will build a skytrain worth US$170mn in Kumasi metropolis, Ghana}}
The project, funded by Standard Bank of South Africa, will be based on the build, operate, transfer (BOT) system.
Skytrain is a light rapid transit metro system which uses fully automated trains on grade-separated tracks. It runs mostly on elevated guideways, giving passengers a view of the city and helps them move faster across it.
The skytrain would ease traffic congestion in the metropolis and enhance quick transportation of residents, according to the company.
Kojo Bonsu, metropolitan chief executive of Kumasi, said the project proposal had been forwarded to the Ministries of Finance and Justice for approval on the terms of the contract to be signed.
{{DRCongo Government forces backed by UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo have begun attacking FDLR rebels based in the eastern border region, UN and Congolese officials say.}}
Hutu rebels from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) have been involved in nearly two decades of regional conflict, which spilled into eastern Congo after neighbouring Rwanda’s 1994 genocide against ethnic Tutsis.
The United Nations force, known as MONUSCO, has a robust mandate to eradicate Congo’s armed groups. UN troops and government forces won a rare victory last year against M23, a Congolese Tutsi rebel force that had been the FDLR’s principal enemy.
Colonel Felix Basse, military spokesman for the UN’s Congo mission, said UN troops had deployed in Virunga National Park in North Kivu province and were backing a Congolese offensive against the FDLR.
“Since Sunday, we have deployed our men and we have had contact with FDLR in that zone,” Basse told a news conference on Wednesday in North Kivu’s provincial capital, Goma. He said two rebels had been killed in the fighting so far.
Basse said the 3,000-strong UN intervention brigade – made up of troops from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi – was taking part in the joint offensive.
“These operations will continue. We have a mandate to protect the population and restore the authority of the state,” he said.
The FDLR is made up, in part, of former Rwandan soldiers and Hutu militiamen who fled to Congo after taking part in the killing of a million ethnic Tutsis 20 years ago.
Rights groups accuse them of taking part in civilian killings and mass rapes.
{{FDLR refuse to disarm}}
While their numbers have dwindled to a few thousand militants in recent years, previous attempts to disarm the rebels have failed.
They are considered one of the principal obstacles to establishing a durable peace in the mineral-rich region.
“So far the FDLR have refused to disarm, which is why we have attacked,” Congolese government spokesman Lambert Mende said Wednesday. “We will not stop until they lay down their arms.”
“We alone, or with the support of our partners in MONUSCO, must put an end to this threat against our populations,” he said.
{{A Darfur rebel group claimed Thursday the capture of the strategic town of Mellit in North Darfur state, which is at 80km north to the state capital Al-Fasher.}}
The military spokesperson of the Sudan Liberation Movement – Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM) Adam Saleh Abakar, said the attack was carried out by a joint force composed of their fighters and those of a splinter faction of the Liberation and Justice Movement led by Ali Karbino. (LJM-Karbino)
Abakar did not provide further details about the attack, as the Sudanese army spokesperson was not reachable for comment.
Eyewitnesses said three assailant vehicles were destroyed and heard the exchange of heavy gunfire in the vicinity of the town on the afternoon.
A joint security committee in North Darfur state held a meeting on Thursday evening, but officials did not issue any statement.
Also, it is not clear if the rebels control the town or already evacuated their forces.
The SLM- Abdel Wahid attacked Mellit on 26 October 2013.
The SLM-MM launched a series of attacks in South and North Darfur states since last February.
The violence displaced some 40,000 civilians, according to UN agencies.
{{An East African regional heads of states and governments summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Thursday authorised the prompt deployment of a Protection and Deterrent Force (PDF) from the region to help restore peace and stability in South Sudan.}}
According to a a communiqué issued during the 25th extraordinary session of the regional bloc (IGAD), the PDF would operate with a clear mandate and operational guidelines as part of the IGAD Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (MVM) in the country.
Regional leaders, however, called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the African Union (AU) to provide the necessary support, calling on the parties to ensure the progressive withdrawal of all armed groups, including allied forces, as per the ceasefire agreement signed on 23 January.
The communiqué, a copy of which was obtained by Sudan Tribune calls on IGAD partners “to redouble their efforts” to support the monitoring mechanism and the deployment of the protection force.
The meeting was chaired Ethiopia’s prime minister, Hailemariam Dessalegn. Also in attendance was South Sudan’ president Salva Kiir and his counterparts from Uganda, Sudan, Kenya, Djibouti and Somalia, as well as the AU Commission chairperson, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
The summit also lauded Uganda’s efforts in securing vital installations in South Sudan following the outbreak of violence in the country, while expressing appreciation for the wide-ranging support extended to the IGAD-led mediation process from member states, development partners and the wider international community.
Uganda deployed a contingent of its army in South Sudan to provide military support to government troops, , but has since been under intense pressure from opposition forces to pull out of new nation.
Both the United States and the UNSC have condemned the intervention of foreign forces in South Sudan, saying it contravenes the 23 January ceasefire deal.
In his address to reporters following the return of Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir from the summit, presidential spokesperson Eimad Sid Ahmed said Bashir had “reiterated the need to withdraw these forces in order to achieve peace and facilitate the solution”.
Sudan, Kenya and Ethiopia had previously opposed the presence of Ugandan troops in the new natio, with the latter saying their presence threatens regional peace and stability.
The UAE, Qatar and Bahrain are among Middle Eastern countries banning Hollywood epic Noah as it breaks Islam’s taboo of depicting a prophet.
“There are scenes that contradict Islam and the Bible, so we decided not to show it,” Juma Al-Leem from UAE’s National Media Centre said.
Director Darren Aronofsky’s film stars Russell Crowe as the ark-building Biblical figure.
Paramount Pictures recently admitted the movie takes “artistic licence”.
“It is important to respect these religions and not show the film,” Mr Al-Leem told the Associated Press.
A separate statement from Al-Azhar in Egypt, one of Islam’s most revered religious institutions, said it objects to the film because it violates Islamic law and could “provoke the feelings of believers.”
The film, which is thought to have cost more than its $125m (£78m) to make, received negative reactions following test screenings across the US.
The movie also prompted controversy among conservative Christians, leading Paramount to add a disclaimer to marketing material that artistic licence had been taken with the retelling of the story.
There are differences between Biblical and Qu’ranic interpretation of Noah, referred to in Arabic as Nuh, but both mention the flood and his vessel saving a pair of each animal species.
Many children’s films and cartoons have told the story in Islam without showing his face.
Other Muslim countries have said it is unlikely censors will approve the Hollywood blockbuster.
Mohammad Zareef from Pakistan’s Central Board of Film Censors said they tended to steer clear of films with a religious theme, adding: “We haven’t seen it yet, but I don’t think it can go to cinemas in Pakistan.”
In Tunisia, Culture Ministry spokesman Faisal Rokh said there had not been any requests from local distributors to show the movie, but they did not usually screen films featuring a prophet.
There were riots and demonstrations in the country in October 2011, after a private television station screened the animated film Persepolis, which includes a portrayal of God.
The head of the TV station was later fined 1,200 euros after being convicted of an “attack on the sacred”.
Saudi Arabia and the Gaza Strip do not have any cinemas, but one theatre manager in the West Bank said it has ordered Noah.
“The fact that some countries in the region prohibit it makes it the more fun to watch,” said Clack Cinema manager Quds Manasra.
He added: “The production is magnificent, the story is beautiful.”
Hollywood’s depiction of religion have provoked controversy before, including Mel Gibson’s Passion of Christ, which shows the crucifixion of Jesus.
It was screened across much of the region, but it was not shown in most cinemas in Israel and parts of the Gulf.
{{The US has sent surveillance teams to the Indian Ocean to help search for the missing Malaysian plane, after claims emerged that it may have flown for longer than investigators had thought.}}
Unnamed officials said the plane sent signals to satellites for up to five hours after its apparent disappearance.
However, investigators said the data were not conclusive and Malaysia refused to comment on the claims.
Flight MH370 vanished last Saturday with 239 people on board.
The plane, which was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, last made contact with air-traffic control over the South China Sea to the east of Malaysia.
The US, which is one of a number of countries helping in the search for the plane, has sent a navy destroyer and a sophisticated surveillance aircraft to the Indian Ocean, hundreds of miles west of Malaysia.
The Indian navy, air force and coast guard are also now assisting after a request for help from the Malaysian government.
The BBC’s Jonathan Head in Kuala Lumpur says there have already been a number of false leads in the search for the missing plane.
However, he says the latest claims are being taken seriously by the US.
{{Ali Zeidan, who was ousted as prime minister by Libya’s parliament this week, told media on Thursday that the parliamentary no-confidence vote that deposed him was “falsified”.}}
Parliament voted to oust the premier on Tuesday after a tanker loaded with crude oil set off from the rebel-held port of Es Sider and evaded navy attempts to halt it.
Some of Libya’s powerful rebel groups who have been demanding regional autonomy in the east began exporting oil this week in defiance of the central government.
After the vote Zeidan fled to Germany via Malta, government sources in Valletta told reporters, while Libya’s General National Congress named Defence Minister Abdullah al-Thani to serve as caretaker premier.
The ouster of the liberal prime minister has embolded the country’s Islamist groups, which have been waging an insurgency against the government since the overthrow of former leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Forces loyal to the central government, often out-manned and out-gunned, have struggled to contain their influence.
It was unclear where the tanker, which was flying the North Korean flag, was heading. The North Korean flag is often used to keep the true ownership of cargo ships secret.
North Korea said in a statement to state media that the tanker had violated its laws and a contract it had with an Egyptian company by carrying contraband cargo.
It said it had notified Libya and the International Maritime Organisation that it had severed all association with the ship.
The European Space Agency is asking people to choose a name for British astronaut Tim Peake’s next mission.
Citizens and residents of all the Agency’s member nations are eligible to enter the competition.
The winning entry needs to be short and snappy and will be the official mission name and incorporated into the logo.
Major Peake is due to go to the International Space Station towards the end of 2015 and spend six months there carrying out scientific experiments.
It is customary for the public to help choose mission names every time a European astronaut goes into orbit.
Names that reflect an astronaut’s nationality are encouraged, but they should also have a wider European flavour, and be easy to pronounce.
Previous mission names have included “Marco Polo” for the Italian Astronaut Roberto Vittori, “Odissia” for Belgian Frank de Winne, and “DELTA Mission” for Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers’ flight to the ISS. DELTA was an acronym for “Dutch Expedition for Life Science, Technology and Atmospheric Research”.
The aim of the competition, according to Rosita Suenson of the European Space Agency, is to engage the public.
