Author: Publisher

Man Hangs Himself, Leaves 9 Children & Blind Wife

{{In Ghana, a 64-year-old man has been found dead hanging on tree in a farm at Adoko Jachie in the Ejisu Juaben Municipality of the Ashanti Region.}}

The deceased, who was identified as Daniel Assenso, was said to have left home on Friday, March 7 and never returned.

The Ejisu Divisional Police Commander, Supt. Stephen Kwasi Kwakye, who confirmed the incidence to The Finder, said that the deceased left behind nine children and a blind wife.

He said one of the children told the police that they had met on Monday morning to deliberate on how they were going to search for their father when one of their aunts said that she could smell a bad scent emanating from the farm, which alerted them to follow up.

They went to the farm only to find the man hanging on a tree.

He said the police was informed at that point, and they went for the body and deposited it at the hospital for preservation and autopsy.

According to the Ejisu Divisional Commander, they did not suspect any foul play in the act and would therefore seek the services of a judge to prepare a coroner’s report.

He said the report would be sent to the Attorney General’s Department for advice after which the body would be released to the family.

March 12, 2014
Bahrain to Build US$3Bn Financial Park in Tunisia

{{Bahrain’s Gulf Finance House (GFH) has signed an agreement with Tunisia to build a US$3bn financial and real estate development park in the North african country

Tunis Financial Harbour is reportedly the first financial park in North Africa and would cover 4,500,000 square metres in the Raoued suburb of Tunis.}}

According to GFH, the park will include a corporate centre, an investment banking and advisory centre, insurance area, residential spaces, offices, a golf course, a business school and trade centres.

Lotfi Zar, executive director of the project, said, “The US$3bn project will start on 15 March 2014. We have signed an agreement with Tunisian contracting companies to start practical implementation of the project in a few days.”

Bahraini officials have claimed that the park is expected to create 17,000 jobs.

{africanreview}

March 12, 2014
Nigeria Court Flogs 4 Men for Homosexuality

{{An Islamic court in northern Nigeria last week ordered four men to be flogged with horsewhips after being found guilty of homosexuality.}}

The men, aged between 22 and 28, were also fined 20,000 naira (90 euros) after a secret trial at the Upper Sharia Court in the Unguwar Jaki district of the city of Bauchi, a court clerk told the AFP news agency.

Each received 15 lashes carried out in front of the court after sentencing. The four men were forced to lie on the floor of the court to be whipped on their backsides, according to Dorothy Aken’Ova, convenor of the Coalition for the Defense of Sexual Rights Network, who had spoken with the men’s families.

Court clerk Abdul Mohammed said the case was concluded behind closed doors for security reasons after an angry mob attacked the court when the men had first stood trial on January 23, demanding they be executed and forcing the hearing to be suspended.

“The four… on trial were sentenced to 15 strokes and fined 20,000 naira ($125) by the court and the sentence was immediately carried out,” Mohammed said.

“The court session was kept secret from the public and the judgment given and executed before the news filtered into the city,” he said.

The court would adopt a similar strategy on three pending cases, he added.

Sharia justice

The four men were among a number of defendants formally charged by the Bauchi State Sharia Commission on January 6 with belonging to a gay club and receiving $150,000 in donations from the United States for an apparent membership drive.

Four others were brought before a separate Islamic court on the same charges, while a Christian suspect was presented before a secular, state court.

The Sharia justice system runs parallel to secular courts in some of Nigeria’s northern states

Aken’Ova told reporters that the defendants should not have been convicted because their confessions were forced by law agents who beat them.

She warned that they could face further violence in prison should they be unable to pay their fines, which would result in a year behind bars.

The arrests and formal charges came days after it was confirmed that Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan had signed a bill into law banning gay marriage and same-sex unions.

The law, which carries a maximum 14-year prison term for anyone entering such unions and up to 10 years in jail for supporting gay groups and clubs, provoked international condemnation.

There has been a wave of arrests since the passing of the legislation, which reinforces existing laws criminalising homosexuality and gives the Sharia authorities federal backing to enforce anti-gay laws.

A 20-year-old man was flogged in public and fined 5,000 naira on January 16 after being convicted of homosexuality.

He claimed he had been “deceived into sodomy” by a school teacher who had promised to support his education financially.

March 12, 2014
Sudan Student Dies in Khartoum Protest

{{A student has been killed in clashes between police and protesters at Khartoum University in Sudan.}}

Police said the student was one of two taken to hospital, but gave no further details.

Witnesses said police used tear gas and batons against around 200 students protesting against escalating violence in the Darfur region.

There has been an upsurge in violence in the region where rebels are fighting forces of President Omar al-Bashir.

Darfur has been wracked by conflict since 2003 when rebels took up arms.

A statement posted on the interior ministry’s website on Tuesday did not say how the student had died.

Police “got information that two students were injured and taken to hospital. One of them died,” the statement said.

An Journalist at the scene said police fired tear gas and beat some of the protesters as they tried to take to the streets outside the university.

Students retaliated by throwing stones. Some chanted: “Peace, peace for Darfur – we want to bring the criminals to the ICC (International Criminal Court).”

Earlier on Tuesday, UN human rights chief Navi Pillay said peacekeepers and aid agencies had been blocked from entering affected areas of Darfur.

On Monday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was deeply concerned about violence in Darfur and he urged all parties to stop hostilities.

The ICC has issued an arrest warrant for President Bashir, accusing him of committing war crimes and genocide against black African communities in Darfur.

He denies the charge.

BBC

March 12, 2014
Nigeria Stars Set to Receive $1m

{{Africa’s wealthiest businessman Aliko Dangote is set to fulfil his promise to reward Nigeria’s team with $1m for winning the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.}}

After a public appeal by Super Eagles captain Vincent Enyeama, it seems Dangote is about to come good.

He told media: “We’ve been waiting for Nigerian officials to collect the money but nobody has written to us.

“We will write to them, asking for the account numbers of the players, then we’ll make the transfer immediately.”

Dangote, who is group president and chief executive officer of the Dangote Group, is reputed to be Africa’s richest man.

Earlier this month he became the first African to be listed in the top 25 of Forbes magazine’s annual ranking of global billionaires, with a net worth of $25bn.

His wealth has been accumulated from a business empire that he founded in 1977 and now includes the number one sugar production company in Nigeria, a cement factory and textile products.

Dangote added that “the money was promised through the presidency [during a state dinner last February]” and he had been waiting to be approached about the pledge.

The delay led to a public appeal by Nigeria goalkeeper Enyeama, who said: “It was just a reminder to patriots who are very busy and may not have been prompted after they made their pledges.

“The players are determined to bring more honours to fatherland at the forthcoming World Cup.”

Enyeama was full of praise for Cross River State governor Liyel Imoke for following through with his promise to give members of Super Eagles one plot of land each in the state capital, Calabar.

Last week, Nigerian Football Federation president Aminu Maigari delivered the land papers from government house in Calabar to team administrator Dayo Enebi Achor, who has since commenced their distribution to all the players and officials.

But Nigerian economist and banker Tony Elumelu’s promise of $500,000 for the Super Eeagle’s Nations Cup success in South Africa remains outstanding.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Football Federation has proposed to parliament that lawmakers approve a 1.2 billion-naira ($7.2m) war chest for the Super Eagles’ bid to become the first African winners of the World Cup.

It would mean each player would pocket $10,000 for every group stage victory, according to the budget, which was submitted on Monday.

Wins in the round of 16 carry a $12,000 bonus, $15,000 in the quarter-final; $20,000 in the semi-final; and $30,000 in the final itself.

In addition, every one of the 23-man squad will get a daily allowance of $200, taking the potential total amount of win bonuses and allowances for the 32-day competition to $2.6m.

The remaining cash will go towards the fees of coaches and backroom staff, the cost of accommodation, business class air travel and the team’s training camps in both the United States and Brazil.

BBC

March 12, 2014
US Death Row Man Free After 25 Years

{Speaking following his release, Mr Ford said that he had been denied the right to see his son grow up}

{{A man who spent more than 25 years on death row in the US state of Louisiana has walked free from prison after his murder conviction for the 1983 killing of a jeweller was overturned.}}

Glenn Ford, 64, had been on death row since August 1988.

He had been found guilty of killing 56-year-old Isadore Rozeman, a jeweller for whom Mr Ford occasionally worked.

US media reports say that he is one of the longest-serving death row inmates in modern US history to be exonerated.

Mr Ford had always denied killing Mr Rozeman.

{{‘Very pleased’}}

Asked by a reporter how he was feeling as he left the high security prison in Angola, Louisiana, Mr Ford said: “My mind is going in all kinds of directions but it feels good.”

He said that he did harbour some resentment because he had been locked up for almost 30 years “for something I didn’t do” and had lost years of his life.

“Thirty years, 30 years of my life if not all of it. I can’t go back and do anything that I should’ve been doing when I was 35, 38 and 40 – stuff like that. My son when I left was a baby, now they’re grown men with babies.”

State District Judge Ramona Emanuel on Monday overturned Mr Ford’s conviction and sentence because of new information that supported his claim that he was not present or involved in Mr Rozeman’s death, Mr Ford’s lawyers said.

He was convicted over the 1983 killing and sentenced to death.

“We are very pleased to see Glenn Ford finally exonerated, and we are particularly grateful that the prosecution and the court moved ahead so decisively to set Mr Ford free,” a statement by the freed man’s lawyers said.

They said that his trial had been “compromised by inexperienced counsel and by the unconstitutional suppression of evidence, including information from an informant”.

They also drew attention to what they said was a suppressed police report related to the time of the crime and evidence involving the murder weapon.

The family of the murder victim have also welcomed his release, US media has reported.

The many flaws in the case against Mr Ford have been listed by the US press:

No murder weapon was ever found and there were no eyewitnesses to the crime
Mr Ford was initially implicated in the killing by a woman who later testified she had lied

Mr Ford’s original court-appointed lawyers had never tried a murder case
Mr Ford, a black man, was convicted by an all-white jury who recommended the death sentence

There are 83 men and two women serving death sentences in Louisiana.

State law entitles those who have served time but are later exonerated to receive compensation.

It sets out payments of $25,000per year of wrongful incarceration up to a maximum of $250,000, plus up to $80,000 for loss of “life opportunities”.

BBC

March 12, 2014
Today in History, March 12

{{Ninety-six years ago today, on March 12, 1918, Moscow became Russia’s capital again. The title had belonged to St. Petersburg for over 200 years.}}

{{Above is a painting by Fyodor Yakovlevich Alekseyev of Moscow’s Red Square in the early 19th century.Below is the Kremlin in Moscow Russia}}

{{Catherine Palace in St. Petersburg}}

{{St. Petersburg city}}

{{Hermitage Museum in st. Petersburg}}

{{Winter Palace in st. Petersburg}}

{{Russia President greets senior Military officers}}

{{Above an Olympic stadium in Sochi Russia where the Olympic Games were held 2014.Sochi cost $51B, $49B more than Salt Lake City Olympics.Below is Bolshoy Ice Dome which cost $302M to build. The equivalent stadium built for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver cost a mere $51M.}}

March 12, 2014
Russian Court Sanctions Arrest of Ukrainian Nationalist Leader

{{A Moscow city court has sanctioned the arrest of a Ukrainian nationalist leader whom Moscow has accused of publicly encouraging acts of terrorism, while a Communist lawmaker urged Russian security services to send agents to Ukraine to “eliminate” the man.}}

The Basmanny court on Wednesday issued a warrant for the arrest of Dmytro Yarosh, leader of the Ukrainian paramilitary organization Right Sector, “in absentia,” RIA Novosti reported.

The court’s ruling provides police with a simplified procedure for taking Yarosh into custody if he comes to Russia.

Yarosh was already on Russia’s wanted list, along with fellow Right Sector leader Oleksandr Muzychko, for making “public appeals to commit acts of terrorism” on the group’s page on the popular VKontakte social network.

Yarosh said that the message — which appealed to Chechen terrorist leader Doku Umarov — was posted by hackers who broke into Right Sector’s VKontakte account.

A State Duma lawmaker and deputy chief of the Communist Party, Valery Rashkin, said that the international arrest warrants Russia had issued for Yarosh and Muzychko were insufficient.

Moscow should begin “eliminating terrorists and [other] individuals who have committed major crimes against servicemen and civilians,” he said in comments published on the Communist Party’s website on Tuesday.

Yarosh and Muzychko are leaders of the Right Sector nationalist paramilitary movement, which was a major force in street protest movement that toppled former-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

{themoscowtimes}

March 12, 2014
Libya Prime Minister Removed

{{Libya’s parliament voted Prime Minister Ali Zeidan out of office on Tuesday after rebels humiliated the government by loading crude on a tanker that fled from naval forces, officials said, in a sign of the worsening chaos in the OPEC member state.}}

Libyan gunboats later chased the tanker along Libya’s eastern Mediterranean coast and opened fire, damaging it, a military spokesman said. Italian naval ships were helping move the tanker to a Libyan government-controlled port, he said.

But Italy denied any of its vessels were in the area at the time and the reported firing incident could not be confirmed.

Western powers fear the vast North African state could even break apart with the government struggling to rein in armed militias and tribesmen who helped oust dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but want to grab power and oil revenues.

Zeidan, a liberal weakened for months by infighting with Islamists, will be temporarily replaced by Defence Minister Abdallah al-Thinni, who was sworn in by parliament on Tuesday evening.

Zeidan, who came to power in 2012 after Libya’s first free parliamentary vote following four decades of quirky one-man rule by Gaddafi, had been facing opposition from Islamists and the public blaming him for Libya’s anarchic transition since 2011.

Deputies said they had decided to mount a no-confidence vote after the tanker managed to sail away from Es Sider port, one of three major export terminals the government has lost to rebels.

“The government has been weakened for a time and we need a new personality,” said al-Sharif al-Wafi, an independent lawmaker. A new prime minister will be elected by deputies within two weeks, he said.

State prosecutor Abdel-Qader Radwan said later he had banned Zeidan from travelling abroad because he faced an investigation over alleged financial irregularities.

{wirestory}

March 12, 2014
Mexico Arrests Vigilante Leader Who Helped to Battle Drug Cartel

{{A leader of armed vigilantes who are helping federal security forces combat a violent drug gang in western Mexico has been arrested on suspicion of murder, which could test the fragile peace the government has built there.}}

The attorney general’s office in the state of Michoacan said late on Tuesday it detained Hipolito Mora on suspicion that he and others in his group took part in the killing of two men whose charred remains were found on Saturday.

The government said this week that tensions have been rising between some of the vigilante groups in the state.

Local media said one of the dead men belonged to another vigilante group. A federal official declined to confirm this, saying the incident was still under investigation. Mora could not be reached for comment.

Mora is one of the most prominent leaders of “self-defense groups” that have weakened the Knights Templar, a drug cartel which has had much of Michoacan in a firm grip over the past few years.

The government formed an uneasy alliance with the vigilantes after they overran a number of Knights Templar strongholds in Michoacan at the start of 2014, and has since captured one of the cartel’s leaders and killed another.

Locals believe the vigilantes may have been infiltrated by organized crime groups, however, raising doubts about how sustainable the alliance is.

Michoacan has become a test case for President Enrique Pena Nieto’s ability to crush the gangs in Mexico. More than 85,000 people have died in cartel-related violence since Pena Nieto’s predecessor Felipe Calderon launched a crackdown seven years ago.

reuters

March 12, 2014