IGIHE

Author: Publisher

  • Germany Investigates Merkel ‘Phone Tap’

    Germany Investigates Merkel ‘Phone Tap’

    {{Germany is to investigate allegations by US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden that the US government bugged Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone.}}

    Federal prosecutor Harald Range informed the German parliament’s legal affairs committee that an investigation would be held into persons unknown.

    Mrs Merkel has publicly asked for an explanation for the alleged spying by the US National Security Agency (NSA).

    The inquiry was announced as US President Barack Obama visited Europe.

    At the same time, Mr Range said he had decided opening an investigation into claims of wider NSA surveillance of German citizens, media reports.

    Pressure for a wide-ranging investigation had been growing, correspondents say.

    {{‘Pained’}}

    The German and US leaders are due to meet in Brussels at a G7 summit on Wednesday.

    Mr Obama told the German chancellor last month that he was “pained” that Mr Snowden’s disclosures had strained the US-German relationship.

    The US leader said he had directed US intelligence agencies to weigh the privacy interests of non-Americans as well as US citizens and residents, “in everything that they do”.

    Mrs Merkel has proposed establishing a European communications network to avoid emails and other data automatically passing through the US.

  • Libyan Renegade General Survives Assassination Attempt-sources

    Libyan Renegade General Survives Assassination Attempt-sources

    {{A Libyan renegade general survived an attempt to kill him outside Benghazi on Wednesday, army sources said.

    A suicide bomber drove a Land Cruiser packed with explosives to the base of retired general Khalifa Haftar, his spokesman Mohamed El-Hejazi said, adding Haftar had not been hurt.

    Military sources said two of Haftar’s guards were killed.

    Haftar has launched a campaign to what he calls purge the North African country of Islamists.}}

    {{General Khalifa Haftar speaks during a news conference at a sports club in Abyar, a small town to the east of Benghazi, May 21, 2014}}

  • Obama Condemns Russian ‘Aggression’

    Obama Condemns Russian ‘Aggression’

    {{US President Barack Obama has condemned Russian “aggression” in Ukraine.

    Speaking in Warsaw to mark 25 years since the fall of communism in Poland, he hailed Polish democracy as a beacon for neighbouring Ukraine.

    “How can we allow the dark tactics of the 20th Century to define the 21st?” he said.

    Earlier Mr Obama met Ukraine President-elect Petro Poroshenko, and pledged support for plans to restore peace to the country.

    Mr Obama called Mr Poroshenko a “wise selection” to lead Ukraine, and said the nation could become a vibrant, thriving democracy if the world community stood behind it.}}

  • Fire Destroys Muhanga Prison

    Fire Destroys Muhanga Prison

    {{Muhanga Central Prison has been razed down by a strong fire today causing panic in the area.

    However, within short notice of the fire accident, the RDF soldiers arrived at the prison and reports indicate that no prisoner has escaped.

    When IGIHE contacted a Prison official, he could not explain the circumstances of the fire however, said, “leave me to first secure prisoners documents”.}}

    By the time fire razed through the entire prison, inmates had been out of their cells to pave way for fumigation within the prison cells.

    Mary Gahonzire of Rwanda Correctional Services (RCS) told IGIHE that she was on her way to Muhanga to contain the situation.

    “Iam on my way to Muhanga. what matters is the rescue which has been swiftly provided by RDF, RCS and Rwanda National Police.

  • Central African Republic Authorities Suspend SMS Services

    Central African Republic Authorities Suspend SMS Services

    Central African Republic authorities have told mobile phone operators to suspend text messages following calls on services for a nationwide civil disobedience campaign to protest against violence.

    An organisation called Collectif Centrafrique Debout has been distributing SMS messages since the weekend asking people to stay home starting Thursday following more inter-communal bloodshed in the capital Bangui.

    The government did not say who was behind the campaign but in the mass messages, the organisation urged people to stay at home until there is complete disarmament, especially of the PK5 Muslim neighbourhood.

    “On the instruction of the Prime Minister…in order to contribute to the restoration of security in the country, the use of SMS by all mobile phone subscribers is suspended,” Communications Minister Abdallah Assan Kadre said in a statement.

    The suspension will be in effect until further notice.

    Central African Republic has been gripped by ethnic and religious violence since northern Seleka rebels, who are mostly Muslim, seized power in the mainly Christian nation in 2013.

    Seleka left power in January under international pressure after 10 months of looting and violence that had prompted the formation of Christian militias known as anti-balaka who have carried out retaliatory attacks on Muslims.

    An interim government led by Catherine Samba-Panza and nearly 8,000 African Union and French peacekeepers are struggling to contain the violence that has killed more than 2,000 and displaced about a million of the country’s 4.5 million people.

    The United Nations has warned that the conflict could spiral into a genocide.

    France’s Orange; MOOV, a subsidiary of Emirates Etisalat; Global Telecom’s Telecel and Azur of Bahrein-registered Bintel are Central African Republic’s main mobile providers.

    Residents in the capital said on Wednesday that mobile messaging services have been suspended since Monday.

    wirestory

  • Greece & Nigeria in Goalless Draw

    Greece & Nigeria in Goalless Draw

    {{Greece were held to a goalless draw by Nigeria in a friendly between the two World Cup teams in Philadelphia on Tuesday in which both sides created chances but lacked the clinical edge.}}

    Greece’s Ioannis Fetfatzidis twice forced good saves out of Nigeria keeper Vincent Enyeama in the first half but it was the African side who finished stronger.

    Ogenyi Onazi’s powerful effort from 30 yards out was superbly saved by Greece’s substitute keeper Stephanos Kapinos and then in the final moments Victor Moses drove a low shot just wide.

    Nigeria will face the United States in Jacksonville on Saturday while Greece take on Bolivia in New Jersey on Friday.

    In Brazil, Greece face Colombia, Ivory Coast and Japan in Group C while Nigeria are up against Iran, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Argentina.

    wirestory

  • South Sudan Ceasefire Must Hold to Stop Famine- U.N

    South Sudan Ceasefire Must Hold to Stop Famine- U.N

    {{South Sudan can only avoid famine if a shaky ceasefire holds and people displaced by more than five months of fighting are able to return home in the next few weeks to plant crops before the rains, a senior U.N. official said.}}

    Donors pledged more than $600 million in May to help avert a crisis which aid agencies said could be the biggest since the 1984 Ethiopian famine, with 3.5 million people already suffering from acute or emergency-level food shortages, including a million unable to meet basic needs, the United Nations says.

    This already meant the situation was desperate even if it did not meet the formal definition of famine, the South Sudan’s U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization head Sue Lautze said.

    “If you were a non-technical person and going to the community, you’d say, ‘Wow, this looks to me like a famine,’” she told media.

    Government forces and rebels, who have been fighting since mid-December, agreed a second ceasefire deal in May after the first one in January collapsed. South Sudan’s army spokesperson reported more clashes on Monday in Unity and Upper Nile states, oil producing areas that have been flashpoints in the conflict.

    Fighting has killed thousands of people and driven more than 1.3 million from their homes.

    Lautze said people had to be able to recover scattered livestock and rebuild looted markets, while aid agencies needed swift access to funds pledged by donors last month. If such conditions were not met, the United Nations has said up to four million people could face a possible famine.

    “It will require a tremendous amount of resources, a lot of luck and certainly a sustained cessation of hostilities,” Lautze said.

    wirestory

  • Guinea-Bissau’s Ex-Navy Chief Pleads Guilty in U.S. Drug Case

    Guinea-Bissau’s Ex-Navy Chief Pleads Guilty in U.S. Drug Case

    {{Guinea-Bissau’s former navy chief, captured in a high-profile drug sting on the West African coast, has secretly pleaded guilty ahead of a trial on charges he conspired to import narcotics into the United States, court sources said on Tuesday. }}

    The trial of Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto, 64, had been scheduled to begin on Monday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

    But Na Tchuto, who U.S. authorities say is a kingpin of West Africa’s illicit drug trade, pleaded guilty at a May 13 proceeding, the transcript of which was immediately sealed, the court sources said. It could not be learned why the hearing was sealed.

    Nor could it be determined what charges Na Tchuto pleaded guilty to or the terms of any deal he received. The official court record does not indicate that a plea or hearing took place.

    Guilty pleas are sometimes sealed when defendants agree to cooperate with authorities.

    Sabrina Shroff, Na Tchuto’s attorney, and representatives for U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan and the Drug Enforcement Administration declined to comment on Tuesday when contacted by phone and email.

    The secret plea came more than a year after the arrest of Na Tchuto in April 2013. He was seized on a luxury yacht off the coast of Guinea-Bissau following a monthslong DEA undercover operation.

    Before his plea, Na Tchuto faced life in prison if convicted on a previously announced charge of conspiring to distribute 5 kg (11 pounds) or more of cocaine, knowing or intending that the cocaine would be imported into the United States.

    Poverty-stricken Guinea-Bissau is viewed by the United Nations as a major waypoint for Latin American cocaine headed for Europe. U.S. and European authorities have long suspected the country’s military is involved in the drug trade.

    According to U.S. prosecutors, Na Tchuto and his two co-defendants met with confidential DEA informants who posed as representatives of Latin American drug traffickers.

    reuters

  • Rwanda to Expand Diplomatic Footprint

    Rwanda to Expand Diplomatic Footprint

    {{The minister of Foreign Affairs Louise Mushikiwabo has announced that Rwanda will open new embassies in five different countries to expand its diplomatic footprint and growing cooperation with other nations.

    New embassies will be established in Angola, Zambia, Congo-Brazzaville,Unite Arab Emriates and Israel.

    Government of Rwanda is currently holding talks with the selected countries on how to effect this new diplomatic cooperation.}}

    {{Foreign Affairs Minister Louise Mushikiwabo}}

  • Bernard Ntaganda Freed from Prison

    Bernard Ntaganda Freed from Prison

    {{Controversial opposition politician Bernard Ntaganda also founder president of PS-Imberakuri party has this morning regained his freedom after completing a four-year prison sentence.}}

    At 8:00AM Ntaganda walked out through the gates of Mpanga Prison expressing his delight upon his release.

    Sano Alexis, the head of Mpanga Prison located in Nyanza district said the release of Ntaganda was in accordance with the law and that every prisoner is set free once they have completed serving their particular sentences.

    The head of Mpanga prison refuted allegations that the politician was poorly handled while in Jail saying “no prisoner can ever admit appreciate the way they are handled while serving their sentences. Ntaganda exercised all his rights while in prison,” He said.

    After his release, Ntaganda first paid tribute to his deceased mother who died while he was in prison. He is visiting his mothers grave at Rusororo where he is expected to lay a wreath of flowers.

    Ntaganda was jailed after pleading guilty to endangering national security, “divisionism” – inciting ethnic divisions – and attempting to organize demonstrations without official authorization.

    He was sentenced to two years each for the first two charges and fined him 100,000 Rwandan francs.

    His party recently declared full support and collaboration with the FDLR and RDI-Rwanda Rwiza.

    However, the Party website remained dormant without any sign of the release of the party president. the website was last updated on May 30 with a press release in which the party commended FDLR for laying down arms in DRC.