IGIHE

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  • IPU Welcomes Release of DRC Opposition MP Pierre Jacques Chalupa

    IPU Welcomes Release of DRC Opposition MP Pierre Jacques Chalupa

    GENEVA – {IPU has welcomed the release of former Congolese opposition MP Pierre Jacques Chalupa but urges the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to resolve the issue of his nationality once and for all.
    }

    Chalupa, who had spent all his life in the DRC and had been elected as an MP, had already served more than half of a three-year jail sentence for allegedly falsifying documents to gain nationality and met the conditions for “anticipated release” under Congolese law.

    In urgent need of medical assistance for some time, he was one of nearly 400 people released on 22nd November as part of a presidential amnesty that had already seen the release of more than a thousand prisoners since late August 2013.

    IPU’s Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians has been working to find a resolution to the case since Chalupa’s arrest early in February 2012, including sending a mission to the DRC in June this year. An IPU resolution at its October 2013 Assembly in Geneva lamented the lack of progress on Chalupa’s case and that of 33 other Congolese MPs.

    “It’s great news that Mr. Chalupa has finally been released. However, there is the long-standing issue of his nationality to be resolved. As he appears to have fulfilled all conditions for obtaining nationality, we urge the authorities to recognize this and to find a favourable solution,” says Kassoum Tapo, President of IPU’s Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians.

    “IPU similarly remains concerned by the other cases before the Committee, all of which intrinsically are about issues relating to political and parliamentary freedoms. We urge the DRC to take action to not only resolve them but also to ensure that political freedoms in the country are respected and enforced,” Tapo adds.

    Biztellers

  • Obama defends Iran policy amid Israel anger

    Obama defends Iran policy amid Israel anger

    {US President Barack Obama defended his administration’s Iran policy but said “huge challenges” remained to successfully implement a landmark deal on Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.}

    Obama has come under fierce criticism from Republican rivals at home and key allies abroad, such as Israel, for pursuing a diplomatic solution to the Iran question.

    Israel decried the breakthrough agreement reached in Geneva on Sunday — under which Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear program in return for an easing of sanctions — as a “historic mistake.”

    Obama, however, insisted that the US policy of diplomacy twinned with sanctions had been more productive than rhetoric, stating that “tough talk” alone would not guarantee US security.

    “For the first time in a decade, we’ve halted the progress on Iran’s nuclear program,” Obama said. “Key parts of the program will be rolled back.”

    Obama said diplomacy would continue over the coming months in a bit to settle “once and for all” the “threat of Iran’s nuclear program.”

    “Huge challenges remain, but we cannot close the door on diplomacy, and we cannot rule out peaceful solutions to the world’s problems,” Obama said.

    AFP

  • India marks Mumbai attack anniversary

    India marks Mumbai attack anniversary

    {India is marking the fifth anniversary of the Mumbai attacks with the masterminds still at large, and New Delhi continuing to pressure Pakistan to bring the accused to book.}

    The attacks in India’s commercial capital, began on November 26, 2008, and lasted for three days, killing at least 166 people and wounding 308 others.

    India says the attacks targeting five locations across Mumbai were carried out by armed groups based in Pakistan.

    One of the culprits Ajmal Kasab, a Pakistani national, was caught during the attack and sentenced to death by an Indian court in August 2012. He was hanged three months later.

    India has demanded from Pakistan that the people behind the attack be brought to justice and that Islamabad waste no more time in completing the trial of the accused.

    Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, at a meeting with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September, promised to take action against the culprits behind the attack.

    On Tuesday, a spokesman of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, said it was important that the perpetrators of the terrible crime be brought to justice, according to the PTI news agency.

    The agency quoted the spokesperson, Martin Nesirky, as saying that it was a “terrible crime, an awful terrorist attack.”

    Source:
    Al Jazeera

  • WHO retracts HIV self-injection claim

    WHO retracts HIV self-injection claim

    {The World Health Organisation has retracted its claim that a number of Greeks were injecting themselves with HIV to get about $950 in monthly health benefits.
    }

    WHO spokesman Glenn Thomas on Tuesday told Al Jazeera that the global health authority had no evidence to support a statement published in its recent report that about half of new infections in Greece were self-inflicted to claim the money.

    Instead, Thomas said the report should have said that half of new infections were among intravenous drug users, and that there was “anecdotal evidence” that some new infections were self-inflicted to claim benefits, although the WHO has no evidence to support those anecdotes.

    “The statement is the consequence of an error in the editing of the document, for which WHO apologises,” the organisation said in a statement.

    “There may be anecdotal evidence [of self-inflicted HIV infections], but no evidence as such,” Thomas added.

    The WHO report, titled Review of social determinants and the health divide in the WHO European Region, included a case study focusing on the Greek financial crisis.

    “HIV rates and heroin use have risen significantly, with about half of new HIV infections being self-inflicted to enable people to receive benefits of €700 per month and faster admission on to drug-substitution programmes,” the report noted.

    According to the WHO’s retraction, the statement should have read: “Half of the new HIV cases are self-injecting and out of them few are deliberately inflicting the virus.”

    The WHO report relied in part on an article in the medical journal Lancet, which referenced “accounts of deliberate self-infection by a few individuals to obtain access to benefits of €700 per month and faster admission onto drug substitution programmes.”

    The Lancet report, in turn, cited a study by the “Ad hoc expert group of the Greek focal point on the outbreak of HIV/AIDS in 2011,” which described a “well-founded suspicion that some problem users are intentionally infected with HIV, because of the benefit they are entitled to (approximately €1,400 every two months), and also because they are granted ‘exceptional admission’ to the Substitution Programme.”

    There is no evidence in the articles of any specific cases in which this has occurred.

    In its apology statement, the WHO noted that Greece reported a 52 percent increase in HIV infections in 2011 over the previous year, largely among intravenous drug users.

    “The reasons for this increase remain multifaceted and WHO welcomes efforts of the ad hoc working group and other entities to fully understand the underlying reasons and recommend appropriate measures to extend the benefits of the comprehensive package of interventions for harm reduction to all people who inject drugs,” the WHO’s clarification noted.

    Aljazeera

  • UAE firms, Guinea sign $5 bn bauxite deal

    UAE firms, Guinea sign $5 bn bauxite deal

    {Abu Dhabi investment fund Mubadala and Dubai Aluminium (DUBAL) have signed a five-billion-dollar deal with Guinea that should secure resources for UAE aluminium makers, a statement said.}

    The accord will see Guinea Alumina Corp, a joint venture owned by Mubadala and DUBAL, investing in the construction of a bauxite export mine in Sangaredi, in western Guinea, the government of Guinea said in a statement late Monday.

    Guinea sits on almost half of the world’s bauxite reserves and the Sangaredi mine is due to be operational by 2017.

    A multi-user port in the West African nation will also be developed in Kamsar by 2017, while an alumina refinery with an initial capacity of 2 million tonnes per annum would be constructed and ready to operate in 2018.

    “This agreement will deliver an estimated $5 billion of foreign investment into Guinea over the next eight years,” said Guinea’s Minister of Mines and Geology Mohamed Lamine Fofana.

    “The development plan will create at peak 14,000 direct and indirect jobs and contribute substantially to Guinea?s GDP,” gross domestic product, he said.

    The agreement was signed during the Guinean Partners and Investors Conference in Abu Dhabi.

    DUBAL’s chief executive officer Abdulla Kalban, who is also the chairman of GAC, said the agreement delivers on the “strategy to secure upstream resources within the aluminium value chain.”

    Mubadala and DUBAL took full control of Guinea’s GAC in May after they jointly acquired 66.6 percent stake owned by BHP Billiton and Global Alumina. Previously, Mubadala and DUBAL held 8 percent and 25 percent of GAC’s shares respectively.

    AFP

  • Djibouti’s Deputy Chief of Armed Forces Retires

    Djibouti’s Deputy Chief of Armed Forces Retires

    Deputy Chief General of Djibouti’s Armed Forces Hassan Ali Kamil retired from service Sunday (November 24th), and was officially recognised in a ceremony held in his honour, the Djiboutian Information Agency reported.

    Minister of Defence Hassan Darar Houffaneh presided over the ceremony with Chief of the Armed Forces Zakaria Sheikh Ibrahim and Major General Fathi Ahmed Houssein in attendance.

    “A hard worker, methodical and very competent, you have executed your duties flawlessly, with great success and dedication,” Houffaneh said in his address at the ceremony.

    Kamil joined the military in 1965, when it was still under the French military, and remained on board following Djiboutian independence in 1977.

    Sabah

  • Death Attempt On Nigerian Aviation Minister’s Life?

    Death Attempt On Nigerian Aviation Minister’s Life?

    {{Nigeria}}-{In a curious twist of fate, bound to generate more controversy, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr. Femi Ogunbayode, Monday confirmed that the Minister of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah, on Saturday, escaped an assassination attempt by unknown gunmen.}

    However, the police said she was not in the vehicle at the time her Escalade SUV, with registration number FST 914 BL, was shot at about 10 pm.

    Oduah has been at the centre of a scandal surrounding the purchase of four bulletproof cars on her behalf by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

    However, it was the purchase of two BMW armoured cars at the cost of N255 million by NCAA that has received the most condemnation and which triggered the calls for her sack.

    When the scandal broke last month, Oduah’s media aides had said the armoured cars were purchased for the protection of the minister, who they claimed had received death threats in the past, as well as other foreign dignitaries representing international aviation organisations who visit the country frequently.

    However, during the probe into the purchase of the two BMW cars by the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation, Oduah had refuted the statement by her aides, stating that they were not authorised to do so.

    The scandal also prompted President Goodluck Jonathan to set up an investigative panel headed by a former Head of Service of the Federation, Alhaji Isa Bello, as the chairman, and the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) and Air-Vice Marshal Dick Iruenebere (rtd) as members.

    The panel, which was given two weeks to submit its report has since submitted its report and is awaiting the president’s decision.

    In its report, the House, however, indicted the minister and made a recommendation that the president takes a decision on the issue, pointing out that the offence for the unbudgeted expenditure on the cars attracted a three-year jail term and a fine of N100,000.

    The House also indicted NCAA and Coscharis, the auto dealer that had supplied the cars, and recommended their investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    The CP, who spoke on the phone to THISDAY through his Public Relations Officer, Mr. Athine Daniel, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), on the alleged attempt on Oduah’s life, said the complaint was lodged at the Mabushi Police Station at 5.35 pm yesterday, almost 48 hours after the alleged incident.

    Ogunbayode said what was found inside the car after the shooting was a metallic object, which the police are investigating. The driver of the vehicle, whose name he withheld, wasn’t injured, he added.

    Also speaking to THISDAY on the phone, Mr. Joe Obi, the Special Adviser, Media to the minister, said the incident occurred on Saturday along the Nnamdi Azikiwe Road by Banex Bridge, Minister’s quarters, Maitama.

    He added that unknown to the gunmen, Oduah was not in the car at the time of attack. He said the driver was lucky to have escaped the assassin’s bullets.

    Also, photographs of the Escalade provided by the FAAN spokesman, Yakubu Dati, showed that it appeared to be riddled with some bullet holes, but the reference to the bullet holes was inexplicably missing in the statement provided by the police on the attempt on Oduah’s life.

    This Day

  • Terrorist threat forces TV’s Kathryn to cancel Ethiopia charity run

    Terrorist threat forces TV’s Kathryn to cancel Ethiopia charity run

    {OPERATION Transformation host Kathryn Thomas was forced to pull out of the Great Ethiopian Run after al-Shabaab terrorists threaten to sabotage the charity event.}

    Kathryn (34) was due to travel to Africa last week and run 10k to raise money for Self Help Africa.

    But the Carlow native had to cancel her flight after the charity advised participants not to travel for the run.

    She told the Herald: “I’ve travelled to Ethiopia and to Addis Ababa before and I think it’s a great place and city — I’ve always been happy and felt safe travelling there.

    “But the al-Shabaab terrorists were responsible for the Westgate Mall attacks in Nairobi, so the organisers had to take things seriously.

    “Ethiopia has been on high alert since those two suicide bombers accidentally blew themselves up before Ethiopia’s World Cup qualifying match against Nigeria.”

    Kathryn added organisers were particularly conscious after the Boston Marathon bombings earlier in the year. “They really had to alert participants to the danger and advise them not to travel,” she said.

    ALERT

    “The event wasn’t cancelled but Self Help Africa had to warn everyone about it.”

    Despite the alert, several Irish participants made their way to Ethiopia.

    The hard core marathon men and women ran a different race in Hawass, several hours south of Addis Ababa, and dubbed it The Alternative Great Ethiopia Run.

    Kathryn added: “I’m delighted the other participants ran an alternate race and the event was a success despite everything.

    “It was obviously a disappointment. It’s the biggest run in the city — over 40,000 take part — but these things happen and safety is always a priority.”

    Kathryn is currently down in Cork filming the next series of Operation Transformation. But despite being in a different continent, she made sure to make a contribution to the 10K run.

    So she threw on a pair of sneakers and hit the pavements in the south.

    She revealed: “We did a 10k run down in Cork to make up for it.

    “I was going to run it on the same day but I was travelling so did it the following day.”

    independent.ie

  • Zimbabwe’s Top Rights Lawyer Acquitted

    Zimbabwe’s Top Rights Lawyer Acquitted

    {A Zimbabwean magistrate has acquitted top human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa on charges of obstructing justice and being unruly to police officers.}

    Mtetwa has been on trial since June after she was arrested in March on charges of using abusive language toward officers who were searching the house of an official from the opposition party of former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

    Mtetwa denied any wrongdoing saying she merely asked for a search warrant from the police after they failed to show her one.

    But the state alleged in court that she shouted “at the top of her voice,” saying what they were doing was “unconstitutional, illegal and unlawful.”

    Harare magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa on Tuesday declared Mtetwa not guilty and ruled that there is no evidence of the charges against her.

    AP

  • Gasabo district ranks number one in rape crimes

    Gasabo district ranks number one in rape crimes

    {Police has announced statistics on rape crimes around the country during the year 2013.}

    According to the statistical data from the police, districts that makeup Kigali city appear on the first position whereby Gasabo district ranks number one.

    Information based on the statistical rankings on rape cases that were identified in these districts during the year 2013 is as follows.

    Ranks

    Gasabo district-176

    Nyarugenge district-139

    Kicukiro district-119

    Other districts come from the Eastern province mainly:

    Ngoma district-100

    Rwamagana district-77

    Bugesera district-75

    Kirehe district-74

    Gatsibo district-72

    Nyagatare district-68

    Kayonza district-65

    According to the information above, it shows there haven’t been a stable number of crimes but it has been changing since 2006 through increases and decreases.

    Among these crimes, the highly rated ones to appear most include, forced child sex, rape cases, and torture