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15 Killed in DRCongo Stadium Stampede

At least 15 people were killed in a stadium stampede in Kinshasa on Sunday.

The tragedy occurred as scores of soccer fans tried to force their way out of the Tata Raphael Stadium after a section of it collapsed.

The fans were cheering a match between the Lubumbashi-based TP Mazembe and the Kinshasa-based ASV Club.

The encounter was nearing its end with TP Mazembe leading 1- 0.
The game was tough and tense.

The referee allowed five extra minutes of play during which the supporters of ASV Club started hurling projectiles on to the playing field.

Panic then ensued and scared fans’ resorted to a mad rush out of the stadium, leading to a section of it collapsing.

“Everyone wanted to be the first to get out. Then a wall collapsed. The confusion was total,” an eye witness told media.

May 12, 2014
Ethiopian Prime Minister Forced South Sudan Leaders to Sign Peace Deal

{{South Sudan President Salva Kiir has said he and former vice-president Riek Machar, signed a peace deal on Friday in Addis Ababa after threats of arrest from Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.}}

The truce, which has so far been violated, was intended to end five months of deadly violence in which both sides have been accused of widespread human rights abuses and violations.

President Kiir said that after a lengthy meeting with Dr Machar, the PM told him that the problem had become tough.

“This matter has involved threats. He (PM) told Riek that you are not going if you don’t sign this,” President Kiir said, referring to a proposed peace deal.

“He told me the same in the morning. He told me that ‘if you don’t sign this, I will arrest you here’,” President Kiir explained the Ethiopian leader’s threats to a cheering crowd at the Juba International Airport upon his arrival on Sunday.

“I said ‘if you arrest me in this good place, I am sure I will get good food. So there will be no need to return to Juba. You will feed me for free here,” he said.

In the end, President Kiir continued, the PM gave to Dr Machar copies of the proposed peace deal, which he signed and were also handed over to the South Sudan leader, who in turn asked for time to present them to his negotiation team before signing

May 12, 2014
Memorable Quotes From 2014 World Economic Forum on Africa

The 24th edition of the World Economic Forum on Africa ended on Saturday in Abuja, Nigeria.

The event, which brought together close to 1 000 regional and global leaders, was centred on the theme of forging inclusive growth and creating jobs for Africa’s growing population. The conference began on Wednesday.

Here are some of the more memorable quotes from Thursday’s plenary and brainstorming sessions:

“Africa is an article of faith. I believe in this continent.” – Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Airtel.

“Nowhere in the world do you get the kind of returns you get in Africa.” – Olabisi Onasanya, Group chief executive, First Bank of Nigeria.

“Africa is going through growing pains, but the potential is great.” – Mohamed Alabbar, chairman, Emaar Properties.

“This is the right time for anyone to come and invest into Africa.” – Stephen Olabisi Onasanya, group chief, First Bank of Nigeria.

“Africa’s rise will make the world more stable, more democratic, more robust.” – Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

“Africa’s people have taken their destiny into their own hands.” – China’s Li Keqiang.
“Don’t be afraid to invest in Africa.” – Jean-François van Boxmeer, chairman of the Board and chief executive of Heineken International.

“Africa has been rising for a long time. I hope we will eventually get to a point where we have risen.” – Albert Kobina Essien, Group Chief Executive Officer of Ecobank Transnational.

“As the economies of Africa grow, progressive businesses will grow with them.” – Jean-Francois van Boxmer, chairman of the board and chief executive of Heineken International.

“Africa represents our fastest-growing region in the world. If you want to be relevant, you need to be in this part of the world” – Dominic Barton, global managing director of McKinsey & Company.

May 12, 2014
Congolese Rebel Leader Mutebusi Dies at 54

{{Jules Mutebusi 54, a former DR Congo rebel leader has died relatives said Sunday that he died on Friday evening in a hospital in Kigali after battling a long illness.

Mutebusi, from the Democratic Republic of Congo’s South Kivu region was a top military leader of the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD).

In 2004 Laurent Nkunda, together with Mutebusi jointly captured Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu, on the grounds that the local population was being persecuted.

After the Congolese army and its allies recaptured the lakeside city, fierce fighting pitted RCD rebels against loyalist forces in the Kamanyola region.

When his forces were defeated, Mutebusi and 300 of his men fled to Rwanda.}}

May 12, 2014
EAC Court Blocks Zziwa Impeachment

{{The East African Court of Justice has blocked the removal of Margaret Zziwa as Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly until May 29 when it will deliver a final verdict.}}

The First Instance Division of EACJ on Monday issued as interim order that EALA maintains the status quo and restrain from discussing the matter of Zziwa’s removal pending its ruling later this month.

The order was made after hearing of applications filed by Zziwa and EALA MP Mukasa Mbidde against the respondents who are the EAC Secretary General and Attorney General of Uganda.

The applicants are seeking an interim injunction from court against the EAC Secretary General and the Uganda directing EALA to refrain from referring the motions for resolution to remove the speaker.

The applicants also seek an order against the EALA Committee on Legal, Rules and Privileges to refrain from conducting any investigation pending the hearing and determination of the main case.

The court ordered that the applications be consolidated and be heard together because they were related matters.

The Applicants represented by lawyers Mbidde and Jet Mwebaze submitted that the respondents failed to seek an advisory opinion from the regional court on the procedure of removing the Speaker.

Also, EALA continues to operate without proper rules in place which infringes on the treaty establishing the EAC on good governance including adherence to the principles of democracy and rule of law.

Mbidde further submitted that EALA should be stopped from proceeding with the impeachment process using informal rules of procedure and that there are no grounds for the censure of the Speaker.

He argued that although there must be investigations conducted to reach the clear decision, there are no rules to guide the EALA Legal, Rules and Privilege Committee in carrying out the investigations.

The applicants also said that if the interim order is not granted, they would suffer irreparable damages which would not be compensated.

May 12, 2014
Samsung launches Solar-Powered Internet School

{{Samsung Electronics East Africa has launched the first solar-powered internet school (SPIS) at GS Kamabare School in Bugesera District, Rwanda}}

The school forms part of a wider project by the company, which aims to provide students across Central and East Africa with easy access to modern technology.

With a vision to reach more than 2.5mn students in Africa by 2015, the programme focuses on the deployment of ICT infrastructure; professional development of educators; content development and management; school administration and management; as well as sharing best practices in the integration of ICT in enhancing learning and teaching in the classroom, Samsung said.

The SPIS is a 40-foot shipping container which the company equips with 24 laptops (plus one for the teacher), a multi-purpose Samsung printer, a 50-inch electronic board, a server, Internet and solar panels, the company said.

All devices are optimised for use in a solar-powered environment, it added.

The e-board allows for cross-group collaboration between and among educators and learners across geographical boundaries.

It can run video conferencing, access the internet, and connect to the tablet computers in the container, all simultaneously, according to Samsung.

Robert Ngeru, vice-president – East and Central Africa at Samsung, said the schools are built for use in remote rural areas with little or no electricity connectivity and are easily transportable via truck.

“The fold-away solar panels provide enough energy to power the classroom’s equipment for up to nine hours a day.

The solar panels are made from rubber instead of glass to ensure they are hardy and durable enough to survive long journeys across the continent,” he explained.

In rural areas connected to the national grid Samsung will install Smart Schools, which include a secure classroom that will be equipped with Galaxy tablets, e-board, servers and internet.

One such Smart School has been fitted at GS Gashaki School in Musanze District.

May 12, 2014
Syria Rebels to Free 1 500 Families for Food

{{Syrian rebels have agreed to free 1 500 families in exchange for food and the release of jailed opponents of President Bashar Assad, a newspaper close to his regime said on Monday.}}

The reported agreement involves the release of families held by rebels in Adra, a flashpoint town northeast of Damascus currently under siege by government troops.

Under the deal, food supplies would be allowed into Adra, and an unspecified number of people held in regime jails would be set free, in exchange for the release of the 1 500 families held in the town, said Al-Watan.

In a first phase and as a gesture of goodwill, “a family of eight people would be released in exchange for food for civilians in Adra,” said the newspaper.

Afterwards, “the exchange would involve the release of one family held hostage in Adra per each detainee released” from government jails, it reported.

While the edges of Adra are under government control, the interior of the town, which has Sunni, Alawite and Christian communities, is in rebel hands.

It is strategically located on the northeastern entrance to Damascus, and has in the past been used as a launching pad for attacks on the edges of the capital.

Today it is totally under army siege, while the interior of the town is under rebel control.

When the rebels took Adra in mid-December, they prevented thousands of people – many of them from Syria’s Alawite and Christian minorities – from leaving.

wirestory

May 12, 2014
Nigeria Rejects Prisoner-For-Girls Swap

{{ Nigeria on Monday rejected conditions set out by Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau for the release of more than 200 schoolgirls held hostage by the Islamists.

Asked if the government would reject the suggestion mentioned by Shekau in a new video that the girls may be released once Nigeria frees all militant prisoners, Interior Minister Abba Moro told reporters: “Of course.”

“The issue in question is not about Boko Haram… giving conditions,” he said. }}

– AFP

May 12, 2014
Air Traffic System Failure Caused by Computer Memory Shortage

{{A common design problem in the U.S. air traffic control system made it possible for a U-2 spy plane to spark a computer glitch that recently grounded or delayed hundreds of Los Angeles area flights, according to an inside account and security experts.}}

In theory, the same vulnerability could have been used by an attacker in a deliberate shut-down, the experts said, though two people familiar with the incident said it would be difficult to replicate the exact conditions.

The error blanked out a broad swath of the southwestern United States, from the West Coast to western Arizona and from southern Nevada to the Mexico border.

As aircraft flew through the region, the $2.4 billion system made by Lockheed Martin Corp, cycled off and on trying to fix the error, triggered by a lack of altitude information in the U-2’s flight plan, according to the sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the incident.

No accidents or injuries were reported from the April 30 failure, though numerous flights were delayed or canceled.

Lockheed Martin said it conducts “robust testing” on all its systems and referred further questions about the En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM) system to the Federal Aviation Administration.

FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said the computer had to examine a large number of air routes to “de-conflict the aircraft with lower-altitude flights”.

She said that process “used a large amount of available memory and interrupted the computer’s other flight-processing functions”.

The FAA later set the system to require altitudes for every flight plan and added memory to the system, which should prevent such problems in the future, Brown said.

wirestory

May 12, 2014
Oscar Pistorius Has ‘Anxiety Disorder Since Childhood’

South African Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has had an anxiety disorder since childhood and was “anxious” about violent crime, a psychiatrist has told his murder trial.

His actions when he shot his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day last year “should be seen in context of his anxiety,” Merryll Vorster said.

The prosecution dramatically asked for him to undergo mental observation.

The double-amputee Paralympian denies intentionally killing Reeva Steenkamp.

The defence opposed the application before the court adjourned on Monday. It will reconvene on Tuesday.

If the prosecution request is granted, Mr Pistorius may spend up to 30 days in a state mental health institution for observation and assessment of his mental health.

It was expected that the defence would conclude its case by the end of this week – after which both sides would have an opportunity to present their closing arguments.

Mr Pistorius says he accidentally shot Ms Steenkamp through the toilet door in a state of panic, mistaking the 29-year-old model and law graduate for an intruder.

Giving evidence on Monday, Dr Vorster said that Mr Pistorius was more likely to respond to any threat with “fight” rather than “flight”.

The anxiety disorder was the result of surgery at the age of 11 months to remove his lower legs, she said, a “traumatic assault” for an infant at that age.

She said that Mr Pistorius felt remorse over Ms Steenkamp’s death.

“He feels guilty and has developed a depressive disorder as a result,” she said.

wirestory

May 12, 2014