War and the US –what you don’t see can't hurt

The US media's exclusion of graphic images fails to convey the reality of war and allows its glorification.

I’ve never understood the people who don’t watch or read the news.  Obviously, I believe what we do is important, so I’ve always been a bit baffled.  I get it now.  I have been so overwhelmed with emotion watching the Gaza conflict unfold that it has in many ways consumed me from thousands of miles away. 

That means I’ve been doing a lot of walking around D.C. to try and get the pictures out of my head at least temporarily.  I was struck by a couple of things during my walks.  First, there are a lot of tourists in this town.  Second, they are here to see some very beautiful memorials.  And then I realized the old memorials here in Washington are all to war and to President’s that are associated with war.

That made me ask myself, is war at the heart of the American identity? Much of what is left of this country’s manufacturing base is to make tools of war, the planes, the bombs and the ships that carry them.  The United States spends more on defense than the next 13 countries combined.  At the heart of America’s foreign policy are weapons, they allow some to buy them and pay for others to have them as well.  Thevideo game industry survives on make believe war and Hollywood benefits from it as well.  The one place you would be hard pressed to find graphic images of war – on television news. 

I’ve been watching the domestic coverage very carefully.  I’ve written about the bias that I see in some of the reporting.  It’s been fairly blatant in many cases, but there is a subtler form of bias and that is in choosing what pictures to show. 

No dead or dying

I watched the 3 network evening broadcasts the other night.  One talked to injured children but no one showed any of the dead or dying.  They showed bombs from far away, toppled buildings, most didn’t show close ups of mourning and not once did I hear the death toll. 

I’m not saying this is being done on purpose although that is always a possibility.  I was brought up in American television and quite frankly I never really questioned the practice of not showing graphic images.  In local news if a murder victim wasn’t covered up with a white sheet, you usually didn’t even take video of it until the coroner arrived.  It just isn’t what is done.  I remember when I first came to Al Jazeera English; I was very surprised, even mildly shocked, to see the footage we aired.  We are always careful to not cross that hard to define line, but we don’t censor ourselves the way the American media does.  In essence, we don’t sanitize the scene for our viewers to a point that it distorts the reality. 

The images of the grief in Gaza and Israel are just powerful.  The video of the dead, the grieving and destruction stays with you.  The Pentagon knows this, which is why for years no one was allowed to take any video of the caskets of fallen soldiers being returned home.  The loss becomes real.  War becomes real.

I just watched video of a father being told his baby girl was dead.  And his pain seared my heart.  In many ways I wish I had never seen that, but to me, turning away would in some ways insult her memory.  I have to watch this to really know what is happening.  Information that makes us more empathetic humans cannot be a bad thing, even if it is so terribly hard at times.

With this heavy heart, I think I might take another walk.  This time, I might go see the newest memorial; it honors the life of Martin Luther King Junior.  He spent his life in the search for justice through the use of non-violent resistance.  It will be good to be in the one place here where non-violence is held up as something worth honoring, something worth remembering.

Source : Al Jazeera English Blog

UN chief condemns 'atrocious' Gaza killings

Ban Ki-moon condemns killing of civilians by Israel as UN Security Council meets on Gaza.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the killing of dozens of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by Israeli shelling as an "atrocious action" and called for an immediate end to almost two weeks of fighting.

Ban's comments on Sunday came before a UN Security Council emergency meeting on Gaza  early on Monday that was convened on the request of Jordan.

It also comes as US Secretary of State John Kerry is heading back to the Middle East as the Obama administration attempts to bolster regional efforts to reach a ceasefire.

he State Department said Kerry would leave on Monday for Egypt where he will join diplomatic efforts to resume a truce that had been agreed to in November 2012.

Ban, in Doha on the first leg of a Middle East tour to try to end the bloodshed that has cost more than 400 lives, met Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Qatari Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiya before heading for Egypt.

"While I was on route to Doha, dozens more civilians have been killed in the Israeli military strikes . . . in Gaza ... I condemn the atrocious action," he said in a statement after talks with Attiya.

"Israel must exercise maximum restraint. I repeat my demands to all sides that they must respect international humanitarian law. The violence must stop now," he added.

More than 60 Palestinians and 13 Israeli soldiers were killed as Israel shelled Gaza's Shejaia neighbourhood and battled Hamas fighters in the bloodiest fighting in the 13-day offensive.

The US Department of State said that two of the Israeli soldiers were US citizens. It was not immediately clear whether they also held Israeli citizenship.

Attiyah called the killings a massacre and said Israel must not be allowed to chose when to wage a war and when to stop.

"We condemn all the atrocities perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinian people, the last of which was al-Shejaia massacre today," Attiya said. "The majority of the victims were women and children."

Israeli soldier 'captured'

Hamas' armed wing al-Qassam brigades said they had taken an Israeli soldier, named Shaul Aron, captive late on Sunday, a claim Israel has denied.

"When they [Israel] decided on this operation they have to expect that their soldiers may be killed, captured, or injured", Senior Hamas official and spokesman Osama Hamdan told Al Jazeera.

In an appeal filmed in Doha, Palestinian President Abbas called on the international community to protect Palestinians against what he called the current "unbearable" situation.

"The UN security council has failed to protect Palestinians and I call on the council to hold an emergency meeting today to protect Palestinians... what Israel did today is crime against humanity," he said in the recording shown to reporters.

He further called for an immediate ceasefire and stressed that unity among all factions in the Palestinian territories.

Hamas says any accord must include lifting a blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt on the Gaza Strip and a return to an understanding that ended a previous round of fighting in 2012.

"There was an Egyptian proposal, which was not accepted by the Palestinians because there were no gurantees for a ceasefire, there were no gurantees for lifting the siege on Gaza and stopping the violations in the West Bank",  Hamdan told Al Jazeera. 

"I am looking forward to a model better than 2012. The events now are worse, the attack is worse- Israel has violated the 2012 ceasefire, so we need more gurantees from the Israeli side and the international community",  Hamdan said.

Source : Al Jazeera and agencies

Former US soldier guilty of rape found hanged

Former soldier was 19 when he raped and killed teenage Iraqi girl and shot dead her three family members.

A former US Army soldier, sentenced to life imprisonment for the 2006 rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the killing of her parents and sister, has been found hanged in his cell. The Los Angeles Times report, quoting prison officials, said the death of Steven Dale Green was being investigated as suicide. Green had been found hanging in his Arizona cell last week, according to the Times report, which was published on Tuesday. Green, 28, was convicted in 2009 of the rape and murder of 14-year-old Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi and the deaths of her father, mother and six-year-old sister in Mahmudiya, 32km south of Baghdad. He was sentenced to life in prison, without the possibility of parole, after a federal jury in Kentucky could not decide whether he should be executed. During the trial, prosecutors portrayed him as the ringleader of a gang of five soldiers that plotted to invade the home of the family of four to rape the girl, and later bragged about the crime. Green, who was 19 when he committed the crime, was described as the triggerman in the group of soldiers, who donned black "ninja" outfits and raped the girl before killing her and her family. Three of the four other soldiers pleaded guilty in the attack and the fourth was convicted, all in military courts. They received sentences ranging from five to 100 years. Green was tried as a civilian because he was arrested after he was discharged from the army. He was described by prosecutors as predisposed to killing Iraqis. While his defence lawyers acknowledged that he took part in the killings, they argued he was suffering combat stress after the death of close colleagues and should be spared the death penalty.

Source: Agencies

Guantanamo inmate pleads guilty over bombing

Saudi brother-in-law of September 11 hijacker pleads guilty to planning to blow up a French oil tanker in Yemen in 2002.

A Saudi detainee at the US prison in Guantanamo Bay has pleaded guilty to plotting with al-Qaeda to blow up a French oil tanker in Yemen in 2002. Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al-Darbi, the brother-in-law of one of the September 11, 2001 plane hijackers, admitted to planning, aiding and supporting an attack on the MV Limburg which killed a Bulgarian sailor, injured a dozen and caused a large oil spill in the Gulf of Aden. Darbi, who has been held in Guantanamo for more than a decade, likely faces up to 15 more years in prison, the chief prosecutor, Army Brigadier General Mark Martins, said in a statement. Some of that time could be served in his native Saudi Arabia, the AFP news agency reported. His lawyer Ramzi Kassem announced Darbi was pleading guilty to charges of terrorism and to attacking civilians and civilian targets before the US military judge at Guantanamo. "This moment is bittersweet," said Kassem, whose client agreed to cooperate with prosecutors as part of the plea deal. They accuse Darbi of having met with and worked for fellow Saudi Guantanamo detainee Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who faces the death penalty on charges he masterminded the MV Limburg attack and the 2000 attack against the USS Cole in Yemen that left 17 dead. By pleading guilty, Darbi, 39, could become a key witness against Nashiri, whose trial is likely to open in September. Darbi "has pledged to be law-abiding and to cooperate fully and truthfully with authorities," Martins said, adding that soon after his arrest, Darbi began "divulging some useful information to authorities about his involvement in terrorist activities". 'Legally responsible' Speaking a mix of Arabic and English, Darbi admitted supplying visas, boats and other necessary equipment to those who carried out the attack on the MV Limburg. Under the terms of the plea deal, Darbi will not be officially sentenced for another 3.5 years, judge Mark Allred said at the hearing, which was retransmitted for reporters at the US military base in Fort Meade, Maryland, outside Washington. The delay, which has been standard for Guantanamo detainees who plead guilty, means he would still be at the US prison in Cuba when Nashiri's trial begins. Once Darbi is formally sentenced, he could be released from the Guantanamo jail to serve the remainder of his sentence in Saudi Arabia, Martins said. A Pentagon spokesman explained he would serve a minimum of five more years in a Saudi jail, depending on whether his behaviour from this point forward was deemed cooperative, AFP reported. At the hearing, Darbi emphasized that by the time the MV Limburg attack was carried out, "I was already detained at that time, for four months." The oil tanker was bombed on October 6, 2002 and Darbi was captured in June of that year, according to military documents unveiled by WikiLeaks. Nevertheless, Darbi has admitted to being "legally responsible" for all the charges, which could have seen him jailed for life without the plea deal. He waived his right to appeal his conviction as well as to contest his capture and decade-plus detention in Guantanamo, and said: "I agree to cooperate fully and truthfully with the government. "This cooperation includes, but is not limited to, providing complete and accurate information in interviews, depositions, and testimony wherever and whenever requested by prosecutors."

Source: Agencies

Partial verdict in Florida loud-music killing

Jury in trial of man who shot teenager to death in row over loud music deadlocked over charge of first degree murder.

A north Florida jury has convicted a man of three counts of attempted murder for opening fire on a car of black teenagers during an argument over loud rap music, but could not reach a verdict on a murder charge for the killing of a 17-year-old in the car. Michael Dunn, a 47-year-old software engineer, fired 10 rounds at an SUV carrying the four teenagers in a Jacksonville petrol station car park in November 2012, killing Jordan Davis. The jury said it was deadlocked on the most serious charge of first degree murder against Dunn, forcing judge Russell Healey to declare a mistrial on that count. The jury also found Dunn guilty on a fifth count of firing into an occupied vehicle, the Reuters news agency reported. The trial has drawn international attention because of racial overtones and Dunn's claims of self-defence. Following the case in which George Zimmerman was acquitted six months ago over the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, the trial also renewed attention towards Florida's self-defense laws that permit people who say they feel threatened to use lethal force to defend themselves. The failure to reach a verdict on the first degree murder charge is a blow for the prosecution and the Davis family. But the three guilty verdicts on the charge of attempted second degree murder against the other teenagers in the SUV, mean that Dunn still faces a sentence of at least 60 years in jail, legal analysts said. 'Long road' Prosecutors told a news conference after the verdicts that they plan to retry Dunn on the first degree murder charge, Reuters reported. "It's been a long, long road and we're so very happy to have just a little bit of closure," Davis' mother, Lucy McBath, told reporters. "It's sad for Mr Dunn that he will live the rest of his life in that sense of torment. I will pray for him. I will ask my family to pray for him. "But we are so grateful for the charges that have been brought against him, we are so grateful for the truth, we are so grateful that the jurors were able to understand the common sense of it all." The sequestered jury began deliberating on Wednesday afternoon after a week of testimony and spent more than 30 hours trying to reach a verdict. Dunn, who had no prior convictions, testified earlier this week that he began shooting in a state of panic after he thought he saw the barrel of a gun in the back window as Davis started to get out of the car. Prosecutors said Davis, who had no arrest record, used foul language when confronting Dunn after the argument broke out, but was unarmed and never posed a physical threat.

Source: Agencies

Algeria's Bouteflika to run for re-election

Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal says Bouteflika will run for a fourth term in April's election.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will run for a fourth term in April's election, his office said on Saturday in comments carried by national television.

The president has informed the interior ministry of his intention to run in the April 17 poll and has collected appropriate documents, the television quoted Bouteflika's office as saying.

The electoral law requires candidates to gather at least 60,000 signatures from supporters across no fewer than 25 provinces by midnight on March 4, and the documents will be used to that end.

Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal said Bouteflika made his decision in "response to the encouragement of citizens from all over the country." 

Bouteflika, who suffered a stroke last year, has not made any public address since returning home from hospital, has only received a few foreign dignitaries and chaired just two cabinet meetings.

The comments from his premier and ally Sellal were the clearest indication so far on his intentions before mid-April elections in the North African oil producer.

There has been growing speculation in Algiers that the president, who has ruled the North African oil producer since 1999, will make an announcement on his future within days.

A veteran of the independence war against France, the 76-year-old leader has the backing of the ruling National Liberation Front party and is expected to win easily if he runs.

Bouteflika loyalists see him as the man who delivered peace and economic stability after a civil war with Islamists in the 1990s. But critics say he should step aside for health reasons.

More than 80 people have said they will run for presidency, with the most serious challenger among them appearing to be Ali Benflis, known as a defender of human rights and popular with intellectuals.

Benflis, 69, was prime minister during Bouteflika's first term in office and ran against him in 2004.

US banks free to accept legal marijuana money

Government guidance intended to increase availability of banking services, such as savings accounts, to marijuana shops.

The Obama administration has sought to lessen the fear of prosecution for banks doing business with licensed marijuana companies, further encouraging US states such as Colorado and Washington that are experimenting with legalising the drug. The Justice and Treasury departments outlined the policy in writing to federal prosecutors and financial institutions nationwide, the Reuters news agency reported. The guidance stopped short of promising immunity for banks, but made clear that criminal prosecution for money laundering and other crimes was unlikely if they met a series of conditions, officials said. Currently, processing money from marijuana sales puts federally insured banks at risk of drug racketeering charges, and they therefore refuse to open accounts for marijuana-related businesses, the AP news agency reported. The guidance was intended to increase the availability of banking services, such as savings and checking accounts, to marijuana shops that typically deal in cash. Last month, Colorado became the first state to open retail outlets legally permitted to sell marijuana to adults for recreational purposes, in a system similar to what many states have long had in place for alcohol sales. Washington state is expected to follow Colorado's lead. The number of states approving marijuana for medical purposes has also been growing. California was the first in 1996. It has since been followed by about 20 other states and the District of Columbia. 'Public safety' US Attorney General Eric Holder said last month that the administration was planning ways to accommodate marijuana businesses so they would not always be dealing in cash. "There's a public safety component to this. Huge amounts of cash, substantial amounts of cash just kind of lying around with no place for it to be appropriately deposited, is something that would worry me just from a law enforcement perspective," Holder said on January 23 at an appearance at the University of Virginia. The American Bankers Association expressed scepticism that the guidance would make much difference. Marijuana sales still violate federal law, so banks are still at risk, said Rob Rowe, a lawyer with the trade group. "Compliance by a bank will still require extensive resources to monitor any of these businesses, and it's unlikely the benefits would exceed the costs," Rowe said in an email to Reuters. "While we greatly appreciate the efforts by the Department of Justice and the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), guidance or regulation doesn't alter the underlying challenge for banks." The guidance would not protect banks from state laws, and if a wire transfer that moved marijuana-linked money touched a state where the drug is under strict control, a bank that handled the transfer could be open to state prosecution, experts in money-laundering said. Individual banks may have difficulty identifying which state-licensed businesses would run afoul of the federal guidance, said Peter Djinis, a former regulatory policy official with FinCEN, now in private practice in Florida. "These complicated and vague policies continue the uncertainty that banks have in determining whether to take the risk of conducting financial transactions with otherwise legitimate marijuana businesses," Djinis said.

Source: Agencies

UN: Civilians targeted in S Sudan conflict

Report on violence in world's newest nation says thousands of civilians killed and thousands more raped and tortured.

Civilians in South Sudan have been the main target of recent ethnic violence that is likely to have killed thousands, and thousands more have been raped, arrested and tortured, the United Nations said. The UN said the report on the first six weeks of the conflict offered a "snapshot" of violence perpetrated mainly by forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and by those of his opponent former vice president Riek Machar. It is the first report on human rights abuses committed during the conflict. Kiir is from the Dinka tribe, the country’s largest and most powerful, while Machar is an ethnic Nuer. During more than 500 interviews, the report said, witnesses, victims and government and security officials reported the deliberate targeting of civilians. Investigators looked at developments between December 15, when the conflict began, and January 31, the Associated Press news agency reported. The UN said that those targeted included nationals and foreigners slain in "extrajudicial and other unlawful killings, including mass killings, enforced disappearances, gender-based violence such as rapes and gang rapes, and instances of ill-treatment and torture by forces from both sides of the conflict." Human rights experts said "it is premature to judge whether or not sexual violence was used as a weapon of war" since incidents are still being investigated. The interim report focuses on alleged rights abuses in the four states which have seen the heaviest fighting - Central Equatoria where the violence began in the capital Juba on December 15, and Jonglei and oil-rich Unity and Upper Nile states where it quickly spread in the following days. 'Children killed' The government insists that the unrest was sparked by a failed military coup mounted by soldiers loyal to Machar. It arrested 11 officials it suspected of involvement in the coup plot but seven have since been freed as part of a ceasefire agreement signed last month. Machar denies the coup allegation but says his goal is to have Kiir, who is backed by troops from neighbouring Uganda, removed from power. While the trigger for the violence remains in dispute, the report said it has led to "a major security, human rights, and humanitarian catastrophe," and increased ethnic polarisation in the world's newest nation. The report does not cover events in February but it said the situation on the ground is still volatile, and violations of human rights are continuing, especially in areas where there is continued fighting. The UN mission, in a release accompanying the report, said that in the recent battle for control of Malakal, the capital of Upper Nile State, there was fresh evidence of rights abuses including the execution of two children outside the perimeter of the UN compound on Thursday. During the first six weeks of the conflict, the report said, "it is clear that civilians bore the brunt of much of the fighting and that gross violations of human rights were committed".

Source: AP

Uganda to consult scientists on homosexuality

President to seek scientific advice on whether homosexuality is "genetic or behavioural" before signing anti-gay bill.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has put a bill imposing strict penalties for homosexuality on hold to give scientists a chance to prove that homosexuality could be triggered by genes and is not a "lifestyle choice". Homosexuality is taboo in many African countries and illegal in 37. Few Africans are openly gay, as they fear imprisonment, violence and loss of their jobs. The US warned that signing the bill into law would complicate its relationship with Uganda, a regional ally in the fight against al-Shabab in Somalia, to whom it gives more than $400m in aid every year. Museveni dismissed the US threat, but said in a statement dated February 18 and seen by the Reuters news agency on Friday that he would not sign the proposed law until after hearing from scientists. "What I want them to clarify is whether a combination of genes can cause anybody to be a homosexual," Museveni said in the statement. "Then my task will be finished and I will sign the bill." Museveni said local scientists would carry out the study but he invited US scientists to help. It was unclear how long the inquiry would last. Tamale Mirundi, presidential spokesman, told Reuters on Friday the bill would be on hold for now "until more conclusive research is done, and that's what the president is saying in that letter". The bill, which was introduced in 2009, initially proposed a death sentence for homosexual acts, but was amended to prescribe jail terms including life in jail for what it called aggravated homosexuality. That category includes gay sex with a minor, where the victim is infected with HIV and where the victim is vulnerable, such as a disabled person. Presidential election Museveni last month said he would shelve the bill, which has drawn fire from Western donors and human rights groups. But on February 14, he told legislators from his ruling National Resistance Movement party that he planned to sign the law after receiving an opinion from a group of Ugandan scientists that homosexuality was a lifestyle choice that had no connection to genes. The president is trying to please a conservative local constituency vehemently opposed to homosexuality while at the same time avoiding alienating Western aid donors. Museveni may have been under pressure to sign the bill after his party backed him as the flag bearer in the 2016 presidential elections, analysts said. "He could not deny the wish of the MPs who had just given him what he wanted," political analyst Peter Mwesige, who heads the Africa Centre for Media Excellence, said.

Source: Agencies

Al-Shabab attacks Somali presidential palace

Mogadishu police say 14 people, including nine fighters, killed in suicide bomb and gun assault, but president unharmed.

Al-Qaeda-linked group al-Shabab have attacked the heavily-fortified Somali presidential palace compound, blasting through a gate with a car bomb and engaging palace guards in a fierce gun battle that left 14 people dead, police have said.

Al-Shabab said it carried out the Friday attack on the heavily fortified compound in Mogadishu, known as Villa Somalia. The Somali president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, was unharmed.

"Our commandos have attacked the so-called presidential palace in order to kill or arrest those who who are inside. The enemy had suffered a great deal of harm," Sheikh Abdul Aziz Abu Musab, the group's military spokesman, told the AFP news agency.

The president said al-Shabab would gain nothing more than publicity, adding that the group were on the verge of being defeated.

"Apart from media headlines, #Shabaab will achieve nothing from it," a Twitter account run by the president's office said.

"Don't be fooled by this media spectacular [sic]. This is another act of desperation from a dying animal."

The AFP quoted police as saying that at least 14 people died in the attack: five Somali officials or soldiers and nine attackers. The interior ministry said two government officials were among the dead.

Mogadishu, the capital, has been hit by a series of suicide bomb in the past few weeks, attacks claimed by al-Shabab, which was pushed out of the city in mid-2011 but has continued to wage a sustained armed campaign.

Al-Shabab in uniform

Friday's battle took place at the house of Somalia's top military commander, General Dahir Aden Indha Qarshe, located in the same compound and near the presidential palace building, Abdikadir Ahmed, a senior police officer, told the Reuters news agency.

"The Shabab fighters who attacked the palace were about 10 men in military uniform and the red hats [worn by the palace guards]," Hussein Farah, a senior police officer at the scene, told Reuters.

"They had three cars. One was a car bomb and the other cars were carrying well-armed fighters," he said.

"All the Shabab fighters died; some blew themselves up while others were shot dead. Several government guards also died. Now the fighting is over."

The Special Representative for the UN Secretary-General to Somalia, Nicholas Kay, condemned the attack.

"This is another desperate and criminal act which does nothing but harm to the people of Somalia," said Kay after speaking to the Somali president.

"The Somali people are tired of shootings, bombings and killings. It’s time for a new chapter in Somalia’s history and we cannot allow a slide back at this critical time.

"The UN and the international community remain steadfast in their determination to see a new Somalia rise."

Libyan military aircraft goes down in Tunisia

Crash kills 11 people, including two medical patients and three doctors, Tunisian authorities say.

A Libyan military plane carrying medical patients has crashed near Tunisia's capital, killing all 11 crew and passengers on board after an engine failure, Tunisian authorities said.

The aircraft crashed in a field early on Friday, on the edge of the village of Nianou, around 40 km from the capital.

The Libyan flag was still visible on the tailplane amid the charred wreckage of the aircraft.

The aircraft went down after the pilot tried to land in farmland near Grombalia town south of Tunis, the TAP state news agency reported. "The plane crashed at 1:30 am (0030 GMT)... with 11 people on board -- three doctors, two patients and six crew members," emergency services spokesman Mongi El Kadhi said. "The whole plane was completely burnt out. The emergency services went to the crash site and recovered the charred bodies." There was no immediate word on the identities of the two patients on board or why they were being flown to Tunis-Carthage international airport from a military airfield near Tripoli, though Libyans often travel to Tunisia for medical treatment. Tunis air traffic control official Sofiene Bejaoui said the aircraft was a Soviet-designed twin-propeller Antonov-26. "According to the air traffic controller who spoke to him last, the pilot's final message was 'Engine on fire'," Bejaoui said. It was the second crash involving a military plane in North Africa in two weeks. An Algerian military transport plane crashed into a mountain in bad weather on February 11, killing 77 people, in the country's worst air disaster in a decade.

Source: Agencies

Attack on Nigeria town leaves scores dead

More than 1,500 buildings razed and some 400 vehicles destroyed in the latest assault by armed groups in the northeast.

At least 115 people have been killed in Nigeria's northeast, more than 1,500 buildings razed and some 400 vehicles destroyed in the latest attack by armed groups, witnesses said.

Wednesday's night attack on Bama came as a traditional ruler accused the military of being scared to confront the fighters, the Associated Press news agency reported.

Sitting amid the smoking ruins of his palace, the shehu, or king, of Bama, Kyari Ibn Elkanemi, charged that the government "is not serious" about halting the violence.

The attack on Bama, an agricultural and commercial town, came the day the leader of the Boko Haram, a group blamed for widespread violence in the northeast, warned leading Nigerian Muslim politicians and religious and traditional leaders that his fighters would target them for pursuing democracy and Western-style education.

In the video message, punctuated by the crackle of automatic gunfire, Abubakar Shekau said: "The reason I will kill you is that you are infidels, you follow democracy ... Whoever follows democracy is an infidel and my enemy."

Shekau spoke in the local Hausa and Kanuri languages in the video, obtained by the AP on Thursday through channels that have provided previous communications.

Many more Muslims than Christians have been among the thousands of people killed in the 4-year-old rebellion by his Boko Haram.

Islamic state

The name means "Western education is forbidden", and the group aims to transform Nigeria into an Islamic state, even though half the more than 160 million citizens are Christians.

Boko Haram killed 106 people in Ighze village on Sunday, according to official figures, making it one of their deadliest assaults so far.

The military denied that Boko Haram were better armed or motivated and said it was making progress, but that no country facing terrorism had defeated it completely.

President Goodluck Jonathan ordered extra troops into northeast Nigeria in May to crush Boko Haram, which opposes Western influence and wants to create a state ruled by Islamic law in the country's largely Muslim north. However, the offensive, backed by air power, has so far failed. The fighters have retreated into the remote, hilly Gwoza area bordering Cameroon, from where they mount deadly attacks against civilians they accuse of being pro-government, and are abducting scores of girls. Earlier on Wednesday, Boko Haram fighters attacked the house of an army general in the village of Buratai in Borno state, killing a soldier guarding it, Borno state police chief Lawal Tanko said. He said General Umar Tukur Buratai, who is stationed in the southern oil-rich Niger Delta, was not there at the time of the assault, which had inflicted "minimal damage". Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, derives more than 90 percent of its foreign exchange earnings from oil.

Source: Agencies

Uganda to deport Briton charged over gay sex

Bernard Randall's lawyers say prosecutors are using expired visa as excuse to deport him after case is dropped.

A Ugandan court has ordered the deportation of a British man facing criminal charges related to images of him having sex with another man. A lawyer for Bernard Randall said on Wednesday that prosecutors were using the excuse of an expired visa to seek Randall's deportation after failing to find evidence against him in the criminal case. Lawyer Francis Onyango said his client traveled to Uganda on a tourist visa that expired after his passport was stolen. Jane Kajuga, a spokeswoman for Uganda's directorate of prosecutions, said prosecutors dropped the case but did not explain why. Randall, 65, will likely be flown out of the country on Thursday after a magistrate ordered his immediate deportation, police commander Edgar Nyabongo told the Associated Press news agency. The Briton was charged last year with trafficking in obscene material. His laptop computer was stolen from his home and photos on the computer showing him have sex with another man were sent to a Ugandan newspaper that published them. That led to the charges.  Randall will be the second foreigner deported from the East African country over alleged homosexual offenses. Last year the British producer of a gay-themed play was deported after being jailed for staging the play without official authorisation. Such authorisation is not usually required to stage a play. Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda, where lawmakers last month passed a new bill that prescribes life imprisonment for "aggravated'' homosexual acts. The bill, which appears to have wide support among Ugandans, has been opposed by the president, who says it is too harsh and has yet to sign it into law. Rights groups have condemned it as draconian.

Source: AP

Silkair Marks Silver Jubilee With Delivery Of New Boeing 737-800 Aircraft

SINGAPORE, Jan 9 - With 25 years in the air under its wing, SilkAir, the regional arm of Singapore Airlines, will be celebrating its Silver anniversary this year.

To mark the jubilee celebrations, the airline will be taking delivery of the first aircraft in its new fleet of 54 Boeing 737s in early February 2014.

A total of eight planes are expected this year, with the remaining aircraft to be delivered by the end of this decade.

With the new aircraft, several enhancements will be offered to improve the in-flight experience for travellers including upgraded cabin interiors with more spacious overhead luggage compartments and lighting systems.

In addition to the milestone aircraft delivery, SilkAir will roll out a host of surprises and celebrations for their avid Asian traveller target.

At a press briefing here Thursday, SilkAir chief executive, Leslie Thng, said: "Our new Boeing fleet will enable us to put the passengers at the centre of our focus, with the objective of delivering a higher level of quality and experience.

"Despite aggressive competition, we have maintained a strong foothold in the market as a full-service regional carrier and become known for offering access to unique destinations, with genuine and thoughtful service that exemplifies true Asian hospitality," he said.

Moving forward, Thng said the airline would continue to improve and adapt, catering to the evolving needs of travellers in Asia.

"We will focus on expanding our network to unique destinations especially in key markets such as China, India and Indonesia and continue to build on the last 25 years, and soar to new heights of air travel excellence."

To rally consumers and involve them in SilkAir's historic Boeing delivery, the airline will bring aviation buffs together to virtually deliver the new aircraft to Singapore.

Tracking the actual delivery route, from the Boeing Renton factory in Seattle to Singapore's Changi Airport, the "Bringing Boeing Home with SilAir" programme is Asia's first 25-hour flight simulator event that will allow up to 150 selected members of the public to fly a simulator SilkAir Boeing 737-800 plane into Singapore.

The event will take place overnight from Feb 7-8 at Flight Experience Singapore, located at the Singapore Flyer.

SilkAir travellers will also be rewarded through special promotional deals where 250,000 tickets will be made available at special rates for consumers in Singapore and across the region.

The first aircraft is planned to enter service from Feb 20, 2014, flying to destinations including Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Phuket and Medan while the arrival of the second plane will allow the addition of other routes including Siem Reap, Danang, Davao, Cebu and Kochi from March 17.

BERNAMA

Angolan Capital To Host Summit Of Leaders Of Africa's Great Lakes Region

LUANDA, Jan 9 - The Angolan capital will play host from Friday until Jan 15 to the 5th Ordinary Summit of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR ) to discuss peace, stability and development in the 12-nation grouping stretching across central Africa from the Atlantic to the Indian Oceans.

A source at the Foreign Ministry here told ANGOP Wednesday that members of some delegations were already in Luanda to attend Friday's meetings of the grouping's Heads of Army General Staff and of the Chiefs of Intelligence Services.

On Saturday, ICGLR defence ministers will hold their meeting and this will be followed by a meeting of the National Co-ordinators on Sunday and Monday. Tuesday will see the meeting of the Regional Inter-Ministerial Committee.

The leaders of the region are expected in the country on Tuesday and on Wednesday morning will gather at the Talatona Centre, south of Luanda, for their summit to discuss the peace and security situation in the region. Angola will assume the chair of the ICGLR at the summit.

The ICGLR was created after the political conflicts that marked the Great Lakes region in 1994, whose result marked the recognition of their size and the need for a concerted effort aimed at promoting peace and development in the region.

The ICGLR executive secretariat is based since May 2007, in Bujumbura, Burundi, and has the function of co-ordinating, facilitating and ensuring the implementation of the pact to create the conditions of peace, security, political stability and development in the Great Lakes region.

The current executive secretary is from th Democratic Republic of Congo, elected in December 2011, and the chairmanship of the ICGLR is with Uganda since 2011.

The ICGLR members are Angola , Burundi , Central African Republic (CAR ), Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo ( DRC ), Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.

BERNAMA-NNN-ANGOP

Father of Nigella Lawson aides nabbed for extortion

ROME  - The mobster father of British celebrity chef Nigella Lawson's two assistants, who were acquitted at a high-profile fraud trial in London last month, has been arrested for allegedly extorting nightclubs in Milan.

Michele Grillo, 66, previously served 15 years in prison for a kidnapping in the 1980s by the 'Ndrangheta organised crime syndicate but claimed he had changed his ways and was now working honestly as a truck driver.

Prosecutors who ordered his arrest on Wednesday said he is in fact the right-hand man of Agostino Catanzariti, who was also detained and is alleged to be the ring-leader of the group taking protection money from some of Milan's top clubs.

"In this particular case the link between business owners and 'Ndrangheta goes back a decade with a sort of 'insurance' that was periodically renewed," Paolo Storari, a prosecutor in charge of the investigation, was quoted as saying.

AFP

France to cut troop numbers in Mali

French president says "mission accomplished" in Mali and announces troop reductions starting February.

France will cut its troops in Mali to 1,600 by the middle of February from the current level of 2,500, President Francois Hollande has said. Speaking at an airbase in Creil in northern France on Wednesday, Hollande said the "situation is well under control" in Mali, where the "key objectives of the mission have been accomplished". "The troop size will be reduced from about 2,500 at present to 1,600 and then to 1,000, which is the number necessary to fight any threat that might resurface as these terrorist groups are still present in northern Mali," the president said. He also announced that France plans to use two unarmed Reaper drones to survey the region. France launched Operation Serval in its former colony in January 11 last year to repel the advance of al-Qaeda linked armed groups following a coup. At the height of the operation, 5,000 troops were deployed. A UN mission also deployed more than 12,000 troops. The French intervention sought to stop armed groups and Tuareg rebels from advancing on the capital, Bamako. The armed groups that once controlled northern Mali are believe to have been killed, or dispersed elsewhere in the Sahel region, notably to southern Libya.

Source: Agencies

1,000 ill as Japan tainted food scam widens

TOKYO

MORE than 1,000 people have fallen ill after eating pesticide-contaminated frozen food as a scandal widens across Japan, Jiji Press reported yesterday.

People have reported vomiting, diarrhoea and other symptoms of food poisoning after eating products including pizza and lasagne made by a subsidiary of Maruha Nichiro Holdings, the nation’s largest seafood firm.

The number of people affected by the tainted food has now risen to over 1,000, with more than 200 taken ill in the northern main island of Hokkaido alone, Jiji said.

In western Osaka prefecture, a nine-month-old baby was hospitalised with vomiting on Monday after eating a product called creamy corn croquettes, the report said. Police began investigating the company last month after it revealed some of its frozen food had been tainted with malathion, an agricultural chemical often used to kill aphids in corn and rice fields.

Detectives are looking at the possibility that the pesticide was deliberately added to the food at some stage of production at a factory in Gunma, north of Tokyo, Jiji said. As of Wednesday, Maruha Nichiro has received about 630,000 phone calls from consumers in connection with the incident, including complaints from customers who had eaten tainted products and some reporting unusual odours, a company spokeswoman said. The food maker has recalled 6.4 million potentially tainted products, with 1.49 million packages recovered so far, she said.

AFP

Bangkok Shutdown To Cause Billions Of Baht Losses To Thailand's Ailing Economy

BANGKOK, Jan 9 - Thailand's economy is to incur about 40 billion baht losses following the political turmoil in the country linked to the planned Bangkok shutdown action on Monday.

The figure is based on the losses of between 700 million and 1 billion per day due to the shutdown for two weeks (from Jan 13 until the general election on Feb 2), estimated Thanavath Phonvichai, Director of the Economic and Business Forecasting Centre at the University of Thai Chamber of Commerce.

Spending in Bangkok and nearby provinces would drop by 5-10 per cent a day from the day of the shutdown, while spending in other provinces could drop by 1-5 per cent due to weak consumer sentiments, he told reporters Thursday.

Thanavath said weak sentiments would result in reduced consumer spending by about 500 million baht per day while income from the tourism sector would drop by between 200 million to 500 million baht a day.

As a result, the Thailand economy could only grow by 3-4 per cent this year, slower than in the previous forecast of 4-5 per cent as Thailand's economy was now quite fragile and sensitive to the political situation, he said.

According to the poll by the UTCC from 2,242 respondents between Jan 2 and Jan 7, the Consumer Confidence Index slipped for the ninth straight month from 75 points in November to 73.4 points in December.

Confidence in future employment opportunities dipped from 68.2 points in November to 66.7 points last month, while confidence in future incomes also slid from 91.8 points to 90.3 points.

Wachira Kuntaweethep, the centre's assistant director, said consumers have stocked up more goods and most enterprises expect that their sales and profit would drop sharply due to the shutdown.

Enterprises said they would not lay off employees but their business expansion plans could be delayed as a result of the political turbulence, Wachira added.

BERNAMA

Black Middle Class Will Stick With ANC, Says Ramaphosa

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 9 - African National Congress (ANC) Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has rejected predictions that the black middle class will abandon their support for the ruling party in South Africa's forthcoming elections.

Political analysts have cited corruption, inflation, youth unemployment and imposition of tolls on some highways as factors which may alienate the black middle class from the ruling party but Ramaphosa says he is convinced that the party will triumph in urban areas.

Ramaphosa said Wednesday that the ANC was "not worried." He added: "Our support is solid and membership is growing. Even in the urban areas, people still love the ANC and we are not concerned about all the talk that we are going to be declining in urban areas."

According to Ramaphosa, people have a deep love affair with the ANC. He said that for 20 years since the end of apartheid, the party had been learning, had stumbled but kept going.

President Jacob Zuma, who is also the ANC president, has meanwhile vowed that the ANC will rule South Africa forever.

Speaking during a door-to-door campaign in Nelspruit, in Mpumalanga Province, where the party will on Friday launch its election manifesto, Zuma scoffed at suggestions that support for the ANC was waning, saying the party will hammer the opposition.

Earlier, residents of Kanyamazane township, outside Nelspruit, told President Zuma that they would work with the ANC in their community to improve their living conditions. The president was in the area as part of the ruling party's mobilisation campaign to mark its 102 years of existence.

Zuma inter-acted with people at a local shopping complex and conducted a door-to-door campaign. Addressing ANC supporters in the area, the President predicted a decisive victory for the ANC in forthcoming general elections.

BERNAMA-NNN-SABC