French commando dies in helicopter accident in Burkina Faso

A French special forces commando has died in Burkina Faso during what the French defence ministry said was a training flight in the politically volatile African nation.

The ministry identified the man as a 38-year-old army master sergeant, Samir Bajja, and said he was on board a Caracal tactical troop transport helicopter that crashed Saturday night. Two members of the crew were seriously hurt.

France has played a role in calming a political crisis that erupted late October in Burkina Faso — a former French colony — when mass street demonstrations toppled president Blaise Compaore.

French President Francois Hollande has acknowledged that his country ensured Compaore’s evacuation to neighbouring Ivory Coast.

French forces are also conducting an “anti-terrorist” operation in the region, based out of Chad.

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Pope Francis Says Kano Mosque Attack a ‘Sin Against God’

Pope Francis has condemned the deadly attacks that occurred at the emir of Kano’s Central mosque in Kano, northern Nigeria, describing it as an “extremely serious sin against God”.
Pope Francis made the comments on Sunday, the final day of his trip to Turkey.

At least 150 people were killed and 135 wounded when two suicide bombers blew themselves up and gunmen opened fire during weekly prayers on Friday at the Grand Mosque in Kano.

Although no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, the Boko Haram sect is the prime suspect, as the group had carried out similar attacks in the past.

In a meeting with Turkish political and religious officials, at the start of his second trip to the Middle East this year, the Pope further urged Muslim leaders to condemn the “barbaric violence” being committed in Islam’s name against religious minorities in Iraq and Syria.

Pope Francis visit is aimed at improving inter-faith ties.

He reaffirmed that military force was justified to halt the Islamic State group’s advance, and called for greater dialogue between Christians, Muslims and people of all faiths to end fundamentalism.

Britain to spend £15bn on roads before election

Britain pledged Monday to invest £15 billion in roads infrastructure over the next five years as part of a major spending package before next year’s general election.

The government announced the initiative, worth the equivalent of $24 billion or 19 billion euros, ahead of this week’s budget update.

British finance minister George Osborne will deliver his so-called autumn statement before parliament at 1230 GMT on Wednesday.

Osborne, a Conservative member of the coalition government which includes junior partners the Liberal Democrats, has already flagged major investment in health services.

Wednesday’s statement will lay the groundwork for Osborne’s final annual budget, likely to be in March before a general election due in May.

“Today I am setting out the biggest, boldest and most far-reaching roads programme for decades,” said Roads Minister Patrick McLoughlin on Monday.

“It will dramatically improve our road network and unlock Britain’s economic potential,” he said, noting that roads were “key” to economic prosperity.

“This government has a long-term plan to secure the country’s future and this £15 billion roads programme is demonstration of that.

“Better roads allow us to travel freely, creating jobs and opportunities, benefiting hardworking families across the country.”

The cash will be invested in more than 100 road schemes, of which 84 are brand new.

The projects will include a tunnel on the A303 trunk road past Britain’s prehistoric Stonehenge site in southwest England, while some £1.5 billion will be spent on adding extra lanes to some motorways.

Osborne added that the plan would “transform some of the country’s most important strategic routes” .

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander, a Liberal Democrat, said the new strategy would “help unleash the economic potential of both the regions they serve and of the overall economy”.

However, the main opposition Labour party said the announcement was not new.

“This is just yet another re-announcement on promised road improvements,” said Michael Dugher, Labour’s transport spokesman.

“The government has ‘announced’ plans for road investment at least three times since 2013. And no additional money has been announced.”

Ahead of the budget update, Osborne revealed Sunday that he will give a financial boost to the state-run National Health Service (NHS).

He pledged an extra £2.0 billion next year for Britain’s frontline NHS services, although £750 million is reportedly coming from savings in the Department of Health.

He also vowed to spend £1.1 billion on improving GP services over four years using proceeds from fines imposed on banks over the foreign exchange market-rigging scandal.

Egypt sentences 188 Muslim Brotherhood supporters to death

More than 180 supporters of the banned Muslim Brotherhood have been sentenced to death in Egypt over a 2013 attack on a police station near Cairo.

The attack took place on the same day as Egyptian security forces broke up protest camps set up by Brotherhood supporters, leaving hundreds dead.

Egypt has been fiercely criticised for its crackdown on Islamist supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi.

Hundreds of death sentences have been passed but none have been carried out.

The latest sentences are subject to the opinion of Egypt’s top religious authority, the Grand Mufti.

A final verdict is due on 24 January, after which defendants may appeal.

More than 140 of the 188 defendants are already in custody, while the rest have been sentenced in absentia.

Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie is facing execution after two separate trials

The sentences were passed for an attack on a police station in the village of Kerdasa on 14 August 2013, in which at least 11 officers were killed.

More than 500 people have been sentenced to death for a separate attack on a police station in Minya on the same day.

Mr Morsi, a senior figure of the Brotherhood, had been forced from office by the military in the previous month, following mass protests against him.

He was succeeded by President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, a former military chief who has been heavily criticised for his crackdown on the Islamists.

On Saturday, another court dropped all charges against former President Hosni Mubarak, who has been in custody since being overthrown in the so-called Arab Spring uprising of 2011.

Critics of the current government accuse it of restoring Mr Mubarak’s authoritarian practices.

Wife, son of IS chief, Baghdadi detained in Lebanon

Lebanese forces have detained a wife and son of Islamic State group chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi near the Syrian border, security and military sources said on Tuesday.

“Military intelligence detained one of his wives, who was travelling with their son, near (Lebanese border town) Arsal 10 days ago,” a security source told AFP.

A military source confirmed the arrest and said the woman was a Syrian national, and her son was around eight years old.

Lebanese daily As-Safir, which first reported the arrest, said it was carried out “in coordination with foreign intelligence agencies”.

The security source said the wife and child were taken to the defence ministry headquarters in Yarze “where investigations were continuing.”

The security source said the arrest had been kept secret while security arrangements were made.

Baghdadi was proclaimed “caliph” of IS’s self-declared Islamic “caliphate” spanning territory in Syria and Iraq in June.

He was put on the US “terrorism” watchlist in October 2011, and there is a $10 million (eight million euro) bounty for his capture.

World Bank announces $160m for Ebola-hit Sierra Leone

World Bank chief Jim Yong Kim announced a $160 million two-year economic recovery plan on Wednesday to help impoverished Sierra Leone battle the worst Ebola outbreak on record.

Kim said after a closed-door meeting with President Ernest Bai Koroma in Freetown the cash would go towards regional operations centres and emergency response teams in the hard-hit west and north of the country.

The aid would also focus on the country’s floundering farming sector and rural job creation, he told reporters.

“We are concerned that agricultural production has dropped significantly as a result of the Ebola epidemic and we will help farmers recover by building feeder roads that connect small farmers to markets,” Kim said.

“We must make sure that the Ebola epidemic is not followed by a food security crisis. We will work to improve basic infrastructure such as urban services and access to electricity that will help the well being of citizens.”

The Ebola outbreak ravaging west Africa has claimed 6,070 lives, according to the latest World Health Organization update, with almost all of the deaths in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea.

In Sierra Leone, where an increase in cases in the west of the country is causing alarm, 1,583 deaths out of 7,312 suspected cases were reported as of November 30.

The World Bank said Tuesday the fallout from Ebola would push Sierra Leone into recession next year.

The west African nation of six million grew at 11.3 percent in the first half of the year but has contracted since at a 2.8 percent rate.

The country is expected to achieve four percent growth this year and shrink by two percent in 2015. Gross domestic product could fall $900 million next year, the bank said.

Food production will also decrease because planting was curtailed in the June-August period. Heavy rain in September hit the country’s rice crop and iron ore prices plunged.

A recent United Nations study in Sierra Leone found that 47 percent of people questioned believe the crisis has seriously affected their agricultural activities.

Koroma said he was reassured by Kim’s visit.

“The presence of (Kim) will send a signal to the rest of the world that Sierra Leone is still open for visitors,” he said at the joint news conference at the State House.

“We are still safe, we are fighting Ebola and our focus is to isolate the virus and not to isolate the country.”

Kim flew to Conakry later on Wednesday, where he was expected to meet government officials and health experts.

Impeachment Plot: Presidency pleads with senators

In a statement issued yesterday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, the Presidency urged the law makers to  continue with their work of nation building for the development of the country and well-being of the people saying, “the Senate in the last four years has conducted its legislative functions and responded to issues that are of great national importance with commendable political sagacity.

 

The presidency further said, “In this same period, the senate has functioned as a stabilizing force within the polity employing much political maturity that is required to guide and protect our nascent democracy. However, confrontation and strong disagreements are not uncommon phenomenon in Executive-Legislative relationship world-wide.

 

“The recent purported attempt by some Senators to prepare impeachable offences against the President, as reported in some section of the Media, is seen by us in this light.

 

“We strongly trust and believe in the leadership of the present Senate and the unwavering patriotism and commitment that have been shown by the distinguished members and we trust that ultimately it is this tendency towards true Nationalism that will prevail in the senate.”