2015-01-12 08:17
Maputo - At least 56 people, including a toddler, have died from
apparent poisoning after consuming traditional beer known as "phombe" in
the north-west of Mozambique, local authorities said on Sunday.
Carla
Mosse, director of health for the province of Tete, told Radio
Mocambique that 39 people remained hospitalised on Sunday after
suffering the same type of beer poisoning that caused the first deaths
on Saturday morning.
All the victims - including a 2-year-old
child - participated in a funeral on Friday during which they apparently
drank the traditional beer made from millet bran, the Mozambique paper A
Verdade reported.
Also Read: 50 die after drinking poisoned beer
The exact cause of the contamination remains unknown, but the
woman who brewed the "phombe" and several members of her family were
among the victims, Radio Mocambique reported.
"It's the first time
we've faced such a tragedy," said Mosse, who added that samples of the
poisoned beer, blood, urine and gastric fluids have been taken and are
being sent to the capital Maputo and South Africa for analysis.
Mozambique's government declared three days of national mourning in a decree published on Sunday evening.
Monday, 12 January 2015
Beijing no 'Western colonialist' - minister
2015-01-12 08:16
Beijing - China will not follow the path of "Western colonists" in
Africa, its foreign minister said during a five-nation tour of the
continent, parrying criticism that his country's hunger for resources
has led to one-sided policies and damaging projects.
China is Africa's biggest trade partner, and has sought to tap the region's rich resources to fuel its own economic growth over the past two decades.
But Beijing's involvement has been called "neo-colonial" by some African leaders, who fear projects bring little benefit to local people, with materials and even labour being imported from China.
"We absolutely will not take the old path of Western colonists, and we absolutely will not sacrifice Africa's ecological environment and long-term interests," Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Chinese Central Television while in Kenya.
Also Read: Australians reject siding with Japan over China
His comments were published on the ministry's website late on Sunday.
Beijing has previously said its cooperation with African nations covers farm, health and infrastructure-related projects.
In July, China said more than half its foreign aid, of more than $14bn between 2010 and 2012, went to Africa.
China says there are no strings attached to its aid, but some of its projects have drawn attention for their support of governments with poor human rights records and lack of transparency, such as Zimbabwe, Sudan and Angola.
Wang's trip includes stops in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Speaking to reporters in Sudan on Sunday, Wang defended China's mediation efforts in South Sudan, rejecting the idea they were intended to safeguard its own oil interests.
China is the biggest investor in the oil industry in South Sudan, which split from Sudan in 2011. It has played an unusually large diplomatic role in the country and committed about 700 UN peacekeepers amid a civil war that has killed more than 10 000 people.
"China's mediation of South Sudan issues is completely the responsibility and duty of a responsible power, and not because of China's own interests," Wang said in comments posted to the foreign ministry's website on Monday.
Reuters
China is Africa's biggest trade partner, and has sought to tap the region's rich resources to fuel its own economic growth over the past two decades.
But Beijing's involvement has been called "neo-colonial" by some African leaders, who fear projects bring little benefit to local people, with materials and even labour being imported from China.
"We absolutely will not take the old path of Western colonists, and we absolutely will not sacrifice Africa's ecological environment and long-term interests," Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Chinese Central Television while in Kenya.
Also Read: Australians reject siding with Japan over China
His comments were published on the ministry's website late on Sunday.
Beijing has previously said its cooperation with African nations covers farm, health and infrastructure-related projects.
In July, China said more than half its foreign aid, of more than $14bn between 2010 and 2012, went to Africa.
China says there are no strings attached to its aid, but some of its projects have drawn attention for their support of governments with poor human rights records and lack of transparency, such as Zimbabwe, Sudan and Angola.
Wang's trip includes stops in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Speaking to reporters in Sudan on Sunday, Wang defended China's mediation efforts in South Sudan, rejecting the idea they were intended to safeguard its own oil interests.
China is the biggest investor in the oil industry in South Sudan, which split from Sudan in 2011. It has played an unusually large diplomatic role in the country and committed about 700 UN peacekeepers amid a civil war that has killed more than 10 000 people.
"China's mediation of South Sudan issues is completely the responsibility and duty of a responsible power, and not because of China's own interests," Wang said in comments posted to the foreign ministry's website on Monday.
Reuters
Anti-Islam protests to be held across Germany
2015-01-12 09:02
Berlin - Anti-Islam and anti-refugee protesters are expected to take to the streets across Germany on Monday, hoping to boost their ranks after last week's terrorist attacks in Paris.
The weekly demonstrations organized by Pegida, or Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West, have been steadily swelling since they were launched about three months ago. About 18 000 people marched in Dresden - the focus of the protests - a week ago.
Protests are also set to be held on Monday in other parts of the country, including in Hanover and Kassel, as well in Chancellor Angela Merkel's own eastern German electorate.
Also Read: Australian Imams council condemns Sydney siegeAuthorities in Dusseldorf plan to turn off all the lights in the town hall on Monday to distance the western German city from Pegida.
Counter demonstrations are also planned by Pegida opponents, who turned out in large numbers a week ago to make a stand against the anti-Islam and anti-refugees rallies.
The weekly Pegida protests are being closely followed by European governments concerned about a backlash against Muslims after last week's massacre by Islamist gunmen at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris.
Berlin - Anti-Islam and anti-refugee protesters are expected to take to the streets across Germany on Monday, hoping to boost their ranks after last week's terrorist attacks in Paris.
The weekly demonstrations organized by Pegida, or Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West, have been steadily swelling since they were launched about three months ago. About 18 000 people marched in Dresden - the focus of the protests - a week ago.
Protests are also set to be held on Monday in other parts of the country, including in Hanover and Kassel, as well in Chancellor Angela Merkel's own eastern German electorate.
Also Read: Australian Imams council condemns Sydney siegeAuthorities in Dusseldorf plan to turn off all the lights in the town hall on Monday to distance the western German city from Pegida.
Counter demonstrations are also planned by Pegida opponents, who turned out in large numbers a week ago to make a stand against the anti-Islam and anti-refugees rallies.
The weekly Pegida protests are being closely followed by European governments concerned about a backlash against Muslims after last week's massacre by Islamist gunmen at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris.
Paris attacks: France seeks security answers
2015-01-12 09:02
Paris - France turns its attention on Monday to plugging security holes blamed for failing to prevent the deadliest terrorist attack on the country in half a century, after millions united in historic rallies.
In the biggest show of solidarity, in Paris, more than a million people mourned the victims of three days of terror that began with a massacre at the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday, and ended with 17 people dead.
President Francois Hollande will chair a crisis meeting with cabinet ministers on Monday to discuss security measures after the shootings raised questions about how the attackers slipped through the intelligence services' net.
Also Read:Muslim cop among Paris attack victims - UN
All three gunmen - brothers Said, 34, and Cherif Kouachi, 32, and Amedy Coulibaly, 32 - had a history of extremism and were known to French intelligence.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls has admitted there were "clear failings" after it emerged that the Kouachi brothers had been on a US terror watch list "for years".
Said was known to have travelled to Yemen in 2011, where he received weapons training from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, while Cherif was a known jihadist who was convicted in 2008 for involvement in a network sending fighters to Iraq.
Coulibaly was a repeat criminal offender who had been convicted for extremist Islamist activity.
All three were shot dead by security forces on Friday after a reign of terror that targeted Charlie Hebdo magazine, a kosher supermarket and police.
'Not afraid'
Hollande has warned his traumatised nation to keep up its guard in the face of possible new assaults.
On Sunday he led more than a million people on the march in Paris in tribute to the victims of the attacks as the crowd cried "Not afraid".
The interior ministry said nearly four million people took to the streets across the country in the biggest rallies in France's history, with some estimates putting the number in Paris alone at 1.6 million.
At the head of the vast and colourful procession in the capital, Hollande linked arms with world leaders including the Israeli prime minister and the Palestinian president, in an historic display of unity.
Also Read: Shots fired in Paris car chase - police source
The vast crowd chanted "Charlie, Charlie", in honour of the cartoonists and journalists killed at Charlie Hebdo over its lampooning of the Prophet Mohammed.
The crowd brandished banners saying "I'm French and I'm not scared" and, in tribute to the murdered cartoonists, "Make fun, not war" and "Ink should flow, not blood".
Emotions ran high in the grieving City of Light, with many people in tears as they came together under the banner of freedom of speech.
Isabelle Dahmani, a French Christian married to a Muslim, Mohamed, brought the couple's three young children to show them there was nothing to fear.
Firm position
Their nine-year-old daughter had burst into tears as she watched TV pictures of the attack on the magazine's offices, Isabelle said, recalling she had asked if "the bad men are coming to our house?"
The victims' mourning families played a prominent role in the march, alongside representatives from around 50 countries.
In an emotional scene, Charlie Hebdo columnist Patrick Pelloux fell sobbing into the arms of Hollande.
With so many world leaders present, security in the still jittery capital was tight, with police snipers stationed on rooftops and plain-clothes officers among the crowd.
"Today, Paris is the capital of the world," Hollande said. "The entire country will rise up."
Hundreds of thousands of people turned out in other French cities including Bordeaux and Lyon, and marches were held in Berlin, Brussels, Istanbul and Madrid as well as in US and Canadian cities.
The crowd in Paris was also mourning four Jews killed when Coulibaly stormed a kosher supermarket, after he had earlier gunned down a policewoman.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined Hollande at the main synagogue in Paris after the march to honour the Jewish victims, and praised the "very firm position" taken by French leaders against what he called "the new anti-Semitism and terrorism" in France.
'We will win'
British Prime Minister David Cameron, who also marched, predicted Europe would face the threat of extremism "for many years to come", but his Italian counterpart Matteo Renzi pledged the continent "will win the challenge against terrorism".
Earlier Renzi had tweeted using the hashtag #jesuischarlie (I am Charlie), which has been used more than five million times.
Ahead of the rally, interior and security ministers from the European Union and the United States held emergency talks to discuss Islamic extremism.
They urged a strengthening of the EU external borders to limit the movement of extremists between Europe and the Middle East, and said there was an "urgent need" to share air passenger information.
Also Read:I saw horror - Paris massacre survivor
France's three days of terror started when the Kouachi brothers burst into Charlie Hebdo's offices in central Paris and sprayed bullets into an editorial meeting, killing some of France's best-known cartoonists.
They then killed a Muslim policeman as he lay helpless on the ground, and a day later Coulibaly shot dead a policewoman in a Paris suburb.
All three gunmen were shot dead Friday after twin hostage dramas at a printing firm and at the kosher supermarket.
Investigators have been trying to hunt down Coulibaly's partner, 26-year-old Hayat Boumeddiene, but a security source in Turkey told AFP she arrived there on 2 January, before the attacks, and has probably travelled on to Syria.
Coulibaly's mother and sisters condemned his actions, saying "we hope there will not be any confusion between these odious acts and the Muslim religion".
Paris - France turns its attention on Monday to plugging security holes blamed for failing to prevent the deadliest terrorist attack on the country in half a century, after millions united in historic rallies.
In the biggest show of solidarity, in Paris, more than a million people mourned the victims of three days of terror that began with a massacre at the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday, and ended with 17 people dead.
President Francois Hollande will chair a crisis meeting with cabinet ministers on Monday to discuss security measures after the shootings raised questions about how the attackers slipped through the intelligence services' net.
Also Read:Muslim cop among Paris attack victims - UN
All three gunmen - brothers Said, 34, and Cherif Kouachi, 32, and Amedy Coulibaly, 32 - had a history of extremism and were known to French intelligence.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls has admitted there were "clear failings" after it emerged that the Kouachi brothers had been on a US terror watch list "for years".
Said was known to have travelled to Yemen in 2011, where he received weapons training from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, while Cherif was a known jihadist who was convicted in 2008 for involvement in a network sending fighters to Iraq.
Coulibaly was a repeat criminal offender who had been convicted for extremist Islamist activity.
All three were shot dead by security forces on Friday after a reign of terror that targeted Charlie Hebdo magazine, a kosher supermarket and police.
'Not afraid'
Hollande has warned his traumatised nation to keep up its guard in the face of possible new assaults.
On Sunday he led more than a million people on the march in Paris in tribute to the victims of the attacks as the crowd cried "Not afraid".
The interior ministry said nearly four million people took to the streets across the country in the biggest rallies in France's history, with some estimates putting the number in Paris alone at 1.6 million.
At the head of the vast and colourful procession in the capital, Hollande linked arms with world leaders including the Israeli prime minister and the Palestinian president, in an historic display of unity.
Also Read: Shots fired in Paris car chase - police source
The vast crowd chanted "Charlie, Charlie", in honour of the cartoonists and journalists killed at Charlie Hebdo over its lampooning of the Prophet Mohammed.
The crowd brandished banners saying "I'm French and I'm not scared" and, in tribute to the murdered cartoonists, "Make fun, not war" and "Ink should flow, not blood".
Emotions ran high in the grieving City of Light, with many people in tears as they came together under the banner of freedom of speech.
Isabelle Dahmani, a French Christian married to a Muslim, Mohamed, brought the couple's three young children to show them there was nothing to fear.
Firm position
Their nine-year-old daughter had burst into tears as she watched TV pictures of the attack on the magazine's offices, Isabelle said, recalling she had asked if "the bad men are coming to our house?"
The victims' mourning families played a prominent role in the march, alongside representatives from around 50 countries.
In an emotional scene, Charlie Hebdo columnist Patrick Pelloux fell sobbing into the arms of Hollande.
With so many world leaders present, security in the still jittery capital was tight, with police snipers stationed on rooftops and plain-clothes officers among the crowd.
"Today, Paris is the capital of the world," Hollande said. "The entire country will rise up."
Hundreds of thousands of people turned out in other French cities including Bordeaux and Lyon, and marches were held in Berlin, Brussels, Istanbul and Madrid as well as in US and Canadian cities.
The crowd in Paris was also mourning four Jews killed when Coulibaly stormed a kosher supermarket, after he had earlier gunned down a policewoman.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined Hollande at the main synagogue in Paris after the march to honour the Jewish victims, and praised the "very firm position" taken by French leaders against what he called "the new anti-Semitism and terrorism" in France.
'We will win'
British Prime Minister David Cameron, who also marched, predicted Europe would face the threat of extremism "for many years to come", but his Italian counterpart Matteo Renzi pledged the continent "will win the challenge against terrorism".
Earlier Renzi had tweeted using the hashtag #jesuischarlie (I am Charlie), which has been used more than five million times.
Ahead of the rally, interior and security ministers from the European Union and the United States held emergency talks to discuss Islamic extremism.
They urged a strengthening of the EU external borders to limit the movement of extremists between Europe and the Middle East, and said there was an "urgent need" to share air passenger information.
Also Read:I saw horror - Paris massacre survivor
France's three days of terror started when the Kouachi brothers burst into Charlie Hebdo's offices in central Paris and sprayed bullets into an editorial meeting, killing some of France's best-known cartoonists.
They then killed a Muslim policeman as he lay helpless on the ground, and a day later Coulibaly shot dead a policewoman in a Paris suburb.
All three gunmen were shot dead Friday after twin hostage dramas at a printing firm and at the kosher supermarket.
Investigators have been trying to hunt down Coulibaly's partner, 26-year-old Hayat Boumeddiene, but a security source in Turkey told AFP she arrived there on 2 January, before the attacks, and has probably travelled on to Syria.
Coulibaly's mother and sisters condemned his actions, saying "we hope there will not be any confusion between these odious acts and the Muslim religion".
Cleric urges parents to protect children against exploitation
2015-01-12 06:58
Gwagwalada - Rev. Nicholas Okoh, Primate, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, has called on parents to protect their children against being used for selfish political gains ahead of the February general elections.
He made the call on Sunday in Gwagwalada, FCT, at the dedication of the new Holy Trinity Cathedral Building of the Diocese of Gwagwalada.
He said: “Nigerians should not kill themselves for any reason; we should keep our children and ensure that nobody exploits them.”
“The prophecy about Nigeria is that things will be better, we will remain one, we will make more progress and that we are not going backward.”
“Whichever prophecy coming from anywhere that contradicts this is a wrong prophecy.”
He expressed satisfaction with the completion of the cathedral building, adding that the work of God was moving forward.
The primate urged worshipers in the church to see the cathedral as a centre for evangelism and cautioned them against using the grace of God in vain.
“The cathedral should be a centre from which worshipers arrange and mobilise to spread the word of God.”
“It is a place where people will be active in positive things in spreading the word of God so that more souls could be won,” he added.
In his remark, Ndanusa Alao, Chairman, Fund Raising Committee for the cathedral building, described the journey toward the execution of the project as “difficult.”
He said that though the foundation of the cathedral was laid in 2007, actual construction work started in earnest in 2012.
He attributed the success recorded in the project to support from the primate, members of the church as well as other well meaning individuals and corporate bodies.
Gwagwalada - Rev. Nicholas Okoh, Primate, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, has called on parents to protect their children against being used for selfish political gains ahead of the February general elections.
He made the call on Sunday in Gwagwalada, FCT, at the dedication of the new Holy Trinity Cathedral Building of the Diocese of Gwagwalada.
He said: “Nigerians should not kill themselves for any reason; we should keep our children and ensure that nobody exploits them.”
“The prophecy about Nigeria is that things will be better, we will remain one, we will make more progress and that we are not going backward.”
“Whichever prophecy coming from anywhere that contradicts this is a wrong prophecy.”
He expressed satisfaction with the completion of the cathedral building, adding that the work of God was moving forward.
The primate urged worshipers in the church to see the cathedral as a centre for evangelism and cautioned them against using the grace of God in vain.
“The cathedral should be a centre from which worshipers arrange and mobilise to spread the word of God.”
“It is a place where people will be active in positive things in spreading the word of God so that more souls could be won,” he added.
In his remark, Ndanusa Alao, Chairman, Fund Raising Committee for the cathedral building, described the journey toward the execution of the project as “difficult.”
He said that though the foundation of the cathedral was laid in 2007, actual construction work started in earnest in 2012.
He attributed the success recorded in the project to support from the primate, members of the church as well as other well meaning individuals and corporate bodies.
PDP appeals for prayers to honour terror victims
2015-01-12 09:02
Abuja - The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has deplored the killing of citizens in Baga and Maiduguri in Borno State.
It called on Nigerians to declare a month of prayers following the slaughter.
The party also decried last Saturday’s unprovoked attack on President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign vehicles in Jos, Plateau state capital.
The party in a statement on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, said the agenda of sponsors of various violence’s in the country was to provoke revenge and counter attacks but called for restrain from all quarters.
“The nation cannot afford any kind of tension at this stage of its political development.”
The party said it remained committed to peace and as such directed all its members not to retaliate despite the provocations.
“The PDP is totally committed to the unity and peace of our dear nation. This is paramount and must not be compromised. Those who seek to use violence to truncate the electoral process and destabilize our nation will be utterly disappointed," PDP stated.
It called on the law enforcement agencies to rise up to the challenge and bring to book all those behind the condemnable act so as to serve as deterrent to violent prone youths and their sponsors.
“Our prayer is that God should keep Nigeria from being ruined by the over flowing troubles of greedy and corrupt politicians; and our future being marred on account of personal or sectional interest."
The ruling party urged every Nigerian therefore to include the peaceful conduct of the 2015 general elections in their prayers for 30 days, beginning Thursday.
Abuja - The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has deplored the killing of citizens in Baga and Maiduguri in Borno State.
It called on Nigerians to declare a month of prayers following the slaughter.
The party also decried last Saturday’s unprovoked attack on President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign vehicles in Jos, Plateau state capital.
The party in a statement on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, said the agenda of sponsors of various violence’s in the country was to provoke revenge and counter attacks but called for restrain from all quarters.
The party said it remained committed to peace and as such directed all its members not to retaliate despite the provocations.
“The PDP is totally committed to the unity and peace of our dear nation. This is paramount and must not be compromised. Those who seek to use violence to truncate the electoral process and destabilize our nation will be utterly disappointed," PDP stated.
It called on the law enforcement agencies to rise up to the challenge and bring to book all those behind the condemnable act so as to serve as deterrent to violent prone youths and their sponsors.
“Our prayer is that God should keep Nigeria from being ruined by the over flowing troubles of greedy and corrupt politicians; and our future being marred on account of personal or sectional interest."
The ruling party urged every Nigerian therefore to include the peaceful conduct of the 2015 general elections in their prayers for 30 days, beginning Thursday.
Jonathan to visit Obasanjo
2015-01-12 10:12
Abeokuta - Three days after former President Olusegun Obasanjo made a
surprise appearance at the wedding service of President Goodluck
Jonathan’s foster daughter, Inebharapu, at the National Christian
Centre, Abuja, Presdent Jonathan is set to reciprocate the gesture by
visiting Obasanjo in his Abeokuta home on Monday, reports Punch.
The visit is seen as a last minute effort to get the blessing of his estranged political godfather ahead of the February 14 presidential poll.
Both leaders have been at each other’s throats over the handling of the economy.
Obasanjo had last Monday said Nigeria was facing economic problems due to the failure of the present administration to plan for a rainy day.
Read more at Punch.
The visit is seen as a last minute effort to get the blessing of his estranged political godfather ahead of the February 14 presidential poll.
Both leaders have been at each other’s throats over the handling of the economy.
Obasanjo had last Monday said Nigeria was facing economic problems due to the failure of the present administration to plan for a rainy day.
Read more at Punch.
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