Africa’s Tech Innovators Show Off at 'Demo Africa' in Nairobi

From games to mobile payment systems, entrepreneurs from across Africa are getting together in Nairobi, Kenya, to pitch their high-tech innovations to potential investors and partners. Some of the newest trends are on display at Demo Africa.

By his stall at the back of the showroom floor, Bayo Puddicombe of Nigeria plays a bus-driving game on his phone as he touts a new mobile payment system called ChopUP.

“ChopUP is a social platform that helps local developers to monetize using locally available payment messages, such as premium SMS and mobile money,” said Puddicombe.

The game shows how one can go to a “garage” for a bus and buy upgrades by using ChopUP to send the payment through existing mobile money transfer services.

Volunteers check out a Nokia display at Demo Africa in Nairobi, Kenya

Puddicombe said the idea came to him following some early disappointments when he first tried to launch the game.

"I made it available on the Nokia store for $1, six months later, I had seven downloads. It wasn’t the brightest spot on my existence, but we realized that most of our target audience didn’t have credit cards and all that, they didn’t have the means to do those kinds of transactions,” he said.

Creatives, useful products

The companies launching products here at Demo Africa range from new social media platforms, event organizing applications and many new ways to buy things online.

The event’s producer, Harry Hare, said organizers had to select the best products from more than 300 applications.

“So what we do is we curate them from different countries, then we take them through a whole process of adjudication and preparation, and find the best 40 out of those and we bring them to launch in Nairobi,” said Hare.

Hare said he has noticed a theme of more hardware products being showcased compared to the previous year, when mobile applications and software dominated. Among them is an on-demand streaming media player from Kenya’s Able Wireless Company. The company's CEO, Kahenya Kamunya, explained how it works.

“You get a black box, plug it into your TV set, put it into power, it connects to a Wi-Fi network and basically starts streaming content. So you get to choose what you want to watch on demand, you have a remote control, search, press ‘ok’ and you’re good to go,” he said.

Kamunya said the little plastic box will be assembled in Kenya. It costs a little less than $100, and can provide Internet in addition to streaming movies, news and other video content.

“If you don’t have access to Internet and there’s no existing infrastructure there, we bring the infrastructure to your neighborhood and this device will be able to connect to our infrastructure, so you’ll ideally just need the box,” he said.

Able Wireless already has $1.5 million in funding for the product, which Kamunya expects to launch next month.

Other companies here at Demo Africa are hoping to raise a bit more money for their products, or find partners to help distribute or further develop their ideas.

Sources : VOA

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At Least 15 Killed in Somalia Attack

The militant Somali group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing Saturday that killed at least 15 and left dozens wounded in western Somalia, near the border with Ethiopia.

 

An al-Shabab statement said the attack targeted a cafe in the city of Beledweyne where soldiers gather, and said the dead included Ethiopian and Djibouti troops as well as Somali soldiers. The al-Qaida-linked group, which says a series of recent attacks are retaliation for the presence of foreign troops in Somalia, claimed to have killed more than 20 people in Saturday's blast, including 13 Ethiopian troops.

 

Somali government soldiers at scene of Baladweyne suicide bombing, Somalia, Oct. 19, 2013.

Somali Prime Minister Abid Farah Shirdon said the attack occurred near a government administrative facility, and that local intellectuals and civic groups had met nearby for the past week to debate the future of the targeted Hiiraan district. He did not provide an exact death toll, which militants placed at 25.

 

The prime ministers condemned the attack, saying its goal was to "scare Somali people" who were ready to decide their own future, adding that Somalis would "not go back."

 

Beledweyne official Bashir Hussein Dhoor told VOA's Somali service that at least seven civilians were among the dead.

 

A VOA reporter in the city said at least seven of the wounded were in serious condition.

 

The attack came four weeks after a sweeping al-Shabab attack on a shopping mall in the Kenyan capital, which killed nearly 70 people and brought international attention and widespread condemnation to the militant group.

 

Al-Shabab rose to regional prominence as a nationalist movement fighting the 2006 U.S.-backed Ethiopian invasion of Somalia. The group eventually controlled large parts of the country, until driven into the countryside by the African-Union-led peacekeeping force AMISOM in 2011 and 2012.

 

Earlier this month, the United Nations said more military force was needed to push the militants from their remaining rural strongholds.

Sources : VOA

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Mali Riverboat Capsizes, Leaves 20 Dead, Scores Missing

Authorities in Mali say an overcrowded boat carrying hundreds of passengers and goods sank late Friday on the Niger River, leaving at least 20 people dead and about 170 others unaccounted for hours later.
Officials say the boat was traveling northward from Mopti toward the city of Timbuktu when it sank near the town of Konna with an estimated 400 passengers and crew on board. Search efforts were continuing late Saturday.
The Associated Press quotes a Bamako resident and father of a 7-year-old girl who drowned as saying many of the passengers were children returning to northern Mali for the start of the school year. Others were traveling to visit relatives ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Adha, which begins Monday evening.
Large boats carrying hundreds of passengers and cargo routinely ply the Niger river and other key West and Central African waterways. Safety regulations are lax and accidents are common.

Sources

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Charles Taylor to Serve Prison Sentence in Britain

Former Liberian President Charles Taylor, left, waits for the start of his appeal judgement at the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) in Leidschendam, near The Hague, Netherlands,

Former Liberian president Charles Taylor will serve his 50-year prison sentence for war crimes in a British prison.

The British government made the announcement Thursday, two weeks after a U.N.-backed court dismissed an appeal of Taylor's conviction.

Justice Minister Jeremy Wright said in a statement that "the conviction of Charles Taylor is a landmark moment for international justice."

The Special Court for Sierra Leone found Taylor guilty on 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for aiding rebels during Sierra Leone's civil war.

Taylor received so-called "blood diamonds" in exchange for arming the rebels, who were notorious for raping, killing and mutilating civilians.

The 65-year-old Taylor is the first head of state to be convicted by an international court since Nazi leaders were sentenced after World War Two.

Britain had offered to house Taylor in a British prison if he was convicted. 

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Conference to Foster Mother, Child Health

Participants at the fiver-ever AU sponsored International Conference on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health in Johannesburg. Credit: AU

The 1st International Conference on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health in Africa got underway Thursday in Johannesburg. Organizers say while much has been done to reduce mortality rates, those rates still remain very high.

The African Union says maternal mortality has fallen by more than 40 percent since 1990, while child mortality is down by 33 percent. Nevertheless, it says 57-percent of global maternal deaths occur in Africa, as do half of the global deaths of children under age five. What’s more, the AU says Africa accounts for most of the child deaths from malaria and HIV/AIDS, as well as many from pneumonia and diarrhea.
The AU says the causes of these deaths are preventable, making the theme of the three day conference A Call to Action.
The U.N. Population Fund has announced a new initiative to increase reproductive health services for 45-million adolescent girls. Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin spoke about the initiative from Johannesburg.
“Seventy percent of Africa is less than 30 years old. So, we need to ensure that every life and every young person has access to all that their health and education requires to enable them to reach their full potential.”
It’s estimated that by 2030, almost 25-percent of adolescent girls will live in Africa. The population fund says every year more than seven million girls under age 18 give birth.
“We find that in each of the African countries we work in -- 46 of them – adolescent pregnancy is very high and adolescent mortality from unsafe abortion is also very high,” he said.
Dr. Osotimehin said that family planning is a big part of the U.N. Population Fund’s strategy.
“In the context of trying to save the lives of mothers, who die giving birth, family planning is a very important intervention. Family planning saves 30 percent of mothers’ lives. When they have family planning they make choices. They have fewer children.”
Africa’s future, he said, will depend very much on educating the younger generations.
“Education is the best intervention you can give in any country, especially girls’ education. Now we know that with girls’ education maternal mortality goes down. Child mortality goes down. Education beyond 18 actually contributes to economic development,” he said.
He said that educated and healthy girls are more likely to delay having children; have healthier children when they do; and earn higher incomes. He added that the “impact of empowering today’s girls will be felt for generations to come.”

 

 

Sources

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Sudan President Blocked from Saudi Air Space

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is seen walking out of a hotel in Abuja, Nigeria, in this July 14, 2013, file photo.

Sudan says Saudi Arabia blocked the plane of President Omar al-Bashir from entering its airspace Sunday as he tried to fly to Iran.
Sudan's state news agency reports that Bashir's plane was forced to turn around in mid-air and go back to Khartoum after Saudi aviation officials denied it permission to cross over Saudi territory.
The report says Bashir, flying in a Saudi-chartered plane, was headed to Tehran to attend the inauguration of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, and that his plane had received advance permission to fly over Saudi Arabia.
There was no immediate comment from Saudi officials, and no explanation why they would prevent Bashir from crossing over the country. 
Saudi Arabia and Iran have a tense relationship stemming in part from Iran's nuclear program.
Human rights activists have pressured countries not to admit Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Sudan's Darfur region.
Last month, the Sudanese leader left Nigeria's capital less than 24 hours after he arrived for an African Union summit, after activists pressured the government to arrest him.
Saudi Arabia is not a signatory to the statute that established the ICC. 

Sources

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Diplomat: Sudan Leader Has Fled Nigeria

Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir has left Nigeria, a diplomat at his embassy said Tuesday, following demands from human rights activists for the arrest of the man indicted for genocide and war crimes in Darfur.

Human rights lawyers filed a suit in the Federal High Court on Monday to try to compel Nigeria’s government to arrest al-Bashir. And a civil rights group urgently appealed to the International Criminal Court to refer the government to the U.N. Security Council for allowing the visit.

Presidential spokesman Reuben Abati told The Associated Press that al-Bashir had come to attend the African Union summit, and not at Nigeria’s invitation. He said Nigeria’s action in allowing him to come was in line with instructions from the African Union, which has told its 53 member states not to cooperate with the European-based court that some accuse of targeting Africans

 

Nigeria was forced in the past to hand over an internationally wanted criminal — former Liberian President Charles Taylor, the warlord who began that country’s devastating civil war in 1989.

In 2003, Taylor resigned under pressure and a promise from Nigeria’s government to give him a safe haven. When democratically elected leader Ellen Johnson Sirleaf demanded his extradition in 2006, Nigeria came under huge international pressure and was forced to go back on its word and hand him over.

Taylor was sentenced to 50 years in prison by the International Criminal Court in May, not for crimes committed in his own country but for his responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in neighboring Sierra Leone.

A diplomat at the Sudanese embassy in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, told The Associated Press that al-Bashir left at 3 p.m. Monday, less than 24 hours after he arrived and in the middle of a two-day summit ending Tuesday. The diplomat, who refused to give his name, said his hasty departure had nothing to do with the pressure for his arrest.

Leaders from eight other African countries are attending the summit, including Kenya, which has shunned al-Bashir.

South Africa, Malawi, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, and Central Africa Republic “have specifically made clear Bashir will be arrested on their territory, seen to it that other Sudanese officials visit instead of Bashir, relocated conferences or otherwise avoided his visits,” said human rights lawyer Chino Obiagwu, who heads the Nigerian Coalition on the ICC.

Sources

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Malawi Police Challenge Corruption Report

Police officers guard the Chaize stadium in Cabinda,

Malawi police are disputing the findings of the 2013 Global Corruption Barometer by Transparency International (TI) showing that the law enforcement agency is the most corrupt institution in the country.

The report by global watchdog Transparency International issued this week alleges that Malawi's police are the most corrupt of the 12 institutions surveyed in the country.

The police service scored a 4.7 on a scale of 1 - 5 - with 5 being extremely corrupt. Public officials and civil servants earned a score of 4.3.  Religious institutions are considered the least corrupt, scoring 2.6.

But Malawi deputy spokesman for the police force, Kelvin Maigwa, takes issue with the TI report. “I entirely do not agree that the Malawi police service is the most corrupt service in this country. Of course there have been cases of officers being arrested for indulging in corruption but that doesn’t mean that the whole police service is corrupt," he said. "The officers who were corrupt are the ones who were arrested and the courts did their job. So the cream of officers which we have right now are not corrupt.”

Maigwa also questioned the criteria used to reach the findings. “I don’t know what those guys were looking for and they have not yet served us with the report of their findings. So they try to look at the negative sides with the intention of discrediting us," he complained. "But all I can say is our officers are not corrupt.”

Methodology

Southern African regional coordinator for Transparency International, Tapiwa Uchizi Nyasulu, told a local newspaper, Daily Times, the methodology is standard.  He said the report is based on interviews with citizens who were asked if they had been in contact with the police for the past 12 months and did they pay any bribes.

Nyasulu also noted that the findings on Malawi police are similar to 17 other African countries where the police were considered the most corrupt institution by citizens.

Egrita Ndala - spokesperson for Malawi’s Anti-Corruption Bureau, declined comment at this time. “We are still reading the report. What we have seen is the newspaper article so we need to read the report so that we could see what it is showing so that we could actually be in a better position to comment,” Ndala said.

This is the second time in three years that the Malawi police have been ranked most corrupt by Transparency International.

Sources

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African Union Likely to Suspend Egypt

Heads of the African States pose for a group picture in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Jan, 27, 2013, during the African Union Conference.

The African Union is likely to suspend Egypt from all its activities after the Egyptian military suspended the constitution and overthrew the elected president, Mohamed Morsi, a senior AU source said on Thursday.  
   
The source, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters that members of the AU's peace and security council would meet on Friday and were likely to implement the AU's usual response to any interruption of constitutional rule by a member state.     

“The belief is that the doctrine will be applied, which is suspension for any country where an unconstitutional change has taken place,” he said.  

Sources

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Egypt's Brotherhood Won't Work With 'Usurpers'

Supporters of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi flash victory signs during a rally, Nasser City, Cairo, July 3, 2013.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood will not work with "the usurper authorities," a member of its executive board said on Thursday, rejecting feelers from the newly sworn-in head of state after the military removed Islamist President Mohamed Morsi from power.

"We reject participation in any work with the usurper authorities," Sheikh Abdel Rahman al-Barr said in a statement published on the group's website.

"We call on protesters to show self-restraint and stay peaceful. We reject the oppressive, police state practices: killing, arrests, curbing media freedom and closing TV channels."  

 

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Senegal Detains Former Chad Dictator Habre

Former Chad dictator Hissène Habré, left, seen as he leaves the court in Dakar, Senegal, Nov. 25, 2005.

Authorities in Senegal have detained former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre ahead of his trial for alleged crimes against humanity.
Habre, who ruled Chad from 1982 until a 1990 military coup, is accused of overseeing more than 40,000 political killings, systematic torture and human rights violations.
Lawyer El Hadji Diouf says Habre was taken to an unknown location from his home in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, on Sunday. Habre has been living freely in Senegal for 22 years.
Human Rights Watch lawyer Reed Brody says Habre's detention marked a milestone in the long campaign to bring him justice, adding that "Habre's victims can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel."
Under Senegalese law, authorities can hold him for 48 hours, renewable once, before charges must be filed.
The former dictator was first indicted in Senegal for crimes against humanity in 2000, but little progress was made under the government of former president Abdoulaye Wade.
Last December, Senegal's National Assembly ratified an agreement with the African Union to create a special tribunal, known as the Extraordinary Chambers. The court became operational in February and is now in the pre-trial investigation phase.
HRW says the pre-trial investigations are expected to last 15 months and will likely be followed by a seven-month trial in late 2014 or 2015 and a five-month appeals process.

 

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Obama Visits Mandela's Former Island Prison

U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama tour the jail where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island, near Cape Town, June 30, 2013.

U.S. President Barack Obama has visited South Africa's Robben Island, the prison where Nelson Mandela spent nearly 20 years for fighting to overturn the country's apartheid regime.
The president, who visited the island in 2006 as a U.S. senator, was accompanied this time by first lady Michelle Obama and the couple's daughters.
The first family saw the small jail cell where Mandela was held, as well as the limestone quarry where he and other leaders of the African National Congress were forced to work.
The tour was led by 83-year-old Ahmed Kathrada, another anti-apartheid activist and former Robben Island inmate.
Obama will next give a speech at the University of Cape Town, outlining his administration's steps toward building stability and prosperity in Africa.
He will announce a new program to double access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa, and unveil plans for a summit of leaders from the region next year in Washington.
On Saturday, Obama met with relatives of Mr. Mandela, who remains in critical condition in a Pretoria hospital.
President Obama has no plans to visit the anti-apartheid icon, but said his moral courage and South Africa's transformation to democracy has been an inspiration to him.
President Obama is in South Africa as part of a week-long visit to Africa to promote trade and economic development.
On Monday, he heads to Tanzania, before returning to Washington late on Tuesday.
Along with his talks with President Jacob Zuma Saturday, Obama announced a new program to bring 500 young Africans to the United States each year for leadership training.  

Sumber

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Drones Bolster UN Peacekeeping Capabilities

The United Nations is preparing to send at least three unarmed aerial vehicles - commonly known as drones - to bolster its peacekeeping mission in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.  Force commanders from other U.N. missions say advanced technology could also help their operations.

As rebels, terrorists and other dangerous elements obtain more sophisticated weaponry and equipment, the U.N. is working to stay a step ahead in its efforts to combat threats from such groups.

Currently, it is planning to send several unarmed aerial vehicles - UAVs or drones - to assist its 20,000 peacekeepers in the eastern Congo.

Lieutenant General Carlos Alberto Dos Santos Cruz, who is the Force Commander for the U.N. Stabilization Mission in DRC, MONUSCO, says he hopes the UAVs will be fully operational by September.

The commander told the U.N. Security Council during a peacekeeping meeting on Wednesday that they want to use the UAVs to identify where the armed groups are and to provide early warning of their movements.  He said with a drone’s ability to hover over an area for 10 to 12 hours, it could detect imminent threats to civilian populations.

“They will help in deterring hostile action by the armed groups and will trigger the use of quick reaction forces,” Cruz said.

He said the mission is already using ground-based radar and other advanced military technologies in the Congo to provide better awareness of activity in the area.
Asked about the use of UAV’s in U.N. peacekeeping, Major General Delali Johnson Sakyi, Force Commander of the U.N. Mission in South Sudan, told reporters he would welcome this technology.

“It can really help identify flashpoints in time so that the proper processes would be engaged to mitigate conflict, so it is a welcome idea,” Sakyi said.

Commander Sakyi said currently his mission collects information through patrols and with an infrared camera mounted on a helicopter.  He said the mission only has one of these cameras and would like more.  Such equipment would be particularly useful in a country like South Sudan with its vast size and lack of roads.

There are about 11,000 peacekeepers in south Lebanon, monitoring the so-called Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel.  Major General Paolo Serra commands that mission, UNIFIL.  He said having new technology would be very useful.
“UNIFIL would like to have an enhancing technology - and I think about cameras, I think about mobile capabilities in order to better check the Blue Line,” Serra said.

If the use of UAVs is successful in eastern Congo, they could be employed in other missions to monitor cease-fires, borders and arms embargoes, and could eventually reduce the need for as many peacekeepers on the ground.

 

Sources

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Obama Arrives in Senegal

U.S. President Barack Obama waves as he arrives at the Dakar airport, Jun. 26, 2013.

U.S. President Barack Obama has arrived in Senegal, the first stop of a three-nation African trip focused on supporting democratic progress, and increasing U.S. trade and investment.  

 

Senegal is the starting point for what is only Obama's second visit to sub-Saharan Africa as president.

 

It is an opportunity to speak directly to the large French-speaking population in Africa and voice support for emerging democracies and institution-building.

 

"In Senegal you have a country that is an emerging democracy, that is a partner with us in situations like Mali, that we want to invest in, on issues like food security, and the development of civil society," said Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes.

 

After talks Thursday with President Macky Sall, Obama goes to Senegal's Supreme Court to meet with judicial leaders from across the region.

 

He is then joined by his wife Michelle for a visit to Goree Island, to tour the museum about the history of the slave trade.

 

Obama also will meet there with Senegalese civil society leaders.

 

On Friday, Obama joins private and agricultural sector leaders from Senegal and West Africa to discuss steps to enhance food security, one of his key policy priorities.

Sources

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South African President Cancels Trip as Mandela Remains 'Critical'

Former South African President Nelson Mandela reacts at the Mandela foundation, in Johannesburg, South Africa, Tuesday June 2, 2009, during a meeting with a group of American and South African students as part of a series of activities leading to Mande

South African President Jacob Zuma has canceled a scheduled trip to Mozambique, as former president Nelson Mandela remains in critical condition in a Pretoria hospital.
The anti-apartheid icon has been hospitalized for nearly three weeks for a recurring lung infection.
Cape Town Archbishop Thabo Makgoba Tuesday offered a prayer that Mr. Mandela, the nation's first black president, be granted a "peaceful, perfect end."
Mr. Mandela's relatives are gathered at his home in Qunu, in Eastern Cape province.  South African media reports say his children called the meeting to discuss important family matters.
U.S. President Barack Obama plans to be in South Africa Friday as part of his week-long visit to the continent.  He will visit Robben Island, where Mr. Mandela was imprisoned for almost 20 years.
The White House says President Obama considers Mr. Mandela as one of his heroes.
 

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Africa Needs Billions to Control Malaria

A Service Yezu Mwiza (SYM- Good Jesus) nurse hands medication to an HIV-AIDS patient, who is also suffering from malaria, at her home in Gatumba, outside Bujumbura, April 19, 2013.

African countries face a $7-billion funding gap to control and eliminate malaria.  To discuss this issue among others, African ministers of health came together at the African Union headquarters to commemorate World Malaria Day.

Every year 660,000 people die from malaria, and 90 percent of those deaths are in Africa.  Eliminating malaria by 2015 is one of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals.  But an estimated $26.9 billion is needed in the next  three years to reach the goal.

African Union Commissioner for Social Affairs Mustapha Kaloko says funding is the main challenge, when it comes to fighting malaria.

"We Africans must create [an] innovative domestic national health financing model.  We cannot and should not continue to rely on external funding for health. The experience of the last few years has shown that external funding are neither predictable nor assured," he said.

A handout photograph taken on April 15, 2013 and released 16 by the African Union-United Nations Information Support Team shows a Somali woman holding her child at a clinic run by the Burundian contingent of the African Union Mission in Somalia.

Malaria costs Africa $12 billion each year in lost productivity, alone. And, a recent study conducted by the Mckinsey global consultancy company notes that every dollar invested in malaria control in Africa, generates an estimated $40 dollar in gross domestic product. But, African countries receive about 75 percent of their budget for malaria control from abroad.

Fatoumata Nafo-Traore, executive director of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, says African countries could become less dependent, if they would prioritize malaria control:

"Malaria should come among the priorities," she said. "If that is the case then it would become easy really to find the resources within the government budget.  Malaria control interventions are not very expensive.  Rapid diagnosis tests costs 50 cents and the treatment for a child costs lest than a dollar.  Also, bed nets will costs between $3 to $6. If you bring all these three together, it's less than $10 to cover one person."

In addition to becoming less dependent on aid to pay for malaria prevention, Petrina Haingura of the Namibian Ministry of Health advises African governments to make better use of the resources that are available. She says that resources are distributed in communities, without proper education:

"We need to make them aware of these problems of malaria. And, also, some communities are using this mosquito nets by using it to catch fish.  But I think we need to emphasize why we are giving them these mosquito nets is to prevent malaria," she said.

Malaria deaths have decreased to an average of about 33 percent on the African continent.  But scientists expect that shortages in funding for control interventions could quickly turn around those results.

African ministers of health are in a four-day conference of the African Union where the call to fight malaria has been renewed. 

Sources :

http://www.voanews.com/content/africa-needs-billions-to-control-malaria/1648613.html

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ICC Moves Kenyatta Trial to November

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta in Nairobi, April 16, 2013.

The International Criminal Court says Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta will now go on trial November 12.
The court announced the new start date Thursday, after granting Kenyatta's defense team more time to prepare their case.
The trial had been scheduled to begin in July, but the court said there were delays in the prosecution providing evidence.
Kenyatta is charged with five counts of crimes against humanity for his alleged role in orchestrating ethnic violence that swept through Kenya after the 2007 presidential election. More than 1,100 people died.

Deputy Vice President William Ruto and radio executive Joshua Arap Sang are also facing charges at the ICC. Their trial is set for September 10. The court said earlier this month those proceedings may begin in Kenya or Tanzania instead of the ICC's headquarters in The Hague.
All three men have denied the charges against them.
Despite the pending cases, Kenyatta won a first-round victory in Kenya's elections in March with Ruto as his running mate. 

Sources :

http://www.voanews.com/content/icc-moves-kenyatta-trial-to-november/1685531.html

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UN Stands by Somalia After al-Shabab Attack

Security agents at scene of suicide bomb attack outside United Nations compound, Mogadishu, June 19, 2013.

The United Nations has vowed to stand by Somalia, following Wednesday's deadly attack on a U.N. compound in the Somali capital.

The bomb and gun attack by al-Shabab militants killed at least 21 people, including seven attackers and several people working for the United Nations Development Program.

Speaking in Beijing Thursday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the U.N. will never be deterred by what he called despicable terrorist attacks. He said the U.N. will help the Somali government and people establish political stability and promote development and human rights.

Separately, the U.N. Security Council said attacks will not lessen its resolve "to support Somalia's transition to peace and stability."

On Wednesday, al-Shabab taunted the U.N. on its English-language Twitter feed, asking whether the new U.N. envoy to Somalia, Nicholas Kay, is still planning to settle down in Mogadishu.

It also said the U.N. is blocking the establishment of Islamic law and "must therefore be dislodged."

A new Somali government, installed last year, is trying to bring order to a country that has endured more than 20 years of conflict and crisis.

Somali forces and the African Union force AMISOM drove al-Shabab out of Mogadishu nearly two years ago. But the group has continued to carry out periodic, guerilla-style attacks since then.

 

Sources :

http://www.voanews.com/content/united-nations-somalia-al-shabab-attack-mogadishu/1685699.html

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Somalia UN office attack by al-Shabab 'kills 15'

At least 15 people, including four foreigners, have been killed in an assault by militant Islamists on a UN office in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, a government minister says. 

The gun-battle inside the office lasted for more than an hour, witnesses said.

A cameraman outside the UN Development Programme office told the BBC a suicide bomber blew up a car at its entrance and he saw four gunmen enter.

The al-Qaeda-linked group al-Shabab said it was behind the attack. 

Officials say pro-government forces have now secured the compound.

The UN has only recently expanded its operations in Mogadishu after years when its Somalia mission was based in neighbouring Kenya because of security fears.

This is the first time the UN offices have been attacked since it relaunched its mission in Somalia.

The UN Development Programme office is next to the heavily fortified airport in southern Mogadishu.

"A suicide bomber blew himself up at the gate of the UNDP and then several armed fighters went in and opened fire," a senior police official told the Reuters news agency.

Interior Minister Abdikarim Hussein Guled said at least 15 people had been killed - four foreign security workers, four local guards and seven militants.

Two of the dead worked for South African state weapons firm Denel, the company says.

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office says it is looking into reports that three British nationals are among the dead.

The al-Shabab Twitter feed says it killed 16 UN workers, including three Britons, two Kenyans and a South African during the attack.

A police official told AFP that three civilians also died after being caught in crossfire.

The cameraman, who asked not to be named for security reasons, told the BBC Somali Service that he had personally helped three people to a military ambulance.

Local residents have fled and some buildings were seriously damaged after the vehicle exploded, he said.

'Moved to bunkers'

 

As the cameraman was talking to the BBC at about 09:30 GMT, gunshots could be heard in the background.

He said a number of security experts had joined the African Union (Amisom) and Somali soldiers in tackling the militants.

Just after 10:15 GMT al-Shabab said on its Twitter feed: "We've just contacted the Mujahideen inside the #UNDP and they are still fighting some western mercenaries inside the compound."

Later it said it had killed some foreigners in the raid.

"The situation is under control now... Somali soldiers along with African Union forces stormed the compound and killed the attackers," Somali police official Abdulahi Osman told the AFP news agency.

Amisom described the attacked as "cowardly" and Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon Saaid praised the speed of the security forces' response.

"Somali and Amisom security forces responded immediately to the situation after the initial explosion and have brought the situation under control. Sadly we must wait to hear the full details and confirmation of any casualties," he said in a statement.

"All our thoughts and prayers are with our UN colleagues today. But al-Shabab will not derail the peace process. They will not stop our recovery. Violence will not win."

Earlier a UN official told the Associated Press news agency that during the sustained firing all staff were "moved to the bunkers where it's safe".

Andrew, an aid agency worker staying at a nearby hotel, witnessed some of the fighting.

"When I heard the explosions I went up onto the roof of the Jazeera Hotel," he told the BBC.

"There were six mini-explosions. We saw UN troops on the roof of their compound shooting down at the attackers. An RPG-7 hit the hotel, it hit the side wall on the fifth floor."

Al-Shabab, which had been in control of parts of Mogadishu for more than two years, withdrew in August 2011 under pressure from pro-government forces, but continues to launch occasional suicide attacks in the city.

It has also been pushed out of other cities, but still remains in control of smaller towns and large swathes of the countryside in central and southern Somalia.

The improving security situation has prompted the return of Somalis from the diaspora and allowed UN agencies and foreign embassies to return to the country.

Some 18,000 AU troops are in the country supporting the government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud who was elected by MPs last September.

His administration is the first one in more than two decades to be recognised by the US and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Sources :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22965842

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Morsi Critics Demand Early Egypt Elections

An Egyptian signs a petition for Tamarod, Arabic for "rebel", a campaign calling for the ouster of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and for early presidential elections in the Shubra neighborhood in Cairo, Egypt, June 2, 2013.

For many Egyptians, the year since Mohamed Morsi became the nation's first democratically elected president has been a failure. After a year of dreadful economic decline, energy and water shortages, lack of security and what some see as the president's overbearing, exclusive, Islamist agenda, they now want to do something about it.

Across the country, activists with the Tamarod - or Rebel - campaign have been collecting signatures expressing lost confidence in Morsi and demanding early elections.

Some view the campaign, and planned demonstrations on June 30, as an exercise in democracy.

May Wahba, head of Tamarod's media department, argues the legally elected Morsi lost legitimacy when he assumed extraordinary powers for several weeks late last year.

She says anti-Morsi campaigners would like to use the same democratic way he came to power to make him leave. She cites Article 1 of the constitution, which places power in the hands of the people.

Tamarod Central Committee member Sayed Gharib contends Morsi has betrayed the spirit of the January, 2011 revolution and the hundreds who died carrying it out.

Gharib says the revolution brought Morsi to power, but “the legality of the ballot box and constitutional legality will not stand above the blood of the martyrs.”

Tamarod campaigners say they have collected the signatures of 15 million people, more than the number who voted for Morsi last year.

Tamarod leaders do not know how many who signed the petition will turn out for the demonstrations. They also express doubts Morsi will give in to their demands, even if millions do take to the streets. The president has already called the planned protests counter-revolutionary, and says he will deal with them “decisively.” Government supporters plan demonstrations of their own.

Tamarod member Wahba says the movement is committed to peaceful protest, but is bracing for violence.

She says they are expecting June 30 to be “a bloody day” because certain groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, have been putting pressure on Tamarod since their campaign began in April.

Members of the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing say authorities will respect peaceful demonstrations. But Mohamed Soudan, the Freedom and Justice Party's foreign secretary, says protesters would be better off mobilizing what support it has for the next round of parliamentary elections.

“Then you can have your own prime minister who can do whatever are your desires and demands and then he will have, according to the new constitution, more power, more benefits than the president himself,” Soudan said.

Tamarod leader Gharib says it is not about power. He hopes Egypt's constitutional court will assume interim control if Morsi steps down. Those are the slogans, and the hope, of the revolution that toppled the old government, protests Gharib took part in. He also demonstrated against the military rulers who followed.

The mantle of revolution - of protest against oppression, even if it is not clear what comes next - is something Tamorod shares with those in power now.

The Freedom and Justice Party's Soudan says Tamarod should give Morsi a chance.

“They should ask him their demands in the manner which better makes them the model, which all over the world [people] appreciate, the way which was the 25th of January revolution," Soudan said. "The Egyptians were already a good model.”

Egypt's democracy, and its culture of protest, is in its infancy. Interpreters sometimes contradict each other and occasionally themselves. Perhaps the only thing certain is that as tempers and temperatures flare, the country is facing a long, hot summer.  

 

Sources :

http://www.voanews.com/content/morsi-critics-demand-early-egypt-elections/1684744.html

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