NEWS

• McConnell Releases Impeachment Trial Rules, Sparking New Outcry From Democrats

  Jan 28, 2020 by Admin / 412 Views

  

  WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released the rules for a Senate impeachment trial on Monday evening, the night before Republicans in the chamber are set to approve them by what is expected to be a party-line vote.
  
  The most noteworthy detail: Republicans will leave the House impeachment managers only two days to make their opening arguments. In the 1999 impeachment trial of then-President Bill Clinton, House Republicans arguing the case against the Democratic president were given three days.
  McConnell, R-Ky., will argue the current rules give House Democrats now making the case against Republican President Trump a total of 24 hours to make their arguments.
  
  But limiting opening arguments to no more than two days and scheduling them to start on Wednesday 1 p.m., Democrats will be forced to make their case against the president well past midnight on Wednesday and Thursday night.
  
  Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., blasted the Republican rules, calling them a “national disgrace.”
  
  “It’s clear Senator McConnell is hell-bent on making it much more difficult to get witnesses and documents and intent on rushing the trial through,” Schumer said in a statement. “Any senator that votes for the McConnell resolution will be voting to hide information and evidence from the American people.”

  Read more »

• Soldiers Shoot SARS Operatives Who Confronted Boko Haram

  Jan 28, 2020 by Admin / 406 Views

  

  A SARS official who spoke on condition of anonymity stated that the combined police team spent over one hour battling the Boko Haram insurgents.

   

  He explained that after the Boko Haram fighters beat a retreat, the policemen were attacked by soldiers, as they were trying to make their way out from the location.

   

  The SARS operatives said his team members were shocked that the soldiers could attack them.

  He said, “We were deployed in Mainok after we got the information that Boko Haram was operating there. By the time we got there, Boko Haram had killed some people and destroyed their houses.

   

  “We engaged them in a gun battle that lasted for over one hour. We overpowered them and seized two of their Hilux vehicles and weapons. Surprisingly as we were on our way out, we were attacked by some soldiers. They fired several RPGs (rocket propelled grenade) at us… one of the armoured personnel carriers (APCs) given to us by the IG was partially damaged.”

   

  The police source however said the officer who led the operation ordered his men not to fire back at the soldiers, adding that things got under control after a reinforcement team of soldiers from Benisheikh, a neighbouring town, got to the location.

   

  In a video published by The Cable, the commander of SARS, Ibrahim Muhammad narrated how his men tackled the Boko Haram insurgents and the encounter with the soldiers

  “When we got there, we saw them (Boko Haram fighters); their identity was not even in doubt. Some were even taking cover beside the wall. We were on them, we were charging in, charging out,” Muhammad said in the video.

  Read more »

• Africans In Delima Over Coronavirus Outbreak

  Jan 28, 2020 by Admin / 275 Views

  

  China rushes to build new hospital for virus within 10 days

  China is rushing to build a new hospital in a staggering 10 days to treat patients at the epicentre of a deadly virus outbreak that has stricken hundreds of people, state media reported Friday.
  

  

  

  The facility in the central city of Wuhan is expected to be in use by February 3 to serve a rising number of patients infected by a coronavirus that has left at least 26 people dead and millions on lockdown in an effort to curb the spread.
  
  

  Dozens of excavators and trucks were filmed working on the site by state broadcaster CCTV.

  It will have a capacity of 1,000 beds spread over 25,000 square metres, the official Xinhua news agency said.
  
  

  Construction began as reports surfaced of bed shortages in hospitals designated as dealing with the outbreak, which has now infected 830 people across China.

  Xinhua said the new facility is aimed at "alleviating the shortage of medical treatment resources and improving the ability to care for patients".
  

  China adds ninth city to transport ban

  China on Friday added a ninth city to a transport ban around the epicentre of a deadly virus, bringing the number affected by the shutdown to over 30 million as authorities scramble to control the disease.

  Read more »

• Somali: Big explosion heard in Mogadishu

  Mar 23, 2019 by Admin / 508 Views

  

  Somalia
  A big explosion was heard in the heart of Somali’s capital Mogadishu on Saturday, with clouds of smoke seen above the scene of blast, a Reuters witness reported.

   

  It was not clear who was responsible for the blast although Islamist group al Shabaab frequently carries out bombings in the Horn of Africa country.

   

  Witnesses said the blast was heard close to the headquaters of the Somali intelligence agency in the capital.

   

  Somali police is yet to give more information on the blast.

   

  Islamic extremist group has been fighting for years in the area to take power and create an Islamic state in the region

   

  Read more »

• Rwanda convicts ISIS, Al-Shabaab suspects

  Mar 23, 2019 by Admin / 497 Views

  

  Rwanda
  Rwandan judicial authorities on Friday sentenced 13 people to five years and two others to ten years in jail after convicting them of belonging to extremist groups including al Shabaab and Islamic State and providing them support.

   

  
  The high court in Rwanda’s southern Nyanza area acquitted 25 others after the prosecution failed to prove their involvement in extremist acts.

   

  Police in the central African country arrested the 40 in January 2016, less than a week after they killed Muhammad Mugemangango, a preacher accused of encouraging youths to join extremist groups.

   

  Security personnel also seized jihadist materials such as books, CDs and social network messages.

   

  One of those convicted, Salim Fundi, participated in “coordinating people in Rwanda who wanted to join terrorist group of al Shabaab in Somalia,” said Judge Eugene Ndagijimana while delivering the ruling.

   

  
  Those convicted included three women, two of them arrested at the airport in Kigali while en route to Syria and another convicted of helping them with $1,000 for flight tickets.

   

  Read more »