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page 24 CAMEROON Cameroon sentences 89 Boko Haram fighters to death Cameroon has sentenced 89 members of militant Islamist group Boko Haram to death after finding them guilty of terrorism charges. The 89 were convicted by a military court for their roles in several attacks in Cameroon’s northern region which borders Nigeria – the area […]

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CAMEROON

Cameroon sentences 89 Boko Haram fighters to death

Cameroon has sentenced 89 members of militant Islamist group Boko Haram to death after finding them guilty of terrorism charges.

The 89 were convicted by a military court for their roles in several attacks in Cameroon’s northern region which borders Nigeria – the area has often been targeted by the insurgents.

These people are part of the 850 in detention over alleged involvement in Boko Haram insurgency in the country.

This is the first time that people have been sentenced to death since a new anti-terror law was passed in 2014.

Twenty-two people were sentenced to death in 2013.

S/AFRICA

S/Africa Gupta row: ANC’s Mantashe warns of ‘mafia state’

South Africa risks turning into a “mafia state”, a senior governing party official has warned, as pressure grows on President Jacob Zuma over his links with a wealthy family.

Gwede Mantashe made the comments after Deputy Finance Minister Mcebesi Jonas alleged the Gupta family had offered him a government promotion. The family has denied the allegation.

Main opposition leader Mmusi Maimane was thrown out of parliament during a rowdy session over the controversy.

Mr Mantashe is the third most powerful person in the governing African National Congress (ANC), and his remarks suggest Mr Zuma may be losing the confidence of influential members of the party.

Mr Zuma’s presidency has been marred by allegations of corruption, cronyism and incompetence, amid a worsening economic situation.

The crisis deepened on Wednesday, when Mr Jonas said that a member of the Gupta family had made “a mockery of our hard-earned democracy” by offering to promote him to the minister’s job last year.

BRAZIL

Brazil judge blocks Lula appointment to government

Leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was sworn in as President Dilma Rousseff’s chief of staff on Thursday amid a deepening political crisis as protests against his appointment continued for a second day and a judge sought to block the move.

Soon after the swearing-in ceremony, the federal judge in Brasilia issued an injunction to suspend the appointment on the grounds it prevented “the free exercise of justice.”

Prosecutors have charged Lula with money laundering and fraud as part of a sweeping graft probe centered on state oil company Petrobras. The former president’s appointment as a minister would provide him immunity from prosecution by all but the Supreme Court.

During the swearing-in ceremony, Rousseff strongly criticized the release on Wednesday of a taped telephone conversation between her and Lula that was made public by another federal judge, calling it illegal and anti-democratic.

SUDAN

Sudan threatens to close border with South Sudan again

Sudan will close its recently reopened border with South Sudan once again if that country persists in its support for armed rebel groups, presidential aide Ibrahim Mahmoud said on Thursday.

Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir ordered the opening of his country’s border with South Sudan in January for the first time since the south’s secession in 2011, paving the way for better economic links between the two nations.

The threat to shut the border again comes just one day before peace talks are set to begin in Addis Ababa between the Sudanese government, the country’s largest opposition party and several major armed rebel groups.

Khartoum accuses Juba, the capital of South Sudan, of backing a rebellion in its Darfur region and a separate but linked insurgency in Blue Nile and South Kordofan. South Sudan denies the allegations.

RUSSIA

‘Russia can make powerful Syria military comeback in hours’

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia could scale up its military presence in Syria again within hours and would still bomb terrorist groups there despite a partial draw-down of forces ordered after military successes.

Speaking in one of the Kremlin’s grandest halls three days after he ordered Russian forces to partially withdraw from Syria, the Russian leader said the smaller strike force he had left behind was big enough to help forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad keep advancing.

“I’m sure that we will see new and serious successes in the near future,” Putin told an audience of more than 700 members of the military at an awards ceremony. In particular, he said he hoped that the ancient city of Palmyra, which is held by Islamic State, would soon fall to Assad’s forces.

“I hope that this pearl of world civilization, or at least what’s left of it after bandits have held sway there, will be returned to the Syrian people and the entire world,” Putin said, referring to the World Heritage Site.

UNITED STATES

IS committed genocide against Christians, Shi’ites: US

The US says the Islamic State (IS) group has committed genocide against Yazidis, Christians and Shia Muslims.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said IS was “genocidal by self-proclamation, by ideology and by actions”.

He also said the group was responsible for crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing in areas it controls in Syria and Iraq.

“Naming these crimes is important, but what is essential is to stop them,” Mr Kerry said.

Mr Kerry admitted that a lack of access to IS areas meant the US did not have a “complete picture” of the atrocities that had been carried out.

He said the “full facts” must be sought by an independent international investigation.

The US, he went on, would “strongly support” efforts to collect evidence of IS atrocities and brings those responsible to account.

SYRIA

Syria’s Kurdish-controlled regions approve federal system

Kurdish parties have declared the establishment of a federal system in areas they control in northern Syria.

The Kurds already operate “autonomous administrations” in three enclaves bordering Turkey: Afrin and Kobane in Aleppo province and Jazira in Hassakeh.

The new federal region will also include mainly Arab and Turkmen areas captured from so-called Islamic State.

The declaration was dismissed by the Syrian government, which insisted that it would have no legal basis.

The plan to declare a federal system across much of northern Syria was approved by representatives of Kurdish, Arab and other parties at a conference in Rmeilan.

The region will reportedly be called “Rojava – northern Syria”. Rojava is the term Kurds use to refer to western or Syrian Kurdistan.

PALESTINE

16 Palestinian pilgrims killed in Jordan bus crash

At least 16 Palestinian pilgrims have been killed in a bus crash in southern Jordan.

They were travelling from the West Bank to Saudi Arabia when the bus overturned in a remote area. Two children are reported to be among the dead.

The driver lost control about 320 km (200 miles) south of the Jordanian capital, Amman.

Dozens of passengers were injured and several are said to be in a critical condition. Most of the victims were from the West Bank city of Jenin.

The Palestinian Authority declared a day of national mourning in the wake of the crash.

YEMEN

UN: 119 dead in Yemen strike

The United Nations says the death toll from Tuesday’s airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen has risen to 119.

The United Nations children’s agency UNHCR said Thursday 22 children are among the dead, while 47 people remain injured.

“We strongly deplore the deadliest attack in Al-Khamees market in Mastaba district of Hajja governorate,” the agency said in a statement.

Tuesday’s airstrike on the market northwest of the capital, Sanaa, was the latest in a series of similar bombings by the coalition that have left hundreds of civilians dead.

MOROCCO

Morocco asks UN to remove 84 staffers from W/Sahara Mission

Morocco has asked the United Nations to remove 84 staff members in the coming days from its Western Sahara mission after U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon made what it called unacceptable remarks about the territory in a visit to North Africa, a Moroccan official source said on Thursday.

The source said the military and peacekeeping part of the mission would not be affected. A visit by Ban to Morocco is not on the agenda, the source said.

Ban said he wanted Morocco and the Polisario Front, which waged a guerrilla war over the Western Sahara after Morocco took control over most of the region in 1975, to restart negotiations.