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page 30 FRANCE Rwanda mayors jailed over genocide A French court has sentenced two former Rwandan mayors to life in prison for their part in the 1994 genocide. Tito Barahira, 65, and Octavien Ngenzi, 58, were found guilty of crimes against humanity and genocide. They were accused of playing leading roles in the massacre of […]

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FRANCE

Rwanda mayors jailed over genocide

A French court has sentenced two former Rwandan mayors to life in prison for their part in the 1994 genocide.

Tito Barahira, 65, and Octavien Ngenzi, 58, were found guilty of crimes against humanity and genocide.

They were accused of playing leading roles in the massacre of 2,000 ethnic Tutsis who sought refuge in a church in the town of Kabarondo.

About 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis, died at the hands of Hutu extremists during the Rwandan genocide.

It is the second case of its kind to be brought in France, after Rwandan army captain Pascal Simbikangwa was jailed for 25 years over the mass killings.

Attacks on Tutsis in Kabarondo began soon after Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana was killed in a rocket attack on his plane, the trigger for the violence.

Both men had denied any involvement in the killings. The pair were arrested separately on French territory a few years ago and have been in custody ever since.

South Africa

Corruption watchdog gets extra funds to probe Zuma, Gupta scandal

South Africa’s anti-corruption watchdog said on Thursday it will receive additional funds to investigate whether President Jacob Zuma allowed the wealthy Gupta family to make government appointments.

The prominent business family is accused of being behind Zuma’s abrupt sacking of former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene in December, a move that rattled investor confidence and triggered calls for the president’s resignation.

The scandal surrounding the Gupta family took a dramatic turn earlier this year after deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas said they had offered him his boss’s job.

Zuma has said that the Guptas are his friends, but denied doing anything improper. The Guptas have also denied making job offers to anyone in government.

The Public Protector, the country’s anti-corruption watchdog, said it had requested an extra 3 million rand ($205,000) but was granted half of that amount.

“We have a commitment from government to fund us with 1.5 million rand ($102,407),” a spokesman for the Public Protector Oupa Segalwe said in an emailed response to questions.

Liberia

UN mission in Liberia ends

The Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General for the United Nations Mission in Liberia, also known as UNMIL, says the mission has done a good job in bringing security to the West African nation after a period of unrest and now it is time for Liberia to be responsible for its own security.

In 2003, the U.N. Security Council passed resolution 1509 to have UNMIL, among other responsibilities, protect civilians, offer help to the people of Liberia, and assist the Liberian government in developing and implementing national security reform.

The mandate ended on June 30 this year, and UNMIL officially handed over security responsibilities to Liberia.

Deputy Special Representative Waldemar Vrey said while UNMIL will no longer have security responsibility, it will maintain a presence in Liberia to support the Liberian government.

UK

May, Leadsom to fight all-women contest for PM

Interior minister Theresa May and eurosceptic rival Andrea Leadsom emerged on Thursday as the two candidates who will battle to become Britain’s next prime minister and lead the country out of the European Union.

May won 199 votes and Leadsom 84 in a second ballot of lawmakers of the governing Conservative party. Justice Secretary Michael Gove took just 46 votes and was eliminated from the race.

Around 150,000 grassroots Conservatives across the country will now vote to decide whether May or Leadsom becomes Britain’s first woman prime minister since Margaret Thatcher was forced from office in 1990.

The result of the contest is expected by Sept. 9, meaning businesses and investors must endure two more months of uncertainty over who will lead the huge task of disentangling Britain’s economy from the EU while trying to safeguard trade and investment.

“This vote shows that the Conservative Party can come together, and under my leadership it will,” May told supporters after the results were announced

GERMANY

Rape law: ‘No means No’ law passed

Germany’s parliament has passed a new law defining rape, clarifying that “No means No”, even if a victim did not fight back.

Critics believe Germany has long lagged behind other developed nations when it comes to its rape laws.

The issue was again brought to the fore after a number of sex attacks on women in Cologne on New Year’s Eve. The vote was passed by an overwhelming majority on Thursday in the Bundestag in the capital, Berlin.

The new law classifies groping as a sex crime and makes it easier to prosecute assaults committed by large group. It also makes it easier to deport migrants who commit sex offences.

MPs stood and cheered when the law was passed.

“The change in the law will help increase the number of victims who choose to press charges, lower the number of criminal prosecutions that are shelved and ensure sexual assaults are properly punished,” Minister for Women Manuela Schwesig said.

INDIA

Modi seeks to drum up business in African tour

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday kicked off a four-nation tour of Africa, as India scrambles to catch up with its Asian rival China’s strong presence on the continent.

“My Africa tour, aimed at enhancing ties between India and Africa, will begin from Mozambique in a brief but key visit,” Modi tweeted before his arrival, the first by an Indian leader to the southern African country in 34 years.

Modi held talks with Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi in Maputo and will also take in South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya during the five-day tour.

India has been working to build ties with African nations as it vies for a greater share of the continent’s natural resources. Last year, it hosted a summit of Africa’s heads of state in New Delhi.

Its economic footprint in Africa is dwarfed by that of China, whose trade with the continent topped $200 billion last year.

Modi’s Africa tour will focus on hydrocarbons, maritime security, trade and investment, agriculture and food, according to Indian officials.

ARGENTINA

Former president’s assets frozen

A judge in Buenos Aires has frozen the assets of former Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

Ms Fernandez has been accused of making fraudulent foreign currency transactions last year in the final months of her government.

She has denied the allegations and accused the centre-right government of Mauricio Macri of plotting against her.

Some of her closest aides are being investigated for alleged mishandling of public funds.

“The harassment by what I call the ‘judicial party’ has become ridiculous,” Ms Fernandez said in a press conference after appearing in court.

Hundreds of police officers were deployed outside the court building where the hearing took place.

Ms Fernandez was charged in May for allegedly ordering irregular central bank transactions in the US dollar futures market.

LIBYA

Car bomb kills 11 soldiers in Benghazi

A car bomb killed 11 soldiers in Libya’s second city Benghazi as they held evening prayers on the first day of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, a military source said Thursday.

Benghazi has been hit by repeated bombings since troops under the command of controversial General Khalifa Haftar drove Islamist fighters out of most of the city earlier this year.

Haftar refuses to recognise a joint military command set by the UN-backed unity government in Tripoli, saying he still takes orders from a rival administration based in the far eastern city of Tobruk.

Wednesday’s blast follows a car bomb targeting a security chief that killed two people on Sunday and a June 24 bombing that killed four civilians.

CHINA

Flood rescue stepped up in Wuhan

Flood relief and rescue efforts have been stepped up in the Chinese city of Wuhan, which has been hit by severe flooding.

Transport links and water and power supplies in the city of 10 million are severely affected.

Flooding across central and southern China has killed more than 180 people, state media have reported.

The Chinese premier has called upon local authorities across the country to be prepared for further downpours.

On Wednesday the Wuhan meteorological office issued a red alert for further rain and flooding. By Thursday, the rain appeared to have eased off, and attention turned to relief and rescue efforts.

IRAQ

Baghdad bombing death toll rises to 281

Iraqi officials have again raised the figure for the number of people killed in Sunday’s suicide bombing in Baghdad.

The health ministry said 281 were now known to have died in the attack, which targeted a shopping complex in the mainly Shia Muslim Karrada district.

The previous death toll, announced by the ministry on Tuesday, was 250.

The jihadist group Islamic State (IS) has said it was behind the bombing, the deadliest in the country since the 2003 US-led invasion.

IS militants overran large parts of northern and western Iraq two years ago, but government forces have since regained much of the territory.