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page 37 S/AFRICA South African court orders Zuma to repay house costs South Africa’s Constitutional Court has ordered President Jacob Zuma to repay some of the $16 million in public funds used for upgrades at his private home. The ruling Thursday comes as authorities investigate Zuma for another more recent scandal, alleged undue influence given […]

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S/AFRICA

South African court orders Zuma to repay house costs

South Africa’s Constitutional Court has ordered President Jacob Zuma to repay some of the $16 million in public funds used for upgrades at his private home. The ruling Thursday comes as authorities investigate Zuma for another more recent scandal, alleged undue influence given to the wealthy Gupta family.

Handing down the Constitutional Court judgment on Thursday, Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng said President Zuma violated the constitution when he ignored the public protector’s order to pay back some of the money used to build non-security features at his private home.

“The failure by the president to comply with remedial action taken against him by the public protector in her report of 19 March 2014 is inconsistent with Section 83 (b) of the constitution and is invalid,” Mogoeng said.

The court gave the National Treasury 60 days to determine how much Zuma should pay. Mogoeng said once the court receives the Treasury’s report, Zuma will have to pay.

INDIA

18 dead in India flyover collapse

A flyover under construction in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata (Calcutta) has collapsed, killing at least 18 people and injuring others.

Many people are feared trapped under the concrete and steel bridge, which fell on a busy road.

Images show residents using their bare hands to help the rescue effort.

Safety issues such as lack of inspections and the use of substandard materials have plagued construction projects in the country.

The accident took place in an area near Girish Park, one of Kolkata’s most densely populated neighbourhoods, with narrow lanes, and shops and houses built close together.

The 2km-long (1.2 mile) flyover has been under construction since 2009 and missed several deadlines for completion.

The causes of the disaster were not immediately clear but the company in charge of the construction, IVRCL, said it would cooperate with investigators.

KENYA

Kenyan MPs whistle to stop President Kenyatta’s address

Loud whistling interrupted the Kenyan president as he tried to make his annual state of the nation address to parliament, which is broadcast live.

Opposition MPs began blowing on whistles a few seconds into President Uhuru Kenyatta’s speech. They had earlier vowed to disrupt proceedings to protest at the government’s failure to address “deep-rooted corruption” in Kenya.

Seven MPs were removed and the address was delayed by half an hour.

The speaker of the house, Justin Muturi, described the commotion as a “gross disorder” and ordered that the troublemakers be forcefully ejected as they were ignoring his commands to stop whistling.

When he was able to start his speech, the president spoke of his government’s commitment to fight graft and said that he expected economic growth to hit the 6% mark this year.

He added that security would be beefed up given the threats Kenya faced from the Somalia-based al-Shabab group, which has launched several deadly attacks on the East Africa nation.

BELGIUM

Belgium approves extradition of Paris attacks suspect to France

A court in Brussels has decided to allow the extradition to France of Salah Abdeslam, a suspect in last November’s Paris attacks.

Abdeslam, who was arrested earlier this month in central Brussels, had earlier agreed to be transferred.

The 26-year-old was detained after apparently hiding in the Belgian capital for more than four months.

His arrest, in a dramatic police operation, came four days before bomb attacks in Brussels killed 32 people.

Belgian and French authorities will now consider how to go ahead with the extradition, the federal prosecutor’s office says.

However, the transfer may take several weeks as Abdeslam – a French national, born in Belgium – is also wanted for questioning in connection with the Brussels bombings.

CAR

CAR abuse: UN looks into ‘bestiality’ report

UN officials say they are investigating “extremely troubling” claims of sexual abuse by peacekeepers in the Central African Republic (CAR).

Last year, there were 69 allegations of child rape and other sexual offences by peacekeepers from 10 missions.

One advocacy group says it has passed on new reports to the UN that a soldier made four girls have sex with a dog.

The UN said it was looking into the “exact number and nature” of the claims.

The new reports of abuse were made by the Code Blue campaign run by the advocacy group Aids-free World. The group says the abuse was reported to have happened between 2013 and this week.

It says the bestiality claims, dating back to 2014, involved a commander with French forces. The girls, one of whom later died of an unknown disease, were each paid 5,000 Central African francs ($8.60; £6), the report says.

GREECE

Greece, Turkey take legal short-cuts in race to return migrants

Greece and Turkey are rushing through changes to their asylum rules in a race to implement a EU-Turkey agreement on the return of refugees and migrants from Greek islands to Turkey from next Monday, EU officials and diplomats said.

Both Athens and Ankara must amend their legislation to permit the start of a scheme – denounced by the U.N. refugee agency and rights groups – to send back all migrants who crossed to Greece after March 20.

The policy is meant to end the uncontrolled influx of refugees and other migrants in which more than a million people crossed into Europe last year, causing a political backlash and pitting EU countries against each other.

Greece, which started evacuating hundreds of people stranded in Athens’ Piraeus port on Thursday, submitted to parliament an asylum amendment bill on Wednesday. Brussels said it had assurances from Athens that it would be passed this week.

UNITED STATES

U.S, Japan, S/Korea present united front against North Korea

U.S. President Barack Obama joined with South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday to present a united front over what he called “provocations” committed by North Korea in its recent nuclear and missile tests.

Meeting on the sidelines of a global nuclear security summit in Washington, the three leaders recommitted their countries to each other’s defense and warned they could take further steps to counter threats from Pyongyang.

“We are united in our efforts to deter and defend against North Korean provocations,” Obama told reporters. “We recognize that our security is linked, that we have to work together to meet this challenge.”

Relations between Park and Abe have been frosty in the past, but the two have been brought together in recent months by shared concerns about North Korea, which conducted a fourth nuclear bomb test on Jan. 6 and launched a long-range rocket into space last month.

LEBANON

Lebanese police free 75 girls from sex traffickers

Lebanese security forces have broken up a human trafficking network and freed 75 girls, mostly Syrians, they said were beaten and forced into prostitution.

A statement by the internal security forces, published on the National News Agency, said they arrested 10 men and eight women who had been guarding the girls during raids earlier this week on nightclubs and apartments in Jounieh, north of Beirut.

It said the girls had been beaten and tortured and forced into prostitution by various means including threats to publish pictures of them naked.

Two members of the group, which the security forces described as the most dangerous human trafficking network in the country, were still on the run, the statement said.

TURKEY

6 Police killed in car bomb attack in Turkey

In Turkey, a car bomb attack left six police officers dead and at least 23 other people wounded in the Kurdish-majority southeastern city of Diyarbakir Thursday.

According to Turkish media, the bomb exploded while a vehicle transporting special police forces passed by the city’s main bus terminal.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. An offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) claimed two car bomb attacks earlier this year in the capital, Ankara.

Twenty-nine people, most of them soldiers, were killed on February 17, when PKK militants targeted their bus.

BURUNDI

Ex-Rwanda minister Bihozagara dies in Burundi jail

A former Rwandan minister has died in jail in Burundi nearly four months after being arrested for espionage.

The successor to Jacques Bihozagara as Rwanda’s ambassador to Belgium has called the death an assassination.

No official reason has been given for his death.

Relations between the two neighbours have been strained recently, amid claims Rwanda was backing rebels seeking to overthrow Burundi’s president, something Rwanda denies.

Mr Bihozagara was dead within minutes of arriving at the prison hospital, according to fellow prisoners.

A Rwandan foreign ministry official said he had been illegally detained and urged the authorities to clarify this sudden death, “which raises many questions”.