Boko Haram kills Chinese worker and kidnaps 10

A screengrab taken on May 12, 2014, from a video of Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram obtained shows a girl, wearing the full-length hijab talking to the camera at an undisclosed rural location. Boko Haram released a new video on claiming to show the missing Nigerian schoolgirls, alleging they had converted to Islam and would not be released until all militant prisoners were freed. 

Boko Haram gunmen killed a Chinese worker and kidnapped 10 others overnight in Cameroon, piling more pressure on leaders meeting in Paris on Saturday to thrash out a tougher strategy against the Nigerian Islamists.

Militants stormed an encampment used by Chinese road workers late on Friday in a region of northern Cameroon just across the border from the strongholds where they sparked global outrage by abducting more than 200 schoolgirls last month.

“The Boko Haram militants were heavily armed, they came in five vehicles,” an official in Waza, a town near the site of the attack, told AFP on condition of anonymity.

He said the camp where the Chinese road workers stayed was usually guarded by soldiers from Cameroon’s elite Rapid Intervention Battalion, but many of the troops were in Yaounde for a military parade ahead of National Day on May 20.

“Cameroonian soldiers retaliated and the fighting lasted until 3:00 am,” said a local police chief, who said the militants also raided the police armoury in Waza overnight.

He said one Chinese worker was killed and 10 others had been missing since the attack and were believed kidnapped by the Boko Haram gunmen.

TERRITORIAL DISPUTE

A source close to the Chinese embassy in the Cameroonian capital Yaounde spoke of 10 missing and one wounded but would not confirm or deny whether one had been killed.

News of the latest attack came as west African and European leaders gathered for a special meeting in Paris aimed at ramping up action against the increasingly regional threat posed by Boko Haram.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan was expected to face pressure to cooperate much more closely with Cameroon, Niger, Chad and Benin at the half-day summit.

A long-running territorial dispute has soured relations between Nigeria and Cameroon, hampering any steps towards joint action against the militants.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague told reporters just before the summit that regional countries, backed by Western powers such as Britain, the United States and the European Union, would have to forge a “strategy to defeat Boko Haram more broadly.”

The group, which is waging a deadly campaign to create an Islamic state in northeastern Nigeria, has achieved a new level of notoriety since it seized the girls a month ago.

“This is one sickening and terrible incident but they continue almost every day to commit terrorist acts and atrocities,” Hague said.

SURVEILLANCE AIRCRAFT

“There are many borders here and they are porous. This is very relevant to finding the schoolgirls. We want to see the countries in the region working together in creating an intelligence fusion cell,” Hague said.

“Nigerian security forces have not been well structured” to deal with the threat posed by Boko Haram, he added.

French President Francois Hollande discussed the conference and the hunt for the girls with US President Barack Obama in a phone call on Friday, the White House said.

Among the resources already put at Nigeria’s disposal have been US drones and surveillance aircraft but further Western military involvement is not on the agenda, officials say.

Instead, the emphasis is on sharing intelligence and knowledge about dealing with such groups.

France has particular experience in that area, having recently secured the release of a French family that was kidnapped by suspected Boko Haram fighters in Cameroon and then held in Nigeria for two months.

hinese national was killed and 10 others were feared kidnapped after an overnight attack in northern Cameroon believed to have been carried out by Boko Haram militants from Nigeria, a police said on Saturday.

ARMOURY RAIDED

“Boko Haram Islamists attacked a camp (of road workers). A Chinese was killed. Ten Chinese cannot be found since the attack. We think they have probably been kidnapped,” a local police chief said on condition of anonymity.

“Cameroonian soldiers retaliated and the fighting lasted until 3:00 am (0200 GMT),” the officer said.

“The Boko Haram militants were heavily armed, they came in five vehicles,” an official in Waza, near the site of the attack in a northern Cameroonian region near the Nigerian border, told AFP on condition of anonymity.

He said the camp where the Chinese road workers stayed was usually guarded by soldiers from Cameroon’s elite Rapid Intervention Battalion.

“Their numbers were thinner these past few days because many of them had gone down to Yaounde” for the traditional military parade marking National Day on May 20, the official said.

The police officer said the militants also attacked the police post in Waza overnight and raided its armoury.

Ngugi wa Thiong'o receives honorary doctorate from University of Bayreuth

                                         Ngugi wa Thiong'o speaks at the University of Bayreuth on May 5, 2014.

Ngugi wa Thiong'o on Monday received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bayreuth, Germany.

The doctorate was awarded by the Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies (BIGSAS), where Ngugi had worked shortly in the 1980s as a guest professor.

Prof. Dr. Stefan Leible, president of the University of Bayreuth, Brigitte Merk-Erbe, the Mayor of Bayreuth and Prof. Dr. Dymitr Ibriszimow, head of the institute, all took to the podium to express their gratitude for Ngugi's literary works and his contribution to the upholding of culture through his work.

In his acceptance speech, Ngugi shared his view on the importance of languages and cultures. According to him, the world is like an orchestra and every language spoken is an instrument in the orchestra. When only few languages dominate, then the global orchestra shrinks, with only few instruments.

Ngugi cautioned Africans who have lost their mother tongues in the name of adopting European languages as the only form of communication. People have rejected their languages and this has put Africa in a "linguistic prison" which hinders cultural and intellectual development in Africa, Ngugi said.

"Every language, every culture, has a role to play and none is superior nor inferior to the other. This kind of thinking is a fallacy," he insisted.

The diversity of languages that characterises Ngugi's work and its worldwide reception was also reflected in the readings that took place during the event.

The literary scholar and BIGSAS graduate Samuel Ndogo from Eldoret, the translator Dr. Thomas Brückner from Munich, the scholar and translator Dr. Wangui wa Goro from the UK, BIGSAS doctoral student and journalist Nadja Ofuatey-Alazard from Munich as well as the literary scholar and BIGSAS graduate Ndi Gilbert Shang from Kenya contributed texts in three languages: Kikuyu, the language in which Ngugi's literature was originally written, as well as English and German.

On the same day, several partnership agreements between the BIGSAS on behalf of the University of Bayreuth and seven African Universities were signed.

Among those who took part in the signing were Prof. Dr. Richard K. Mibey - Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya; Prof. Dr. Wail Benjelloun - Université Mohammed V – Agdal, Rabat, Morocco; Prof. Dr. Malegapuru Makgoba - University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa; Prof. Dr. Orlando A. Quilambo - Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo, Mosambique; Prof. Dr. Brice A. Sinsin - Université Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou, Benin and Dr. Worash Getaneh Shibeshi - Addis Ababa University, Ethiopien.

IMF asks Uganda to avoid debt crisis

               Ms Ana Lucía Coronel, the IMF mission chief and senior resident representative for Uganda.

Kampala- The International Monetary (IMF) has asked the Uganda government to avoid accumulation of domestic arrears and increased domestic borrowing as these might lead to a domestic debt crisis.

Uganda is currently faced with a large volume of arrears which stand at about Shs2.2 trillion, while at the same time it has heavily borrowed from the domestic financial market to the tune of Shs1.7 trillion using treasury bills and bonds.

The IMF mission team has been in the country for the last two weeks carrying out reviews on its new Policy Support Instrument (PSI) with Uganda.

At the end of the mission on Tuesday, Ms Ana Lucía Coronel, the IMF mission chief and senior resident representative for Uganda, said on the expenditure side, that it will be essential to focus on areas that support growth and job creation.
“In particular, the mission urges the authorities to take steps to avoid incurring domestic arrears that weaken economic management by impairing budget planning, increasing costs for the government, and negatively affecting those who conduct business with the government,” Ms Coronel said.

“There is also a need to pay increased attention to revenue mobilisation. Following the recent large shortfall in tax revenue and the risk of reductions in foreign aid, broadening the tax base and improving efficiency in tax administration are more critical than ever,” she added.

Ms Coronel said the mission encourages the government to take decisive action to increase tax revenue collections pointing out that this would involve reviewing existing tax laws and eliminating tax exemptions that have little benefit for production but undermine growth-enhancing spending and constrain the vibrant private sector growth.

Collection of tax revenue by Uganda Revenue Authority is hindered by high levels of non-compliancy, however, the IMF says efforts should also focus on strongly enforcing compliance by all taxpayers.

The IMF says the ongoing issuance of national identity cards should support the government’s efforts to achieve the long-awaited plan to raise Ugandan tax revenue and bring it closer to regional standards.

Ms Coroner explained that sound fiscal policies supported by robust revenues and predictable spending would help reduce the need for large borrowing in the domestic market to finance government operations, and effectively contain interest rate increases on government securities.

Turkey mine blast kills at least 205, hundreds trapped

A miner came out helped by friends after an explosion in Manisa on May 13, 2014. At least 200-300 workers were working in the mine when an electric fault caused an explosion. 

At least 205 people were killed and hundreds more remained trapped underground after an explosion at a coal mine in western Turkey, the government said Wednesday, warning that rescue efforts faced a race against time.

The toll has risen rapidly since Tuesday's disaster in the province of Manisa, when a total of 787 mineworkers became trapped inside the mine.

Rescue operations continued overnight for the hundreds of people still underground. Of those rescued alive, 80 were injured, four of them seriously, said Energy Minister Taner Yildiz.

"We fear the number could rise even further because those who came to help out may be among the injured and affected by the smoke," he told reporters.

"As the time passes, we are very quickly heading to an unfavourable outcome," he added.

Earlier a security source told AFP that there were pockets in the mine, one of which was open so rescuers were able to reach the workers, but the second was blocked with workers trapped inside.

The explosion was believed to have been triggered by a faulty electrical transformer at around 1230 GMT Tuesday.

Hundreds of people gathered around the explosion site as rescuers brought out injured workers, who were coughing and struggling to breathe due to the dust.

Sena Isbiler, a mother of one of the miners, stood on top of piles of wood, craning her neck to see who was being led out of the mine.

"I have been waiting for my son since early afternoon," she told AFP.

"I haven't heard anything about him yet."

Arum Unzar, a colleague of the missing miners said he had lost a friend previously "but this is enormous."

"All the victims are our friends," he said as he wept.

"We are a family and today that family is devastated. We have had very little news and when it does come it's very bad," he added.

TRAGIC ACCIDENT

Fire officials were trying to pump clean air into the mine shaft for those who remained trapped some two kilometres (one mile) below the surface and four kilometres from the entrance.

Late Tuesday evening injured people were still emerging from the collapsed mine -- some walking, others being carried by rescue workers while being given oxygen.

Nearby, security officers tried to keep ambulance routes clear to ensure help could reach the victims.

The mining company Soma Komur issued a statement saying the mine had maximum safety measures.

"Unfortunately, some of our workers have lost their lives in this tragic accident," the statement said.

"The accident happened despite maximum safety measures and inspections, but we have been able to take prompt action," it added.

Energy Minister Yildiz promised that if it was discovered that any negligence was to blame for the disaster "we will not turn a blind eye to it. We will do whatever necessary including all administrative and legal steps."

TIME ISN'T IN OUR FAVOUR

Turkey's ministry of labour and social security said the mine was last inspected on March 17 and was found to be compliant with safety regulations.

But Oktay Berrin, a miner, said workers were not protected underground.

"There is no security in this mine," he told AFP.

"The unions are just puppets and our management only cares about money."

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's office said he would arrive in Soma on Wednesday after cancelling a trip to Albania.

Speaking in Ankara, the leader expressed his "heartfelt condolences" to the families of those who died.

"Some of the workers have been rescued and I hope we will be able to rescue the others," Erdogan said.

Energy Minister Yildiz told journalists in Soma that a team of 400 people were involved in the rescue effort and that the main cause of the deaths was carbon monoxide and dioxide poisoning.

"Time isn't working in our favour. We need to get them out. We could be in a troubled situation," he said.

The miners are all thought to have gas masks, but it was not clear how long they would last.

Vedat Didari, a professor of mining, told AFP that the biggest risk was the lack of oxygen.

"If the ceiling fans are not working, the workers could die within an hour," said Didari, from the Bulent Ecevit University in the city of Zonguldak.

Explosions and cave-ins are common in Turkey, particularly in private mines where safety regulations are often flouted.

Turkey's worst mining accident happened in 1992 when 263 workers were killed in a gas explosion in a mine in Zonguldak.

Soma is one of the key centres for lignite coal mining in Turkey, a district with a population of around 100,000 where the mines and a lignite-fired thermal power plant are the main economic activity.

City out-punch rivals to Premier League glory

MANCHESTER

Goals from Samir Nasri and skipper Vincent Kompany saw Manchester City to a 2-0 win over West Ham as they claimed their second Premier League title in three seasons.

Sunday's final day of the league season victory at City's Eastlands ground crowned a triumphant first English campaign in charge for Manuel Pellegrini, the Chilean manager celebrating his first domestic championship in Europe.

Winners of the League Cup earlier in the year, City added the championship in fairly routine fashion.

While City's main challengers Liverpool faltered in the past two weeks -- notably in losing at home to Chelsea and squandering a three-goal lead to draw at Crystal Palace -- the unflappable Pellegrini ensured his club kept their composure, culminating in Sunday's victory over Sam Allardyce's Hammers.

By the time Nasri shot City into a 40th minute lead, the pressure around Eastlands had already been lifted considerably with the surprise news from Anfield that Liverpool had fallen behind to Newcastle.

That left Pellegrini's team in the position of potentially being able to lose to West Ham and still regain the title they won so memorably on the final day of the season in 2012.

Nonetheless, defeat seemed highly unlikely with City enjoying 75 percent of the possession prior to the opening goal.

ADMIRABLE PATIENCE

Inevitably, City made the pressure count before the half-time whistle as Yaya Toure played a short ball to Nasri and the visiting defenders showed a rare lapse in concentration by backing off the midfielder.

That invited the France international to attempt a shot, which Nasri duly did, producing a sweetly-struck right-foot effort which flew in via the left-hand post and a slight touch from diving goalkeeper Adrian.

As they had done in securing a vital midweek victory over Aston Villa, City showed admirable patience prior to Nasri's strike, prodding and probing at the opposition's defence without offering them any hope on the counter-attack.

It took until the 18th minute for Sergio Aguero, recalled after a lengthy injury lay-off, to test Adrian with a 25-yard shot which was comfortably saved and, just as news filtered through of the opening goal at Anfield, Toure's curling shot just missed the target from the edge of the area.

Aleksandar Kolarov's spectacular 30-yard attempt was tipped over acrobatically by Adrian and Aguero showed nimble footwork on the by-line only for his drag-back to be skied over the target by Edin Dzeko from six yards.

After the goal, Aguero's glancing header flew just wide and David Silva's shot was deflected onto the bar as City sought to ensure they enjoyed an anxiety-free second half.

Ultimately, it required only four minutes of that second period for City to kill off the contest and ensure their 17th home victory in 19 league games this season.

Nasri's left-wing corner was met by Dzeko who neatly twisted to turn the ball goalwards, directly into the path of Kompany, who swept the ball in from six yards.

Matt Taylor's shot from the edge of the City area was well off target as City goalkeeper Joe Hart awaited his first save of the match but, as news came through that Liverpool had equalised in their game, it was merely a question of by how many Pellegrini's team would win their title-decider.

Aguero headed just wide from a Pablo Zabaleta cross, Silva's shot was deflected behind and Aguero mishit from six yards after another Zabaleta centre when it appeared easier to convert into the gaping West Ham goal.

The closing minutes entered practice match territory, although Adrian was required to save smartly with his feet to block a close-range shot from Nasri.

Finally, West Ham showed some fire, but in the incorrect manner, as a minor scuffle between players from both teams in the final minute ended with Aguero and Mark Noble both being cautioned for a needless clash.

Putin says Russia has pulled troops from Ukraine border

A handout picture released by the Prime Minister Press Service shows Ukraine's Interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk (L) embracing a trooper during his visit to a checkpoint near the Ukrainian eastern city of Slavyansk on May 7, 2014. President Vladimir Putin told pro-Russian rebels fighting in east Ukraine to halt plans for independence referendums and said his troops had been withdrawn from the border, a potential breakthrough in the worst showdown between Moscow and the West since the Cold War.

MOSCOW,

President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday told pro-Russian rebels fighting in east Ukraine to halt plans for independence referendums and said his troops had been withdrawn from the border, a potential breakthrough in the worst showdown between Moscow and the West since the Cold War.

The Russian leader also hailed a planned May 25 presidential election in Ukraine, previously criticised by the Kremlin, as a "move in the right direction".

The softer tone of the surprise comments -- delivered during a meeting in Moscow with the visiting head of the OSCE -- suggested a potential resolution of the geopolitical confrontation and on-the-ground conflict in Ukraine that had been building towards war.

Russia's stock market immediately soared over three percent, and the battered ruble jumped to a five-week high against the dollar.

Russia's markets climbed sharply on Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin urged the postponement of a referendum on separate status for Ukraine's Russian-speaking regions and cautiously backed presidential polls.

The MICEX stock index climbed 3.45 percent while the RTS index rose 4.52 percent at about 1420 GMT.

The ruble also rose sharply against the euro and the dollar, with the euro worth 48.78 rubles and the dollar worth 35.03 rubles.

The Ukraine conflict with its recurrent threat of military intervention by Moscow caused the West to impose targeted sanctions and has led to massive capital flight from Russia.

The ruble has fall to levels last seen during the 2008 global financial crisis.

In early March ahead of the referendum in Crimea on joining Russia, the euro reached a peak value of 51.20 rubles and the dollar rose to 37 rubles.

NO SIGNS OF PULL OUT

NATO said Wednesday it had seen no sign of Russian troops withdrawing from the border with Ukraine, despite President Vladimir Putin's claim they have been pulled back.

"We have no indication of a change in the position of military forces along the Ukraine border," a NATO military official said.

Putin had said earlier that in response to Western concerns of a possible Ukraine invasion, Moscow had pulled troops back.

"We were told constantly about concerns over our troops near the Ukrainian border. We have pulled them back," Putin said.

"Today they are not at the Ukrainian border but in places of regular exercises, at training grounds," he said after meeting Swiss president and current OSCE chief Didier Burkhalter.

US and NATO officials estimate Russia massed 40,000 troops on the border with Ukraine as the Kiev government battles pro-Kremlin militias.

World powers join search for abducted Nigerian schoolgirls

Members of civil society groups shout slogans to protest the abduction of Chibok school girls during a rally pressing for the girls' release in Abuja on May 6, 2014, ahead of World Economic Forum.

An urgent international effort to help Nigeria find more than 200 girls kidnapped by Islamist militants is focused on providing intelligence as experts try to locate the hostages.

Amid global outrage over the kidnapping, the United States, France and Britain are sending specialist teams to Nigeria, which said London had agreed to deploy "satellite imaging capabilities."

China promised to supply "any useful information acquired by its satellites and intelligence services," according to President Goodluck Jonathan after talks with visiting Chinese premier Li Keqiang.

Extremists from the Boko Haram group seized a first group of schoolgirls in Nigeria's volatile northeast three weeks ago, saying they were holding them as "slaves" and threatening to sell them.

The militants have since kidnapped more girls in the area and attacked a village, massacring scores of civilians. The violence and mass abduction has triggered worldwide anger.

Western governments divulged few details about the precise type of support offered to Nigeria but officials said intelligence from satellite imagery and possibly drone surveillance aircraft would be a crucial element.

Washington plans to send a team of fewer than 10 military personnel as well as specialists from the Justice Department and the FBI, US officials said.

"We're moving swiftly to put in place a team at our embassy in Abuja that can provide military, law enforcement and information-sharing assistance in support of Nigeria's efforts to find and free the girls," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters. The United States, which like France flies Reaper drones out of Niamey in Nigeria's neighbor Niger, would not confirm if surveillance aircraft were part of the package of assistance.

"We're discussing with the Nigerian government any type of information sharing arrangements that we can agree to," Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steven Warren said.

US MILITARY

Defense officials acknowledged the US military had relatively weak ties with Nigeria and unlike many other African states, the government in Abuja has shown little interest in major training programs.

"In the past, the Nigerians have been reluctant to accept US assistance, particularly in areas having to do with security," said John Campbell, former US ambassador to Nigeria.

"Whatever assistance we might provide and might be welcomed by the Nigerian side is likely to be essentially technical," Mr Campbell said.

Satellite imagery and other technological surveillance would likely represent Washington's primary contribution, said Brian Jenkins of the Rand Corporation think tank, a former Green Beret who used to work as an adviser for companies facing hostage situations.

At the moment, the main task is to track down where the girls are being held, he told AFP.

"The first job is to locate where they may be. Are they all assembled in a single area that can be identified? Or have they already been scattered?" he said.

The United States also could advise Nigeria if it tried to negotiate with the kidnappers, as could the teams from France and Britain, which have experience with hostage situations, he added.

DRONES

With two drones based in Niger as well as troops and aircraft deployed in Chad and Benin, France is well-placed to help track the militants that operate throughout the area, analysts said.

"It's an area we know well and where our intelligence services are active," said Eric Denece, director of the French Center for Research on Intelligence.

French support also presents a chance "to return a favor" to Nigeria, which helped in the release of French hostages abducted in Cameroon by Boko Haram, said defense expert Pierre Servent.

Some US lawmakers have suggested staging a rescue mission, but Western officials made clear there was no plan at the moment to organize such a dangerous operation.

"This is not something where the US has some magic. This isn't a rescue of a captain and his crew on a ship in the Indian Ocean," Mr Jenkins said.

"The idea that the US will just intervene and send in commandos and bring these girls back. . . I wish that were the case, he said."

"History suggests this could be turn out to be a long affair."

British commandos joined Nigerian forces on a failed rescue operation in March 2012 in the northern city of Sokoto in which two hostages, a Briton and an Italian, were killed by their captors.