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Clinton wraps up African tour

noreply@blogger.com (my100blog) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:21:00 -0700

With her visit to Liberia and then Cape Verde, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is coming to the end of her gruelling, seven-nation African tour.

On the one hand it has gone well. She has proved to an audience that was beginning to doubt President Barack Obama's commitment to Africa, that he really takes the continent seriously.

And she delivered the message President Obama first gave during his recent visit to Ghana wherever she went - that Africa's people deserve better from their governments.

As Mrs Clinton told her audience in Kenya: "True economic progress depends not only on the hard work of millions of people who get up every day and do the best they can, often under overwhelming circumstances.

"It often depends on responsible governments that reject corruption and enforce the rule of law and deliver results for their people."

On the other hand there was little new in the way of policy.

No fresh initiatives on trade or aid and certainly nothing about the most controversial subject on America's agenda - its future military role in Africa.

Africom, the force that oversees US security interests on the continent, remains based in Germany and there was nothing said about possible plans for a military base on African soil.

Californians flee wildfires

noreply@blogger.com (my100blog) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:54:00 -0700

LOCAL authorities on Thursday ordered some 600 people to leave a residential area in the mountains of Santa Cruz, California due to an out-of-control wildfire racing through the area.

Some 250 homes and buildings in Bonny Doon, approximately 80km south-east of San Francisco, are threatened by the fire, Santa Cruz county spokesman Dinah Phillips told local media.

According to the California Forestry and Fire Protection department (CALFIRE), some 1,000 hectares have been burned in a blaze known as the Lockheed Fire since the fire broke out late on Wednesday.

CALFIRE reported '0 per cent containment' of the fire, but also reports no deaths or injuries.

The fire broke out in a steep hillside area covered with thick bushes and pine trees, where several upscale homes are located.

A smaller fire in the same area in June 2008 destroyed three homes and 10 buildings, costing authorities some US$5.4 million (S$6.8 million) for three days of work to put the fire out.

Missing ship 'found' off Africa

noreply@blogger.com (my100blog) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:46:00 -0700

A missing ship with 15 Russian crew members on board has been spotted more than two weeks after it disappeared, unconfirmed reports say.

The Arctic Sea had last been sighted in the Bay of Biscay on 30 July.

Reports citing local coastguards now suggest it has been seen some 400 nautical miles from the Cape Verde islands, off the coast of West Africa.

Russian navy ships have been searching for the 4,000-tonne Maltese-flagged vessel, which had been carrying timber.

Observers have suggested the ship was hijacked, possibly because of a Russian commercial dispute.

Following the reported sighting, a spokesman for the French defence ministry told the BBC that the Arctic Sea was thought to be in international waters.

The spokesman said his information came from the Cape Verde coastguard, who said the ship was outside their jurisdiction. He was unable to confirm the coastguard's report.

However, the spokesman said there was a "high possibility" that the ship had been located. French intelligence officials also believe they have found the ship in the same area, he said.

There has been no confirmation yet from Russian authorities that of any sighting of the Cape Verde.

The Russian ambassador to Cape Verde, Alexander Karpushin, said a Russian frigate was heading to the area but had no information on the Arctic Sea's location, Associated Press reported, quoting Russian radio.

Five Russian warships and other vessels have been searching the Atlantic for the vessel.

Nigerian Islamist attacks spread

noreply@blogger.com (my100blog) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:26:00 -0700

Islamist militants have staged three co-ordinated attacks in northern Nigeria leaving dozens dead, a day after a similar number was killed.

A BBC reporter has counted 50 bodies near the police headquarters in Maiduguri, Borno State, where hundreds are fleeing their homes.

Witnesses told the BBC a gun battle raged for hours in Potiskum, Yobe State and a police station was set on fire.

Some of the militants follow a preacher who campaigns against Western schools.

Mohammed Yusuf says Western education is against Islamic teaching.

There has also been an attack in Wudil, some 20km (12 miles) from Kano, the largest city in northern Nigeria.

A curfew is in force in Bauchi, the scene of Sunday's violence.

Sharia law is in place across northern Nigeria, but there is no history of al-Qaeda-linked violence in the country.

Nigeria's 150 million people are split almost equally between Muslims and Christians and the two groups generally live peacefully side by side, despite occasional outbreaks of communal violence.

'Education is prohibited'

Militants chanting "God is great" attacked the Potiskum police station at about 0215 local time (0115 GMT) - the same time as the raid was launched in Maiduguri.

The police station and neighbouring buildings in Potiskum have been razed to the ground, eyewitnesses say.

There are unconfirmed reports of more deaths in Maiduguri, as well as a jailbreak in the town.

In Wudil, three people have been killed and more than 33 arrested. The senior police officer in Wudil has been wounded.

Security is said to have been beefed up in Plateau State, to the south of Bauchi, where hundreds were killed in clashes between Muslims and Christians last year.

The security forces have confirmed Monday's attacks but have not released any casualty figures.

Medical sources have told the BBC that two police officers have been taken to hospital in Potiskum.

Mr Yusuf's followers in Bauchi are known as Boko Haram, which means "Education is prohibited".

They attacked a police station on Sunday after some of their leaders were arrested.

Correspondents say the group is seen locally as a fringe group and has aroused suspicion for its recruitment of young men, and its belief that Western education, Western culture and science are sinful.

Nigerian Islamist attacks spread

noreply@blogger.com (my100blog) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 04:49:00 -0700