Central African Republic's UN protection force approved

There has been a break down in law and order in CAR since rebels seized power

The UN Security Council has approved a special 250-strong military force to protect UN workers in the Central African Republic (CAR).

The UN director of humanitarian operations said CAR was "chaotic" and more than half the population was in need of assistance.

"The scale of suffering is among the worst in the world and getting worse," John Ging said.

CAR has been in a state of chaos since rebels seized power in March.

A rebel alliance known as Seleka ousted President Francois Bozize from office, replacing him with the alliance's commander, Michel Djotodia

.

Last month, Mr Djotodia formally disbanded the rebels and integrated many fighters into the national army.

However, rebels linked to Seleka have continued to launch attacks on scores of villages, prompting the emergence of local civilian protection groups. 

Central African Republic

'Tinderbox'

 

The 250 UN troops will be taken from an existing peacekeeping force and based in the capital, Bangui, diplomats said.

The strength of the force will then be strengthened to 560 troops so they can deploy to areas outside the capital where there is a UN presence.

Mr Ging, who has recently visited CAR, said there was a worrying new religious dimension to the violence, with armed groups inciting Christian and Muslim communities against each other.

"We are seeing the seeds of a profoundly dangerous development between communities.

"It's a tinderbox that can ignite into something very, very big and very, very bad," the Associated Press news agency quoted Mr Ging as saying.

The African Union is in the process of deploying a 3,600-strong peacekeeping mission to the country - incorporating a regional force already on the ground.

Earlier this month, France said it was sending some more troops to its former colony where it already has about 400 troops based at the airport in Bangui. 

CAR has huge deposits of precious minerals but has been plagued by chronic instability since independence in 1960.

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DR Congo army 'seizes' Bunagana base from M23 rebels

Government forces in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have captured Bunagana town, the main base of the M23 rebel group, residents say.

The troops entered the town on the Ugandan border in large numbers as the rebels fled, residents told the BBC.

M23 political leader Bertrand Bisimwa was earlier reported to have crossed the border into Uganda as Congolese troops advanced on his base.

The M23 launched a rebellion in eastern DR Congo in April 2012. 

It is made up of army deserters who say they are fighting for the rights of the minority Tutsi ethnic group.

At least 800,000 people have been left homeless since the conflict started.

About 10,000 people fled to Uganda this week, with about half of them arriving on Wednesday, said Lucy 

Beck, a spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), the Associated Press (AP) news agency reports.

Heavy shelling

On Monday, the UN special envoy to DR Congo, Martin Kobler, said the M23 was all but finished as a military threat in DR Congo.

His comments came after government forces captured five M23-held areas, including Rumangabo where the rebels had a big military training camp. 

The government forces have been backed by a UN intervention brigade deployed earlier this year to confront the M23 and other armed groups.

The BBC's Ignatius Bahizi in Uganda says residents in Bunagana told him there was heavy shelling, before the town fell to government forces. 

Bunagana, a town of several thousand people and the headquarters of Mr Bisimwa, is on the Uganda-DR Congo border.

Mr Bisimwa had surrendered to Ugandan security operatives after crossing the border in a convoy of two vehicles, Uganda's state-owned New Vision newspaper reported. 

He left Bunagana when government and UN forces were about 5km (three miles) away from the town and he was being questioned by Ugandan security operatives, the paper said. 

However, M23 officials denied that Mr Bisimwa had fled. 

They told our reporter that the M23 political leader had travelled to Uganda to sign a peace accord with the government. 

Peace talks hosted by Uganda broke down last week. 

The UN and DR Congo government have repeatedly accused Rwanda and Uganda of backing the rebels. They deny the allegation. 

Eastern DR Congo has been wracked by conflict since 1994, when Hutu militias fled across the border from Rwanda after carrying out a genocide against Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

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UN and French forces in 'large-scale' operation in Mali

French, Malian and UN forces have launched a "large-scale" operation in Mali, France's military says.

France sent troops to oust Islamist rebels from northern Mali earlier this year

Spokesman Col Gilles Jaron told the AFP news agency that several hundred French soldiers were involved in the mission in the north of the country.

It was aimed at preventing a resurgence of "terrorist movements", he added.

On Wednesday, a suicide bomb attack on a UN Stabilisation Mission in Mali (Minusma) base in Tessalit killed civilians and two Chadian peacekeepers.

The UN Security Council stressed that those responsible would be held accountable and reiterated its support for Minusma.

The Malian leader of a splinter group of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Sultan Ould Bady, said it had attacked the base because the Chadians were "working for France".

France sent troops to oust Islamist rebels from northern Mali in January.

The rebels were quickly pushed back from the main urban centres. Some retreated to hideouts in the mountains and desert, from where they launch occasional attacks.

'Stabilisation'

Col Jaron of the French military's general staff said the operation - called "Hydra" - was "the first time we have seen forces of significant size working together" in Mali.

Its goal was to "put pressure on any terrorist movement to avoid their resurgence", he added.

The colonel stressed that the mission was not linked to any recent attack.

"This is one those operations that are conducted regularly... to participate in the stabilisation of the country," he explained.

He did not say when the operation started or on which areas it was focused, nor provide exact numbers or details on the forces taking part.

A spokesman for the Malian army, Lt-Col Souleymane Maiga told the Reuters news agency: "It's an operation to sweep identified areas in the three northern regions [Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal]. It will last as long as is needed."

BBC Africa analyst Mamadou Moussa Ba says this is the first time French troops have publicly been involved in operations against Islamist militants in Mali for several months.

France has 3,200 soldiers in the country but plans to reduce the force to 1,000 by February, several months later than originally planned.

It handed over responsibility for security to Minusma in July. However, the UN force has less than half of its mandated strength of more than 12,000 military personnel and has appealed for reinforcements.

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South African gold miners return to work

Most of the 80,000 South African gold miners who have been on strike since Tuesday have returned to work after a new pay offer, union officials say.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) spokesman said workers for four of the seven companies had accepted the offer of an 8% rise.

The NUM had been demanding 60%, while employers had offered 6% - the same as the current annual rate of inflation.

South Africa's gold industry is one of the biggest in the world.

But it has been in decline in recent years, while the platinum sector is still recovering from violence during last year's strikes.

Power cuts

 

NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka told the AFP news agency that the remaining workers were still being briefed about the latest offer.

"This may possibly mark the end of the strike," he said.

Mine owners had warned that a long strike could lead to gold mines closing and thousands of jobs being lost, following a fall in the price of gold.

They say that their production costs have increased as they have had to dig ever deeper to extract gold.

For many years, South Africa was by far the world's largest gold producer but it is now the fifth biggest, with just 6% of world production.

However, mining is still the most important sector in South Africa's economy.

The NUM represents about 64% of South Africa's 120,000 gold miners.

South Africans were shocked last year when police shot dead 34 platinum miners during an unofficial strike called by a rival union, which accused the NUM of being too close to the ANC government.

South Africa has already been hit by strikes in the vehicle manufacturing and construction industries.

Some electricity workers have also gone on an unofficial strike, leading to severe power cuts in the biggest city, Johannesburg.

An extra generator has been installed near the home of former President Nelson Mandela, who arrived there on Sunday after almost three months in hospital.

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President Jonathan in Kenya

 

 FROM LEFT: PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN; PRESIDENT UHURU KENYATTA OF KENYA; FIRST LADY DAME PATIENCE JONATHAN AND WIFE OF THE KENYAN PRESIDENT, MAGARETH, DURING THE STATE VISIT OF PRESIDENT JONATHAN TO NAIROBI

 

 

PRESIDENT JONATHAN ON STATE VISIT TO KENYA

 

 

PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN (M), HIS WIFE, DAME PATIENCE JONATHAN AND OTHER OFFICIALS ARRIVING AT THE JOMO KENYATTA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

 

 

FROM LEFT: GOV. PETER OBI OF ANAMBRA; CHAIRMAN, SENATE COMMITTEE ON AVIATION, SEN. HOPE UZODIMMA; NIGERIAN HIGH COMMISSIONER TO KENYA, AMB. AKIN OYATERU; PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN AND FIRST LADY, DAME PATIENCE JONATHAN, DURING A MEETING WITH THE NIGERIAN COMMUNITY IN KENYA

 

 

MEMBERS OF THE NIGERIAN COMMUNITY IN KENYA DURING THEIR MEETING WITH PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN

 

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Mali's new President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita sworn in

Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (R) promised to unify the country at his inauguratio

Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has been sworn in as Mali's new president at the Supreme Court in the capital, Bamako.

Before he took his oath of office, transitional leader Dioncounda Traore handed over power at a ceremony inside the presidential palace.

Mr Keita, a former prime minister, won last month's run-off election.

The election of the new president is intended to restore normality after a coup and French-led military action against Islamist rebels in the north.

France sent more than 4,000 troops to Mali in January and together with West African troops regained control of towns and cities from groups aligned with al-Qaeda.

They captured territory with the backing of Tuareg separatists in 2012, taking advantage of a coup in Bamako during which the army accused the civilian government of not doing enough to repel the Islamists.

'Crazy challenge'

 

Mr Traore and defeated presidential candidate Soumaila Cisse were among the more than 1,000 politicians, diplomats and military personnel at Wednesday's inauguration, the AFP news agency reports.

"I will not forget for a moment that you put me where I am to take care of all aspects of the life of our nation," Mr Keita said after taking his oath of office.

The 68-year-old also reiterated that national reconciliation was his priority.

"I want to reconcile hearts and minds, restore true brotherhood between us so that all the different people can play their part harmoniously in the national symphony," he said.

 

UN peacekeepers are deployed in the north of Mali

 

A larger inauguration ceremony, to which French President Francois Hollande has been invited, will be held later this month.

At his last cabinet meeting on Monday, Mr Traore had said that his team had able to meet a "crazy challenge" following last year's coup, including regaining territory from Islamist rebels with France's help and organising a peaceful presidential election.

One of the first tasks for Mr Keita, often known as "IBK", will be to open peace talks with Tuareg separatist groups.

After France's military intervention, the separatists captured Kidal, the only town in Mali where the Tuaregs form a majority. But they agreed in June to allow nationwide elections to go ahead as long as negotiations continued within two months of a new president taking office.

Abdourahmane Dia, from BBC Afrique, says other urgent matters for the president will be reforming the army and tackling corruption - one of his campaign promises.

Many Malians believe corruption to be endemic among high-ranking officers and politicians, he says.

The crisis of the last 18 months has deepened the economic difficulties in Mali and sectors like cotton production as well as tourism have been hit hard, our correspondent adds.

But the president will have more than $4bn (£2.6bn) in foreign aid promised to rebuild the country following the return to democratic rule.

A 12,600-strong United Nations peace force is currently deploying to the West African nation, as France begins to withdraw its 3,000 remaining troops.

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South African girl of seven 'shoots friend dead'

A seven-year-old South African girl has shot dead her friend, aged six, with her grandfather's revolver while playing at a farm, police say. 

A murder case has been opened after the dead girl, a daughter of a farm worker, was shot in the face, reports say. 

The alleged killer's grandfather has been charged with failure to safeguard a firearm, police added. 

South Africa has tight gun ownership regulations but many people still possess firearms.

'Great shock'

 

The debate over gun ownership in South Africa is highly emotive, and sometimes takes racial overtones in a country where divisions between black and white people still run deep, says BBC South Africa analyst Farouk Chothia. 

The pro-gun lobby argues that people should be well-armed because of high levels of crime, but critics say this merely escalates the violence.

Police spokeswoman Ronel Otto told the BBC the alleged killer is in the care of her parents, while her 60-year-old grandfather has received bail of $50 (£30) after he was charged in court. 

"The seven-year-old was visiting her grandparents on a farm outside Bela-Bela [a small town in South Africa's Limpopo province] when she allegedly shot her friend with a 0.38 revolver," Ms Otto said, AFP news agency reports.

Her grandfather had apparently taken the weapon out of his gun safe on Friday after an attempted robbery, and forgot to put it back, local media reports say. 

Community leaders said there was a "great sense of shock" among residents, Ms Otto told the BBC.

Police have opened a murder case but were waiting for clarity from prosecutors on how to proceed because the alleged killer was a minor, AFP reports.

South Africa's 50 million people own an estimated 5.95 million guns, with 3.73 million of them registered.

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Hosni Mubarak appears in court days after release

The former Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, has appeared in court, three days after being released from prison and placed under house arrest.

Mr Mubarak is facing a retrial on charges of complicity in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising.

He sat in the defendants' cage along with his two sons, former interior minister, and six security chiefs.

Earlier, the separate trial of the Muslim Brotherhood's general guide and his two deputies was adjourned.

The court convened briefly and made its decision because Mohammed Badie, Khairat al-Shater and Rashad Bayoumi were absent for security reasons.

Their presence was requested for the trial's resumption on 29 October.

The Brotherhood leaders face charges of inciting the murder of protesters who stormed the Islamist movement's headquarters in Cairo on 30 June as millions took to the streets demanding the resignation of Mr Mubarak's democratically elected successor, Mohammed Morsi.

Mr Morsi was deposed by the military three days later.

He is is being detained while prosecutors investigate allegations related to his escape from prison during the uprising that forced Mr Mubarak from power, including that he conspired with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Helicopter

On Sunday, Mr Mubarak appeared in the dock inside the high-security courtroom at the police academ

The 85-year-old was reportedly flown by helicopter to the court from a military hospital where he has been held under house arrest since his release from prison on Thursday. The hearing has been adjourned until 14 September.

Mr Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison in June 2012 after being found guilty of complicity in the killing of hundreds of protesters. His former interior minister, Habib al-Adly, also received a life sentence, but the security chiefs were acquitted.

The former president and his sons, Alaa and Gamal, were cleared of separate charges of corruption relating to a gas export deal at the same trial because of the statute of limitations.

In January 2013, the Court of Cassation accepted appeals against their convictions by Mr Mubarak and Mr Adly and ordered a retrial of all the defendants. Their supporters had noted that the original trial judge had said there was no evidence linking Mr Mubarak to the shooting of protesters. 

Their retrial began in May but it has been repeatedly adjourned for various reasons, prompting claims from pro-democracy activists and representatives of the victims that the judges and defence team were dragging out proceedings to avoid a verdict.

On Thursday, Mr Mubarak was moved from a prison cell to house arrest at the hospital in Maadi, ending more than two years of incarceration. 

It came a day after a court ruled that he could no longer be detained in relation to a separate corruption case that alleges he accepted gifts from the state-run publisher, al-Ahram. He has already served the maximum time allowed in custody in connection to the complicity case.

Under President Morsi, state prosecutors brought new charges when courts ordered Mr Mubarak's release to ensure he was kept in detention. Alaa and Gamal Mubarak are being held on multiple corruption charges.

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Nelson Mandela showing 'great resilience' in hospital

South Africa's ailing former leader, Nelson Mandela, is said to be showing great resilience though his condition becomes unstable at times.

The state of the 95-year-old is "still critical but stable", according to a statement from the South African president's office.

He remains in hospital in Pretoria two-and-a-half months after being admitted with a recurring lung infection.

The statement largely squares with comments from members of his family.

"Critical but stable" is the phrase used by the government for weeks now, the BBC's Mike Wooldridge reports from Johannesburg.

However, Saturday's statement does provide some fresh insight into the precariousness of the health of the global icon and the reserves he still appears able to call upon, our correspondent adds. 

The statement said doctors were still working hard to bring about a turnaround in his health and, as a result of medical interventions, his condition tended to stabilise.

President Jacob Zuma, who is travelling to Malaysia on an official visit, urged the country to continue praying for Mr Mandela and to keep him in their thoughts at all times.

Mr Mandela, who stepped down as the country's first black president in 1999, entered hospital on 8 June.

The anti-apartheid activist's lung infection is believed to date back to the period of nearly three decades he spent in prison, for his activities in the African National Congress.

People from South Africa and around the world have sent him their best wishes, and flowers and other tributes have collected outside Pretoria's Medi Clinic Heart Hospital.

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Egypt declares national emergency

Egypt has declared a month-long state of emergency after scores of people were killed when security forces stormed protest camps in Cairo.

The camps had been occupied by supporters of former president Mohammed Morsi, who was deposed in early July.
State media say the security forces are now in control of the two main camps.
The health ministry says 149 people were killed – but the Muslim Brotherhood, which was behind the protests, says more than 2,000 died.
The state of emergency is scheduled to last for a month. It imposes a curfew in Cairo and several other provinces between 19:00 local time (17:00 GMT) and 06:00.

The measure was taken because the “security and order of the nation face danger due to deliberate sabotage, and attacks on public and private buildings and the loss of life by extremist groups,” the presidency said in a statement.

Vice-President Mohammed El Baradei has announced his resignation from the interim government in the wake of the violence.
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