Agrégateur de flux

The top U.S. naval officer has expressed concerns that China may be expanding its presence at Scarborough Shoal.

François Hollande a choisi le 19 mars, jour du cessez-le-feu, pour la cérémonie, une date "au coeur d'un débat douloureux", écrit l'ancien chef de l'État.

"La Tunisie a choisi un chemin, on doit lui apporter toutes nos forces pour qu'elle réussisse", a promis Jean-Marc Ayrault, le ministre des Affaires étrangères.

Le ministre de l'Agriculture leur a écrit pour les convaincre d'éviter "l'interdiction brutale" des néonicotinoïdes dans le projet de loi sur la biodiversité.

The Hague Tribunal has legal precedents for some of the charges against Radovan Karadzic, but allegations that genocide was committed in 1992 and UN peacekeepers were taken hostage have never been proven by the court.

Le marché international  Dantokpa était hier aux couleurs du candidat de l’alliance républicaine Lionel ZINSOU. A la manœuvre, Brice Hondi, Directeur à la communication de la Renaissance du Bénin, représentant le président Léhady Vinagnon Soglo. 

Read more ...

Encore un scandale sous le régime Yayi. Pendant que tous les regards sont tournés vers le second tour du scrutin présidentiel du 20 mars prochain,  il se murmure dans les coulisses de la Primature, un détournement de fonds belge.  

Read more ...

March 15, 2016 (YAMBIO) – Communities in the greater Mundri region have asked the newly appointed governor of Amadi state to ensure peace and security are prioritized when he takes over office.

Amadi state governor Joseph Ngere Paciko (ST/File)

The governor of Amadi state, Joseph Ngere Paciko arrived in Mundri West county Monday, amidst of unconfirmed reports that his own people strongly opposed his appointment by President Salva Kiir.

Ngere, however, said he was determined to ensure peace was achieved in greater Mundri, forgive each other and reconcile to open a new page for the development of the newly-created state.

This example, he stressed, was shown to the people of Mundri when he unconditionally forgave unknown gunmen who attacked him and shot his leg at night as he traveled back home from a funeral.

The governor dismissed as false allegations that he was afraid to visit Mundri where his community reportedly threatened to end his life.

“The community of Mundri welcomes anybody,” he said, citing the huge numbers of political leaders, traditional leaders, youth and church leaders who showed up to witness his arrival into the region.

According to the governor, they toured the town and market after the rally and it was all calm and not chaotic as many have alleged.

He further asserted that meetings with security organs, military, youth, women, traditional leaders and the church leaders will continue to see how they could work together to bring total peace and harmony to the people of Mundri as long as he would continue to stay in his office from now, unless changes were made in his position.

In May last year, conflict erupted in Mundri between cattle keepers and farmers over grazing land and later involved the national army (SPLA) and the youth. Several people were reportedly killed including the executive director of Mundri, amidst lootings as thousands fled their homes to bushes and nearby areas for safety.

A recent report by the US-based Human Rights Watch faulted he South Sudanese military of allegedly committing crimes against civilians in Western Equatoria state, but the army denies these claims.

(ST)

March 17, 2016 (YEI) – Two people were killed and another wounded by unknown gunmen along Yei-Lainya highway on Tuesday, authorities said.

The Lainya county commissioner Augustino Kiri, March 16, 2016 (ST)

The Lainya county women association chairperson Ludia Mateyo said insecurity in the area had caused several murders, rape and many people were missing.

She attributed the worrying insecurity situation in Lainya county to the delays by the South Sudanese peace partners to establish the long-awaited Transition Government of National Unity (TGoNU).

A speedy implementation of the August 2015 peace agreement would immediately address the suffering of the citizens, Mateyo said.

“We as women in Lainya county are not able to go the forest to collect fire wood because two of our colleagues were raped by unknown men. Secondly two of our sons were killed”, she added.

The Lainya county commissioner, Augustino Kiri Gwolo confirmed the killings, but said security forces had been deployed to patrol the area.

He called on the population to cooperative with local authorities by availing information on suspicious movements of gunmen in the county.

“The security situation for the last few days is normal except the two incidents that happened the day before yesterday [Tuesday] and yesterday [Wednesday] between Kenyi and Limbe where two people were killed. Then the incident that happened at Yei-Lainya border at Limbe where a commercial car was attacked and one person was injured,” the commissioner told Sudan Tribune.

He added, “We are putting up security arrangements to protect the people. I have told both men and women to cooperate with the authorities in case they see unsuspicious movement of people and to inform us so that this incident does not repeat itself again”.

Commissioner Kiri appealed to the population to remain calm and support government in the implementation of the peace deal seeking to end the nation's over 20-month conflict.

(ST)

Les centristes se réunissent en congrès dimanche à Versailles.

March 17, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudanese president, Salva Kiir, has approved a request by the chief of general staff of South Sudanese army, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), General Paul Malong Awan, to make a reshuffle in the top command of the army.

S Sudan's President Salva Kiir is received by Chief of General Staff of the SPLA Paul Malong Awan at the airport in Juba March 6, 2015 (Photo Reuters/Jok Solomun)

President Kiir, according to a circular given to all units, approved the changes sought by the chief of general staff to swap his deputies.

Awan, according to an administrative order announced on Wednesday, appointed Lieutenant General James Ajonga Mawut Ajonga as the deputy chief of general staff for administration and finance. General Ajonga replaced Lieutenant General Malual Ayom, who has been moved by the same order to the directorate of inspection.

Lieutenant General Thomas Cirillo Swaka has been moved from the directorate of training and appointed head of the directorate responsible for procurement and logistics management.

He replaced Lieutenant General Malek Reuben, who has been the head of directorate for training. Lieutenant General Mangar Buong was named the head of operations and Lieutenant General Bapiny Monytuil retained his previous assignment as the head of the directorate responsible for chief of general staff for moral and orientation.

No explanations for changes were made public. Several military figures attributed the cause of the administrative changes to a simmering friction between chief of general staff and some of his deputies over the manner in which he has been running the affairs of the army.

General Awan has registered interest in wanting to assemble a team of military officers loyal to him and for a very long time sought the approval of president Kiir, who is the commander in chief.

(ST)

L'Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS) a annoncé avoir dépêché une équipe de spécialistes dans la préfecture de Nzérékoré, au sud de la Guinée, après que deux nouveaux cas d'Ebola ont été détectés et confirmés dans un village rural.

A l'occasion d'une réunion du Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU sur le Burundi, deux hauts responsables de l'Organisation se sont déclarés très inquiets vendredi face la montée de la violence au Burundi, qui risque selon eux de dégénérer prochainement en guerre civile.

Le Secrétaire général de l'ONU, Ban Ki-moon, a pris connaissance vendredi de l'arrivée à Djibouti, dans la journée, du ministre des Affaires étrangères du Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, et a salué l'annonce de la libération de quatre prisonniers djiboutiens par les autorités érythréennes.

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

March 17, 2016 (ADDIS ABABA) – Survival International (SI)‚ a global movement for the rights of indigenous tribal peoples has lodged complaint against an Italian giant construction company, Salini, over impacts of one of Ethiopia mega projects, the Gilgel Gibe III hydro power plant it has built.

The US$1.5 billion Gibe III project dam is expected to generate 1870 MW of electricity.

Survival said it has reported the Italian engineering giant Salini to the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) over the rights impacts to communities in Ethiopia and Kenya.

It also stressed that the construction of the controversial dam in Ethiopia's Omo River cuts off the Omo River's regular flooding‚ over which 100‚000 people rely on to water their crops and livestock and a further 100,000 depend on indirectly.

It said the dam project will eventually destroy the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people in Ethiopia and Kenya.

“Up to half a million people face starvation as a result of the dam Salini has constructed on the Omo River,” Survival said in a statement it issued on Monday.

According to experts, the dam project threatens Lake Turkana – the world's largest permanent desert lake – and disaster for the 300,000 people from tribes living along its shores.

Survival said Salini did not seek the consent of local people before building the dam, but claimed that an “artificial flood release” would compensate them for their losses. However, this promised flood never came and thousands of people now face starvation.

According to Survival, the region is one of the most important sites in early human evolution‚ and an area of exceptional biodiversity‚ with two World Heritage Sites and five national parks.

“The head of Kenya's conservation agency said last week that the dam is unleashing “one of the worst environmental disasters you can imagine.”

Stephen Corry of Survival international said “Salini has ignored crucial evidence‚ made false promises and ridden roughshod over the rights of hundreds of thousands of people.”

"Thousands are now facing starvation because Italy's largest contractor‚ and one of its best known companies‚ didn't think human rights were worth its time,” he said.

He said the real consequences of the Ethiopian government's devastating policies for its country's 'development'‚ which were “shamefully supported by western aid agencies like the UK's DFID and USAID”‚ are plain for all to see.

Stealing people's land and causing massive environmental destruction, he added, is not progress; it is a death sentence for tribal peoples.

Ethiopia has been facing massive protests from a number of international rights groups and environmental campaigners over the construction of the Gibe III dam project.

Groups like the International Rivers, Friends of Lake Turkana, The Oakland Institute, and other groups argued that no inclusive Environmental and Social Impact Assessment was made ahead of the construction and extensively campaigned for halt of the project.

According to the groups, Gibe III like those Gibe I and II diverts the flow of the Omo River in Ethiopia, which feeds 90% of Lake Turkana in Kenya and endangers the lake and tens of thousands of people from 17 ethnic groups who live in the Lower Omo Valley.

Despite huge pressure, Ethiopia however recently completed the Gibe which is the country's second largest hydro power plant after the controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam; the horn of Africa's nation is building along the Nile River.

Gibe III, a 610 meter-long and 243 meter high roller-compacted concrete dam has power generation capacity of 1,870 Megawatt.

Ethiopia has dismissed allegations that its dam projects will cause environmental damage to populations in Ethiopia and Kenya.

Previously, Addis Ababa however said claims released by the rights groups are bogus. It further accused them of working for the interest of their western alleys.

(ST)

March 17, 2016 (KHARTOUM/JUBA) - A Sudanese presidential aide Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid on Thursday warned that his government may close the border with South Sudan if Juba continues its support to rebel groups in Darfur and the Two Areas.

Sudanese military personnel inspect the belongings of South Sudanese on the Sudanese border on 18 April 2014 (Photo: Reuters/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)

Following a meeting between President Omer al-Bashir with the head of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel, Hamid told reporters that the meeting touched on the continued support that Juba provides to Sudanese rebels groups.

"If the South Sudan does not stop supporting the insurgency we will have to take action to protect the country, even if it led to the closure of the border again," he said, adding "We are waiting for the implementation of the Cooperation Agreements signed with the South Sudan since 2012, so there will be no security problems between the two countries."

The renewal of accusations comes after reports in Khartoum about meetings in Juba between senior South Sudanese officials and SPLM-N leadership to discuss the needs of the Sudanese rebels who are facing a large scale military campaign in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states.

Last January, President Omer al-Bashir announced the opening of border with South Sudan for the first time since its secession in July 2011. Also it reduced oil transportation fees and decided to open river transport with the South Sudan.

According to the official news agency SUNA, the governor of White Nile state Abdel Hamid Kasha on Wednesday called for the withdrawal of the South Sudanese troops from the border with Sudan, adding that the presence of the SPLA soldiers hinders Khartoum's decision to open the border.

Kasha made his statement during a meeting with an American diplomat from the Office of the U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan who visited the border state where are the camps of South Sudanese refugees.

In a statement he issued on 26 January, President Salva Kiir instructed to withdraw South Sudan army units on the border with Sudan, to "at least five miles south of our common borders of 1st January 1956, in accordance with our commitment to the terms of The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of 2005 with Khartoum”.

SPLA TROOPS ARE AT 1 KM

However the top command of the South Sudanese army on Thursday denied the accusations of failing to implement the presidential order.

“That order has been complied with long time ago. Our forces have been withdrawn more than 1 kilometre away from the common border with Sudan but they want us to go beyond that, which has security concerns,” South Sudanese presidential advisor on security affairs, Tut Gatluak, told Sudan Tribune on Thursday when asked to comment on the matter.

Gatluak said the government was concerned that “negative and hostile” rebel forces could take advantage of movement away from the common border and may use the area for activities which may compromise security between the two countries.

The new deputy chief of general staff for finance and administration, Lieutenant General James Ajonga Mawut Ajonga, also confirmed that government forces have complied with the order after the army's chief of general staff, Paul Malong Awan, sent out to all units at the border with Sudan to act in compliance with the order of the president.

“In the army, there is a culture of command, order and comply, which is the guiding doctrine world over for the military. When the office of the commander in chief issued the directives, the chief of general staff received it and acted immediately. He issued instructions to all the units and our troops at the common border with Sudan and they complied,” said Ajonga.

Sudan closed its border with the South Sudan in June 2011, one month before the formal declaration of independence.

At the time, the decision intervened days after the start of a rebellion in the South Kordofan by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N). Khartoum accused Juba of supporting the former members of the ruling party in South Sudan.

(ST)

Le débat qui a opposé Patrice Talon à Lionel Zinsou suscite beaucoup de réactions dans la sphère béninoise. Après la réaction de Jacques Ayadji, nous vous proposons celle d'Edgard Guidibi publiée sur les réseaux sociaux. Lire son intervention.

Read more ...

Patrice Talon vient de remporter haut la main le face à face de cette nuit. Ce n'est qu'un avant-goût de ce qui va se passer le dimanche 20 mars 2016. Le sort en est jeté, Patrice Talon, nouveau Président de la République.

Read more ...

L’ancien chef rebelle s’est rendu à Brazzaville, pour la première fois depuis une décennie pour soutenir ses amis de l’opposition Congo: 9 candidatures approuvées Congo : faible affluence au référendum Congo-Brazza : manifestation suspendue

Très attendu, le face-à-face Lionel Zinsou-Patrice Talon, les deux finalistes au second tour de la présidentielle 2016 qui a lieu dimanche 20 mars prochain, s’est tenu effectivement tenu dans la soirée d’hier. Décryptage commenté !

Read more ...