An Ethiopian man and South African woman to tie the knot. 27-year-old Thandeka Mkhwanazi

South Africa: Love and Marriage in the Midst of Hateful Xenophobia

By Ntombi Mbomvu

Not even a series of xenophobic attacks in the city of Pietermaritzburg could stop the preparations for an Ethiopian man and South African woman to tie the knot. 27-year-old Thandeka Mkhwanazi and Mali Wondawock, 26, hosted neighbours and residents at their home in Cinderella Park at their Umembeso ceremony on Saturday.

Umembeso is a traditional Zulu ceremony, where both the bride and the groom's family exchange gifts as a sign of welcoming one another, usually performed prior to the white wedding ceremony.

Despite the robbery of an Ethiopian shop owner on the day, the Umembeso went ahead. Mkhwanazi and Wondawock met four years ago at Cinderella Park, where Wondawock has two businesses.

Mkhwanazi said, "I didn't care about his nationality ... I started having butterflies when he was around and as a woman I knew that those were the signs of being in love.

"Giving birth to our daughter Ganita in 2013 created a bond that made our love concrete. Women have the strongest instincts and with what I was feeling it became obvious that what we were sharing was something that was legitimate."

Regarding the xenophobic attacks in the city of Pietermaritzburg, she said, "My husband is not going anywhere, we have a family here and he can't leave his family. We have a two-year-old daughter and that means South Africa is his home now. He is not going back to Ethiopia just because there are selfish people who attack people of their own skin color.

"Xenophobic attacks will not stand in our way; we love each other"

"Not even xenophobic attacks will stand in our way. We love each other. I will stand by my husband through thick and thin and I'm going to marry him. People will be watching as they were watching today. Our love is stronger and it can conquer anything. I vow that nothing will separate us," said Mkhwanazi.

My Dear Brother, I was very happy to hear from you after a long time. It is a pity that we are reconnecting under sad and painful circumstances which have prompted you to write an open letter to me. By PRESIDENT JACOB ZUMA.

My Dear Brother, I was very happy to hear from you after a long time. It is a pity that we are reconnecting under sad and painful circumstances which have prompted you to write an open letter to me. By PRESIDENT JACOB ZUMA.
I remember you from our days in Mozambique, when you worked at the Mozambique Information Agency and when you were editor of Tempo magazine and later of Noticias.

I cannot forget the friendship that Mozambique accorded my comrades and to me personally. In fact Mozambique became my second home and it remains my home.

You are in pain as your letter indicates, because of the deaths of Mozambicans and the general attacks on foreign nationals in parts of our country. South Africans are also in pain because of the tragic and senseless killings of all seven persons in the past weeks. These are three South Africans and four foreign nationals.  May their souls rest in peace and may their tragic deaths unite us all in the quest for peace and an end to violence.

The reports we have received indicate that the attacks last week in Durban were sparked off by the conduct of an employer who fired South African workers who had gone on strike and employed workers from outside the country. Even in the South African context, the employment of scab labour usually triggers an angry reaction from workers who are on strike. We join the country’s trade unions in appealing to employers to avoid such behaviour of pitting workers against one another.  The Soweto attacks in January were triggered by the fatal shooting of a young man by a non-South African shopkeeper. 

President Paul Kagame confirms Rwanda-Israel deal to host African immigrants

President Paul Kagame confirms Rwanda-Israel deal to host African immigrants

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has confirmed media reports that Kigali is finalising a multimillion dollar deal that will see it host illegal immigrants that Israel intends to expel.

According to Israeli media reports, the Middle Eastern country plans to relocate illegal immigrants to Rwanda and Uganda, which Kigali had denied knowledge of.

The agreement, which has come under scrutiny by human rights organisations, will see Israel deport hundreds of Eritrean and Sudanese asylum-seekers to both Rwanda and Uganda in return for favourable deals that include millions of dollars in grants.

Israel’s Interior ministry confirmed this week in a statement that it will "expel immigrants from the detention centres" and encourage migrants "to leave Israel in a safe and respectable way" to targeted African countries that would grant them legal immigration rights.

Addressing a press conference in Kigali on Thursday, President Kagame said that there is an ongoing discussion between Rwanda and Israel, even though he does not have details regarding the progress.

“On Rwanda and Israel, yes, I know there has been this discussion and it has been a debate in Israel about these Africans who have migrated to Israel as they do to other European countries. Some of them are either there illegally or with different status,” he said.

President Kagame said that Israel planned to return the immigrants to their countries of origin but some refused citing danger to their lives. He added that the Tel Aviv government suggested to them different countries including Rwanda where they would be relocated to.

“I do not know the details this far, what more or less that has happened to the issue,” the president said adding that he has learnt that “there is some package they (Israel) give them to leave, so we have been approached.”

Mr Kagame said the Rwandan immigration is handling the issue.

Efforts to reach the Immigration director-general Mr Anaclet Kalibata or the institution’s spokesperson Ange Sebutege were futile.

Controversial programme

According to reports, Israel is set to deport Eritrean and Sudanese asylum-seekers estimated to be over 50,000 to countries in Africa – including Rwanda and Uganda under a new policy which has been greatly criticised by human rights defenders.

Israel has been accused of imposing on the Eritrean and Sudanese migrants into leaving the country with their future in the new countries not guaranteed. In return, the receiving countries are expected to receive huge amounts of unspecified cash.

Last September, a Human Rights Watch report concluded that the Tel Aviv government created "convoluted legal rules" and used the insecure legal status of Eritrean and Sudanese migrants to detain them indefinitely.

Many asylum-seekers are held in southern Israel’s Holot detention facility, in the middle of the Negev desert. The facility is regarded as a de facto open-air prison according to an Eritrean refugee named Hobtom, who spoke to IBTimes UK in 2014.
=========================

Zuma Blames African Countries, Queries; ‘Why Are Their Citizens Not In Their Countries And Are In South Africa?’

South Africa President Jacob Zuma Monday lashed out at Africa governments who “criticise the South African government but their citizens are in our country”, even he took a firm stance against stance on the wave of xenophobic violence that has gripped the country.

Addressing the public on Freedom Day at  the Union Buildings South Lawn, Zuma chastised governments who have criticised the South African government for the violence that has claimed seven lives.

“As much as we have a problem that is alleged to be xenophobic, our sister countries contribute to this. Why are their citizens not in their countries and are in South Africa?” he asked.

This comes in the wake of Nigeria recalling its ambassador to South Africa in protest at the xenophobic violence.

Nigeria has summoned Acting High Commissioner Martin Cobham and Deputy High Commissioner Uche Ajulu-Okeke “for consultations” over the “ongoing xenophobia”, Minister of Foreign Affairs Aminu Wali said in a statement on Saturday.

Zuma said a frank conversation on illegal immigrants needed to take place within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) as well as the African Union.

Zuma mentioned the murder of Mozambican citizen Manuel Jossias—first identified as Emmanuel Sithole—in the Alexandra township.

“He used a false name to avoid detection by authorities as he was an illegal immigrant,” he said.

Zuma paid tribute to the three South Africans who were killed in the attacks in Durban: Ayanda Dlamini, Msawenkosi Dlamini and Thabo Mzobe, who was 14 years old.

He said South Africans were angry, adding; “We need to be cured, we are sick”.

“The latest outbreak of violence necessitates more comprehensive action from all of us to ensure that there is no recurrence. We have to address the underlying causes of the violence and tensions, which is the legacy of poverty, unemployment and inequality in our country and our continent and the competition for limited resources,” Zuma said.

South Africans need psychological cure

He also spoke at length of how violent South African communities are, adding that “we need a psychological cure”.

“Apartheid was a violent system and it produced violent countermeasures to it. So people still believe that to fight authority you must fight government ... even now, when it is your own government. We need to be helped as a society,” he said.

“They get excited. They burn the tyres; they block the roads; they destroy property; exercising their rights but interfering with the rights of many.”

Zuma then lashed out at the Economic Freedom Fighters and their trademark militancy  in Parliament.

“Look at the institution that is said to be the apex of democracy, Parliament. Look at the politicians whom you have voted for, how angry they are. How defiant they are, even in Parliament,” he said to thunderous applause.

Zuma said Parliament and the office of the Speaker should be respected.

He was taking exception to the behaviour of EFF Members of Parliament who often disobey the orders of the Speaker in the national assembly.

“If the Speaker says ‘Out of my house’, you must get out. But what do some of the members of Parliament do when the Speaker says ‘Sit down’, they say ‘Speaker, I want to address you’. They will continue addressing the speaker. If the speaker says ‘Withdraw’ they say ‘I won’t withdraw’. If the speaker says ‘Out’ they say ‘I won’t go out’,” Zuma told the crowd.

He said this was a glaring example of what he called the “violent culture of apartheid”.

“Imagine if politicians are so angry then who will rule the country.”

This article first appeared in Mail & Guardian.

 

Nigerian troops rescue girls; so far, none from Chibok, says military

(CNN)[Breaking news update, posted at 5:22 p.m. ET]

None of the girls rescued from raided Boko Haram camps in Nigeria has been identified thus far as among the missing Chibok girls, a high-ranking Nigerian army official said. The official did not rule out that captives from other Boko Haram camps that were raided might be girls abducted in April 2014 from a school in Chibok. The official said he would have the final word by day's end on Wednesday.

[Previous story, posted at 4:52 p.m. ET]

Nigerian troops rescued 200 girls and 93 women Tuesday in the Sambisa Forest, the Nigerian Armed Forces announced on its official Twitter account.

The armed forces could not immediately confirm if any of the rescued girls were among the 200 schoolgirls the militant group Boko Haram kidnapped in April 2014 from the village of Chibok.

Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade said the rescued girls and women are still being screened and none has spoken to their families yet.

The 2014 mass abduction from Chibok led to an international social media movement, #BringBackOurGirls, to rescue them. Boko Haram, a militant Islamist group, has been kidnapping females for years and has hundreds in their custody.

Nigerian troops also captured and destroyed three terrorist camps in the Sambisa Forest, the armed forces said. Chibok and the Sambisa Forest are both in the northeastern part of the country. Olukolade said troops are still combing the forest.

In recent weeks, Nigerian troops and vigilantes moved into the Sambisa Forest, a known hideout for Boko Haram.

Last Wednesday the troops had to retreat because of explosive devices Boko Haram planted in the forest, according to military sources and a vigilante who was with the troops.

On Monday, troops re-entered the forest and on Tuesday afternoon they raided two Boko Haram camps and rescued scores of girls and women.

Information about the fate of the kidnapped schoolgirls has been spotty and inconsistent, with some school officials giving conflicting figures for the number of girls who were abducted or escaped their captors.

"We have no idea where the Chibok girls are or were," CNN correspondent Christian Purefoy said Tuesday.

The name Boko Haram translates to "Western education is sin" in the local Hausa language. The group has said its aim is to impose a stricter enforcement of Sharia law across Nigeria, which is split between a majority Muslim north and a mostly Christian south.

CNN's Jennifer Z. Deaton contributed to this report. Journalist Aminu Abubakar reported from Hotoro, Kano, Nigeria and CNN's Ralph Ellis wrote from Atlanta.

Libyan government offers condolences to the people of Ethiopia

Libyan government offers condolences to the people of Ethiopia

By Libya Herald reporter.
Some of the Ethiopian Ethiopian Christians being frog-marched to their murder

Some of the Ethiopian Christians being frog-marched to their murder

Tobruk, 26 April 2015:

The Libyan government has offered its deepest condolences to the people of Ethiopia for the brutal killing of 30 Ethiopians at the hands of the Islamic State (IS) on Libyan soil.

“The Libyan government realises that there are vulnerable people within its borders that need to be protected from the threat of terrorism, which is growing all over the world,” said Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs undersecretary Mohamed Attiya Suleiman Al-Obeidi.

Obeidi went on to say that the government was well aware that Libya’s stability and security is key to the continued development of other African countries in the region.

Furthermore, Libya and its neighbors had to work together to solve the problem of illegal migration, which has led to the senseless deaths of thousands of Africans in the Mediterranean.

Read more: http://www.libyaherald.com/2015/04/26/libyan-government-offers-condolences-to-people-of-ethiopia/#ixzz3YXCuW4bN

Kidnapped TV crew reported executed by IS

Kidnapped TV crew reported executed by IS

By Libya Herald reporters.

Beida/Benghazi, 27 April 2015:

The five-member Cyrenaica TV crew kidnapped near Ajdabiya nearly nine months ago are reported to have been beheaded by the Islamic State (IS).

Headless bodies are reported to have been found following the arrest at the Libya-Egyptian border crossing at Musaid of an Egyptian said to be a member of IS. According to a lawyer connected to the TV station, the man confessed to involvement in the killing of the five who were seized at a fake checkpoint near Ajdabiya on 5 August. They were on their way back to the town, travelling on the desert road, after filming the inauguration of the House of Representatives in Tobruk.

Details of the killings are sketchy. According to a report, the bodies were found near Beida this morning following the confession. But it is also reported that DNA tests carried out in Egypt from samples from one of the bodies have already shown him to be a member of the crew, the Egyptian cameraman.

Another report has the bodies found near Derna. A further one says that two members of IS were captured and confessed to the killings.

However, a staff member with Cyrenaica TV told the Libya Herald today that the station believed the reports to be true. Deeply distressed and angry, he said he could not talk any more.

There has been no statement from IS.

At the time of their abduction, it was said that the five had been taken by Ansar Al-Sharia, not IS. If so, and they have now been murdered by IS, it would confirm reports of a growing interaction between the two.

Cyrenaica TV is owned by Ibrahim Jadhran.

The five are named are:

Abdussalam Al-Kahala
Younis Al-Gamoudi
Khaled Al-Hamil
Younis Al-Sal
Mohamed Galal (Egyptian)


Read more: http://www.libyaherald.com/2015/04/27/kidnapped-tv-crew-reported-executed-by-is/#ixzz3YXCDDAdE

በሊቢያ የተማረኩ የ አይሲስ ወታደሮችን የሚያሳይ ቪዲዮ

በሊብያ ወታደሮች የተማረኩ የISIS አባላት
Posted by ብንዝናና ምን ይለናል on Saturday, April 25, 2015