Amai Mugabe

Mali hotel hostage situation over as UN troops report seeing 27 bodies
People flee from the Radisson Blu hotel

People flee from the Radisson Blu hotel / Picture from THE GUARDIAN

THE GUARDIAN | Mamadou Tapily in Bamako, and in London | NOVEMBER 20 2015

The attack began when a group of gunmen reportedly used a car with diplomatic numberplates to drive into the compound of the hotel before firing at guards, with witnesses saying they also used grenades. About 170 people – including diplomats, businesspeople and airline crew from France and Turkey – were taken hostage. A military official said the gunmen shouted “Allahu Akbar” as they began the attack. Hotel staff said grenades were used.

Malian special forces, assisted by counterparts from the US and France based in the country, stormed the hotel, and were seen on TV footage in the lobby. A security source told Reuters the troops cleared the building floor by floor.

The US Africa Command said forces stationed in Mali helped to secure the scene, while France’s national gendarme service said about 40 French special police

Nigeria has a new government, but Boko Haram is deadlier than ever

THE GUARDIAN | CHIKA UNIGWE | NOVEMBER 20 2015

President Buhari presents Lance Corporal Kenneth Kulugh with the Purple Heart medal

President Buhari presents Lance Corporal Kenneth Kulugh with the Purple Heart medal / Picture from The Guardian

Goodluck Jonathan’s massive loss at the March 2015 elections was due in part to Nigerians’ perception of his government as weak against Boko Haram, and the voters’ conviction that ex-military dictator General Buhari had the requisite know-how to put a definite end to the scourge of Boko Haram. Buhari’s rhetoric of change, and his vow to decimate Boko Haram won him victory. In the days following his election, there was some hope, even among those who did not vote for him, that if he did nothing else, he would tackle Boko Haram. Apart from having the reputation of being “a hard man”, “a no-nonsense man”, he was also a northerner. And a Muslim. Perhaps, with a northern Muslim in power, Bokocontinue reading

Hostages Seized in Attack on Radisson Hotel in Mali; at Least 3 Die
Soldiers deployed near the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, Mali, on Friday, as gunmen took at least 170 people as hostages. Credit Habibou Kouyate/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Soldiers deployed near the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, Mali, on Friday, as gunmen took at least 170 people as hostages. Credit Habibou Kouyate/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images / Picture from NEW YORK TIMES

NEW YORK TIMES |  and  | NOVEMBER 20 2015

Northern Mali fell under the control of Islamist militants in 2012. A French-led offensive ousted them in 2013, but remnants of the group have staged a number of attacks on United Nations peacekeepers and Malian forces.

The hotel is a popular place for foreigners to stay in Bamako, a city with a population approaching two million, and French and American citizens were among those taken hostage.

A diplomat at the Chinese embassy in Bamako said that eight Chinese business people had been trapped in the hotel as well. Embassy officials at…continue reading

Obama and Netanyahu: A Story of Slights and Crossed Signals

NEW YORK TIMES |  and  | NOVEMBER 8 2015

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Obama at the White House in October, 2014. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Obama at the White House in October, 2014. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times / Picture from NEW YORK TIMES

WASHINGTON — For President Obama, it was a day of celebration. He had just signed the most important domestic measure of his presidency, his health care program. So when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel arrived at the White House for a hastily arranged visit, it was likely not the main thing on his mind.

To White House officials, it was a show of respect to make time for Mr. Netanyahu on that day back in March 2010. But Mr. Netanyahu did not see it that way. He felt squeezed in, not accorded the rituals of such a visit. No photographers were invited to record the moment. “That wasn’t a good way to treat me,” he complained to an American afterward.

The tortured relationship between Barack and Bibi, as they call each other, has been a story of crossed signals, misunderstandings, slights perceived and real. Burdened by mistrust, divided by ideology, the leaders of the United States…continue reading

Israeli Soldier Is Killed in Attack by Palestinian
Israeli police officers stood near the body of a Palestinian assailant whom they shot during an attack that wounded at least nine Sunday in Beersheba. Credit Tsafrir Abayov/Associated Press

Israeli police officers stood near the body of a Palestinian assailant whom they shot during an attack that wounded at least nine Sunday in Beersheba. Credit Tsafrir Abayov/Associated Press / PIcture from NEW YORK TIMES

NEW YORK TIMES |  ISABEL KERSHNER | OCTOBER 18 2015

JERUSALEM — The wave of deadly attacks that has roiled Israel this month hit the southern desert city of Beersheba on Sunday, where aPalestinian armed with a pistol and a knife grabbed another weapon from a soldier, fatally shot him and wounded at least nine other people, including several police officers, according to the police.

In the confusion as the attack unfolded, a migrant who was apparently mistaken for a second assailant was shot and seriously wounded by an Israeli security guard, then beaten by a mob. He later died of his wounds, according to Israeli news reports. Witnesses who said they knew the man identified him as an Eritrean asylum seeker. The Palestinian assailant was killed at the scene by police officers. After more than two weeks of almost daily attacks, mostly by young Palestinians armed with knives, there had been hope in Israel that Sunday…continue reading

What Happened to South African Democracy

NEW YORK TIMES | KENAN MALIK | SEPTEMBER 21 2015

Driving from the international airport, I was struck by the sheer wretchedness of Cape Flats: the series of black townships, comprising mostly shacks with corrugated steel roofs, that stretch from the highway almost to the horizon. Few people — tourists or locals — want to talk about the Cape Flats. But there is no better starting point for a discussion of the state of contemporary South Africa. I was shocked by the degree to which the predominant emotions, 21 years…continue reading

Zimbabwe court halts evictions blamed on Grace Mugabe
A young boy looks at a milk packaging from Alpha Omega Dairy, a brand launched by Zimbabwean First Lady Grace Mugabe, in a supermarket in Harare, on 11 July 2012

A young boy looks at a milk packaging from Alpha Omega Dairy, a brand launched by Zimbabwean First Lady Grace Mugabe, in a supermarket in Harare, on 11 July 2012 / Picture from BBC

TEXT AND PICTURE FROM BBC DATED: JANUARY 13 2015

Zimbabwe’s High Court has ordered a halt to the eviction of farmers who claim they have been targeted to make way for a game park proposed by First Lady Grace Mugabe. Police have been demolishing homes of more than 200 families who had occupied land seized under the government’s controversial land reform programme. The government has denied that Mrs Mugabe is linked to the evictions.

She entered politics last year, and holds a top post in the ruling party. “The police compared us to ants saying, ‘There’s no way an ant can fight an elephant because Amai Mugabe is a high profile person and you’re ordinary citizens,'” one of farm residents, Aspinias Makufa, told the BBC. Last week, government minister Martin Dinha said Mrs Mugabe was being unfairly blamed for the evictions. “This business of abusing the name of the first lady, her privacy and…continue reading