Category: Foreign

ABOUT 56 people have died in landslides caused by torrential rain in Kenya’s West Pokot region on Saturday.

Hundreds of families have been made homeless and are sheltering in churches and schools, and desperately need food, water and other supplies.

Thirty other people are still missing.

Weather experts in East Africa are warning of a continued, heavy downpour that could bring more devastation, particularly in landslide-prone areas.

“Floodplains that are receiving heavy rainfall are [also] at risk”, said Samwel Mwangi of Kenya’s meteorological department.”

Read ALSO: ’24 killed by landslides, floods’

“Governments are always prepared, but acts of nature like this can never be 100% prepared for,” he told the BBC.

“We are giving early warning information and deploying emergency operations to remove people from areas that are high risk.”

Village residents carry a victim of landslides in Nyarkulian village in West Poko

Hundreds of families are homeless, 56 people have died, and 30 others are still missingImage caption: Hundreds of families are homeless, 56 people have died, and 30 others are still missing.

 

LEBANESE businessman has donated items of Nazi memorabilia he bought at a controversial auction in Germany last week to Israeli fundraisers.

Abdallah Chatila said he purchased the items to prevent them from being used as neo-Nazi propaganda.

The Swiss-based entrepreneur donated the items – including Adolf Hitler’s top hat – to Israeli fundraising organisation, Keren Hayesod.

The auction had been sharply criticised by Jewish groups.

Chatila spent about €600,000 (£513,000) on 10 items during the auction held by the Munich-based auction house, Hermann Historica.

He is one of Switzerland’s 300 wealthiest people, having made his fortune in diamonds and real estate in Geneva.

The girl who witnessed Kristallnacht

“Far-right populism and anti-Semitism are spreading all over Europe and the world,” Mr Chatila told the Swiss newspaper Le Matin Dimanche. “I did not want these objects to fall into the wrong hands and to be used by people with dishonest intentions.”

In addition to the hat, the items he purchased included Hitler’s cigar box and typewriter, as well as a silver-covered edition of Hitler’s autobiographical Mein Kampf.

His actions were praised by Jewish groups, including the European Jewish Association (EJA), which had said the auction items held little historical value and would have been bought by individuals who glorified Nazism.

Rabbi Menachem Margolin, head of the EJA, said in a statement he was “bowled over” by the gesture. “In a cynical world… such a noble act of kindness, generosity and solidarity,” he said.

He also said Mr Chatila would join a visit by 100 European parliament members to the site of World War Two death camp Auschwitz in January, where he will receive an award.

The auction featured 147 items specifically related to Nazi Germany, among more than 800 German historical collectibles from 1919 onwards.

Hermann Historica said the majority of its customers were museums, state collections and private collectors, and that steps have been taken to prevent items from falling into the wrong hands.

 

NO fewer than 24 people died yesterday after a passenger plane crashed into houses in Goma city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local officials said.

Residents on the ground, including four family members, were among the victims.

The small aircraft went down in the Mapendo neighbourhood after “missing” its take-off from the city’s airport yesterday morning, North Kivu Regional Governor Nzanzu Kasivita said.

The officials said 17 passengers and two crew members were on board the plane.

Air accidents are relatively frequent in DR Congo amid lax safety standards and poor maintenance, and all the country’s commercial carriers are banned from operating in the European Union.

The Dornier-228 twin-turboprop aircraft – owned by private carrier Busy Bee – crashed about a minute after take-off, a source at Goma airport told the BBC.

The plane had been scheduled to fly to Beni, 350km (220 miles) north of the country.

READ ALSO: D’Tigress walk-over DR Congo

The cause of the crash is still unclear, but some sources said the plane experienced engine failure right after take-off.

Rescue workers and local residents rushed to the crash site to evacuate the injured and also retrieve the bodies.

It was not immediately known how many residents were in their homes when the plane crashed.

Kasivita confirmed the crash had “cost the lives of our fellow countrymen” and offered his condolences to the families of survivors.

The BBC has contacted Busy Bee for comment.

 

 

Pope Francis has made an impassioned appeal for the abolition of nuclear weapons during a visit to Nagasaki, one of the two Japanese cities targeted by atomic bombs during World War Two.

He decried the “unspeakable horror” of nuclear weapons and insisted they were “not the answer” for global peace.

At least 74,000 were killed in Nagasaki by the attack by US forces in 1945.

Two survivors of the bombing, now both in their 80s, presented the pontiff a wreath during the Sunday service.

Pope France arrived from Thailand on Saturday for a four-day visit, which is only the second papal visit to Japan.

Hundreds of people gathered in the pouring rain to hear him in Nagasaki. The Pope then attended a meeting at the Peace Memorial in Hiroshima, the site of the other atomic attack.

In a sombre ceremony, the Pope unequivocally condemned the use of nuclear weapons.

“This place makes us deeply aware of the pain and horror that we human beings are capable of inflicting upon one another,” he said at the event in Nagasaki.

During his speech, Pope Francis also took aim at their use as a deterrent and insisted peace is incompatible with the “fear of mutual destruction or the threat of total annihilation.”

He also criticised the money “squandered” on the weapons around the world and mentioned a “climate of distrust” hindering contemporary non-proliferation and arms control efforts.

Sakue Shimohira, 85, and Shigemi Fukahori, 89, were two survivors who met with the Pope during the visit.

“My mother and older sister were killed, charred,” Ms Shimohira was quoted by AFP news agency as saying. “Even if you survived, you couldn’t live like a human or die like a human… It’s the horror of nuclear weapons.”

There are about 536,000 Catholics in Japan, according to Vatican News. The number makes up less than only 0.5% of the population – where Buddhism and Shintoism are the most popular religions.

Nagasaki is known for being home to so-called “hidden Christians” who practiced their faith underground when it was banned during the 17th Century.

The first atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima by a US warplane on 6 August 1945.

The US hoped the bombing, which came after Japan rejected an earlier ultimatum for peace, would force a quick surrender without risking US casualities on the ground.

A Dutch doctor who was evacuated from Sierra Leone after contracting Lassa fever has died in hospital.

The medic was flown home on Tuesday after being infected in the northern town of Masanga, an area not previously known to have been affected.

He reportedly developed symptoms of the viral haemorrhagic illness after operating on a pregnant woman.

A second Dutch doctor who was also evacuated is being treated for the disease.

Described as a cousin of Ebola, Lassa fever is endemic in eastern Sierra Leone but cases have also been reported in northern and southern parts of the country in the last five years.

READ ALSO: Reps urge Fed Govt to curtail Lassa fever outbreak

It is also endemic in neighbouring Liberia, Guinea and several other West African states.

The doctor died while being treated in “strict isolation” at a hospital in the city of Leiden, Dutch Health Minister Bruno Bruins was quoted by AFP news agency as saying.

The minister confirmed that a second doctor was in an isolation ward in hospital in the central city of Utrecht after being infected with the virus.

The doctors, who have not been named, were linked to a medical charity and had been working at a hospital in Masanga.

In a statement, Sierra Leone’s Health Ministry said the deceased doctor showed symptoms of Lassa fever after performing a Caesarean section.

“He developed signs of fever, headache, and general malaise… and was treated for typhoid, malaria and influenza but symptoms persisted,” it said. He was then airlifted to the Netherlands where he was diagnosed with the disease.

The doctor had also helped with the evacuation of a second woman who suffered from a septic wound after an abortion, AFP reports. Both women died shortly afterwards.

 

 

The United Kingdom (UK) Conservatives will “get Brexit done” and “forge a new Britain”, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said while launching the party’s election manifesto.

He promised 50,000 more nurses in England and the creation of 50 million more GP appointments.

Other “guarantees” include tighter immigration controls and not to increase rates of income tax, national insurance and VAT.

The 59-page manifesto comes 18 days before the general election.

Speaking at its launch in Telford, Shropshire, the prime minister said the choice facing the country in this “closely fought” contest had “never been starker”.

“Get Brexit done and we can focus our hearts and minds on the priorities of the British people,” he added.

The manifesto, which the PM described as a “partial blueprint” for the future of the country, promises 20,000 more police officers and to “level up” schools funding.

Nursing maintenance bursaries scrapped in 2016 will be restored, at an estimated cost of £760m in 2020-21, rising to £880m in 2023-4.

Other policies include:

A “triple tax lock”, ruling out increases in the headline rate of income tax and National Insurance, as well as VAT, for five years.

Raising the National Insurance threshold to £9,500 in 2020, with an ambition to raise it further to £12,500.

Childcare: £250m a year, for at least three years, plus a £250m capital spending boost, for “wraparound” childcare – meaning after school or during holidays.

Environment: £6.3bn for upgrades to homes, such as grants for improving boilers and insulation.

READ ALSO: Boris Johnson, Brexit, and Britain’s Constitutional Quagmire

£500m a year for four years for filling potholes – almost 10 times the amount promised by the party in an announcement in March.

A new National Skills Fund of £600m a year for five years. Labour and the Liberal Democrats have announced similar plans

Building “Northern Powerhouse Rail” between Leeds and Manchester and investing £28.8bn in strategic and local roads.

It rules out any changes to the Hunting Act, which bans the hunting of foxes and others wild mammals with dogs in England and Wales.

A plan to lift income tax thresholds for middle-earners to £80,000, announced during the Tory leadership campaign, has been dropped, with Mr Johnson saying this “was not the time” for such a move.

The prime minister promised to bring back the Withdrawal Agreement Bill to Parliament before 25 December.

Frank Ikpefan, Abuja

 

Nigeria will continue to be Republic of South Korea’s most important trading partner in Africa because of its potentials, its Ambassador to Nigeria, Lee In-Tae, has said.

The envoy noted that Nigeria’s economic opportunities has increased with the signing of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement that will create a single market of 1.2 billion people, leading to a gross domestic product (GDP) of $3.4 trillion.

The ambassador, who spoke at the opening of the Korea-Nigeria Joint Partnership Infrastructure Seminar in Abuja, noted that Nigeria is the biggest economy with the biggest population in Africa.

He explained that the countries relationships had grown rapidly especially in the area of economic cooperation since it established diplomatic relations in 1980.

He called for an upgrade of economic partnership between the two countries as they prepare to celebrate 40th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between both countries.

The envoy said: “Nigeria is the biggest economy with the biggest population in Africa. It is also the top oil producer of this continent and now, Nigeria is part of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement, which will create a single market of 1.2 billion people with a GDP of 3.4 trillion US Dollars. Thus, Nigeria is, and will continue to be, Korea’s most important trading partner in Africa.

“Since Korea and Nigeria established diplomatic relations in 1980, our relationship has grown rapidly especially in the area of economic cooperation. Our trade volume in 2018 was two billion US dollars. This is a huge figure, considering that Nigeria’s GDP per capita in 2018 was about 2,050 US dollars. In other words, our trade volume was equal to GDP of nearly one million Nigerians.

“I know this is an impressive figure, but we can be more ambitious. As Korean Ambassador, I would like to see this number grow much bigger. Nigeria is a country full of economic potential, and we must seize this opportunity to expand our economic cooperation. We must also work together to build Nigeria’s infrastructure.”

The envoy, who linked a country’s infrastructure to the bones in a human’s body, added that for a country to be strong, its infrastructure needed to be strong too.

According to the envoy, Nigeria would experience economic growth like no other African nation if its infrastructure becomes world-class, and that the people would benefit enormously.

Minister of State for Power Goddy Jeddy- Agba expressed optimism that with steady and time-tested investment, Nigeria’s infrastructural deficit will be reduced.

Prince Jeddy- Agba noted that already, the present administration was making concerted efforts in ensuring that funds are appropriately deployed, even as it expands its partnership drive to willing investors.

 

 

The President of the World Federation of Neurological Surgeons (WFNS), Prof. Nelson Oyesiku, has urged the federal and state governments to ensure the provision of modern equipment in hospitals.

Oyesiku, who is also the director of the American Board of Neurosurgery, said efforts should be made by the government to put in place facilities for neurosurgery in the country, particularly in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, which already has a neuropsychiatric hospital.

He said having facilities for neurosurgery and other complex medical operations in the country had become imperative to check the current situation where Nigerians requiring such medical attention were being taken to hospitals abroad for treatment and to also stop the relocation of Nigerian doctors and other medical professionals trooping abroad in droves.

READ Also: 60 garlands for consummate scholar, Prof Oyesiku

Oyesiku said that the major problem confronting the medical sector was the lack of modern medical equipment in hospitals.

The neurosurgeon, who has been selected by the Consumer Research Council of America as one of America’s topmost surgeons, spoke shortly after he was conferred with the traditional chieftaincy title of the Baasegun Alabe of Egba by the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo.