Monday, September 30, 2013

Was it a Satellite?

Due to the incident ocured yesterday,some says what they saw is not an undentified flying object but it is just a man made satelite,some said that satelite was sent by american to track al shabaab fighter in the region! Am writting this article so everyone can understand what is a satellite? As a professional science teacher graduated from the best college in Tanzania (Mpuguso) I will try my best that all of you will be satisfied with my article! This is first part of my article! Let's start by definition! What is satellite? In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an artificial object which has been intentionally placed into orbit. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon. The world's first artificial satellite, the Sputnik 1, was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957. Since then, thousands of satellites have been launched into orbit around the Earth. Some satellites, notably space stations, have been launched in parts and assembled in orbit. Artificial satellites originate from more than 50 countries and have used the satellite launching capabilities of ten nations. A few hundred satellites are currently operational, whereas thousands of unused satellites and satellite fragments orbit the Earth as space debris. A few space probes have been placed into orbit around other bodies and become artificial satellites to the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Vesta, Eros, and the Sun. Satellites are used for a large number of purposes. Common types include military and civilian Earth observation satellites, communications satellites, navigation satellites, weather satellites, and research satellites. Space stations and human spacecraft in orbit are also satellites. Satellite orbits vary greatly, depending on the purpose of the satellite, and are classified in a number of ways. Well-known (overlapping) classes include low Earth orbit, polar orbit, and geostationary orbit. As per the latest estimates, the total number of artificial satellites orbiting the Earth today is around 8,300. Of these, about 3,000 are not operational having lived out their useful life and are part of the space debris. Satellites are usually semi-independent computer-controlled systems. Satellite subsystems attend many tasks, such as power generation, thermal control, telemetry, attitude control and orbit control. Inthe next article I will give you the complete history of satellite! For any comments be free to text me +27783262958

Sunday, September 29, 2013

UK A&Es seeing 'drunk children'

Nearly 300 children aged 11 or under were admitted to A&E units across the UK last year after drinking too much, a BBC Radio 5 live investigation shows. Revealing UK-wide data for the first time, it said a total of 6,500 under-18s were admitted with alcohol-related illnesses in 2012-13. The data came from 125 of the 189 UK NHS organisations following Freedom of Information requests. More girls than boys are now being admitted, a reversal of the past trend. Over the last five years A&E departments across the UK have dealt with nearly 48,000 incidents where under-18s have been admitted for drink or drug related illnesses. 'Hiding away' Ayrshire and Arran Health Board dealt with the highest number of cases last year - with 483 alcohol-related admissions. Morten Draegebo, an A&E consultant at Cross House Hospital in Kilmarnock, said children were exposing themselves to significant danger. He said: "There is a problem with their ability to defend themselves. The typical patient may be found in a field. "They often need to hide away from any sort of adults in the area so they're picked up by the ambulance service. "They have difficulty locating where they are because the description comes through from a distressed half-drunk teenager potentially saying that they're under a tree somewhere in a large park. "Eventually they're found but even in summer-time in Scotland they're vaguely hypothermic. "They have vomited. The vomit may go down the wrong way into the lungs. They are unable to defend themselves even from assault." Dr Draegbo added: "We have had many cases where teenage, young teenage females have come in saying that they may have been sexually assaulted and they're that intoxicated and are distressed and say, 'I may have been', but they don't even know if they have been or not. "On a humane level that is very distressing. I'm a parent, I would hate for that to happen to my daughter." Heavy burden There has been a long-term fall in the number of children admitted to A&E after drinking too much - with 2,000 fewer under-18s admitted to A&E last year than in 2009. Charities and public health bodies agree fewer children are drinking across the UK, but say the amount being consumed has stayed the same - suggesting those who do drink are drinking more. Public Health England says one in four underage drinkers consumes more than 15 units a week - the equivalent of seven pints of lager. The official advice from the chief medical officers across the UK is that no children should be given alcohol until they are 16, and alcohol should only be given to older teenagers under supervision of a carer or parent, and never on more than one day a week. A Department of Health England spokesman said: "We know that fewer young people are drinking and being admitted to hospital as a result. "But with more than one million alcohol-related hospital admissions overall in the last year we know too many people are drinking too much and that alcohol places a heavy burden on the NHS, costing around £3.5bn every year. "

Teachers of Coast Region private school in Tanzania complete Dubai tour

The head teacher of Victory Secondary Schools in Mkuranga, Coastal Region, Christopher Segeleti, on Friday urged the government to motivate teachers to put more efforts in teaching, which would increase the number of passing students. He said authorities should pay salaries in time, especially in rural areas, so that they would stop frequent strikes in the country’s schools. Segeleti made the remark at the J.K. Nyerere International Airport after arrival from Dubai where he and other 25 teachers had attended a two-week teaching training, funded by Thadei Mutembei, the owner of St Mathwe's, Victory, Ujenzi and St. Mark's schools. Segeleti who had led the delegation said they went for ‘teaching training’ in Dubai to learn various techniques used in that country, one of the richest in the world. He expressed confidence that the techniques they learnt in Dubai would enable them to be better teachers who would make many students to do well in their examinations. "We learnt many teaching techniques and promise to use them and make many more students to pass.” He added that the school has strategic plans for increasing the number of students passing examinations from the present 98 per cent to100 per cent He revealed that besides the Dubai trip, the owner of the schools has donated a car and a computer to each one of them. www.twitter.com/selemanian

Dar vows to battle acid attacks

Tanzanian President Dr Jakaya Kikwete has expressed his government’s commitment to ensure that the increasing acid attacks on people on the Mainland and in Zanzibar are brought to an end. For a start, he said, the Police Force conducted a special manhunt in Zanzibar for acid attack suspects. So far, ten people have been apprehended for allegedly being involved in throwing acid onto people’s faces. A statement issued in Dar es Salaam by the Directorate of Presidential Communications said that President Kikwete told the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon that the acid attack incidents have many fronts. However, he assured the UN Secretary General that the government will solve the problem once and for all within a short period. Mr Kikwete was responding to an enquiry by Mr Moon who wanted to have a clearer picture on the increasing number of acid attacks. President Kikwete said that there are more such attacks in Zanzibar than the Mainland. “It is true that we are experiencing acid attack problems especially in Zanzibar where there are more such atrocities compared to those in the Mainland. The Police Force conducted thorough investigations into he problem in a quest to apprehend culprits. “Ten suspects have been apprehended so far and will be prosecuted in courts of law soon,” he said. “At the beginning it was the Zanzibar Chief Sheikh’s secretary, Sheikh Fadhil Suleiman Soraga, who was attacked. “We thought the attack had been carried out by his opponents. But attacks on other people continued,” said Mr Kikwete. Meanwhile, Mr Ban Ki-Moon commended the contribution made by Tanzanian soldiers in peacekeeping in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as part of the UN contingent. He said that Tanzanian soldiers in DRC are doing a commendable job. The UN Secretary General also expressed his condolence to President Kikwete over the deaths of seven Tanzanian soldiers in Darfur under the UNAMID and two under MONUSCO. “I thank you for allowing your soldiers to take part in Eleven plus Four in DRC. The Tanzanian soldiers have proved to be a different outfit in the mission with a high degree of discipline and standard,” he said. Tanzania has become proactive in contributing troops to the UN peacekeeping operations with over 2,500 peacekeepers in Lebanon, Darfur and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Globally it is the 12th contributor of peacekeepers. President Kikwete thanked Mr Moon for his condolences over the fallen Tanzanian peacekeepers in Sudan and DRC, insisting that the country will continue with the noble endeavour as members of the UN with the duty of advancing and upholding the ideals of the esteemed organisation. On the souring relationship with Rwanda, President Kikwete was optimistic that after a meeting in Kampala, Uganda, with President Paul Kagame the situation would return to normal.

Al Shabaab Escaped through Tunnel

As Kenya and foreign detectives continue to comb the Westgate debris in search of missing bodies and answers to the Westgate terror attack, shocking revelations have emerged that may catch Kenyans unaware following the 4-day horror they went through. This is after detectives discovered a huge underground tunnel, also used as sewerage tunnel, which runs several metres from the Westgate Mall to the neighboring Nakummatt Ukay Mall. The detectives noted that the Al-Shabaab terrorists are likely to have escaped through the tunnel, and left their explosives in the Westgate Mall, whose explosions have continued to be heard even after the Kenya Defence Forces secured the Westgate Building. According to impeccable sources from the intelligence community, KDF did not kill any Westgate terrorist after all, because there is no sign of any of them in the debris even after combing the rubble for days now. This comes as KDF through Interior Cabinet Secretary, Joseph Ole Lenku, insist they killed five terrorists, but have since failed to prove their assertion.

hawa ndo viumbe wanaopatikana katika chombo kiluchoonekana angani jioni ya leo

kwa mujibu wa tafiti ziluzofanywa na wana sayansi mbalimbali kuhusiana na maswala ya UFO,imebainika kwamba katika vyombo hivyo ambavyo huonekana kwa nadra sana duniani kuna viumbe kama huyo kwenye picha hiyo.. kwa habar zaid kuhusiana na tukio hili ka ajabu endelea kupitia blog hii na kama umeshuhudia tukio zima na unataka dunia ijue ulichokiona tafadhali tuma ujumbe mfupi kwenda namba +27783262958 anza na neno UFO kisha andika ujumbe wako au nitumie kupitia smkonje@gmail.com

Unidentified flying Object in East Africa

There are rumours that in some areas in East Africa that today 29/09/2013 they saw unidentified flying object in the sky! Let's see if what they saw is what scientist calls "UFO" What is UFO? An unidentified flying object, or UFO, in its most general definition, is any apparent anomaly in the sky (or near or on the ground, but observed hovering, landing, or departing into the sky) that is not readily identifiable as any known object or phenomenon by visual observation and/or use of associated instrumentation such as radar. These anomalies were referred to popularly as "flying saucers" or "flying discs" during the late 1940s and early 1950s. The term "UFO" (or "UFOB") was officially created in 1953 by the United States Air Force (USAF) to replace the more popular terms because of the variety of shapes described other than "discs" or "saucers." It was stated that a "UFOB" was "any airborne object which by performance, aerodynamic characteristics, or unusual features, does not conform to any presently known aircraft or missile type, or which cannot be positively identified as a familiar object." As originally defined, the term was restricted to those fraction of cases which remained unidentified after investigation, with USAF interest being for potential national security reasons and/or "technical aspects." (See Air Force Regulation 200-2.) The term UFO became more widespread during the 1950s, at first in professional literature, but later in popular use. UFOs garnered considerable interest during the Cold War, an era associated with a heightened concern for national security. www.twitter.com/selemanian Various studies, both governmental and civilian, have reached varying conclusions, some saying that the phenomenon does not represent a threat to national security nor does it contain anything worthy of scientific pursuit (e.g., 1953 CIA Robertson Panel, USAF Project Blue Book, Condon Committee), while others have reached the opposite conclusions (see, e.g., 1999 French COMETA study, 1948 USAF Estimate of the Situation, Sturrock panel). A number of military personnel and others have given statements about having witnessed UFOs themselves or having been privy to information about them. Culturally, the phenomenon has often been associated with extraterrestrial life or government-related conspiracy theories, and has become a popular theme in fiction. If this is what they saw in Dar es Salaam Tanzania we must stay alert! UFO is real,they are coming for us!

Mwananchi na Mtanzania Yafungiwa

SERIKALI imeyafungia magazeti ya Mwananchi na Mtanzania kutokana na kuandika habari na makala za uchochezi. Gazeti la Mwananchi linalomilikiwa na Kampuni ya Mwananchi Communications limefungiwa kwa muda wa siku 14, wakati Mtanzania linalomilikiwa na Kampuni ya New Habari 2006, likifungiwa kwa miezi mitatu, kutokana na kutaka kuhatarisha amani na mshikamano uliopo nchini. Akitoa tamko hilo la serikali, Mkurugenzi wa Idara ya Habari (MAELEZO), Assah Mwambene alisema kuwa serikali imefikia hatua ya kuyafungia magazeti hayo kutokana na habari za uchochezi na uhasama kwa nia ya kusababisha wananchi wakose imani na vyombo vya dola na kuhatarisha amani na mshikamano uliopo. Akizungumzia kuhusu kufungiwa kwa gazeti la Mwananchi, alisema gazeti hilo limefungiwa muda wa siku 14 ambapo adhabu hiyo ilitangazwa kwa tangazo la serikali namba 333 la Septemba 27, mwaka huu. Alisema gazeti hilo hivi karibuni lilichapisha habari zenye mwelekeo wa uchochezi na uvunjifu wa amani, ambapo alitolea mfano gazeti la Julai 17, mwaka huu toleo namba 4774 ilichapisha habari iliyokuwa ikisema "Mishahara Mipya Serikalini 2013" ambao ulikuwa ni waraka uliozuiwa kwa matumizi ya vyombo vya habari kwa kuwa ulikuwa ni wa siri na haukupaswa kuchapishwa magazetini. "Aidha, katika toleo la Jumamosi, Agosti 17, mwaka huu lilichapisha habari yenye kichwa kisemacho “Waislamu Wasali Chini ya Ulinzi Mkali" habari hiyo ilikolezwa na picha ya mbwa mkali mwenye hasira. Habari na picha hiyo ilitoa tafsiri ya kuwa Jeshi la Polisi lilipeleka Mbwa katika maeneo ya ibada ya waumini wa dini ya Kiislamu, jambo ambalo halikuwa la ukweli," alisema Mwambene. Alisema katika siku hiyo polisi haikupeleka mbwa katika maeneo ya misikiti kama gazeti hilo lilivyoripoti, kwani serikali na jeshi la Polisi linaheshimu na kuzingatia maadili ya dini ya Kiislamu na kwa hiyo Jeshi lake haliwezi kupitisha au kuingiza mbwa katika maeneo ya ibada. Aliongeza kuwa gazeti hilo kwa kuchapisha habari iliyokolezwa na picha ya mbwa ni uchochezi wa kulichonganisha Jeshi la Polisi na waumini wa dini ya Kiislamu, kwani mbwa ni najisi hapaswi kuingia katika maeneo ya ibada. Akizungumzia gazeti la Mtanzania, alisema limefungiwa kuchapishwa kwa siku 90 (miezi mitatu) kwa kuchapisha habari zenye uchochezi, ambapo alisema gazeti hilo limeonywa mara nyingi kwa kutakiwa kurekebisha mtindo wake wa uandishi na lizingatie maadili, Sheria na Kanuni za fani ya Habari. "Pamoja na kuonywa gazeti hili halikuonesha kuzingatia maelekezo ya Msajili wa Magazeti, mfano katika toleo na. 7262 la Machi, mwaka huu, liliandika habari yenye kichwa kisemacho; “Urais wa Damu”, na Juni 12 katika toleo namba 7344 lilichapisha makala isemayo “Mapinduzi Hayaepukiki”. "Aidha, siku ya Jumatano, Septemba 18, mwaka huu katika toleo Namba 73414 ukurasa wa mbele lilichapisha kichwa cha habari kisemacho; “Serikali yanuka Damu” taarifa hiyo ilikolezwa na picha zilizounganishwa kwa ustadi mkubwa kwa kutumia kompyuta kutapakaza rangi nyekundu mithili ya damu nyingi kumwagika. Katika habari hiyo, gazeti hilo limedai bila uthibitisho kuwa Jeshi la Polisi linahusika na waathirika walioumizwa na watu wasiojulikana kwa kumwagiwa tindikali na waliovamiwa na kujeruhiwa vibaya," aliongeza Mwambene. Gazeti hilo pia limeishutumu serikali kuwa goigoi katika kushughulikia matukio yenye sura ya kigaidi nchini. Alisema kwa ujumla habari hiyo ni ya kichochezi, ina lengo la kuwafanya wananchi wavichukie vyombo vya ulinzi na usalama wavione kuwa haviwasaidii. “Kutokana na makosa yaliyotajwa hapo juu serikali imelifungia gazeti la Mtanzania kutochapishwa kwa muda wa siku 90 kwa Tangazo la Serikali Namba 332 la Septemba 27, mwaka huu”. "Serikali inawataka wamiliki, wahariri na wanahabari kwa ujumla kuwa makini, kuzingatia weledi, miiko na madili ya taaluma ya uandishi wa habari. Vile vile inawataka wamiliki na hasa wahariri kuhakikisha kuwa habari wanazoziandika na vipindi wanavyoviandaa vinazingatia taaluma na kuweka mbele maslahi ya taifa letu, kwa kuwa na uzalendo wa hali ya juu," alisema. Aliongeza kuwa serikali inavionya vyombo vya habari vinavyoutumia uhuru wa habari bila wajibu kuwa haitasita kuvichukulia hatua kali ikiwemo ya kuvifungia. "Serikali haitakubali kuona vyombo vya habari kuwa chanzo cha uvunjifu wa amani

SA on ‘White Widow’ terror alert

South Africa was placed on a high security alert last Sunday after “White Widow” Samantha Lewthwaite – believed to be the mastermind behind the terrorist attack in Kenya – was allegedly seen doing surveillance of embassies in Pretoria three weeks ago. This comes as it emerged that scores of Somali youngsters targeted by al-Shabaab in Mogadishu had fled the country and found refuge in South Africa for the past three years. Intelligence sources this week told The Sunday Independent that, as a result of the sighting, South Africa’s preparedness rating escalated to level 4 last Sunday, a security alert colour-coded orange. Only a red alert – which defines the security risk as “severe” – is more intensive, and could lead to the evacuation of foreign diplomatic personnel. According to security analyst and forensic investigator Chad Thomas, the sighting was brought to the attention of South Africa’s police intelligence by a security organisation linked to the Jewish community in South Africa. However, efforts to contact the organisation’s representatives – on the Jewish Sabbath – for confirmation, proved unsuccessful. Responding to questions State Security Agency spokesman Brian Dube remained non-committal, pointing out that “countries around the world continually assess and monitor security environments and grade them in line with their national interests”. As conveyed to the police’s crime intelligence, the information was characterised as “uncorroborated, but from a reliable source”. While Nairobi battled the aftermath of the Westgate mall shooting, in which 67 people were killed, Lewthwaite dominated headlines this week, after reports that the 29-year-old mother of two had lived in South Africa and Kenya for the past four years, travelling between the countries with at least one fraudulently obtained passport in the name of Natalie Faye Webb. Lewthwaite has figured for two years on intelligence watch lists after the discovery of this fraudulent identity. After the claimed Lewthwaite sighting some three weeks ago, South Africa had been at a level 3 alert, compounding fears around the suspected presence of al-Shabaab and other al-Qaeda offshoots in the country. And earlier this week, Hawks spokesman Paul Ramaloko confirmed that the top policing unit had been tracking the movements of al-Shabaab for the past year. Amir Sheikh, chairman of the Somali Community Board in Southern Africa, said that between 2006 and 2010 large numbers of young people fled the country after being targeted by al-Shabaab. The board estimates there are 50 000 Somalis in South Africa, of which 80 percent were young people aged between 18 and 35, targeted by the group. The board was aware of the Hawks’ investigations into al-Shabaab. The probe, said Sheikh, had been initiated after a phone conversation in Somali between a Somali national in Khayelitsha in Cape Town and an al-Shabaab member was intercepted by policing agencies. Sheikh said communication between the policing agencies and the community was on a good footing, and that they had been willing to assist the investigators. This week, coinciding with the escalation of the terror security alert, an Interpol red notice was issued at the request of Kenya for Lewthwaite’s arrest as an internationally wanted person. The red notice binds all of Interpol’s 190 members to arrest its subject, and is considered the most potent weapon at the disposal of the international policing umbrella body. “By requesting an Interpol red notice, Kenya has activated a global ‘tripwire’ for this fugitive,” Interpol secretary-general Ronald Noble said. “Through the Interpol red notice, Kenyan authorities have ensured that all 190 member countries are aware of the danger posed by this woman.” Prior to the issuing of the red notice, Lewthwaite had been wanted in South Africa for identity fraud, and in Kenya for being in possession of illegal explosives, as well as for conspiracy to commit a crime. Like the South African charges, those from Kenya date back to 2011 – four years after Lewthwaite first came to the attention of law enforcement agencies as the wife of British suicide bomber Germaine Lindsay, who blew himself up with 26 commuters in the horror London bombings of July 7, 2007. At the time, British investigators accepted her story that she had been innocent of all knowledge of the bomb conspiracy.

How SA let 'White Widow' slip away

Samantha Lewthwaite, who is believed to have been one of the masterminds in the Nairobi shopping mall atrocity, was in the cross hairs of South African intelligence for at least three years. But, in spite of her using a false passport in South Africa, she was able to slip out of the country in February 2011. Since then the 29-year-old mother of three, dubbed the "White Widow" by British media, has managed to elude key intelligence agencies, including those of South Africa, the US and Britain. Lewthwaite, at the time pregnant with her second child, was given her nickname when her husband, Germaine Lindsay, killed 26 people in a suicide bomb attack in London in 2005. She expressed remorse for the attack, but now appears to have thrown in her lot with Somali extremists. Interpol issued an international arrest warrant for her this week in connection with a 2011 criminal case in Kenya. Although she was not linked directly to the deadly Westgate attack in Nairobi, international investigators are convinced that Lewthwaite is the chief financier, recruiter, coach and trainer for al-Shabab in East Africa. Lewthwaite travelled in and out of South Africa, held down a R24500-a-month job, rented a house in suburban Johannesburg and ran up debts totalling more than R60000. Reports of Lewthwaite's possible link to the Westgate attack were sparked when Kenyan Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed said a "British woman" was involved . New reports yesterday claimed she may have been stationed in a "secret lair" close to the mall. The Sunday Times has confirmed through two independent intelligence sources that Lewthwaite was flagged locally as a person of interest when she landed in South Africa on a Virgin Atlantic flight in 2010. She was monitored at the request of two foreign intelligence agencies and was suspected of having links to a wanted al-Shabab bomb-maker, Habib Ghani. Ghani is believed to have been killed by one of his own bombs in a remote village in Somalia two weeks ago. Local intelligence officers confirmed that her arrival and movements were documented and that she had lived with a Cape Town family for two months and later surfaced in Johannesburg. "We handed the information over to the FBI," said a source. State Security Ministry spokesman Brian Dube would not confirm or deny whether it had, at the behest of foreign intelligence agencies, monitored her, saying: "Confirming or denying the nature of our investigations would be self-defeating because it will compromise the very same work that we do." What was seemingly not known when the local operation on Lewthwaite started in 2010 was that the elusive Briton had already obtained a South African identity document and passport through a "late registration of birth" process. The Sunday Times has confirmed that she signed a lease agreement with property agency Chas Everitt in November 2009 - as Natalie Faye Webb, an employee of a halaal pie business then registered in Lenasia. She lived in the three-bedroom house in a quiet cul-de-sac in Bromhof, northern Johannesburg, until August 2010, when the lease expired. She left the country four months later. The estate agency was visited by the Hawks last year. They wanted information on Lewthwaite, including copies of the ID, bank statements and pay slips she provided to secure the property. Chas Everitt's Randburg manager, Dave Pride, said that although he never met Lewthwaite, he was told by staff that she was an "ordinary person". Her R24500 salary was paid directly into her Standard Bank account. "I'm told she was just like everyone else, nothing out of the ordinary. Her bank account and details she gave us all checked out ... She fell behind on the rent at one stage, but caught up and when she moved out she didn't owe anything," he said. The current occupants of the Bromhof property said they were shocked to learn the home was once occupied by the notorious "White Widow". Other neighbours said she was a loner and was rarely seen outside. Two of them said they had seen Lewthwaite with a nanny at times. A woman who lives with her two children in the Bromhof house that Lewthwaite occupied said: "We were watching this Kenya story unfold on the TV and two days later we hear this woman, whose face is all over, lived here. It feels surreal." The main tenant said: "I find myself lying in bed at night wondering if she was lying here planning these attacks." Home Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor said records showed that Lewthwaite first arrived in South Africa in 2008. She left the country in February 2011 as Natalie Faye Webb. Pressed for details, home affairs deputy director-general for immigration services Jackie McKay said he did not have the "clearance" to provide them . On Thursday, Interpol issued an international arrest warrant for Lewthwaite in connection with the 2011 criminal case. It stems from a raid on a property in Mombasa in December 2011 when the police found explosives, AK47 ammunition and Lewthwaite's fake South African passport. She is being tried in absentia along with another British national. Although present when the police pounced, Lewthwaite got away by pretending to be South African Natalie Webb. Meanwhile, Kenyan authorities continue to count the cost of the deadly four-day standoff with the militants. By yesterday, more than 70 people were confirmed dead and close to 200 injured. The local Red Cross said at least 61 were still missing. Cape Town businessman James Thomas was among the 18 foreigners killed. He is scheduled to be buried on Wednesday. There has been some international criticism about the fact that the Kenyans requested the Interpol red notice only in the aftermath of the Westgate attack. It has now also emerged that the Kenyan government had been warned of an attack to be launched in September and that it had failed to act on the warning. Lewthwaite's stay in South Africa is one of a number of signs that point to an a l-Shabab presence in the country: In May 2010, the Sunday Times revealed that local intelligence services were accused of being slow to react to warnings that al-Qaeda and al-Shabab operatives were planning an attack during the World Cup; Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state at the time, met Minister of International Relations Maite Nkoana-Mashabane in 2009 and warned that al-Shabab was recruiting in South Africa. She said the minister was also aware of this; In 2009, intelligence sources also told of a threat to the US embassy in Pretoria. It allegedly originated from a public phone in the Southgate mall in Johannesburg. Another call was made to parliament; and Just before the 2010 World Cup, intelligence agencies told the Sunday Times that they had intercepted a telephone call from Khayelitsha in the Western Cape to known members of al-Shabab. During the recorded conversation, the parties discussed an alleged plot " to blow up American interests". Somali expatriates in Mayfair, Johannesburg, told the Sunday Times that they feared the al-Shabab link to the Kenyan attack could be damaging for their community. "It's not fair that there's been fear here this week because people did bad things elsewhere," said businessman Said Abdullah. -

Pakistan explosion: Dozens killed in Peshawar market

An explosion has ripped through a market in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar, leaving at least 31 dead and dozens wounded, officials say. Police said a bomb had exploded in the Kissa Khwani market, with shops and vehicles set alight. The blast comes a week after a double suicide bombing that killed at least 80 people at a church in the city. On Friday, at least 17 people were killed in the bombing of a bus carrying government employees near Peshawar. Peshawar, the main city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has been hit by numerous bomb and gun attacks blamed on Taliban insurgents in recent years. Hospital emergency Police said they suspected the explosion was caused by a car bomb. Pakistan's Dawn newspaper quoted the health minister as saying that the main Peshawar police station may have been the main target. However, bomb disposal chief Shafqat Malik said it appeared the blast had taken place some way from the station. He told Agence France-Presse that a parked car had been "converted into a remote controlled bomb". An emergency situation was declared at the Lady Reading Hospital as it received the injured, many of them badly burned. Officials said 76 people had been hurt. Rising violence has hindered new Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's overtures to end the insurgency through peace talks with the Taliban. On 21 September, Pakistan released from the jail the co-founder of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. But the Pakistan Taliban have consistently rejected the country's constitution and demand the imposition of Sharia law. Mr Sharif is in New York at the UN and is to meet Indian PM Manmohan Singh later on Sunday. Mr Sharif strongly condemned the Peshawar bombing in a message from New York, calling it an attack on humanity. Ahead of the talks, Mr Singh said Pakistan must stop being "the epicentre of terrorism". Last week's church bombing sparked grief and anger across Pakistan Last Sunday's attack on the historic All Saints church - thought to be the deadliest attack against Christians in Pakistan - sparked angry protests nationwide. Two Islamist militant groups with Taliban links said they had ordered the attack to hit back at US drone strikes. More than 120 people were wounded. Friday's bus bomb targeted government employees returning home in the Gulbela area, some 15km (9 miles) north-east of the city. In addition to those killed, at least 34 people were injured.

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Clashes as Iranian President Returns to Tehran

TEHRAN — Hard-line protesters hurled eggs and a shoe at President Hassan Rouhani of Iran as he returned to Tehran on Saturday after supporters cheered him for reaching out to President Obama. Mr. Rouhani was standing in his car, waving through the sunroof as he passed supporters at the airport. But moments later, security guards tried to shield the president with an umbrella as protesters threw eggs and a shoe at his car while others blocked the road by praying on the pavement. “Long live Rouhani, man of change” the president’s supporters shouted, as a small contingent of police struggled to control the crowd. The hard-liners responded by shouting “our people are awake and hate America.” Security guards eventually pulled Mr. Rouhani back inside his car as it sped off, leaving supporters and opponents behind, some fighting with each other. One protester was almost run over after he threw himself in front of Mr. Rouhani’s car. The incident illustrates the tensions in Iran as Mr. Rouhani returned from a historic trip to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. His foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met with Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday, and Mr. Rouhani received a phone call from President Obama on Friday as he was on his way to Kennedy Airport, the first contact between an American and Iranian president since before the hostage crisis 30 years ago. In comments after his arrival in Tehran, Mr. Rouhani elaborated on the call with Mr. Obama. “Yesterday as we were getting ready to head to the airport, the White House called and expressed willingness to set up a phone call between the American president and me,” the semiofficial Fars News agency quoted Mr. Rouhani as saying. “A call was made to our ambassador’s cellphone,” Mr. Rouhani said. “The conversation mostly focused on the nuclear issue.” The Iranian president also explained why a much-anticipated meeting between him and President Obama did not take place. “A meeting between the two presidents needs some preparation, and since the ground was not prepared, this meeting did not take place,” Fars quoted Mr. Rouhani as saying. On Saturday morning, tensions spilled over outside the gates of the capital’s inner city airport. Dozens of Iranian families and youths had gathered to welcome the president back to Tehran. “Welcome, Lord of peace’, read a placard held by a woman in a colorful scarf. A man holding a baby smiled as supporters chanted slogans in support of the president. “I am here to show my support for Mr. Rouhani,” said Vida, 50, a fashion designer who declined to give her family name. Her daughter, wearing purple lipstick — Mr. Rouhani’s campaign color during the June elections — stood behind her, yelling “Long live reforms.” Her mother smiled. “This time our country will really change,” she said, “I am sure of it.” Down the road, about 50 protesters held placards saying, “we will never be humiliated,” and “talks to U.S. will not solve any problem.” All Iranian presidents have to deal with mysterious pressure groups that are supported by hard-line elements in Iran’s political establishment. “We are here because we hate America and Iran will never have relations with America,” said a man who refused to be identified. “Rouhani must listen to us.” Both groups clashed as Mr. Rouhani’s convoy came through the gates of the airport. As the president’s car drove off one man shook his head in despair. “Why must everything always be destroyed?” he asked. “The whole world is looking at us, and now people are throwing eggs at our president.”

U.S. and Iran Agree to Speed Talks to Defuse Nuclear Issue

WASHINGTON — The long-fractured relationship between the United States and Iran took a significant turn on Friday when President Obama and President Hassan Rouhani became the first leaders of their countries to speak since the Tehran hostage crisis more than three decades ago. In a hurriedly arranged telephone call, Mr. Obama reached Mr. Rouhani as the Iranian leader was headed to the airport to leave New York after a whirlwind news media and diplomatic blitz. The two agreed to accelerate talks aimed at defusing the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program and afterward expressed optimism at the prospect of a rapprochement that would transform the Middle East. “Resolving this issue, obviously, could also serve as a major step forward in a new relationship between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran, one based on mutual interests and mutual respect,” Mr. Obama, referring to Tehran’s nuclear program, told reporters at the White House after the 15-minute phone call. “It would also help facilitate a better relationship between Iran and the international community, as well as others in the region.” A Twitter account in Mr. Rouhani’s name later stated, “In regards to nuclear issue, with political will, there is a way to rapidly solve the matter.” The account added that Mr. Rouhani had told Mr. Obama, “We’re hopeful about what we will see from” the United States and other major powers “in coming weeks and months.” President Obama suggested the discussion could be a starting point for renewed relations between the two countries, who once were allies. The conversation was the first between Iranian and American leaders since 1979 when President Jimmy Carter spoke by telephone with Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi shortly before the shah left the country, according to Iran experts. The Islamic Revolution that toppled the shah’s government led to the seizure of the American Embassy and a 444-day hostage crisis that have left the two countries at odds with each other ever since. Although both Republican and Democratic presidents have reached out to Tehran in the interim, contact had been reserved to letters or lower-level officials. The call came just days after Mr. Obama had hoped to encounter Mr. Rouhani at a luncheon at the United Nations and expected to shake hands. Mr. Rouhani skipped the luncheon and later indicated it was premature to meet Mr. Obama. But a meeting on Thursday between Secretary of State John Kerry and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif of Iran was described as constructive and led Iranian officials to contact the White House on Friday to suggest the phone call, according to American officials. A senior Obama administration official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity because of diplomatic sensitivities, said the White House had expressed the president’s interest in meeting Mr. Rouhani to the Iranians this week but was surprised when they suggested the phone call. Mr. Obama placed the call from the Oval Office around 2:30 p.m., joined by aides and a translator. President Obama announced having a phone conversation with President Hassan Rouhani. He opened by congratulating Mr. Rouhani on his election in June and noted the history of mistrust between the two nations, but also what he called the constructive statements Mr. Rouhani had made during his stay in New York, according to the official. The bulk of the call focused on the nuclear dispute, and Mr. Obama repeated that he respected Iran’s right to develop civilian nuclear energy, but insisted on concessions to prevent development of weapons. Mr. Obama also raised the cases of three Americans in Iran, one missing and two others detained. In a lighter moment, he apologized for New York traffic. The call ended on a polite note, according to the official and Mr. Rouhani’s Twitter account. “Have a nice day,” Mr. Rouhani said in English. President Hassan Rouhani of Iran at a news conference Friday at a hotel near the United Nations. He then headed to the airport. “Thank you,” Mr. Obama replied, and then tried a Persian farewell. “Khodahafez.” By talking on the phone instead of in person, Mr. Rouhani avoided a politically problematic photo of himself with Mr. Obama, which could have inflamed hard-liners in Iran who were already wary of his outreach to the United States. As it was, conservative elements in Tehran tried to reinterpret his statements acknowledging the Holocaust while he was in New York. The state news channel, the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network, had not mentioned the phone call with Mr. Obama as of midnight Friday after word of it broke, and the original messages on Mr. Rouhani’s Twitter account were deleted and replaced with more anodyne comments. But Mr. Rouhani’s office announced the call in a statement carried by the Iranian state news agency. “This voice contact has for now replaced the actual shaking of hands, but this is clearly the start of a process that could in the future lead to a face-to-face meeting between both leaders,” said Amir Mohebbian, a political adviser close to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Abbas Milani, an Iranian scholar at Stanford University, said Mr. Rouhani wanted to avoid looking as if he was making concessions. “The U.S. and the West have wisely decided to allow the regime to make its claims of victory at home, so long as they play earnest ball in meetings abroad,” Mr. Milani said. A call to a leader on the way to the airport may not be normal protocol, he added, but “in this case it was adroit policy for both sides.” American advocates of closer relations between the two countries were optimistic. “The phone call wasn’t just history,” said Joseph Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund, an arms control group, who attended a dinner with Mr. Rouhani in New York. “It helped fundamentally change the course of Iranian-U.S. relations. We’re on a very different trajectory than we were even at the beginning of the week.” But others expressed caution, arguing that Iran was reaching out only because of the sanctions that have strangled its economy. “The economic pain now is sufficient to oblige a telephone call, though not a face-to-face meeting,” said Reuel Marc Gerecht, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which supports stronger sanctions against Iran. “We will see whether the pain is sufficient for the Iranians to shut the heavy-water plant at Arak and reverse Iran’s path to a rapid breakout capacity with enriched uranium.” Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the Republican majority leader, criticized Mr. Obama for not pressing Iran to halt what he said was its support for terrorism and for Syria’s government. “It is particularly unfortunate that President Obama would recognize the Iranian people’s right to nuclear energy but not stand up for their right to freedom, human rights or democracy,” he said. In announcing the call with Mr. Rouhani, Mr. Obama said that only “meaningful, transparent and verifiable actions” on the nuclear program could “bring relief” from sanctions. “A path to a meaningful agreement will be difficult, and at this point, both sides have significant concerns that will have to be overcome,” he said. “But I believe we’ve got a responsibility to pursue diplomacy, and that we have a unique opportunity to make progress with the new leadership in Tehran.” Recognizing the delicacy of the outreach effort, Mr. Obama made a point of trying to reassure Israel that he would not jeopardize an ally’s security. “Throughout this process, we’ll stay in close touch with our friends and allies in the region, including Israel,” he said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is scheduled to visit Mr. Obama at the White House on Monday. Before leaving New York, Mr. Rouhani said his government would present a plan in three weeks on how to resolve the nuclear standoff. “I expect this trip will be the first step and the beginning of constructive relations with countries of the world,” he said at a news conference. He went on to say that he hoped the visit would also improve relations “between two great nations, Iran and the United States,” adding that the trip had exceeded his expectations. Mr. Rouhani and his aides have been on an extraordinarily energetic campaign to prove that they are moderate and reasonable partners and to draw a stark contrast with his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But Mr. Rouhani has yet to propose anything concrete to suggest how different the Iranians really are in their approach. The first glimpse of that is due to come on Oct. 15 and 16, when Iran plans to present its own road map in Geneva. Mr. Rouhani emphasized that his government had the authority and the will to reach a nuclear settlement within what he called “a short period of time.” But he was visibly irritated when asked whether his diplomatic blitz was merely designed to buy time with his Western interlocutors. “We have never chosen deceit as a path,” he said. “We have never chosen secrecy.”

Chelsea's summer arrival Willian had 'signed a contract' with Tottenham before late switch

Reports suggest the Brazilian had put pen to paper with the White Hart Lane side three days before moving to Stamford Bridge instead Boy in blue: Willian switched to Chelsea Chelsea's summer arrival Willian signed a contract with Tottenham before deciding to switch to Stamford Bridge, according to reports. The 25-year-old surprised many in August having been set to finalise a move to the North London side from Anzhi Makhachkala. But having completed a medical at Spurs, the Brazilian opted for Chelsea instead. And according to The Times, Willian was so close to moving that he had even put pen to paper on a deal before heading to west London three days later. All eyes will be on Andre Villas-Boas and Jose Mourinho this lunchtime as the two line up against one another 24 hours after the Special One hit out at his former protégé. The Spurs boss said of Mourinho earlier this week: "We had a great personal and professional relationship before that we don't have now. Divided: Villas-Boas and Mourinho have fallen out   "I don't think we need explanations on friendship and personal relationships. But our relationship broke down." And speaking yesterday about his fractured friendship with Villas-Boas, Mourinho hit back: “It’s a personal thing, and I’m not here to discuss that. I don’t care about what he says. I’m not interested. “If I have something to discuss here, we go upstairs, have lunch and speak about it. I’m not here to discuss it in public."

Shujaa Hajji

Mwanamke Mmarekani mama wa watoto watatu aishiye Nairobi siku ya tukio aliondoka nyumbani na familia yake na kwenda katika duka hilo na kujikuta amenaswa katika shambulizi hilo akiwa na mabinti zake watatu. Katherine Walton, ambaye alikuwa Afrika akifuatana na wanawe na mumewe Phillip, tangu miaka miwili iliyopita, alijikuta amenasa chini ya meza nje ya duka hilo. Anasema kama asingekuwa mwanamume aitwaye Abdul Haji, hana uhakika kama yeye au wanawake na watoto aliokuwa amenasa nao kwa saa kadhaa, wangetoka wazima. Familia ya Walton ilielezea mkasa huo kwa Telegraph la Uingereza ikifafanua kilichojiri na hata Haji kuonekana akiwaokoa huku milio ya risasi ikirindima na miili yenye damu ikionekana kila mahali. “Tulikuwa tukienda kuonana na wanangu wawili wakubwa wa kiume katika duka hilo tuliposikia mlipuko,” Walton (38), ambaye aliingia Kenya akitoka North Carolina, aliiambia Telegraph. “Niliwashika mabinti wale na kuanza kukimbia. Mwanamke alituvuta nyuma ya meza. Niliweza kuona risasi zikigonga juu ya maduka na kusikia vilio katika sehemu tuliyokuwa.” Walton na wanawe walinasa pamoja na mwanamke Mkenya na wanawake wawili Wahindi chini ya meza kwa saa kadhaa. Wanawake wengine walimsaidia Walton kutuliza mabinti zake. “Walionekana kutulia kimya,” Walton alisema. “Mwanangu alikuwa akilia huku milio ya risasi ikiendelea, baadaye alilala. Wakati fulani mapambano yakiendelea, mwanangu wa miaka miwili na mtoto mwingine walikuwa wakichezea simu yangu. Sikuwaelewa kufanya vile kana kwamba mambo yalikuwa mazuri.” Baada ya kilichoonekana sasa kama mvumo wa risasi huku vilio vya magaidi na waathirika vikichangia, Walton ghafla aliona mtu akiwa na bastola akijibu mashambulizi ya magaidi hao. Alikuwa ni Haji, mtu ambaye alipata mafunzo ya kivita na baba yake ambaye alipata kuwa Waziri wa Usalama, na alikuwa akijaribu kuelekeza wanawake wamfuate. Mtoto ajitokeza Walipokuwa wanahofia kutembea kama kundi, mwanawe mwenye umri wa miaka minne, Portia ambaye alijitokeza chini ya meza alimfuata Haji. “Sijui alijuaje kufanya hivyo lakini alifanya,” Walton aliiambia Telegraph. “Alifanya alichoambiwa kufanya na alikwenda.” Picha za Portia na Haji zilisambazwa katika mitandao mingi na zingine zikimwonesha Haji akiokoa wanawake na watoto. Walton alifarijika kubaini kuwa wanawe wa kiume aliokuwa akutane nao dukani pale walikuwa salama nyuma ya mstari wa Polisi nje ya duka. Walton aliiambia Telegraph: “Nilikuwa nahofia familia Marekani kuona picha hii, kwa sababu sijawasilimulia lolote kuhusu tukio kamili. Kwangu mimi najua habari yote kwa undani na kwamba ilimalizika salama. Nadhani Haji ananidai fadhila.” Haji alipoulizwa kuhusu ujasiri wake, alisema :”Nadhani nimefanya kile ambacho Mkenya yeyote katika hali kama ile angeweza kufanya kuokoa maisha, kuokoa binadamu wengine bila kuangalia uraia, dini au imani.” Mashuhuda wa tukio hilo waliiambia AP na vyombo vingine vya habari, kwamba magaidi walizingira wateja na kuwauliza juu ya Uislamu na kwamba Mwislamu anapaswa kuufahamu na kuwataka Waislamu kuondoka. Lakini bado baadhi ya Waislamu walikuwa miongoni mwa waliouawa. Al Shabaab ilipoulizwa kama nia yao ilikuwa kuua wageni, ilisema: “lengo letu lilikuwa ni kuishambulia Serikali ya Kenya katika ardhi yake na eneo lolote ndani ya Kenya ni lengo letu halali … na Kenya inapaswa kuwajibishwa kwa hasara hiyo ya maisha, yawe ya mgeni au mwenyeji.” Akihojiwa na NTV, Haji alikiri kwamba kaka yake – aliyempeleka kwa mara ya kwanza kuokoa katika duka hilo – ni mpambanaji dhidi ya ugaidi na hadi shambulizi linatokea alikuwa akiifanya kazi hiyo kwa siri. Alisema wao na baba yao walipokea vitisho dhidi ya maisha yao siku moja kabla ya shambulio hilo na sasa ni dhahiri kwamba kaka yake alikuwa akifanya kazi ya kupambana na makundi kama al Shabaab. Kiongozi wa al Shabaab, Ahmed Godane, alisema katika taarifa yake Jumatano kwa njia ya redio, kwamba shambulizi hilo lilifanyika ili kulipiza kiasi kwa mataifa ya Magharibi yanayounga mkono uvamizi wa Kenya nchini Somalia na ‘maslahi ya kampuni zao za mafuta’. Ingawa Kenya kupitia kwa Waziri wa Mambo ya Nje mapema ilisema raia wawili au watatu wa Marekani walihusika na shambulio hilo, ofisa wa mataifa hayo alisema baada ya kuchunguza pasipoti na kumbukumbu za wakimbizi, hakuna ishara yoyote inayothibitisha Wamarekani kushiriki. Majiji kadhaa ya Marekani hususan Minneapolis, yana jamii nyingi za Wamerakani wenye asili ya Somalia. Magaidi Jumatano waliendeleza mashambulizi mengine safari hii wakishambulia mji wa Wajir, katika mpaka na Somalia ambako inaarifiwa mtu mmoja aliuawa na wengine wanne kujeruhiwa, baada ya mtu mwenye silaha kuwafyatulia risasi na kuwarushia mabomu, Wizara ya Mambo ya Ndani ya Nchi ilisema. Maofisa wa mochari jijini Nairobi wamejiandaa kupokea idadi kubwa ya miili ambayo bado imo dukani. Maofisa wa Serikali waliiambia AP kwamba kituo hicho cha biashara, bado kinaweza kuwa na idadi kubwa ya miili. Serikali imethibitisha jumla ya vifo 72: raia wakiwa 61, maofisa usalama sita na magaidi watano. Chama cha Msalaba Mwekundu kinasema watu 71 haijulikani waliko. Balozi wa Marekani nchini Kenya, Robert Godec alisema Jumatano kwamba nchi yake inatoa msaada wa kiufundi na vifaa kwa vikosi vya usalama vya Kenya na wahudumu wa afya. Godec alisema Marekani inasaidia uchunguzi ili hatimaye kupata magaidi waliohusika na kuwafikisha mbele ya sheria. Maofisa wa Serikali ya Kenya wamesema washukiwa 11 wanashikiliwa wakiwamo saba ambao walikamatwa katika uwanja wa ndege wakijiandaa kuondoka. Wanahojiwa, alisema msemaji wa Serikali. JK atoa pole ubalozini Wakati huo huo, Rais Jakaya Kikwete jana alitembelea Ubalozi wa Kudumu wa Kenya katika Umoja wa Mataifa(UN), New York, Marekani na kusaini kitabu cha maombolezo kutokana na vifo vya watu 69 na mamia kujeruhiwa katika shambulio hilo. Rais aliwasili ubalozini hapo saa 8:30 mchana baada ya kutembea kwa miguu na walinzi wake kutoka makao makuu ya UN karibu na ubalozini hapo na kupokewa na Balozi Koki Muli Grignon, Naibu Mwakilishi wa Kudumu wa Kenya katika UN kwa niaba ya Balozi Macharia Kamau ambaye yuko nje ya Marekani. Baada ya kusaini, Rais alizungumza kwa ufupi na wafanyakazi wa ubalozi huo, akisema alikwenda kuelezea majonzi na hasira yake kutokana na vifo vya watu hao na mamia wengine kujeruhiwa. “Siku ile ya tukio nilikuwa natoka Canada kuja hapa na nililiona kwenye televisheni, nikiwa Canada. Nilimpigia simu Rais Uhuru Kenyatta na kuzungumza naye. Nilimweleza masikitiko yangu na hasira yangu kwa shambulio hilo dhidi ya watu wasiokuwa na hatia na raia wasiokuwa na ujuzi wowote wa kupigana,” Rais Kikwete alisema na kuongeza: “Nilimweleza utangamano wa Watanzania na Wakenya katika tukio hilo. Nilimwambia kuwa wananchi wa nchi zote mbili wako pamoja katika kipindi hiki kigumu, ni majirani na watu wale wale. Nilimwambia kuwa tutaendelea kushirikiana kupambana na ugaidi kwa sababu wakati wa tukio la Septemba 1998, Nairobi na Dar es Salaam wote waliathirika. “Nilimwambia Tanzania iko tayari kusaidia kuchangia mawazo na rasilimali kutafuta suluhisho la tukio hili kama msaada wetu ungehitajika. Nilimtakia yeye na wananchi wa Kenya moyo wa uvumilivu na subira katika kipindi hiki kigumu.” Balozi Koki Muli Grignon amlimwambia Rais Kikwete: “Umetupa heshima kubwa kuja hapa, umetupa hamasa na ari. Tutapambana pamoja kukomesha ugaidi katika eneo letu la Afrika Mashariki. Ujio wako umetushangaza, umemshangaza kila mtu kwenye ubalozi. Hatukutarajia kabisa. Tunakushukuru Rais.”

Friday, September 27, 2013

Msanii Ahukumiwa Miezi Sita Kwa Kuimba Matusi

Msanii wa kizazi kipya nchini Tunisia, Ahmed Ben Ahmed, anayejulikana kwa jina la kiusanii, Klay BBJ, amehukumiwa jela kwa miezi sita kwa kuwatusi maafisa wakuu kupitia kwa muziki wake. Mahakama ilitupilia mbali kesi yake ya rufaa baada ya yeye na mwanamuziki mwenzake kupatikana na hatia mwezi jana ya kuwatusi maafisa wakuu katika tamasha la muziki eneo la Hammamet. Wawili hao awali walihukumiwa bila ya wao kuwepo mahakamani kutumikia kifungo cha miezi 21 lakini hukumu hiyo iliondolewa. Weld El 15, aliyepatikana na kosa kwa kuimba wimbo wake huo, kuwa 'Ploisi ni Mbwa', hakukata rufaa na sasa yuko mbioni. Hata hivyo Kaly BBJ lisema kuwa wimbo wao ulikuwa unaelezea hali ilivyo nchini Tunisia na kuhusu serikali. Muungano wa vyama unaoongozwa na chama cha wanasiasa waisilamu wenye msimamo wa kadri, Ennahda, uliingia mamlakani baada ya mapinduzi ya kiraia yaliyomwondoa mamlakani aliyekuwa rais Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali mwezi Januari mwaka 2011 na uchaguzi kufanyika baadaye mwaka huo. Klay anasemekana kuambia mahakama kuwa wimbo wao unakosoa hali ya sasa serikalini na kote nchini Tunisia tu. Alisema yeye ni mmoja wa wanamuziki wanaokosoa sana serikali na ndio maana wamekuwa wakimsaka sana. Lakini majaji walikataa rufaa aliyowasilisa na kusema hukumu yake ya miezi sita gerezani inastahili kuanza mara moja. Wakili wake alisema kuwa watawasilisha rufaa nyingine kupinga hukumu dhidi yake.

Samantha Lewthwaite

Speculation has been fuelled by the Kenyan foreign minister who has said one of the militants from the Somali-based al-Shabab group was a British woman. And suspicion was heightened when international crime agency Interpol issued a wanted persons notice for her arrest. But the warrant - requested by the Kenyans - relates to separate terror charges dating from 2011 and is not linked to the Nairobi siege. There has been no confirmation of Ms Lewthwaite's involvement, either as an attacker, organiser or fundraiser. Al-Shabab has denied that any women were involved. Whitehall officials continue to advise caution about reports linking her to the attack, says the BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner. A photo from a fake South African passport alleged to belong to Samantha Lewthwaite under an assumed name Her notoriety though, confirmed by the Interpol warrant, is not in doubt. Ms Lewthwaite, 29, was first thrust into the spotlight after the 7 July bombings in London in 2005, as the widow of bomber Germaine Lindsay, who killed 26 people when he blew up a Piccadilly Line Tube train near King's Cross. A Muslim convert dubbed the "White Widow" by much of the media, she has no terrorism record in the UK but was on the run from Kenyan Police before the Westgate attack, allegedly using a South Africa passport over suspected links to a terrorist cell that planned to bomb the country's coast. Interpol's red notice is a recognition that she is now considered an international threat, not just someone who should be regarded as a passport fraudster, says BBC home affairs correspondent Dominic Casciani. The notice says Ms Lewthwaite is "wanted by Kenya on charges of being in possession of explosives and conspiracy to commit a felony dating back to December 2011". 'Mythological figure' After the 7 July attacks, Ms Lewthwaite condemned her husband's actions as "abhorrent", saying trips to radical mosques had "poisoned his mind". "How these people could have turned him and poisoned his mind is dreadful," she told the Sun. "He was an innocent, naive and simple man. I suppose he must have been an ideal candidate." But not long after the attack she disappeared. She was known to be in Kenya and, last year, officials said she had fled to Somalia and the police were hunting a woman who used several identities, including hers. Lewthwaite attended the Grange School in Aylesbury BBC journalist Peter Taylor, who has just returned from Kenya where he was making a Panorama programme on al-Shabab, said there was still a lot of speculation about the group involved in the attack on the shopping centre. However, he said: "If, as the foreign minister says, there was a British woman involved 'who had done this many times before', there is a strong possibility it may well be Samantha Lewthwaite. "If she is dead then she would have achieved the kind of martyrdom that her husband Germaine Lindsay achieved." He said Ms Lewthwaite had become an almost "mythological figure" and the search for her had been going on a "long time". "At the time of the 7/7 bombings, the impression was that she disapproved and was highly critical of her husband's action," he added. "Then she disappeared off the radar and turns up again in Kenya. It would appear she became involved with al-Shabab to fight jihad as her husband believed he was doing when he bombed the Tube." 'Follower not leader' Ms Lewthwaite spent much of her life in the Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury, although her very early years were spent in Northern Ireland. Born to English soldier Andy Lewthwaite - who met and married Christine Allen while serving in Northern Ireland during the 1970s - she spent her childhood on the Whyte Acres estate in Banbridge, County Down. Ms Lewthwaite was still at primary school when her family moved to Aylesbury, where they lived in a modest terraced house. Her parents separated in 1995. Raj Khan, an Aylesbury councillor who has known her for decades, told the BBC she was an average girl. Samantha Lewthwaite married 7/7 bomber Germaine Lindsay in 2002 "I knew her when she was a child," he said. "She was very innocent, lacking confidence, shy and very easy to get on with. She was a follower not a leader." He said he could not imagine her being involved in the Nairobi attack. "It takes someone sophisticated to be involved in such an international terrorist organisation," he added. She became friendly with a local Muslim family who helped her to convert to Islam when she was a teenager. At the Grange School in Aylesbury, the new Muslim convert stood out, according to Novid Shaid who taught there. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's The Report last year, he said: "She seemed to be really proud wearing the hijab, there was a bubbly feeling around her." After a few years, "we noticed her wearing the full galabiya (full-length robe) which some converts tend to do when they become more serious," he said. Ms Lewthwaite's interest in religion developed further and she enrolled in a degree course in politics and the study of religions in 2002 at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. However, she left the course after two months. She met Jamaican-born Muslim convert Lindsay via an Islamic internet chatroom the same year and the couple married a few months later. They lived initially in Huddersfield but moved to Aylesbury in September 2003. Six months later, their first child was born. Their second child was born after the London bombings. Play Raj Khan: "If she is being radicalised to this extent where was it done? was it in Aylesbury?" It is thought she has since remarried and the papers say she now has either three or four children. Her father, sister and brother also distanced themselves from Lindsay after the 7 July attacks. "He was a good and loving husband and a brilliant father, who showed absolutely no sign of doing this atrocious crime," they said in a statement. "We as a family had no idea of his plans and are as horrified as the rest of the world." It is understood she has had little contact with relatives in Northern Ireland, including her 85-year-old grandmother Elizabeth Allen, since her conversion to Islam.

Jewellery missing

The summoning of the heads of the various security agencies to appear before the parliamentary defence committee on Monday comes amid rising concern among Kenyans over the authorities' preparedness for such an attack. "The time for responsibility and accountability has come," the defence committee's chairman Ndung'u Gethenji is quoted by Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper as saying. Local media have reported that National Intelligence Service boss Michael Gichangi, one of those asked to appear before the committee, passed on intelligence about a possible attack to the police. But the Daily Nation says that a highly placed police source denied that such information was received. New photos revealing some of the damage at the Westgate shopping centre have been released. They show how parts of the rooftop car park have collapsed down onto what is believed to be the supermarket area. The manager of a jewellery shop allowed back into Westgate showed the BBC photos she took, showing that the store had been looted. President Uhuru Kenyatta declared three days of official mourning this week. The funeral of his nephew and his nephew's fiancee took place in Nairobi on Friday. Amongst the funerals held on Thursday was that of Mitul Shah at the Hindu Crematorium. A marketing executive, his firm was reportedly sponsoring the children's cooking competition taking place in the car park. Irene Anyango, manager of a Westgate jewellery shop, is one of the few people allowed into the mall following the end of the siege. She said the mall was barely recognisable given the damage. "It was a nightmare… and the shop was a totally different place," she told the BBC. "So many things were not intact... a lot of things weren't there, a lot jewellery - we're talking about diamonds, necklaces - all the rings." Ms Anyango said 90% of the jewellery was missing from the shop, which is now flooded. "As far as we know for the last couple of days they were intact - we don't understand what's happening but they're not there," she said. Many people not only face the trauma of losing family and colleagues but also the possibility of losing their jobs, she added. On Thursday the funeral of pregnant television and radio star Ruhila Adatia-Sood was one of many funerals held. Some 2,500 people packed into the Muslim Ismaili community's sports and social club in Nairobi to pay their respects to her and another woman killed in the siege, the AFP news agency reports. They had been taking part in a children's cooking competition on the rooftop car park, when gunmen stormed the shopping centre. "We are a small community. In a tragedy like this we get together," Azym Dossa, who lent his fleet of coaches to ferry mourners across town, told AFP. Al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaeda, has repeatedly threatened attacks on Kenyan soil if Nairobi did not pull its troops out of Somalia. About 4,000 Kenyan troops have been sent to Somalia to help pro-government forces battle al-Shabab. The group is banned as a terrorist group by both the US and the UK and is believed to have between 7,000 and 9,000 fighters. Its members are fighting to create an Islamic state in Somalia.

Rais Kikwete Kuifumua TANESCO

RAIS Jakaya Kikwete amesema Serikali yake inafanya mageuzi muhimu na marekebisho makubwa katika Shirika la Umeme Tanzania (TANESCO), kwa nia ya kuharakisha jitihada za Serikali kusambaza umeme kwa wananchi wengi zaidi. Pia, amesema Serikali imechukua hatua nyingi na kali za kupambana na rushwa, kwa nia ya kukomesha vitendo hivyo nchini na kuinua kiwango cha utawala bora. Alisema hayo juzi wakati alipokutana na kuzungumza na ujumbe wa Shirika la Changamoto za Milenia (MCC), ukiongozwa na Mtendaji Mkuu wake, Daniel Yohannes. Ujumbe huo umekutana na Rais Kikwete, New York, Marekani ambako Rais amefikia kwa ziara yake ya kikazi, ambako miongoni mwa mambo mengine, atahutubia mkutano wa 68 wa Baraza Kuu la Umoja wa Mataifa (UN), ulioanza Jumanne wiki hii. Katika mazungumzo hayo, Yohannes alimwelezea Rais Kikwete kuhusu maendeleo ya ombi la Tanzania kuingizwa katika awamu ya pili ya misaada ya Serikali ya Marekani kupitia MCC, chini ya Akaunti ya Milenia Tanzania (MCAT). Nchi nyingine za Afrika ambazo maombi yao yanafikiriwa katika awamu hiyo ya pili ni Morocco, Mozambique na Lesotho. Tanzania ndiyo nchi iliyopokea sehemu kubwa zaidi ya msaada wa MCC duniani katika awamu ya kwanza, ambako ilipewa kiasi cha dola za Marekani milioni 698 ambazo zimeingizwa katika miradi mikubwa ya ujenzi wa barabara, usambazaji wa umeme vijijini, miradi ya maji na ujenzi wa Uwanja wa Ndege wa Mafia. Serikali ya Tanzania imeamua kuwa fedha za awamu ya pili ya MCC zitaingizwa kupanua zaidi huduma za umeme na ujenzi wa barabara za vijiji kwa nia ya kuongeza idadi ya Watanzania wanaopata huduma za umeme na kwa nia ya kuboresha barabara za vijijini katika maeneo yanayozalisha mazao kwa wingi zaidi. Serikali ya Rais Kikwete imeliweka suala la usambazaji umeme kwa Watanzania mijini na vijijini miongoni mwa maeneo yake ya kipaumbele. Wakati anaingia madarakani mwaka 2005, ni asilimia 10 tu ya Watanzania waliokuwa wanapata umeme. Katika miaka saba iliyopita, asilimia hiyo imepata hadi kufikia 21 ikiwa ni asilimia 11 zaidi kuliko katika miaka yote 50 ya Uhuru. Lengo la sasa ni kuifikisha asilimia 30 ama zaidi mwaka 2015. Katika mazungumzo hayo na Rais Kikwete, Yohannes alitaka kujua ni hatua zipi Serikali inazichukua kurekebisha changamoto zinazoikabili TANESCO na hatua gani zinachukuliwa kuzidi kukabiliana na matatizo ya rushwa. Rais Kikwete amemweleza Yohannes: “Kama unavyojua, Shirika la Umeme Tanzania (TANESCO) limepitia safari ngumu na kukabiliwa na changamoto nyingi lakini sasa tumeamua katika Serikali kulifanyia mageuzi muhimu na marekebisho makubwa kwa maana ya muundo wake na pia kuangalia viwango vya malipo ambayo Shirika hilo linawatoza wateja wake. Mageuzi haya katika TANESCO ni muhimu sana na yameanza kufanyika na kwa hakika Serikali imedhamiria kukayamilisha mageuzi hayo katika muda mfupi iwezekanavyo.”

Walioshambulia Westgate Walitoroka Mapema

MAOFISA Usalama wa nchi za Magharibi wanahofia kuwa huenda watekaji wengi waliokuwa wakishikilia kituo cha biashara cha Westgate, walitoroka muda mfupi baada ya shambulio, kwa kutupa bunduki zao na kujifanya wateja wa duka hilo, imefahamika. Mpaka sasa Polisi Kenya inashikilia washukiwa 11 wa ugaidi, akiwamo Mwingereza mwenye umri wa miaka 35 ambaye alikamatwa kwenye Uwanja wa Ndege wa Kimataifa wa Jomo Kenyatta Jumatatu akijaribu kuondoka nchini humo kwa ndege ya Shirika la Uturuki. Mtu huyo mzaliwa wa kitongoji kimoja jijini Mogadishu, Somalia na aliyepewa hati ya kusafiria ya Uingereza Mei 2011 na kupewa hifadhi ya kisiasa nchini Kenya, alikamatwa na maofisa Uhamiaji baada ya kugundulika kuwa na jeraha usoni na mwilini. Ingawa alikuwa na viza ya Kenya, maofisa hao hawakuwa na kumbukumbu ya kuingia kwake nchini humo. Mpaka jana alikuwa akiendelea kuhojiwa baada ya kudai kuwa majeraha yake yalitokana na mapigano nchini Somalia. Mwanamke aumiza vichwa Katika hatua nyingine, Waziri wa Mambo ya Ndani ya Kenya, Joseph ole Lenku alisema juzi kwamba wachunguzi walikuwa wakiendelea kufanyia kazi taarifa kuwa mwanamke Samantha Lewthwaite alikuwa mmoja wa magaidi walioteka Westgate. Alisema: “Katika taarifa zetu za awali tulieleza kutokuwapo dalili zozote zikionesha kuwapo gaidi mwanamke lakini jinsi tunavyoendelea tumeanza kusikia uwezekano huo kuwapo.” Shaka kwamba Mwingereza huyo yawezekana alishiriki ziliongezeka baada ya taarifa ya gazeti la Star jijini Nairobi kukariri manusura wakisema kulikuwa na mwanamke aliyekuwa akitoa amri kwa magaidi kushambulia. Mmoja alisema: “Mwanamke huyo hakuwa na silaha lakini kila alipotoa amri wanaume walifyatua silaha na kuua.” Poorvi Jain (12), ambaye alishuhudia mdogo wake wa kiume mwenye umri wa miaka tisa akiuawa aliwambia walimu wake juu ya gaidi mmoja kuwa mwanamke mweupe, aliyekuwa akifuatana na vijana wawili wa kiume waliokuwa wakifyatua risasi ovyo wakilenga watu waliokuwa ndani ya duka hilo. Al Shabaab ilisisitiza kwamba wageni ndio hasa walikuwa walengwa wa shambulio hilo na kuthibitisha kuwa washambuliaji hao kwa makusudi walilenga Waislamu na wasio Waislamu. Wanamgambo hao walilenga wasio Waislamu na takribani wageni 18 waliuawa, wakiwamo Waingereza na raia kutoka Ufaransa, Canada, Uholanzi, Australia, Peru, India, Ghana, Afrika Kusini na China. Wamarekani watano ni miongoni mwa majeruhi. Lewthwaite anatafutwa akihusishwa na kinachodaiwa ni mipango ya kushambulia hoteli za kifahari na migahawa nchini Kenya. Mipango ya kushambulia hoteli za Mombasa inasemekana kufanana kabisa na iliyofanywa dhidi ya Westgate, ambayo inaripotiwa kupangwa wiki au miezi kadhaa katika ardhi ya Somalia na Al Shabaab. Inaaminika kwamba wapiganaji wa kigeni wanaozungumza Kingereza ndio walichaguliwa kwa umakini mkubwa huku mipango ya kuhujumu Westgate ikipangwa pia kwa uangalifu mkubwa. Timu ya magaidi hao iliingia nchini kupitia mipaka ya Kenya, ambayo mara kwa mara imekuwa ikifanyiwa doria na askari ambao wanalipwa mishahara duni na walinzi ambao ni wala rushwa. Wapiganaji wa Kisomali wanasema hawajapata kutumia magaidi wa kike, licha ya kuwapo hisia za kuhusika kwa Mwingereza Lewthwaite. Wakodi chumba dukani Inadaiwa wapiganaji hao walikodi duka la nguo za kike katika jengo hilo siku moja au mbili kabla ya shambulizi hilo, na kutumia wakati huo kuingiza dukani humo bunduki na risasi za kutosha. Baadhi ya wapiganaji inasemekana walikuwa na mavazi ya kutosha kubadilisha na kujichanganya na raia walikuwa na hofu wakikimbia mashambulizi hayo. Wakati magaidi saba wakiendelea kushikilia mateka kadhaa ndani ya jengo hilo, askari maalumu 20 wa Jeshi la Kenya waliingia kukabiliana nao huku mdunguaji mmoja akihimili askari hao kwa saa 24 akiwa ghorofa ya tatu kabla ya askari hao kudhibiti jengo hilo ilipotimia saa 11.45 Jumanne. Askari wa Kenya baada ya kuingia ndani walizima taa na kamera za CCTV walizokuwa wakitumia magaidi hao na kumudu kuwapiga risasi magaidi waliosalia. Mmoja wao alijilipua. Juzi usiku al Shabaab ilidai kuua watu 50 katika shambulizi la klabu ya usiku mjini Wajir umbali wa maili 70 kutoka jijini Nairobi. Lakini Serikali ilisema waliouawa ni watu watatu tu. Apigwa risasi akiokoa mtoto Wakati huo huo, ilifahamika juzi kwamba baba mmoja alipigwa risasi na magaidi hao wakati akimzuia mtoto wa miaka minne asiuawe katika shambulizi hilo la Westgate. Baba huyo Simon Belcher, ambaye alijisomesha Uingereza, alikuwa amejificha chini ya gari na mkewe na mtoto huyo ambaye hawakuwa na uhusiano naye, pale majeshi ya Kenya yalipoanza kujibu mapigo dhidi ya wapiganaji wa al Shabaab. Wakati magaidi hao wakikwepa mashambulizi ya bunduki, waliwaona watu hao na kumpiga risasi Belcher. Risasi zilimpata begani na kifuani, lakini kwa bahati hazikumpata sehemu muhimu za mwili. Belcher , ambaye ni Mkenya anayeendesha kampuni ya utalii, kutokea nyumbani kwake Nairobi, amelazwa hospitalini na mkewe akimuuguza. Mkewe aliandika kwenye ukurasa wa Facebook kwamba walikuwa na bahati. Waingereza 10 Hadi juzi idadi ya Waingereza wanaoaminika kupoteza maisha katika shambulio hilo ilikuwa ikitarajiwa kuongezeka hadi 10 kutokana na makadirio yanayotolewa na magaidi hao ya jumla ya watu 137 kuwa ndio waliopoteza maisha. Sita mpaka jana ndio walikuwa wamethibitika kufa lakini wachunguzi wanaamini miili ya Waingereza wengine wanne inaweza kuwa imekwama katika kuifusi cha jengo hilo baada ya sehemu yake kuporomoka. Wachunguzi wa Scotland Yard walikuwa wa mwanzo kuingia katika jengo hilo juzi wakitaka kutambua Waingereza hao na magaidi. Askofu aombea magaidi Katika hali isiyotarajiwa, Askofu Mkuu wa Canterbury amekumbwa na lawama baada ya kudaiwa kuwataka waumini wake wasisahau kuwataja watekaji hao katika maombi yao. Askofu Mkuu Justin Welby alitaka Wakristo wote duniani kuombea magaidi walioua watu wapatao 67 jijini Nairobi, Kenya. Welby aliwaambia waumini wasisahau kuombea watekaji hao katika maombi yao, kwa kuwa hata yeye anaombea pande zote; watekaji na watekwaji na waliopoteza maisha na kujeruhiwa na kusema kufanya hivyo kunaendana na mafundisho ya Yesu Kristo. Akihojiwa na BBC juzi, Askofu Mkuu alisema: “Kama Wakristo moja ya vitu ambavyo tunaombea ni haki na hususan masuala yanayohusu hasira ambayo huibuka pale kitu kama hiki kinapojitokeza, lakini tunatakiwa kufanya kama alivyofanya Yesu msalabani alipoombea waliomkosea.” Kauli hiyo imekuja siku mbili baada ya kuandika katika blogu yake kuwa amewaombea magaidi hao. “Leo naombea wote wanaoendelea kushikiliwa na watekaji katika kituo cha biashara Nairobi, pia familia zao na marafiki wanaosubiri kwa hamu kusikia mustakabali wao,” aliandika. “Naombea pia watekaji wao, kwamba waweze kuona na kuelewa kwamba uadui na ghasia havitaruhusiwa kutawala.” Askofu Mkuu Welby aliendelea kusema kuwa waathirika wa shambulio dhidi ya kanisa nchini Pakistan wanapaswa kuchukuliwa kama mashahidi wa Ukristo. Watu wapatao 80 waliuawa katika mashambulizi mawili katika Kanisa la Watakatifu Wote jijini Peshawar wakati waumini wakiondoka kwenye Misa ya Jumapili. Askofu Mkuu Welby ambaye anaongoza Kanisa la Anglikana duniani, alisema waathirika wa mashambulizi hayo walilengwa kwa sababu ya imani yao, na kutaka Serikali ya Pakistan kufanya iwezalo kulinda raia wake. “Nadhani Wakristo wanashambuliwa katika matukio kadhaa kwa sababu tu ya imani yao,” alisema. “Nadhani ni kweli kusema kwamba katika Kanisa la Watakatifu Wote tumeshuhudia zaidi ya mashahidi 80 katika siku chache zilizopita. “Wameshambuliwa kwa sababu walikuwa wakithibitisha imani yao katika Yesu Kristo kwa kwenda kanisani na kwamba hiyo haiwezi kukubalika katika mazingira yoyote kwa sababu yoyote ya tofauti za kidini.” Filamu ya kutisha Vikosi vya Kenya vilisema ndani ya jengo hilo kulionekana sawa na ‘filamu ya kutisha’ kutokana na kutapakaa kwa damu kila mahali na miili iliyosambaa katika sakafu. Idadi rasmi ya Serikali ya watu waliokufa ni 67- raia wakiwa 61 na maofisa wa usalama sita – na Kikosi cha Msalaba Mwekundu kina orodha ya watu 63 ambao haijulikani waliko. Al Shabaab inashikilia kuwa imeua watu 137.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Baker sued over penis-shaped cake

An Austrian baker who made a cake in the shape of a penis was accused by two female employees of sexual harassment, in a case that was heard on Thursday at a court in Salzburg. The women said they had been offended by the product, which was covered in white sugar glazing, and demanded a total of 3 000 euros (R404 600) in damages. In the end, the baker and the claimants settled for an undisclosed sum. The baker said he had shown the cake to the women because it was the type of confection popular at parties held before weddings - and he had wanted them to market it.

Kenya yashambuliwa tena

Leo ni siku ya pili ya maombolezi nchini Kenya, kufuatia shambulizi la kigaidi la Westgate ambako zaidi ya watu sitini waliuawa na mamia wengine kujeruhiwa. Huku majonzi yakiwa bado tele machoni mwa wengi, shambulizi lengine la maguruneti limetokea katika miji ya Wajir na Mandera Kaskazini mwa kenya mpaka sasa ni majeruhi tu ndio wameripotiwa..Miji hii yote inapakana na Somalia..

Nairobi Attack:Could it happen in Britain?

The deadly assault by extremists on Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall is prompting some to ask themselves the inevitable question: could such an attack happen in Britain? In theory yes it could, because it would be impossible and impractical to give every crowded place in the country 100% protection around the clock. But in Britain elements of the police, the security service and the military have spent much of the last five years refining their plans and preparing for any repetition of the Mumbai siege of 2008. That attack, which lasted three days and killed 166 people, was a wake-up call for the counter-terrorism community around the world.It got them wondering how they would respond if this happened in their own cities. In Britain there was a sudden realisation that the Metropolitan Police mobile armed response units were woefully lacking in firepower. In practice this meant that if they ever found themselves in a shootout with suicidal jihadists armed with automatic weapons, in a built-up area, they were likely to come off worse and would have to pull back and wait for military special forces to arrive from their barracks. Since then there has been a series of secret exercises held all around the country, codenamed Wooden Pride, whereby police counter-terrorism and firearms units have worked closely with units of the SAS and SBS to fine tune how they would respond to such an attack as quickly and effectively as possible with minimal loss of life. Police firearms capabilities have also been upgraded. So could the same Somalia-based group, al-Shabab, that carried out the Nairobi attack repeat it in Britain? Computer memory sticks recovered from a senior al-Shabab operative killed in Somalia in 2011 revealed ambitious plans to attack targets in Britain including hotels, Eton College and "Jewish" residential areas of north London. REGIONAL AGENDA But Whitehall officials said on Wednesday that these plans had been only an aspiration and that there had never been any workable plot by the group to attack Britain. They said the automatic weapons, grenades and large quantities of ammunition used in the Nairobi attack would be harder to acquire here in Britain. Moreover, their geographical home is East Africa, where they have been able to move across porous borders, and it is a rich resource of funding and the recruits and facilitators who would have helped lay the groundwork for the Nairobi attack. Al-Shabab, although formally in alliance with al-Qaeda since 2012, has as its primary focus the expulsion of UN-backed African forces from Somalia and then the establishment there of a strict Islamic state. In other words, it tends to have a regional agenda, rather than a global one. It does have sympathisers and fundraisers here in Britain, but its violent actions are condemned by much of the Somali community. The Nairobi attack led to a stand-off at the shopping centre As of today it's estimated that somewhere close to 50 UK-based jihadists are still in Somalia, training and fighting alongside al-Shabab. Around half are believed to be of Somali origin and the remainder from South Asia and other backgrounds. The authorities remain concerned that some may eventually return to Britain with new-found terrorist skills. In recent years Somalia had been eclipsed by Syria as the jihadist destination of choice and very few British-based recruits are returning here from Somalia. Meanwhile, British counter-terrorism officials have been studying what happened in Nairobi to consider what lessons, if any, can be applied in the UK. The Metropolitan Police says existing advice to large organisations may be updated and the Home Office says it will be up to local police forces to give advice, if they choose, to shopping centres in their area on how best to protect themselves.

Why I went to the Nairobi Mall When Others fled

When video journalist Nichole Sobecki arrived at the Westgate mall in Nairobi on Saturday, she saw a stream of people running out of the building. But as others escaped from the gunmen who had opened fire, the AFP reporter decided to go into the complex. Here she tells her story. I could see that ambulances were picking people up and trying to get them out from the third floor, so I thought that might be an opportunity to get inside. When I got close to the third floor entrance of the mall I followed a security officer inside and linked up with another security team. I never saw any of the attackers. It was unclear where the shooters were, so we were sweeping from shop to shop through the mall trying to locate the shooters and also looking for civilians that were trapped, and trying to get them out to safety. When I first arrived in the mall a security team was trying to disable the elevators to prevent the attackers from moving between floors and popping out and surprising someone. Before they were able to to that, one of the elevator doors did open and a middle-aged woman crawled out - she was obviously terrified and they were able to get her out quickly to safety. It seemed like everywhere we looked, more people would come out as soon as they realised that this was the security forces and that they were safe, or at least that they had an opportunity to try to get out. People were hiding in air vents, crouched on the floor, hiding in cinemas, casinos, beauty salons, locking themselves in. This is a mall that I go to frequently. It's not far from where I live and to see it become the scene of terror was absolutely surreal - the mall soundtrack with pop music continuing to play but otherwise the sort of eerie silence, bursts of gunfire. I have covered conflict before in a more conventional sense, in Afghanistan and Somalia - places where you go and you have an expectation of what you are going to find. To see a mall on a busy Saturday afternoon transformed into such horror was really surprising. I was inside the mall for about three hours, and of course you are afraid in these situations, it's very stressful, you are always looking where you could find cover if you have to move, which direction you will be going in. We were with a team of security forces and you just need to make sure that you are staying rational, that you are making good decisions and that you are not putting your life or the lives of anyone around you at any greater risk. There was little the security forces could do aside from trying to get people out. They were searching them on their way out to make sure that no-one was armed, to make sure that anyone leaving the building was doing it as a civilian. But if some of the attackers did try to pose as civilians there was not that much that they could do. They had to get people out, they had to evacuate the mall and that was a risk. Any attack of this sort is meant to divide people and the more [Kenyans] can reach out together as they have been, donating blood, coming together to call for unity, making sure that there is no backlash on the Somali community in Kenya, I think that is what is going to make Kenya move forward after this horrible attack.

Ajali mbaya yatokea mkoani Mbeya

Watu 3 wamefariki dunia papo hapo baada ya malori 2 ya mizigo, moja likitokea DSM na lingine Zambia kugongana uso kwa uso na kisha kuwaka moto eneo la mlima Inyara Mkoani Mbeya,kwa taarifa zaidi endelea kupitia blog hii kwa kuwa tutakuletea update za tukio zima

Sita na vyombo Vya usalama

Waziri wa Ushirikiano wa Afrika Mashariki, Samuel Sitta amevitaka vyombo vya ulinzi na usalama kuacha kufanya kazi kwa mazoea, bali viimarishe ulinzi ili kukabiliana kuweza matukio ya kigaidi. Sitta alisema hayo jana baada ya kufungua mkutano wa Chama cha Waajiri Tanzania (Ate) na sekta binafsi. Alisema tukio la ugaidi lililotokea Nairobi nchini Kenya ambalo limesababisha vifo vya watu 62 linaweza kutokea mahali popote ikiwemo Tanzania. “ Ukiona mwenzako ananyolewa na wewe tia maji, vyombo vya ulinzi na usalama viimarishe ulinzi hasa kwenye mikusanyiko ya watu,” alisema. Alisema vyombo vya ulinzi vinatakiwa kuwa macho muda wote ili kukabiliana na hatari yoyote inayoweza kutokea.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Shambulizi Westgate Mall Lilipangwa Kwa Muda wa Miezi Kadhaa Kabla ya Kufanyika

Maandalizi ya kushambulia jengo la maduka la eneo la Westgate, Nairobi yalifanyika kwa miezi mingi. Gazeti la New York Times la Marekani lilikariri vyanzo vyake ndani ya vyombo vya usalama vya nchi hiyo jana vilivyosema kuwa mipango na mazoezi kwa ajili ya shambulizi hilo vilifanyika Somalia. Magaidi kati ya 10 hadi 15 wa Al-Shabaab walivamia kwa silaha kwenye jengo la ghorofa nne la maduka na kusababisha vifo vya watu 67 kwa mujibu wa taarifa za Serikali ya Kenya na majeruhi 175. Magaidi watano walipoteza maisha kwenye tukio hilo. Kitengo cha Mambo ya Nje cha Kundi la Al-Shabaab ndicho kilichokuwa na kazi ya kupanga shambulizi hilo. Imeelezwa kuwa watekelezaji wa tukio la kigaidi walipitia mafunzo maalumu huko Somalia yaliyowawezesha kubaini michoro ya jengo pamoja na mbinu za kusafirisha silaha. Utekelezaji Gazeti hilo lilidai kuwa uratibu wa operesheni hiyo ulifanywa kwa uangalifu kwani wafuasi wa Al-Shabaab waliochaguliwa ni wale ambao walikuwa wanafahamu vyema Kiingereza na wenye uzoefu wa masuala ya kimataifa. “Hawa jamaa pia waliandaa mchoro wa jengo hilo. Wakaandaa mkakati wa kupenyeza silaha ambazo walikuwa wamezileta kutoka Somalia,” kilisema chanzo cha gazeti hilo. Gazeti la New York Times, lilisema silaha zilizotumika kwenye uvamizi huo zilipenyezwa kupitia maeneo yalikuwa yakilindwa na askari wa kampuni binafsi za ulinzi. Duru za usalama za Marekani zimeeleza kuwa kuna uwezekano mkubwa kuwa baadhi ya askari walihongwa kutokana na kukabiliwa na ukata wa kutolipwa kwa wakati na waajiri wao. Taarifa zinasema kuwa siku moja au mbili kabla ya uvamizi huo, inasemekana magaidi hao walipitisha kwa siri mikanda ya risasi kwa ajili ya kutumika kwenye bunduki zao aina ya `Short Machine Gun’ (SMG). Baadhi ya wafanyakazi wa jengo hilo wanadaiwa kula njama na magaidi hao ili kufanikisha mpango wa kuingizwa kwa silaha hizo zilizotumika kwenye ugaidi.

Tanzania yachunguza vitisho vya al-Shabaab

Vyombo vya usalama nchini Tanzania vinachunguza tuhuma za kuwepo kwa vitisho vya al-Shabaab ambazo zimejitokeza kwenye tovuti na mitandao ya kijamii katika siku chache zilizopita. "Siwezi kusema ni aina gani ya uchunguzi tunaoufanya kwa sababu ni siri yetu, lakini tunajua juu ya kuwepo kwa vitisho hivyo na tayari tumeanzisha uchunguzi," Mkurugenzi wa Upelelezi wa Makosa ya Jinai, Robert Manumba, aliwaambia waandishi wa habari jijini Dar es Salaam siku ya Jumatatu (tarehe 23 Septemba). Naibu Waziri wa Mambo ya Ndani, Pereira Silima, aliiambia Sabahi siku ya Jumanne kwamba Tanzania imejitayarisha vya kutosha na iko kwenye tahadhari. "Ni kweli tumepokea taarifa hizo kuhusiana na vitisho kutoka makundi haya ya kigaidi, lakini kama serikali tumejitayarisha," alisema. "Hatuwaogopi al-Qaeda wala al-Shabaab. Kama serikali, tuko tayari kuwalinda watu wetu na musiwe na hofu. Serikali ipo na imejitayarisha vyema kwa chochote kitakachotokea." Msemaji wa Jeshi la Wananchi wa Tanzania, Meja Eric Komba, pia alisema siku ya Jumatatu kwamba jeshi hilo lilikuwa "kwenye hali ya tahadhari kuyalinda maisha ya Watanzania" kama lolote litatokea. Msemaji wa jeshi la Polisi, Advera Senso, aliwatolea wito raia kuripoti jambo lolote wanalolitilia wasiwasi. "Tumeanzisha operesheni ya kujenga uelewa wa masuala ya usalama kwenye mipaka ambayo wageni wenye nia mbaya hupitia. Wananchi wanapaswa kujua wafanye nini na wakati gani," alisema Senso.

WANAFUNZI WALIOCHAGULIWA SKOLASHIPU ZA MSUMBIJI (TAMOSE) NA UTARATIBU HUSIKA 2014

Wanafunzi 51 wa Kitanzania wamechaguliwa kujiunga na masomo mbalimbali nchini Msumbiji katika ngazi ya Shahada ya Kwanza kupitia Mpango wa Kubadilishana Wanafunzi kati ya Serikali ya Tanzania na ya Msumbiji (Tanzania – Mozambique Students Exchange Programme – TAMOSE). Masomo yanatarajiwa kuanza juma la Kwanza la Januari, 2014. Wanafunzi hao ambao orodha yao na masomo watakayosoma vimeambatishwa, wanatakiwa kufika Wizara ya Elimu na Mafunzo ya Ufundi, Idara ya Elimu ya Juu, Chumba Namba 28 kwa ajili ya maelekezo na maandalizi ya safari. Wanafunzi hao wafike Wizarani kuanzia tarehe 30 Septemba hadi 14 Oktoba 2013 kuanzia Saa 3.00  asubuhi hadi saa 9:30 mchana katika siku za kazi. Wanafunzi wanashauriwa kufika na nyaraka za kuombea pasi ya kusafiria nje ya nchi – passport (kwa wale ambao hawana). Nyaraka hizo ni pamoja na Cheti cha Kuzaliwa, Picha 5 za passport size zenye rangi ya buluu ya bahari pamoja na gharama za kuombea hati ya kusafiria nje ya nchi Wizara ya Mambo ya Ndani. Kwa wenye passport wanatakiwa kuja nazo.

Experts from countries including the UK, the US and Israel are helping Kenyan authorities as the forensic investigation into the Nairobi mall massacre begins.

The death toll, currently at 67, is expected to rise as bodies are retrieved from beneath the rubble of three collapsed floors. Specialists from Canada and Germany are also helping gather evidence and reconstruct what happened when al Shabaab militants stormed the shopping centre on Saturday. Six Britons - including an eight-year-old girl - are among the dead, and Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has warned there may be further British victims. A funeral is held for victims Selima Merali and her daughter Nuriana Merali Rumours that a remaining gunman could still be hiding out in the Westgate shopping centre appear to have faded. Kenyan Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said that a "forensic audit" - including fingerprinting, DNA testing and ballistic examination - was expected to last at least seven days. Work to establish the identities of the terrorists is still under way - including whether one of them was a British woman. Kenyan troops stormed the shopping complex Al Shabaab has denied a female was involved. The group also claimed on Wednesday that security forces had carried out "a demolition" of the building during the raid, burying 137 hostages in rubble. A government spokesman denied the claim and said the group was well known for making "wild allegations". It has been speculated that the attack group was made up of several different nationalities. However, US Attorney General Eric Holder has said there is so far no verification that any Americans were involved. Interrogations of the 10 suspects held by Kenyan authorities are also continuing. Five attackers were killed during the siege. People queue to donate blood to help victims of the attack Sky News' Stuart Ramsay, in Nairobi, said at least five of those being held are understood to have been part of the initial attack group which sprayed bullets and escaped the mall. Others in custody are said to be part of the "support group". He also described how some of the attackers tried to escape by taking advantage of the chaos and mixing in with those being evacuated. Ramsay said: "Multiple witnesses have said they saw gunmen put down weapons, change clothes and leave with … people being guided out. "We know of one gentlemen who went to the police and said 'that man was involved in the shooting' - but he was ushered on."

Zuma signs e-tolls bill

President Jacob Zuma has signed the transport laws and related matters amendment bill into law on Wednesday. The bill was sitting on Zuma's desk for three months and plagued by several delays. "The act will facilitate the upgrading and development of the transport infrastructure and public transport in the Republic," presidency spokesperson Mac Maharaj said in a statement. Zuma was still considering the bill, the presidency said earlier this month. The bill was passed by the National Council of Provinces in May and provides for the electronic and cross-border collection of toll fees. In April, the SA National Roads Agency Limited said it was ready to start e-tolling, and it was just waiting for the completion of the parliamentary process. Tolling was supposed to begin in April 2011, but at least three proposed start dates have failed to materialise. Tariffs have also been cut thrice since legal battles about the issue started. E-tolling has been widely criticised by various quarters in society, including ANC alliance partner Cosatu and religious organisations.

Westgate Mall Tragedy Calls for a Measured Response

A radical military response to the dramatic terror attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi this weekend will play into the hands of the assailants. Using local police and intelligence services to track down those responsible and bring them to court in Kenya will be the best route to follow, says Institute for Security Studies expert Anneli Botha. Botha, a senior researcher in the Transnational Threats and International Crimes Division, says people expect a strong reaction from Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta following the attack by al-Shabaab Islamic militants on Saturday 21 September. The attack has left at least 62 people dead and more than 175 injured. By late Monday, security forces were still trying to free hostages held by gunmen in the mall. On Saturday Kenyatta was quoted in the media as saying Kenya 'will punish the masterminds swiftly and painfully'. Botha says it is normal that the public would want to be reassured. 'He (Kenyatta) needs to re-establish trust and a sense of security, but hopefully there will be a rational response from the Kenyan authorities rather than an emotional one'. Treating the perpetrators as mere criminals, rather than 'fighters' pursuing a particular cause is the best strategy against terrorists and bringing them to justice will bring closure to those who have lost their loved ones, she says. The worst possible scenario would be if ordinary Kenyans turn on Somalis, blaming them for the spate of attacks that has hit Kenya in the last two years. 'Al-Shabaab wants to represent this as a religious conflict. If there are reprisals against Somalis in Kenya this will only serve to radicalise some of them and play into the hands of al-Shabaab', Botha believes. The Westgate attack is the gravest act of terror on Kenyan soil since Kenyan forces invaded Somalia in October 2011 to join the other troops of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in combating al-Shabaab. In the last few months, al-Shabaab has been driven out of key Somali towns like Mogadishu and Kismayo and has now resorted to guerrilla warfare. At the time of the Kenyan military offensive in Southern Somalia, al-Shabaab warned of bloody reprisals against Kenya. Apart from isolated grenade attacks in Nairobi and churches in the north of the country, mostly blamed on individual Somali radicals, this is the biggest attack by al-Shabaab so far. In July 2010 al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the killing of 74 people who were watching the final match of the soccer World Cup at a bar in Uganda. The group said it was punishing Uganda for its role in AMISOM. Why did it take the terror group so long to carry out its threat against Kenya? Botha believes there might have been other, similar attacks planned but never carried out. 'One tends to forget the many plots that might have been uncovered by Kenyan security forces'. It would be erroneous to link the Westgate Mall attack to conflict between radicals and moderates within al-Shabaab says Botha. Analysts have contended that a radical faction of al-Shabaab has now taken over the organisation amidst waning support and military losses in Somalia. 'There has been infighting but this was between Somalis and foreigners within al-Shabaab that Moktar Ali Zubeyr, the leader of al-Shabaab, in particular did not trust'. On Sunday, a list of those allegedly responsible for the attack was circulating on social media, containing many foreign names. Botha says that if it is accurate, the list is indicative of a new trend in al-Shabaab. Somali expatriates were the main targets when recruiting foreign fighters, but the list of countries the attackers originate from suggests that al-Shabaab is successful in presenting the conflict in Somalia as a legitimate jihad. 'Al-Shabaab's recruitment and organisation is not limited to Somalia, it has a much wider strategy'. Botha believes it will be crucial in the next few days and weeks to ensure that Kenyan security forces take the lead in the fight against terror in their country. 'A lot of assistance will be provided by especially the United States, Israel, Britain and France (to name a few), but these states should be encouraged to let Kenya take the lead. What we often see in these cases is that Western forces take over. They have the equipment and the training. Kenyan police officials also get a lot of training but rarely get the opportunity to implement what they've learnt. We should accept and recognise that Kenya has primary jurisdiction in this case'. The fight against al-Shabaab can never be won militarily says Botha. The solution to extremism and terrorism in East Africa and elsewhere lies in a long-term strategy. 'Many people want to see a quick fix, but we have to tackle the underlying factors that these groups can use to their advantage. That calls not only for a police response, but an entire government response'.

Kenya: Families of Missing Want Answers

Families of 64 people who are reported missing have raised serious concern over silence by the government on the current situation at the Westgate shopping mall, which was seized by terrorists on Saturday. According to the Kenya Psychological Association (KPA), lack of information is causing anxiety among people whose kin have been missing since Saturday. KPA Chairperson Gladys Mwiti told journalists on Tuesday that the lack of information was affecting the families' and victims' psychological wellbeing. "We do not have right now actual data of who lost their family member or a relative but we can say that some of the cases that we have seen include those that do not know where their relatives are," she said. "That is very worrying and very anxiety provoking." The last media brief that the government gave was on Monday at around 3pm. Government agencies have however been randomly tweeting information surrounding the attack, but this information might not be accessible to everyone. The Kenya Red Cross has so far registered 64 people as missing but information from the non-governmental agency has also not been forthcoming. "Right now I can only tell you that we have recorded 64 people as those that are missing but I cannot disclose any other details," said a Kenya Red Cross official who declined to be named. The Visa Oshwal Centre is being used as a tracing and counselling facility but it is not very easy to get in for security reasons. KPA Secretary Sammy Wambugu said that more counselling centres would be opened up with one at the Uhuru Park and another at the City Mortuary. "We are aware that most Kenyans have been flocking the Uhuru Park and so we want to set up a facility there by tomorrow morning. We also know that people have been going to the morgue to look for their relatives and we will also have a team there to help in the grieving process," he said. Hostages who were rescued as well as security personnel and children who witnessed the attack are being counselled and given psychological support. There are also schools that have requested the counselling teams to visit their pupils but Red Cross refused to reveal any details or even number of these schools. Mwiti said that it was important to counsel them so as to ensure they are able to overcome the emotional suffering they might have endured as a result. "Some people may suffer false guilt and for instance someone might start asking himself why he allowed his wife and child to go shopping at Westgate instead of the Sarit Centre and there will be people who are grieving and identifying bodies in the morgue so the impact will be huge," she said.