30 killed as villagers stand up to al-Shabaab in Somalia

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Attack
Mogadishu, Nov. 28, 2016 (dpa/NAN) About 30 people were killed Monday as Somali villagers attacked al-Shabaab militants who tried to impose taxes on them, officials and residents said.

Residents and local security forces clashed with the militants in Dumaaye village and its surroundings near the port of Harardheere in central Galmudug region.

“Locals, including nomadic people, took up arms against al-Shabaab fighters who want to loot their resources, including livestock,” a regional senior official said.

The 30 fatalities included 26 militants, Galmudug Security Minister Osman Isse Nur said.

He added that the regional authorities had sent additional security forces to help villagers keep al-Shabaab at bay.

The Islamist group, which has battled the Somali government for a decade, issued no comment. (dpa/NAN)

Edited by Julius Enehikhuere

Palestinian man handed two life sentences over Tel Aviv stabbing

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Sentence
Tel Aviv, Nov.28, 2016 (dpa/ NAN) A Tel Aviv district court on Monday handed two life sentences to a Palestinian man who fatally stabbed two people last November, according to a court statement.

The judge justified the harsh sentence based on the heinous nature of the November 19, 2015, attack in a Tel Aviv commercial tower.

According to the statement, Raed Khalil, who was staying with his brother in the Panorama tower, which also has residences, took a 23-centimetre knife from a nearby kebab restaurant and stabbed one Israeli man 14 times and another nine times, as well as severely injured one other person.

Khalil, from the West Bank town of Dura, was also sentenced to an additional 20 years in prison on three counts of attempted murder.

More than 35 Israelis have been killed over the past year in similar attacks, and at least 200 Palestinians have been killed in Jerusalem and the West Bank in the same period, including suspected assailants who died during attacks and people killed by Israeli security forces. (dpa/NAN)

Edited by Julius Enehikhuere

Re-issue: Security guard appears in court for alleged stealing

NAN-H-65
Stealing
Ibadan, Nov. 28, 2016 (NAN) The police in Ibadan, on Monday, arraigned a 24-year-old security guard, Benjamen Bitrus, before a Chief Magistrates’ Court, Iyaganku, on a three-count charge of conspiracy, store breaking and stealing.

Bitrus was alleged to have broken into the office and store of his employer, Forte Oil Filling Station, along Lagos/Ibadan expressway.

The Police Prosecutor, Cpl. Salewa Hammed, said the accused conspired with five others, now at large, to cart away goods worth N356, 650, property of one Mr Adeyemi Ismail.

Items alleged to have been stolen included; a petrol generator, stabilisers and kegs of heavy duty oil.

Hammed said that the accused acted contrary to Sections 516, 413 and 390 of the Criminal Code, Cap 38, Vol. 11, Laws of Oyo State of Nigeria, 2000.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), however, reports that Bitrus pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him.

Thereafter, the trial Judge, Mrs Abiona Richard, granted the accused bail in the sum of N150,000 with two sureties in like sum.

She stated that one of the sureties must be a blood relation of the accused and the other a level 8 civil servant with the Oyo State Government.

The court adjourned the case to Dec. 28 for trial. (NAN)

MKO/VOO/CEO/YEMI

Edited by Chidi Opara/Yemi Idris-Aduloju

Over 500,000 internally displaced in Afghanistan, UN says

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Report
Kabul, Nov. 28, 2016 (dpa/NAN)   Conflict across Afghanistan has forced more than 500,000 people to leave their homes in 2016, the highest number on record for the country, a UN report said Monday.

As the winter months arrive, aid workers warn of deadly consequences for the hundreds of thousands of people with no shelter and little food.

As of Sunday, the UN says 511,762 individuals have been displaced in Afghanistan so far this year.

The number of returning Afghan refugees from Pakistan is also on the rise. “So far in 2016, 606,384 undocumented Afghans, deportees and refugees have returned,” the report said.

Pakistan is seeking to return around 2.5 million Afghans. Many Afghans sent back to Afghanistan have spent more than 30 years of their lives in Pakistan, after fleeing there during the Soviet-Afghan war. (dpa/NAN)

Edited by Julius Enehikhuere

Thousands urge Taiwan lawmakers to approve same-sex marriage rights

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Rights
Taipei, Nov. 28, 2016 (dpa) Over 10,000 people rallied outside Taiwan’s parliament on Monday to demand quick legislative action on same- sex marriage.

This according to reports, would clear the way for Taiwan to become the first Asian nation to recognise same-sex marriage.

The protesters gathered outside a public hearing on the subject of same-sex marriage rights and possible alternatives.

Changes to legislation have been hampered by protests from religious and conservative groups, who call into question the extent to which same-sex marriage should be seen legally as equal to traditional marriages, with some calling for a special status.

So far, 67 of the 113 members of the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan`s parliament, have publicly backed legislative changes to the island nation’s Civil Code to “equalize marriage rights.”

Taiwan’s Civil Code sets the legal framework for core areas of private law such as marriage, family relations, property, contracts and other rights and obligations.

The leading legislative package proposed by Yu Mei-nu, a representative of the center-left Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), would permit same-sex couples to have equal marriage rights and obligations and would refer to participants in all marriages as “both sides” instead of “husband and wife.”

The legislative changes would also ban discrimination in decisions on adoption based on gender or sexual orientation.

Monday’s demonstrators issued a statement opposing enactment of a separate law governing same-sex marriages, preferring instead to directly change the Civil Code.

“Some legislative leaders want to compromise in the face of conservative opposition through a more complicated procedure of enacting a special law which would acknowledge same-sex marriages without the equal rights and obligations for unions covered by the Civil Code,” Tseng Chao-yuan of the feminist Awakening Foundation said.

“The Civil Code guarantees equally rights for all the people and we cannot accept a ‘separate but unequal’ status for same-sex marriages.”(dpa/NAN)

Edited by Julius Enehikhuere

Lufthansa seeks injunction to stop pilots’ strike

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Strike
Frankfurt, Nov. 28, 2016 (dpa/ NAN) Lufthansa requested that a Munich labour court issue an injunction to stop a pilots’ strike scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.

A ruling is expected later on Monday.

In advance of the planned strike, the airline said it cancelled 816 short- and medium-haul flights on Tuesday and 890 on Wednesday, when long-haul flights would also be affected.

An earlier four-day strike that ended Sunday resulted in the cancellation of 3,000 flights.

The walk-off was prompted by a breakdown in salary negotiations for Lufthansa’s 5,400 pilots and co-pilots, with the Vereinigung Cockpit union rejecting a new wage offer.

The offer from the management of Germany’s biggest carrier had foreseen a 4.4-per-cent salary increase and a one-time payout equivalent to 1.8 month’s salary.

The pilots’ union has demanded a backdated 22-per-cent wage hike over five years up until April 2017.

During the four-day action last week, a court in Frankfurt rejected a request by Lufthansa for an injunction to stop the pilots’ strike. (dpa/NAN)

(Edited by Julius Enehikhuere)

NAN-H-36
Centre
By Wale Ojetimi
Lagos, Nov. 27, 2016 (NAN)A new care centre where victims of sexual violence could get immediate medical and psychosocial attention will open in Lagos on Thursday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Yaba, Lagos-based Sexual Assault Referral Centre is an initiative of Women At Risk International Foundation (WARIF), an NGO.
WARIF Chief Executive, Dr Kemi DaSilva-Ibru, an obstetrician, told newsmen on Sunday that the fully-serviced medical suite would provide 24-hour support to victims and survivors of rape and sexual violence.
In addition to clinical and forensic medical services, DaSilva-Ibru said that the centre would also provide “long-term therapy to survivors and integrate them successfully back into society’’
“It is our primary social responsibility to ensure that all young girls and women live in a society free of rape and social violence’’, said the NGO boss.
According to DaSilva-Ibru, WARIF has established partnerships with US-based Washington DC Rape Crisis Centre (DCRCC) and several government and non-government organisations to achieve its objectives.
Indira Henard, DCRCC Director, said at the unveiling that the establishment of WARIF was a game changer for sexual assault survivors in a timely manner.
“It is important that the international community come together to not only address gender-based violence, but also create resources and tools to enable self-determination and freedom for all’’, she said. (NAN)
WOJ

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Labour
Abuja, Nov.27, 2016 (NAN) A labour expert, Mr Suleiman Rajan, has urged Ondo State Governor-elect, Mr Rotimi Akerdolu, to invite labour leaders in the state for a meeting to iron out grey areas to ensure industrial harmony.

He gave the advice in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday,
as the result of the Ondo State Nov. 26 governorship election was being announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

According to him, the meeting also becomes necessary because the governor-elect will have to embark on aggressive revenue drive programme that will touch the lives of the state’s civil servants.

Rajan said “the governor-elect will do well by being honest with the civil servants and one of the ways of doing this is to carry the labour leaders along with sincerity of purpose.

“Akeredolu should discuss with the labour leaders policy his government will embark upon that has bearing on the state’s work force.”

He also urged the governor-elect to ensure equitable distribution of resources at the disposal of the state in a way that workers would also feel the dividends of democracy.

Rajan congratulated the governor-elect for his electoral victory, adding that INEC had organised a peaceful election with active cooperation of stakeholders that saw the exercise with less violence.

NAN reports that Akeredolu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) scored 244, 842 votes to emerge winner of the election, while Eyitayo Jegede of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came second with 150, 380 votes.

Olusola Oke of Alliance for Democracy (AD) came third with 126,889 votes. (NAN)
DUA/HA
=======
Edited by Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu

NAN-H-29
By Segun Giwa
Alagbon Ilaje (Ondo State), Nov. 26, 2016 (NAN) Some residents of the Alagbon community in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, on Saturday, complained that the card reader was displaying “voting after election” during the election.

Mr Isiah Adewole, a community leader at St Louis Ward 2, Unit 22, said he was the first to be accredited but
to his surprise, the card reader was displaying, “voting after election”.

Adewole said that he had to cry out because he
believed that with that display, the vote cast was a waste of
time.

“I came to vote around 8 a.m. and when I
voted, the card was displaying I was voting after
election,” he said.

Esau Edawole, also a community leader in the
area, said he got to the polling unit, the Presiding
Officer (PO) told him that the machine was malfunctioning.

Edawole said the PO had to call her superiors
to replace the machine and the one they brought was still
malfunctioning and voting could not start as at 11 am at the unit.

Mr Wole Ogunyemi, the Chairman, Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC) also confirmed the claims of the community leaders.

However, all efforts made by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) to speak with officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed, as non of them could be contacted in the riverine area.

(NAN)
GSD/YEMI

Fidel Castro’s funeral set for December 4, government

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Funeral
Nov.26, 2016  (NAN) The state funeral for Fidel Castro who died at the age of 90, has been fixed for Sunday December 4, in Santiago de Cuba, according to state media report.

But the cremation of the remains of Castro will be carried out according to his wishes, and  has been fixed for Saturday, Cuba President  Raul Castro, announced early Saturday.

According official states media, the government has also declared nine days of mourning  in honour of the fallen hero.

The death of Cuba strongman, Castro, has triggered both celebration and mourning, as critics welcomed his demise while supporters grieved for the polarising strongman who dominated Cuba for decades.

In Maimi, celebrations spilled out over the death of Castro and the state government decrees a nine days of mourning. During the period, all activities and public performances will be halted, and Cuba’s flag will be flown at half-mast in public and at military establishments.

According to reports , the country’s radio and television channels will broadcast informative, patriotic and historical programming.

Castro reigned in Havana for nearly five decades with an iron hand, defying a U.S. economic embargo intended to dislodge his regime.

But he lived long enough to see a historic reunion Between Cuba and the U.S.  The two nations re-established diplomatic relations in July 2015.

Meanwhile messages by world leaders have been pouring in celebration of Castro who ruled Cuba for 47 years.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, praised  him, describing Castro as a “symbol of an era”, while former Russian leader Gorbachev according reports from Kremlin hailed him for ”strengthening” Cuba.

Narenda Modi, India prime minister said Fidel Castro was one of the most iconic personalities of the 20th century , says India mourns the loss of a great friend.

Mexico’s President, Enrique Pene Nieto called Castro a friend of Mexico, who had promoted bilateral relaionships based on respect, dialogue and solidatity.

Also, Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuela’s president has sent a solidarity and love message to Cuban people on the loss of the country’s longtime leader.

Maduro has remained a close ally of Cuba, in his twitter message, he called on all the revolutionaries of the world to continue his legacy  under the flag of independence , socialism and homeland.

In his message, China’s president Xi Jinping says, Castro “will live for ever” especially in the minds of those who loved and cherished him. (NAN)

(Edited by Julius Enehikhuere)