AL-LIBY TO FACE CHARGES IN US COURT

An alleged senior al-Qaeda figure captured in Libya by US special forces this month has been transferred to the United States and will face charges in court in New York on Tuesday, US officials have said.

The Libyan, Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, better known as Abu Anas al-Liby, is a suspect in the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 civilians.

He was seized by a US Army Delta Force squad on the streets of Tripoli on October 5 and whisked onto a navy ship in the Mediterranean Sea where he was questioned by a team of interrogators.

He was handed over to US civilian law enforcement over the weekend and brought directly to the New York area, said US Attorney Preet Bharara, the chief federal prosecutor for Manhattan.

"The government expects that he will be presented before a judicial officer tomorrow," Bharara said in a statement.

A criminal indictment was filed in 2001 against al-Liby and others suspected in the embassy bombings.

Tripoli tension

David Patton, the chief public defender for New York who had requested that a judge appoint a defense lawyer for al-Liby, had no immediate comment on al-Liby's transfer.

US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan declined on Friday to assign a court-appointed attorney to al-Liby until he had been formally arrested by law enforcement.

It was not immediately known whether al-Liby cooperated with US interrogators or provided them with intelligence of any value. He was in military custody for about 10 days.

The US government had offered a $5m reward for information leading to his capture, under the State Department's Rewards for Justice programme.

A group of Libyan gunmen who briefly seized Prime Minister Ali Zeidan from a Tripoli hotel last Thursday said they did so because of his government's role in the US capture of al-Liby.

al jazeera...

LIBYA LOCAL CONFLICTS LED TO POWERLESS STATE

At the entry to the village of Bani Walid, someone scrawled "Allah, Muammar, Libya and nothing else" on a wall. It's a battle cry among Gaddafi supporters and one that's been frowned upon ever since the rebels' victory. The residents of the mountain village, which is roughly 170 kilometers (106 miles) south of the capital Tripoli, look upon them as losers of the revolution. The privileges of the once mostly Gaddafi-loyal residents have vanished since his downfall.
The Warfalla, Libya's largest tribe, play a dominant role in Bani Walid. Along with the Qadhadhfa, former ruler Muammar al-Gaddafi's tribe, the Warfalla used to be especially powerful. By way of tribal relations, Bani Walid is connected to the former Gaddafi stronghold Sirte on the Mediterranean coast and to Sebha, capital of the country's southwest region. In all three towns, the majority supported the regime in 2011.

Bullet holes are just one sign of destruction in Bani Walid

Destruction can be seen everywhere in Bani Walid. In 2011, NATO troops bombed the town, and after a further state-ordered military attack in October 2012, Bani Walid looks like a ruinous fort. It became a target because of tensions with the port city of Misrata, a stronghold of Gaddafi's opponents.
Revenge, retribution and tribal wars
The conflict between Misrata and Bani Walid is just one example of local rivalries all across the country. Most of them originate where armed ethnic groups fight for influence, land and resources. The interim government is mostly powerless to stop such disputes. One reason for that is the state's attempt to integrate whole rebel groups into the army. Many of those groups prioritize the interests and commands from their tribes over the national good.
What begins as a skirmish often turns into days of battles and, ultimately, the displacement of the weaker group. Tribal feuds have existed for centuries. But Gaddafi aggravated existing tensions by favoring certain tribes and villages and resettling certain ethnic groups.

Guns and violence are omnipresent in Libya

After Gaddafi's ouster and death in October 2011, the rebels began seeking retribution for war crimes. All 30,000 residents of the former Gaddafi-stronghold Tawergha were arrested, chased away or killed by rebel troops from the neighboring Misrata. The city has been deserted ever since.
Settling scores from 40 years of dictatorial rule keeps the cycle of violence alive. Some of the landowners whose land was confiscated by Gaddafi are resorting to violence to reclaim their estates. Tribes like the Awlad Suleiman, which faced repression under the dictator, are now pushing to the fore.
Racism and sarcasm
Many people in the town of Sebha feel threatened by the uprising. "Returnees and intruders control the city council and blackmail the government," landowner Hussein Mohamed, who is among the wealthy in the area, complains. He doesn't have much sympathy for the Awlad Suleiman, whom he considers rioters. But even they, he says, are better than another group known as the Toubou.
Members of the Toubou ethnic minority live in Chad, Niger and Libya and are considered by most Libyans to be invaders. Even those who were born in Libya can't escape this stigma. "Disposition is hereditary - a thief can only beget other thieves," Hussein Mohamed says dismissively of the minority group. Racism is rampant across Libya, especially towards African migrants and the black Toubou.

Toubou and Tuareg feel ignored by Libya's government

"My skin color is supposed to determine whether I'm from here?" Sidi Kella, a tradesman from Murzuq, asks incredulously. "I'm more Libyan than many Arabs!"
Others use sarcasm. "Hey, you Chadian mercenary!" quip two young men as they greet each other on the street.
The Toubou expect little from their fellow citizens and from the state. Mostly, they rely on the military power they gained in 2011. "You could be as revolutionary as you wanted, but without a Kalashnikov, you were nothing," recalls Hassan Shaha, a fighter in Ubari, located southwest of Sebha.
The time of the revolutionaries seems to be over, but the era of prevalent arms isn't. In Sebha, there are bloody clashes between members of the Toubou and of the Awlad Suleiman on a regular basis.
Minorities and regional autonomy
The minorities - Berbers, Tuareg and Tubu - want more say in their fates and are increasingly threatening violence if they continue to be ignored. Their representatives have already quit parliament in anger after no agreement could be reached on Libya's new constitution.
In Ghat, a city in the western Fessan region, the Libyan Tuareg tribes recently held an assembly and set up a committee to represent their interests. "Our demands are humble," Ghat's mayor Mohamed Abdelqader says. "We call upon the state to support our culture and language, to give us more state jobs and to put money into developing our region. But no one in Tripoli cares for the rest of the country." A Berber activist claims that plans are being made to create a minority coalition to oppose the government.
In eastern Libya, a protest movement is pushing for the independence of the region. Protestors challenge the government by blocking oil ports, and there are reports that similar campaigns are underway in Fessan.
Local leaders in Fessan are asking where the country's patriots are, but the latter, too, are now largely given over to their own tribes' interests.

DW.DE

TALIBAN WARNS US ON TROOPS DEAL BY 2014

Kabul: Even as a US-Afghan deal allowing NATO troops’ stay after 2014 awaits approval by Afghan Loya Jirga, Taliban leader Mullah Omar has sounded the warning knell threatening “serious consequences”.

In an “Eid” message posted on Taliban’s website, Mullah Omar wrote, “The invaders and their allies should understand that the strategic agreement will be accompanied by grave consequences for them”.

Omar’s warning comes a day after Afghan President Hamid Karzai and US Secretary of State signed Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) which will see more than 5000 NATO troops being retained in Afghanistan after 2014 to train and assist the local forces and launch anti-terror raids.

However, the sticking points remain in the deal with the major obstacle being immunity issue. The US wants its troops to be immune to Afghan laws which seems a tough clause to be passed by Afghan Loya Jirga.

Warning against the acceptance of the deal, Omar said that those who would sign the deal do not represent the Loya Jirga of the country and “their decisions are not acceptable”.

                                       TALIBAN LEADER, MOHAMED MULLAH OMAR

Warning that Taliban would continue “armed Jihad against them with more momentum”, Mullah Omar said that “the invaders should know that their limited bases will never be accepted”.

Rejecting the Presidential elections scheduled for April 2014, the Taliban leader said, “The Afghan people can’t be enticed by the (current) conspiracy of misleading people under the name of elections in the shade of the occupation in the country. There are figures active in these elections who are catering only to personal interests and the interests of the invaders rather than the Islamic and national interests”.

SUICIDE BOMBINGS TARGETS SYRIA'S STATE TV

Damascus: Two suicide car bombers detonated booby-trapped cars near the Syria's state-TV headquarters Sunday evening here, causing property damage and interrupting the broadcast of a channel, media reported.

The cars were detonated 20 meters away from a traffic light adjacent to the left fence of the headquarters, Xinhua reported citing the Syrian State News Agency.

Syrian State Television said that some passersby were wounded. A dead body, which officials believe belong to one of the two bombers, was found at the blast spot.

It also ran brief video footage of the blast's aftermath, showing the damage that occurred in Umayyad Square, the heart of Damascus and the Syrian military's headquarters. A newscaster for the state-TV said in an off-camera commentary that the losses were all material, adding that al-Ekhbaria TV, which was interrupted, continued to broadcast on a back-up frequency.

Last year, an explosive device ripped through the third floor of the state-TV headquarters, killing a number of employees. The device was reportedly planted by one of the workers who was working with rebel factions.

Also last year, the old office of al-Ekhbaria, which was based outside Damascus, was completely destroyed by rebels, prompting its management to relocate inside the main state television headquarters.

Attacks against the state media extend to assaults on state journalists and cameramen, some of whom have been kidnapped or killed.

Sunday's attack occurred hours after the Free Syrian Army (FSA), armed groups against President Bashar al-Assad's government, said they would barrage the capital of Damascus with mortars if Syrian government troops continue to impose a siege on rebel-held areas.

The attack is just one in a series of mortar attacks that have targeted several parts of Damascus in the last few days, which killed at least two people while leaving scores of people wounded.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights alleged that 11 civilians, including three children and four women, were killed Sunday by government troops' bombardment of the southern province of Daraa.

The escalating conflict between rebels and government troops continues unabated amidst international efforts to hold a conference in Geneva by mid-November addressing the Syria crisis.

Clashes and bouts of violence continue even as international chemical experts conduct their mission in Syria to oversee the destruction of the country's chemical arsenal.

RED CROSS OFFICIALS KIDNAPPED IN SYRIA

The International Committee of the Red Cross has said that seven of its aid workers and a member of the Syrian Red Crescent have been kidnapped by gunmen in Syria. "Six ICRC staff members and one member of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent have been abducted in Idlib in northwestern Syria," ICRC spokesman Ewan Watson told the AFP news agency at the organisation's Geneva base on Sunday. "We don't know who took them. It was unidentified armed men," he added. The road on which the members were travelling is notorious for kidnappings, Al Jazeera’s Omar Al Saleh reported. "We understand from talking to activists in that area there are a number of armed groups." Magne Barth, head of the ICRC's delegation in Syria, has called for the immediate release of the members in a statement released on Sunday.  "Both the ICRC and the SARC work tirelessly to provide impartial humanitarian assistance for those most in need across Syria on both sides of the front lines, and incidents such as these potentially undermine our capacity to assist those who need us most," she said.  The team had travelled to Idlib on October 10 to assess the medical situation in the area and deliver supplies to Sarmin and Idlib city. The convoy, on its way to Damascus, was clearly marked with the ICRC emblem.  Kidnapping has become an increasing problem in Syria, with journalists and aid workers frequently targeted in rebel-held parts of the country, largely located in the north.  Last month a German aid worker held for almost four months escaped his kidnappers in Idlib, just like his two colleagues who managed to flee in July, according to Gruenhelme, the aid group they worked for. Large parts of the province are under the control of groups who are fighting to oust Assad's regime in a conflict that has killed more than 115,000 people in two and a half years. Suicide bombers In other violence on Sunday, two cars laden with explosives and driven by suicide bombers blew up near the state broadcaster's headquarters at night in central Damascus, state media said. A reporter for government television made no mention of any casualties, saying only that "there were some human remains at the scene, likely those of a suicide bomber". State news agency SANA quoted one source as estimating there were about 100kg of explosives in one of the cars. Rebels hold a number of suburbs in the outskirts of Damascus and have managed to carry out mortar and rocket strikes into central areas of the capital in recent months, although major attacks in the city centre are still relatively rare. A car bomb killed at least 20 people and wounded dozens more last month when it exploded in Rankus, a town 30 km north of Damascus.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

ORISSA AND ANDHRA PRADESH HIT BY INDIAN CYCLONE

Cyclone Phailin has killed at least 14 people as it battered India’s east coast over the weekend. Emergency teams have begun assessing the damage from the country's worst cyclone in over a decade.

The vice chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority, Marri Shashidhar Reddy, told reporters that relief and rescue operations were in full swing in the states of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. He said 14 people had been killed by the storm.
"There are 13 deaths in Orissa and one death reported in Andhra Pradesh and so we have been able to ... (keep) the death toll to a bare minimum," he said. Mass evacuations ahead of the cyclone prevented the widespread deaths that many in India had feared.
Reddy told a press conference in New Delhi that 685 kilometers (425 miles) of roads have already been cleared of trees and other debris.
The cyclone left a trail of devastation, flooding low-lying areas, felling trees, bringing down power and communication lines and upending vehicles parked on streets.
Indian officials spoke dismissively of American forecasters who had earlier predicted higher statistics for the storm than their Indian counterparts.
"After the exaggerated manner international agencies tried to portray it (the cyclone and disaster), the NDMA has done an excellent job," Reddy said.
A storm the size of France
The cyclone hit the east coast of Indian on Saturday night with winds of around 200 kilometers per hour (125 miles per hour). It had nearly filled the entire Bay of Bengal, an area the size of France.
As it moved inland, Phailin has since been downgraded from a "very severe cyclone" to a "cyclone" with winds of up to 110 kilometers per hour by Sunday morning, the Indian Meteorological Department said.
Heavy rains are predicted until Monday, the department said, and could cause flooding.
Weather forecasters said Phailin was the most powerful cyclone to hit India since a "super cyclone" in 1999 killed more than 8,000 people.
This time, however, authorities carried out one of India's biggest rescue efforts, evacuating nearly 1 million people from Odisha and Andhra Pradesh ahead of the storm, Mohapatra said.
  (Reuters, AFP, AP)

SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNALISTS SHINES IN CNN-MAJA

(CNN) -- An investigation into appalling conditions in school hostels has won two South African journalists the top prize at the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards.

Msindisi Fengu and Yandisa Monakali shared the top honor of CNN MultiChoice African Journalist of the Year for their series "School hostels of shame," which appeared in South African newspaper Daily Dispatch.

The series investigated appalling conditions experienced by thousands of pupils in South Africa's Eastern Cape, uncovering hygiene and safety risks in school hostels and lifting the lid on corruption within the education department.

Their winning entry was chosen from 1387 submissions from 42 nations across the continent.

"It's a huge honor to win," the pair said in a statement. "It means all the work we put in has been rewarded. It always feel good to be recognized by your fellow journalists. We'll keep pushing this agenda."

Ferial Haffajee, chair of the judging panel, said the top prize was tightly contested. "But we felt that 'Hostels of shame' had resonance across the continent. We live in an era of fast everything, so fast journalism is a big part of it. To find a piece of work where people took their weekends, took months to do it and told the story over some length is a real joy."

The award carried a substantial cash prize, plus a visit to CNN Center in Atlanta to attend the three-week CNN Journalism Fellowship. All finalists received a cash prize, with category winners receiving a laptop and printer as well.

Fengu and Monakali were among 27 finalists from 11 countries who attended the Awards ceremony at the Cape Town International Convention Center Saturday as the culmination of a four day program of workshops, media forums, networking, and sightseeing.

Parisa Khosravi, senior vice president, global relations for CNN Worldwide, said the awards highlighted the depth and strength of journalism in Africa.

"These men and women have proven that top-notch journalism is alive and prospering, and Africa will have its stories told to the world."

Nico Meyer, CEO of MultiChoice Africa, said journalists played a vital role in the development of African media.

"Without your hard work and perseverance, the development of the media across Africa would not be possible."

Khosravi presented the top award with Collins Khumalo, CEO of MultiChoice South Africa.

The awards were established in 1995 to encourage, promote and recognize excellence in African journalism.

TWO MEN JAILED FOR SEXUAL CRIMES

Two men have been convicted of committing a series of sex crimes against children throughout the country over a number of years and will be sentenced in December.

Anthony Marsh and Lee Davis appeared in court last month where they pleaded guilty to a total of 55 offences at a plea and case management hearing.
A further 14 offences were denied and later dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service.
It means the men will be sentenced for the crimes they have committed on December 2.
Anthony Marsh, 53, from Hatfield, Doncaster, who also used the names Tony Taylor and Tony Smith, pleaded guilty to 34 offences including possessing and distributing indecent images of children, and sexual activity with a child.
Lee Davis, 39, from Conisbrough, Doncaster, who also used the name James Parkin, had pleaded guilty to 20 offences including rape, sexual activity with a child, and taking indecent photographs of a child.
Both men were also jointly charged with conspiracy to commit sexual activity with children, and both admitted this offence at the earlier court hearing in September.
The offences to which they pleaded guilty date back to 2005 and involved teenage boys from South Yorkshire, Humberside, the north east, north west and the midlands, aged between 13 and 17.
Detective Inspector Delphine Waring, who led the investigation codenamed Operation Klan on behalf of South Yorkshire Police, said: "Marsh and Davis committed many appalling crimes against young, vulnerable boys over many years.
"They searched various websites trawling for impressionable, young, vulnerable boys and having engaged in conversation then made arrangements to meet them.
"I very much hope this case serves as a warning to anyone who believes they can abuse young children for their own sexual gratification.
"The young boys who were the victims of their crimes will continue to receive the support of specialist agencies in order that they can come to terms with what happened to them and to build successful and happy lives."

ELAINE: I PRETEND DEAD TO LIVE

(CNN) -- Elaine Dang pretended to be dead, and maybe because she did, she is alive to tell her story.

She survived last month's terror attack at Nairobi's Westgate mall. At least 67 people were killed during the four-day siege.

Amid the chaos, Dang, 26, an American expat, said she managed to keep her wits.

"In my head I was thinking, like there needs to be an answer to this. So for me, it was like, this is not it. I need to keep on thinking and find a way out," she told CNN's Anderson Cooper during an interview that aired Wednesday night.

Photos: Westgate Mall after the carnage

"I said, this cannot be it."

Dang was at a children's cooking competition when militants stormed the mall on September 21. She heard screaming and what sounded like distant booms.

One of the presenters from the competition told everyone to run to the parking lot. At first, Dang followed, but then she stopped.

"My instinct said, don't go with the crowd, move away from the crowd because the crowd is going to be the most vulnerable place. And so I actually moved away and hid behind one of the silver kitchen counters," she said.

Kenya identifies mall attackers, including American

Dang fell on top of a woman and then people fell on top of her. The shooting continued.

At one point, the woman screamed, "I've been shot!" and blood flowed onto the floor.

At another point, Dang saw a friend stand up and raise his arms, as if to surrender. She readied herself to do the same.

But before Dang could stand up, another woman did. That woman was shot.

Dang stayed down.

How you can help Elaine's recovery

After a gas canister blew up, she ran to another counter where a couple was hiding. Both the man and his wife had been shot.

Dang thought she had been too, though later she found out she was struck by shrapnel.

"I remember her looking at me and saying, 'Are we going to die?' It was actually the first time when I was thinking to myself, I think we are. And I told her, 'I think we are going to,'" Dang said.

Thoughts of her family -- her brother, sister and mother -- raced through her head.

She laid still and pretended to be dead.

After a while, a man walked by and told Dang that people were going downstairs. She followed them to a lobby area, where the doors were open and people were running out.

"I don't hear gunshots so I'm thinking this is safe. So I start going," Dang said.

Moments immediately after that were captured by photographers and broadcast around the world. In the images, Dang is seen dazed, holding a phone, with blood streaked across her face.

"I talk about it, like, sometimes like I'm very removed from the situation, but when I see the photograph and other photos of victims or people that I knew, that's when I realize I was there," she told Cooper, her voice breaking with emotion.

In spite of the attack, Dang said that she still considers Kenya her second home and hopes to go back. The University of California, Berkeley, graduate worked as the general manager for Eat Out Kenya.

"If anything it's increased the love that I have for the country," she said.

It's not over, Somali terrorists say after mall attack

AU AGAINST ICC TREATMENT

(CNN) -- The African Union urged the International Criminal Court to postpone cases against sitting leaders as accusations of unfair treatment grow against the war crimes tribunal.

Leaders from the 54-nation body gathered in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on Saturday to review their relationship with the court based in The Hague, Netherlands.

Kenyan and Sudanese presidents face charges at the court, and African leaders have long accused it of unfair treatment.

'Loud and clear'

"Sitting heads of state and government should not be prosecuted while in office and we have resolved to speak with one voice to make sure that our concerns are heard loud and clear," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Ethiopian foreign affairs minister.

The trial for Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto is under way while his boss, President Uhuru Kenyatta, is scheduled to appear in court next month.

Both are on trial for alleged crimes against humanity linked to postelection violence six years ago. They deny the charges.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has largely shunned an ICC warrant for his arrest for alleged war crimes.

"We are deeply troubled by the fact that a sitting head of state and his deputy are for the first time being tried in an international court, which infringes on the sovereignty of Kenya and undermines ... the country's reconciliation and reform process," Ghebreyesus said.

Growing accusations

Others including Ethiopia and Uganda have joined in, accusing the court of targeting their leaders.

"African countries form the largest constituency of the Rome Statute and I think all of them have expressed issues that they want addressed at one time or another," said Amina Mohamed, the Kenyan minister for foreign affairs. "The summit will present that opportunity."

ICC history

The International Criminal Court was set up in 2002 to prosecute claims of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Rights groups say the court is crucial in ending impunity in African politics.

"Some of the most heinous crimes were committed during the conflicts which marked the twentieth century," the ICC said. "Unfortunately, many of these violations of international law have remained unpunished."

Kenya's previous administration reneged on a deal to set up a special tribunal to try suspects in the postelection violence that left more than 1,000 people dead, prompting the international court to step in.

Accusations of double standards

The court has consistently said it is not a substitute for domestic justice systems, and only intervenes if the national judicial system is either unwilling or unable to carry out justice.

But some leaders have accused it of double standards, with the Ethiopian foreign minister saying it is jeopardizing peace efforts.

"The International Criminal Court's way of operating particularly its unfair treatment of Africa and Africans leaves much to be desired," he said.

So far, all cases before the court are against Africans in eight countries, including Ivory Coast , Uganda, Sudan and Mali.

Some of the cases were handed over by their respective African governments, including Ivory Coast; others were referred to the court by the U.N. Security Council.

Rights groups: Court ensures justice for all

Rights groups are urging African leaders to support the court, saying it is crucial in ensuring justice for everyone.

"African countries played an active role at the negotiations to establish the court, and 34 African countries -- a majority of African Union members -- are ICC members," Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

"Any withdrawal from the ICC would send the wrong signal about Africa's commitment to protect and promote human rights and to reject impunity."

The Kenyan parliament voted in September to withdraw from the court's jurisdiction after repeatedly calling on it to drop the cases.

A withdrawal would take a while to implement because it involves steps such as a formal notification to the United Nations.

FRANCE TIGHTENS SECURITY IN CENRTAL AFRICA

                                France will boost its troop presence in the Central African Republic by the end of the year under a forthcoming U.N. resolution to help prevent the country from spiraling out of control, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Sunday.
Fabius and the European Union aid chief, Kristalina Georgieva, are in the country to drum up support and international interest for a largely forgotten crisis.
The Central African Republic has descended into chaos since mostly Muslim Seleka rebels ousted President

Francois Bozize in March, the latest coup in the country that remains one of the world's poorest despite resources ranging from gold to uranium.
Geographically at the center of what some strategists have called an "arc of insecurity" involving Islamist fighters from Kenya and Somalia in east Africa to Mauritania in the west, a power vacuum could pave the way for militants to seize control.
France has urged world and regional powers not to ignore the conflict that has already seen more than 400,000 people driven from their homes by acts of violence such as murder and rape.
However, Paris is reluctant to be left to deal with another African hotspot after it felt allies such as the United States were hesitant to help it halt a rebel advance by al Qaeda-linked insurgents in Mali earlier this year.
The African Union has deployed about 2,500 troops. But its resources are limited, prompting Paris to seek a U.N. Security Council mandate that would turn the operation into a U.N. peacekeeping force ultimately supported by French troops.
"We will increase our support, especially in the logistics domain, after United Nations resolutions (are approved). We will also increase troops, a little at first. This will be done before the end of the year," Fabius said.
Fabius said the resolution was expected around December.
SECURITY WOES
France currently has about 400 troops in Bangui, protecting the airport and French interests. Fabius did not say how many troops will be added, but sources have told Reuters the numbers could be increased to about 700-750.
Fabius said the dissolution of Seleka, a grouping of five northern rebel movements, must be real and concrete.
"We cannot have armed bands roaming the country," Fabius told a news conference in the riverside capital. "We will not let you down."
The French minister and EU's aid chief, who were greeted by crowds in Bangui, some holding banners urging France to not to abandon the former colony, met transitional leader Michel Djotodia and Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye.
Djotodia, who was formally sworn in as the transitional president in August, has an 18-month deadline, set by central African heads of state, to organize elections. He has said he will not run in the election.
A senior Central African Republic military official said the country was counting on France because the regional peacekeeping force was not visible on the ground and the population was losing faith in them.
"What we need is more French troops with a clear mandate," the official said, requesting not to be identified.
However, while the leaders work out how to secure the country enough to hold an election, the situation on the ground continues to get worse, with malnutrition and tuberculosis taking hold and a lack of resources to help patients in need.
"We need a massive plan on health and education, but most important, something must be done about insecurity. Outside the capital it is a cancer," a surgeon at the only pediatric hospital in Bangui - protected by French troops to stop looting - told the delegation.
The EU's Georgieva said the crisis in Central African Republic was unique because it had hit the entire population.
"The priority is security, security, security. Unless there is a rapid increase in peacekeeping forces to reverse this looting, it will be very hard to get sufficient help to people," she said.

RACE CASE HEARINGS ON TUESDAY AT US SUPREME COURT

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday will delve into a decades-old debate over university admissions policies that favor racial minorities, hearing a Michigan case that picks up where the justices left off last session in a dispute from the University of Texas.
Unlike the Texas case that tested a specific affirmative action practice, this new dilemma revolves around a broad state constitutional amendment.
In a twist, the two groups in the Michigan case that favor affirmative action to help minorities have put forward divergent views. They will split their side's half hour of oral argument, each taking a different tack in hopes of influencing a court dominated by ideologically conservative justices.
They so differentiated their positions in filings to the court last month that the justices took the rare step of granting a request for divided argument at the court's lectern.
Michigan, where voters in 2006 approved a ban on all "preferential treatment" based on race in education, will have the other half hour to itself.
The country's struggle with the issue traces back to the early 1960s when President John Kennedy first told federal contractors to take "affirmative action" to hire minorities.
The Supreme Court has been the arbiter of disputes over universities' consideration of applicants' race since the groundbreaking Bakke case in 1978, when it forbade quotas but said schools could weigh race with other factors.
The new Supreme Court case does not directly test Bakke, but it could determine how easily states can end the affirmative action that the 1978 case endorsed. A ruling could affect bans in place in Michigan and seven other states: Arizona, California, Florida, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Washington.
While they vary in the breadth and tone of their arguments, those challenging the Michigan ban say it unconstitutionally altered the state political process related to admissions policies along racial lines.
Specifically, challengers say that because of the ban, advocates for racial preferences in admissions may not directly lobby universities the way those seeking to employ other advantages, such as family alumni status, can. Rather, such advocates must first undertake to win a new amendment to the state constitution, reversing the 2006 one.
It is difficult to predict how the justices might rule, but their acceptance of Michigan's appeal of a lower-court decision relying on the political-process theory and their increasing rejection of racial policies suggests they might be poised to uphold the ban.
DIVERGENT APPROACHES
One group opposed to the ban, from the University of Michigan, employs measured rhetoric, relies on more recent cases joined by conservative justices and tries to assure the court it can rule narrowly when striking down the Michigan ban.
The other group, a long-standing Detroit-based coalition advocating for minority rights, is pushing a more expansive legal rationale and, in more impassioned rhetoric, invokes the orations of two late champions of racial justice in the 1960s, Martin Luther King and President Lyndon Johnson.
The twin approaches offer a window into strategies used to address a court majority increasingly skeptical of racial-based remedies.
Usually when there are multiple parties on one side of a dispute, only one lawyer from their combination gets to argue, such as during last term when several civil rights groups were defending U.S. voting rights law and, in a separate case, challenging an Arizona measure that required people seeking to register to vote to prove citizenship.
In last term's affirmative action case, brought by a white student who asserted she was rejected at the University of Texas while minority students with lower scores were admitted, the justices sidestepped the constitutional challenge by a vote of 7-1. They returned the case to a lower court for review under a somewhat tougher standard for universities trying to justify giving blacks and Hispanics a boost in admissions.
The new case, like last term's, will be heard by only eight of the nine justices. Elena Kagan, who before her 2010 court appointment was the U.S. solicitor general and handled some affirmative action litigation, is not participating.
A ruling in the case, Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, is expected before the term ends in June 2014.
NEARLY 50 YEARS
Picking up the mantle of the assassinated Kennedy, Johnson in 1964 sought to counter the effects of long-standing race discrimination in America with executive orders and by signing several milestone laws including that year's groundbreaking Civil Rights Act.
As such measures proliferated, whites who believed they were rejected because of "reverse discrimination" sued. In the Supreme Court's first review of campus affirmative action, brought by white aspiring medical student Allan Bakke against the University of California, Davis, the court forbade racial quotas but said that universities could weigh race with other factors in admissions.
Three decades later, that legacy is on shaky political and judicial ground. Chief Justice John Roberts, now leader of the five-justice wing on the court's right, wrote in 2007 that "the way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race."
Tuesday's dispute goes back a decade, to a 2003 Supreme Court decision upholding the University of Michigan's use of affirmative action. To try to stop the university's practices, voters then adopted Proposal 2, which among its sweeping prohibitions, targets "preferential treatment ... on the basis of race" in education.
The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, a Detroit-based group led by lawyer George Washington, who acknowledges a "militant" approach to preserve racial policies, immediately sued. A second group, made up of University of Michigan students and faculty, known by the lead plaintiff Chase Cantrell, also sued.
After the cases were combined, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled against Michigan, declaring Proposal 2 violates equality rights by changing the political process for minorities. In a broadly written opinion, the appeals court relied on Supreme Court decisions from 1969 and 1982 involving racial bias and political rights.
The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action is seeking a sweeping decision along the lines of the appeals court, arguing that Proposal 2 broadly deprives blacks, Latinos and other minorities of their rights. In an interview, Washington said his group was trying to reach audiences beyond the marble-columned courthouse.
Several busloads of students will be traveling from Detroit for the case Tuesday, Washington said. "I think (the justices) have to understand that people feel very, very passionately about their own futures and their children's futures."
The Cantrell plaintiffs, represented by Mark Rosenbaum of the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, stressed in an interview that he will not ask the court to focus on blacks or Latinos hurt by the amendment, but rather to focus on the inequality of the process itself. In another difference, he emphasizes recent Supreme Court precedent targeting government use of race as a "predominant factor," for example, in drawing congressional districts deemed unconstitutional.
Michigan solicitor general John Bursch, who will present the state's side Tuesday, will argue that the state amendment does not advantage or disadvantage any race in the admissions process: "It prohibits making a racial classification in the first place."

ANTI-MIGRANT HITS RUSSIA

Rioters smashed shop windows, stormed a warehouse and clashed with police in a Moscow neighborhood on Sunday in the biggest outbreak of anti-migrant unrest in the Russian capital in three years.

Demonstrators, some chanting racist slogans, vandalized shops and other sites known for employing migrant workers in the southern Biryulyovo area after the killing of a young ethnic Russian widely blamed on a man from the Caucasus.

Several hundred residents had protested peacefully, demanding justice over the killing, until a group of young men began smashing windows in a shopping center and briefly set it on fire. A video posted on Youtube showed them chanting "White Power!" as they forced their way in.

When police in riot gear tried to make arrests, protesters threw glass bottles at them and the police fought back with batons. Video footage from the scene showed overturned cars and smashed fruit stalls.

Some in the crowd, which grew to number several thousand, set off from the shopping center and stormed into a vegetable warehouse employing migrants from the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Moscow police said several officers were wounded in the riots, around 380 people were detained and a criminal case was opened.

Extra police were sent in but sporadic clashes and arrests continued into the night.

Many Muscovites chafe at an influx of migrant laborers to the capital over the past decade.

The Kremlin has watched with alarm at frequent outbreaks of violence in Russian cities between members of the Slavic majority and people with roots in the mostly Muslim North Caucasus, ex-Soviet South Caucasus states and Central Asia.

PERSISTENT TENSION

Some Biryulyovo residents criticized the police for the latest arrests, drawing a contrast with what they said was too much leniency in the treatment of migrants engaged in illegal activity.

"It's simply impossible to live here. There are fights all the time. The people working in this warehouse are no good - I'm sure there are criminals hiding among them," said local resident Alexander, 23.

The head of President Vladimir Putin's human rights council criticized law enforcement bodies for not doing enough to prevent the attacks on businesses employing migrants.

"On the one hand, I completely understand resentment among Muscovites who see people getting killed on our streets and law enforcement officials doing nothing," Mikhail Fedotov told the broadcaster Dozhd. "But that in no way justifies ... this pogrom."

The latest protest in Biryulyovo began with demands for more police action over the killing of Yegor Shcherbakov, 25, who authorities said was fatally stabbed while walking home with his girlfriend on Thursday night.

Russia's top investigative agency said it was looking into the killing. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, a close Putin ally, called for a thorough investigation and said those behind riots must also be held responsible for their actions.

The rioting in Biryulyovo was the worth outbreak of unrest over a racially charged incident in Moscow since December 2010, when several thousand youths rioted just outside the Kremlin.

The youths clashed with police and attacked passersby who they took for non-Russians after the killing of an ethnic Russian soccer fan was blamed on a man from the North Caucasus.

Putin has frequently warned of the dangers of ethnic and religious violence in the diverse nation.

This month he said Russia needed migrant laborers in industries such as construction. But in a nod to anti-migrant sentiment, he suggested their numbers could be restricted in some other sectors including trade.

REUTERS

WENGER AOMBA MUDA MASHABIKI WAKE

KOCHA WA ASRENAL, MZEE ARSENE WENGER AMEWATAKA MASHABIKI WA KLABU HIYO KUMPA MUDA ILI AKIJENGE UPYA KIKOSI CHAKE BAADA YA KUKIMBIWA NA BAADHI YA NYOTA WAKE.


AKIZUNGUMZA NA VYOMBO VYA HABARI NCHINI UINGEREZA WENGER ALISEMA SAFU YAKE YA ULINZI ILIZIDIWA NA WASHAMBULIAJI WA MANCHESTER UNITED, KUTOKANA NA HILO KOCHA HUYO ANATAZAMIWA KUKAMILISHA USAJILI WA BEKI WA KIJERUMANI, PER MERTESACKER NA MSHAMBULIAJI WA KOREA KUSINI NA MONACO, PARK CHU-YOUNG ALIYETUA RASMI KLABUNI AKISUBILI KUTAMBULISHWA RASMI.

AU KUCHANGISHA FEDHA

Umoja wa Afrika(AU) yenye makao yake makuu Addis Ababa, nchini Ethiopia imepanga kuchangisha fedha ili kuziwezesha nchi za pembe ya afrika.

AU ambayo imepanga kukutana hivi leo itawakutanisha viongozi wa Afrika kutoka nchi wanachama huku lengo likiwa ni kukusanya dola bilioni moja na nusu kukabiliana na janga la njaa kwenye nchi hizo ambazo ni Somalia, Djibout, Eritrea, Ethiopia na Sudan.

Mkutano ambao ni wa kwanza wa aina hiyo utaongozwa na mwenyekiti wake, Bw. Jean Ping.
Mbali na nchi zaMarekani, Brazili,China, Uingereza,Japan, Uturuki na Jumuiya ya Nchi za Kiislamu(OIC) kutoa misaada, lakini, umoja huo umelalamikiwa kwa kuchelewesha misaada kwa wakazi wa maeneo hayo.

Janga hili linasemwa kuwa kubwa tangu kutokea kwa hali kama hiyo mwaka 1991-1992 huko nchini Somalia.

NDEGE YA MIZIGO YA URUSI YAPATA AJALI

Ndege ya Urusi iliyokuwa imebeba mizigo kuelekea ukanda wa kimataifa wa bahari imepata ajali eneo la pwani ya Siberia, maafisa wa masuala ya dharura nchini wamesema hivi leo. Ndege hiyo ya mizigo ilitua nchini Kazakhstan saa moja kutokea Baikonur Cosmodrome, ikiwa karibu na kutua.
Timu ya waokoaji imepelekwa eneo la tukio, tawi la Masuala ya Dharura la ukanda huo lilisema, huku maafisa hao wakisita kusema kama ajali hiyo imesababisha madhara yeyote hadi sasa wakati taarifa za uchunguzi zikisema ndege hiyo imepata ajali eneo la ukanda wa Altai.

Mapema jumatano hii shirika la masuala ya anga cha nchini Urusi la Roscosmos limeripoti kwamba ndege hiyo ya mizigo ilipoteza uelekeo mara baada ya kuondoka hivyo kupotea njia yake na kuipotea rada.

WAASI WAZIDI KUMWANDAMA KANALI GADAFFI

Waasi wa nchini Libya wameendeleza mashambulizi dhidi ya kiongozi wa nchi hiyo, Kanali Muhamar Gadaffi huku safari hii wakiahidi kutoa kitita kinono kwa yeyote atayefanikisha kukamatwa kwa kiongozi huo.

Wakati huo nchi za magharibi zinatazamiwa kutoa mabilioni ya fedha kwa waasi hao ili kufanikisha oparesheni dhidi ya wanayemwita dikteta yaani "kanali Gadaffi" , wakati hayo yakijiri yeye mwenyewe kanali gadaffi amedai waasi hao wangefikia suluhisho mapema endapo mabepari wa magharibi wangeuchia Umoja wa Afrika kutafuta muafaka wa tatizo hilo.