15-21 January 2018 - 16-min

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10 15 - 21 January, 2018 Africa News African elephant, hippo, rhino populations shrink in wartime ar is hell for wildlife, too. A new study W finds that wartime is the biggest threat to Africa’s elephants, rhinos, hippos and other large animals. The researchers analyzed how decades of conflict in Africa have affected populations of large animals. More than 70 percent of Africa’s protected wildlife areas fell inside a war zone at some point since 1946, many of them repeatedly, they found. The more often the war, the steeper the drop in the mammal population, said Yale University ecologist Josh Daskin, lead author of a study in the journal Nature. “It takes very little conflict, as much as one conflict in about 20 years, for the average wildlife population to be declining,” Daskin said. The areas with the most frequent battles — not necessarily the bloodiest — lose 35 percent of their mammal populations each year there’s fighting, he said. Although some animals are killed in the crossfire or by land mines, war primarily changes social and economic conditions in a way that make it tough on animals, said study co-author Rob Pringle, an ecologist at Princeton University. People in and near war zones are poorer and hungrier. So they poach more often for valuable tusks or hunt protected animals to eat, Pringle said. Conservation programs don’t have much money, power or even the Kenya Airways to begin 1st direct flights to United States K enya Airways says it will begin daily direct flights to the United States in October after years of being blocked by U.S. authorities over security concerns. CEO Sebastian Mikosz says ticket sales for the non-stop flights between Nairobi and New York are opening on 11 January. The first flight is set for Oct. 28. Kenya is East Africa’s economic hub but has suffered from the extremist threat posed by the al-Shabab insurgency in neighboring Somalia. Credit : Associated Press (AP) www.NewDelhiTimes.com ability to protect animals during wartime, Pringle said. Most of the time, some animals do survive wars. Researchers found animal populations completely wiped out only in six instances — including a large group of giraffes in a Ugandan park between 1983 and 1995 during two civil wars. Other studies have looked at individual war zones and found Photo Credit : AP Photo animal populations that shrink and others that grow. For example, the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea is great for wildlife because it has “acted almost as a de facto park for almost seven decades,” Daskin said. The new study covered the entire continent over 65 years. The researchers looked at 10 different factors that could change population numbers, including war, drought, animal size, protected areas and human population density. on population while the intensity of the wars — measured in human deaths — had the least. By looking at the big picture, the research supports what many experts figured, that “war is a major driver of wildlife population declines across Africa,” said Kaitlyn Gaynor, an ecology researcher on war and wildlife at the University of California, Berkeley. She was not part of the study. Greg Carr, an American philanthropist and head of a nonprofit group working in and around Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park , said the findings are not surprising. The park’s wildlife populations plunged during the country’s civil war, but Carr attributes it more to poverty than war. “With or without war, poverty is the threat to wildlife in Africa going forward,” Carr said in an email. Gorongosa is an example of how bad war is for wildlife, but also how quickly animals can recover, the researchers said. The civil war that ended in 1992 decimated the area with both rebel and government soldiers hunting “their way through the wildlife in the park,” Daskin said. Species came close to “blinking out,” but not quite. Now wildlife is back to 80 percent of prewar levels, Daskin said. “The effect of war on wildlife is bad,” Pringle said. “But it’s not apocalyptic.” NEW DELHI TIMES The number of wars had the biggest effect Credit : Associated Press (AP) Credit : Associated Press (AP) UN official condemns Congo’s T violent repression of protests he U.N. peacekeeping chief condemned “violent repression” by Congo security forces against demonstrators protesting the refusal of President Joseph Kabila to step down and warned that further electoral delays risk fueling political tensions. Jean-Pierre Lacroix told the Security Council that “the crisis of legitimacy” for Congo’s institutions and a lack of progress toward implementing a 2016 electoral agreement fueled “frustrations, impatience and tensions that led to violence” on New Years’ Eve. Priests and activists had called for peaceful demonstrations after Mass on Dec. 31, one year after the Roman Catholic Church oversaw the signing of the accord that set a new election date to ease tensions in the mineral-rich country. More than 160 churches participated in the demonstrations. Kabila, whose mandate ended in December 2016, agreed to set an election by the end of 2017, but Congo’s election commission said the vote couldn’t be held until December 2018. The U.N. Mission in Congo and police have said security forces killed at least seven people and at least one policeman died in violence during the protests by more than a thousand people in the capital of Kinshasa. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said the excessive force by government security forces included using live ammunition against protesters and tear gas inside churches and arresting civilians including altar boys. “To hear reports of such brutality and cruelty against innocent civilians and children in the most sacred of places is truly horrifying,” she said in a statement. Lacroix and Haley urged Congo’s government to hold security forces accountable for the violence. Congolese Ambassador Ignace Gata Mavita played down the clashes and insisted there were no deaths linked to the unauthorized demonstrations. He told the council there were five violent deaths throughout the country Dec. 31 — two thieves, a “terrorist” on a wanted list, a police officer “killed by terrorists” and “an unidentified terrorist” killed in a clash with security forces in volatile Kasai. Gata Mavita said Kabila underscored on Dec. 31 that authorities are determined to hold elections on Dec. 23, 2018. “The right attitude of all political actors and all Congolese people should be to do everything possible to prepare for the smooth holding of Nigeria commission sets date for 2019 presidential N election igeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission says that presidential and national assembly elections will be held on Feb. 16, 2019. The commission made the announcement on 9th January while outlining the 2019 general election timetable. It said the presidential and national assembly primaries will begin in August and campaigning in November of this year. The commission says elections for governor, state assembly and other local offices will take place March 2, 2019. Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari beat incumbent Goodluck Jonathan in the March 2015 presidential election. It’s not clear if Buhari, who has faced health issues, will run again. The 2019 vote will be the ninth presidential election in Africa’s most populous nation since its independence from Britain in 1960. Nigeria’s ongoing challenges include the deadly Boko Haram insurgency and a weak economy. these elections in a peaceful manner,” Gata Mavita said. “It is not normal to see the kind of unrest and organization of demonstrations that were at the heart of the events that took place on Dec. 31.” Critics accuse Kabila of postponing elections to maintain his grip on power, which has caused tensions to increase and provoked violence and deadly street demonstrations across the country since the end of 2016. Lacroix, the peacekeeping chief, warned that “further delays in the electoral process not only risk fueling political tensions but also compounding an already fragile security situation.” He said it is imperative that Congo’s political leaders adhere to the constitution, the 2016 political agreement and the electoral calendar. “Political brinkmanship and a refusal to compromise will only result in further delays and deepening of the political crisis,” he said. The Security Council also underscored the importance of implementing the political agreement and urged the government to abide by the electoral calendar. Credit : Associated Press (AP)
15 - 21 January, 2018 11 P A North America News Trump: No trip to London because of embassy choice resident Donald Trump says he is canceling an upcoming trip to London because he doesn’t like the Obama administration’s choice of a new embassy there. Some British lawmakers questioned whether Trump would be welcome in London because of previous tweets and criticism of Muslims and his sniping at London Mayor Sadiq Khan in the aftermath of a terror attack in that city last year. But Trump’s late-night tweet singled out problems with the handling of the embassy. “Reason I canceled my trip to London is that I am not a big fan of the Obama Administration having sold perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for “peanuts,” only to build a new one in an off location for 1.2 billion dollars. Bad deal. Wanted me to cut ribbon-NO!” Credit : Associated Press (AP) Funeral set for Philadelphia firefighter killed in collapse funeral is scheduled for a veteran Philadelphia firefighter who was fatally injured when a burning row home collapsed last weekend. Photo Credit : AP Photo Officials say the funeral mass for Lt. Matthew LeTourneau will be held at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia. home by fellow firefighters and taken to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. A person who lived in the home also was killed in the blaze. Two other firefighters were treated at a hospital for undisclosed injuries that were not believed to be lifethreatening. LeTourneau joined the fire department in 2007 and was promoted to lieutenant in 2015. The city’s mayor, fire commissioner and LeTourneau’s brother are expected to officer remarks. A NEW DELHI TIMES Missouri governor fighting for political life after affair dmitting to an extramarital affair but denying anything more, Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens appears to be digging in for a fight to preserve his political life as other public officials weigh whether to stand with or against the once rising Republican star. Greitens met with Cabinet members and placed phone calls to rally support while his attorney fended off with firm denials a smattering of accusations that Gretiens had acted violently, taken a revealing photo or tried to blackmail the woman to remain silent about their 2015 affair. Within 24 hours of acknowledging the affair in a contrite statement on 10th January, Greitens’ camp had shifted to suggesting he was the target of “a political hit piece” — even as the St. Louis circuit attorney launched a criminal investigation. “This is a three-year-old personal matter that presents no matters of public or legal interest,” Greitens’ attorney Jim Bennett said in a statement. “The facts will prove that fully.” For Greitens to survive politically, it’s vital that the facts remain exactly as he said — that he had an affair and nothing more, said several Republican political consultants with decades of experience. The Associated Press learned of her identity but has chosen not to name her because she could not be reached for comment. The affair occurred as Greitens was preparing to launch his campaign for governor. The former Navy SEAL officer and veterans’ charity founder won election in 2016 as a self-described outsider ready to blow up the political establishment in Jefferson City. In his first year in office, he had a variety of political confrontations with fellow Republican lawmakers. Now he’s trying to address their concerns that he can still be effective during a session in which he has promised to deliver the boldest state tax reform in the U.S. Republican leaders in the Missouri Senate and House released statements urging Greitens to be “forthright” and “accountable for his actions.” Republican Sen. Dave Schatz said he received a brief phone call from Greitens and his wife, Sheena, to discuss the allegations against him. Schatz said he explained to the governor: “Before I render judgment, I want to see all the facts.” Others had seen enough. Democratic Sen. Jamilah Nasheed and Democratic Rep. Brandon Ellington both said Greitens should resign. Republican Sen. Rob Schaaf, a frequent Greitens critic, stopped short of suggesting he step down but said: “I don’t see how he weathers this political storm.” The 11-year veteran was pulled from the Credit : Associated Press (AP) Police to issue report on response to Newtown shooting C onnecticut State Police are planning to release a report assessing the agency’s response to the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Photo Credit : AP Photo The after-action report is expected soon. Police have not explained why it’s taken five years since the shooting to complete the review. A 20-year-old gunman killed 20 first-grade children and six educators inside the school before killing himself. He also fatally shot his mother before shooting his way into the school. Officers from the Newtown Police Department were the first to respond to the scene. A prosecutor’s report in 2013 said that nearly six minutes passed between the arrival of the first Newtown police officer and the time officers entered the school. Officers were not able to intervene before the gunman turned the gun on himself. Credit : Associated Press (AP) Photo Credit : AP Photo “The most import thing in a crisis is your very first public communication. It has to be the truth, and it has to be airtight,” said Republican consultant John Hancock, who has survived his own personal and political crises, most recently as a former state party chairman. Greitens acknowledged being “unfaithful” in his marriage after St. Louis television station KMOV aired part of an audio recording of a woman telling her husband about a sexual encounter with Greitens. The woman, who was Greitens’ hairdresser, is now divorced from the man who had secretly recorded their conversation. On the recording, she said Greitens had taped her hands, blindfolded her and taken a photo while warning, “’You’re never going to mention my name.” The ex-husband’s attorney said that his client had told him Greitens also slapped the woman at a later time. Greitens’ attorney denied each of those allegations. The TV station did not name the woman. His reputation also took a hit in Iowa, a traditional presidential testing ground that Greitens had visited last fall. Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds released a statement saying she was “disappointed and saddened” by allegations against Greitens. She didn’t address Democratic Party calls for her to return the contributions that Greitens helped her raise. Greitens stayed out of the public eye on 11th January. But it’s unclear how long that will last. He had promised in his State of the State address on 10th January to release details of his tax-cut plan early next week. Hancock suggested Greitens should address questions from the public — and the press — in person. “The worst thing you can do during the life of the crisis is hunker down,” he said. Another Republican consultant, David Barklage, who worked for one of Greitens’ opponents in the Republican primary, said he doesn’t expect him to back down. “He owes nothing to the party, nothing to the institution and has no reason not to take this to the end and fight it,” Barklage said. Credit : Associated Press (AP) www.NewDelhiTimes.com
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