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Tanzania ferry kills 100
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- Written by northsouth
- Category: Africa
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LAKE VICTORIA, Tanzania - At least 100 people are known to have died after a ferry carrying hundreds of people capsized on Lake Victoria, Tanzania, officials say.
Many more are missing and it is feared that more than 200 people may have drowned. Rescue efforts resumed on Friday after being halted overnight.
The MV Nyerere ferry overturned near Ukara island on its way from Bugorora.
It is thought the overloaded vessel tipped over when crowds on board moved to one side as it docked.
Local media say the ferry's official capacity was 100 people but officials say the vessel was carrying more than 400 passengers when it capsized.
The BBC's Aboubakar Famau in Tanzania says fear has gripped residents of Mwanza region as they await to hear the fate of relatives who travelled on the MV Nyerere on Thursday.
"I received a call telling me that I have lost my aunt, father and my younger brother," says Editha Josephat Magesa, a local resident.
"We are really saddened and urge the government to provide a new ferry because the old one was small and the population is big."
Our reporter says the ferry's engines were recently replaced after local MP Joseph Mkundi complained about the previous ones.
Tanzania's police chief Simon Sirro Mwanza, who has travelled to the area, says the death toll has risen to 100.
So far, 37 people have been rescued and are in critical condition, according to Mwanza Regional Commissioner John Mongella. Local officials had initially reported on Thursday that 100 people had been rescued.(FA)
Militias kidnap more than 70 pupils in Cameroon
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- Category: Africa
- Hits: 89
BAMENDA, Cameroon - Dozens of people, mostly school pupils, have been kidnapped from a boarding school in the west of Cameroon.
At least 78 students and three others, including the principal, were seized early on Monday morning in Bamenda, the capital of the North-West region, a government official has told the BBC.
Regional governor Adolphe Lele L'Afrique blamed separatist militias.
Cameroon's North-West and South-West regions have been hit by a secessionist rebellion in recent years.
Militias, who have been demanding the independence of the two English-speaking regions, have called for a school boycott.
But no single group has said it carried out the kidnapping at Bamenda's Presbyterian Secondary School, which has pupils aged between 10 and 14.
A video of some of the children, all boys, believed to have been filmed by one of the kidnappers, is being shared on social media.
The students, crammed into a tiny room, all look nervous as the person holding the camera orders them to say their names and where they are from.
They also repeat the phrase: "I was taken from school last night by the Amba boys, I don't know where I am."
Amba is short for Ambazonia, the name of the new country that the separatists want to create.
The moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, the Right Reverend Fonki Samuel Forba told the BBC that he had spoken to the kidnappers.
"They don't want any ransom. All they want is for us to close the schools. We have promised to close down the schools," he told the BBC.
"We hope and pray they release the kids and the teachers," he added.
It is not the first time students have been abducted in the area, known to be a stronghold of separatist fighters, reports the BBC's Ngala Killian Chimtom.
On 19 October, five students of the Atiela Bilingual High School were taken by unidentified gunmen. Their whereabouts are still unknown.
The separatists say that the Cameroon school system suppresses the English-speaking system that the North-West and South-West regions inherited from the British.
The militias, who want to create Ambazonia, began to emerge in 2017 after a security force crackdown on mass protests, led by lawyers and teachers, over the government's alleged failure to give enough recognition to the English legal and education systems in the North-West and South-West.
The government was accused of relying heavily on people trained in the French legal and educational tradition to work in key posts and generally marginalising Cameroon's English-speaking minority, who make up about 20% of the population.
President Paul Biya, who has been in power since 1982, was recently re-elected for a seventh term with more than 70% of the vote.
Opposition parties allege that the poll was rigged, but legal attempts to overturn the result failed.
Cameroon - still divided along colonial lines
Colonised by Germany in 1884
British and French troops force Germans to leave in 1916
Cameroon is split three years later - 80% goes to the French and 20% to the British
French-run Cameroon becomes independent in 1960
Following a referendum, the (British) Southern Cameroons join Cameroon, while Northern Cameroons join English-speaking Nigeria (FA)
Prosecutors have prepared indictment of Julian Assange, a filing reveals
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- Written by alib
- Category: Africa
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WASHINGTON - The Justice Department has prepared an indictment against the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, marking a drastic escalation of the government’s yearslong battle with him and his anti-secrecy group, according to the New York Times.
It was not clear if prosecutors have filed charges against Mr. Assange. The indictment came to light late Thursday through an unrelated court filing in which prosecutors inadvertently mentioned charges against him.
“The court filing was made in error,” said Joshua Stueve, a spokesman for the United States attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia. “That was not the intended name for this filing.”
Mr. Assange has lived for years in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London and would have to be arrested and extradited if he were to face charges in federal court, altogether a multistep diplomatic and legal process.
The disclosure came as the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, is investigating links between President Trump’s associates and Russia’s 2016 election interference. WikiLeaks published thousands of emails that year from Democrats during the presidential race that were stolen by Russian intelligence officers. The hackings were a major part of Moscow’s campaign of disruption.
Though the possible charges against Mr. Assange remained a mystery on Thursday, an indictment centering on the publication of information of public interest — even if it was obtained from Russian government hackers — would create a precedent with profound implications for press freedoms.
Uganda party boat capsizes killing 29
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- Written by northsouth
- Category: Africa
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KAMPALA - At least 29 people are now known to have died after a cruise boat carrying party revellers capsized on Lake Victoria, Ugandan police say.
The vessel was carrying close to 100 people when it sank on Saturday near Uganda's capital, Kampala.
Ugandan media named a number of well-known people said to be on the boat, adding that the prince of a traditional kingdom had survived.
Lake Victoria sees regular accidents, often involving overcrowded vessels.
Scores of people died when a ferry sank on the lake off Tanzania in September.
Saturday's accident occurred off Uganda's Mukono district.
Deputy police spokesman Patrick Onyango told Reuters news agency: "The boat was overloaded and secondly there was bad weather."
More than 20 people have been rescued from the water, police say, but an unknown number remain missing.
The families and friends of some of the people involved gathered by the shoreline. They sat under trees, looking through the wire fence and every time a body was pulled out of the water, there were screams and cries as some people recognised their loved ones.
On the grass some personal items were laid out - shoes, sweaters, wallets, keys - anything that could be used to identify the victims. Overhead the police deployed a helicopter to help search for more bodies that might have washed up by the shoreline - but they have given up hope that they will find any more survivors.
Among those rescued was Prince Daudi Kintu Wasajja, a brother of the king of Uganda's largest traditional kingdom, Buganda.
Ugandan media said musical artist Iryn Namubiru also survived.
A number of other popular artists and socialites were believed to be on board.
The boat was reportedly hired out for weekend parties.
Many of those on board had no lifejackets.
Local officials said two small fishing boats that came to the rescue also became overloaded and sank.(FA)
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