Agizo la Mwakymbe halikujadiliwa na Baraza la mawaziri asema Rais Magufuli

Dar es Salaam. Uamuzi wa Rais John Magufuli kufuta agizo lililotolewa na Dk Harrison Mwakyembe la kuweka sharti la vyeti vya kuzaliwa katika ndoa, unamuweka njiapanda waziri huyo wa sheria na katiba, huku wachambuzi wakisema hakufanya mawasiliano kabla ya kuagiza.

Mbali na kufuta, Rais amesema alishtushwa na agizo hilo kutokana na ukweli kwamba halikujadiliwa katika vikao vya Baraza la Mawaziri.

Mwakyembe, ambaye kitaaluma ni mwanasheria, aliagiza ofisi za wakuu wa wilaya, viongozi wa dini na wa kimila kutofungisha ndoa iwapo wahusika hawana vyeti vya kuzaliwa kuanzia Mei mosi.

Alitoa agizo hilo juzi mjini Morogoro alipozungumza na Kamati ya Ulinzi na Usalama ya Wilaya na wawakilishi wa Wakala wa Usajili, Ufilisi na Udhamini (Rita) wakati akiwa katika ziara ya siku mbili mkoani humo.

 “Serikali ya Dk John Magufuli imekusudia kukuza uchumi wa nchi kupitia viwanda. Hatuwezi kufanikiwa bila ya kuwa na takwimu sahihi,” alisema Mwakyembe.

Lakini jana, Rais Magufuli alifuta agizo hilo alipokuwa akizungumza na waandishi wa habari muda mfupi kabla ya kuondoka Ikulu ya Chamwino mkoani Dodoma kurejea Dar es Salaam, akisema kuwa sharti hilo linanyima haki ya kuoa na kuolewa kwa watu wasio na vyeti vya kuzaliwa.

Rais Magufuli alisema hakuna kifungu cha sheria kinachomlazimisha mtu kuwa na cheti ili aruhusiwe kufunga ndoa.

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Afisa wa UN Bara la Asia ajiuzulu, ni kufuatia ripoti ya ubaguzi wa rangi dhidi ya Islael

Magharibi mwa bara la Asia,(ESCWA),Rima Khalaf, amejiuzulu nafasi yake kufuatia alichosema shinikizo dhidi yake kuiondoa ripoti inayoikosoa Israel.

Ripoti hiyo inayoituhumu Israel kwa ubaguzi wa rangi dhidi ya Wapalestina,imechapishwa jumatano wiki hii na umoja huo unaoundwa na nchi 18 za Kiarabu.

Bi Khalaf,amewaambia waandishi wa habari mjini Beirut,Lebanon,jana,kuwa,ilikuwa inatarajiwa kuwa Israe na washirika wake watamshinikza Katibu mkuu wa Umoja wa mataifa,kutojihusisha na ripoti hiyo na kumtaka aiondoe katika website ya Umoja wa Mataifa.

Katika hatua nyingine,Mwanamama,huyo,amesema,jana asubuhi,katibu Mkuu wa Umoja wa Mataifa,amemuamuru kuiondoa ripoti hiyo na kwamba hakuona sababu ya kuiondoa hivyo kuandika barua ya kujiuzulu wadhifa wake.

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Marekani yasema haikulenga Msikiti bali Waasi Syria

Marekani imekanusha kuushambulia msikiti wa Omar Ibn al-Khattab,mjini Aleppo nchini Syria,ambapo imedaiwa na wanaharakati kuwa makumi ya watu, wengi wao wakiwa ni raia wameuawa.

Katika taarifa yake,wizara ya Ulinzi ya Marekani Pentagon,imesema,shambulio lake lililenga mkutano wa Alqaeda,jirani na msikiti huo,ambapo taarifa hiyo imeambatana na picha ya msikiti wa Omar Ibn al-Khattab,iliyochukuliwa si chini ya dakika tano baada ya shambulio hilo,ukiwa salama.

Wanaharakati wa upinzani nchini Syria,wamedai kuwa takribani watu 40 wameuwa katika shambulio hilo kwenye kijiji cha al-Jinah,walilodai kutekelezwa na Marekani Alhamisi wiki hii.

Aidha wanaharakati hao wamedai watu 250 walikuwa ndani ya msikiti huo kwajili ya ibada husika na kwamba ibada ya Ijumaa,imelazimika kusitishwa kufuatia tukio hilo.

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Yanga yaondoshwa na Zanaco

YANGA SC imeangukia Kombe la Shirikisho Afrika baada ya kutolewa katika michuano ya Ligi ya Mabingwa baada ya sare ya 0-0 na wenyeji, Zanaco jioni ya leo Uwanja wa Taifa wa Mashujaa, Lusaka nchini Zambia.

Matokeo hayo yanamaanisha Yanga inatolewa kwa mabao ya ugenini, baada ya kulazimishwa sare ya 1-1 kwenye mchezo wa kwanza wiki iliyopita Uwanja wa Taifa, Dar es Salaam.

Yanga wataumia zaidi kwa kutolewa na Zanaco, kwani bao la kusawazisha la Wazambia hao Dar es Salaam lililopatikana dakika ya 78  kupitia kwa mshambuliaji wake Mghana, Attram Kwame lilikuwa la kuotea.

Na pamoja na hayo, wachezaji wa Yanga walikuwa wamezubaa kusubiri wapinzani wao watoe nje mpira kiungwana (Fair Play) baada ya mchezaji mwenzao, Obrey Chirwa kuangushwa.

Siku hiyo, Yanbga ilitangulia kwa bao la winga Simon Happygod Msuva dakika ya 39 baada ya kuwachambua mabeki wa Zanaco kufuatia pasi nzuri ya kiungo Mzambia, Justin Zulu.

Na ushindi huu unaifanya Zanaco iendeleze rekodi ya kuitupa nje Yanga kwenye michuano ya Afrika, baada ya mwaka 2006 pia kuwatoa katika hatua kama hii ya Ligi ya Mabingwa kwa jumla ya mabao 3-2, wakishinda 2-0 Lusaka baada ya kufungwa 2-1 Dar es Salaam.

Yanga sasa itamenyana na timu iliyofuzu hatua ya 32 Bora ya Kombe la Shirikisho kuwania tikeit ya kucheza hatua ya makundi ya michuano hiyo, wakati Zanaci inakwenda moja kwa moja hatua ya makundi ya Ligi ya Mabingwa.

Kikosi cha Yanga leo kilikuwa; Deo Munishi ‘Dida’, Hassan Kessy, Mwinyi Hajji, Kevin Yondan, Vincent Bossou, Justin Zulu, Thabani Kamusoko, Haruna Niyonzima, Simon Msuva, Obrey Chirwa na Geoffrey Mwashiuya/Emmanuel Martin dk56.

Zanaco; Toster Sambata, Ziyo Tembo, George Kilufya, Zimeselema Moyo/, Chongo Chirwa, Saith Sakala, Taonga Bwembya, Ernest Mbewe, Boyd Musonda, Attram Kwame na Augustine Mulenga.

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Arsenal yachapwa 3-1 na West Bromwich

Craig Dawson akiwa hewani juu ya Nahodha wa Arsenal, Laurent Koscielny kuifungia West Bromwich Albion bao la kwanza dakika ya 12 katika ushindi wa 3-1 dhidi ya timu ya kocha Mfaransa, Arsene Wenger katika mchezo wa Ligi Kuu ya England jioni ya leo Uwanja wa The Hawthorns.

Dawson alifunga mabao mawili na la tatu dakika ya 75, huku la pili la West Bromwich likifungwa na Hal Robson-Kanu dakika ya 55 na la kufutia machozi la Washika Bunduki wa London, likifungwa na Alexis Sanchez dakika ya 15

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Mke wa Essien anunua Klabu Italy

Mke wa aliyekuwa mchezaji wa Ghana Michael Essien ameinunua klabu ya ligi ya tatu Como ,kulingana na klabu hiyo.

Akosua Puni Essien ameripotiwa kulipa pauni 206,000 katika mnada wa klabu hiyo iliofilisika.

Mmiliki mpya na timu yake sasa ana mpangowa kuimarisha kikosi cha kwanza pamoja na ile timu ya vijana kukuwa.

Wataweka juhudi za kuifanya kurudi katika Serie B na kukuza vipaji vya vijana waliomo.

Puni Essien amejielezea kuwa mfanyibiashara ,mshauri, mtu anayependa kusaidia na mama wa watoto watatu.

Como imeshiriki mara kadhaa katika ligi ya daraja la kwanza ya Seria A ,ikiwa imecheza sana kati ya 1984 hadi 1989 na hivi majuzi ikiwa 2002-2003 ambapo walishushwa daraja baada ya msimu mmoja.

Walishushwa daraja hadi ligi ya daraja la tano baada kufilisika.

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Waziri wa Afya awahimiza Madaktari kuomba kazi Kenya

Serikali ya Tanzania kupitia Wizara ya Afya, Maendeleo ya Jamii, Jinsia, wazee na watoto imebainisha kuwa inatarajia kuwapeleka Madaktari wake waliopo nchini Tanzania kwenda kufanya kazi nchini Kenya kufuatia kuombwa na Rais wa nchi hiyo Mhe. Uhuru Kenyatta.

Akizungumza na vyombo vya habari mapema leo, Waziri wa Afya, Mh. Ummy Mwalimu amesema kuwa, ujumbe maalum kutoka kwa Rais Uhuru Kenyatta kupitia kwa Wiziri wake wa Afya uliokutana na Rais wa Tanzania, Dk. John Pombe Magufuli na kuomba ombi lao hilo la kutaka madaktari 500, ambao wataajiliwa kwa mikataba maalum ya kuanzia miaka 2 kwa kufanya kazi nchini Kenya.

“Natoa rai kwa madaktari wazawa waliopo nchini kuomba nafasi za ajira ya Udaktari nchini Kenya kwa mkataba maalum. Zoezi hilo limeanza rasmi leo Machi 18 mpaka Machi 27, mwaka huu wawe wameomba.

Aidha Waziri Ummy amesema kuwa waombaji ni wale watakaokidhi vigezo maalum ikiwemo asiwe katika utumishi wa Umma, Asiwe amejiliwa na mashirika ya umma ama mashirika teule ambayo yanalipiwa na Serikali.

Kwa Mujibu wa Waziri Ummy ameeleza kuwa muombaji lazima awe amehitimu mafunzo ya “internalship” na mwisho awe amesajiliwa na baraza la Madaktari nchini.

Aidha, Waziri Ummy ameweka wazi kuwa, ajira hiyo itakuwa ni ya miaka miwili ambapo watapata mishahara na malupulupu mbalimbali katika ajira zao hizo huku akibainisha kuwa, jambo hilo ni jema na linaiingizia Taifa sifa kwa kupeleka wataalamu wake nje ya nchi kupata ajira.

Kwa upande Katibu Mkuu wa Wizara ya Afya Dk. Mpoki Ulisubisya amesema kuwa, moja ya vigezo ambavyo vinahitajika kwa madaktari hao ni pamoja na kuwa na digrii ya kwanza na Internal ship huku akiongeza kuwa, kwa upande wao Wizara imejipanga kuimalisha madaktari wa ndani ikiwemo kiwaajili.

Naye Katibu Mkuu Utumishi, Mh. Laulian Ndumbalo amewatoa hofu watanzania licha ya kuwapeleka Madaktari hao nje kupatiwa ajira, nchini bado ina Madaktari wengi wanaofikia zaidi ya 1000, huku kila mwaka wakiajili Madaktari 400 hadi 450.

Imeelezwa kuwa Madaktari hao watakaojitokeza watapata faida kubwa kwani watakuza mahusiano mema ya nchi za Afrika Mashariki kupitia kada hiyo huku pia wakitarajia kuipatia maendeleo nchi ya Tanzania. Jambo ili ndio la kwanza linafanyika huku ikielezwa kuwa idadi hiyo ya madaktari kutoka Tanzania kwenda kupatiwa ajira nje ya mipaka yake ni kubwa, licha ya madaktari wengi kuwepo nchi mbalimbali ikiwemo Malawi, Zambia, Afrika Kusini, Botswana na mataifa mengine.

Madaktari hao wenye kutaka kujiunga wanaweza kutembelea tovuti ya wizara ya Afya na kupata maelezo mbalimbali.

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Rais Shein afanya uteuzi

Kwa mujibu wa uwezo aliopewa chini ya kifungu namba 17 cha sheria ya utafutaji na uchimbaji wa mafuta na gesi asilia namba 6 ya mwaka 2016, Rais wa Zanzibar na Mwenyekiti wa Baraza la Mapinduzi Mheshimiwa Dk. Ali Mohamed Shein, amemteua Bwana Omar Zubeir Ismail kuwa Mkurugenzi Mwendeshaji wa Mamlaka ya Kudhibiti Utafutaji na Uchimbaji wa mafuta na gesi asilia, Zanzibar.

Kabla ya uteuzi huo, Bwana Omar Zubeir Ismail alikuwa Ofisa Mwandamizi katika Idara ya Nishati, Zanzibar.

Uteuzi huo uliosainiwa na Katibu wa Baraza la Mapinduzi na Katibu Mkuu Kiongozi Dk. Abdulhamid Yahya Mzee, umeanza leo tarehe 18 Machi 2017.

IMETOLEWA NA IDARA YA HABARI MAELEZO-ZANZINAR

18 Machi 2017

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Mozambique cholera outbreak infects over 1,200

Four of Mozambique's 13 provinces have been affected since the infection spread from the capital Maputo on January 5, deputy director of public health Benigna Matsinhe told a press conference.

It is the third consecutive year that Mozambique has suffered a cholera epidemic with the two fatalities reported to be from the Maputo area.

In 2015, 41 people died in one of the country's worst ever cholera outbreaks.

"We have recorded less cases in recent days, but what worries us is that we have been unable to halt transmission of the illness," Matsinhe said.

Since the end of last week, the infection has spread in Tete province, on Mozambique's western border with Zimbabwe and Malawi, with 397 cases reported.

Cholera typically strikes during Mozambique's rainy season, between October and March, when unhygienic conditions and stagnant water cause the bacteria to flourish.

The infection can cause severe diarrhoea, dehydration and in the worst cases, death.

Mozambique has been been deluged by heavy rains since October following two years of drought.

Malaria cases have also spiked with 1.48 million diagnoses -- an 11 percent jump compared to a year earlier -- and 288 deaths since January 2017.

"We have seen an increase in cases of malaria in recent years explained by progress in our screening programme and in our community treatment projects," said Lorna Gurjal, the head of the health ministry's epidemiology department.

The number of deaths and serious cases are however decreasing, she said.

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UN: South Sudan is World’s Fastest-growing Refugee Crisis

GENEVA —
The U.N. refugee agency reports 1.6 million South Sudanese have fled to neighboring countries to escape famine, fighting and drought, making South Sudan the world’s fastest-growing refugee crisis

The office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) calls the rate of displacement from South Sudan alarming, placing an impossible burden on the region. This is particularly true of Uganda, which is hosting nearly half of all the refugees, some 800,000 people.

UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch says more than 2,800 people on average are fleeing into Uganda every day. He told VOA most of the refugees, 86 percent, are women and children.

“They come in quite a desperate situation, being affected by instability, fighting and famine," Baloch said. "Food security is an issue. They arrive into settlements into northern Uganda. All the structures that we have been trying to put in place with the government in Uganda are overstretched.”

'Impossible task'

For example, Balloch noted Bidi Bidi camp, one of four refugee settlements in Uganda, currently shelters 272,000 refugees.

“With a low level of funding and host communities and the host government not having enough resources, it is making it quite an impossible task to help these desperate refugees, and that is the reason we are trying to sound this alarm,” he said.

South Sudan’s civil war, which erupted more than three years ago, has displaced more than 3.5 million people, both inside and outside the country. The United Nations reports 4.8 million people inside the country are going hungry, with 100,000 facing famine.

Despite the bleak statistics, Balloch said South Sudan is not getting enough attention, nor is it getting enough resources. He said the U.N. has received only 8 percent of the $782 million it needs for its humanitarian operations this year.

He said the UNHCR’s own appeal for Uganda is short by more than $250 million.

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BREAKING NEWS

  Paris airport attacker  told soldiers 'I'm here to die for Allah': prosecutor

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Top economies yield to US, drop no-protectionism pledge

Finance ministers at a Group of 20 meeting in Germany issued a statement Saturday that said only that countries "are working to strengthen the contribution of trade" to their economies. By comparison, last year's meeting called on them to resist "all forms" of protectionism, which can include border tariffs and rules that favor a country's businesses over those in another economy.

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Gulu leaders condemn Kaweesi murder

This brutal, primitive and unacceptable act of killing must be condemned. We do not want this kind of brutal killing in Uganda to happen again.” 

Gulu district leaders have condemned the brutal killing of Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP) Andrew Felix Kaweesi  

Kaweesi was shot dead near his home in Kulambiro, a Kampala suburb, together with his body guard and driver shortly after he left his home on Friday morning

Martin Ojara Mapenduzi, Gulu district LC5 chairman,while mourning Kaweesi, said the people of Gulu should join hands with the Police of Uganda and the bereaved family in mourning the late Kaweesi.

“This brutal, primitive and unacceptable act of killing must be condemned in the strongest term possible. We do not want this kind of brutal killing in Uganda to happen again”, Ojara condemned

Margret Orik Obonyo, the Gulu district prisons Commander also condemned the act of killing; saying that whatever Kaweesi had done, he did not deserve to die.

“On behalf of mothers in Gulu, we mourn with the family of Kaweesi,the Police and the people of Uganda,” she added.

Obonyo said: “We all have our day or date that you and I will die, but we must not take someone's life. We condemn in the strongest terms the act.”

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HABARI PICHA KENYATTA AKIWA SOMALIA

Rais wa Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta leo alitembelea wanajeshi wa Kenya wanaokabiliana na wanamgambo wa al-Shabab katika kambi ya Dhobley. Aliwashukuru kwa kujitolea kwao na kuwaahidi kwamba serikali yake itaendelea kuwaunga mkono.
Picha/PSCU
#bbcswahili #kenya #somalia #alshabab
Source bbcswahili

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Magufuli should rescue New Constitution process - TCF

Dar es Salaam. The Tanzania Constitution Forum (TCF) has said it is only President John Magufuli who has powers to rescue the process to make a new constitution.

Addressing journalists today, TCF chairperson, Mr Deus Kibamba, appealed to President Magufuli to take bold steps to rescue the process.

He said it will be a huge loss if the country decides to abandon the process now because it has already spent a lot of money on it.

He told reporters that given the prevailing situation, it is only President Magufuli who holds the button to initiate the process.

He said time is ticking out before the country enters into another elections process where it would not be possible to start the process again.

"To start, the government should set a special budget in the coming financial year to initiate the process,” he said.

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Lissu wins Tanganyika Law Society presidency

Arusha. Opposition MP Tundu Lissu  has been elected the new president of the Tanganyika Law Society.

Mr Lissu who is Singida East Chadema legislator garnered an overwhelming 1,411 votes out of 1,682 votes cast to emerge victorious in the elections held in Arusha today.

He defeated two other candidates in the race in which Mr Godwin Ngwilimi was elected vice president.

The seven lawyers elected as council members are Jeremiah Motebesya, Gida Lambaji, Hussein Mtembwa, Aisha Sinda, Sreven Axweso, David Shilatu and Daniel Bushele.

The election of Mr Lissu as president caps a dramatic week in which he was arrested twice, incuding on the eve of the elections and charged with sedition at a Dar es Salaam court before he was released on bail in time to catch up with the events in Arusha.

Lawyers defied warning from President Johm Magufuli and Justice Minister Harrison Mwakyembe not to elect politicians into the TLS leadership. The minister had at one time threatened to deregister the association over the Lissu campaign.

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Magunia matano yaliyojaa pesa yagunduliwa uwanja wa ndege Nigeria

Maafisa wa serikali nchini Nigeria wanasema magunia matano yaliyokuwa na mabunda ya noti yamegunduliwa katika uwanja wa ndege wa kimataifa wa Kaduna.
Pesa hizo zilipatikana katika dawati la kuhudumia wasafiri wanaoingia uwanja wa ndege kuabiri ndege.

Fedha hizo, za thamani ya jumla ya dola 150,000 za Marekani, ziligunduliwa wakati wa ukaguzi wa kawaida wa mizigo uwanja wa ndege.

Msemaji wa tume ya uhalifu wa kifedha nchini Nigeria Wilson Uwujaren amesema magunia hayo yalikuwa na mabunda ya noti mpya za naira 200 na 50, ambayo yalikuwa bado hayajafunguliwa kutoka kiwandani.

Amesema uchunguzi unaendelea kubaini nani mwenye magunia hayo.


Mabunda hayo ya noti yalikuwa yamefungwa na kuwekwa utepe kuonesha yalikuwa yametoka kwa kampuni ya kufua sarafu ya Nigeria Security and Minting Plc (NSPM).

Ibrahim Bappah anayefanya kazi katika afisi ya kupambana na rushwa Kaduna alisema noti hizo mpya ziligunduliwa wakati wa ukaguzi baada ya "harufu nzuri ya kipekee" kutambuliwa.

Magunia hayo yenye pesa yalikuwa yameachwa bila mtu wa kuyatunza na hayakuwa na nembo za kumtambua mwenyewe.The bags were left unattended and without tags.

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Madereva walevi hulazimishwa kufanya kazi mochari Taiwan

Kenya , Tanzania, Uganda , Rwanda na hata Burundi utaona mabango makubwa yamewekwa kando ya barabara kuonya madereva kuto endesha magari wakiwa wamelewa .
Mabango hayo mbali na kukutishia kwamba unaweza kufariki kutokana na ajali, pia yanaonya kwamba ukipatikana utatozwa faini kubwa kama njia ya kukutia adabu kwa kosa la kuendesha gari ukiwa mlevi.

Lakini nchini Taiwan mambo ni tofauti kabisa.
Dereva yeyote anayepatikana na kosa la kuendesha gari akiwa mlevi , anakamatwa na kupelekwa kwenda kufanya kazi katika chumba cha kuhifahdi maiti.

Mkuu wa mashtaka katika jimbo la Taitung huko Taiwan, ameiambia BBC kwamba madereva wanaopatikana na kosa la kuendesha gari wakiwa wamelewa wanapewa kazi maalum ya kusafisha meza za kuwa pasulia maiti. Na pia wanatakina kuosha na kusafisha kabisa friji za kuwekea maiti.


Sababu kubwa hasa ya kufanya hivyo ni kuwapa madereva hao fursa ya kuona maiti hasa zile zitokanazo na ajali za barabarani jinsi zilivyo pondeka pondeka zinapoletwa na hata kutolewa kutoka hizo mochari.
Wakuu wa mashtaka wanatarajia kwamba pengine fursa ya kuona maiti hizo zitawafunza jinsi gani maisha ni muhimu na ni sharti ya heshimiwe kwa dereva kuwa waangalifu barabarani na kuepuka na tabia ya kuendesha gari ukiwa umelewa.
Badala ya watu kupinga adhabu hiyo, sasa mitandao ya kijamii imejaa kauli za watu wakisema badala ya kupanguza tu meza za upasuaji maiti pamoja na friji za kuwekea maiti hizo.
Ukipatikana na kosa la kuendesha gari ukiwa umelewa bora upewe adhabu ya kuosha maiti , tena maiti za watu waliofariki kutokana na ajali za barabarani.

Source:BBC

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Mwanamitindo agongwa na treni akipigwa picha Marekan

Mwanamke wa umri wa miaka 19, ambaye alikuwa anaanza kujikuza kama mwanamitindo, aligongwa na treni na kufariki alipokuwa anapigwa picha.

Fredzania Thompson alikuwa anapigwa picha hizo zake za mitindo, ambazo zilikuwa za kwanza, kwenye reli alipogongwa na gari moshi.
Picha za Thompson, alizopigwa muda mfupi kabla ya mkasa huo kutokea Navasota, Texas, zimesambazwa na familia yake.

Polisi wanasema alikuwa mjamzito wakati huo na kwamba alikuwa anaondokea treni moja kwenye njia moja ya reli alipojipata ameingia kwenye njia ya reli ambapo kulikuwa na treni nyingine iliyokuwa inapita ambayo ilimgonga.


Gazeti la The Eagle limesema ilikuwa mara yake ya kwanza kwenda kupigwa picha za uanamitindo.
"Bila shaka, hilo jambo alililotaka kulifanya maishani," Hakamie Stevenson alisema kumhusu bintiye.

"Ndiyo shughuli aliyoanza kuifanya siku aliyokumbana na mauti yake."
Polisi wanasema bado wanafanya uchunguzi kuhusu kisa hicho.
Afisa wa polisi wa Navasota ameambia BBC kwamba hata hivyo bado hawajagundua hila yoyote.


Gazeti la The Eagle limesema ilikuwa mara yake ya kwanza kwenda kupigwa picha za uanamitindo.
"Bila shaka, hilo jambo alililotaka kulifanya maishani," Hakamie Stevenson alisema kumhusu bintiye.

"Ndiyo shughuli aliyoanza kuifanya siku aliyokumbana na mauti yake."
Polisi wanasema bado wanafanya uchunguzi kuhusu kisa hicho.
Afisa wa polisi wa Navasota ameambia BBC kwamba hata hivyo bado hawajagundua hila yoyote.


Ukurasa umefunguliwa katika mtandao wa GoFundMe kujaribu kuchangisha $10,000 (£8,150) za kugharimia mazishi ya Fredzania.

Ajipiga risasi akitafuta 'Selfie ya mwaka'
Kwa mujibu wa shirika la reli la Marekani (FRA), watu 813 waliuawa kwenye reli Marekani mwaka 2016.
Hilo ni ongezeko la 8.45% ukilinganisha na mwaka 2015.

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G20 finance ministers drop anti-protectionist pledge amid US pushback

US finance officials have refused to sign a commitment to free trade, breaking a decade long tradition and effectively preventing any deal. Action against climate change has also been dropped following US intervention.


Finance ministers from the 20 leading world powers (G20) concluded talks in the German city of Baden-Baden Saturday without a agreeing on a joint position that explicitly renews their long-standing pledge to free trade.

Following pushback from US officials, led by US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, the communique of G20 finance minister backtracked on past commitments such as open trade and outright rejection of protectionism.

Instead, the ministers issued a mildly-worded statement, saying that countries "are working to strengthen the contribution of trade to their economies."

While the G20 remains an informal forum and Saturday's statement is non-binding, it does help set the tone for economic and financial policy for the year ahead.

By contrast, last year's statement called on all G20 states to resist "all forms" of protectionism.


US trade reservations

It marks perhaps the Trump administration's biggest clash yet with the international community. According to reports, officials were looking to replace the group's long standing opposition to "all forms" of protectionism with a new wording that would reflect US concerns and reference "fair" trade. However, no compromise was found, meaning no new deal could be reached by the close of Saturday's summit.

German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble, who chaired the two-day summit, played down the significance at a press conference afterwards, saying the issue was more about wording than substance. "It's not true we are not agreed," he said. "It's completely clear we are not for protectionism. But it wasn't clear what one or another meant by that."

"At some meetings you cannot reach all that you want to achieve. But that is something we can live with," Schäuble said.


Mnuchin remained upbeat following the summit, and said any resistance to the communique was only to ensure that it accurately reflected what was discussed. The US Treasury Secretary added that he would not read too much into the US' desire to change the language.

Trump's quest to shake up the global economic order and fulfill his "America First" platform have already seen the president pull out of key bilateral trade agreements and propose a new tax on goods imported to the US.

Climate change finance off the table

Finance chiefs also failed to pledge their support to climate change finance. While it was widely anticipated, it was nevertheless decried by environmentalists. US President Donald Trump has expressed his skepticism on the issue, labeling climate change a "hoax" and cutting funding for the US Environmental Protection Agency.

The next G20 summit will see national leaders meet in the German city of Hamburg on July 7-8. Germany currently holds the G20 presidency.

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Germany owes 'vast' sums of money for NATO, claims US President Donald Trump

Trump waited until Chancellor Angela Merkel had left the country before making his claim via Twitter. During the meeting he thanked Merkel for her commitment to raise Germany's NATO contributions.


US President Trump tweeted on Saturday morning that Germany owed a large debt for the protection of the US.

"Despite what you have heard from the FAKE NEWS, I had a GREAT meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Nevertheless, Germany owes vast sums of money to NATO & the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany!" he wrote in two Twitter posts sent eight minutes apart.


Trump sent the tweets from his Florida resort, where he is spending the weekend.

Trump praise for Germany

In a joint press conference following a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday Trump declared his support for NATO and vowed to continue the German-American partnership. He praised Berlin's leadership role in Afghanistan and in the Ukraine conflict.

Trump stated that the US would respect 'historic institutions,' but  said there needed to be balance and fairness in the relationship to the US.

He thanked Merkel for Germany's commitment to increase its NATO contributions to 2 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) from the current 1.2 percent, but said it was "very unfair to the United States" for European allies to take advantage of US defense spending.

"These nations must pay what they owe," he said Friday.

Merkel said the two leaders had discussed Berlin's contributions to NATO and the continuing German military participation in Afghanistan.

Trump has in the past attacked Merkel for what he describes as her "catastrophic mistake" of letting refugees into the country and "ruining Germany."

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SADC to decide whether to accept Burundi & Comoros as members

Southern African Development Community,    15 member states to debate whether to admit Burundi and Comoros to the bloc at the Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government in Mbabane, in the Kingdom of Swaziland.

“Burundi remains divided after the disputed stay of its president’s in power. Possibly issues SADC will have to consider. Comoros on the hand would likely pose no difficulties. But another bugbear for the region is the DRC president Joseph Kabila who has exceeded his mandate, and the east is shaky,” said president Jacob Zuma’s spokesperson Bongani Nqulunga to SABC

The SADC Double Troika Summit will also convened to receive and discuss a progress report on the implementation of SADC decisions in relation to the political situation in the Kingdom of Lesotho as well as an update on the political and security situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) according to a statement released by the South African State House.

The Summit will further discuss, amongst other things, food security following the armyworm outbreak currently affecting crop production and food security in the region.

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'Match Day' for Foreign Medical Students Runs Into US Travel Ban

WASHINGTON —
For some medical students, getting a yes or no Friday was more important than finding the right life partner.

Friday was "Match Day," the annual day when medical students find out which U.S. medical institution has accepted them for a residency program. It is a competition, of sorts: 32,000 training slots are available for 42,000 applicants, according to this year's data.

A residency, three to five years of practical experience and training in a student's chosen medical specialty, is the next step after medical school, which in the United States generally means four years of postgraduate university studies.

Of those 42,000 applicants vying for residencies, all but about 6,000 are foreign nationals. And that is where their aspirations could collide with President Donald Trump's latest executive order regulating immigration to the United States.

'Extensive upheaval'

The National Residency Match Program (NRMP), a nonprofit group that organizes the matches between students and hospitals, said the new immigration order has had a substantial impact on its program. In its current revised form, the order bans citizens from six Muslim-majority countries from traveling to the U.S., at least temporarily.

"The consequences of the [January 27] executive order are far-reaching for match applicants, and the upheaval it is causing is extensive," NRMP's chair, Dr. Maria Savoia, and CEO Mona Signer said in a joint statement.

"The affected applicants have worked hard for many years to achieve their goal of becoming physicians," the two medical-education experts said, "and they should not be denied that opportunity because of a blanket policy that does not consider the individual."

U.S. courts have issued a restraining order preventing enforcement of the travel ban, pending further legal arguments, but NRMP says it is concerned that some immigrants or foreign medical students with valid visas will nevertheless be delayed or rejected at U.S. borders.

Holidays at home are not care-free

In addition, foreign medical students who travel to their home countries during holidays or breaks in their university studies fear they may not be able to return in time to take up their new residencies in the U.S. Such medical programs typically begin each year on July 1.


"U.S. training programs should be able to select applicants based on their excellent character and qualifications, without regard to nationality. Both applicants and programs benefit from an orderly process for entry into graduate medical education," said Signer, who is a public health specialist, and Savoia. "The executive order disrupts that process very considerably."

Hospitals and other medical institutions that offer residencies worry that foreign students they choose for the multiyear training programs will be unable to begin their studies on schedule, Signer said.

Medical residencies are sometimes known as internships, or first-year post-graduate studies, because they occur during a fledgling doctor's first year of practical training alongside or under direct supervision of a fully qualified physician in one of 21 recognized medical specialties.

Is US becoming less welcoming?

Those who administer medical residency programs do not directly choose the candidates they would like to attract. Instead they rank applicants in order of preference. Under those conditions, Signer said, "It seems likely that residency program directors will be reluctant to rank J-1 visa applicants because they may not be able to enter the country to begin training."

The U.S. State Department's J-1 visa program offers foreign nationals an opportunity to come to the United States "to teach, study, conduct research, demonstrate special skills or receive on-the-job training for periods ranging from a few weeks to several years," according to Cultural Vistas, a nonprofit American group that has been organizing international exchange programs since 1963.

The perception that the United States is becoming less welcoming to foreign nationals in the medical professions appears to be having an effect.

Fewer non-U.S. citizen "international medical school graduates," or IMGs, submitted program choices for this year: 7,284 in 2017 vs. 7,460 in 2016. However, NRMP said more of these candidates (52.4 percent) were matched with institutions - the highest match rate since 2005.

Foreign physicians benefit all Americans

About 1,800 IMGs already enrolled in accredited residency and fellowship programs in the U.S. are impacted by the travel ban, according to Dr. Thomas J. Nasca, CEO of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

"These physicians are providing much needed medical care to a conservatively estimated 900,000 patients in urban, suburban and rural communities across the country annually. They are a valued and welcomed group of colleagues,” he wrote in a statement.

“Many communities, including rural and low-income areas, often have problems attracting physicians to meet their health care needs. To address these gaps in care, IMGs often fill these openings. These physicians are licensed by the same stringent requirements applied to U.S. medical school graduates,” the chief executive officer of the American Medical Association, Dr. James Madara, wrote last month.

"The medical education community must support all international medical graduates and their families during these difficult times," NRMP's statement said.

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Job training session with Merkel shows Ivanka's influence

A meeting between President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on vocational training Friday offered further evidence of the first daughter's influence in the White House.

A White House official said Merkel's staff reached out to Ivanka Trump about setting up the meeting. During the session, Trump and Merkel talked with American and German executives and discussed how companies can better train workers.

In his opening remarks, Trump said that "training our workforce for the 21st century" was a top priority, adding that "we want to make sure we have the workforce development programs we need to ensure these jobs are being filled by American workers."

Ivanka Trump, who recruited the American executives in attendance, guided the discussion. She praised her father's "commitment to creating millions of jobs" and stressed the need for private investment, noting that "ingenuity, creativity often comes from the determination of the private sector."

The conversation was focused on vocational training and workforce development, not on the thornier issues of international trade. At the end of the session, Ivanka Trump said the executives would form a taskforce that will provide a report in three months detailing programs that could be expanded and ways the countries can work together.

This was the second international workforce meeting coordinated with Ivanka Trump. During Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's visit last month, she helped organize a meeting on economic development opportunities for women. That came together at the suggestion of Trudeau's office.

Participants from the United States included Andrew Liveris, CEO of Dow Chemical; Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM; and Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce. From Germany were Harald Kr?ger, CEO of BMW AG; Joe Kaeser, CEO of Siemens AG; and Klaus Rosenfeld, CEO of Schaeffler AG. Several students taking part in vocational programs also spoke about their experiences.

Attending for the administration were Trump adviser — and Ivanka Trump's husband — Jared Kushner, White House economic adviser Gary Cohn, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, chief of staff Reince Priebus and Dina Powell, who was recently named deputy national security adviser for strategy.

Unlike her husband, Ivanka Trump does not, for now, have an official White House role, but is a regular participant in meetings and events. She moved her young family to Washington when her father took office and has emphasized an interest in working on economic policies that impact women and girls.

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Russian Lawmakers Order Probe of RFE/RL, VOA, CNN

The lower house of the Russian parliament has ordered a probe into whether RFE/RL’s Russian Service, Voice of America, and CNN are in compliance with Russian laws.

The move by the State Duma on March 17 comes just days after Democratic U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen introduced a bill that would empower the U.S. Justice Department to investigate possible violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act by RT, the state-backed Russian TV channel.

The Russian initiative was introduced by Konstantin Zatulin, a member of President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party, which holds an overwhelming majority in the Duma.

Approved by lawmakers on March 17, the move instructs the Duma’s committee on information policy to probe compliance with Russian laws by VOA, CNN, and RFE/RL’s Russian Service, known locally as Radio Svoboda.

Zatulin specifically linked the probe to Shaheen’s bill, which cited an assessment by U.S. intelligence that RT was used as part of a Kremlin-directed hacking and public-influence campaign aimed at helping President Donald Trump defeat his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, in last year’s presidential election.

RT and the Kremlin reject the accusation. RT is funded by the Russian government, but argues it is editorially independent from the Kremlin.


Both RFE/RL and VOA are overseen by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), a U.S. agency that supervises international civilian government broadcasting and media operations.

VOA is a federal entity, while RFE/RL is a private, nonprofit organization funded by a grant from the U.S. Congress.

CNN has also come under fire from Moscow over its coverage of alleged Russian meddling in the presidential election and purported ties between associates of Trump and Russian officials.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova earlier this month accused the Atlanta-based international news network, which Trump has repeatedly criticized as well, of spreading “false news.”

Shaheen told RFE/RL that it appeared her legislation had struck a nerve with the Kremlin and some Duma members.

“My bill is straightforward: RT News has made public statements boasting that it can dodge our laws with shell corporations, and this legislation gives the Department of Justice the authority it needs to fully investigate,” Shaheen said in a statement.

The Foreign Agents Registration Act is a decades-old law that requires anyone working in the United States on behalf of a foreign government, “in a political or quasi-political capacity," to register with the Justice Department.

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Islamic Radical Suspected in Fatal Paris Airport Scuffle

A man fatally shot at a Paris airport Saturday after attempting to seize a rifle from a patrol soldier, was suspected to have ties to radical Islam, officials said.

The man, identified by the Associated Press as 39-year-old Ziyed Ben Belgacem, wrestled the soldier to the ground and attempted to take her rifle, but two other soldiers on patrol with her opened fire on the man, killing him, according to French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

No one else was injured in the incident, which took place at Paris’s Orly Airport at about 8:30 a.m. local time.

The Paris prosecutors’ office said the suspect had his home searched in 2015 after the terror attack in Paris that killed 130 people because of his suspected connection to radical Islam.

Police didn’t provide a motive for the attack on the Air Force soldiers, but the Paris prosecutors’ office said the investigation is being handled by the anti-terror division. The suspect’s father and brother were detained by police Saturday, which police said is part of standard procedure.

Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux said Belgacem was “known to the police and intelligence” and he is suspected of shooting a police officer earlier Saturday.

Belgacem allegedly shot the police officer in the face with a shotgun during a routine traffic stop in a northern Paris suburb. He then threatened some people in a bar before stealing a car at gunpoint and driving to the airport. The officer suffered minor head injuries, Le Roux said.

The soldier who was attacked is a member of the Sentinelle Special Forces that now guard airports, religious sites and other popular places in France since the 2015 terror attacks.

Police teams quickly secured the airport and searched for explosives, but found none. Incoming flights were diverted to nearby airports and delays were expected. The Paris airport authority posted a message on its website urging people to avoid Orly airport.

French President Francois Hollande said during a news conference that the Orly attack proved the necessity of the Sentinelle patrol soldiers and that investigators will determine whether the attacker “had a terrorist plot behind him.”

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Woman shot by Tennessee deputies had a BB gun

Two sheriff's deputies who fatally shot a woman Friday in a Tennessee residential neighborhood thought she pointed a real handgun at them when they opened fire, but it turned out to be a BB gun, authorities said.

Nancy Jane Lewellyn died after being shot by Shelby County Sheriff's Office deputies in a subdivision in Lakeland, just east of Memphis, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokesman Josh DeVine said.

It was the second fatal shooting involving law enforcement in two days in western Tennessee. The bureau says a 36-year-old Louisiana man was killed after he allegedly tried to strike deputies with his vehicle in Crockett County on Thursday. The bureau, which acts as Tennessee's state police agency, is investigating both shootings.

DeVine said Lewellyn had called 911 Friday, making disturbing statements and threatening violence toward anyone who came to her house.

Three deputies responded, and Lewellyn exited her house when they arrived, DeVine said. She then took out what appeared to be a real handgun and pointed it at the deputies, he said. Two of them opened fire, killing her.

It was determined after the shooting that Lewellyn was holding a BB gun, DeVine said. The BB gun looked "an awful lot" like a real gun, he said.

"It was presumably very easy for these deputies to think that this was a more dangerous situation than a BB gun," DeVine said.

It is not immediately clear if Lewellyn had mental issues, DeVine said.

John Rumsey, who lives two houses away from where Lewellyn was shot, was unable to get home Friday afternoon while deputies blocked the street leading to his house. He was eventually allowed through.

"It's just a really bad scene," Rumsey said. "It's usually very calm around here."

The two deputies involved in the shooting have been relieved of duty with pay pending the bureau's investigation, but they are not being identified at this point, sheriff's spokesman Earle Farrell said. The races of Lewellyn and the deputies were not released.

Once the investigation is done, the bureau will hand over its file to Shelby County district attorney Amy Weirich, who will decide whether to pursue charges.

DeVine said the bureau currently has 1,800 open criminal investigations, with only 59 agents in the bureau's field investigations unit.

"You better believe that the number of incidents, and the types of investigations that we have, certainly puts a strain resources, but this is the job," DeVine said.

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The new African Union Commission chair makes first official visit to Somalia

H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, newly elected African Union chairperson has traveled to Somalia to demonstrate his commitment and the determination of the African Union towards the restoration of peace and security in the country.

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) commemorated the tenth year since deployment, looking at its role in enhancing security, governance and peace in Somalia

Mahamat said that the gains made by AMISON are fragile and appealed to the International community to support the Somali security forces and AMISOM in their efforts to stabilize the country and create a conducive environment according to a statement by the AU.

The AUC leader expressed deep concern for the dire humanitarian situation in the country with over quarter a million people displaced since the end of 2016 to date due to drought. 3 million people are in emergency and crisis with an additional 3.3 million in stress with lives and livelihoods lost.

The Chairperson congratulated the President of the Federal Government of Somalia, H.E Mohamed Abdullahi “Farmajo” for his election and welcomed his determination to fight against Al Shabaab.

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Russia, Trump Wiretapping Claims Face Public Scrutiny Monday

CAPITOL HILL —
A U.S. House Intelligence Committee Monday will further investigate the extent of Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election and President Donald Trump’s claim that President Barack Obama had his phones tapped during the campaign.

During a public hearing, committee members will question FBI Director James Comey and Admiral Mike Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, for the first time.

The Department of Justice delivered documents to the House and Senate intelligence committees Friday regarding their request for information that could shed light on Trump’s claim that Obama tapped his phones at Trump Tower in New York.

Neither the Justice Department nor House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes elaborated on the information in the documents.


Pressure on Trump

Trump is facing increased pressure in Congress to back down from the wiretapping claims he made on Twitter March 4. A bipartisan group of lawmakers on the House and Senate intelligence committees said this week they have not seen anything to support his allegations.

“We don’t have any evidence that that took place,” Nunes, a Republican from California, told reporters Wednesday. “I don’t think there was an actual tap of Trump Tower.”

During a joint news conference with Nunes, Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California and ranking House Intelligence Committee member, agreed.

“There’s no daylight between us on the fact that neither one of us have seen any evidence to support what the president tweeted,” Schiff said Wednesday. “Thus far, we have seen no basis for that whatsoever.

“We will be asking the director if he has any evidence that substantiates the president’s claim,” Schiff said. “We think it’s in the public interest that this be openly addressed by the director.”


No clarity from Trump

The committee’s focus on the White House could intensify if sufficient evidence is not presented, experts said.

“It will be really incumbent upon the president to come forward, explain those statements,” Susan Hennessey, a national security fellow at the Brookings Institution told VOA.

Trump did little to clarify his wiretapping claims during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House Friday.

He pushed back on reporters’ questions about why White House spokesman Sean Spicer had accused Britain’s intelligence agency of helping Obama conduct surveillance on Trump Tower.

Trump explained that his spokesman was simply repeating what he had heard a legal analyst say on Fox News.

“We said nothing,” Trump noted. “All we did was quote a certain very talented legal mind who was the one responsible for saying that on television. I did not make an opinion on it.”


Trump hints he'll have evidence

During an interview with Fox News days earlier, Trump hinted that his tweets refer to surveillance more broadly.

“A wiretap covers a lot of different things,” he said. Trump also hinted more evidence to back his allegation was forthcoming.

“You’re going to find some very interesting items coming to the forefront over the next two weeks,” Trump said. The president said his administration “will be submitting things” to the panel and that he perhaps will be speaking about his claim next week.

On Thursday, both leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee publicly said they had not seen proof of Trump’s charge.

A statement by Republican Chairman Senator Richard Burr and Democratic Vice-Chairman Senator Mark Warner read: “Based on the information available to us, we see no indications that Trump Tower was the subject of surveillance by any element of the United States government either before or after Election Day 2016.”

Open hearing may yield little

While the open, public nature of the House committee’s hearing may prevent a thorough examination of sensitive issues, Nunes and Schiff said they were doing everything possible to keep the American public informed.

“This committee has a long track record of shining light on Russia and its activities,” Nunes said.

But Hennessey said it is unlikely the hearing will result in any explosive revelations.

“These hearings are not likely to resolve the issue,” she said, adding there are too many unanswered questions.

The House Intelligence Committee will hold a second open hearing March 28 to allow additional witnesses to testify, including former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates.

Source:VOA

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Arsene Wenger has decided on his Arsenal future

Arsene Wenger has made his mind up about his Arsenal future - and will announce his decision soon.
The Frenchman has come under increasing pressure and he saw his side slump to another defeat at West Brom on Saturday.
And he said: "I know what I will do in my future and will let you know soon. You will see."
Two planes flew over the Hawthorns before kick-off, one backing the boss and one calling for him to go.
But Wenger added: "I watched the game. I do not watch the stands during the game. We have to live with that and focus on the job"
 

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Tanzanian President keen on moving capital from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma

 It is rare that a president gets the chance to inspect his new house, but President John Magufuli has been in Dodoma looking at the bricks that will become the country’s new State House.

Tanzania’s President John Magufuli has inspected bricks meant for construction of new state house in Dodoma, saying that the move is inspired by his desire to fulfill Tanzania’s founding president Nyerere’s dream, of spreading wealth across the country.

Magufuli told Dodoma residents that he himself will move soon, the surest sign that he is serious about re-locating the Government from country’s biggest city, to one less than half the size nearly 500 kilometres away.

The Government’s move from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma is expected to increase in business for the locals.

President Magufuli told the people of Dodoma that the Government’s move would bring new roads, rail and a vast increase in business for them.

International organisations in Dar es Salaam have said that they will stay put. The problem is that most of the major corporations, embassies, government agencies, experts – not to mention international organisations like the UN and World Bank – are all located here in Dar es Salaam. That might make Tanzania a less attractive investment prospect, with key companies and Government buildings hundreds of kilometres apart.

There are also questions about whether Tanzania can afford this move, which is costing hundreds of millions of dollars, and may cause many civil servants to quit their jobs. But despite all of that, the President it sticking to his campaign pledge, and already more than 2,000 public personnel have made the move.

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French narcotics cop sentenced over 50kg cocaine theft

A French narcotics police officer was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Friday for stealing nearly 50 kilogrammes of cocaine from a safe in the headquarters of the Paris force.

The presiding judge in handing down the maximum sentence to Jonathan Guyot, a 36-year-old officer in the drugs squad, said he had been proved guilty "beyond a shadow of a doubt."

Security guards testified to seeing Guyot entering Paris police headquarters, known as 36 quai des Orfevres, late at night in July 2014 when the drugs worth around two million euros went missing.

He was seen leaving carrying two bags and was detained by police around a week later with 24,000 euros in cash and the code for a safe saved in his mobile phone, prosecutors said.

The case shocked the Paris force which has been buffeted by a series of scandals over the last few years.

Choking back tears in court on Thursday, Guyot said he regretted the impact of the case on his family and friends, with his wife, brother and two childhood friends also prosecuted for money-laundering or handling stolen goods.

"I'm unable to excuse myself, so I can't ask them to excuse me," he said, while continuing to deny that he was responsible for the theft.

The drugs remain unaccounted for, but an accomplice, 35-year-old Farid Kharraki, was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday for helping sell the cocaine.

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France “regrets” inconclusive G20 talks on trade, climate

Finance ministers from the world’s 20 biggest economies, gathered in Baden Baden, Germany, dropped vows to fight climate change and anti-protectionism on Saturday.

After a two-day meeting, G20 ministers have not condemned protectionism in its closing statement, although they said they were “working to strengthen the contribution of trade to our economies”.

The omission came as the US delegation refused to sign off on an anti-protectionist pledge. The move is part of President Donald Trump’s larger strategy of pursuing an “America First” agenda. The stance, which has sparked alarm among Washington's trading partners, has so far consisted of withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.

However, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said that his country does not favour the trade policies espoused by Trump, such as raising tariffs on imported goods.

The minister added that France “rejects all unilateral protectionist measures”.

Calls to action to fight climate change, as referenced under the 2015 Paris accord, were also omitted from the statement. These calls, however, had been included in the statement from last year's China-led summit.

This decision again lines up with the agenda put forth by Trump, who has suggested cutting federal funding to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by a third, and eliminating financial contributions to UN climate change programmes.

"I regret that our discussions today were unable to reach a satisfying conclusion on two absolutely essential priorities that our world and which France would have liked to see the G20 continue to take firm and concerted action on," Sapin said.

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Thousands join far-left candidate Mélenchon in Paris march

Far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon was joined by thousands of supporters during a march that he planned for this Saturday in the French capital.

Mélenchon’s “march for the sixth republic” began on Saturday afternoon under grey skies as he led the thousands-strong group from Bastille in eastern Paris.

The candidate announced the march last August in the hopes it would be “the biggest public gathering of the presidential campaign, all candidates included,” according to campaign spokesman Alexis Corbière.

The event came the same day France’s Constitutional Council announced the 11 candidates who had received the 500 signatures from regional officials necessary to stand in the first round. Mélenchon received nearly 700.

“We now know who the candidates are, so we have a clear idea of the political landscape,” said Corbière, who added that the campaign has entered “its last step”.

“When you’ve reached the home stretch, you must accelerate, like in a race,” he said.

Mélenchon’s team hopes the event will boost the candidate’s campaign. With only five more weeks until the first round of France’s presidential elections, the candidate remains a distant fifth in the opinion polls.

Eric Coquerel, who acts as a political coordinator for Mélenchon, said the campaign is “counting on the people to be a propulsive force in the streets of Paris today.”

Overshadowed by Fillon

“Over the last few weeks, our campaign has been frozen by the Fillon scandal,” explained Coquerel.

Right-wing candidate François Fillon, once the presidential frontrunner, has been embroiled in a fake jobs scandal that saw him charged on Tuesday with diversion and misuse of public funds.

Coquerel added that the scandal has “given us all the more reason to call for a sixth republic.” France’s current system of government is the Fifth Republic, which was established by former president Charles de Gaulle in 1958.

According to Coquerel, the sixth republic would aim to “bring an end to the dominant reign of the politicians who mix politics, finance and private interests”.

Mélenchon’s presidential programme calls for transitioning to clean, renewable energy; renegotiating European Union (EU) treaties and trade deals that disadvantage France; fighting tax evasion and fraud; reducing working hours and the retirement age from 62 to 60; and promoting citizen participation in government, to name a few. The outline of his programme can be read in English here.

Hopeful supporters

Jean-Baptiste Dressayre, 21, told French press agency AFP that he “doesn’t believe the polls” that have projected Mélenchon to come in fifth in the election’s first round.

“We must have hope, in spite of the polls,” another supporter, Souad Lopez, 17, told AFP.

“Right now we have an amazing chance to change things,” Nordine Jouira, 35, told AFP. “We’ve been having a lot of positive feedback, contrary to what the polls show.

“We hope to make it to the second round,” she said.

Current opinion polls predict Mélenchon will come in fifth with about 12 percent of the vote in the first round of the election, behind the Socialist Party’s Benoît Hamon.

Far-right National Front leader Marin Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron are currently leading the opinion polls neck and neck, with 26 and 25 percent of the vote respectively. Fillon trails a few points behind them with about 19 percent.

Mélenchon ran for president in 2012. He came in fourth with 11 percent of the vote in the first round.

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France opens anti-terrorist probe after Orly shooting

The second largest airport in France, located some 12 kilometres south of Paris, was evacuated on Saturday morning after security forces shot dead a man who had grabbed a soldier’s weapon.

The man, who has been identified as a 39-year-old Frenchman, was on a police watch list and therefore known to intelligence services, according to Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux. His brother and father have taken into police custody for questioning.

Nearly 3,000 people were evacuated from Orly airport after the man grabbed a soldier’s weapon then hid in an airport shop, where he was shot dead by other soldiers on site. There were no other injuries, and the airport has partially reopened.

The man is suspected of being the same one who shot and wounded a police officer earlier on Saturday morning during a routine check in the northern Paris suburb of Stains. He fled the scene in a car that was later found in suburbs south of the capital.

He is then reported to have been involved in a carjacking in the southern suburb of Vitry-sur-Seine, near Orly, before going to the airport. The stolen car has been found at the airport, according to BBC.

At Orly, the man had attempted to take a woman soldier’s gun, according to Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. Although she managed to hold onto it, two other soldiers intervened as they “found it necessary to open fire to protect her and especially the public”, Le Drian added.

The attacker’s motivations are not yet known.

Bomb disposal experts deployed on site have confirmed the absence of explosives. Police have also affirmed that the man was not armed with explosives. However, security operations are still ongoing.

Traffic to Orly was completely suspended Saturday morning and both terminals were closed. Arriving flights were re-routed to Paris Roissy airport.

The attacker was the subject of a search warrant in 2015 after being “detected as radicalised”, police sources have told AFP, who added that no incriminating evidence was found during the search. He also had a criminal record including armed robbery and drug trafficking.

The soldier whom the man took the weapon from was part of Operation Sentinelle, which was launched after the January 2015 Paris attacks. Since then, thousands of troops have been deployed throughout the Paris region to guard potential targets of terror attacks, such as airports, train stations and religious sites.

In a statement released Saturday morning, President François Hollande wrote that “once again, Operation Sentinelle has proved its usefulness”. He also praised the “courage and efficiency” of the police and soldiers involved in Saturday’s events throughout the capital for “putting an end to the violence committed by a particularly dangerous individual.”

Hollande added that Saturday's events have served to "justify the state of emergency" that has been in place since the November 2015 Paris attacks.

France is still under a state of emergency following a string of terrorist attacks that have left hundreds dead, including a truck attack in Nice last July.

In February, a man with a machete attacked a soldier near the Louvre museum in Paris before being shot and wounded.

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