20110409
reuters

LAGOS (Reuters) - An explosion hit a polling booth in a neighbourhood of the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri during a parliamentary election on Saturday, an emergency official said.

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reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) - Two men died from bullet wounds in central Cairo after the army tried to disperse protesters overnight, two medical sources said on Saturday, although the army denied firing any live rounds.

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reuters

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council shelved on Friday a request by Kenya to defer International Criminal Court (ICC) proceedings against six Kenyans charged with inciting violence after the country's disputed 2007 elections.

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FNA
TEHRAN (FNA)- A group of Iranian researchers from Isfahan University of Technology in cooperation with their colleagues at Italy's University of Palermo synthesized titanium oxide nanotubes.

20110409
IRNA
Tehran, April 9, IRNA – Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi said here on Saturday that Bushehr power plant reactor will go critical between May 5-10.

20110409 – A nominee for US ambassador to Kenya has said his country will oppose the request for a deferral of the Ocampo Six cases.

Retired Maj-Gen Scott Gration, President Barrackl Obama’s pick to succeed Mr Michael Ranneberger, told US Senate panel on Tuesday that Kenya’s bid did not meet the conditions for a United Nations- sanctioned reprieve.

Because the US holds veto power in the Security Council, Maj-Gen Gration’s statement signals doom for Kenya’s schedules appeal to the council.

The country must persuade the council that trials at The Hague would jeopardize international peace and security.

But Maj-Gen Gration suggested that the opposite could be true. A UN deferral of the cases “may in some ways exacerbate the situation.”
Hi did note that “other avenues” were open to Kenya, saying it could appeal directly to the International Criminal Court for the cases to be tried at home.

Maj-Gen Gration’s comments reaffirmed the earlier US position articulated by Mr Ranneberger and State Department officials.”

The nominee’s reamarks on other Kenya-related topics also suggest he will carry on with Mr Ranneberger’s approach. Mr Ranneberger’s involvement with the Kenyan youth has attracted sharp criticisms from politicians.

Maj-Gen Gration also deplored what he said was widespread graft in Kenyan society. He said corruption is so pervasive that it is keeping Kenya from having access to development grants given by the US-sponsored Millennium Challenge Corporation.

Maj-Gen Gration is a fluent Kiswahili speaker has been raised partly in Kenya by his missionary parents.

20110409 – The United Nations secretary-general has urged the international community to speed up the arrest and prosecution of the remaining fugitives of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Mr Ban Ki-Moon said an effective healing process had to start with justice and added that the UN was committed to preventing the recurrence of such tragedies as the only way to honour victims of the genocide. His remarks were contained in a speech read on his behalf by the director-general of the UN Office in Nairobi, Dr Achim Steiner at the Rwandan High Commission in Gigiri.

The UN boss also said the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the International Criminal Court and other international courts were sending strong signals that the world will not tolerate impunity and gross violations of human rights.

The 17th commemoration is the first time the Rwanda High Commission partnered withy the UN Information Centre to jointly mark the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 genocide in which more than a million people were massacred in 100 days.

The guiding theme for this year’s commemoration is “Up-holding the truth, preserving our dignity”. The UN secretary-general further paid tribute to the people of Rwanda and their government for the resilience and dignity they had shown towards national healing and recovery.

Kenya has so far surrendered 11 key suspects of the genocide, including war time Prime Minister Jean Kambanda, however it is still widely believed that Felicien Kabuga is in Kenya.

20110409 – top security officials from Coast and North Eastern regions have resolved to increase security on the Kenya-Somalia border to ward off al-Shabaab extremists and other militants groups.

The team also recommended proper screening of aliens fleeing the war-torn country daily. The team comprising of Regional Commissioners Earnest Munyi (Coast) and James ole Serian (North Eastern), as well as Regional Police Commanders Aggrey Adoli (Coast) and Leo Nyongesa (North Eastern) also discussed security challenges facing the two regions.

An official privy to the meeting said the team further agreed on thorough patrols along the 800km porous Kenya–Somalia border that stretches from Kiunga in the Coast to Mandera in the North Eastern region.

According to the official, the meeting was convened because the two regions share common security problems. The team agreed on proper coordination of intelligence and community policing for the good flow of information between security agencies and the public.

In addition, the thorny issues of recruitment of youths into Somalia-based insurgency groups were raised during the meeting.

Fighting spilled over

Muslim leaders recently raised concerns over cases of youths at the Coast being targeted for recruitment by al-Shabaab.

Sheikh Hassan Omar Hassan of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK) said that dozens of those recruited had died in the battle between the militants and the Transitional Federal Government’s forces.

Conflicts in Somalia have sometimes spilled over into some areas of North Eastern Region, causing deaths and injuries.

20110409 – Hundreds of Muslim women from Mombasa, Kwale and Kilifi counties took to the streets to condemn the alleged recruitment of youths by al-Shabaab militants.

The placard-waving protesters converged at the Makadara grounds in Mombasa before marching along the town’s streets.

The Muslim women called upon the government to take action against those behind the ferrying their youth to the war-torn country to join the illegal group.

Ms Farida Rashid of Mombasa Muslim Women Alliance said that those youths who have been rescued from the secret recruitment have been brainwashed by “immoral” messages delivered by some Muslim preachers.

The demonstrators presented a memorandum to Mombasa District Commissioner Abdi Hassan outside his office. They asked him to forward their message to the Internal Security minister Prof George Saitoti for immediate action.

20110408
rfi

Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi shelled the edge of Ajdabiya on Friday forcing rebels to retreat. The assault comes a day after many insurgents and civilians stampeded out of the east city on rumours that Kadhafi's groops were at its gates.

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This Day

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, Thursday postponed Senate and House of Representatives elections in 15 senatorial districts and 48 federal constituencies across 27 states of the federation.

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SAPA

The Constitutional Court in a majority judgment on Friday upheld the Citizen newspaper's appeal in a defamation case against former Ekurhuleni metro police chief, Robert McBride.

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reuters

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Kenyan Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and two other top-ranking officials appeared at the International Criminal Court on Friday charged with inciting the violence that erupted after Kenya's 2007 disputed elections.

20110408
UN News

Three senior Kenyan officials, including the deputy prime minister, today appeared before the International Criminal Court (ICC), which set 21 September as the date for the start of a hearing on the confirmation of charges preferred against them in connection with the 2008 post-election violence.

20110408
Zimbabwe Independent

Harare — PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is tightening the screws on President Robert Mugabe within the southern African region, further isolating him ahead of an anticipated extraordinary Sadc summit on Zimbabwe next month which could be a watershed meeting for the country.

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reuters

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - U.N. workers in Ivory Coast have found the bodies of more than 100 victims of brutal killings, a discovery that threatened to undermine presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara as he seeks to take control of the country.

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reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) - Protesters packed Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday, piling pressure on the ruling military council to meet demands including the prosecution of Hosni Mubarak in one of the biggest demonstrations since he was ousted.

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reuters

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libyan rebels said on Friday they repulsed a government assault on the besieged city of Misrata but prospects faded for a military overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi.

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reuters

GENEVA (Reuters) - United Nations investigators said on Friday they would start next week to probe alleged human rights violations committed by all sides in Libya's conflict and share evidence with the U.N. war crimes tribunal.

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reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - Nigeria's $500 million Eurobond rallied sharply on Friday and its yield premium to U.S. Treasuries fell, as investors bet that oil's surge to 32-month highs would help investors overcome pre-election jitters.