Daily Times Nigeria Friday, December 23, 2016
DRC ruling alliance, opposition resume talks ÎÎÎ
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, members of the presidential alliance and the country’s main opposition coalition met again Thursday to try to hammer out a deal on delayed elections. Mediators from the Catholic Church say the two sides need to reach an agreement before Christmas, but so far neither side is showing signs of compromise. The Archbishop of Kisangani, Monseigneur Marcel Utembi, took a firm line as he reopened the talks in Kinshasa. Utembi said the church mediators are not inclined to look favorably on further undue postponements and delaying tactics. He expressed the church’s firm wish that a compromise be found before Christmas. Utembi is the president of CENCO, the organization that represents the Congolese Catholic Church, which is mediating the dispute over delayed elections. The talks were suspended Saturday while a delegation of Congolese archbishops visited the pope to seek guidance on the crisis. During the break, at midnight Monday, DRC President Joseph Kabila’s elected mandate expired. He intends to remain in office until polls can be held. The leader of the Rassemblement, the country’s main opposition coalition, Etienne Tshisekedi, responded by declaring Kabila “illegitimate” and calling the population to “peaceful resistance.” Security forces, heavily deployed since last week, put down sporadic demonstrations that started early Tuesday and continued into Wednesday in Kinshasa and other Congolese cities. Human Rights Watch says security forces have killed 34 people and it is still verifying additional reports. The police have given a lower toll. A spokesman told reporters Wednesday that 21 civilians have been killed, most by stray bullets or while engaged in looting. The police said one of their officers was also killed. But the Rassemblement has returned to the negotiating table. The secretary general of Tshisekedi’s party, Jean-Marc Kabund, spoke to journalists as the talks resumed. He says, “We have come to find a solution as to the illegitimacy and illegality of Mr. Kabila. We have come to negotiate the departure of Mr. Kabila from power. That is all the population needs to know.”
27 Foreign
Pope condemns resistance to reforming Christmas greeting
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Pope Francis on Thursday criticized the resistance he is meeting in reforming the Vatican bureaucracy, saying some of it is inspired by the devil and that the prelates who work for him must undergo “permanent purification” to serve the Catholic Church better. For the third year in a row, Francis took the Vatican bureaucracy to task in his annual Christmas greeting. He said the reform process he was elected to push through in 2013 isn’t aimed at a superficial face-lift for the Holy See, but rather a
profound change in mentality among his collaborators who run it. “Dear brothers, it’s not the wrinkles in the church that you should fear, but the stains!” he said. In 2014, Francis stunned the Vatican Curia, or administration, when he listed the 15 “spiritual ailments” its members were suffering. He accused them of using their careers to grab power and wealth, of living “hypocritical” double lives and of forgetting _ due to “spiritual Alzheimer’s” _ that they’re supposed to be joyful men
of God. Last year, Francis listed a “catalog of virtues” they were supposed to show instead, including honesty, sobriety, respect and humility. This year, he gave the priests, bishops and cardinals who work for him 12 guidelines that are inspiring his reform process, which has involved consolidating Vatican departments and creating new ones. Saying the Vatican must modernize to better respond to the needs of today’s church, Francis said
Trump wants to expand U.S nuclear capabilities
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President-elect Donald Trump says he wants to “greatly strengthen and expand” the nuclear capabilities of the United States. Trump said in a tweet Thursday the United States must take such action “until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes”. Trump’s statement comes just a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin made similar comments Thursday, saying his country’s own nuclear arsenal needs to be “considerably increased.” During a speech to recount the various military campaigns Russia launched in 2016, Putin said improvements are needed to “neutralize any
President-elect Donald Trump military threat.” “We need to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces, especially with missile complexes that can reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defense systems,” he said. The United States and Russia both currently hold
comparable stockpiles of nuclear weapons, with 7,100 and 7,300 respectively, according to the nonpartisan U.S.-based Arms Control Association. Trump’s call for an expansion of nuclear arms also comes a day after he met with several top military officers at his Mar-a-
Mogadishu explosion kills 3 ÎÎÎSomali
government officials say two civilians and a government solider were killed after an explosion near one of Mogadishu’s busiest junctions known as Black Sea, late Thursday. Spokesman for the Mogadishu administration Abdifatah Omar Halane told VOA Somali that the explosion was the result of an Improvised Explosive Devise “IED” which was detonated near a garage where security forces are based. “The enemy of Somali
people have caused this tragedy,” Halane said. He said the security forces were alert and were searching the area for possible explosives when it was detonated. Halane confirmed that the same garage has been the target of several grenade attacks recently since the national security forces took it over in late November. The government deployed the security forces in the garage after investigations revealed that other Al-Shabab attacks were allegedly planned there.
“This is where they readied the truck which was detonated at the vegetable market, that is when the security forces took over the garage,” Halane said. The truck explosion on the vegetable market occurred on November 26 killing 20 people almost all of them civilians. Meanwhile, the African Union Mission in Somalia known as AMISOM says one of their soldiers “deserted” his defensive position at Qoryoley town, 150km south Mogadishu, Wednesday. “Once it as realized he
Pope Francis he wanted the Vatican to be more multicultural and involve more lay Catholics, especially women, in
Lago resort in Florida. It is not clear, though, whether nuclear weapons were discussed at the meeting. During his presidential campaign, Trump made comments that suggest he believes more nuclear weapons would make the world a safer place. “Wouldn’t you rather, in a certain sense, have Japan have nuclear weapons when North Korea has nuclear weapons,” he said during a CNN town hall. But later, in an interview with the New York Times, he said he thinks “it’s a very scary nuclear world.” “Biggest problem, to me, in the world, is nuclear, and proliferation,” he said. Should Trump ultimately choose to expand the U.S. nuclear arsenal, it would come as a major change to recent U.S. foreign policy, which has been to reduce the number of nuclear weapons during the past several decades.
was missing a search party traced his footsteps for about 3km from the camp before disappearing in the thickets,” AMISOM said in a message on twitter. AMISOM said it will continue to search to find the missing soldier. The base where the soldier reportedly deserted is run by Ugandan forces. The Al-Shabab militant group claimed it captured the soldier in a “special operation”. Al-Shabab is already holding captive at least one Ugandan soldier captured following an attack on AU military base in Jannaale on September 1, 2015. Nineteen UPDF soldiers were killed in the same attack.
decision-making. He is also insisting on greater professional qualifications for its staff.
Taliban militants storm Afghan MP’s house in Kabul ÎÎÎ
Taliban gunmen wearing suicide vests stormed the house of an Afghan lawmaker in Kabul, killing at least five people, according to local media and insurgent sources. The assailants are reported to have taken an unspecified number of people hostage and the siege continues. Afghan Special Forces have reached the site and engaged the militants, sparking an intense gunfight. The residence belongs to Malim Mer Wali, a member parliament from the southern Helmand province. An Afghan security source confirmed to VOA the attackers have “possibly” taken hostages, including family members of Mer Wali and several guests who were at his house at the time. The fate of the lawmaker is unclear, though local media reports say he was present inside the house but managed to escape. A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, instantly claimed responsibility, saying the suicide assault was staged when important guests, including key security commanders from Helmand, had gathered in the house.