THE NATION TUESDAY, JULY 2, 2013
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FOREIGN NEWS
South Africa plans Mandela’s birthday S
OUTH Africa’s President Jacob Zuma has told the nation to begin planning for Nelson Mandela’s birthday on 18 July. The former president and global statesman, who will turn 95, remains critically ill in hospital in Pretoria. He was admitted on 8 June with a recurring lung infection. President Zuma’s comments come after Mr Mandela’s ex-wife criticised his governing African National Congress (ANC) party for filming the former president at his home in April. The footage showed Mr Mandela looking dazed and unsmiling during a visit by
•Mandela
agnosed with tuberculosis in the 1980s while he was a prisoner on Robben Island. After his release, Mr
Mandela said that the tuberculosis was probably caused by dampness in his prison cell.
South Sudan resumes oil shipping via Sudan
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OUTH Sudan said on Sunday it had shipped its first oil cargo through Sudan to international markets since 2011, while its vice president visited Khartoum to defuse a row that threatened the cross-border flows vital to both. Sudan told its landlocked African neighbour three weeks ago it would close the two cross-border export
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one of the ANC’s leaders to his home. Winnie MadikizelaMandela told ITV News: “I honestly cannot put in words how hurt the family was and it was one of the most insensitive things for anyone to have done.” Responding to criticism at the time, the ANC defended its filmed visit, saying it was not a “publicity stunt”. On Monday, President Zuma put out a statement reminding “all South Africans to begin planning for Madiba’s birthday”, using the former leader’s clan name.
“We must all be able to do something good for humanity on this day, in tribute to our former president,’’ he said. Mr Mandela is revered for leading the fight against white minority rule in South Africa and then preaching reconciliation despite being imprisoned for 27 years. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and was elected president the following year. He left office in 1999 after a single term. Mr Mandela retired from public life in 2004 and has rarely been seen at official events since. He has a long history of lung problems, and was di-
China to adults: Visit your mother or go to jail
pipelines to Port Sudan within two months unless Juba gave up supporting rebels operating across the shared border. South Sudan, which needs to export oil through Sudan, denies the claims. In a previous dispute over pipeline fees, South Sudan in January 2012 shut down its entire output of around 300,000 barrels per day, but both
agreed in March to resume the flow. South Sudan’s information minister, Barnaba Marial Benjamin, said the first cargo of state-owned oil had left Port Sudan on the Red Sea, without giving details. The African country previously sold 1 million barrels of oil in its first tender since restarting output. The first shipment of nongovernment South Sudanese
oil took place earlier this week, and traders said it probably belonged to China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), which had sold 1.2 million barrels at the start of June. Khartoum had said it will allow the sale of oil already on Sudanese soil. South Sudan’s Vice President Riek Machar met yesterday with Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-
US: Arizona wildfire kills 19 firefighters
T least 19 United States (U.S.) firefighters have been killed battling a wildfire in central Arizona, local officials say. They died while fighting the blaze threatening the town of Yarnell, about 80 miles (130km) Northwest of Phoenix. The fire was started by lightning on Friday and spread rapidly amid high heat, low humidity and strong winds. At least 200 homes were burned. Arizona and other parts of the western US - including California - had near-record temperatures over the weekend. It is the highest death toll for firefighters in a single incident since 9/11. US President Barack Obama said the firefighters were heroes who had “put themselves in harm’s way to protect the lives and property of fellow citizens”. Arizona Senator John McCain said the families of the dead firefighters were in the thoughts and prayers of all Americans. “This devastating loss is a reminder of the grave risks our firefighters take every day on our behalf in Arizona and in communities across this nation. Their sacrifice will never be forgotten,” he
said in a statement. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said it could take “days or longer” to reveal how the deaths occurred. “This is as dark a day as I can remember,” she said. “It has been confirmed that 19 wildland firefighters have
lost their lives on the Yarnell Hill fire Arizona,” the US Wildland Fire Aviation said in a statement. The firefighters were part of a specially trained “hotshot” unit who had battled other wildfires in New Mexico and Arizona in
recent weeks, officials say. They were forced to deploy emergency tent-like structures meant to shield them from flames after becoming trapped and “something drastic” happened, said Dan Fraijo, fire chief in the nearby city of Prescott.
Bashir at the start of a two-day visit, a Sudanese official said. Machar’s delegation also included Oil Minister Stephen Dhieu Dau. The dispute between the neighbours threatens to hit supplies to Asian crude buyers such as CNPC, India’s ONGC Videsh and Malaysia’s Petronas, which run the oilfields in both countries. Diplomats said they doubted Sudan would close the two cross-border export pipelines, because its economy also has been suffering without South Sudan’s pipeline fees. Oil was the main source of revenue for Sudan’s budget until the south’s secession in July 2011, when Khartoum lost 75 percent of its oil production and its status as oil exporter overnight.
Riot police clash with demonstrators on the streets of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Tens of thousands of Brazilians have taken to the streets this month in the biggest protests in 20 years, fuelled by an array of grievances ranging from poor public services to the high cost of World Cup soccer stadia and corruption. PHOTO: REUTERS
Obama declares a new era of US-Africa relations
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•Obama
ASKING in an exuberant welcome, President Barack Obama yesterday declared a new era in the United States (U.S.) relations with Africa based on strategic investment as opposed to charitable aid. Obama’s visit to Tanzania, the last stop on a three-country tour of the continent, offers him a unique opportunity to meet with a fellow U.S. president hailed for his Africa aid programs. Former President George W. Bush plans to be in the same capital city for a conference on
•...defuses Snowden spying fall out African women organized by his institute. The presidents’ brief meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, highlights how the U.S. philosophy on relations with the developing continent has evolved since the time when Bush was in office. Obama praised Bush’s funding for AIDS treatment in particular during a news conference with President Jakaya Kikwete, shortly after his arrival to teeming crowds cheering along his motor-
cade route. “I think this is one of his crowning achievements,” Obama said of Bush’s President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. “Because of the commitment of the Bush administration and the American people, millions of lives have been saved.” But Obama said he wants to change the approach. “We are looking at a new model that’s based not just on aid and assistance, but on trade and partnership,”
he said. For example, he said he doesn’t want to just provide food aid but help for Tanzanians to grow their own. “Ultimately, the goal here is for Africa to build Africa for Africans,” Obama said. “And our job is to be a partner in that process.” Meanwhile President Obama played down a controversy over whether Washington had spied on its European allies, saying at a Tanzanian press conference that the U.S. would address the concerns raised.
GROWN up children who do not visit their aged parents regularly could be fined or even jailed according to a law that took effect yesterday. Exactly what “enough” means is not specified in the law, which will make it hard to enforce, but the legislation underlines how radically China’s modernization and its “one child policy” have transformed the country over the past 30 years. Market reforms have contributed to the break up of the traditional extended family, as more and more young people leave their hometowns to seek work, and population control efforts mean parents have only one child to lean on when they are older. More than 194 million Chinese are over 60-yearsold, according to official figures. By 2030 that figure will have almost doubled.
Hollande: spy row threatens EU-US trade talks FRENCH President Francois Hollande demanded yesterday that the United States immediately stop its alleged eavesdropping on European Union diplomats and suggested that the widening surveillance scandal could derail negotiations for a free-trade deal potentially worth billions. The Obama administration is facing a breakdown in confidence from key allies over secret programs that reportedly installed covert listening devices in EU offices. Many European countries had so far been muted about revelations of the wide net cast by U.S. surveillance programs aimed at preventing terrorist attacks, but their reaction to the latest reports indicate Washington’s allies are unlikely to let the matter drop without at least a strong show of outrage.
Pope Francis to visit migrant island POPE Francis will make a trip to the Italian island of Lampedusa in the Mediterranean Sea on July 8. He will pay homage to the migrants and refugees, mainly from Africa, who have drowned while trying to make it to Europe. Being closer to Africa than the Italian mainland, Lampedusa is the frequent destination for migrants and refugees, mostly from Africa. The Vatican’s Press Office explained yesterday that the Pope was profoundly touched by the recent episode of a boat loaded with migrants from Africa that sank in the sea, the latest in series of similar tragedies. During the morning trip, the Pope will pray for those who have lost their lives in sea, visit the survivors and refugees, encourage the inhabitants of Lampedusa, and appeal to everyone’s sense of responsibility to care for these brothers and sisters in extreme need.