WOMAN JAILED FOR SMUGGLING BABY !
By June Kelly - Home affairs correspondent, BBC News.
A Nigerian woman has been jailed for 26 months for bringing a child illegally into the UK. Peace Sandberg, who was living in the UK, went to Nigeria and bought a baby to become eligible for a council flat, Isleworth Court Court heard. She was convicted last month of bringing a child illegally into the UK. She was reported to police after she initially told council staff she had given birth to the boy, then changed her story to say he was adopted.
Sandberg had a daughter who was living with her in council accommodation in the borough of Ealing in west London. With dual nationality - Nigerian and Swedish - she knew that as a European citizen working in the UK she would be eligible for a council flat because she had a child. But her daughter left the UK and moved to Sweden to live with her father, Sandberg's ex-husband.
With her daughter's departure Sandberg saw her hopes of a new home slipping away - which is when she hatched her plan to get a child. At the end of 2006 she flew back to Nigeria. She had already sent £150 which the police believe was payment for the baby boy. She needed a visa to take him into the UK.
During the trial Andrea Charles, a visa officer at the British High Commission in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, described to the jury how a distraught Sandberg turned up with the baby. She claimed she had given birth to him in Nigeria because she wanted him to qualify for a Nigerian passport. Ms Charles said she had no reason to doubt her story and issued the visa.
When Sandberg arrived back at Heathrow airport she immediately went to the housing department. Councillor Ian Green of Ealing Council says: "She told staff that the child was hers. But they had seen her only a few months before and knew that the child couldn't be hers as she wasn't pregnant at the time. "She then changed her story and said she had adopted the child. "Council officers were still not satisfied and alerted the police and the other authorities because they were of the opinion that she was using this child to gain council accommodation."
A criminal investigation was launched by the Metropolitan Police's Paladin Team, specialists in child trafficking. Det Insp Gordon Valentine, who heads Paladin, said: "This was clearly a case of trafficking. "Peace Sandberg is a heartless woman. She brought the baby from his home environment for the purpose of her own ends without any regard for the future of that child."
Child protection campaigners believe this is not an isolated case. Christine Beddoe, director of the children's charity ECPAT UK, said: "We get information brought to us about suspicions of child trafficking particularly for housing benefit fraud from social services and from children's organisations.
"They don't seem to be reported to the police. But we do believe it is much more widespread than people think." Social services have been unable to find the child's real family in Nigeria. He is now in foster care and looks set to be adopted and grow up in the UK. Det Insp Valentine says: “There is a possibility this child will never know his true identity."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
NEW HEAD FOR NIGERIA GRAFT AGENCY !
Nigeria's powerful anti-graft agency has appointed a new head, five months after moving the former chairman out on "study leave". Farida Waziri, a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police will take over at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The EFCC was set up to tackle Nigeria's huge problem of corruption. But critics say it has instead become a tool for settling political scores and the most corrupt remain untouched.
The BBC's Alex Last in Lagos says the fight against corruption has become the main weapon used against Nigeria's political elite, so the choice of who heads the main anti-corruption agency is important.
He says that these days former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who set up the EFCC, and senior members of his administration are the popular target of choice.
Nuhu Ribadu was removed as EFCC chairman last December after he began investigating a former state governor - one of eight currently facing trial on corruption charges. He had been accused of only investigating the political rivals of former President Obasanjo - charges he denied.
The new chairwoman is a former head of the police anti-fraud unit. She trained Mr Ribadu before he moved to the EFCC, local press reported. Our correspondent says she is well respected among law enforcement agencies, and is said to have a tough, no-nonsense approach. She is the author of a book on "advance fee" fraud, is married to the former Nigerian ambassador to Turkey, and has four children, the Punch newspaper said.
But our correspondent says the question is: Does she have the will and the political backing to really go after people? He says that in Nigeria, where oil money flows, politics, patronage and corruption are inextricably linked. Breaking the cycle means breaking a whole political system, and few in power have the will, let alone the strength to do that, he says.
Nigeria is often ranked as among the world's most corrupt countries by watchdog Transparency International. The government estimates Nigeria has lost around $400bn to graft over the decades.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
UGANDA ARMY KILLS CONGO REBELS !
The Ugandan army says it has killed two Congolese rebels who tried to attack a border trading post. About 20 armed men entered from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and tried to loot a trading center in Kisoro in south-west Uganda. The army said the men were part of a group headed by dissident General Laurent Nkunda.
Uganda and DR Congo have just signed a deal to jointly fight rebels in their territories and re-mark their border. There was no immediate confirmation from Congolese authorities or Gen Nkunda, who has been fighting the Congolese army in the restive North Kivu province.
"We have deployed troops on the border and issued a strong warning using broadcast media to all bad elements near our border not to attempt to cross to Uganda," said army spokesman Captain Tabaro Kichoncho.
In January DR Congo signed a peace deal with Gen Nkunda's group and dozens of other militias roaming the mineral-rich east, which is patrolled by part of the United Nation's largest peacekeeping force.
The agreement was aimed at ending fighting that has displaced more than 500,000 people since early 2007, but daily ceasefire violations have pushed the number of refugees up by 75,000 people since it was signed.
Ugandan districts bordering North Kivu have suffered armed incursions since January 2007, and more than a dozen people have been killed.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
CHARGES URGED FOR KENYA 'TORTURE' !
Kenya's defence minister and army chiefs should face prosecution over the alleged torture of civilians, the state-funded human rights body says. The Kenya National Commission for Human Rights (KNCHR) says medical reports back up complaints of torture.
The military was deployed to the Mt Elgon area in March, in a crackdown on the Sabaot Land Defence Force (SLDF). The government denied the allegations, in turn accusing the militia of committing atrocities. The SLDF says it is fighting for ancestral land belonging to the Sabaot community but has been accused of killing members of rival ethnic groups.
The KNCHR said the minister, Mohammed Yusuf Haji, and army commanders should be held accountable for human rights violations.
"It is important that the government is held accountable where acts of gross violations including torture, murder etc are conducted, that people at the top are accountable in a certain way," KNCHR commissioner Omar Hassan Omar told the BBC's Network Africa programme.
He said they had spoken to residents of Mt Elgon who claimed to have been taken to military camps and subjected to degrading and inhumane forms of torture. "We tied it up with medical reports which confirmed that patterns of torture did take place," Mr Omar said.
KNCHR also called for the prosecution of the Sabaot militia, whose members have been accused of murder and other human rights violations.
Government spokesman Alfred Mutua said the SLDF was guilty of human rights violations. "This criminal group had been carrying out brutal crimes against humanity and endangering lives," he said. The statement said the militia were guilty of mutilation, torture, sexual crimes and recruitment of child soldiers.
But Mr Omar said the brutality of the militia could not excuse the actions of the Kenyan army. "The government is not a militia, it has different standards. It is a conventional army, and a conventional army is held to higher standards of accountability," he said.
The rights body also urged the UN to withdraw Kenyan troops from its peacekeeping missions.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
LAGOS PIPELINE BLAST 'KILLS 100' !
At least 100 people have been killed in an oil pipeline explosion in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos, the local Red Cross says. The blast tore through Ijegun suburb, engulfing schools and homes after a bulldozer burst the pipeline, but was brought under control as night wore on.
Red Cross officials said many injured people had been taken to hospital and rescue attempts were continuing.
Children in schools in the blast area are feared dead.
NIGERIA PIPELINE DISASTERS
December 2007: At least 40 people killed in Lagos
December 2006: At least 250 killed in Lagos
May 2006: At least 150 killed in Lagos
Dec 2004: At least 20 killed in Lagos
Sept 2004: At least 60 killed in Lagos
June 2003: At least 105 killed in Abia State
Jul 2000: At least 300 killed in Warri
Mar 2000: At least 50 killed in Abia State
Oct 1998: At least 1,000 killed in Jesse
As firefighters fought the blaze with sand and water, for much of the evening families searched for those still missing. At least 36 people have been taken to a nearby military hospital, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) spokesman Abdulsalam Mohammed said.
Nigeria is one of the world's major oil producers and pipelines cut through many residential areas, both in cities such as Lagos and oil-producing areas. Several of these have exploded, often when local people cut holes in them to steal oil.
But the BBC's Alex Last in Lagos says it seems this incident was just a terrible accident. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says there were at least 400 acts of vandalism on its pipelines each year, reports the AP news agency.
At least 40 people were killed in a pipeline explosion in December in Lagos last year. In 2006, some 400 people were killed in two blasts in Lagos.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
HIGH ALERT AT UK RWANDAN EMBASSY !
Security has been stepped at the Rwandan Embassy in London, UK, after an attempt to set the building on fire. Police were called to the scene by an embassy staff member who lives in the building and noticed petrol fumes.
The attack on Sunday night comes a few weeks before a ruling is expected on the extradition of four Rwandan genocide suspects from the UK. "This is unacceptable - it shows Rwanda's enemies are still at large," Ambassador Claver Gatete told the BBC. Police officers are examining footage from surveillance cameras around the embassy.
In April, the Rwandan cultural centre in Belgium was also attacked. Some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered in just 100 days during the Rwandan genocide of 1994.
Mr Gatete, Rwanda's ambassador to London, said that unknown people broke one of the embassy's windows and poured petrol inside. He said he suspected that the attack could be part of an ongoing campaign by exiled Rwandan Hutus.
The government in Kigali says many perpetrators of the 1994 genocide have fled to various European capitals, and live under assumed names. "We do not know exactly who is behind it, but we can see the chronology of events," Mr Gatete told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme. "These are the perpetrators of genocide; these are the people who do not want these defendants to be extradited to Rwanda."
The extradition case against the four suspects - three former mayors and a medical doctor - is being heard by a magistrates' court in London.
A ruling is expected on 6 June.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
"Sayings"
"WHEN YOU COME TO A ROAD BLOCK,
TAKE A DETOUR" !
______
NIGERIA MASS EVICTIONS CONDEMNED !
The demolitions were carried out over five years.The authorities in Nigeria's capital Abuja evicted more than 800,000 people from their homes in four years, a report says. Slums were demolished all over the capital between 2003 and 2007 in an attempt by authorities to implement a "master plan" for the city.
But Swiss-based lobby group Centre On Housing Rights and Evictions says the evictions were devastating. City authorities said they were trying to prevent Abuja becoming chaotic. The demolitions took place under the administration of the former minister for the Federal Capital Territory Nasir el-Rufai.
The COHRE said more people were affected than in the slum clearances ordered by Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, which drew worldwide condemnation. "The demolitions have made people homeless, destitute and vulnerable to other human rights violations including violence, theft and rape," COHRE's Deanna Fowler said. "People have lost their access to water and sanitation facilities, health care centres, and schools, and have been forced to move further from sources of employment."
They called on the current minister Moddibo Umar to make a "clean break" from the policy. 'Not for everyone' During his tenure, Mr el-Rufai drew criticism from Abuja residents by saying the city "was not for everyone". People believed he was referring to poor people.
Authorities made it impossible for people to live in the city by refusing to build affordable housing, the report says. There are still not enough houses for people on low incomes, COHRE says. A spokesman for Mr Umar said he questioned the report's numbers. "How did they come up with that figure?" Diran Onifade asked. "The focus of this administration is not on demolishing houses," he added.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
MADONNA CUSTODY HEARING POSTPONED !
Madonna adopted David Banda in Malawi in October 2006. A court in Malawi has delayed its final decision on whether Madonna can have permanent custody of a three-year-old boy until next week. The pop star began adoption proceedings for David Banda in October 2006.
A social worker from Malawi has already recommended that the pop star be able to keep the child in London. Simon Chisale said the singer and husband Guy Ritchie had "shown a strong commitment in providing the infant with all essential needs".
Madonna, 49, was granted a temporary custody order after choosing David from an orphanage when he was 13 months old. He was put there by his father Yohane after the death of the child's mother. There has been controversy in Malawi over the adoption with some human rights groups accusing the courts of "fast-tracking" the custody process.
Madonna has two other children, an 11-year-old daughter Lourdes with her former personal fitness trainer Carlos Leon, and a seven-year-old son Rocco with Guy Ritchie.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
SOLDIERS SUE S.AFRICA OVER AIDS !
South African troops serve as peacekeepers in several countries. A trade union representing South Africa's soldiers is taking the defence ministry to court, accusing it of discriminating against people with HIV. The South African Security Forces Union (Sasfu) says people with the Aids virus are not recruited, or if they become soldiers, are refused promotion.
The defence minister has been quoted as saying that people with HIV could not "withstand difficult missions". An estimated 11% of the population and 35% of the army is HIV-positive. Sasfu deputy president Charles Jacobs said there was a policy of mandatory testing. "Being HIV-negative is a pre-requisite to gain employment in SANDF [South African National Defence Force]," he said. He also said that any HIV-positive soldiers were denied the chance to be deployed abroad and argued these policies were unconstitutional.
South Africa has peacekeepers in several countries but some, like Sudan, insist that potential peacekeepers take an Aids test before being deployed there. The Aids Law Project, which is representing Sasfu, says employers have long tried to argue that people with HIV could not do strenuous jobs but said this was a "lame excuse". Despite the hard line attributed to the defence minister, Deputy-President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka last year gave a different message:
"HIV-positive individuals in the military should be given every opportunity to do the tasks for which they have been trained and which they are still fit to perform," she said.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ZIMBABWE GETS NEW $500M BANKNOTE!
A 10m Zimbabwe dollar note was issued earlier this year. The central bank has issued a 500m Zimbabwe dollar banknote, worth US$2, to try to ease cash shortages amid the world's highest rate of inflation. The previous highest denomination note was for Z$250m, issued 10 days ago.
The annual inflation rate is 165,000% and one economist said prices now double every week. The move comes as Zimbabwe waits for a date to be announced for a run-off in the presidential election between Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai.
Mr Tsvangirai's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has condemned the government's move to delay the election, possibly until July. "It is part of a programme to give Mugabe and [ruling party] Zanu-PF time to torment and continue a campaign of violence on the MDC," opposition spokesman Nelson Chamisa told Reuters news agency.
Amid the economic crisis, Mr Tsvangirai gained more votes than President Mugabe but did not pass the 50% threshold to be elected, according to the official results. However, Mr Tsvangirai says he was cheated of victory. The two rivals are to face each other again before the end of July
"Prices are now doubling every week instead of every month and it is hard to see how we can survive to the end of June or how an election will be feasible at all if things continue to deteriorate at this pace," said Harare economist John Robertson, according to the AP news agency. This is the fourth set of new banknotes to be introduced this year.
At independence in 1980, one Zimbabwe dollar was worth more than US$1. Just one in five of the adult population is believed to have a formal job and some three million people have left the country for a new life in South Africa. The economy has been in trouble for several years, with supplies of basic foodstuffs, cooking oil and petrol all running low.
The run-off was due to be held by 23 May - 21 days after the results of the first round were announced - but the government has issued an emergency law to give it 90 days to organise the new poll. The Electoral Commission said it was not possible to hold the run-off so quickly. But the MDC says about 30 of its activists have been killed in a campaign of violence around the country, aimed at securing victory for Mr Mugabe.
Meanwhile the justice minister has proposed establishing cross-party teams to probe acts of political violence. "Whenever there is a claim of an act of politically motivated violence committed, it should be very good that we form joint teams made up of the Zanu-PF and MDC so that we can establish the veracity of these claims," Patrick Chinamasa told state television.
The MDC had threatened to boycott the second round of voting after accusing Zanu-PF of trying to rig it but over the weekend Mr Tsvangirai said he would take part. He has been in neighbouring countries since the first round because of alleged threats to his life. But the MDC says that Mr Tsvangirai will return to address a rally in Bulawayo on Sunday.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
KENYA ORDER FOR ATHLETHES TO TRAIN !
Kenya expects more from its runners after the intensive training.Kenya's athletics body has ordered runners to report to a training camp ahead of August's Olympics Games or be barred from competing.
Athletics Kenya (AK) says the tough action is part of its training strategy for the Beijing games. Kenya has struggled to regain its former athletics glory, losing the mantle to neighbouring Ethiopia.
AK chairman Isaiah Kiplagat also warned agents and managers against stopping athletes from attending the camp. "Every athlete selected must report to camp on 20 May and if they are not there by the deadline then they will be left out of the Olympic trials," he said. "We are training to win," he added.
The BBC's John Nene in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, says Ethiopian runners have had an edge over Kenyan athletes in the 5,000m and 10,000m races. Since Naftali Temo won the 10,000m gold for Kenya in the 1968 Mexico Olympics, the country has struggled to regain its supremacy in long-distance races, he says.
Around 120 middle and long-distance runners are expected to report to the month-long training camp in the western town of Eldoret. "If an agent, coach or manager stops an athlete from going to camp, then AK shall ban him from representing Kenyan athletes with immediate effect," he said.
AK Secretary-General David Okeyo said the team would undergo intensive training. "We are optimistic that the team will do very well," he said.
The athletics body is receiving nearly $33,000 from the National Olympics Committee of Kenya for the camp.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
OIL SHIP HIJACKED IN NIGER DELTA !
Gunmen in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta have hijacked a ship belonging to an US company and kidnapped its crew. The militants are demanding a ransom of 30m naira ($259,000) for the boat and the crew, a military spokesman said. The vessel, which ferries supplies for the oil company Chevron, was hijacked on Tuesday night near Port Harcourt.
Nine Nigerians, a Portuguese and a Ukrainian were sailing the vessel when the gunmen boarded it, according to military spokesman Lt Sagir Musa. Nobody has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.
Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producing nation, but frequent pipeline bombings and other attacks by militants demanding a bigger share of the profits have reduced output by 25%. The remote and inaccessible creeks of the Delta are also home to criminal gangs who seize oil workers and attack pipelines for money.
Piracy in Nigeria's waters has also increased in the last two years, making its the most dangerous shipping area in the world.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
'ACT TO END AFRICA FOOD CRISIS'
Former UN head Kofi Annan recently called for a "green revolution" in Africa. Action is needed to prevent the current food crisis in Africa from becoming a disaster, the official heading a new UN food task force has warned.
Sir John Holmes told the BBC the solution to food shortages would be different for each country but there had to be a co-ordinated approach. Escalating prices and shortages have sparked riots in more than half a dozen African states in recent months. He said vulnerable children, pregnant woman and the old would be prioritised. "We'll be trying to put together a comprehensive plan of action, but of course that needs to be translated into a local plan," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme.
The United Nations task force brings together the UN, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and other agencies. Much of the focus appears to be on the need for some kind of "green revolution" among farmers - especially in Africa.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently said the world would need to find $1.7bn (£860m) to help them buy the seeds and fertilisers they needed.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
NELSON MANDELA BREAKS HIS PROMISE !
Mr Mandela said he would not break his word again. Former South African President Nelson Mandela has broken a promise not to accept any more awards by receiving the Freedom of the City of Pretoria.
A few years go, he said that he had passed on the "baton of leadership" and that others should be honoured. But at a ceremony at the Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg, Mr Mandela said he had changed his mind because he was grateful to be turning 90 soon.
"We shall from here on certainly not do this again," he said. He said that he accepted the freedom of Pretoria, the nation's capital, "warmly and with humility". Mr Mandela, who has cut down on public engagements in recent years, leaned on his cane and the capital's mayor during a brief appearance in front of reporters after the ceremony, AP news agency reports.
He turns 90 on 18 July, and there is a year-long series of events to celebrate the occasion. Mr Mandela used Tuesday's occasion to comment on the recent attack on foreigners in the township of Alexandra.
"Remember the horror from which we come; never forget the greatness of a nation that could overcome its divisions and bring itself to where it is; and let us never again descend into destructive divisiveness, no matter what the considerations are," he said.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ARRESTS FOLLOW MALAWI 'COUP PLOT' !
Mr Mutharika fell out with his predecessor after becoming president .Heavily armed police in Malawi have arrested four opposition officials and ex-security chiefs after the president said that was a plot to remove him. Those arrested include a former army commander and police chief.
President Bingu wa Mutharika at the weekend accused his predecessor Bakili Muluzi of being behind a plot to remove him by Friday 16 May. Mr Muluzi, who is out of the country, and his United Democratic Front (UDF) party have denied the claims.
The BBC's Raphael Tenthani in Blantyre says the homes of former army commander Gen Joseph Chimayo, former Inspector General of Police Joseph Aironi, UDF Secretary General Kennedy Makwangwala and former Blantyre Mayor John Chikakwiya were raided on Tuesday morning.
They were briefly held at the police headquarters in Blantyre before being transferred to the capital, Lilongwe, for interrogation, he says. Information Minister Patricia Kaliati denied that the arrests were politically motivated. "They have been arrested as any other citizen would if they break the country's laws," she said.
President Mutharika had been involved in talks with the opposition to try and resolve a political impasse that has seen the opposition either boycotting parliament or shooting down government bills.
But at a church meeting on Sunday the president accused Mr Muluzi of being "a coward" for leaving the country while a coup was being planned. "Malawians, let me tell you this was their plan: That Bakili Muluzi would come back home [from London] on 16th and that would not be as leader of his party, but that he would come back home as president of Malawi after removing me from power," Mr Mutharika said.
But Mr Muluzi on Monday denied the allegations on his private Joy Radio. "I am not a violent person," he said. "I think there is something seriously wrong with our president."
Our correspondent says the arrests have derailed the already troubled parliamentary session where the opposition-dominated parliament is refusing to debate any government bills unless Speaker Louis Chimango expels the more than 70 MPs who defected from the UDF to join President Mutharika's newly founded Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Last month, Mr Muluzi, who served two terms before stepping down in 2004, won a contest to be named the UDF's presidential candidate in next year's polls. It is not clear if he would be eligible to stand as the constitution bans a president from more than two consecutive terms.
President Mutharika was elected as the UDF candidate in 2004 but soon afterwards fell out with Mr Muluzi and formed his own party.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
U.S. COURT ALLOWS APARTHEID CLAIMS !
The US Supreme Court is the highest legal authority in the nation. The US Supreme Court has said it cannot intervene over the rights of apartheid victims to sue companies for damages. It said there was potential conflict of interest, as four of the nine justices had ties to the firms involved and could not rule on the case.
By law, at least six justices must sit for the Supreme Court to hear a case. As a result, it could only uphold a lower court ruling allowing a lawsuit to go ahead against firms accused of aiding South Africa's apartheid system. Apartheid was a policy which enforced a separation of the nation's races from the 1940s until the early 1990s.
Among the corporations accused in the lawsuit are oil firms BP and Exxon Mobil, banks including Citigroup and Deutsche Bank and multinationals like General Motors and Ford. The plaintiffs bringing the lawsuit argue that the corporations violated international law by assisting South Africa's former apartheid government.
An appeals court in New York ruled last year that the lawsuit, being brought under a US law which allows foreigners to sue in US courts over breaches of international law, could proceed.
The Bush administration, the current South African government and business groups had sought the intervention of the Supreme Court. They argue that the legal action is damaging to international relations and may threaten South Africa's economic development.
However, the court's hands were tied by federal laws requiring at least six of the nine justices to hear any case. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Stephen Breyer and Samuel Alito all had to sit out because they had financial interests in some of the companies concerned. According to the Associated Press news agency, Mr Roberts owns stock in Hewlett Packard, Mr Alito has shares in Exxon Mobil and Mr Breyer has stock in Colgate-Palmolive, Bank of America, IBM and Nestle.
Justice Anthony Kennedy sat out the case because his son works for Credit Suisse, another company concerned.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
SOUTH AFRICAN MOB KILLS MIGRANTS !
Some 500 police officers have been sent into the township. Police reinforcements have been sent to the South African township of Alexandra, north of Johannesburg, after attacks on foreigners. Two people were killed and about 40 injured during the attack on Sunday.
A crowd of local people attacked migrants from Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, telling them to leave.Police have arrested 15 people. People from across the continent have been attracted to South Africa by its relative peace and prosperity.
This has led to an increased number of attacks on migrants by those who say the foreigners are taking local jobs and contributing to crime. The economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe has lead to an influx of migrants into South Africa.
They raped my sister... I fear for my life.
Earlier this year, two foreigners were killed and 1,000 left homeless when their houses were burnt down outside the capital, Pretoria.
Around 600,000 people live in Alexandra township, which attracts migrants from across southern Africa. The BBC's Mpho Lakaje in Alexandra says mobs chanted "Drive all foreigners away." Many Zimbabweans and Mozambicans occupy shacks and free government houses as they desperately try to make ends meet.
"They took all my money, my stove and other personal possessions," said a woman from Mozambique. "They went on to rape my sister. I’m going to hide at the police station as I fear for my life." "They beat us. Two of my brothers are dead," said a Zimbabwean woman. "We don’t know why they are chasing us away. They didn’t give us any warning."
Neria Malefetse from Johannesburg police said her officers are working to prevent the situation from spiralling out of control. "I believe that xenophobia exists in South Africa," she says. "But we need to find other means of dealing with problems than resorting to violence."
President Thabo Mbeki has condemned the acts of violence.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
OBASANJO DENIES POWER CORRUPTION !
Olusegun Obasanjo said the probe could scare off potential investors. Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has denied any responsibility for the failure of the country's power generation industry.
In a 5,000 word written submission to a parliamentary investigation panel, he said his administration had increased the amount of power generated. He denied any personal responsibility for the corruption the panel said it had found in the industry.
The panel said $16bn had been spent without improving power supply. Mr Obasanjo declined the panel's invitation to appear in person. Many Nigerians rely on personal petrol-fuelled generators and a huge number live without any power at all. Large industry has been virtually destroyed by the poor power supply.
The House of Representatives investigation alleged that Mr Obsanjo's government had paid millions of dollars to 34 "non-existent companies". The committee visited the sites where power stations were meant to be built. It found no work had been done at some sites after several years.
Defending his record, Mr Obasanjo said his government had inherited 18 years of neglect in the power generation industry, and had done well to more than double power supply. To "the uninitiated" it would seem like no work had been done on the power stations, but the reality was that millions of dollars had been "invested", he said .
But he said the investigation into the power sector may actually hamper improvement, and jeopardise Nigeria's development. Private partners were being chased away by the probe because they feared being "criminalised". The former president also said the figure spent on building power stations was much lower than the $16bn the panel claimed.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
THE FOREIGNERS GOING TO STUDY IN UGANDA !
By Sarah Grainger - BBC News, Kampala.
Joe Powell is a 23-year-old student, studying for a master's degree in International Relations. Instead of choosing any of the numerous universities on offer at home in the UK, he has come to Makerere in Kampala. "The life here is totally different from anything I would get in the UK," he says. "You hear opinions and views that you would not get at home and it challenges you and makes you realise people have different opinions."
Every year, thousands of students leave Africa for a university education in Europe or North America. It is there that prestigious institutions are judged to have first class libraries, laboratories and teaching staff. But it is not all one-way traffic. In Uganda, an increasing number of students from the West are choosing to study at the country's oldest university, Makerere.
Of the 30,000 students at the university, 10% are from outside Uganda. Many are from neighbouring countries such as Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania. But in the last five years, there has been an estimated 10-fold increase in the number of students from countries outside Africa - from just five students then to more than 50 now.
Students come from as far afield as Japan, the United States, Canada, Britain and even Norway - which has an exchange programme with a Norwegian university. Foreign students pay up to $4,000 per year in fees, almost twice as much as their Ugandan counterparts.
"Of course they pay fees," says Makerere's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Livingstone Luboobi. "But for me, I would not take that as the most important thing. What is crucial is to do things together and to learn from each other."
Several current or former African heads of state either studied or taught here, including Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki, and the Democratic Republic of Congo's Joseph Kabila. But the university's heyday was in the 1960s. More recently it has suffered from a lack of investment.
Students have to struggle with power cuts, water shortages and lecturers' strikes, and their anger over the situation has, in the past, boiled over into riots. The authorities shut down the campus in 2006, when they feared a lecturers' strike would make students resort to violence.
But Joe Powell is not put off by any of this. In fact it is all part of the learning experience. "The excitement of being here is to know that life is not always as predictable as it is back home." "Sometimes there are teachers' strikes, even strikes by students which is a concept we just don't have in the UK," he says.
Other foreign students say they are attracted to studying in Uganda because the country is considered relatively safe and stable. On top of that, Makerere still has an illustrious reputation. But Joe's classmates have mixed views on his decision to study in Uganda. "At first I thought he was crazy," says one woman. "There are better universities in Britain and Canada with better standards and better facilities". "He is a good friend of ours and we get different experiences from him. We appreciate and welcome them all," says another Ugandan student.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
