Day: December 5, 2021

UNITED NATIONS— The United Nations (UN) Security Council renewed for an additional three months its authorization for states and regional organizations cooperating with Somalia to use all necessary means to fight piracy off the coast of the East African country.

Unanimously adopting Resolution 2608, the council decided, for a further period of three months from the date of the resolution, to renew the authorizations, as set out in Resolution 2554, granted to states and regional organizations cooperating with Somali authorities in the fight against piracy and armed robbery at sea off the coast of Somalia, for which advance notification has been provided by Somali authorities to the secretary-general.

The Security Council said that there were no successful piracy attacks off the coast of Somalia in the prior 12 months and noted that joint counter-piracy efforts have resulted in a steady decline in pirate attacks and hijackings since 2011, as well as no successful ship hijackings for ransom since March 2017.

It also recognized the ongoing threat of resurgent piracy and armed robbery at sea, making reference to the letter of Dec. 2, 2021 from the permanent representative of the permanent mission of Somalia to the United Nations requesting international assistance to counter piracy off its coast.

The council also called upon the Somali authorities to interdict, and upon interdiction to have mechanisms in place to safely return effects seized by pirates, investigate and prosecute pirates and to patrol the waters off the coast of Somalia to prevent and suppress acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea.

In addition, it encouraged the Federal Government of Somalia to accede to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and develop a corresponding legal architecture as part of its efforts to target money laundering and financial support structures on which piracy networks survive.

The council decided that the arms embargo on Somalia imposed in Resolution 733, further elaborated upon in Resolution 1425 and modified by Resolution 2093 does not apply to supplies of weapons and military equipment or the provision of assistance destined for the sole use of member states, international, regional and subregional organizations undertaking measures most recently reaffirmed by Resolution 2607.

It also urged all states to share information with the International Criminal Police Organization for use in the global piracy database, through appropriate channels.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

SANTIAGO— A total solar eclipse plunged Antarctica from summer into darkness early Saturday in a rare astronomical spectacle witnessed by a handful of scientists and thrill-seekers — and countless penguins.

“The visibility was excellent,” said Raul Cordero of the University of Santiago de Chile (USACH), who was on site to witness “totality” at 0746 GMT, with the “ring of fire” phase lasting just over 40 seconds.

Solar eclipses occur when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, casting its shadow on Earth. For the eclipse to be total, the Sun, Moon and Earth must be directly aligned.

Totality was visible only in Antarctica, experienced by a small number of scientists, experts and adventure tourists — who paid some $40,000 for the privilege.

Streamed live by NASA from the Union Glacier camp in Antarctica, the eclipse began at 0700 GMT as the Moon began to move in front of the Sun, coming to an end at 0806 GMT.

The Union Glacier camp is situated about 1,000 kilometers north of the South Pole.

According to NASA, a partial eclipse was also visible across parts of the southern hemisphere, including parts of Saint Helena, Namibia, Lesotho, South Africa, Chile, New Zealand and Australia.

The last total solar eclipse in Antarctica occurred on Nov 23, 2003 and the next one will not be until 2039.

An annular solar eclipse — in which the Moon obscures all but an outer ring of the Sun — is set to sweep across North America in October 2023, followed by a total eclipse in April 2024.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

ABIDJAN— Hundreds of women in Ivory Coast took to the streets of Abidjan on Saturday to protest a surge of violence against women, in a country where 800 women reported rapes in 2020.

The movement, dubbed “Offensive Orange”, saw more than 2,000 women march against rape in the Ivorian economic capital, calling it “a weapon of mass destruction with side effects spanning many lives and generations”.

Dressed in orange T-shirts, the demonstrators marched through the bustling Treichville district brandishing placards emblazoned with slogans that included “Rape is a crime, oppose it” and “Zero rape in my country”.

“Time up for rapists!” said the Ivorian women’s minister Nasseneba Toure, who was flanked at the front of the march by the EU’s ambassador to Ivory Coast and a UN women’s representative.

Statistics presented by Toure showed that there were 625 rapes between January and October 2021, while 822 were reported in 2020 compared to 693 the year before.

Nearly 2,500 cases of violence against women were recorded in 2019 and 2020 in Abidjan alone, according to a study by an NGO published last month.

It revealed that 1,290 forced marriages of girls under 18 and 1,121 rapes were recorded in 2019 and 2020 in the city, where there were also 416 femicides over the same period.

The study only surveyed the city of five million, Ivory Coast’s largest, and did not tackle the situation in the rest of the country.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

Gambia’s President Adama Barrow has secured his reelection with a comfortable margin over his opposition in a vote that set the bar for a new chapter in the small West African nation’s democracy.

Barrow won about 53% of the vote in Saturday’s election, according to results from the Independent Election Commission announced Sunday. He easily beat out his main contender Ousainou Darboe of the United Democratic Party who received about 28% of the vote.

This was the country’s first presidential election in decades that did not include former dictator Yahya Jammeh, who now lives in exile in Equatorial Guinea after losing the 2016 election and refusing to accept defeat.

The Chairman of the IEC, Alieu Mommar Njie, announced the results and prayed for peace to prevail in the nation of about 2.4 million people.

“I hereby declare Adama Barrow duly elected to serve as President of the Republic of The Gambia,” he said, after indicating that the National People’s Party (NPP) emerged victorious with 457,519 of the votes cast.

UDP’s Darboe was credited with 238,233 votes, and Mama Kandeh of the Gambia Moral Congress party came in third with 105,902 votes, according to results announced by the IEC.

Demba Sabally, who represented the NPP at Election House, said the presidential election was transparent and fair.

“Gambia is the winner of this election,” he added.

The results, however, have already been contested by four opposition leaders, including Darboe and Kandeh, who on Sunday held a press briefing to challenge the credibility of the vote. According to a statement from the parties, they were concerned about an “inordinate delay” in the announcement of results.

Campaigner Banka Manneh told The Associated Press that he would not deny the opposition leaders their rights to protest. But, he added, “They need provide the evidence of their claims. The courts are here to settle dispute.”

Thousands of people stormed Westfield Youth Monument, located in the heart of Serrekunda, to celebrate Barrow’s reelection.

“President Barrow is a man of peace. We have to give him a chance to continue his development projects,” Modou Ceesay, 36, a resident of New Jeshwang told AP.

Fatou Faal of Kanifing told the AP that Gambians did the “right thing in giving Barrow a chance to complete the development projects he initiated.”

Nearly 860,000 Gambians came to vote on Saturday, a high number that shows a determination for many to exercise their democratic rights as demands for justice in the post-Jammeh era rise.

Barrow emerged victorious in 2016 as the candidate for an opposition coalition that tested the 22-year rule of Jammeh. After initially agreeing to step down, Jammeh resisted, and a six-week crisis saw neighboring West African countries prepare to send in troops to stage a military intervention. Jammeh was forced into exile.

Jammeh’s two-decade rule was marked by arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and summary executions that were revealed through dramatic testimony during Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission hearings that lasted for years.

The other week, the commission handed its 17-volume report to President Barrow, urging him to ensure that perpetrators of human rights violations are prosecuted.

Barrow has vowed to fight for justice for the victims.

Source: Voice of America

Two explosions rocked U.N. camps in the northern Mali city of Gao on Sunday, causing damage but no casualties, AFP journalists at the scene said.

The early morning blasts shook the barracks of the U.N. mission in Mali, called MINUSMA, forcing the occupants to take refuge in shelters for two hours.

The French army reported only material damage, but had no information on the possible perpetrators of the blasts.

MINUSMA spokeswoman Myriam Dessables told AFP that two other camps in the north had been targeted with mortar fire on Saturday, causing no damage.

The latest violence in the West African country comes after 31 people were killed in an attack on Friday by suspected jihadists near the central town of Bandiagara.

Mali has been struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency that first erupted in the north in 2012 and has since claimed thousands of military and civilian lives.

Despite the presence of thousands of French and U.N. troops, the conflict has engulfed central Mali and spread to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.

France, the former colonial power in Mali, has said it will reduce its troop numbers in the Sahel.

It also said it is planning to transfer troops from Kidal, Tessalit and Timbuktu to Gao and Menaka, closer to the turbulent “three-borders” zone near Burkina Faso and Niger.

Source: Voice of America