Month: February 2015

Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan visited the scene of what is feared to be Boko Haram’s worst massacre and vowed that the insurgency would soon be over.

But the Islamists gave a fresh indication of the scale of the task, with three separate bombings in the country’s religiously tense central region and restive northeast that left at least 35 people dead.

The bombings raised fears of a renewed wave of attacks against vulnerable targets in urban centres, as troops from Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon make gains against the militants in rural areas.

The head of the United Nations’ cultural agency has demanded an emergency meeting of the world body’s Security Council following the mass destruction by jihadists of ancient artefacts in Iraq.

“This attack is far more than a cultural tragedy – this is also a security issue as it fuels sectarianism, violent extremism and conflict in Iraq,” UNESCO chief Irina Bokova said in a statement yesterday.

Expressing concern over the continuing political violence in Bangladesh, the US has called for a viable opposition to create inclusive processes and address the current impasse in the country, days after a court ordered the arrest of former prime minister Khaleda Zia in connection with two graft cases.

“We do think that it’s very important that for Bangladesh, as a democracy, to have space for a viable political opposition,” Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Nisha Desai Biswal, told reporters at a news conference at the Washington Foreign Press Center yesterday.

The US has said it is for India to decide Whether it wants to join the international coalition to combat the threat posed by violent extremism, particularly the dreaded Islamic State terrorist outfit.

India and the US are having very “robust discussions” on threat posed by violent extremism in particular IS, it is up to New Delhi on joining the international coalition against IS, the Obama administration said yesterday.

The US has said great opportunities for co-operation on maritime issues with India have emerged after the bilateral meetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama.

“We have a great opportunity emerging now with the (US) President and Prime Minister Modi’s recent get-together, with India and what that partnership means,” Admiral Jonathan Greenert, Chief of Naval Operations told members of the House Committee on Appropriations during a hearing yesterday.

The US can not reassure Pakistan against any Indian threat if it fails to commit itself towards working against anti-India terrorist groups operating within its territory, two US experts on South Asian issues have told American lawmakers.

A top US intelligence official warned Thursday that home-grown “violent extremists” continue to pose the most likely threat to homeland security, Xinhua news agency reported.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that there is “serious” threat posed by extremist groups’ calling for lone-wolf type of attacks against the US and other Western countries.

“Of the 13 attacks in the West since last May, 12 were conducted by individual extremists,” said Clapper.

At least 19 people were killed in a suicide attack on a bus station in Nigeria Thursday, a military source said.

Two male suicide bombers carried out the attack at Tashan Gandu motor park in Biu town, located 187 km to Maiduguri, capital of the northern state, reported Xinhua citing a security source.

One of the suicide bombers successfully detonated his bomb, the source said, adding the other suicide bomber failed in his target as an angry mob pounced on him and beat him to death before the arrival of security personnel.

-IANS

The US Federal Communications Commission Thursday approved the proposal to make Internet a public utility, a decision that will allow increased regulation of online activities to guarantee the open nature of the Net.

The 3-2 vote to approve so-called “Net neutrality” came without any surprises, receiving support from the Democratic members of the FCC, including its president, Tom Wheeler, and being opposed by the Republicans.

An Argentine judge Thursday dismissed the charges late prosecutor Alberto Nisman brought against President Cristina Fernandez of trying to conceal Iranian involvement in a 1994 attack on a Jewish organisation in Buenos Aires that left 85 people dead.

The evidence does not provide even minimal support for the accusations against Fernandez, Foreign Minister Hector Timerman and six other people, magistrate Daniel Rafecas wrote in a ruling that is subject to appeal.

On the contrary, according to the judge, the evidence “categorically contradicts” Nisman’s notion of a conspiracy.

Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog Thursday called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel his planned speech to the US Congress March 3, saying it will cause “strategic damage” to Israel’s ties with the US, Xinhua news agency reported.

Herzog, who is chairman of the Labor Party, started his attack against Netanyahu at a press conference held in Tel Aviv along with Hatnua leader Tzipi Livni. The two merged their parties into a united list, the Zionist Union, which is the top rival for Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party in the March 17 elections.