Poles mark 10th anniversary of death of Pope John Paul II

April 02, 2015

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Roman Catholic faithful in Poland have gathered to remember the Polish-born Pope John Paul II on the 10th anniversary of his death.

Crowds turned out in Warsaw and Krakow, where John Paul served as archbishop before his election as pontiff in 1978. They prayed, light candles and watched videos of the pope, a revered figure in his homeland.

John Paul is credited in Poland with helping to bring down communism by encouraging mass opposition to the Moscow-backed system. His death 10 years ago sparked deep national mourning. But in a sign of how the country is also growing more secular, the crowds that turned out Thursday evening were relatively small.

Germany, France, Italy plan to develop military drones

March 31, 2015

BERLIN (AP) — Germany and France plan to work together with Italy to develop military surveillance drones that could also carry weapons.

French President Francois Hollande said after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday that it is important for Europe to be independent in both manufacturing drones and in using the images they produce.

He said that "more and more images are power — those who have images can act." The plan is for the European drones to be developed between 2020 and 2025. The U.S. practice of using drones for lethal strikes against terror suspects has caused unease in Germany. However, Merkel says she's confident there is "acceptance" in Germany for the idea of developing surveillance drones that could, if Parliament gives its approval, later be armed.

Heavy winds sweep Europe, knock people to their knees

March 31, 2015

BERLIN (AP) — Heavy winds swept across Britain, Germany and the Netherlands on Tuesday, killing one man, knocking other pedestrians to their knees and forcing numerous flight and train delays and cancellations.

German railway operator Deutsche Bahn stopped all local trains in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, which includes Cologne and Duesseldorf. It also halted most long-distance services in Bavaria as falling trees damaged overhead electric wires.

Part of Munich's central rail station was evacuated because of storm damage to the roof, the dpa news agency reported. Pedestrians in the city were slammed by gusts that sent them tumbling to the ground.

Several flights were canceled in Frankfurt and Hamburg. In the eastern German town of Gross Santersleben, a man was killed when a concrete wall damaged by the storm fell on him, police said. In Britain, gusts of up to 97 mph (156 kph) hurled tree branches onto railway lines and toppled high-sided vehicles. One tipped-over truck closed the busy Humber Bridge in northeast England.

Two crew members had to be rescued from a tugboat that capsized and sank amid the heavy winds at a marine terminal in Fawley, on England's south coast.

Buhari wins in Nigeria, defeating Goodluck Jonathan

April 01, 2015

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Amid anger over an Islamic insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives, Nigerians threw out the incumbent and elected a 72-year-old former military dictator in a historic transfer of power officially announced early Wednesday following the nation's most hotly contested election ever.

President Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat to former Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, paving the way for an unprecedented peaceful transfer of power in Africa's most populous nation. "Nobody's ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian," Jonathan said in a televised address to the nation. "I promised the country free and fair elections. I have kept my word."

It will be the first time in Nigeria's history that an opposition party has democratically taken control of the country from the ruling party — considered a sign of the West African nation's maturing young democracy. Jonathan's party has governed since decades of military dictatorship ended in 1999.

Celebrations erupted throughout Buhari's strongholds in northern Nigeria and around his campaign headquarters in Abuja. Cars honked and people waved brooms in the air — a symbol of Buhari's campaign promise to sweep out Nigeria's endemic corruption.

Buhari was to address a news conference later Wednesday. Jonathan's concession came before the final announcement from the Independent National Electoral Commission that Buhari had been elected. Commission chairman Attahiru Jega said Buhari received 15,424,921 votes to Jonathan's 12,853,162. He said among 12 trailing candidates the only woman, Remy Sonaiya, received 13,076 votes.

Both candidates satisfied the requirement for a victor to win at least 25 percent of votes in two-thirds of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Jega said — Buhari in 27 states and Jonathan in 26.

Buhari won 19 states to Jonathan's 17 and the small Federal Capital Territory. Buhari, who ruled with an iron hand during a brief tenure in the 1980s, dealt a decisive defeat to Jonathan. He won overwhelmingly in the final state to report results, northeastern Borno, the birthplace of the brutal Islamic insurgent group, Boko Haram, and the one that has endured the worst suffering from the Islamic uprising that has swept through villages and towns in the north, killing thousands of civilians and kidnapping many more, including hundreds of schoolgirls.

Besides dominating, as expected, in his northern strongholds, Buhari crucially carried Lagos state, Nigeria's commercial hub with the largest number of voters, though fewer than one-third of eligible voters participated. He also took other critical competitive states in the country's southwest.

Spontaneous celebrations sprang up across cities in northern Nigeria, where Buhari is almost revered. Young men on motor scooters performed wheelies as hundreds of youths chanted, "Change! Change! Change!" and cars honked their horns in support. In Kano state, Buhari delivered a crushing defeat to Jonathan, winning 1.9 million votes to Jonathan's 215,800.

Outside Buhari's party headquarters in Abuja, women chanted songs and used grass brooms to elaborately sweep the way ahead of arriving dignitaries in flamboyant robes. The traditional broom is the sign of Buhari's campaign pledge to sweep out the corruption endemic in Nigeria.

"This election is not about Buhari or Jonathan, it's about Nigeria, it's about freedom, it's about change, it's about unity," Aisha Birma said. She said Jonathan lost because he failed to provide security for Nigerians.

"What we have gone through, the Boko Haram insurgency for the past six years in Borno. ... You, Jonathan, were responsible for our lives and property. When you don't protect our lives and property, you can't talk about infrastructure, education ... Security is paramount," she said.

The austere and strict Buhari has described himself as a belated convert to democracy, promising that if elected, he would stamp out the insurgency in the north waged by Boko Haram, the homegrown Islamic extremist group that has pledged fealty to the Islamic State group.

Critics and supporters alike agree that Buhari is the one leader who did not treat the country's treasury as a personal piggy bank. During his brief 1983-1985 dictatorship he ruled with an iron fist, jailing people even for littering, and ordering civil servants who arrived late to work to do squats. He gagged the press and jailed journalists to cover up a deepening economic crisis as prices tumbled for the oil on which Nigeria's economy depends. He eventually was overthrown by his own soldiers.

Nigeria's 170 million people are divided almost equally between Christians mainly in the south and Muslims, like Buhari, who dominate the north. In this election Buhari for the first time won states in the southwest and even took one-third of votes in a southeastern state — an unprecedented development that many say was more a reflection of voter antipathy toward Jonathan than pro-Buhari sentiment.

Buhari's showing in his fourth bid to become president was boosted by the formation of a coalition of major opposition parties two years ago. Its choice of Buhari as a single candidate presented the first real opportunity in the history of Nigeria to oust a sitting president.

Buhari also was able to count on considerable voter dissatisfaction with the performance of Jonathan, who has been president since 2010. "If indeed Buhari becomes president, it sends a clear message to the people in government that you cannot take the people of Nigeria for granted and that Nigerian democracy is maturing," said journalist and political analyst Kadaria Ahmed.

She cited Jonathan's perceived insensitivity to the suffering of citizens caught up in the mayhem of Boko Haram's uprising, in which some 10,000 people were killed last year and more than 1.5 million people have been driven from their homes, as stoking opposition to his re-election.

"Boko Haram was a factor both as a security threat to Nigeria, but also because it became emblematic of a broader failure of the incumbent administration. It became the icon of its shortcomings," said J. Peter Pham, director of the Atlantic Council's Africa Center.

The Nigerian military, with help from regional troops, forced Boko Haram out of areas the insurgents had taken in recent months as they formed their self-styled "caliphate." Nigerians praised Jonathan for his gracious concession.

"In the history of Nigeria, I think this is the first time where a contestant has called his rival to congratulate him," retired Gen. Abdusalam Abubakar, a former head of state and head of a national peace committee, said after meeting Jonathan on Tuesday.

In the war room where Jonathan's campaign workers were crunching numbers, as it became clear their candidate might lose on Monday night, according to a person who was there and asked for anonymity because the meeting was private. She said glum campaign workers explained the situation to Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who responded: "Democracy in Nigeria is strong. There's no loss, only gain."

Because of decades of military dictatorship, Saturday's vote was only the eighth election since the country won independence from Britain in 1960, and the fifth since democracy was restored in 1999.

Associated Press writers Andrew Drake in Abuja, Ben Curtis in Kano, Nigeria; Jerome Delay in Kaduna, Nigeria, and Lekan Oyekanmi in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, contributed to this report.

Buhari: Nigeria embraces democracy, 1-party state behind us

April 01, 2015

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari said Wednesday it was time "to heal wounds," a day after Nigeria's president conceded defeat in a bitterly fought election.

Calling for conciliation across the political divide, Buhari said Nigerians have put a one-party state behind them and embraced democracy. "We have voted for a president and a government that will serve and govern but never rule over you," he said. "Change has come. A new day and a new Nigeria are open to us. The victory is yours."

Buhari, 72, said Nigerians showed they can bring about peaceful change through the ballot box. When Buhari is sworn in it will be the first time in Nigeria's history that an opposition party has democratically taken control of the country from the ruling party — considered a sign of the West African nation's maturing young democracy. President Goodluck Jonathan's party has governed since decades of military dictatorship ended in 1999.

Jonathan conceded with grace late Tuesday, saying "I promised the country free and fair elections. I have kept my word." He urged aggrieved colleagues in his People's Democratic Party to turn to the courts. "Today, the PDP should be celebrating rather than mourning. We have established a legacy of democratic freedom, transparency, economic growth and free and fair elections."

Buhari was the sole candidate of a coalition of the major political parties that formed two years ago and transformed Nigeria's political landscape by offering the first real challenge to the governing party that has been in power since 1999 in Africa's richest and most populous

Results from Saturday's election show Buhari winning votes across religious, tribal lines and geopolitical lines. Because of decades of military rule — Buhari himself was made military ruler of Nigeria after a Dec. 31, 1983 coup — this is only the eighth election in Nigeria's history and the fifth since democracy was restored in 1999.

"You voted for change and now change has come," said Buhari, who describes himself as a convert to democracy. "Your vote affirms that you believe Nigeria's future can be better than what it is today." He was addressing supporters at his party secretariat in Abuja, the capital, around 6 a.m.

Buhari's victory was fueled by popular anger over an Islamic insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives. Outside Buhari's party headquarters in Abuja overnight, women chanted songs and used grass brooms to elaborately sweep the way ahead of arriving dignitaries in flamboyant robes. The traditional broom is the sign of Buhari's campaign pledge to sweep out the corruption endemic in Nigeria.

"This election is not about Buhari or Jonathan, it's about Nigeria, it's about freedom, it's about change, it's about unity," Aisha Birma said, adding that Jonathan lost because he failed to provide security for Nigerians.

"What we have gone through, the Boko Haram insurgency for the past six years in Borno. ... You, Jonathan, were responsible for our lives and property. When you don't protect our lives and property, you can't talk about infrastructure, education ... Security is paramount," she said.

Jonathan's concession has defused tensions and fears of post-election violence. Some 1,000 people died and 65,000 were made homeless in riots in the Muslim north after Buhari lost to Jonathan in 2011.

Things to know about Nigeria, as country picks new president

March 31, 2015

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria's election has achieved the first democratic handover of power from one party to another. Here's a look at Africa's most populous country and biggest economy.

GEOGRAPHY: Nigeria is twice the size of California, with an area of nearly 360,000 square miles (579,000 square kilometers). It is set on the Gulf of Guinea on West Africa's Atlantic coast and borders Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger. Its topography ranges from mangrove swamps in the southern Niger Delta to semi-arid desert in the north.

PEOPLE

Nigeria is home to an estimated 170 million people. Of more than 250 ethnic groups, the population is split between a predominantly Christian south and Muslim north. A small percentage practices indigenous beliefs. Twelve northern states have implemented Shariah law, an Islamic code of conduct, though the governments remain secular.

LANGUAGE

English is Nigeria's official language; more than 500 local languages and dialects are widely spoken. The main three language groups are Yoruba, Hausa and Ibo.

ECONOMY

Crude oil drives Africa's biggest economy, funding an estimated 80 percent of all government spending. Statistics suggest that 70 percent of Nigerians live in poverty on $2 or less a day. Despite endemic corruption, Nigeria is Africa's top destination for direct foreign investment and is a leading frontier market.

THE ELECTION

Former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari, backed by a coalition of opposition parties, has defeated President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian who came to power after the death of the country's elected Muslim leader in May 2010. This is the first time in Nigeria's history that an opposition party has democratically taken control of the country from the ruling party — a sign of the West African nation's maturing young democracy. Jonathan's party had governed since decades of military dictatorship ended in 1999.

HISTORY

Nigeria gained independence from Britain in 1960. In 1967, the oil-rich eastern region tried to gain independence in a 30-month civil war that left more than 1 million dead. Peace and an oil boom in the 1970s brought in billions of dollars, but corruption has undermined Nigeria's prosperity and development. The country has been marked by decades of coups and military rule.

Nigeria new leader Muhammadu Buhari has strict reputation

March 31, 2015

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria's next president, the first opposition candidate to unseat a democratically elected president in the country's history, also knows how to take power through other means.

On Dec. 31, 1983, the military mounted a coup and Muhammadu Buhari, then a major general, became the country's leader. Now 72, Buhari says he has undergone radical changes since those days and that he now champions democracy. After the coup, he ran an authoritarian regime until fellow soldiers ousted him less than 20 months later, placed him under house arrest and handed power to another major general.

Buhari's regime had executed drug dealers, returned looted state assets and sent soldiers to the streets with whips to enforce traffic laws. With oil prices slumping and Nigerians saying foreigners deprived them of work, Buhari's regime ordered an estimated 700,000 illegal immigrants to leave the country. Government workers arriving late to their offices were forced to perform squats.

His "war against indiscipline" won many followers, though his administration was criticized by others for detaining journalists critical of the government and for passing laws that allowed indefinite detention without trial.

"A lot of people will tell you that they have their reservations about Buhari for many reasons — some because he was a military dictator and they worry whether he can uphold democratic principles and create democratic space," said Kadaria Ahmed, a Nigerian journalist and political analyst.

This was Buhari's fourth bid to become president. A U.S. government official noted on Tuesday that Buhari was a good loser in those instances. "Buhari has peacefully contested the last few presidential elections and accepted the results of those votes, even when he questioned the credibility of the process," a U.S. State Department official told reporters in Washington.

In this campaign, Buhari promised to introduce universal health care, a pledge that many say is extravagant and unrealistic. Some Nigerians sickened by the growing corruption under President Goodluck Jonathan's administration say Buhari's image of honesty and strictness is what the country needs. In addition, his background in the military is seen as invaluable in the fight against Boko Haram, Nigeria's homegrown Islamic extremist group which has wreaked bloody havoc in northern Nigeria.

"Those who ... voted for him think he presented a much better proposition for Nigerians than the present government," Ahmed observed. Some of Buhari's past stances haunted him in this election campaign, including statements in the 1980s that he would introduce Islamic Shariah law across Nigeria. A moderate form of Shariah was introduced in northern states in the 1990s but it operates alongside Western-style courts and only in majority-Muslim states.

Also there were criticisms of his leadership style, with some observers saying he delegated too much authority and if that continues they worry that his presidency could be hijacked and run by people around him.

Nigerians await final tally in bitter presidential vote

March 31, 2015

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The second day of vote counting in Nigeria's bitterly contested presidential vote started late on Tuesday and electoral officials hope to announce later in the day who will govern Africa's richest and biggest nation.

Early returns from half the states have President Goodluck Jonathan winning nine states and the Federal Capital Territory and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari winning nine states. But Buhari won 8.5 million votes to Jonathan's 6.48 million. A candidate must take at least 50 percent of all votes and at least 25 percent of votes in two-thirds of the states to win.

About a dozen of the 18 remaining states still have to send results to the counting center in Abuja. Final results are hoped for by the end of the day but results from only a few of the remaining states have been delivered, electoral commission spokesman Kayode Idowu told The Associated Press.

It's the first time in Nigeria's history that a challenger has a real chance of defeating a sitting president. This is only the eighth election since independence from Britain in 1960. Buhari swept the northern states of Kano and Kaduna, as expected, but margin of his victory was unexpected. In Kano, the state with the second-largest number of voters, Buhari won 1.9 million votes to Jonathan's 216,000. In Kaduna, Buhari won 1.1 million votes to Jonathan's 484,000.

The count in Abuja is being carried out in the presence of party representatives, national and international observers and media. The counting has started late on both Monday and Tuesday, with no explanations given for the delays.

The U.S. and Britain on Monday warned of "disturbing indications" that the tally could be subject to political interference. In a joint statement the two countries said they would be "very concerned" by any attempts to undermine the independence of the electoral commission and distort the will of the Nigerian people.

"So far, we have seen no evidence of systemic manipulation of the process. But there are disturbing indications that the collation process — where the votes are finally counted — may be subject to deliberate political interference," said the statement, signed by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his British counterpart, Philip Hammond.

Jonathan's party called the suggestions "absolute balderdash" and demanded evidence. Campaign spokesman Femi Fani-Kayode told foreign reporters that they "completely reject the assertion or the notion that we are in any way interfering" with the electoral commission.

"I will challenge John Kerry or any other foreign official to provide the evidence," he said. Widespread rigging has occurred in many previous elections, along with violence after those votes. New biometric cards aimed at stemming fraud were used but some newly imported card readers were not working properly, and voting was extended to Sunday in 300 out of 150,000 polling stations where that problem occurred, the election commission said.

Turnout was high Saturday among the nearly 60 million people eligible to vote in the high-stakes election, which took place despite a campaign of violence by the Islamic extremists of Boko Haram in northern Nigeria.

Nigeria's Buhari closes in on historic election victory

Tue Mar 31, 2015

ABUJA
By Ed Cropley and Tim Cocks

(Reuters) - Nigerian opposition contender Muhammadu Buhari, an ex-general who first won power three decades ago in a military coup, closed in on a historic election victory on Tuesday, maintaining a hefty lead in the vote count in Africa's most populous nation.

According to a Reuters tally collated from 33 of Nigeria's 36 states, the 72-year-old Buhari had more than 14 million votes, testament to the faith Nigerians have put in him as a born-again democrat intent on cleaning up Nigeria's corrupt politics.

Buhari's support compared to 11 million for President Goodluck Jonathan, whose five years at the helm of the richest country in Africa have been plagued by corruption scandals and an insurgency by Islamist Boko Haram militants.

One of Jonathan's big support bases in the oil-producing Niger Delta is yet to report but the gap is so large that most analysts said it was impossible to see the leader of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) closing it.

Bar some technical glitches and the killing of more than a dozen voters by Boko Haram insurgents in the northeast, the election has been the smoothest since the end of military rule in 1999 - a factor that appears to have played in the outcome.

"There are probably lots of reasons why the PDP might have lost, but I think the key one is that the elections just haven't been rigged," said Antony Goldman, a business consultant with high-level contacts in Nigeria.

"If you leave it to the Nigerian people they will be ready to make big decisions and to make Nigeria look something more like a conventional democracy."

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/31/us-nigeria-election-idUSKBN0MR0VN20150331.

Al-Shabab militants kill 147 at university in Kenya

April 03, 2015

GARISSA, Kenya (AP) — Al-Shabab gunmen rampaged through a university in northeastern Kenya at dawn Thursday, killing 147 people in the group's deadliest attack in the East African country. Four militants were slain by security forces to end the siege just after dusk.

The masked attackers — strapped with explosives and armed with AK-47s — singled out non-Muslim students at Garissa University College and then gunned them down without mercy, survivors said. Others ran for their lives with bullets whistling through the air.

Amid the massacre, the men took dozens of hostages in a dormitory as they battled troops and police before the operation ended after about 13 hours, witnesses said. When gunfire from the Kenyan security forces struck the attackers, the militants exploded "like bombs," Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery said, adding that the shrapnel wounded some of the officers.

Al-Shabab spokesman Ali Mohamud Rage said fighters from the Somalia-based extremist group were responsible. The al-Qaida-linked group has been blamed for a series of attacks in Kenya, including the siege at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi in 2013 that killed 67 people, as well as other violence in the north. The group has vowed to retaliate against Kenya for sending troops to Somalia in 2011 to fight the militants staging cross-border attacks.

Most of the 147 dead were students, but two security guards, one policeman and one soldier also were killed in the attack, Nkaissery said. At least 79 people were wounded at the campus 145 kilometers (90 miles) from the Somali border, he said. Some of the more seriously wounded were flown to Nairobi for treatment.

A dusk-to-dawn curfew was ordered in Garissa and three nearby counties. One suspected extremist was arrested as he tried to flee, Nkaissery told a news conference in Nairobi. Police identified a possible mastermind of the attack as Mohammed Mohamud, who is alleged to lead al-Shabab's cross-border raids into Kenya, and they posted a $220,000 bounty for him. Also known by the names Dulyadin and Gamadhere, he was a teacher at an Islamic religious school, or madrassa, and claimed responsibility for a bus attack in Makka, Kenya, in November that killed 28 people.

One of the survivors of Thursday's attack, Collins Wetangula, told The Associated Press he was preparing to take a shower when he heard gunshots coming from Tana dorm, which hosts both men and women, 150 meters (yards) away. The campus has six dorms and at least 887 students, he said.

When he heard the gunshots, he locked himself and three roommates in their room, said Wetangula, who is vice chairman of the university's student union. "All I could hear were footsteps and gunshots. Nobody was screaming because they thought this would lead the gunmen to know where they are," he said.

He added: "The gunmen were saying, 'Sisi ni al-Shabab,'" — Swahili for "We are al-Shabab." He heard the attackers arrive at his dormitory, open the doors and ask if the people who had hidden inside were Muslims or Christians.

"If you were a Christian, you were shot on the spot," he said. "With each blast of the gun, I thought I was going to die." The gunmen then started shooting rapidly, as if exchanging fire, Wetangula said.

"The next thing, we saw people in military uniform through the window of the back of our rooms who identified themselves as the Kenyan military," he said. The soldiers took him and around 20 others to safety.

The attack began about 5:30 a.m., as morning prayers were underway at the university mosque, where worshippers were not attacked, said Augustine Alanga, a 21-year-old student. At least five heavily armed, masked gunmen opened fire outside his dormitory, turning intense almost immediately and setting off panic, he told the AP by telephone.

The shooting kept some students indoors but scores of others fled through barbed-wire fencing around the campus, with the gunmen firing at them, he said. "I am just now recovering from the pain as I injured myself while trying to escape, Alanga said. I was running barefoot," Alanga said.

As terrified students streamed out of buildings, arriving police officers took cover. Kenya's National Police Service said a "fierce shootout" ensued as police guarded the dorms. Three dorms were evacuated as the gunmen holed up in a fourth, and Kenyan Defense Forces surrounded the campus.

"I am saddened to inform the nation that early today, terrorists attacked Garissa University College, killed and wounded several people, and have taken others hostage," President Uhuru Kenyatta said in a speech to the nation while the siege was underway.

After the militants took hostages, fears arose over the fate of some of the students, but the National Disaster Operations Center said all were eventually accounted for. The U.S. condemned the attack, with White House spokesman Josh Earnest saying Washington was standing with the people of Kenya, "who will not be intimidated by such cowardly attacks." U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also condemned it, reiterating his solidarity with the Kenyans "to prevent and counter terrorism and violent extremism," his office said.

Wetangula, who was rescued by troops, said one soldier instructed a group of students to run and to dive for cover at their command as they ran to safety. "We started running and bullets were whizzing past our heads, and the soldiers told us to dive," Wetangula said. The soldier told students later that al-Shabab snipers were perched on a three-story dormitory called the Elgon, he said.

Kenyatta has been under pressure to deal with insecurity caused by a string of attacks by al-Shabab. In his speech to the country, he said he had directed the police chief to speed up the training of 10,000 police recruits because Kenya has "suffered unnecessarily due to shortage of security personnel."

Kenya's northern and eastern regions near the Somali border have seen many attacks blamed on al-Shabab. Last month, al-Shabab claimed responsibility for attacks in Mandera county on the Somali border in which 12 people died.

Police said 312 people have been killed in al-Shabab attacks in Kenya from 2012 to 2014. Last week, al-Shabab claimed responsibility for a siege at a Mogadishu hotel that left 24 people dead, including six attackers.

Odula reported from Nairobi and Muhumuza reported from Kampala, Uganda. Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Thailand junta replaces martial law with absolute power

April 02, 2015

BANGKOK (AP) — The big topic of conversation in Thailand is martial law. Technically it's gone, but in reality it's still there.

On Wednesday, Thailand's junta lifted martial law, which was imposed in the run-up to their May 22, 2014, coup — but then quickly replaced it with another set of draconian laws innocuously called "Article 44." But make no mistake — 10 months after staging the coup, a military junta is still ruling Thailand, essentially with absolute power.

The move is the junta's latest cosmetic change aimed at putting a softer face on a military-ruled country, according to scholars, jurists and rights groups who called the development a PR stunt and a sleight of hand aimed at helping restore Thailand's image abroad while keeping the junta firmly in control at home. Others wondered half-jokingly if the government of former army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha pranked the country with an April Fool's joke.

"Martial law may be lifted, but Thailand remains deeply sunk in unchecked military rule," Verapat Pariyawong, an independent political analyst and Harvard-educated lawyer said in a statement, noting that the announcement came Wednesday in "ironic fashion on April Fool's Day."

Prayuth's government had faced growing pressure from overseas and particularly Thailand's own business community to revoke martial law. Although it wasn't generally visible in everyday life — there were few soldiers in the streets — it was devastating for Thailand's image and its economy. It scared off foreign investors and hurt tourism, which accounts for nearly 10 percent of the GDP. Tour operators complained that it was a deterrent to tourists — partly because many insurance companies won't cover travelers to countries under martial law.

Thailand's king on Wednesday formally approved a request from the junta that martial law be lifted. Within minutes of the announcement being aired on national television, another announcement was broadcast informing the country that in place of martial law, the junta was invoking Article 44, a special security measure in the military-imposed interim constitution. It gives Prayuth the power to override any branch of government in the name of national security, and absolves him of any legal responsibility for his actions.

Thai media have referred to it as "the dictator law." Under similar legislation in the 1960s, a Thai dictator carried out summary executions. "From the outside, the lifting of martial law is good news for business and tourism," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist and director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.

"But from the inside, we're functionally in the same boat," he said about Article 44. "Similar restrictions are still in place. And where there are pockets of dissent and political expression it is likely to be more draconian."

There are many similarities between martial law and Article 44, and some significant differences. Both provide sweeping powers to the military and allow the military to make arrests and conduct searches without warrants. Both also provide for trials of suspects in military courts and censorship in the name of preserving order.

Article 44, however, centralizes power under the head of the junta, who is Prayuth, unlike martial law which more broadly puts the military in charge of public security. Article 44, like martial law, allows authorities to ban public gatherings but it goes a step further by specifying harsh penalties. It says people who join unauthorized political gatherings of more than five can face up to 6 months in prison.

Wednesday evening, the junta televised an order detailing 14 provisions under Article 44, but it can issue more later. The New York-based group Human Rights Watch said the decision to invoke Article 44 marked "Thailand's deepening descent into dictatorship."

"Thailand's friends abroad should not be fooled by this obvious sleight of hand by the junta leader to replace martial law with a constitutional provision that effectively provides unlimited and unaccountable powers," said Brad Adams, the group's Asia director.

Thailand's military has a history of intervening in politics, having seized power 12 times since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932. In many ways, the move marks another cosmetic evolution for Prayuth, who led the coup as the country's powerful army chief but then shed his uniform and suited up to assume the role of prime minister.

Prayuth imposed martial law on May 20, 2014, and two days later led the coup that toppled the elected civilian government after months of sometimes-violent street protests. Since the coup, the junta has moved to consolidate power. In July, the military adopted the interim 48-article constitution and formed a junta-appointed legislature. In August, the legislature appointed Prayuth as prime minister — a post he said he will retain until elections, though no date has been set. Polls were initially promised for this year, then pushed to sometime in 2016.

Stability has been restored but at a steep price. Thailand's democratic institutions were dismantled, and the country's authoritarian rulers have crushed dissent. Critics say the coup leaders' real goal is to eliminate the political influence of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was overthrown in a 2006 coup. His sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, was ousted by a court ruling just days before last year's coup and later barred from holding office for five years.

The coup was part of a societal schism that in broad terms pits the majority rural poor, who back the Shinawatras, against an urban-based elite that is supported by the army and staunch royalists, who see the Shinawatras as a threat to the traditional structures of power.

Prayuth sought to downplay concerns about Article 44, saying nobody had made much fuss about it until now. "Article 44 will be exercised constructively," Prayuth said. "Don't worry, if you're not doing anything wrong, there's no need to be afraid."

Associated Press writers Thanyarat Doksone, Grant Peck and Todd Pitman contributed to this report.

Thai leader moves to lift martial law, impose absolute power

March 31, 2015

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's military-installed prime minister said Tuesday he plans to lift martial law 10 months after staging a coup, but will invoke a special security measure that critics say is more draconian.

The development has sparked concern from human rights groups, lawyers, political parties and scholars who say the measure, Article 44 of a junta-imposed interim constitution, gives Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha unchecked authority over all three branches of government.

Prayuth, the former army commander who led the May 22, 2014, coup that overthrew an elected government, told reporters Tuesday that he is seeking King Bhumibol Adulyadej's approval to revoke martial law. The monarch's approval is considered a formality.

Prayuth has faced growing pressure to scrap martial law, which places the military in charge of public security nationwide and has been criticized as a deterrent to tourists and foreign investors. Thai media have referred to Article 44 as "the dictator law." Under a similar law in the 1960s, a Thai dictator carried out summary executions.

The measure gives Prayuth power over all aspects of government, law and order, and absolves him of any legal responsibility for his actions. "Article 44 essentially means Prayuth is the law. He can order the detention of anyone without charge, without having to put the person on trial and for as long as he desires," Pravit Rojanaphruk, an outspoken columnist for The Nation newspaper, wrote Tuesday.

Prayuth sought to downplay the concerns, telling reporters he would use Article 44 "constructively" to solve security issues. "Don't worry," he told reporters after a Cabinet meeting. "If you're not doing anything wrong, there's no need to be afraid."

As stars form, magnetic fields influence regions big and small

Boston MA (SPX)
Apr 01, 2015

Stars form when gravity pulls together material within giant clouds of gas and dust. But gravity isn't the only force at work. Both turbulence and magnetic fields battle gravity, either by stirring things up or by channeling and restricting gas flows, respectively. New research focusing on magnetic fields shows that they influence star formation on a variety of scales, from hundreds of light-years down to a fraction of a light-year.

The new study, which the journal Nature is publishing online on March 30th, probed the Cat's Paw Nebula, also known as NGC 6334. This nebula contains about 200,000 suns' worth of material that is coalescing to form new stars, some with up to 30 to 40 times as much mass as our sun. It is located 5,500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Scorpius.

The team painstakingly measured the orientation of magnetic fields within the Cat's Paw. "We found that the magnetic field direction is quite well preserved from large to small scales, implying that self-gravity and cloud turbulence are not able to significantly alter the field direction," said lead author Hua-bai Li (The Chinese University of Hong Kong), who conducted the high-resolution observations while a post-doctoral fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA).

"Even though they're much weaker than Earth's magnetic field, these cosmic magnetic fields have an important effect in regulating how stars form," added Smithsonian co-author T.K. Sridharan (CfA).

The team observed polarized light coming from dust within the nebula using several facilities, including the Smithsonian's Submillimeter Array. "The SMA's unique capability to measure polarization at high angular resolution allowed access to the magnetic fields at the smallest spatial scales," said SMA director Ray Blundell (CfA).

"The SMA has made significant contributions in this field which continues with this work," said Smithsonian co-author Qizhou Zhang (CfA).

Because dust grains align themselves with the magnetic field, the researchers were able to use dust emission to measure the field's geometry. They found that the magnetic fields tended to line up in the same direction, even though the relative size scales they examined were different by orders of magnitude. The magnetic fields only became misaligned on the smallest scales in cases where strong feedback from newly formed stars created other motions.

This work represents the first time magnetic fields in a single region have been measured at so many different scales. It also has interesting implications for the history of our galaxy.

When a molecular cloud collapses to form stars, magnetic fields hinder the process. As a result, only a fraction of the cloud's material is incorporated into stars. The rest gets dispersed into space, where it is available to make new generations of stars. Thanks to magnetic fields, the star-forming process is more drawn out.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/As_stars_form_magnetic_fields_influence_regions_big_and_small_999.html.

Chinese scientists mull power station in space

Beijing (XNA)
Mar 31, 2015

The battle to dispel smog, cut greenhouse gases and solve the energy crisis is moving to space. Chinese scientists are mulling the construction of a solar power station 36,000 kilometers above ground. If realized, it will surpass the scale of the Apollo project and the International Space Station, and be the largest-ever space project.

The power station would be a super spacecraft on a geosynchronous orbit equipped with huge solar panels. The electricity generated would be converted to microwaves or lasers and transmitted to a collector on Earth.

In 1941, U.S. science fiction writer Isaac Asimov published the short story "Reason", in which a space station transmits energy collected from the sun to various planets using microwave beams. Wang Xiji, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and a member of the International Academy of Astronautics, says Asimov's fiction has a scientific basis.

U.S. scientist Peter Glaser published an article in the journal Science in 1968, claiming a feasible design for the space solar power system.

After devoting more than half a century to space technology research, Wang, 93, is an advocate for the station: "An economically viable space power station would be really huge, with the total area of the solar panels reaching 5 to 6 square kilometers."

That's equivalent to 12 of Beijing's Tian'anmen Square, the largest public square in the world, or nearly two New York Central Parks. "Maybe people on Earth could see it in the sky at night, like a star," says Wang. Researchers in many countries have drawn dozens of designs, with square, round and bowl-shaped stations.

But why build a power station in space? Wang says the electricity generated from the ground-based solar plants fluctuates with night and day and the weather, while a space-based generator can collect energy 99 percent of the time.

Space-based solar panels can generate ten times as much electricity as ground-based panels per unit area, says Duan Baoyan, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE). "If we have space solar power technology, hopeful we could solve the energy crisis on Earth," Duan says.

The world has recognized the need to replace fossil fuels with clean energies. However, the ground-based solar, wind, water and other renewable energy sources are too limited in volume and unstable.

"The world will panic when the fossil fuels can no longer sustain human development. We must acquire space solar power technology before then," Wang says.

"Whoever obtains the technology first could occupy the future energy market. So it's of great strategic significance," Wang says. "Construction of a space solar power station will be a milestone for human utilization of space resources. And it will promote technological progress in the fields of energy, electricity, materials and aerospace," says Wang.

Countries such as the United States and Japan have studied a space solar power station. Japan is leading in the development of wireless power transmission technology.

Some Chinese research institutes and universities have also conducted studies related to space solar power technology in recent years.

Members of the CAS and CAE wrote a report in 2010, suggesting that China should build an experimental space solar power station by 2030, and construct a commercially viable space power station by 2050.

However, many huge hurdles lie ahead.

For instance, a commercially viable space power station would weigh more than 10,000 tons. But few rockets can carry a payload of more than 100 tons to low Earth orbit.

"We need a cheap heavy-lift launchvehicle," says Wang, who designed China's first carrier rocket more than 40 years ago.

"We also need to make very thin and light solar panels. The weight of the panel must be less than 200 grams per square meter."

He also points out that the space solar power station could become economically viable only when the efficiency of wireless power transmission, using either microwave or laser radiation, reaches around 50 percent.

However, he is confident that China can build a space solar power station.

Li Ming, vice president of the China Academy of Space Technology, says, "China will build a space station in around 2020, which will open an opportunity to develop space solar power technology."

The space station could surport experiments on the key technologies of constructing space solar power station, Li says.

China is also expected to develop a new generation heavy-lift launch vehicle, he adds.

"When space solar energy becomes our main energy, people will no longer worry about smog or the greenhouse effect," says Wang.

"The development of wireless power transmission technology will be a great advance. After the technology is applied, power cables will not be needed anywhere in the world. Just imagine what a world it will be," he says with a smile.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Chinese_scientists_mull_power_station_in_space_999.html.

Nuke deal: World powers, Iran seal breakthrough framework

April 03, 2015

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Capping exhausting and contentious talks, Iran and world powers sealed a breakthrough agreement Thursday outlining limits on Iran's nuclear program to keep it from being able to produce atomic weapons. The Islamic Republic was promised an end to years of crippling economic sanctions, but only if negotiators transform the plan into a comprehensive pact.

They will try to do that in the next three months. The United States and Iran, long-time adversaries who hashed out much of the agreement, each hailed the efforts of their diplomats over days of sleepless nights in Switzerland. Speaking at the White House, President Barack Obama called it a "good deal" that would address concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called it a "win-win outcome."

Those involved have spent 18 months in broader negotiations that were extended twice since an interim accord was reached shortly after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani entered office. That deal itself was the product of more than a year of secret negotiations between the Obama administration and Iran, a country the U.S. still considers the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism.

Opponents of the emerging accord, including Israel and Republican leaders in Congress, reacted with skepticism. They criticized the outline for failing to do enough to curb Iran's potential to produce nuclear weapons or to mandate intrusive enough inspections. Obama disagreed.

"This framework would cut off every pathway that Iran could take to develop a nuclear weapon," he declared. "This deal is not based on trust. It's based on unprecedented verification." If implemented, the understandings reached Thursday would mark the first time in more than a decade of diplomatic efforts that Iran's nuclear efforts would be rolled back.

It commits Tehran to significant cuts in centrifuges, the machines that can spin uranium gas to levels used in nuclear warheads. Of the nearly 20,000 centrifuges Iran now has installed or running at its main enrichment site, the country would be allowed to operate just over 5,000. Much of its enriched stockpiles would be neutralized. A planned reactor would be reconstructed so it produced no weapons-grade plutonium. Monitoring and inspections by the U.N. nuclear agency would be enhanced.

America's negotiating partners in Europe strongly backed the result. President Francois Hollande of France, which had pushed the U.S. for a tougher stance, endorsed the accord while warning that "sanctions lifted can be re-established if the agreement is not applied."

Obama sought to frame the deal as a salve that reduces the chances of the combustible Middle East becoming even more unstable with the introduction of a nuclear-armed Iran. Many fear that would spark an arms race that could spiral out of control in a region rife with sectarian rivalry, terrorist threats and weak or failed states.

Obama said he had spoken with Saudi Arabia's King Salman and that he'd invite him and other Arab leaders to Camp David this spring to discuss security strategy. The Sunni majority Saudis have made veiled threats about creating their own nuclear program to counter Shia-led Iran.

The American leader also spoke by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, perhaps the sharpest critic of the diplomacy with Iran. Netanyahu told Obama a deal based on the agreement "would threaten the survival of Israel." The White House said Obama assured Netanyahu that the agreement would not diminish U.S. concerns about Iran's sponsorship of terrorism and threats toward Israel.

Obama saved his sharpest words for members of Congress who have threatened to either try to kill the agreement or approve new sanctions against Iran. Appearing in the Rose Garden, Obama said the issues at stake are "bigger than politics."

"These are matters of war and peace," he said, and if Congress kills the agreement "international unity will collapse, and the path to conflict will widen." Hawks on Capitol Hill reacted slowly to the news from the Swiss city of Lausanne, perhaps because the framework was far more detailed than many diplomats had predicted over a topsy-turvy week of negotiation.

House Speaker John Boehner said it would be "naive to suggest the Iranian regime will not continue to use its nuclear program, and any economic relief, to further destabilize the region." Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said his panel would vote this month on legislation giving Congress the right to vote on a final deal. Freshman Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who penned a letter that many GOP senators signed last month to Iran's leaders, said he would work "to protect America from this very dangerous proposal."

Many of the nuclear limits on Iran would be in place for a decade, while others would last 15 or 20 years. Sanctions related to Iran's nuclear programs would be suspended by the U.S., the United Nations and the European Union after the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed Iran's compliance.

In a joint statement, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Iran's Zarif called the agreement a "decisive step." Highlighting Iran's effort to show a new face of its government, Zarif then held a news conference, answering many questions in English, and Obama's statement was carried live and uncensored on Iranian state TV.

Still, all sides spoke with a sense of caution. "We have taken a major step, but are still some way away from where we want to be," Zarif told reporters, even as he voiced hope that a final agreement might ease suspicion between the U.S. and Iran, which haven't had diplomatic relations since the 1979 overthrow of the shah and the subsequent U.S. Embassy hostage crisis in Tehran.

Zarif said the agreement would show "our program is exclusively peaceful, has always been and always will remain exclusively peaceful." But he also said it would not hinder the country's pursuit of atomic energy for civilian purposes. "We will continue enriching," he said. "We will continue research and development." He said the heavy water reactor would be "modernized."

In India, Syed Akbaruddin, a spokesman for the External Affairs Ministry, said Friday his country welcomed the deal. "The announcement yesterday underlines the success of diplomacy and dialogue, which India has always supported and which we hope would lead to a comprehensive agreement by June 30," he said.

Kerry lashed out at critics who have demanded that Iran halt all uranium enrichment and completely close a deeply buried underground facility that may be impervious to an air attack. "Simply demanding that Iran capitulate makes a nice sound bite, but it is not a policy, it is not a realistic plan," Kerry said.

The final breakthrough came a day after a flurry of overnight sessions between Kerry and Zarif, and meetings involving the six powers at a luxury hotel in Lausanne. As late as Thursday afternoon, it still appeared an agreement might be beyond reach as the U.S. pushed to spell out concrete commitments and Iran adamantly demanded that only a vague statement be presented. In an apparent compromise, some details were noted in the general statement and others were saved for a more detailed position paper issued by the White House and State Department.

Some of that tension remained. "There is no need to spin using 'fact sheets' so early on," Zarif tweeted. He also questioned some of the assertions contained in the document, such as the speed of a U.S. sanctions drawdown.

Associated Press writers Julie Pace and Bradley Klapper contributed to this report from Washington.