DR Congo arrests 14 Chinese for wood smuggling

Lubumbashi, Dr Congo (AFP)
May 4, 2017

Fourteen Chinese people suspected of illegally exporting red wood from the Democratic Republic of Congo were arrested Thursday, local officials said.

"We have arrested Chinese people... who were cutting wood in our region," Celestin Pande, acting governor of the Haut-Katanga region, told AFP.

Pande said 17,000 tonnes of red wood had been illegally exported to China through Zambia over four months.

"We have arrested 14 Chinese nationals with (tourist) visas, who were involved in cutting and illegally exporting red wood," an immigration official in Haut-Katanga added, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Since the beginning of the year, a crisis linked to exotic wood exports has poisoned relations between DR Congo and neighboring Zambia.

Zambia has seized several hundred vehicles transporting padauk, a dense wood used in construction and woodworking, from DR Congo as part of investigations into exports to China.

Kinshasa has denounced the seizure, but on Thursday a delegation from the capital decided to ban the logging and exportation of red wood from Haut-Katanga.

Haut-Katanga's forests have been devastated by illegal logging, with wood mostly used for charcoal, the main source of energy for an electricity-deprived population.

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/DR_Congo_arrests_14_Chinese_for_wood_smuggling_999.html.

Nigeria leader meets Chibok girls, leaves for medical trip

May 07, 2017

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari expressed joy Sunday night at meeting with the 82 Chibok schoolgirls newly freed from Boko Haram extremists — then jolted the country by announcing he was leaving for London immediately for medical checkups as fears for his health continue.

"We've always made it clear that we will do everything in our power to ensure the freedom & safe return of our daughters" and all captives of Boko Haram, Buhari said on his Twitter account. Minutes later, the 74-year-old president startled Africa's most populous nation with the news of his departure. Buhari, who has missed three straight weekly Cabinet meetings, spent a month and a half in London on medical leave earlier this year and said he'd never been as sick in his life. The exact nature of his illness remained unclear.

"There is no cause for worry" about this latest medical leave, a statement from his office said, adding that the length of Buhari's stay in London will be determined by his doctors. Photos released by the government showed the rail-thin president standing and addressing the Chibok schoolgirls at his official residence Sunday evening, a day after their release.

"The president was delighted to receive them and he promised that all that is needed to be done to reintegrate them into the society will be done," adviser Femi Adesina said. "He promised that the presidency will personally supervise their rehabilitation."

The young women have been handed over to government officials who will supervise their re-entry into society, Adesina said. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which helped negotiate the girls' release along with the Swiss government, said they would be reunited with their families soon.

Five Boko Haram commanders were released in exchange for the girls' freedom, a Nigerian government official said Sunday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to reporters on the matter. Neither Nigeria's government nor Boko Haram, which has links to the Islamic State group, gave details about the exchange.

Parents of the schoolgirls were waiting for a government list of names of those who had been freed. Some parents of the kidnapped girls gathered in the capital, Abuja, to celebrate the release, while others expressed anxiety over the fate of the 113 girls who remain missing after the mass abduction from a Chibok boarding school in 2014.

The Rev. Enoch Mark, whose two daughters have been among the missing, was still awaiting word if they were among those freed. He emphasized that he considered all 82 of the girls to be his daughters "because most of them worship in my church."

Some parents did not live long enough to see their daughters released, underscoring the tragedy of the three-year saga. And the recovery process is expected to be a long one for the girls, many of whom endured sexual assault during their captivity.

"They will face a long and difficult process to rebuild their lives after the indescribable horror and trauma they have suffered at the hands of Boko Haram," said Pernille Ironside, acting representative of UNICEF Nigeria.

Boko Haram seized a total of 276 girls in the 2014 abduction. Girls who escaped early on said some of their classmates had died from illness. Others did not want to come home because they'd been radicalized by their captors, they said.

Human rights advocates also fear some of the girls have been used by Boko Haram to carry out suicide bombings. Last year, a first group of 21 Chibok girls was freed in October, and they have been in government care for medical attention, trauma counseling and rehabilitation. Human rights groups have criticized the decision to keep the girls in custody in Abuja, nearly 900 kilometers (560 miles) from Chibok.

It was not immediately clear whether the newly freed girls would join them. They should be quickly released to their families and not be subjected to lengthy government detention, Amnesty International's Nigeria office said, adding that the girls don't deserve to be put through a "publicity stunt" and deserve privacy.

Though Boko Haram has abducted thousands of people during its eight-year insurgency that has spilled across Nigeria's borders, the Chibok mass kidnapping horrified the world and brought the extremist group international attention.

The failure of Nigeria's former government to act quickly to free the girls sparked a global Bring Back Our Girls movement; U.S. first lady Michelle Obama posted a photo with its logo on social media.

The Bring Back Our Girls campaign said Sunday it was happy that Nigeria's government had committed to rescuing the 113 remaining schoolgirls, and it urged the president to "earnestly pursue" the release of everyone held by Boko Haram.

Buhari late last year announced Boko Haram had been "crushed," but the group continues to carry out attacks in northern Nigeria and neighboring countries. Its insurgency has killed more than 20,000 people and driven 2.6 million from their homes, with millions facing starvation.

Associated Press writers Haruna Umar in Maiduguri, Nigeria and Sunday Alamba in Abuja, Nigeria contributed.

Nigeria says 82 Chibok girls free in Boko Haram exchange

May 07, 2017

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — Eighty-two Chibok schoolgirls seized three years ago by Boko Haram have been freed in exchange for detained suspects with the extremist group, Nigeria's government announced early Sunday, in the largest release negotiated yet in the battle to save nearly 300 girls whose mass abduction exposed the mounting threat posed by the Islamic State-linked fighters.

The statement from the office of President Muhammadu Buhari was the first confirmation that his government had made a swap for the girls. After an initial release of 21 Chibok girls in October, the government denied making an exchange or paying ransom.

The April 2014 abduction by Boko Haram brought the extremist group's rampage in northern Nigeria to world attention and, for families of the schoolgirls, began years marked with heartbreak. Some relatives did not live long enough to see their daughters released. Many of the captive girls, most of them Christians, were forced to marry their captors and give birth to children in remote forest hideouts without ever knowing if they would see their parents again. It is feared that other girls were strapped with explosives and sent on missions as suicide bombers.

As word of the latest release emerged, long-suffering family members said they were eagerly awaiting a list of names and "our hopes and expectations are high." Before Saturday's release, 195 of the girls had remained captive. Now 113 of the girls remain unaccounted for.

The freed girls were expected to meet with Buhari on Sunday in the capital, Abuja. A Nigerian military official with direct knowledge of the rescue operation said the freed girls were found near the town of Banki in Borno state near Cameroon.

"The location of the girls kept changing since yesterday when the operation to rescue them commenced," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make the announcement.

Boko Haram remains active in that area. On Friday, the United States and Britain issued warnings that the extremist group was actively planning to kidnap foreigners in an area of Borno state "along the Kumshe-Banki axis."

The 276 schoolgirls kidnapped from Chibok in 2014 are among thousands of people abducted by Boko Haram over the years. The mass abduction shocked the world, sparking a global #Bringbackourgirls campaign supported by former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and other celebrities. It has put tremendous pressure on Nigeria's government to counter the extremist group, which has roamed large parts of the north and into neighboring countries.

"This is a very, very exciting news for us that we have over 80 of our girls coming back again," Bukky Shonibare with the #BringBackOurGirls campaign told Sky TV. "Their life in captivity has been one that depicts suffering, it depicts the fact that they have been starved, abused, and as we have seen before some of those girls have come back with children, and some of them have also come back with news of how they have been sexually abused."

The latest negotiations were again mediated by the Swiss government and the International Committee of the Red Cross, Nigeria's government said. At the initial release of girls in October, the government said the release of another 83 would be coming soon. But at the three-year anniversary of the kidnapping in April, the government said negotiations had "gone quite far" but faced challenges.

Buhari late last year announced Boko Haram had been "crushed," but the group continues to carry out attacks in northern Nigeria and neighboring countries. Its insurgency has killed more than 20,000 people and driven 2.6 million from their homes, with millions facing starvation.

Larson reported from Dakar. Associated Press writers Bashir Adigun in Abuja, Nigeria, and Hilary Uguru in Warri, Nigeria, contributed.

'Lobby money' behind fall of Philippine environment chief: Duterte

Manila (AFP)
May 4, 2017

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday blamed "lobby money" for the downfall of his outspoken environment secretary Regina Lopez, who earned the ire of the country's mining industry after accusing it of corruption.

Despite his widespread popularity and hardline posture, Duterte said he was helpless to save Lopez from failing to be approved as a cabinet member by lawmakers in congress.

"It's a pity about Gina. I really liked her passion," he said, referring to Lopez by her nickname.

"I made a pitch for her but you know how it is. This is a democracy and lobby money talks. I do not control everything," he told a gathering of doctors.

He did not specify who lobbied against Lopez or who he would appoint to replace her.

The Commission on Appointments rejected Lopez's appointment on Wednesday, in a big victory for the mining industry.

Lopez sent shockwaves through the industry during her 10 months as environment chief, seeking to shut down roughly two-thirds of the nation's existing mines and banning any new open-pit operations.

Although Duterte's allies control both chambers of the Philippine legislature, the commission chose to reject Lopez.

Lopez has vocally blamed "big business," for her rejection, saying many who voted against her were representing mining interests.

She had previously sought to shut down 28 of the nation's 40 mines and cancel the contracts of dozens of others.

Last week she also announced the ban on new open-pit mining, which would have sounded the death knell for one of the world's biggest planned copper projects in the south of the country.

With the Philippines being the world's biggest supplier of nickel ore and a major source of copper, Lopez's campaign had impacted global prices.

Mining Inc had run a high-profile campaign to have the commission reject her, arguing she was jeopardizing the lives of 1.2 million people who were dependent on the industry.

Even Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, a former mining executive whose family has big investments in the industry, opposed her, taking the unprecedented action of testifying against a fellow cabinet member at the commission hearings.

However environmental groups expressed outrage at Lopez's rejection, saying it showed Duterte had misled with his pledges to lead a government for ordinary Filipinos rather than the elite.

Congress rejecting a president's cabinet appointment is extremely rare in Philippine politics.

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Lobby_money_behind_fall_of_Philippine_environment_chief_Duterte_999.html.

Russia's Victory Day parade marred by thick clouds

May 09, 2017

MOSCOW (AP) — Thick clouds have forced the cancellation of the traditional dramatic conclusion to Russia's annual Victory Day parade on Red Square — the roaring flyover by scores of military aircraft.

The parade marking the anniversary of Nazi Germany's surrender is a highly ritualized display and marked changes in its order are unusual. The Defense Ministry had said cloud-seeding planes would be deployed to disperse the overcast skies Tuesday above Moscow. That has been done previously when poor weather threatened. It wasn't immediately clear if the planes had been deployed.

Victory Day is Russia's most important secular holiday, commemorating the Red Army's determination and losses in World War II. President Vladimir Putin said in his parade address that "we feel a piercing blood relationship with a generation of heroes and winners."

Wolves return to Denmark for first time in 200 years

Stockholm (AFP)
May 4, 2017

At least five wolves, including one female, have returned to Denmark for the first time in two centuries, a zoologist who has obtained DNA evidence said on Thursday.

The predators came from Germany to settle in western Denmark's agricultural region, the least densely populated in the Scandinavian country.

Peter Sunde, scientist at the University of Aarhus, told AFP the wolves must have walked more than 500 kilometers (310 miles).

"We think these are young wolves rejected by their families who are looking for new hunting grounds," the researcher added.

Scientists have established a genetic profile from the faeces of five wolves -- four males and one female -- but there could be more.

Sunde said researchers had suspected since 2012 that wolves had entered Denmark. "Now we have evidence (including) that there's one female," signalling the possibility of giving birth this spring, he said.

Proof was also established through the wolves' fingerprints and video surveillance showed their location, which scientists refuse to reveal out of fear that it will attract hunters.

"We're following that. The wolf is an animal we're not allowed to hunt so we must protect it," Henrik Hagen Olesen, spokesman at the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, told AFP.

Exterminated by hunters, wolves had been completely extinct in Denmark since the beginning of the nineteenth century.

In other Nordic countries with a higher wolf population, culling the species, protected by the Bern Convention, is under a fierce debate between inhabitants, farmers, hunters, the government, the European Union and wildlife activists.

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Wolves_return_to_Denmark_for_first_time_in_200_years_999.html.

The Very Survival of Africa's Indigenous Peoples 'Seriously Threatened'

By Baher Kamal

ROME, May 3 2017 (IPS) - The cultures and very survival of indigenous peoples in Africa are seriously threatened. They are ignored, neglected and fall victims of land grabbing and land dispossession caused by extractive industries, agribusiness and other forms of business operations.

These are some of the key findings of a major report “The Indigenous World 2017,” on the state of indigenous peoples worldwide, issued on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The report, launched on 25 April by the International Working Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGI) during the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues meeting (24 April—5 May), emphasizes that in spite of progress, there are still major challenges facing indigenous peoples in Africa.

Africa is home to an estimated 50 million indigenous peoples, that’s around 13 per cent of the total of 370 million indigenous peoples worldwide. They live in all regions of Africa, with large concentrations in North Africa where the Amazigh people live. In West Africa, there are large pastoralist populations in countries like Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Cameroon etc.

There are also large concentrations of indigenous peoples in East Africa with big pastoralist populations in countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Hunter-gatherers are found in many countries in central and Southern Africa, though they are smaller in numbers than the pastoralist groups.

In several African states, explains IWGIA, “indigenous peoples are yet to be recognized as such.” Arguments of all Africans being indigenous or that the concept “indigenous peoples” is divisive and unconstitutional are persistently expressed in political statements and continue to shape policies of a number of African countries.

Large-scale dispossessions of indigenous peoples’ lands remain a significant challenge in several African states, says the report, adding that the global drive for raw materials, agro-business and building major infrastructure projects are pushing indigenous peoples to their last boundaries.

A recent African Commission’s report on extractive industries and indigenous peoples reveals the negative impact several mining, agro business and logging projects are having on indigenous peoples’ land rights and access to natural resources, according to IWGIA.

In several cases, tensions with indigenous peoples have led to open conflicts, including loss of lives. In this regard, the African Commission has sent urgent appeals to a number of African governments on serious human rights violations affecting indigenous peoples.

Forced Evictions, Human Eights Violations

Marianne Wiben Jensen, IWGIA’ senior adviser on Africa and Land Rights, told IPS that Africa’s indigenous peoples are victims of land grabbing and other forms of land dispossession caused by extractive industries, agribusiness and other business operations.

“This leads to forced evictions and other forms of serious human rights violations,“ she said, adding that indigenous peoples in Africa are “marginalized economically and politically and are only to a very limited extent participating in decision-making processes.”

“So they have very limited possibilities of voicing their perspectives and priorities and influencing their own futures,” Wiben Jensen warned, explaining that they typically live in marginalized and remote areas with very limited and bad social infrastructure.

The issue of extractive industries is once again a recurrent and overarching theme in the Indigenous world. Numerous examples show that both states and industries are repeatedly ignoring the key principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent.

Mega infrastructure projects, investments in extractive industries and large-scale agriculture are increasingly posing a threat to the everyday life of indigenous peoples and their ability to maintain their land, livelihood and culture.

At the same time, Wiben Jensen added, indigenous peoples in Africa have proven to be very resilient, and despite the many problems they face and the lack of support they receive from their governments, they are still there and manage to survive in often very harsh environments based on their unique indigenous knowledge of the nature and the natural resources.

“All this is happening amidst an alarming rate of violence and discrimination of indigenous peoples and human rights defenders around the world.”

Source: Inter-Press Service (IPS).
Link: http://www.ipsnews.net/2017/05/the-very-survival-of-africas-indigenous-peoples-seriously-threatened/.