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Explosions destroyed six cars belonging to members of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant groups in Gaza City on Sunday, witnesses said, injuring no one but drawing threats of a response.
The blasts hit a district dominated by supporters of Hamas and disrupted celebrations for the Muslim Eid el Fitr holiday.
The targeted groups issued a joint statement condemning the attackers as "traitors" – suggesting they thought the perpetrators were fellow Palestinians – and promising that they would be "found and punished".
No one claimed responsibility, but Hamas, which dominates the coastal enclave, has in recent months faced violent challenges from Palestinians sympathetic to Islamic State or al Qaeda, and who seek stringent religious rule in Gaza and open war with Israel.
Palestinian sources said security officials suspected the attacks were triggered by timers placed near explosives planted in and near the vehicles.
Salafists claiming allegiance to Islamic State have begun launching rockets at Israel in defiance of Hamas' truce with the Jewish state since a war a year ago in which 2,100 Palestinians and 73 Israelis were killed.
Last month Islamic State militants fighting Egyptian forces in neighbouring Sinai released a video threatening to turn Gaza into another "fiefdom" as in parts of Iraq and Syria.
Palestinians seek a state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Ghana's ruling party reclaimed a parliamentary seat from the main opposition on Tuesday in a closely contested by-election seen by both parties as a referendum on President John Mahama's rule ahead of a national election in 2016.
The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) will view its victory in the rural Talensi seat in Upper East region as evidence that it remains viable heading into the December 2016 election season after a series of setbacks.
Mahama's government won election in 2012 but is facing power shortages that cause prolonged electricity blackouts that have angered voters and hurt businesses.
It has also been forced into an aid programme with the International Monetary Fund in an attempt to restore fiscal stability and jumpstart rapid GDP growth. [ID:nL8N0ZG42S]
Growth has slowed sharply since 2014 due to a fall in global commodity prices for the country's exports of gold, oil and cocoa and a fiscal crisis viewed by many as the result of government mismanagement of the macro-economy. [ID:nL8N0ZJ38H]
In addition, severe flooding and a fire in June in the capital led to the deaths of 150 people.
The disaster was the worst in the West African country in decades and exposed infrastructure problems in what was until 2014 one of Africa's fastest-growing economies.
The next election, when Mahama is set to take on opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo, will be a repeat of 2012, and analysts say it will be closely contested. Ghana has one of the most stable democracies in a region that experiences regular changes of power.
The NDC's Benson Tongo Baba won 42.3 percent of the vote in Talensi to beat the New Patriotic Party's Wuni Thomas Buanab who obtained 27.9 percent, the Electoral Commission said.
Six other contestants from smaller political parties won the rest. Turnout was 64.2 percent. The by-election will not change the balance of power in parliament where the ruling party now holds a majority of about 27 seats.
The seat became vacant after the opposition representative resigned to become a chief. Chiefs are an integral part of Ghana's system of authority, and the law bars them from engaging in partisan politics.
The by-election was peaceful, except for sporadic clashes between loyalists of the two rival parties that drew intervention by the police and army, poll observers said.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
According to My Zimbabwe, an online news platform in that country, a man identified as Abshalom Chitsiku, was burnt to death over a missing $2, after an angry man, Rodrick Pfungwa Murorwa, set a wooden cabin on fire resulting during a fight over the money.
According to the report, Pfungwa kicked a burning paraffin-fuelled stove in his wooden cabin while his eight friends were seated on the bed following a misunderstanding of the missing $2 note.
The stove exploded and torched the cabin, resulting in the occupants being trapped in the raging flames. Six people, including Murorwa, escaped with minor burns and two others were seriously burnt.
But Chitsiku was not that lucky as he died while receiving treatment at a hospital after sustaining serious injuries all over his body, while another unidentified victim is battling for his life at the provincial referral centre.
The suspect has since been arraigned before Mutare senior magistrate facing murder and attempted murder charges.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
While some men who feel they are blessed by God in the looks department, Godfrey Baguma, a Ugandan man who has been tagged as 'Uganda's Ugliest Man' due to a rare medical condition giving him his distinctive looks, has just had an eight child from his second wife, Kate Namanda, whom he married in 2013 after he divorced his first wife after she committed adultery.
The 47-years-old Godfrey Baguma, known as Sebabi, – which means the 'ugliest of them all', attributes his prolific ability in the production faculty, to God's blessings which has been channeled below his belt.
Sebabi, a former cobbler, now uses his unique features to earn a living and even appears at events as Uganda’s Ugliest Man just for people to see him, but he took it a step further by launching a singing career.
His wedding ceremony in 2013 brought his small hometown of Kyazanga, in the Lwengo District of Uganda, to a standstill as guests paid 4,000 Ugandan shillings to attend the reception and see the woman Sebabi married.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
As African leaders meet in South Africa to discuss a wide range of issues and challenges confronting the continent, report say Xenophobia is expected to be a major feature at the ongoing African Union (AU)summit in Johannesburg.
The summit was initially billed to hold in Chad but the country withdrew from hosting African leaders on its soil owning to Boko Haram threats, South Africa however stepped up at the eleventh minute to host the event.
The latest wave of xenophobic violence which broke out after the announcement however severely embarrassed the host nation.
One of the sources said there were concerns that some heads of state would boycott the event in protest of the recent attacks but were ready to give it priority during deliberations.
He said the summit was also expected to address the flood of African migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean from Africa to reach Europe, which have also raised xenophobic tensions.
Another source said illegal migration to Europe by African would also feature prominently during discussions.
The International Organisation for Migration in a report said nearly 2, 000 migrants died by early May, including about 800 killed in a single shipwreck in April.
President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia has also called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the deaths of migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.
The Gambia, with a population of only 1,900,000, is one of the leading countries of origin of the migrants.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
More than 70 people have died in a fire at a petrol station in Ghana's capital, Accra, the fire service says.
The fire started as people in the city are trying to cope with two days of heavy rain, which has left many homeless and without power.
The flooding hampered the rescue efforts, the BBC's Sammy Darko reports from Accra.
There are fears that the death toll from the fire could rise as the search for bodies continues.
President John Mahama has visited the burnt-out petrol station and has appealed for calm as the authorities try to cope with the aftermath of the fire and the heavy rain.
There are chaotic scenes in the city with cars being carried away by the water and many roads blocked off, our correspondent says.
Many homes have been inundated and people have been wandering around in their nightclothes after being forced to leave their beds.
One man told a local radio station that he had put his children on top of a wardrobe to save them from the water coming into his house.
Weather forecasters are saying that more rain is on its way.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Nelson Mandela's oldest grandson, Mandla Mandela, has been sentenced to two years in prison or pay a fine of $817 for assaulting a school teacher in 2013.
Mandla, who is a legislator for the ruling African National Congress (ANC), was found to have attacked a teacher, Mlamli Ngudle, in a 2013 road rage incident in Mthatha, Cape Province, South Africa.
The prosecutor said Ngudle had allegedly bumped a parked vehicle belonging to one of Mandla's friends.
Some witnesses said Mandla threatened Ngudle with a gun.
The prosecutor said even the court in Mthatha during the trial confirmed that the legislator was arrogant and evasive during his testimony.
He said the legislator had been found guilty of assault in March.
Mthatha made headlines in 2013 when a judge ordered him to return the remains of his father and two other children of Nelson Mandela to Qunu, their ancestral home.
He had moved them to a memorial centre in another location without consulting the family.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
A 33-year old Brazilian man is making international headlines after playing The Beatles’s 'Yesterday' on the guitar while having brain surgery.
The man, Anthony Kulkamp Dias was kept conscious during his operation to remove a tumour and played the British classic for the surgery team.
He also played 'Emanuel', a song he wrote for his newborn son, as well as Brazilian country songs.
Speaking on the feat, Kulkamp said “the doctors asked me to repeat one of the country songs so I even had an encore"
Reports Kulkamp, who played guitar professionally for 20 years, discovered the tumour 15 days after his son was born a few months ago, adding that he could not even say the name of his car and was stammering as a result.
Telegraph reports that Kulkamp underwent surgery while conscious, and played a guitar balanced on his stomach.
Said Kulkamp,
“I played six songs at certain times,” he said. “My right hand was a bit weaker because that was the side that they were operating on. So I stopped and rested. I was interspersing songs and talking with them.”
The pioneering surgery allowed doctors to safely map the patient’s brain while awake to avoid injury that could compromise important brain functions.
Speaking on why Kulkamp was kept awake for the surgery, Dr Jean Abreu Machado, clinical director, said:
“By keeping the patient awake during surgery, these areas can be monitored in real time. A kind of mapping of important areas can be done. It really is a great challenge for the whole surgery team, including the anaesthetist.”
He added that the brain tissue does not have pain sensors but the skin and other structures do.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The ghost of Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara is still haunting his former friend Blaise Compaore who killed him in mysterious circumstances.For over a decade, Sankara's wife Miriam has been seeking through the courts for a DNA test on the supposed remains of her late husband. But Compaore blocked all efforts by the widow until he was ousted by the people of Burkina Faso.
Burkinabe protesters have since demanded the truth about Sankara – whose name people were afraid to speak under Compaoré’s rule. For years, Burkina Faso’s residents and Sankara’s family have demanded to know how the leader and his colleagues died and if he is, in fact, buried in the grave marked with his name.
Sankara had on August 4, 1984, challenged the name colonial France gave to his country, and changed its name from Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, meaning "the country of honorable people." Sankara, a charismatic leader, sought by word, deed, and example to mobilize the masses and launch a massive bootstrap development movement.
Sankara was a Marxist, anti-imperialist revolutionary who, in four years in power, doubled the number of children in schools, reduced infant mortality, redistributed land from feudal landlords to peasants and planted 10 million trees that still help shade Ouagadougou, the capital.
One of Africa's best and greatest leader, killed 28 years ago by his friend. was a Burkinabé military captain, Marxist revolutionary, pan-Africanist theorist, feminist, and President of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
TUNIS (Reuters) – A Tunisian soldier opened fire at a military base in the capital on Monday, killing seven colleagues and wounding 10 others before being shot dead himself, according to the army which said the shooter had "family problems".
What exactly triggered the shooting at the Bouchoucha base in Tunis was not immediately clear, but the incident alarmed residents in the capital city still on edge after an attack in March by Islamist gunmen on the Bardo national museum.
When gunfire erupted on Monday morning, police evacuated a nearby school, as locals feared they may be under attack.
"A soldier opened fire and killed seven others, he was then killed. Ten others are injured," army spokesman Bel Hassen Ouslati told reporters.
"According to what we know, he had some family problems, this is nothing to do with a terrorist attack."
Two military helicopters hovered over the scene as police searched cars on the road to the base. An army colonel was among the victims, a security source said.
Since its 2011 uprising against autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia has been spared the worst chaos that neighbouring countries experienced after the "Arab Spring". But some Islamist hardliners have turned to violence.
Tunisian forces have been carrying out operations against Islamist fighters since March when two gunmen opened fire on tourists at the Bardo museum, killing 21 foreigners in the worst attack in Tunisia in more than a decade.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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