African Union Celebrates 50th Anniversary. UN Secretary General Joins

By ONE Liners Agency
May 25' 2013

African Union has stepped into the 5oth anniversary to work together for the betterment of the continent. AU Chairman and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn opened the celebrations in presence of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

Desalegn said the union should work forward in creating Africa free from poverty and conflict, and the citizens in the continent should enjoy a middle income status.

African Union started in 1963 as Organisation of African Unity (OAU) during the dawn of independence.

Speaking to the AU's modern at the Chinese-built headquarters in Ethiopian capital Desalegn said today they are meeting at such a time when the continent is rising. He also appreciated China for their investment support in billions to assist their infrastructure endeavours.

Africa is now home to several fastest-growing economies and in recent years have attracted foreign investment in huge amounts.

Moamer Kadhafi's death in Libya's 2011 conflict stripped major source of funding for the AU. Crisis in Mali will be one of the top most agendas of the meet along with the political deadlock in Madagascar and Democratic Republic of Congo since 2009.

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May 25, 2013 | 0 comments

Vote In Congo Amid Violence Fear

By STAFF Writer
November 26, 2011

CONGO ELECTION NEWS - Congo goes on ballot today, Monday, after weekend clashes between rival parties supporters and security forces in the run-up to parliamentary and presidential election. This is the second post war vote in which the entire Congolese are able to vote.

President Joseph Kabila, in power since 2001, is fighting against ten rivals. More than 18,500 candidates are competing in the five hundred parliament seats.

The poll started late in Goma's eastern lakeside town which experienced some worst pre-election violence. Ballot boxex arrived late at one polling station in Lubumbashi's southern city. Thousands of people were seen in the early hours lined up at polling station to cast their ballots.

In last 15 years the mineral-rich state has seen two wars and experienced decades of misrule. Though officially the last conflict ended in 2003 but the nation in the heart of Africa always remained plagued by instability. The eastern part of Congo is still ruled by plethora of foreign and local rebel groups.

In 1996 Congo plunged into war after neighbors and rebel fighters teamed up to overthrow Mobutu Sese Seko, corrupt men and former dictator who ran the country three decades of kleptocratic rule.

The first election after the end of wars was held in 2006 and was seen as free and fair election but after the voting gunbattles erupted.

On the Human Development Index the United Nations ranked Congo in dead last of 187 countries.

Congo Polls

Congo Polls

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November 28, 2011 | 0 comments

First Woman Convicted Of Genocide, 800,000 Killed In 100 Days

By ONE Liners Agency
SUNDAY, June 26, 2011

Former Rwanda minister has been sentenced to life in prison on Saturday by judges at the United Nation. Pauline Nyiramashuhuko becomes the first woman to be charged with genocide and incitement to rape by an international court. Her son Arsene Shalom Ntahobali is co-accused and sentenced to life too. United States has welcomed the conviction.

Nyiramasuhuko, 65, has been found guilty on 7 genocide charges out of eleven by International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda of atrocities. She was the minister for women's empowerment in Rwanda then.


The International court found that Nyiramasuhuko and Arsene had helped in abducting hundreds of ethnic Tutsis who were raped, assaulted and killed in the southern region of Butare. During the 100-day genocide, about 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered between April and June 1994 with the help of extremist Hutu militia called Interahamwe.

Nyiramasuhuko was born in southern Rwanda into a modest family. She enrolled at university at 40 and gained a law degree. She was appointed as the minister for women's advancement in 1992. After the 1994 killing and victory of Rwandan Patriotic Front she fled to Congo. In 1997 she was arrested in Kenya and was transferred to the ICTR. In 2001 she appeared at the tribunal and the trial became the longest running at the ICTR. Sixteen years after the verdict comes.


Rwandan Tutsis Killing Photos

UN Zambian soldier looks at the dead bodies of refugees killed in southeastern Rawanda

Skulls of killed Tutsis

A worker lays remains of the victims in Kigali, Rwanda

Skulls of victims during Rwanda 1994 genocide

Rwandan Genocide Verdict Video

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June 26, 2011 | 0 comments