Angolan opposition party concedes election

An Angolan opposition party recently accepted its landslide defeat in the country’s parliamentary elections last weekend, reports The Associated Press. The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), a former rebel group led by Isaias Samakuva (above) that turned to violence against the government when it lost in elections 16 years ago, made the announcement at a news conference on Monday. The results were not even close, with President Jose Eduardo dos Santos’ party (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) receiving 80 percent of the vote. His party has ruled Angola since the country gained independence from Portugal in 1975. The nation last held elections in 1992; UNITA did not accept its loss in that election and turned to fighting, resulting in a civil war that ended in 2002. This weekend’s elections were criticized earlier in the week by European observers for being disorganized, but voting itself was generally peaceful.

U.N. threatens to stop aid to Darfur

Violence in Sudan’s Darfur region is too out of control for the United Nation’s World Food Program, reports the BBC. It’s so bad that the group has threatened to stop sending aid to parts of the region if the security doesn’t get better. “It has become too dangerous for our drivers to continue doing their jobs,” said Rachid Jaafar, a group spokesman. Just this year, 43 drivers and 69 trucks went missing after being attacked by armed rebels, he said. This is a critical time for needy families in the region who have been suffering over five years of a notoriously violent civil war that has resulted in the deaths of 300,000 people and more than 2 million being displaced. September is the month when food collected last year runs out ahead of this year’s harvest. The almost 10,000 joint U.N. and African Union peacekeeping troops do help the World Food Program by providing security, but they don’t have enough troops to secure all food convoys, Jaafar said. Black Africans revolted against the mostly Arab government in 2003 alleging discrimination.

South African dog fights another dog to save boy. In South Africa, a Rottweiler fought off a pit bull who was mauling a little boy, reports the BBC. Two-year-old Tshepang Taeli and his grandmother were walking down the street when the pit bull attacked him, viciously dragging him down the road. Several residents kicked the dog to try to get him off of the child but he would not let go. “I have never felt so much pain in my life. The dog was attacking him and I was trying to release him and I could not,” said the boy’s grandmother. That’s when one neighbor went to get his Rottweiler, Blade, who helped save the boy’s life. “He fought the other dog to free the child. Blade is very protective,” Blade’s owner, Ricky Veludo told a local newspaper. The child was taken to the hospital, where he is now recovering from suffering bites on his face, legs and stomach. Police are investigating the attack.

Zimbabwe police arrest opposition lawmakers

Zimbabwe police arrested more opposition members Wednesday, saying they were connected to the violence before the country’s runoff election in June, reports CNN. Police insist the arrests of Movement for Democratic Change members, five in total, are not politically motivated. “These (parliament members) have been on the police wanted list which we made public. We have been looking for them for a long time since the offenses were committed,” a police spokesman said. But MDC officials are not buying it. They think the government along with longtime leader Robert Mugabe is just trying to cut down on the number of opposition members in parliament. “The arrests are harassment and an attempt to undermine our parliamentary majority,” MDC’s information director said. “We expected that retribution after having shown Mugabe that he is not welcome in parliament.” Mugabe was booed and heckled when he spoke in front of the body Tuesday. He still remains optimistic that a power sharing agreement, between himself and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai can be reached. The two are set to resume talks, mediated by South African president Thabo Mbeki, this week.

Nigeria hands over land to neighboring Cameroon. Nigeria officially agreed Thursday to hand over claims to a peninsula to neighboring Cameroon, reports The Associated Press. Ownership of the Bakassi Peninsula had been disputed for years. In fact the two nations almost went to war during the 1990s over the peninsula that is said to contain possible energy reserves since it is in an oil-rich area. But in 2002, an international court ruled that Cameroon should get the land, which is why officials from both Cameroon and Nigeria signed an agreement stating that Nigeria would withdraw their claims to the land, reports the news service. “As painful as it is, we have a responsibility to keep our commitment to the international community, promote international peace and cooperation and advance the cause of African brotherhood and good neighborliness,” Michael Aondaokaa, Nigeria’s attorney general, said. Many Nigerian citizens, though, are very unhappy with giving the land to Cameroon. According to Nigeria, about 300,000 citizens live on the peninsula. Before Thursday’s ceremony, security was increased throughout southeast Nigeria, and officials changed the location of the ceremony from the peninsula to the city of Calabar at the last minute and did not give an explanation.

Zimbabwe opposition leader gets his passport back.

After confiscating his passport Thursday, Zimbabwe authorities then returned it to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai the same day, reports Reuters. Tsvangirai was on his way to the Southern African Development Community summit in South Africa when he was held up by authorities. Members of his party are still in the dark about why his passport was taken in the first place. “The passport situation has just been resolved,” said an official from Tsvangirai’s party, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). “They have their passports now. They will be leaving [for South Africa] on the 6 p.m. flight. There was no explanation.” This weekend’s conference in South Africa is hosted by the country’s president, Thabo Mbeki, who is also helping mediate power-sharing negotiations between Tsvangirai and longtime leader Robert Mugabe. Even though the two leaders haven’t reached a deal yet after three days of meetings in the country’s capital, Tsvangirai told reporters at the airport that he remained optimistic. A smaller, breakaway faction of MDC (a group that has 10 seats in Parliament) recently reached a power-sharing deal with Mugabe.

World Lens: There are fiery protests in Indonesia; Zimbabwe opposition leader calls it quits; and a Brazilian model shows off a colorful creation. See the pictures here.
 

Zimbabwe opposition leader quits presidential race
Zimbabwe opposition leader and presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of the race Sunday calling the nation’s election process a “sham”, reports CNN. The move automatically allows longtime leader Robert Mugabe to retain power. The violent weeks following the first round of elections between Tsvangirai and longtime leader Robert Mugabe (where Tsvangirai won the majority of votes but did not get the over 50 percent needed to win) were the reason he made the decision to back out, just days before Friday’s run-off election. “A free and fair election is impossible. We in the MDC have resolved that we will no longer participate in this violent, illegitimate…sham of an election process.” He announced his decision after a meeting with party members, who were apparently split over what to do, reports CNN. But, according to Tsvangrai, the consistent and violent attacks on his supporters signaled to him that a fair election was going to be impossible to come by. Officials from his party, Movement for Democratic Change, have claimed that since March’s election, at least 70 of their supporters have been killed by Mugabe supporters. The attacks have also left 200,000 Zimbabweans homeless and 25,000 homes destroyed. In addition police have arrested and held Tsvangirai and other party officials several times leading up to the run-off. Many from the international community have been watching the nation’s election closely and are dismayed. A statement released by the offices of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said, “The circumstances that led to the withdrawal of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai today from the presidential elections represents a deeply distressing development that does not bode well for the future of democracy in Zimbabwe.” But the nation’s justice minister Patrick Chinamasa, denied that government or government supporters were behind any of the attacks leading up the Friday’s vote and said that Tsvangirai is dropping out for another reason. “What is true is that…Morgan Tsvangirai realizes that he’s going to face a humiliating defeat on the 27th of June and he’s trying to avoid that humiliating defeat,” he told the news service.

Survivors are rescued from Philippines ferry capsize
Thirty-three survivors have been rescued since a Philippines ferry carrying 750 people capsized early Saturday morning, reports CNN. The ferry overturned due to Typhoon Fengshen, which hit the southern part of the nation. Thirty capsize survivors were found by fisherman, but one died after being discovered and another was lost while being rescued, leaving 28 survivors returned to police, Richard Gordon, who leads the Philippines Red Cross, told the news service. In addition, the country’s troops found five more survivors and five dead. The death toll, as it stands now, is at six but it could increase. “There’s quite a few people out there that are still missing. We are trying our best to find them, and I hope we could get some help,” Gordon said. The captain had ordered passengers to abandon the ferry before contact with the vessel was lost. “Many of them were wearing life jackets. Hopefully we can still find them alive,” Gordon said. Some relatives are wondering why the ship was even allowed to leave when it was known that a typhoon was coming. “They should not have let the ship sail because there was a typhoon coming. How can they do that? They won’t even give out information about what happened,” Isadora Salinas told CNN. The company that operates the vessel has had a history of accidents, according to Gordon, leaving many angry. “The mood here is very ugly,” he said. On land, the typhoon has left at least 140 people killed and 250 reported missing.