Fasting Muslims to know time of iftar, imsak via Twitter

Twitter announced this saying it has partnered with news organization, Al Arabiya, to keep Muslim Twitter users informed of Ramadan.

Muslims worldwide can maximize social media tool, Twitter, to aide their religious Ramadan fast which is expected to commence on Saturday or Sunday.

With the use of Twitter, Muslims can know the time for iftar (for the breaking of the fast) and Imsak (for beginning the fast) in their respective countries.

Twitter announced this saying it has partnered with news organization, Al Arabiya, to keep Muslim Twitter users informed of Ramadan.

According to Twitter, users simply tweet @AlArabiya with #iftar (for the breaking of the fast) or #imsak (for beginning the fast) followed by the name of their city with a # in front (e.g. #Lagos), and the @ AlArabiya account will reply with the correct time.

Also, ahead of the holy month, Twitter has created two customs hashtags- #Eid and #Ramadan- to be used during the Islamic month.

Ramadan is the 9th month of the Islamic calendar when the hundreds of millions of adult Muslims worldwide are required to abstain from food and purge themselves from all types of immorality.

Twitter also revealed that people sent more than 74.2 million tweets about Ramadan worldwide last year.

Nigeria seeks AU support for ITU seat

Shola Taylor, the ITU candidate, has served as a former Chairman of the ITU Radio Regulations Board.

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Nigeria is seeking the African Union’s, AU, support for the candidature of Shola Taylor, for the post of the Deputy Secretary-General of the International Telecommunications Union, ITU.

The ITU elections will hold during the plenipotentiary conference of the union in Busan, South Korea scheduled for between October and November.

The Minister of Foreign of Affairs, Aminu Wali, who is expected in Malabo later on Tuesday for the 25th Ordinary Session of the AU, will seek the endorsement of Mr. Taylor.

Already, Nigerian diplomats attending the AU summit have stepped up campaign to get the support of African countries for their candidate.

Nigeria is contesting for the post alongside candidates from Canada, Egypt, Mauritania, Poland, Tunisia and the UK.

An official of the ministry who spoke on the condition of anonymity said Nigeria has already secured the ECOWAS endorsement for Mr. Taylor and was campaigning very strongly to obtain AU’s endorsement.

On the margins of the AU summit in Malabo, foreign ministers of the 15-member states of the AU ministerial candidature committee are expected to select one candidate from among the three African contenders as the AU candidate for the post.

The contest is between Nigeria, Mauritania and Tunisia with the exception of Egypt, which is currently suspended from AU.

Members of the committee are Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Djibouti, Gambia, Malawi, Mauritius, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tunisia and Uganda.

Mr. Taylor, 58, is a leading authority on telecommunications in Africa and has over 30 years of postgraduate experience in international telecommunications.

The Nigerian has extensive experience in radio communication matters, having worked at Intelsat, Washington DC U.S.; ITU, Geneva, Switzerland; Inmarsat, London U.K.; and the Nigerian Telecommunications Ltd. (NITEL).

He has also served as a former Chairman of the ITU Radio Regulations Board.

(NAN)

AU kills 80 al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia

The Somali government has been battling al-Shabaab for years.

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The African Union peacekeepers in Somalia said on Monday that the airstrikes they launched against radical Islamist fighters Al-Shabaab’s hideout in the south of the country left 80 militants dead.

The AU Mission, AMISOM, said in Cape Town that, the two separate airstrikes hit the Anole and Kuday localities in the Lower Jubba region, as part of a sustained effort to destroy Al-Shabaab’s military capabilities.

AMISOM said that in Anole, the army contingent killed more than 30 al-Shabaab fighters and destroyed three of the group’s technical vehicles and one SUV loaded with ammunition.

According to the report from Kuday, the Kenyan-led airstrikes killed more than 50 insurgents.

The Somali government has been battling al-Shabaab for years with the backing of AU troops.

SABC Boss Under Probe For Taking 22-Year-Old 'Wife As Gift’

The acting chief operations officer of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), Hlaudi Motsoeneng is under probe for allegedly accepting a 22-year-old lady who was given to him as wife.

According to local media, Motsoeneng was given the young woman, along with a cow and a calf, by a lobby group of traditional leaders in Thohoyandou, in Limpopo province.

The group are alleged to be seeking greater exposure of their culture.

It was gathered that a newspaper based in Soweto had reported last week that about 10 half-naked women were lined up and Motsoeneng was asked to pick one.


* Hlaudi Motsoeneng
Sources stated that the media boss picked a human resources management student named Vanessa Mutswari.

Vanessa is pictured above bare-breasted next to Motsoeneng, standing behind a trailer on which the other gifts, a cow and a calf had been loaded.

Reports informed that she’s so happy to be given out as a gift.

* 22-year-old Vanessa

When the photos of the event were published, the SABC boss came under attack with people describing the offer of a "wife" as "barbaric".

South African women’s groups have protested against the act, asking Motsoeneng to be investigated and the girl immediately returned to her family.


* Motsoeneng and Vannesa (circled)

"The use of women as gifts as if they were livestock is a serious regress and an insult to the gains of 20 years of democracy and freedom, particularly the contribution of women,” women’s ministry spokeswoman Kenosi Machepa said.

Gender commission spokesman Baloyi said an investigation has been launched and the girl’s family contacted.

As at the time of compiling this report, Motsoeneng has not responded publicly to the allegations.

Mauritius ranked 1st in Africa in Global Peace Index 2014

Chad, Burundi and Liberia are among the 10 countries whose peaceful climate could deteriorate in the next two years.

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Mauritius has been adjudged the most peaceful country in Africa and 24th in the world, the 2014 Global Peace Index published on Wednesday.

It was published by the London-based Institute of Economics and Peace, IEP.

The survey, conducted in 162 countries, measures 22 qualitative and quantitative indicators.

The survey noted that violence witnessed in the last seven years had reversed the peaceful trend of the last 60 years across the world.

Mauritius obtained an overall score of 1.544, against 1.678 for Botswana which was second in Africa and 36th globally.

The IEP noted that Chad, Burundi, and Liberia are among the 10 countries whose peaceful climate could deteriorate in the next two years.

(Xinhua/NAN)

Uganda vows to implement gay law despite new U.S. sanctions

The United States imposed sanctions on Uganda Thursday over the East African nation’s anti-gay law, which can see homosexuals jailed for life.

The U.S. government said it was cancelling a military exercise and cutting funds to a number of programmes it is running with the Ugandan authorities.

Tougher measures will also follow.

“The Department of State is taking measures to prevent entry into the United States by certain Ugandan officials involved in serious human rights abuses, including against LGBT individuals,” said National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden Hayden in a written statement.”

The US will also discontinue or redirect funds for certain programmes involving the Ugandan Police Force, National Public Health Institute and Ministry of Health, and has cancelled plans to conduct a US military-sponsored aviation exercise.

The White House said the Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act is “counter to universal human rights”.
A spokesperson for the Ugandan government, Ofwono Opondo, dismissed the sanctions.

Mr. Opondo said the contentious law will be implemented except it is amended or nullified by court following a petition in Uganda’s constitutional court by a group of gay rights activist, the country’s Daily Monitor reported Friday.

“These measures by the US government do not diminish our resolve to obtain and exercise full sovereignty. Mr Obama has more on his plate [with the war] in Syria and Iraq, and could be diverting domestic attention for a while,” he was quoted as saying.

The United States provides about $740 million to Uganda annually in development assistance, with much of the money going to agriculture and health- mostly for supply of anti-retroviral drugs.

Mr. Opondo said the new sanctions will be inconsequential as the U.S. had already withdrawn much of its direct support to the government preferring to channel its assistance through non-governmental organisations.

The U.S. threatened punishment over the legislation since it was signed into law in February by President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda.