Terrorist Attacks Rock Nairobi

From Al Jazeera English

Result of the bombings. Picture from Reuters.

At least six people killed and 25 injured in three explosions in predominantly Somali area of Kenyan capital.

At least six people have been killed and up to 25 injured after three bombs were thrown in a busy part of the predominantly-Somali area of Kenya's capital, Nairobi. The blasts on Monday targeted roadside food stalls and restaurants in the Eastleigh suburb of the city, known as "little Mogadishu" for its large immigrant population.

The first hit a roadside where women were selling food. Two more were thrown into separate restaurants. Most of the victims were believed to have died in one of the restaurants. No group or individual has claimed the attacks. However in the past, such attacks in the area have been blamed on Somalia's al-Shabab armed group.

Benson Kibue, Nairobi's police commander said: "I want to assure all Kenyans that we are doing everything we can and that they are safe, we are securing everything." Kenya's president,  Uhuru Kenyatta, is under increasing pressure to secure the capital, scene of the Westgate Mall attack last year al-Shabab, which left 67 people dead.

Al-Shabab has targeted Kenya after the government sent troops into Somalia to fight alongside government forces there. Al Jazeera's Tania Page, said Nairobi had grown more tense in the last week after the government ordered all refugees, most of whom are Somali, to leave urban areas and head to two designated refugee camps.

The order followed the deaths of six people in a gun attack on a church service a week ago in Mombassa. "The government says that's because some of the people responsible for recent attacks have been refugees," said Page. "The people of Eastleigh argue they are suffering collective punishment for the actions of a few."

Taliban Abduct Afghani Candidate

From Al Jazeera English

Afghani military. From Reuters.

Council candidate and seven others were taken overnight in the northern Sar-i-Pul province ahead of April 5 poll.

Taliban gunmen have abducted an Afghan candidate running for a seat in the provincial council of  

Sar-i-Puland and seven members of his entourage, an Afghan official has said.

Governor Abdul Jabar Haqbeen said on Monday that candidate Hussain Nazari and seven others were taken overnight in the northern Sar-i-Pul province. They were travelling in a taxi to the provincial capital and had no security escort with them, he said.

The governor said elders in the community were trying to negotiate with the Taliban to get Nazari and the others released. Afghanistan is holding elections on Saturday for a new president to replace Hamid Karzai, as well as for provincial council members. The Taliban have vowed to use force to disrupt the April 5 vote and have stepped up attacks in the lead-up to the polling.

On Saturday, suicide bombers targeted buildings near the Independent Election Commission headquarters in Kabul, leaving four attackers killed and at least two police officers injured.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack. Last Friday, Taliban fighters also attacked a Kabul guesthouse used by a US anti-landmine charity, killing two people including a teenage girl.

Mayor de Blasio Booed at Citi

By Beth DeFalco, Priscilla DeGregory,
and David K. Li
From The New York Post

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, throwing out the
first pitch. Picture from Getty Images.

Mets fans greeted Mayor de Blasio with hearty Bronx cheers on Monday, before he left early on the Amazins’ bitter Opening Day loss.

Donning a pinstripe home white jersey and blue Mets cap over dress pants, de Blasio was loudly booed twice by Flushing faithful — once as he was announced and then again as he left the Citi Field diamond.

The wave of boos didn’t get to de Blasio, who kept his cool, kicked and delivered from just in front of the pitcher’s mound.

De Blasio — wearing a No. 6 Mets jersey with his name on the back – tossed a strike to Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud, and flashed a relieved grin that he delivered a corner-painting, Opening Day pitch.

He played off the boos, suggesting that his supporters might have been too cold to cheer.

“As for the response of the crowd, I think everyone is going to be too cold to respond,” de Blasio said, before the Mets 9-7 loss in 10 innings to the Washington Nationals.

“But whatever it is it is, I’m a sports fan. Sports fans have a right to express themselves any way they want.”

De Blasio wore No. 6 in honor of late-1960s Boston Red Sox great Rico Petrocelli, the mayor’s aides said.

The infielder, who slugged 210 home runs in his 13-season career, grew up in Brooklyn. So the Boston-loving mayor managed to pay homage to his beloved Red Sox, his adopted home borough and to Italian Americans by donning that shirt.

But that still didn’t get de Blasio off the hook for his war on charter schools.

“I’m not a fan of his — especially on his [positions on] charter schools and pre-K,” said booing fan Jodi Freed, 42, of Bayside.

“Is school a day care or education system? He needs to show more concern by getting rid of Common Core and educating, starting on basics.”

The mayor admitted he practiced for Monday’s big toss with his son Dante at the Park Slope Armory.

Glenn Smith, a computer programmer from Kinnelon, NJ, was blown away by the overwhelming boos for the recently elected mayor.

“He’s only been in office for three months. They were pretty hard on him,” Smith said.

“Maybe politicians don’t want to make public appearances because they don’t want to hear the boos. He threw the ball nice though.”

De Blasio took shelter in cushy Caesars Box seats, Section 311 to be exact, where he noshed on an Italian sausage. And unlike his pizza debacle, de Blasio used his hands, no knife or fork.

He vanished from public view in the fifth inning to hang out with Mets owners in a private suite.

De Blasio left during the seventh-inning stretch, moments after the Nats had scored twice to tie the score, 4-4.

New York would take the lead in the eighth inning before coughing it up in the ninth and losing it in the 10th.

“It shows he has no heart. It’s upsetting [the mayor leaving so early],” said 33-year-old Whitestone resident Matthew Lipsky, a FedEx operations manager who was among the few fans to tough it out through 10 innings.

“He’s supposed to be a leader. What does that show?”

Despite the torrent of boos for de Blasio, bundled-up Mets fans were generally in a good mood, shivering and smiling about baseball’s annual return to Flushing.

The mercury hovered in the high 30s just before first pitch. But it reached a sunny 53 degrees by game’s end.

Retired school teacher Harvey Wiener said he hopes to be shivering at Mets games later this year — in the playoffs.

“This is just like October baseball so it’s great,” said the absurdly optimistic Weiner, 66.

Even the most jaded Mets fans were excited for the first of 162 games this season. The Queens club hopes to improve from its 74-88 mark of 2013.

“This is greatest day of the year, this should be a national holiday!” said 37-year-old Mike Amendola, a Rockland County PE teacher who had permission from school bosses to play hooky at Citi Field.

The Mets honored beloved, late broadcaster Ralph Kiner before the game, unveiling an image of the Amazins uniform patch in left field. The team will wear a patch all season, with Kiner’s name over a broadcast mic.

Monday marked the Mets first Opening Day without Kiner, who passed away on Feb. 6 at age of 91.

Bob Morris 54 and his 19-year-old Mike, from Rockaway Township, NJ, held up sticks with Kiner’s face on it.

“We [the Mets tribute] think it’s great. We grew up with him,” the elder Morris said.

“I was just a kid. He is in the history of the Mets. It’s sad because he’s a New York Mets icon and he’s gone now. But I have mixed feelings because there are a lot of good memories too. He was a guy everyone liked.”

Michael Kiner – son of the slugger-turned-broadcaster – said his old man would have been blown away by the pre-game tribute.

“He would be very humbled by all of this,” the son told SNY. “This would have meant an awful lot of him.”

Even though Ralph Kiner came to fame as a player in Pittsburgh and lived in Palm Springs, Michael Kiner said his dad’s true love was for the Amazins.

“Even though he was great player for the Pirates, his heart was in New York,” the younger Kiner said. “The Mets fans are the greatest fans in the world and he was a Met.”

U.S. Contemplates Freeing Israeli Spy

From BBC News

Johnathan Pollard. Picture from AP

The US may consider releasing Jonathan Pollard, an American jailed for spying for Israel, in an bid to save the Middle East peace process, reports say.

A US official told the New York Times that no decisions had been made, but confirmed there had been discussions.

Israel would have to make significant concessions to the Palestinians in return, reports said.

Pollard, a former US Navy intelligence analyst, was jailed for life in 1987 for passing documents to Israel.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has flown to the region for urgent talks.

He had a two-meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday evening and was expected to meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah early on Tuesday.

It is the second time that Mr Kerry has interrupted his schedule to press both sides to extend the direct peace talks beyond 29 April - the deadline set last summer when they resumed after a three-year hiatus.

'On the table'

His plan has been derailed by a dispute over the release of a fourth batch of 26 long-term Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.

Mr Abbas had insisted that they be freed by 29 March, in keeping with a promise made by Israel before the direct negotiations resumed.

Israeli officials have said they are reluctant to proceed unless the Palestinians commit to extending the talks, and stressed that the releases have always been tied to their progress.

The previous three releases were deeply unpopular with the Israeli public because many of the prisoners were convicted of murdering Israelis.

The possible release of Pollard has reportedly emerged as an incentive for Israeli co-operation.

Like his predecessors, Mr Obama has refused to release the 59-year-old despite repeated pleas from Israeli leaders.

However, last year he told Israeli TV that he would make sure his sentence would be "accorded the same kinds of review" as every other American prisoner.

Officials familiar with the negotiations told the New York Times that Pollard's possible release was one element in discussions about a broader arrangement that had not yet been reached and that the president would need to approve.

Two people close to the talks told the Associated Press that in return for such a move, Israel would have to undertake significant concessions to the Palestinians.

Concessions could include some kind of construction freeze at Jewish settlements on occupied territory, the release of further batches of Palestinian prisoners, and a guarantee not to pull out of the talks.

White House spokesman Jay Carney declined to discuss any possible deal over Pollard.

"He is a person who is convicted of espionage and is serving his sentence. I don't have any updates on his situation," he told a news conference on Monday.

Israel's government has also not commented, but senior Israeli sources told the Maariv newspaper that the "Pollard issue is on the table".

Student Banned From Track For Pink Mohawk

By Beth Greenfield, Shine Staff
From Yahoo News

Mike Barker. Photo Amanda House/Ella Grace
Photography.

A Michigan high school student says he’s been forced to leave his track team simply because of his hair. Mike Barker, a 17-year-old junior at West Iron County High School, recently styled his hair into a bright pink Mohawk to support his mother, who is battling breast cancer.  When authorities allegedly told him to choose between his hair, which violated school policy, and the team, Barker says, “I picked family."

Barker shares his story at length in a YouTube video shot by Michigan blogger Jason Asselin. In it, he explains that he explains that he decided last week to fulfill his promise to his mom to dye his Mohawk — which he’s allegedly had for weeks without consequence — to honor not only his mom’s cancer struggle, but also the struggles of two aunts, one of whom died two years ago. The student says that when various school officials, including his track coach, told him on Thursday that he needed to shave it off or leave the team, he chose the latter. 

Since then, Barker’s story has blown up on social media, prompting a Facebook support page with almost 2,300 in his corner. He tells Yahoo Shine he’s meeting with school officials on Monday afternoon to discuss the situation further. Meanwhile, Superintendent Chris Thomson has provided Yahoo Shine with the following statement:

“The West Iron County Public Schools supports the needs of the students to express themselves, as long as their expression does not interfere with the educational process ... The athletic department is going to work with the student and parents to resolve this issue. The student was not dismissed from the team and we welcome his participation in the future. The athletic department has long supported breast cancer awareness by participating in numerous events involving student athletes and staff held in October (Breast Cancer Awareness Month) and plan to continue to support this worthy cause.”

According to the school’s website, Barker was highlighted as “Student of the Week” earlier this year. His short bio notes that he also plays football and basketball, and that that he is a “conscientious student” who “willingly helps peers and staff and always treats others with respect” and is “an exceptional member of the West Iron County High School student body.” 

Barker’s story comes less than a week after that of Kamryn Renfro, a Colorado 9-year-old who was kicked out of school for a day after shaving her head in support of her best friend, a cancer patient who is bald from chemotherapy treatments. The school relented after mounting pressure from the public, voting on Tuesday to waive the school dress-code policy, which it said Renfro’s baldness had violated. Other recent student-hair controversies have included that of Vanessa VanDyke, 12, who was told by her Florida private school to restyle her natural African American hair or be expelled; and a 7-year-old Oklahoma girl whose parents yanked her from her charter school after officials deemed her dreadlocks unacceptable. 

Although Barker has not been suspended, he says that leaving his track team has not been easy. “I don’t want to quit. I actually wanted to keep playing,” he explains in the YouTube video, during which he’s flanked by his mother, Wendy Pawlicki, and an unnamed man, identified by Barker for Yahoo Shine as his stepfather. “I was supporting something big, cancer. You know, it goes on every day.” 

In addition to his Facebook defenders — many of whom have sent in photos of themselves either wearing pink or with their hair dyed pink to support his effort — Barker has received the backing of his fellow students and track team members, some of whom quit the team along with him. 

“I played football for 4 years with Mike. We have been pretty good friends. But for me it never mattered,” one of those students, senior Bryson Heimerl, tells Yahoo Shine in a Facebook message. “If a team member was attacked I had his back. I felt that Mike was being attacked at this point. I had no intentions for anyone getting hurt. I just wanted to prove a point.”

Army Kills Hundreds in Nigeria

From BBC News

Map from BBC News.

Nigeria's army killed some 600 people after a recent attack by Boko Haram militants on a barracks, Amnesty International has said. Quoting eye-witnesses, it said that after the raid in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri, detainees who had escaped were rounded up and killed.

The army has not yet commented on the allegations but has denied previous reports of abuses. The conflict has killed some 1,500 people this year, according to Amnesty. Half of those killed were civilians, the organisation said. Hundreds of militants were said to have taken part in the 14 March attack on the Giwa barracks in Maiduguri, which the BBC's Will Ross described as a particularly brazen assault.

Military aircraft were deployed after the jailbreak. Captured Boko Haram suspects are often detained in Giwa barracks, and human rights groups say hundreds have died or been subjected to torture there - allegations always denied by the military.

One eyewitness told Amnesty that a self-defence group known as civilian JTF captured some of the detainees who had escaped. "I saw the soldiers asking the people to lie on the ground," the witness said. "There was a small argument between the soldiers and the civilian JTF. The soldiers made some calls and a few minutes later they started shooting the people on the ground. I counted 198 people killed at that checkpoint."

Amnesty says all parties are violating international law and wants an investigation into what may be war crimes and crimes against humanity. "The summary killing of these detainees amount to extrajudicial executions and are crimes under international law," said Amnesty's Netsanet Belay. "These killings follow an entrenched pattern of deaths in custody of detainees held in relation to the situation in the north-east."

The violence has forced some 250,000 people from their homes so far this year, according to the government's relief agency. It said more than three million people are facing a humanitarian crisis.

Boko Haram was launched in Maiduguri in 2009, with the aim of setting up an Islamic state. A state of emergency was declared in three north-eastern states last year to help the military crush the insurgency. However, the militants have stepped up attacks in recent months.

Chadian Troops Kill 24 in Central African Republic

From Al Jazeera English

At least 24 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded after Chadian soldiers opened fire on civilians in the Central African Republic of Bangui. The incident took place on Saturday, when the troops were escorting a convoy of Muslims back to Chad.

"When they got to the PK12 neighbourhood, they suddenly started shooting. People panicked and started running and ducking for cover," Sebastien Wenezoui, a spokesman for the country's Christian militia, told Reuters news agency on Sunday.

An officer with MISCA, the African Union's support mission, told AFP news agency that it was unclear what had happened. The official, who requested anonymity, said the incident occurred in a mainly Christian district in the north of Bangui and that the casualty toll could rise.

Later on Sunday the mayor of Begoua, Odette Dombolo, told reporters that 24 bodies had been identified and more than 100 people were wounded. Previously, it was claimed that eight people had been killed.
Chadian soldiers have previously been accused of siding with Muslim fighters, known as Seleka.

Turkey Accused of Sending Fighters to Syria

From Al Jazeera English

Syria's information minister has lashed out at Turkey, accusing Ankara of sending foreign fighters across the border to fight Syrian government troops in President Bashar Assad's ancestral homeland in Latakia province.

Omran al-Zoubi told the state TV on Sunday that neighbouring Turkey is facilitating the entry of "groups of foreigners, armed to their teeth" into Latakia, where fighting is raging between Syrian government forces and rebel fighters trying to oust Assad.

Recently, the Syrian government complained to the UN that Ankara was providing cover to rebels crossing the border to Syrian soil. 

Turkey is a NATO member that once had good ties with Syria. But the two countries had a falling out over Ankara's support for the Syrian opposition in the three-year-old conflict. Hostilities have flared along the border on several occasions and last week, Turkey shot down a Syrian fighter jet, saying it violated its airspace.

Damascus rejects Ankara's airspace violation allegations, saying that the plane was hit on Syrian airspace.

Ebola Outbreak Spreads to Liberia

From BBC News

Map from BBC website.

The first two cases of Ebola have been confirmed in Liberia, after spreading from neighbouring Guinea, where the deadly virus has killed 78 people.

The two Liberian cases are sisters, one of whom had recently returned from Guinea, officials say. As concern grows over the outbreak, Senegal has closed its normally busy border with Guinea.

Ebola is spread by close contact and kills between 25% and 90% of its victims. Senegalese singer Youssou Ndour cancelled Saturday's concert in Guinea's capital Conakry because of the outbreak. Although he had already travelled to Conakry, he told the BBC it would not be a good idea to bring hundreds or thousands of people together in an enclosed area.

The outbreak began in Guinea's remote south-eastern Forest Region but last week spread to the capital, a sprawling city of two million. Senegal's Health Minister Awa Marie Coll-Seck said the government decided to close its border with Guinea after confirmation the virus had reached Conakry. "When it used to be only in the south of Guinea, we didn't do anything special. But now that it's reached Conakry, we believe it's safer to close our borders," she said.

"We have also closed all weekly markets, known as luma, in the south. And we're having some discussions with religious leaders regarding big religious events." There have also been suspected cases of Ebola in neighbouring Sierra Leone but these have not been confirmed.

The outbreak is believed to have spread to humans from fruit bats, which are a delicacy in parts of south-eastern Guinea. The government has now banned the sale and consumption of the bats. It has also urged people to ensure they regularly wash their hands with soap to prevent the virus from spreading. Discovered in 1976 after an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, then Zaire, Ebola causes a severe haemorrhagic fever where victims suffer vomiting, diarrhoea and both internal and external bleeding.
Scientists have yet to develop an effective drug or vaccine to fight it. Outbreaks of Ebola occur primarily in remote villages in Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests, the World Health Organization says.

Former Israeli PM Convicted of Bribery

Ehud Olmert. Photo from AP.

From BBC News

Israel's former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been found guilty in a bribery trial in a case which forced him to resign to office in 2008. Olmert was convicted in what is known as the "Holyland affair" in which bribes were paid to speed up a luxury property development in Jerusalem. He has already been cleared in several other corruption trials.

The 68-year-old former Kadima party leader had denied wrongdoing and had hinted at a political comeback. Delivering the verdict in Tel Aviv on Monday, Judge David Rozen said the case "exposed governance that grew more corrupt and rotten over the years", with bribes paid to public officials," the Associated Press news agency reported.

Olmert succeeded Ariel Sharon as Prime Minister after the latter had a stroke in January 2006. He was mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003. In 2012 Olmert was cleared of two major corruption charges but convicted of illegally granting favours to a business friend during his time as trade and industry minister under Mr Sharon. He was fined $19,000 and given a suspended a one-year suspended jail sentence.

The Holyland affair saw millions of dollars in bribes change hands in one of the biggest corruption scandals in Israel's history.

As prime minister, Olmert pursued peace talks with the Palestinians and made an extensive offer of land-for-peace in 2008. He also oversaw the 2006 war with Hezbollah in Lebanon but subsequently struggled with low approval ratings.

Children Abandoned En Route to USA

From Agence France-Presse

Mexico City (AFP) - Authorities in Mexico have found more than 370 children dumped by people smugglers while trying to make their way into the United States.

The National Institute of Migration (INM) said the huge number of children, from different nations in Central America, were discovered in just a single one-week period in March. The figure included some 163 children who were abandoned because they were not traveling with an adult family member or an acquaintance, the INM said in a statement.

In many cases, the children had been left in dangerous or difficult transit points by guides who had been paid between $3,000 and $5,000, it said.

The children were found between March 17 and 24 across 14 states, the INM said, without specifying the ages and nationalities of the children. "The children showed signs of extreme fatigue, foot injuries, dehydration, disorientation and not knowing where they were abandoned," it said.

Authorities arrested nine suspected traffickers in connection with the case. INM has said the numbers of immigrant children traveling alone through Mexico "has increased significantly" in recent months.

Some 140,000 undocumented immigrants, the vast majority from Central America, attempt to make the perilous journey through Mexico into the United States every year.

Many travel with children and trust "coyotes" to guide them across the border into the United States.

The migrants are often targeted by criminal gangs, with robberies, extortion, rapes, kidnappings and murders common.

One Million Flee South Sudan

South Sudanese refugees head to Ethiopia. Picture from AFP

From BBC News

More than one million people have been forced from their homes by the ongoing conflict in South Sudan, the UN says.

Of these, 803,200 have been displaced within the country, and another 254,000 have fled to neighbouring countries, according to the latest UN report.

It warns that the situation is likely to get worse as the violence continues.

Fighting erupted between the forces of President Salva Kiir and troops loyal to his former deputy, Riek Machar, in December.

The two sides signed a ceasefire agreement in January, but sporadic fighting has continued.

Food security

In its report, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the conflict had caused "a serious deterioration in the food security situation" leaving around 3.7 million people at high risk.

"Fighting between government and opposition forces has continued, especially in Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile state, where towns and rural areas have been ravaged by the violence," it added.

The UN estimates that 4.9 million are in need of humanitarian assistance, but it warned that "the remote and dispersed placement sites make it difficult to reach many of South Sudan's conflict-affected people".

In its report, the UN says it has received only a quarter of the money it needs to respond to the growing crisis.

The violence erupted on 15 December between pro-government forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and soldiers backing Riek Machar, his former vice-president.

President Kiir is a member of South Sudan's largest ethnic group, the Dinka, while Mr Machar is from the Nuer community - the country's second largest.

The conflict has seen reports of mass killings along ethnic lines even though both men have prominent supporters in their rival's community. Thousands are feared to have died since the conflict began.

Four top South Sudanese politicians have since gone on trial accused of plotting a coup against the government and inciting an insurgency in South Sudan.

South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011 after a long and bloody conflict, to become the world's newest state.

From BBC News

Thousands Protest China In Taiwan

From Al Jazeera America

Picture from AFP

Tens of thousands take to streets of Taipei to pressure president to retract controversial trade agreement with China.

Tens of thousands of Taiwanese protesters have taken to the streets in Taipei in a bid to pressure President Ma Ying-jeou to retract a controversial trade pact with China. The protesters, many wearing black shirts and headbands reading "defend democracy, retract service trade pact," crowded the streets leading to the presidential office, despite fresh concessions offered by Ma to further scrutinise agreements with China.

"The people cannot accept the government's reckless decision to sign the service trade pact with China. The government doesn't listen to the people who demand the pact be retracted," said protester Ko Hsuan-yu, a 25-year-old graduate student.

Security was tight as 3,500 police were deployed in the official presidential neighbourhood.

The high security presences comes after violent clashes on March 23, when a group of protesters stormed government headquarters. More than 100 people were injured when baton-wielding riot police used water cannon to disperse demonstrators and retake the government building in that incident.

Crowd estimated at 87,000

Organisers aimed to attract more than 100,000 people to the Sunday protest and vowed to hold a peaceful demonstration. An initial police estimate of the crowd was around 87,000. "We will not react to any violent actions from the police or other groups. We will maintain peace ... any form of violence is totally prohibited in this movement," said student leader Lin Fei-fan.

Around 200 student-led demonstrators have occupied parliament's main chamber for nearly two weeks in a bid to stop the trade pact with China.

Ma, who has sought closer ties with China since becoming the island's leader in 2008, on Saturday said he would agree to demands that a law be introduced to monitor all agreements with China.

But he rejected the protesters' main demand - that the service trade agreement signed with China in June last year be retracted, saying it could "cause too much damage to Taiwan".

The pact is designed to open up further trade in services between China and Taiwan, which split 65 years ago after a civil war. But the protesters say the deal will damage Taiwan's economy and leave it vulnerable to political pressure from China. The deal is a follow-up agreement to a sweeping Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement signed in 2010 to reduce trade barriers between China and Taiwan.

Ma, whose approval ratings sit at just 10 percent, has overseen a marked thaw in relations with Beijing since he came to power pledging to strengthen trade and tourism links. He was re-elected in January 2012.

China, however, still considers Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification - by force if necessary.

Senegal Closes Border Fearing Ebola Spread

From Al Jazeera English

Guinea records more cases and deaths, as Senegal shuts crossings amid reports of cases in other neighbouring states.

Hospital where Ebola Victims are Being Treated. Reuters

Health officials are racing to contain a deadly Ebola epidemic in Guinea, with one neighbouring state closing its borders and two others reporting cases amid warnings of a "serious threat" to the region.

Senegal on Saturday said its border crossings to Guinea would be closed "until further notice", while neighbours Liberia and Sierra Leone have reported suspected cases of the disease.

Guinea said on Saturday the number of suspected cases of Ebola stood at 111, with 70 deaths. Most cases were in the southern forested areas but eight cases had been confirmed in the capital, Conakry, with one death. The World Health Organisation said neighbouring Liberia had reported six of eight suspected cases of Ebola feverhad resulted in death, while Sierra Leone had reported six suspected cases, five of them fatal.

All of these reported cases had recently travelled to Guinea, the WHO said.

Aid pledge

The EU pledged $690,000 to fight the outbreak after a plea from the Economic Community of West African States, which described the outbreak as a "serious threat to the region". 

No treatment or vaccine is available for Ebola, a highly infectious and virulent disease which can cause uncontrollable bleeding. The Zaire strain detected in Guinea, first recorded 38 years ago in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, has a 90 percent death rate. It can be transmitted to humans from wild animals, and between humans through direct contact with blood, bodily fluids or the unprotected handling of contaminated corpses.

The Doctors Without Borders group said the spread of the disease was being exacerbated by people travelling to funerals in which mourners touch the bodies of the dead.

China Harasses Philippine Ship

From BBC News

Journalists on board a Philippine ship have witnessed a Chinese coast guard vessel trying to block access to a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.

The Chinese ship radioed to demand the crew turn around, or "take full responsibility" for their actions.

But the Philippine boat, ferrying food to troops stationed on the Second Thomas Shoal, managed to slip past.

The shoal is one of many flashpoints in the area, where several countries have overlapping territorial claims.

The Chinese crew instructed the Filipinos to turn away

Philippine crew members flashed peace signs at the Chinese vessel

The Philippine boat slipped past the Chinese and reached their troops on a rusty beached vessel

China claims a U-shaped swathe of the sea - creating multiple overlaps with areas claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.

The latest incident involves the Second Thomas Shoal, known as Ayungin in Manila and Ren'ai Reef in Beijing.

Philippine troops are stationed on a beached, rusting military ship on the shoal that analysts say has become a symbol of the country marking its territory.

Two weeks ago, Manila made a formal complaint to Beijing after a similar incident.

The latest confrontation was witnessed by more than a dozen journalists.

They had been invited by the Philippine military to board the government vessel to show alleged bullying by Chinese vessels in the area.

The Chinese foreign ministry condemned the Philippines for trying to "hype up" the issue, according to a statement quoted by Xinhua news agency.

The ministry accused Manila of trying to "illegally seize" the shoal.

Ebola Confirmed in Conakry

There is no cure for the Ebola Virus

  

From BBC News

Guinea's government has for the first time confirmed cases of the deadly Ebola virus in the capital Conakry.

Until now, the 66 confirmed deaths have only been in rural areas, although there have been suspected cases, which have since proved negative, in the capital.

There have also been suspected cases in neighbouring West African states Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Ebola is spread by close contact and kills between 25% and 90% of victims.

Earlier this week, the health ministry banned the sale and consumption of bats, in a bid to prevent the spread of the virus. Fruit bats, which are a delicacy in the worst affected south-eastern region, are thought to be carriers of the disease.

Health Minister Remy Lamah said the virus appeared to have been transmitted by an man who showed symptoms of haemorrhagic fever after visiting Dinguiraye in central Guinea, far from the identified outbreaks of Ebola in the remote south-east.

Four of the man's brothers, who attended his funeral in the central town of Dabola, started to show the same symptoms and were tested for Ebola on their return to Conakry.

The four have been placed in an isolation ward and the dead man's family have also been quarantined, the minister said.

The spread of the disease to Conakry, a city of some two million people, marks an escalation in the Ebola outbreak in Guinea - one of the poorest nations on earth, despite rich deposits of bauxite and iron ore.

Discovered in 1976 after an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, then Zaire, Ebola causes a severe haemorrhagic fever where victims suffer vomiting, diarrhoea and both internal and external bleeding.

Scientists have yet to develop an effective drug or vaccine to fight it.

Part of the problem is that the deadly virus is rare and its victims are often poor people living in rural areas of Africa without well-functioning health systems. But there is also little incentive for major pharmaceutical companies to invest in medical solutions when there is little chance of a return, analysts say.

However, many health officials believe the virus could be better controlled with good basic hygiene and the eradication of dangerous bush meat consumption. The US government also funds some research, partly out of concern the virus could be used for bioterrorism.

"Ebola virus is one of the deadliest killers known," said Ben Neuman, a virologist at Britain's University of Reading.

"If this virus spread between people more easily, it would probably be more deadly than the black plague. Fortunately, up to this point, it has not," he added.

Outbreaks of Ebola occur primarily in remote villages in Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests, the World Health Organization says.

Worlds Tallest Building Begins Construction

Kingdom Tower Artistic Rendering

By Michele Berger
From The Weather Channel

Imagine stepping onto a building’s observatory and being literally in the clouds. If the Kingdom Tower gets built as it’s currently designed, that’s exactly what will happen, with an observatory planned for 1,640 feet up that, when weather allows, will offer stunning views of the Red Sea.

And construction on this, what will become the world’s tallest building, is about to begin. Once completed, the $1.2 billion Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, will soar 3,280 feet into the sky, looming over Dubai’s Burj Khalifa (at 2,717 feet), which currently holds the “tallest” distinction.

(MORE: Futuristic Buildings from Around the World) 

According to Building Design magazine, work on the skyscraper is slated to start April 27 and will take more than five years to complete. For comparison’s sake, the Empire State Building, at 1,250 feet tall, took about a year to construct.

In February of this year, a foundation was laid for the Kingdom Tower, which will include, perhaps not surprisingly, a Four Seasons hotel, luxury condos, office buildings and the world’s highest observation tower, according to a news release from EC Harris/Mace, the companies tapped to oversee construction.

In addition to the remarkable height, other Kingdom Tower–related numbers are pretty astounding: The building, designed by U.S.-based Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, is meant to have more than 50 elevators (some reports say 56, others say 59) and 12 escalators. A ride all the way to the penthouse will take a full 12 minutes, Inhabitat reports. Total area will equal 500,000 square meters (that’s 5.3 million square feet). It’ll have 3,190 parking spots.

(MORE: 10 of the World’s Tallest Buildings)

The official Kingdom Tower skyscraper website states that pictures of the rising building should be available later this year, and that a completion date of 2017 or 2018 is “highly unlikely.” So 2019 it is. Until then we’ll just have to settle for a building that’s almost in the clouds. 

FBI Sting Shuts Down Chinatown Underworld

By Garance Burke
Associated Press
From Yahoo News

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Beneath the strings of red paper lanterns and narrow alleyways of the nation's oldest Chinatown lies a sinister underworld, according to an FBI criminal complaint that has stunned even those familiar with the neighborhood's history of gambling houses, opium dens and occasional gangland-style murders.  

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Pedestrians walk near the entrance to the Chinatown district in San Francisco. 

The federal charges, which allege a California lawmaker accepted money and campaign donations in exchange for providing official favors and helping broker an arms deal, cast harsh light on Chinatown's tight-knit network of fraternal organizations and one of its most shadowy characters, Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow, who appeared in federal court on Friday in handcuffs and shackles.

Investigators say Chow is the leader — the dragonhead — of one of the most powerful Asian gangs in North America. Chow's gang is said to have lured state Sen. Leland Yee into its clutches through money and campaign contributions in exchange for legislative help, as Yee sought to build his campaign coffers to run for California secretary of state.

In court Friday, Assistant Public Defender Elizabeth Falk told a judge that Chow would have to find other legal representation. She cited potential conflicts of interest involving previous cases, but did not elaborate. Chow did not enter a plea, and the hearing was continued until Monday.

Born in Hong Kong in 1960, Chow came to the United States at 16 and was reportedly nicknamed "Shrimp Boy" by his grandmother, in part due to his small stature.

After dropping out of high school, Chow rose within the ranks of the local Hop Sing Tong gang after he and his crew survived a 1977 shooting at a Chinatown restaurant that left five dead and about a dozen injured.

Chow then spent a few years inside San Quentin Prison for a robbery conviction, and after his release, started working with the Hong Kong-based Wo Hop To triad, one of numerous Chinese underground societies linked to organized crime. Chow has acknowledged that as a gang leader, he ran prostitution rings, smuggled drugs and extorted thousands of dollars from business owners in the 1980s.

"He was given like an unofficial position of being a leader, but to say he was sophisticated, no. He was more like a forceful brute," said Ignatius Chinn, a former California Department of Justice agent who spent years investigating Chow in the early 1990s. "If he didn't get his way, he would just beat the door down and that was how we put cases on him."

Although he ultimately was convicted of gun charges and sentenced to 25 years to life in the 1990s, Chow cut a deal to win release and returned to Chinatown several years ago, pledging to stay straight. His work with at-risk youth soon won accolades from prominent politicians. But the complaint alleges that Chow used his position heading the Ghee Kung Tong to launder money, receive and transport stolen property and traffic in contraband cigarettes during a FBI sting.

Longtime residents and observers said the startling allegations revealed the continued presence of organized crime in the popular tourist attraction, home to one of the largest Chinese communities outside Asia. "Chinatown is a very safe place and usually the crime you hear about there is just robberies and people being taken advantage of," said Joseph Leung, editor for the San Francisco edition of The Sing Tao Daily, the largest circulation Chinese newspaper in the U.S.

The pre-dawn FBI raid Wednesday at the Ghee Kung Tong's office, next to a massage parlor and across from a benevolent society where elderly people play mahjong, also brought into focus its centuries-old history. The tong was founded in the late 1800s to support immigrants from the Pearl Delta region.

Amid morning rain showers, federal agents and fire crews stormed the building armed with a circular saw and Jaws of Life to crack a safe that authorities say was at least a century old.

The organization is among dozens of active tongs, or family associations, in Chinatown. Chow assumed control when its former president, Allen Leung, was shot to death at his import-export store in 2006, said David Lee, director of the Chinese American Voters Education Committee.

"He kind of became like a gangster celebrity. He was on parole, he had an ankle bracelet and he became a fixture at political events for a while," said Lee, who also teaches political science at San Francisco State University.

The 137-page complaint, whose many twists are reminiscent of "American Hustle," does not reveal whether Yee had ties to Chow before the FBI got involved.

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California Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, right, leaves the San Francisco Federal Building 

Yee, a progressive Democrat born in China, built his political fortune partly through Chinatown connections and had never lost a race until his failed bid for San Francisco mayor in 2011.

A few years before that, Chow's own political star began rising. Around 2008, he began talking to youth about how to stay on the straight and narrow, said Rudy Corpuz Jr., executive director of the youth-led violence prevention organization United Playaz.

"When he had that life, he was somebody you wouldn't mess with. And he's little so people were like, 'Damn, that little guy had that much power?" said Corpuz Jr., who said Chow's redemption story helped change hundreds of young lives for the good.

Soon, the awards started coming. Chow was lauded by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee for his community work. He posted pictures of himself on Facebook with Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom.

All the while he was running a criminal operation, according to documents.

Several years ago, undercover FBI agents assigned to Chow infiltrated the organization, and ultimately snared Yee and his campaign consultant Keith Jackson. Jackson also appeared in court Friday, but did not enter a plea.

"Sometimes cases like this start with a big noise and end quietly," Jackson's attorney, Jim Brosnahan, said in a statement Friday.

The three were arrested during Wednesday's raids in Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay area, which also netted additional tong members.

Yee, free on $500,000 bail, withdrew Thursday from the race for secretary of state, and on Friday, fellow senators voted to suspend him. Chow was denied bail because he was deemed a flight risk and a danger to the public. Jackson was denied bail, too.

Yee's allies questioned why the senator had been targeted in the elaborate sting and cautioned that he was innocent until proven guilty.

"Leland always told me to be careful about taking money from the family associations, because you never know where the money is coming from. This kind of flies in the face of what he has told me," said Wayne Lee, a Yee protege who is mayor of the nearby suburb of Millbrae. "He's always been a champion for the downtrodden. I am hoping that he will be vindicated."