At least 10 people have been killed and about 20 injured in a bomb blast near an army barracks in northern Nigeria, local officials say. The explosion hit the Mamy market in the city of Bauchi late on Sunday. The injured were taken to hospital. No group has so far said it carried out the blast. Continue reading Nigeria: Deadly bomb blast at army barracks
Monthly Archives: May 2011
Message to Nigeria President as He is Sworn In
Sr. Rosita Iwanyanwu, SND
Nigeria president’s Big Day
Congratulations Mr. President, I wish you a successful tenure! Please remember all your promises to Nigerians, and let equity and fairness be the cornerstone of your administration.
Now that you have the people’s mandate:
- work tireless to improve the life of the citizens,
- be prudent on award of contracts and the overall yearly budget implementation,
- remain focused on your set goal to improve the lots of the ordinary people,
- (PLEASE) prioritize energy supply and let there be light with road networks,
- restructure our education to produce competent and qualified graduands,
- encourage small businesses and recognize entrepreneurship as the largest employers;
- give them their due,
- run a fiscal federal system of governance,
- avoid sycophants and fair weather friends,
- beware of godfathers e.g, former president Obasanjo;
- let your godfather be the citizens of this country that voted you to power, and finally Mr. President,
- provide the dividend of democracy to the masses of Nigeria.
God bless you, and may God bless Nigeria.
Priest describes massacre in northwestern Kenya
The base of the conflict is survival – expressed in competition for scarce resources: pasture, water and fish.
Independent Catholic News Service
Just over two months ago, Fr Steven Ochieng visited England to speak about his parish in Todonyang, northwestern Kenya, which is twinned with Holy Apostles, Pimlico, central London. This week he sent a letter describing an outbreak of inter-tribal violence there, which has left more than 31 people dead and displaced many hundreds. Continue reading Priest describes massacre in northwestern Kenya
Hundreds of trafficked children are disappearing from the care system
Government and social services departments are accused of failing to protect victims.
Hundreds of children who have been trafficked into the UK are disappearing each year from the care system, amid allegations that government and local authorities are failing to protect them. The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, a government agency, estimates that at least 300 juveniles identified as trafficked have disappeared from local authority care over the past three years. Collated figures from the NSPCC yesterday showed they had dealt with 549 trafficked children in the past three-and-a-half years, although there was no indication of how many had since disappeared after being delivered into care. Continue reading Hundreds of trafficked children are disappearing from the care system
Amazon rainforest activist shot dead
Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro
Six months after predicting his own murder, a leading rainforest defender has reportedly been gunned down in the Brazilian Amazon. José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva and his wife, Maria do Espírito Santo, are said to have been killed in an ambush near their home in Nova Ipixuna, in Pará state, about 37 miles from Marabá. Continue reading Amazon rainforest activist shot dead
Brazil eases rules on conserving Amazon rainforest
Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies has voted to ease restrictions on the amount of land farmers must preserve as forest. The amended law also grants some amnesties for previous deforestation. Supporters say Brazil needs land to boost agricultural production, while environmentalists say destruction of the Amazon rainforest will increase. Wrangling over the final bill is likely, as Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff indicated she would veto any bill that contained an amnesty. Continue reading Brazil eases rules on conserving Amazon rainforest
The Survival of the Catholic Church in Uganda through the Catholic Martyrs
A time came when the Catholic Church was at the verge of collapsing. This is when the catholic missionaries were forced by circumstances to flee Uganda for Tanzania, 8th of November 1882, abandoning their 20 baptized Catholics and about 300 catechumens, like sheep without a shepherd. They had been in the country for three years, eight months and nineteen days since their arrival on the main land 17th of Feb, 1870. But the Catholics, mainly whom had to be the future martyrs fought tooth and nail to make the catholic church survive in whatever circumstances. Continue reading The Survival of the Catholic Church in Uganda through the Catholic Martyrs
South Sudan’s reliance on NGOs
South Sudan is poised to become Africa’s newest nation, but NGOs will still provide basic services to almost 90 percent of the country.
Operation Lifeline Sudan, launched by the United Nations in 1989, was one of the biggest humanitarian efforts ever seen. It brought together UN agencies and some 35 non-governmental organizations (NGO). Decades of civil war ended in 2005, when a peace treaty gave the south defacto autonomy. The former rebel group — the SPLA — has been governing the south ever since. Vassar College Political Scientist Zachariah Mampilly says the situation created an unsustainable relationship between foreign NGOs and the SPLA. Continue reading South Sudan’s reliance on NGOs
In Peru, hard-won democratic gains at risk
By Michael Shifter, Published: May 22
At a meeting of Western Hemisphere leaders in Lima, Peru, just moments after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Secretary of State Colin Powell signed the Inter-American Democratic Charter. The Andean nation had recently emerged from a decade of authoritarian rule under Alberto Fujimori. This was the right time and place for governments to endorse democratic principles. Continue reading In Peru, hard-won democratic gains at risk
Ecumenical Conference on Mining – Final Statement
Gathered under a banner bearing Psalm 24’s reminder – “The Earth is God’s, and all that is in it” – about 150 people from all parts of the Earth (50 from the south) considered the impact of Canadian mining companies on their communities and offered some signs of what must be done differently… We met in Toronto, Canada, as this country is home to 75 per cent of the world’s mining and mineral exploration companies, and Canadian stock exchanges raise 40 per cent of all mineral exploration capital worldwide…the participants commit to continue the process of reflection and action on resource extraction, and also call upon the Canadian churches, as well as churches globally, to take re sponsibility in speaking out more publicly on the issues and concerns raised during the gathering.” (see list of sponsors at the end) Continue reading Ecumenical Conference on Mining – Final Statement
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