Ivory Coast ex-President Laurent Gbagbo at ICC court

Ivorian ex-President Laurent Gbagbo has appeared at the International Criminal Court to hear whether he could be tried on charges of crimes against humanity.

The hearing at the court in The Hague is expected to last until 28 February.

He faces four charges, including murder and rape, in the wake of Ivory Coast's disputed presidential poll in 2010.

Some 3,000 people were killed in violence after Mr Gbagbo refused to accept defeat in the polls. The 67-year-old insists he is innocent.

'Inadmissible' case

Presiding Judge Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi on Tuesday opened the confirmation of charges hearing which would decide whether there was enough evidence to try Mr Gbagbo.

The judge stressed that the hearing would not be ruling whether the former president was guilty or innocent.

Mr Gbagbo's defence lawyers argued that he was already under investigation in his own country and that the authorities there must be the ones to try him - not The Hague court.

They urged the judges to "declare this case inadmissible".

The prosecution is expected to begin presenting its arguments shortly.

Mr Gbagbo, a former history professor, sat silently in the courtroom listening to the proceedings. He made no comments.

Outside the court, some 300 supporters of Mr Gbagbo held a rally, demanding his immediate release.

The court earlier decided to hold shorter than usual sessions because of Mr Gbagbo's poor health. The hearings are scheduled to last until 28 February.

The charges against him relate to the violence after the 2010 election when he refused to accept defeat by current Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara.

Mr Gbagbo - who was arrested in Ivory Coast in April 2011 and later extradited to The Hague - accuses former colonial power France of plotting to topple him from power in the world's biggest cocoa producer.

The ICC began operating in 2002 to bring to justice those responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in countries that accept its jurisdiction, or when the UN Security Council refers a case to it.

Mr Gbagbo is the first former head of state to go on trial there, although Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia and Liberia's Charles Taylor were tried by special courts in The Hague.

The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain as your legacy.” ― Kalu Ndukwe Kalu

Diamonds Valued at $50 Million Stolen at Brussels Airport

In a meticulously planned raid that took barely five minutes to execute, armed men disguised as police officers drove onto the tarmac at the international airport in Brussels on Monday night and stole diamonds worth around $50 million as they were being loaded onto a plane bound for Switzerland, officials said.

The Switzerland-bound plane the diamonds were loaded on to at Brussels international airport

The stolen gems, a mix of rough and cut stones, had arrived at the airport by road from the Belgian port city of Antwerp, the world’s biggest diamond trading center, and were to be flown on a scheduled passenger flight to Zurich, an important transit point in the global diamond business.

A spokeswoman for the Brussels prosecutors’ office told a news conference at the airport, known as Zaventem, that eight “heavily armed and hooded” thieves had driven onto the tarmac in two black vehicles with flashing lights, local media reported. “This was not a random robbery. It was well-prepared — these were professionals,” said the spokeswoman, Anja Bijens, adding that the robbers had worn police uniforms and carried submachine guns. No shots were fired and no one was hurt.

The theft delivers a blow to Antwerp’s role as a diamond center at a time when the city, a diamond trading and cutting hub for centuries, is struggling to fend off a challenge from low-wage diamond cutters in India and elsewhere.

“The fact that this happened is a big problem for us. We have our No. 1 position to defend. Security is obviously very important,” said Caroline De Wolf, a spokeswoman for the Antwerp World Diamond Centre, an industry body that promotes the diamond business in Belgium. “We are shocked by the fact this could ever happen. We are all wondering: how is this possible?”

Diamonds traded in Antwerp last year had a total value of $51.9 billion, accounting for 80 percent of the world’s rough diamond trade and 50 percent of trade in polished gems. Ms. De Wolf said diamonds from Antwerp had been targeted by thieves before but that Monday’s robbery was the biggest she could recall.

Helvetic Airways, an independent Swiss airline that operated the plane targeted in the robbery, said security for valuable cargo is normally the responsibility of the airport and the security company hired to transport the shipment to the plane. An airline spokesman in Zurich declined to comment further.

Diamonds bought in Antwerp for either cutting or sale abroad are usually taken to the Brussels airport under police escort in armored security vans, and the thieves took advantage of a brief gap in this tightly guarded procedure during the loading of cargo. No arrests have been reported. The police said that they had found the burned remains of a vehicle believed to have been used in the robbery near the airport on Monday night.

A statement issued by the airport said that the robbers had “entered the premises of the airport aboard two vehicles that had crossed the fence.” The Zurich-bound flight, said the statement, had been canceled. It gave no details of how the vehicles had crossed the security fence and barriers.

Passengers planes are parked on the tarmac of Zaventem's international airport near Brussels February 20, 2013.

The spokeswoman for the Antwerp diamond center said she believed the robbers had cut a hole in the fence and then raced to the Zurich-bound aircraft to grab gems from the cargo hold while passengers onboard waited for takeoff.

Ms. Bijens, the prosecutor’s spokeswoman, said the thieves seized at least 120 packages of diamonds but added that not all the shipment had been stolen.

French soldier killed in northern Mali-Hollande

A French soldier has been killed while fighting Islamist rebels in northern Mali, French President Francois Hollande said on Tuesday.

"A legionnaire from the 22nd parachute regiment has died in a clash with Islamists in northern Mali," Hollande told reporters on a visit to Athens.

Seven French nationals kidnapped in Cameroon

French President Francois Hollande confirmed on Tuesday that seven French nationals have been kidnapped in northern Cameroon near the border with Nigeria. 



Hollande said during a visit to Greece that the group, members of the same family who were apparently tourists, had been seized by a Nigerian-based “terrorist group.”

Radio France International earlier reported that French embassy in Yaounde had confirmed that seven people were abducted by armed men on motorbikes and were being taken towards Nigeria.

Cameroon Information Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary said he could not confirm the report for now. The French foreign ministry said it was checking the information.

The tourists were kidnapped at around 7 a.m. in a small village about 10 km (six miles) from the Nigerian border in the north of the country, where Westerners often go for holidays.

The kidnappings come amid a French-led intervention in Mali to oust Islamist rebels. Eight French citizens are being held in the Sahel region by Islamist groups.

Bomb Explosion Kills One, Injures Policeman in Lagos

  

 A bomb, yesterday, exploded at Miracle Sand Beach, located under Festac link bridge in Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State, leaving the chairman of the Local Dredgers Association, Chief Oladele Pius, dead.

A Police Inspector simply identified as Sanni, also had his leg shattered by the explosion.

Widows' account

From his widows' account, it was obvious that the late Oladele had premonition of his death right from when he resumed work yesterday. His first widow, Omolola who was with him under the bridge when the explosion occurred, told Vanguard that her husband had his breakfast at work. But all of a sudden, she said, he started complaining that he had stomach upset and that he needed to rush home to ease off.

"He left me and drove home with a promise to be back", Omolola said.

At this point, his second widow, Seun, took over saying, " when he got home, he rushed straight to the toilet and when he came out, he said he felt weak and did not feel like going out again; that he wanted to sleep.

He went upstairs to sleep. His phone later rang and he answered. From the conversation, it was obvious that the caller was one of his customers, who said he was waiting for him (Oladele) at his place of work. He told the caller he was coming but went back to sleep.

Another call came in again. But he refused to pick it. When it rang again, our one- year -two- month-old baby took the phone to him but he refused to pick the call. He finally picked it when it kept ringing and got up from the bed, informing us that he was going back to work. I insisted he stayed back home and rest since he was tired but he said he needed to go since he needed to feed his children.

As he was about to move out, he called me to come and lock the gate. At that point, our baby started yelling. He even commented that the baby's cry was unusual and I told him he probably did not want him to go out. He told me to go and cuddle him to sleep that he would be back soon". Seun stated in tears.

Back at his place of work, his first wife, Omolola said: "When he came back, I told him not to sit on the pavement he usually sat on because I noticed his clothes were stained behind. He just dusted the stain with his hands and said he did not care and went to sit there.

The next thing I heard was a blast. I did not know where it came from. All I saw were people running here and there and I asked , baba da?, meaning where is my husband. At that point, I rushed to where he was seated, only for me to see his body scattered all over the place".

The late Oladele is survived by his two widows and five children, born after 17 years of marriage.

Meanwhile when contacted, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Aderemi Ibirogba, declined comment, saying the state commissioner of Police had already spoken on the development and would not want to make further comment.

"The state police commissioner has briefed the governor on the development and investigation is already on. That is all I can say now. But I want to assure Lagos residents that they are very safe as adequate measures are already on ground to ensure maximum protection of lives and property in the state."

Alleged power tussle behind blast

Body parts of late Mr Oladele Pius littered the scene of explosion when news men visited yesterday. The man's shoes, torn pieces of his blue jeans and patches of his blood were also all over the place. The blood was even on the roof of the bridge where the explosion flung it.

Eye witnesses at the scene of the explosion suspected a power tussle in the sand dealers' association as being responsible for the incident. Oladele, was said to have risen from grass to grace as a snacks seller (puff puff), who rose to become leader of several sand associations in Lagos state.

Sympathysers at the Deceased Home in Lake View estate on 18th February, 2013

  

                                   

Gunman kills girlfriend and seven others

the deceased: Sandra and her elder sister

It was a bloody weekend at Igando area of Lagos State, when a suspected kidnapper said to be operating in Delta State, attacked the Lagos home of his girlfriend, killing her and seven others.

The suspect, known as Henry, stormed the home of his girlfriend known as Sandra, around 10 p.m on Saturday, with an Ak-47 rifle and opened fire on all ccupants of the apartment, including sandra,  her elder sister, with two of her elder sister’s children, leaving them  dead.


Henry is presently at large as he fled the scene of the incident before the arrival of police officers.

oscar pistorius girlfriend laid to rest

Reeva Steenkamp's cloth-draped coffin arrived at a South African chapel for her cremation on Tuesday as the slain model's boyfriend Oscar Pistorius appeared in court charged with her murder.



The coffin with white flowers laid on top was carried into the chapel at the crematorium in Port Elizabeth by six people.

Sombre-faced mourners arrived for the private memorial and cremation at the chapel in a quiet location bordering a park in the coastal city where Steenkamp grew up.

The 29-year-old law graduate and cover girl was gunned down at the upmarket Pretoria home of the Olympic and Paralympic star on Valentine's Day.



"She was an angel," said Gavin Venter, an ex-jockey who worked with her race horse trainer father.

Venter said there had been no indication that the glamorous model was troubled in her relationship with the double-amputee athlete known as "Blade Runner".

"I asked her father, her father said no, she was very happy with Oscar, there was no problems, but maybe she was just hiding it away," he told journalists.

Venter said he believed Pistorius, who has been accused of premeditated murder, should be denied bail.

"I'm disgusted and he must be dealt with harshly," he said.

"He's a danger to the public. He'll be a danger to witnesses, he must stay in jail, they mustn't release him."

One of Steenkamp's classmates at a local private Catholic school, Bongiwe Gaxambaa, said she would remember her friend's smile, the way she got along with people, and her love and warmth for others.

"It's kind of only sinking in now that I'm actually here, that she's really gone."

"I wouldn't like him to get bail, just for justice to take its course," she said of Pistorius.






“Where there is love there is life.” ― Mahatma Gandhi