Nelson Mandela dies at 95!

Our Hero has finally taken a bow



You will be greatly missed Madiba!



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CLASHES SWEEP CAR CAPITAL AS FRENCH TROOPS ENTER CAR!

The French army deployed 250 troops to the capital of the Central African Republic, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday after clashes broke out between former rebels and militias.

"At this stage 250 French soldiers have been deployed in Bangui to secure and patrol," ministry spokesman Gilles Jarron told a news briefing, adding that the clashes were continuing.

Earlier, a Reuters witness said at least 23 people were killed and 64 others wounded in armed clashes in Bangui.

It was gathered that armed Christian fighters who support the country's exiled president assaulted the capital at dawn on Thursday with rifles and machetes, leaving nearly 100 people dead. Shrouded bodies were lined up in a mosque as dozens of wounded lay on blood-stained hospital floors.

The ambush on Muslim neighborhoods of Bangui came as the United Nations voted to send a contingent of French troops to try to stabilize the country, and French President Francois Hollande announced plans to double the force. The daylong gunbattle touched even the most protected parts of the capital, including the residence of the prime minister, underscoring the volatile mix of arms and ideology facing the arriving French force.

Scores died in Thursday's attack, including 48 people whose bodies were laid out at a mosque in a northern suburb of Bangui. Separately, a Doctors Without Borders spokeswoman, Amelie Ketoff, said another 50 deaths had been confirmed, bringing the toll to 98.

Some died of bullet wounds, others from what appeared to be machete blows using a weapon known in the local language as a "balaka." The Christian militia, whose members are believed to have led the attack Thursday, call themselves the "anti-balaka," reminiscent of the horrific violence once seen in Rwanda.

Rebel leader-turned-president Michel Djotodia appealed for calm, even as his residence was looted and vandalized by the fighters. He announced a dusk-to-dawn curfew in a bid to stem the threat of retaliatory violence against Christians, following the early morning attack on Muslim neighborhoods.

"This morning the enemies of Central African Republic wanted to destabilize the country but they have failed," Djotodia announced in a speech broadcast in the Sango language on state radio.

France already has hundreds of soldiers in Bangui, and an armored personnel carrier and other military vehicles patrolled the streets. The roads were otherwise bare except for the brightly painted pickup trucks driven by the ex-rebels who run the government.

The resolution passed by the U.N. Security Council on Thursday allows France to send hundreds more troops for a temporary period. Speaking from the Elysee Palace in Paris, Hollande said the 600 troops already in the country would be doubled "within a few days, even a few hours" to around 1,200.

The U.N. measure also authorizes the deployment of an African Union-led force to Central African Republic for a year to protect civilians and restore public order. The AU force is replacing a regional peacekeeping mission whose presence has been mainly limited to the capital and a few northern cities.

"It's necessary to intervene very quickly to establish order in this country, in order that humanitarian aid arrives and to avoid an actual civil war based on religion," said France's U.N. ambassador, Gerard Araud, speaking on French RTL radio Thursday.

Central African Republic, a desperately poor country in the heart of Africa where the life expectancy is a mere 48 years, has been roiled by rebellions and coups for decades. The president ousted in March had himself ascended to power by force a decade earlier.

Djotodia, the country's current ruler, who is Muslim, managed to unify several rebel groups in the country's mostly Muslim north, where resentment of the federal government and a sense of disenfranchisement has been rife for years. Once those rebels — known as Seleka, the local word for coalition — were unleashed upon the capital, though, he wielded very little control over the mélange of bush fighters, child soldiers and foreign mercenaries he had recruited along the way.

Before long, human rights groups were documenting cases of Seleka rebels going door to door with machetes, bludgeoning their victims and burning down scores of homes. Supporters of the ousted president began rising up in opposition to the lawless and ruthless rebels, forming self-defense militias. Thursday's attack demonstrates that these fighters are more than vengeance-seeking civilians with artisanal hunting rifles.

"This is not a war between an army and a rebel group. It's really become a conflict between communities where people are being targeted based on their religion," said Peter Bouckaert of Human Rights Watch, who has documented scores of attacks in Central African Republic.

"And it is actually the Muslim community which is the most vulnerable because of the vast abuses committed by the Seleka and the fact that they are a relatively small minority amongst a much larger Christian population who are just furious because of the abuses they have suffered" under the Seleka.

Camal Fodor managed to get his friend to a health clinic by 7 a.m., but seven hours later he still lay listless on a bench.

"The anti-balaka attacked our neighborhood and he was shot in the stomach," Fodor said of his friend, Solomon Haroun, whose blood-soaked T-shirt was dripping blood through the cracks of a wooden bench, where it pooled on the floor below, next to another man awaiting treatment for gunshot wounds.

In another sign of the growing melee, Prime Minister Nicholas Tiangaye confirmed his house had been looted, describing the attackers as a group of Seleka who arrived in three four-wheel-drive pickup trucks.

Speaking in Paris to the Associated Press, Tiangaye said he had been informed that the provisional toll was "more than 100 dead and several hundred wounded."

Babacar Gaye, the U.N. special representative for the Central African Republic, appealed for calm in a joint statement from the U.N., European Union, African Union and France.

In the hills overlooking Bangui, dotted with banana trees, the ex-Seleka fighters spent Thursday afternoon showing off the weapons they'd seized from the enemy earlier in the day. The fighters traded combat boots for flip flops and munched on French baguettes in the shade.

Gen. Bachar Fadoul says the Christian militia may attempt another attack but his troops will be waiting.

"We will hunt them down and chase them from the city," he said.

Kidnappers Contact 29-Year Old Ayobami Jaiyeola’s Family!

A man suspected to be Ayobami’s kidnapper has contacted her family.

He called her elder sister, whom Ayobami lived with yesterday to inform her that he knows her whereabout, but refused to speak further when he was questioned. Since then, nothing has been heard from him again. 

Her family members are now suspecting she was kidnapped. 

Ayobami returned to Nigeria January 2013, for her youth service after graduating from University of Marlyland, United State. 

May the Lord keep her safe and change the minds of those holding her in captivity, Amen.

Kim Kardashian criticized for donating just 10 percent of ‘charity auction’ to typhoon victims!

Kim Kardashian came under fire for her latest eBay Giving Works auction in which a “percentage of the proceeds” will aid victims of the Philippines typhoon disaster. But it’s the key word “percentage” that has many crying foul, as just 10 percent, while fully disclosed, will go to the International Medical Corps relief efforts.

“The proceeds will go directly to the communities they’re serving in the Philippines and will help typhoon survivors get access to medical care and ultimately save lives,” Kardashian wrote on her auction page. “My prayers and thoughts are with those affected by the typhoon.”

However, crisis communications expert Glenn Selig is just one of many disturbed by the slim donation percentage and told FOX411 that typically most bidders assume the majority goes to the stated cause.

“When you say something is for the charity, the assumption is much more than 10 percent goes to charity. And when the charity angle is leveraged to boost bidding or to drum up news coverage, when only 10 percent goes to charity people likely will be taken,” he said. “It is wrong to mislead the public.”

Sources tell Fox411 that Kardashian does make a profit from the auction – which ended on Sunday – but contrary to multiple reports, it isn’t 90 percent. EBay takes roughly 9 percent for eBay fees on fashion items, as well as 2.9 percent for domestic and 3.9 percent for international payments received. The auction promoters also take an undisclosed cut from the final sales. 

But across the Twitterverse, many are up in arms that the prominent personality and fiancée of Kanye West, who is worth an estimated $40 million, isn’t shelling out a little more.

“Kim Kardashian being selfish selling things for ‘charity’ on eBay and only giving away 10%. Come on 50% at least,” wrote one. Another tweeted: “How dare you use these people’s misery to make money? Don’t you and boyfriend have enough money without using these poor wretched souls in their hour of desperation. Shame on you!”

Yet the E! reality star has been opening up her personal wardrobe to fans via the eBay Giving Works auction umbrella for several years, even long before she was a hugely known name in the entertainment industry. It has always been the case with her auctions that a disclosed 10 percent -- the minimal amount required by the eBay charitable arm -- would be donated to her designated philanthropic cause. And, according to her rep, Kardashian donates 10 percent of absolutely everything she earns – from public appearances to endorsements to her television salary – to charity, which would make her one of the most generous of the Hollywood types.

“Nobody has to give anything, and yet Kim gives 10 percent of everything and now she is being judged for it,” a rep for the star insisted.

Others also asserted that every little bit counts, and that Kardashian should be praised – not condemned – for her contributions in helping others, irrespective if she makes a profit from it.

“People like to bash Kim all the time no matter what she does, and it simply isn’t fair. This is the quintessential example of no good deed going unpunished. Kim Kardashian did the right thing – and it’s simply not fair to bash her for this,” said Ronn Torossian. 

A rep for the International Medical Corps also stood by the star amid the ongoing backlash, stating that they are nothing but grateful for the reality star’s support of their Philippines Typhoon Emergency Response.

“As International Medical Corps’ emergency response teams are reaching the hardest-hit areas, it is critical that we’re able to immediately deliver medical care and vital medicines,” the rep stated. “The generous support of all of our donors allows our first responders to rapidly deliver lifesaving health services to affected families, alleviate suffering and restore hope in the communities that need it most.”

And while eBay didn’t comment directly on the Kardashian case, a rep for the company assured us that eBay Inc. is committed to building a future that enables and inspires charitable giving at a scale never seen before and, to-date, more than $350 million has been raised on eBay Giving Works, with more than 30,000 organizations benefiting from the auctions..

Ogun State Labour Party Chairman walks-out journalists for asking probing questions!

It was alleged that the Ogun State Chairman of the crisis ridden Labour Party, LP, Simeon Olabode, on Thursday at the party’s secretariat in Abeokuta, verbally attacked journalists for asking probing questions over the power tussle within the party’s hierarchy.

The incident happened during a stakeholders’ meeting.

Mr. Olabode also ordered the journalists out of the venue.

When asked to shed more light on the power tussle and particularly on an alleged plot by some new members of the party – decampees from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Peoples Party of Nigeria, PPN – to take over control of the party, Mr. Olabode lashed out at the journalists calling them unprintable names.

“I want the press to leave here now. Get out from here, leave here. I want to talk to my people; just leave,” the party chairman declared.

In a related development, three of the party’s members – loyalists of former Governor, Gbenga Daniel – staged a walk-out from the meeting, accusing leaders of the party of insulting their political godfather.

Beyonce Beats Kim Kardashian as Most Searched Celebrity of 2013!

Queen Bey beats the Queen of Reality TV! Bing released their annual list of the Most-Searched Celebrities of 2013 on Monday, Dec. 2, and Beyonce beat Kim Kardashian.

After taking a little time off to welcome her daughter, Blue Ivy, with husband Jay Z in 2012, the 32-year-old "Love on Top" singer returned to the spotlight in a big way this year.

Unspeakable horrors in a country on the verge of genocide!

Militias in the Central African Republic are slitting children's throats, razing villages and throwing young men to the crocodiles. What needs to happen before the world intervenes?



A massacre of the innocents is taking place in the heart of Africa as the world looks the other way.

One man describes how his four-year-old son's throat was slit, and how he saw a snake swallowing a baby. A woman explains that she is caring for a young girl because her mother went searching for medicine and was bludgeoned to death with Kalashnikov rifles. A young man tells how he was bound and thrown to the crocodiles, but managed to swim to safety.

Papa Romeo (not his real name), 35, whose four-year-old son was murdered in Bossangoa. Photograph:

This is the world of horrors that the Central African Republic (CAR) has become. Thousands of people are dying at the hands of soldiers and militia gangs and from untreated diseases such as malaria. Boys and girls as young as eight are press ganged into fighting between Christians and Muslims. There are reports of beheadings and public execution-style killings. Villages are razed to the ground.

Never much more than a phantom state, the CAR has sucked in thousands of mercenaries from neighbouring countries and, France warned on Thursday, now stands "on the verge of genocide". Yet many would struggle to find the country on a map, despite the clue in its after thought name.

The humanitarian emergency in the CAR, a landmass bigger than France where the average male life expectancy is 48, remains a blind spot for most of the international community. Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the UN, noted recently that the situation in the CAR has been referred to as "the worst crisis most people have never heard of".

That is nothing new for a country that stands as one of the most profound indictments of European colonialism, a contrivance that since independence in 1960 has endured five coups, infrastructure run on a shoestring and a self- decalred empro whose lavish coronation was inspired by Napoleon. 

Rich in gold, diamonds, timber and uranium, the CAR has proved irresistible to warlords such as Joseph Kony, the leader of a cult-like militia who the government claimed this week is finally negotiating surrender.

The latest eruption began in March when the unpopular president, François Bozizé, fled by helicopter with five suit cases after being overthrown by a loose coalition of rebels, bandits and guns for hire known as the Seleka, meaning "alliance" in the local language. One of its leaders, Michel Djotodia, declared himself president — the first Muslim to rule this majority Christian nation of 4.6 million people. What Médecins sans Frontières termed "a crisis on top of a crisis" for the population accelerated considerably in September when Djotodia officially disbanded the Seleka. Many of the rebels refused to disarm and leave the militias as ordered but veered further out of control, killing, looting and burning villages. They also systematically stripped administrative offices down to the light fittings and destroyed public records.

A Seleka fighter poses with his weapon at the former Bangui firefighters barracks, now a Seleka base

The US estimates that nearly 400,000 people have been displaced – many hiding in the jungle without access to malaria or HIV treatment – and 68,000 have gone to neighbouring countries.

The Seleka are playing judge, jury and executioner without regard even for Djotodia. Last Saturday, when a prominent judge was assassinated by men on motor bikes in the ramshackle capital, Bangui, the Seleka rounded up three suspects and offered his family the chance to kill them; when the family refused, citing the judge's dedication to due process, the Seleka shot the suspects dead outside their front gate. The family still do not know if they were the real culprits.Two days later and 185 miles away in the town of Bossangoa, Jislain Ngangaguende was among five men accused of plotting against the Seleka who were tied up, beaten with guns and thrown off a bridge into a river with perils including crocodiles and hippos. "I started to drink water so I brought my head up, but a soldier saw me and tried to shoot me," recalls the 24-year-old, multiple sticking plasters on his head. "I stayed down for minutes and when I came up they were gone. I bit on a branch and moved up the river but my hands were still tied behind my back. I thought I was dead but the power of God made me get out."

Sonia Mackotoua, 37, with a photo of her cousin Modeste Martineau Bria, the judge killed by men on motorbikes in Bangui

Fear of the Seleka's brutality can be seen in ghost villages that line a rutted dirt road running north of Bangui through a vast sprawl of lush green African bush. Mudbrick houses with thatched roofs stand empty beneath the trees, raising the question of where the residents have fled. The answer can be found in Bossangoa, where about 34,000 people have sought refuge at the St Antoine de Padoue Cathedral.

Zita Nganamodei with 18-month-old Arethas Demba, whose mother was bludgeoned to death after unknowingly crossing an arbitrary boundary while taking her daughter for medical treatment.

Inside, the white-walled church remains immaculately clean. Two delicate chandeliers hang from a wood-beam ceiling and, beyond the rows of empty pews, flowers grace the altar and a fresco depicts the sun, a golden chalice and two angels against a blue sky. But the serenity mocks the monumental human tragedy manifesting itself outside the padlocked gate.

The Catholic mission compound is a melee of men, women and many children, their colourful T-shirts and dresses wearing a layer of grime, some carrying bowls of food or firewood on their heads, some even restarting their lives with barber shops, cooking pots, food stalls, sewing machines and livestock. Washing lines hang between row after row of blue and white tarpaulin tents marked Unicef. It is a sanctuary of sorts, with a constant hubbub of voices, but the cramped conditions leave women sleeping rough in corridors, children playing in the dirt, waste piling up and worries about an outbreak of cholera.

Everyone here has a sad story to tell. Zita Nganamodei, 26, has a baby girl tied to her back who is not her own. Yesterday, she says, her neighbour, Josephine Kolefei, brought the baby for medical treatment without realising she was crossing an arbitrary boundary that the Seleka had just imposed. The 35-year-old was beaten with a Kalashnikov and taken to hospital, where she died. "I went to site and found the baby on the ground," says Nganamodei, who has two children of her own. "I brought her to the hospital to be treated."

She says she will now take care of the girl, 18-month-old Arethas Demba, but will one day have to explain how her mother died. "I do not know why they had to kill her. I ask that justice be done for this killing. I don't know what will happen in the future if these killings continue."

Meanwhile a 35-year-old first aid worker who wants to be known as Papa Romeo claims that, on 8 November in the village of Bombi Te, the Seleka were outrun by motorcyclists carrying weapons and took revenge on the population. "My wife was in the field with our four-year-old, Richide," he says. "The Seleka took her money and gold and told her to leave and not come back.

"They started to attack my son. They tried to shoot him but the gun was not working. So they slit his throat instead. What threat does this child pose to the Seleka? He is just a child. My heart is right here: if Michel Djotodia was here, my heart would destroy him."

More than 30 people have been killed in the village of around 5,000, situated near a gold mine about 30 miles from Bossangoa, Romeo estimates. "I went to the field where my wife was and found a boa constrictor eating a baby because its mother had been killed. Then I saw a woman shot in the leg with a child whose intestines were falling out."

What started as a political movement against the corrupt and autocratic Bozizé is now taking on an ominously religious character. Nearly all the Seleka are Muslim, including mercenaries from neighbouring Chad and the notorious Janjaweed from Sudan's Darfur region. An "us and them" mentality of mutual distrust and paranoia is taking root, with some Christians taking up arms in vigilante militias known as "anti-balaka" — meaning anti-sword or anti-machete — and committing atrocities of their own, giving the Seleka a pretext for yet more aggression. The spiral of violence has become a recruiting sergeant for thousands of child soldiers.

Everyone at the Catholic mission in Bossangoa is Christian; internally displaced Muslims are gathered in a part of town including about 450 at a school, where wood desks and benches lie abandoned under trees and the blackboards are frozen at 2 August 2013. It is a stark physical separation. Romeo adds: "We have never seen religions tensions like this in the CAR before. The CAR is not a Muslim country; it is a Christian country. We have never seen so many Muslims in the country before. They have come from other countries." Like many in the CAR, he feels it is being ignored and abandoned to its fate. "International leaders should open their eyes to what is going on. Children are sleeping on the floor like goats. Is it because we have black skin?"

The Seleka are also torturing suspected enemies, according to a 47-year-old who gives his name only as Laurent. When they accused him of trying to pass on fake money, he claims, they jailed him and tortured two of his adult sons with a pepper paste rubbed into the armpits and legs to create a burning sensation. "They put it in the ears and nose of one of my sons and forced him to inhale it, then hit him so he almost asphyxiated. He was bleeding from his ears and mouth. I asked them to kill me and let my children go."

Eventually they were released. The son, 24, spent two days in hospital and still has breathing difficulties. Laurent, who has 12 children in all, adds: "The Seleka are criminals. In the beginning, the relations between Christians and Muslims were good here but the Muslims followed the Seleka and now things have changed."

The Catholic mission is presided over by Father Frédéric Tonfio, struggling to cope with the influx and working with a local imam to keep the peace across the sectarian divide. "The Christians feel betrayed by the Muslims and are starting to feel vengeances in their hearts," he warns. "This is a very big challenge for the church."

Tonfio is pleading for global intervention before it is too late. "I have only been able to count on my colleagues in the church. The silence of the international community is like they are accomplices allowing this to happen. It's almost as if the Sekela is stronger than the international community. Everyone knows what is going on here. Every day that we delay, more people die."

The local Seleka commanders, officially now part of the national army, deny responsibility for what Amnesty International has called human rights violations on an "unprecedented scale" and claim Tonfio is being obstructive. A Chadian colonel named Saleh says: "He says one thing and does something else. We said to everyone at the church they can return to their homes but they refused. Civilians need to return home because we will take care of their security.

"We don't say this is Christian or this is Muslim. We work for everybody. Even if someone who's Muslim is wrong, we will put him on the right path."

The atmosphere remains tense and unpredictable here and in other towns. Bouca, to the east, has been destroyed in heavy fighting in recent days, with around 3,000 people- more than half of them children - again seeking sanctuary at the Catholic mission there. Lewis Mudge, a Human Rights Watch researcher, says he witnessed a Seleka colonel telling them: " If there are people here tomorow at eight o'clock in the morning, we will shoot and burn the mission. If you are still here, you will see what we do."

The arrival of African regional peacekeepers neutralised that threat for the time being, but their 2,500-strong force is still too small and ill-equipped to carry out its mandate of protecting civilians. French armoured vehicles could also be seen patrolling north of Bangui again this week but their contingent of 400 troops can do little more than protect the airport and other assets.  The UN secretary council meets on Monday to discuss a possible peace keeping mission.

Headline-grabbing claims of mass rapes or infiltration by Islamist militant groups such as Boko Haram from Nigeria or al-Shabaab from Somalia are currently unfounded, according to Mudge and humanitarian sources working in the area. One said of the Seleka: "These guys are not Islamic fundamentalists. They are Muslim-lite. They are here for prosperity and power; they are not here to change anyone's confession."

Nor, says Mudge, should this be called a genocide – yet. It is too chaotic for that, meaning that the international community still has time to prevent another Rwanda. Six thousand peacekeepers would be a start, Mudge says. "The world needs to find the CAR on the map and start paying attention on humanitarian grounds. It's still early enough to avert a crisis in this country. It's not a genocide and it's not a civil war but it's certainly trending in that direction."