The security forces in Kenya are still trying to flushout the Islamist militants who carried out Saturday’sattack on the Westgate shopping mall in the capitalNairobi. The Kenyan authorities say 62 people havedied. At least three gunmen are also reported to have been killed. Gabriel Gatehouse sent thisreport from the outside of the shopping centre.
Well, you can hear some firing starting up again now. We are just going to take a little bit ofcover behind this truck. There’s been about an hour or so of low, during which that smoke hascontinued to rise, but appeared of calm, and now suddenly this firing. We don’t know what’sgoing on inside, but certainly it sounds to me very much like that’s fire going into the shoppingcentre. The shooting seems to have calmed down a little bit for now, but we can still see someof those soldiers there in the distance-- certainly look like there, taking a covering positionbehind that wall.
The Kenyan Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku has told the BBC that the siege was at its tailend. He said that Kenya would not be cowed by the Somali movement al-Shabab, which isbelieved to have carried out the attack. He said Kenyan troops will stay in Somalia along withAmisom, the African Union Mission in Somalia, and will intensify their presence.
“Our business and our intention to go to Somalia was for some very clear reason. We haveunfinished business there. We are going to continue to be there. And this attack would onlymake our resilience and our position very clear that al-Shabab posed a real threat not only toKenya, but East Africa. And therefore, we would not be cowed and would not consider whetherwe need to rethink our activities there. If anything, using the aim of Amisom, we are only goingto intensify our presence.”
Britain has welcomed recent statements from Iran’s new government that it wants to improverelations with the West and ease concerns about its nuclear programme. Speaking aftermeeting his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Zarif on the side-lines of the UN General Assemblyin New York, the Foreign Secretary William Hague said it was time for Iran’s statements to bematched by concrete steps. The BBC diplomatic correspondent says there are expectationsthat the UN summit could produce a turning point in Iran’s relations with the West.
A court in Egypt has banned the Muslim Brotherhood from carrying out any activity in thecountry and has ordered the confiscation of its assets. The military-backed government hastaken a series of tough measures against the group since Mohamed Morsi from thebrotherhood was ousted from presidency in July. The brotherhood reacted angrily to the latestmove by the government. It described the measures as corrupt and politically motivated, andsaid that the brotherhood would remain part of Egyptian society even if it was dissolved.
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The ailing Canadian smartphone maker Blackberry says it’s agreed in principle to be bought bya consortium led by its largest shareholder. The decision comes days after Blackberry said itwas cutting its global workforce by 40%. Samira Hussain reports.
Fairfax is a private equity company. It is a Canadian company and it’s led by Prem Watsa. He isa Canadian billionaire often referred to sort of as the Warren Buffett of Canada, and hiscompany holds 10% of the common shares of Blackberry and they’ve put in a bid to purchasethe company. Blackberry was the preeminent smartphone. It was the one gadget thateveryone had, but nowadays are facing such stiff competition from companies like iPhone, orfrom Microsoft or other people that are entering into the market—even Lenovo. And so theyhaven’t been able to regain any of the market-share that it’s really lost.
The Maldives Supreme Court has postponed the second round of the presidential election dueto have taken place on Saturday. Charles Haviland reports.
The run-off was to have featured Mohammed Nasheed, the Maldives first democraticallyelected president, against the half-brother of his own direct predecessor. They scored 45 and25 per cent respectively in the first round. But the second round has now been delayed becausethe party that came third has initiated a court case alleging there were irregularities in thevoters’ register. The Supreme Court has now delayed the next round until it has reachedconclusions on this case.
The internet company Google has launched an online archive of the world’s constitutions.Google says the initiative was designed to help nations draft better constitutions by using itspowerful search tools to extract and compare elements which best suit their owncircumstances. It said this applied especially to countries emerging conflict or political crises.The Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki, who was present at the New York launch, said the newsite would be an invaluable resource.
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