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UNHCR Concerned as Niger Forces Out Nigerians
YOLA, NIGERIA— The United Nations
refugee agency expressed concern that Niger is forcing Nigerians away
from Lake Chad and their livelihoods in the wake of a deadly battle with
the Boko Haram extremist group.
Thousands of Nigerians who worked in the fishing industry are being forced away from Lake Chad by the government of Niger and back into Nigeria, according to authorities on both sides of the border.
The order comes in the wake of an attack, by the Boko Haram extremist group on the island of Karamga in Lake Chad last month, that killed at least 74 Niger soldiers and civilians.
Alhaji Muhammed Kanar, northeast coordinator for Nigeria’s emergency management agency, said, “From the first three days, we received nearly 4,000. And in fact, another batch of nearly 3,000 or above, we are now in the process of registration.”
Boko Haram’s six-year rampage across northeastern Nigeria has displaced more than a million Nigerians.
The attack in Niger came three months after Nigeria’s northern neighbor joined a multinational offensive aimed at ending the extremist group's quest to impose strict Sharia law on northeastern Nigeria.
Ordered to leave
Karl Steinacker, Niger's representative for UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, said Niger's government last week ordered civilians living on islands in Lake Chad to leave.
Those islands are home to both Nigerians and Nigeriens working in the fishing industry. But, while citizens of Niger are moving into cities and towns, Nigerians have nowhere to go but back across the border, Steinacker said.
“People’s livelihoods have been destroyed because they have been told you can no longer live and work on the lake, and now they are told, OK, but in any event, we’ll take you back to your country. So they say yes… What other options do they have?" he said.
The migrant workers are being sent on trucks into Nigeria’s Yobe state, which has been ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgency. Steinacker said the returning Nigerians are being put at risk.
“Even if they are migrants, the question is, is it appropriate to send them back, and is it the right way it’s being handled, and I guess in both cases it is no," he said.
After a meeting on Thursday, Steinacker says government officials agreed to a plan with aid agencies that will better allow them to assist the returning Nigerians.
Thousands of Nigerians who worked in the fishing industry are being forced away from Lake Chad by the government of Niger and back into Nigeria, according to authorities on both sides of the border.
The order comes in the wake of an attack, by the Boko Haram extremist group on the island of Karamga in Lake Chad last month, that killed at least 74 Niger soldiers and civilians.
Alhaji Muhammed Kanar, northeast coordinator for Nigeria’s emergency management agency, said, “From the first three days, we received nearly 4,000. And in fact, another batch of nearly 3,000 or above, we are now in the process of registration.”
Boko Haram’s six-year rampage across northeastern Nigeria has displaced more than a million Nigerians.
The attack in Niger came three months after Nigeria’s northern neighbor joined a multinational offensive aimed at ending the extremist group's quest to impose strict Sharia law on northeastern Nigeria.
Ordered to leave
Karl Steinacker, Niger's representative for UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, said Niger's government last week ordered civilians living on islands in Lake Chad to leave.
Those islands are home to both Nigerians and Nigeriens working in the fishing industry. But, while citizens of Niger are moving into cities and towns, Nigerians have nowhere to go but back across the border, Steinacker said.
“People’s livelihoods have been destroyed because they have been told you can no longer live and work on the lake, and now they are told, OK, but in any event, we’ll take you back to your country. So they say yes… What other options do they have?" he said.
The migrant workers are being sent on trucks into Nigeria’s Yobe state, which has been ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgency. Steinacker said the returning Nigerians are being put at risk.
“Even if they are migrants, the question is, is it appropriate to send them back, and is it the right way it’s being handled, and I guess in both cases it is no," he said.
After a meeting on Thursday, Steinacker says government officials agreed to a plan with aid agencies that will better allow them to assist the returning Nigerians.
US Energy Agency Announces Wave Energy Prize Competition
Sun and wind are seen as the most abundant sources of clean,
renewable energy, but as many 'ocean-hugging' countries know, the energy
of ocean waves is also both powerful and endless. Looking for the most
efficient ways to capture that energy, the U.S. Department of Energy has
announced a $1.5 million-prize competition for new ideas.
The department estimates that waves and tides along the U.S. coasts generate 1,420 terawatt-hours of energy annually. That is equal to the output of more than 330 nuclear power plants.
Unfortunately, the efficiency of today’s technologies for capturing that energy is only about 20 percent, too low for the investment to be economical, says Jose Zayas, director of the Wind and Water Power Technologies Office at the Department of Energy.
“We’re really looking to step-change that into the high 30s-40s [percent] and I think… once you achieve that, then the economic competiveness of this industry really comes to life and that’s really the target that we are shooting for,” says Zayas.
To encourage development of new technologies, the Department of Energy has launched a nationwide competition, called the Wave Energy Prize.
Developing new devices to capture wave energy can be a challenge. The environment in which wave capture machines must operate can be very harsh and unforgiving, with crushing blows of notoriously corrosive salty medium.
Competition organizers expect that most of the new ideas will be coming from existing energy companies, but also from the academic sector and research institutions.
Zayas says testing of the proposed technologies will be done in several phases.
“We would have 1/50th scale testing where we would do the first fundamental evaluation of their performance, as well as making sure that they are in a pathway that can assure them success towards a prize. We will then down-select again, and near the end we will have about 10 teams… it’s our hope to be competing at 1/20th scale,” says Zayas.
Testing of the scaled models will be done at the U.S. Navy’s huge indoor testing pool, with machines capable of generating ocean-size waves.
Zayas says the models will not be required to produce electrical power. Instead they will have to prove how much of the wave energy they can capture.
“We are looking at how the companies, architectures, have the ability to capture that energy and, of course, through high degrees of data analysis, acquisition sensing, actually quite easy to convert that mechanical kinetic energy into electrical energy, giving us confidence that at least the attributes of the machine are in line with the objectives of the prize,” says he.
Zayas says the ultimate goal of the Wave Energy Prize is to inspire a new set of power-generating technologies for the 21st century. Developers of the three best performing devices will be awarded prizes ranging from $250,000 to $1.5 million.
The department estimates that waves and tides along the U.S. coasts generate 1,420 terawatt-hours of energy annually. That is equal to the output of more than 330 nuclear power plants.
Unfortunately, the efficiency of today’s technologies for capturing that energy is only about 20 percent, too low for the investment to be economical, says Jose Zayas, director of the Wind and Water Power Technologies Office at the Department of Energy.
“We’re really looking to step-change that into the high 30s-40s [percent] and I think… once you achieve that, then the economic competiveness of this industry really comes to life and that’s really the target that we are shooting for,” says Zayas.
To encourage development of new technologies, the Department of Energy has launched a nationwide competition, called the Wave Energy Prize.
Developing new devices to capture wave energy can be a challenge. The environment in which wave capture machines must operate can be very harsh and unforgiving, with crushing blows of notoriously corrosive salty medium.
Competition organizers expect that most of the new ideas will be coming from existing energy companies, but also from the academic sector and research institutions.
Zayas says testing of the proposed technologies will be done in several phases.
“We would have 1/50th scale testing where we would do the first fundamental evaluation of their performance, as well as making sure that they are in a pathway that can assure them success towards a prize. We will then down-select again, and near the end we will have about 10 teams… it’s our hope to be competing at 1/20th scale,” says Zayas.
Testing of the scaled models will be done at the U.S. Navy’s huge indoor testing pool, with machines capable of generating ocean-size waves.
Zayas says the models will not be required to produce electrical power. Instead they will have to prove how much of the wave energy they can capture.
“We are looking at how the companies, architectures, have the ability to capture that energy and, of course, through high degrees of data analysis, acquisition sensing, actually quite easy to convert that mechanical kinetic energy into electrical energy, giving us confidence that at least the attributes of the machine are in line with the objectives of the prize,” says he.
Zayas says the ultimate goal of the Wave Energy Prize is to inspire a new set of power-generating technologies for the 21st century. Developers of the three best performing devices will be awarded prizes ranging from $250,000 to $1.5 million.
Bill Clinton: Foundation Has Done Nothing Wrong
WASHINGTON— Former president Bill Clinton defended his family's charitable foundation,
saying there's nothing “sinister” about getting wealthy people to spend
their money to help poor people in developing countries.
“There's been a very deliberate attempt to take the foundation down,” Clinton said in an interview aired Monday on NBC's “Today” show. “And there's almost no new fact that's known now that wasn't known when she ran for president the first time.''
Clinton and his daughter, Chelsea, are on a nine-day tour of Clinton Foundation projects in Africa. The global charitable effort was set up by the former president after he left office.
Critics have raised questions about possible connections between donations made by foreign governments and policies his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, pursued while serving as secretary of state. And now that Hillary Clinton is running for president, critics have questioned whether long-term political donors are trying to win favor with the politically powerful Clinton family by supporting its charitable arm.
Bill Clinton said 90 percent of donors give $100 or less. But over half of the donors giving $5 million or more are foreign, including foreign governments. Under pressure, the foundation recently announced it will only take money from six Western countries.
“It's an acknowledgment that we're going to come as close as we can during her presidential campaign to following the rules we followed when she became secretary of state,” he said.
“I don't think that I did anything that was against the interest of the United States," he added.
Clinton also said he will continue to speak at events if asked. Some people have questioned his paid speaking engagements, which can command as much as $500,000 or more .
“I've got to pay our bills,” he said.
When asked whether he would step down as the foundation's president if his wife is elected president, Clinton said he would consider it if asked.
“There's been a very deliberate attempt to take the foundation down,” Clinton said in an interview aired Monday on NBC's “Today” show. “And there's almost no new fact that's known now that wasn't known when she ran for president the first time.''
Clinton and his daughter, Chelsea, are on a nine-day tour of Clinton Foundation projects in Africa. The global charitable effort was set up by the former president after he left office.
Critics have raised questions about possible connections between donations made by foreign governments and policies his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, pursued while serving as secretary of state. And now that Hillary Clinton is running for president, critics have questioned whether long-term political donors are trying to win favor with the politically powerful Clinton family by supporting its charitable arm.
Bill Clinton said 90 percent of donors give $100 or less. But over half of the donors giving $5 million or more are foreign, including foreign governments. Under pressure, the foundation recently announced it will only take money from six Western countries.
“It's an acknowledgment that we're going to come as close as we can during her presidential campaign to following the rules we followed when she became secretary of state,” he said.
“I don't think that I did anything that was against the interest of the United States," he added.
Clinton also said he will continue to speak at events if asked. Some people have questioned his paid speaking engagements, which can command as much as $500,000 or more .
“I've got to pay our bills,” he said.
When asked whether he would step down as the foundation's president if his wife is elected president, Clinton said he would consider it if asked.
Obama Calls for New Commitment to Help Minority Youths Succeed
President Barack Obama said Monday that recent urban protests show the United States needs to do more to make sure its youth – particularly black and Latino boys and young men – have an equal chance to succeed in America.
"We cannot guarantee everyone's success," Obama said, but the country can "ensure an equal shot."
Speaking at Lehman College in New York, he announced the launch of a nonprofit foundation aimed at carrying out his My Brother’s Keeper initiative to improve education and job prospects for youths across the country – particularly in impoverished communities.
Announcement of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance came a week after rioting and looting erupted in the eastern city of Baltimore, Maryland, following the death of a young black man from a spinal cord injury while in police custody. Six police officers have been charged with various crimes in the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray.
Protesters in Baltimore also cited high unemployment and poor schools in their inner-city neighborhoods.
Overcoming hopelessness
Obama said a sense of hopelessness in such neighborhoods "begins with birth and compounds over time" – and helped fuel a week of protests in Baltimore and elsewhere.
Minority groups have complained of overly aggressive police tactics in some communities such as Baltimore, a city that has paid out more than $5.7 million to settle lawsuits in recent years. But the president said that merely retraining police would deal with the problem "too narrowly." Obama said the nation needs to make certain that equality of opportunity is not an empty promise.
"It's about who we are as a people," Obama said. "What kind of society do we want to have?"
Leading the nonprofit alliance will be Joe Echevarria, former chief executive of the Deloitte accounting and consulting firm. The White House said it already has gotten more than $80 million in financial and in-kind commitments from Deloitte, American Express, PepsiCo, BET and other firms, the Associated Press reported.
Businesses aren't extending help "just to assuage society's guilt," Obama said in his speech. "They're doing this because they know that making sure all of our young people have the opportunity to succeed is an economic imperative."
Kenyans Hoping US Has Answers to Security Problems
NAIROBI— On the streets of Nairobi, Kenyans are talking about a photograph on page two of The People's Daily newspaper.
Attached to a story about John Kerry’s visit, it shows a heavily-armed
American soldier, in full body armor, with an assault rifle in his hands
and another sidearm strapped to his leg. Next to him is a Kenyan police
officer seemingly unarmed in a standard issue uniform, no body armor,
standing with his arms behind his back.
For Chery Ogola, the picture is worth a thousand words.
“The Kenyan policeman is just plain; it’s just the uniform that tells you he’s a policeman, otherwise you would mistake him for a watchman," says the 24-year-old student. "He doesn’t have any sort of protection, even a gun holder, a simple gun holder. It’s a very bad image.”
Although the picture isn't truly indicative of the preparation of Kenyan security forces on the whole, Ogola says it sends a message to Kenya’s enemies.
“It’s so bad. It shows the level of security we have, and it’s so saddening," she said. "I’m sure if someone was planning an attack, even if they don’t know anything about Kenya, if they just see what we have to present, that can really tell them a lot. And those are the loopholes they take advantage of.”
Like other Kenyans still reeling from a recent spate of attacks by the al-Qaida-linked, Somalia-based al-Shabab militants, Ogola is hoping this week's visit by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will mean greater U.S. support for Kenya’s war on terror.
In fact, much of the talk surrounding the diplomatic stopover has focused on specifically what kind of assistance the United States can provide.
Lorraine Mumia, a student in Mombasa, is one of many Kenyans still shaken by the group’s April assault on a university campus in the northeastern town of Garissa that left 148 people dead, and had many in the country crying out for better security.
“Personally, I lost a cousin in Garissa [to] al-Shabab. She had like five bullets in her," said Mumia. "When we were going to see her in the morgue, I could not even recognize her. So we really need that addressed — security. We really need that.”
The U.S. gave about $10 million in direct counterterror support to Kenya in 2014 and has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help fund and equip the African Union mission in Somalia known as AMISOM, of which Kenya is a member.
Some, however, say Kenya should not be singled out by the United States as a troublesome country.
“Terrorism is not a Kenyan problem," says Joshua Bosire, a Nairobi-based surveyor. “Terrorism is a universal problem. It’s a threat to the U.S. It’s a threat to most African countries; to Europe; all over the world.”
One way or another, Kenya has a security problem: al-Shabab has vowed to continue attacks in retaliation for Kenya’s military involvement in Somalia.
Whether assistance comes from the United States or elsewhere, Kenya can use all the help against terrorism it can get.
For Chery Ogola, the picture is worth a thousand words.
“The Kenyan policeman is just plain; it’s just the uniform that tells you he’s a policeman, otherwise you would mistake him for a watchman," says the 24-year-old student. "He doesn’t have any sort of protection, even a gun holder, a simple gun holder. It’s a very bad image.”
Although the picture isn't truly indicative of the preparation of Kenyan security forces on the whole, Ogola says it sends a message to Kenya’s enemies.
“It’s so bad. It shows the level of security we have, and it’s so saddening," she said. "I’m sure if someone was planning an attack, even if they don’t know anything about Kenya, if they just see what we have to present, that can really tell them a lot. And those are the loopholes they take advantage of.”
Like other Kenyans still reeling from a recent spate of attacks by the al-Qaida-linked, Somalia-based al-Shabab militants, Ogola is hoping this week's visit by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will mean greater U.S. support for Kenya’s war on terror.
In fact, much of the talk surrounding the diplomatic stopover has focused on specifically what kind of assistance the United States can provide.
Lorraine Mumia, a student in Mombasa, is one of many Kenyans still shaken by the group’s April assault on a university campus in the northeastern town of Garissa that left 148 people dead, and had many in the country crying out for better security.
“Personally, I lost a cousin in Garissa [to] al-Shabab. She had like five bullets in her," said Mumia. "When we were going to see her in the morgue, I could not even recognize her. So we really need that addressed — security. We really need that.”
The U.S. gave about $10 million in direct counterterror support to Kenya in 2014 and has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help fund and equip the African Union mission in Somalia known as AMISOM, of which Kenya is a member.
Some, however, say Kenya should not be singled out by the United States as a troublesome country.
“Terrorism is not a Kenyan problem," says Joshua Bosire, a Nairobi-based surveyor. “Terrorism is a universal problem. It’s a threat to the U.S. It’s a threat to most African countries; to Europe; all over the world.”
One way or another, Kenya has a security problem: al-Shabab has vowed to continue attacks in retaliation for Kenya’s military involvement in Somalia.
Whether assistance comes from the United States or elsewhere, Kenya can use all the help against terrorism it can get.
Kerry Pledges New Refugee Aid for Kenya
NAIROBI—
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has announced millions of dollars in new aid for Africa at a Monday news conference in Nairobi, Kenya.
Kerry said $45 million in additional funding will be provided to help the UNHCR provide better school, health clinics and clean drinking water to refugees.
The State Department said the funds will help 600,000 refugees living in Kenya, including 400,000 people from Somalia and 45,000 refugees from South Sudan.
It said that including the just announced funding, the United States has provided since 2014 more than $289 million in humanitarian assistance for Kenya.
Home of Suspect in Texas Shooting Searched
HOUSTON—
U.S. federal authorities are investigating two men killed by police in Texas after the men shot a security guard outside a free speech event.
Police officials said the shooters were roommates Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, of Arizona. Court documents show that Simpson had been under surveillance since 2006 and convicted in 2010 of lying to FBI agents over his desire to join violent jihad in Somalia.
FBI agents and police searched the two men's home in Phoenix, cordoning off the apartment complex and evacuating residents for several hours.
U.S. federal authorities were investigating two men killed by police in Texas after the men shot a security guard outside a venue holding a contest for Prophet Mohammad cartoons.
An
investigator talks to police officers at the Autumn Ridge apartment
complex which had been searched by investigators in Phoenix, Arizona,
May 4, 2015.Joe Harn, a spokesman for the Garland, Texas, police department, said Monday that while the motivation for the attack remains unknown, "obviously they were there to shoot people." Police found ammunition and luggage in the attackers' car, but no bombs despite initial suspicions.
