Suicide bomber dies in Mali attack on Niger troops

BAMAKO — An Islamist suicide bomber on Friday attacked a camp of soldiers from Niger posted in troubled northeastern Mali, but the only casualty was the assailant, military sources said.
"Around 5:00 am (0500 GMT), a kamikaze in a car busted through the entrance to our military camp at Menaka. We fired our weapons and the kamikaze blew himself up," a Nigerien military source said.
"He is dead, but there were no victims among our ranks," the source added, stating that the Nigerien troops had gone on to "a state of alert".
Neighbouring Niger is among countries that have sent troops to Mali to help fight armed Islamists who seized control of the desert north of the west African country for several months last year, following a coup that caused turmoil in the capital Bamako.
A Malian military source in Menaka confirmed Friday's report. "Early today, a light-skinned kamikaze managed to get inside the camp for Nigerien troops at Menaka. The kamikaze blew himself up at the wheel of his vehicle and the Nigerien army hit back."
Jihadists linked to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb were driven out of Mali's northern towns in a joint operation by French and African military forces that began on January 11 and is still under way.
Residual groups of these fighters are no longer able to carry out coordinated assaults, but they are still capable of regular small-scale attacks, mainly against Malian and French soldiers.

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Rooney would join 'best friend in football' Cole if he joined Chelsea

If Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney decides to swap Old Trafford for Stamford Bridge, he could be joining his best friend in football.
As Sportsmail revealed yesterday, Rooney told outgoing Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson that he wanted to leave the club two weeks ago.
Although Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain are both keen on the England international, Chelsea - who expect to welcome Jose Mourinho back this summer - are seriously considering Rooney to bolster their front line.
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Best friends: Wayne Rooney (left) said he would take a bullet for Ashley Cole in a 2012 interview with Piers Morgan

Driving force: Rooney left Manchester United's Carrington training ground this morning

Change of scenery: Wayne Rooney asked Sir Alex Ferguson for a transfer this summer at the end of last month after growing increasingly frustrated with his role in the United team

All in blue: How Rooney would look in Chelsea colours as imagined by Sportsmail. The London club have been put on alert by news that Rooney wants a move away from Old Trafford, with Bayern Munich and PSG also interested

Happier times: Rooney and Ferguson lark around before a Champions League semi-final with Schalke in 2011. But the striker has grown increasingly disillusioned with his role at the club

 

Should the 27-year-old decide to move from Manchester to west London, he would be linking up with a man he 'would take a bullet for': Ashley Cole.
Rooney, who has grown frustrated with being in and out of Ferguson's squad this season, gushed about Chelsea left back Cole when he met Piers Morgan while on a trip to America in July last year.
When Morgan asked him who his best friend was in football, Rooney said: 'Ashley Cole.'
The CNN anchor, as a lifelong Arsenal fan, was taken aback, as Gunners fans have never forgiven the England defender for ditching the Emirates for Chelsea in 2006.

New boss: David Moyes, the incoming United manager, was Rooney's first professional boss at Everton

Partnership: Rooney and Ronaldo were devastating when playing in tandem at United, winning three Premier League titles and the Champions League

But Rooney added: 'He’s nothing like what you guys think. Ash is a really sound guy and has been a proper friend to me. I’d take a bullet for him.
'I would! And he would for me, too. We’d die for each other!'
Sportsmail understands David Moyes, Rooney's first manager in professional football, will be confirmed as Ferguson's replacement today and one of his first challenges will be to persuade the England striker to stay.
Rooney asked Ferguson for a transfer late last month and was told in no uncertain terms that he would not be sold this summer.
The forward may reconsider his stance now that Moyes is taking over, particularly amid rumours Cristiano Ronaldo could be in line for a sensational return to Old Trafford after four years at Real Madrid.
But Rooney and Moyes have had their differences in the past and Rooney might have burned his bridges at Old Trafford having already tried to force through a move in 2010 when he handed in a transfer request.

Off colour: Rooney has sometimes looked uncomfortable in his newly-adopted midfield role this season

Newly appointed: Moyes smiling yesterday after leaving Everton chairman Bill Kenwright's offices in London

Ferguson reacted angrily in February to suggestions Rooney would be sold, stating unequivocally that the Liverpudlian would be at the club next season.
Last night, a United spokesman insisted: 'Wayne Rooney is not for sale.'
United could get £25m for Rooney, who has scored 16 goals this season, money which could be reinvested to sign Robert Lewandowski or Radamel Falcao to partner Robin van Persie in attack next season.
Rooney has grown increasingly frustrated after spending most of the season playing a deeper role in midfield, a position he has not always appeared comfortable with.
Van Persie, meanwhile, has taken most of the plaudits for powering United to a 13th Premier League title after scoring 25 goals in 36 matches.
The return of Ronaldo, who spent six years at Old Trafford between 2003 and 2009 before leaving for Real in an £80m deal, could change Rooney's mind.

Overshadowed: 25-goal Robin van Persie has stolen the limelight from Rooney this season

Refreshment: Rooney enjoys a pint of beer at Chester racecourse yesterday

The pair forged a devastating partnership and won three League titles and the Champions League together.
Despite an emotional morning meeting in which Ferguson explained the reasons for his departure at the end of this season, Rooney and his United team-mates looked relaxed and in good spirits as they spent the afternoon at Chester racecourse.
Rooney was photographed enjoying a pint of beer as the players let off steam ahead of the two final fixtures of the season.

Change: Rooney altered his Twitter blurb from Manchester United player to Nike Athlete recently

Ferguson will take his place in the Old Trafford dug-out for the last time this Sunday, as United host Swansea City, and will bow out at West Bromwich Albion next weekend in his 1,500th match in charge.
The club released a statement at 9.20am on Wednesday morning confirming speculation that Ferguson was to call time on his magnificent career at the club.
It read: 'The quality of this league-winning squad, and the balance if ages within it, bodes well for continued success at the highest level, while the structure of the youth set-up will ensure that the long-term future of the club remains a bright one.'

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Zambian men arrested over alleged homosexual acts

Philip Mubiana (covering his face) and James Mwape (left) arrive at the Kapiri magistrate court on May 8, 2013 in Lusaka.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Authorities subject them to anal examinations without their consent, a rights group says
• Amnesty International: It was the second detention for the two men in recent days
• Homosexuality is illegal in most African countries

(CNN) -- Zambian police rearrested two men this week on charges of engaging in homosexual acts "against the order of nature," a rights group said.

James Mwansa and Philip Mubiana, both 21, were arrested after neighbors reported them to the police, according to Amnesty International.

Authorities subjected them to anal examinations without their consent and forced them to confess, the human rights group said.

"Anal examinations conducted to 'prove' same-sex conduct are scientifically invalid, and if they were conducted without the men's consent, contravene the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment under international law," said Simeon Mawanza, an Amnesty researcher in Zambia.

It was the second detention for the two men in recent days, the group said. Last month, authorities arrested them, and later released them on bail on May 2.

They were arrested again Monday and have been denied bail, according to Amnesty. Both have pleaded not guilty, and are being held at a jail in Kapiri Mposhi until their trial starts May 22.

"The arrest of the two men solely for their real or perceived sexual orientation amounts to discrimination and it is in violation of their rights to freedom of conscience, expression and privacy," Mawanza said.

Zambian officials were not immediately available for comment.

Homosexuality is illegal in Zambia and most African countries based on remnants of sodomy laws introduced during the British colonial era and perpetuated by cultural beliefs.

Punishments across the continent range from fines to years in prison.

Last year, a Cameroon appeals court upheld a three-year sentence against a man convicted of homosexuality for texting his male friend to say, "I'm very much in love with you."

South Africa -- one of the more progressive nations in the continent on the issue -- was the first African country to impose a constitutional ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation.

But sexual violence against lesbians has become so common in South Africa, the nation has coined the term "corrective rape" to describe it.

A handful of other nations issue a death penalty for consensual same-sex relations, including Saudi Arabia and Iran, according to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association.

Bangladesh: Eight Killed in Factory Fire; Collapse Toll Hits 900

At least eight people perished Wednesday when a blaze raced through a garment factory in Bangladesh. The fire comes just weeks after the building collapse at Rana Plaza claimed more than 900 lives.
Wednesday’s fire hit an 11-storey industrial and residential complex in Dhaka, the capital. The factory, which was closed when the flames took hold, occupied the first two floors with dwellings situated above. A police official and the factory owner are reportedly among the dead.
The latest incident is yet another reminder of the dangers facing workers in Bangladesh’s export-driven garment industry. Bangladesh has notoriously poor workplace inspection mechanisms and repeated attempts to institute minimum safety regulations have been thwarted in the name of profit.
(MORE: Dying for Some New Clothes: Bangladesh’s Rana Plaza Tragedy)
Just before 9 a.m. on April 24, the eight-story Rana Plaza, which contained five garment factories, collapsed in the Dhaka suburb of Savar. The building housed at least 3,500 workers and opened despite warnings to close after severe cracks appeared in walls. The owner of Rana Plaza, Sohel Rana, has already been brought before a court and had his assets seized.
“Given the long record of worker deaths in factories, this [Rana Plaza] tragedy was sadly predictable,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch (HRW). Bangladeshi workers receive among the world’s lowest wages — reaching around $37 per month after a series of violent protests in 2010 — and must toil in sweatshop conditions to fill orders catering for consumers in Europe and the U.S.
In November, 112 garment workers died in a factory fire at Tazreen Fashions Ltd in Dhaka. There were then 41 other “fire incidents” in Bangladesh factories — killing nine workers and injuring more than 660 — in the following five months.
(MORE: Bangladesh Factory Collapse Will Force Companies to Rethink Outsourced Manufacturing)
Last week, the Walt Disney Company announced that it would no longer produce licensed merchandise in Bangladesh in the wake of recent accidents. Yet some labor rights activists question whether abandoning the country completely is not adding to the hardships of its impoverished workers. According to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), apparel accounts for around 80 percent of Bangladesh’s export economy — the second largest in the world after China — employing an estimated 3 million workers and generating a total of $23 billion annually.
Companies seeking to escape Bangladesh may be overlooking some harsh truths. The International Labor Rights Forum presented the first Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Agreement to more than a dozen of the world’s largest clothing brands and retailers — including Gap, Wal-Mart and H&M — at a meeting in Dhaka in 2011. However, this was rejected due to the extra costs involved and possibility of incurring legal action. An updated proposal was once again presented to major retailers in November, but was only signed by PVH Corp — owner of Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein — and the German retailer Tchibo.
PHOTOS: Bangladesh’s Worst Industrial Accident: Scenes From a Terrifying Tragedy

Nigeria: Imo Resumes Payment of N500 Stipend to Students

Owerri — Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has flagged off another round of payment of stipend to school children as well as distribution of school materials to public schools in the state.
Secondary school students received N500 each while those in primary schools got N300 each.
Okorocha, while flagging off the programme at Owerri City School, said the exercise is aimed at encouraging school children in their studies.
The governor, represented at the occasion by his wife, Nneoma Nkechinyere Okorocha, described education as a vital instrument to a child's development, adding that the present administration remained committed to transforming the education sector.

Nigeria

Corruption Body Arrests Ex-Governor Timipre Sylva in Abuja
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday arrested former Bayelsa State governor Timipre Sylva at … see more »