France to increase troop numbers in Ivory Coast after beach attack

French Defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian

(Reuters) - France will nearly double the number of troops it has in Ivory Coast, the defence minister said on Saturday on a visit during which he laid flowers at the site of an attack on tourists that killed 19 people.

Jean-Yves Le Drian placed a bouquet on the beach in Grand Bassam, a resort town 40 km (25 miles) from Abidjan, where gunmen shot swimmers and sunbathers before storming hotels last month, an attack claimed by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Four French citizens were killed.

WHO: More than 120 health workers have died of Ebola

The World Health Organisation said that more than 240 health workers working on the Ebola epidemic have contracted the disease and around half of those infected workers have died. 

More than 120 health workers have died of Ebola across west Africa, the World Health Organization said on Monday, claiming the epidemic had affected an "unprecedented number of medical staff".

In a statement, the WHO said more than 240 health care workers working in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone have developed the disease with "more than 120" succumbing to the epidemic.

Democracy of Ebola - Pius Adesanmi

But for the lives we are losing in Nigeria and West Africa, I would have stated that I have fallen in love with Ebola. This virus is creating a strange, unfamiliar creature in Nigeria called responsible leadership. I doubt if there is any Nigerian in my generation who has ever witnessed responsible, hands-on, on-top-of-the-situation leadership in his or her entire adult life. What we are familiar with is an irresponsible leadership of escape into an alternative universe.

The roads are in a shambles? No problem, we shall escape into our helicopters and private jets.

Breaking: World Health Organization says 50 new Ebola cases and 25 deaths reported in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea since July 3

The death toll from Ebola has risen to 518, as the deadly virus continues to spread. The World Health Organisation said 50 new cases and 25 deaths had been reported in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea since July 3.

UN agency said that the latest figures from health ministries in the three countries showed a total of 844 cases including 518 deaths in the epidemic that began in February. Guinea's ministry reported two deaths since July 3, but no new cases in the past week, the WHO said, calling the situation in the affected region of West Africa a "mixed picture".

Sierra Leone accounted for 34 of the new cases and 14 deaths, while Liberia reported 16 new cases and 9 deaths, it said, adding: "These numbers indicate that active viral transmission continues in the community."

How Osama’s Al-Qaeda group back Boko Haram — France president

After the Paris summit on security situation in West Africa, French President Francois Hollande said Saturday that Nigeria’s Boko Haram had “established links” to  Osama’s Al-Qaeda group and urged countries in the region to devise a common strategy to combat its threat.

Speaking at during the  summit in Paris with Nigeria and neighbouring countries, Hollande said: “Boko Haram has become a major threat for all of west Africa and now for central Africa. Its links to AQMI (Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) and other terrorist organisations have been established.”

TERRORISTS: THE PAMPERED CHILDREN OF THE NORTH NIGERIA

by Emmanuel Chigozie Osuchukwu

Nigeria is presently in a dangerous impasse and there are many who believe that the country is on the throes of disintegration. If the mindless insurgency and bloodletting ravaging particularly the Northern part of the country is not enough evidence, the ongoing national conference is a clear indication that all is not well. The primary question is how Nigeria got to this dreadful position – to a point where it is safer to live in Afghanistan, Iraq or Somalia. Thanks to a new phenomenon called Boko Haram. Then we ask again, who or what is Boko Haram? I can only at this point say that it is a faceless organisation that we are unsure who they really are except that they are predominantly people drawn from the Northern part of Nigeria, with a clear proclivity towards Islamic fundamentalism and a violent disapproval of mainstream Nigerian, albeit western values. We could also say a sort of rebels without cause.


There is nothing really surprising about the emergence of Boko Haram in Northern Nigeria. Many commentators saw it coming and many were condemned for ever predicting that Nigeria will come to such a state. Hence today the Nigerian press is full of comments such as: ‘serves the North right’; ‘they should have seen it coming’; ‘they brought it on themselves’ etc. It is not that such commentators are not appalled by the wanton killing of innocent women and children or grieve over the senseless killing of now mostly Northern Nigerian youths who could easily have become tomorrow’s doctors, lawyers, teachers and footballers. But many Nigerians have grown up to believe that the North somehow does not disapprove of senseless killing of innocent lives and we have strong reasons stretching over many decades to assume so. The only surprise is that those who should have anticipated it are the very ones expressing surprise and blaming others for the pitiable state of particularly Northern Nigeria and the country generally. Some supposedly knowledgeable Northern opinions have gone as far as accusing the federal government of President Jonathan of masterminding the ongoing killings in the north. But let us put Boko Haram and the problem of the North in its true perspective.

Under 17 women'sworld Cup: Ghana, Nigeria play on for Africa

West Africa is again carrying the torch for Africa in football. This time it’s at the U17 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica. The two teams who have clawed their way to the quarterfinals are Ghana and Nigeria and both face stiff tests as they meet the best from Europe.