Gambian soldier says ex-president ordered him to kill migrants
Written by Millennium on July 25, 2019
Banjul – A Gambian soldier has admitted to participating in the 2005 execution of around 50 migrants on the orders of former President Yahya Jammeh, who is reported to have feared the men had come to overthrow him.
Lt Malick Jatta was giving testimony before the country’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission (TRRC) which is investigating atrocities committed during Mr Jammeh’s 22-year rule.
He earlier admitted involvement in the murder of the journalist Deyda Hydara in 2004 on the orders of the former president.
Mr Jammeh – who now lives in exile in Equatorial Guinea – always denied any involvement in the deaths of the migrants or the journalist.
Lt Jatta’s confession corroborates the findings of human rights activists and campaign groups including Human Rights Watch.
Its report said the West African migrants, who were headed for Europe, were arrested and executed after the boat they had boarded in Senegal landed in The Gambia.
SOURCE: BBC News
Huawei lays off 70% of American research unit staff amid ongoing US crackdown on Chinese firm
WASHINGTON – Huawei has laid off around 70 percent of staff at its Futurewei Technologies research arm in the US. Despite recent signals that Washington was easing pressure on the Chinese tech giant, the ban is still in force.
The Huawei-owned US firm cut 600 of its 850-strong workforce, with the first employees having left the offices on Monday. The company explained the layoffs with “the curtailment of business operations” as the result of Washington’s actions, according to Reuters.
It was earlier reported that some of the tech giant’s Chinese staff in the US were offered a chance to return to China and keep their job at the company.
SOURCE: RT News
Hundreds flee violence in southern Ethiopia
More than 450 people in southern Ethiopia’s Sidama area who had fled their homes fearing violence are sheltering in a church, an official has told the BBC.
The people seeking protection are residents of the town of Yirgalem, one of several places in the area in which people were killed last week in violence over a delayed referendum on whether a separate federal state of Sidama should be created.
SOURCE: BBC News
Algeria says ‘Oui’ to English
The Algerian government has ordered a switch from the French language to English in all communications within the country’s universities.
Up to now, official documents have been circulated in Arabic and French.
The minister of higher education said the dropping of French was part of a policy de-signed to encourage the use of English.
SOURCE: BBC News
Uganda’s Bobi Wine formally declares presidential bid
Uganda’s musician-turned-MP Bobi Wine has announced at a meeting of his People Power movement that he will run for president.
He unveiled a team that will run his 2021 presidential election campaign.
SOURCE: BBC News
