Tunisia scraps ban on Muslim women marrying non-Muslims

Yahoo – AFP, September 14, 2017

Tunisia is viewed as being ahead of most Arab countries on women's rights
(AFP Photo/FETHI BELAID)

Tunis (AFP) - Tunisia has abolished a decades-old ban on Muslim women marrying non-Muslims, the presidency said Thursday.

"Congratulations to the women of Tunisia for the enshrinement of the right to the freedom to choose one's spouse," presidency spokeswoman Saida Garrach wrote on Facebook.

The announcement comes a month after President Beji Caid Essebsi called for the government to scrap the ban dating back to 1973.

Until now a non-Muslim man who wished to marry a Tunisian woman had to convert to Islam and submit a certificate of his conversion as proof.

Human rights groups in the North African country had campaigned for the ban's abolition, saying it undermined the fundamental human right to choose a spouse.

Tunisia is viewed as being ahead of most Arab countries on women's rights, but there is still discrimination particularly in matters of inheritance.

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"Listening to the Voice of Spirit" (2) - Feb 20, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (DNA Efficiency is on average at 35 percent now) - (Text version)

“… With free choice, the percentage of DNA efficiently started to go down as humanity grew. As soon as the DNA started to lose percentage, the gender balance was dysfunctional. If you want to have a test of any society, anywhere on the planet, and you want to know the DNA percentage number [consciousness quota] as a society, there's an easy test: How do they perceive and treat their women? The higher the DNA functionality, the more the feminine divine is honored. This is the test! Different cultures create different DNA consciousness, even at the same time on the planet. So you can have a culture on Earth at 25 percent and one at 37 - and if you did, they would indeed clash. …”

“… You're at 35. There's an equality here, you're starting to see the dark and light, and it's changing everything. You take a look at history and you've come a long way, but it took a long time to get here. Dear ones, we've seen this process before and the snowball is rolling. There isn't anything in the way that's going to stop it. In the path of this snowball of higher consciousness are all kinds of things that will be run over and perish. Part of this is what you call "the establishment". Watch for some very big established things to fall over! The snowball will simply knock them down. …”

PR firm Bell Pottinger seeks rescue after South Africa scandal

Yahoo – AFP, Kenza BRYAN, September 8, 2017

British public relations firm Bell Pottinger was accused of orchestrating a
racially-charged campaign on behalf of the controversial Gupta family in South
Africa (AFP Photo/Rodger BOSCH)

London (AFP) - British public relations firm Bell Pottinger, accused of stirring racial tension in South Africa, faces administration to save it from collapse, a company source said Friday.

"We may well be in administration by Monday," the source told AFP, in reference to the process whereby a troubled firm calls upon independent expert financial help in a bid to remain operational.

In a chaotic week, major clients including banking giant HSBC and telecommunications group TalkTalk have axed ties with Bell Pottinger after it was accused of orchestrating a racially-charged campaign on behalf of the controversial Gupta family in South Africa.

Other fleeing customers include construction company Carillion, financial services firm Investec and luxury goods maker Richemont, according to media reports.

Britain's Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) trade body expelled Bell Pottinger on Tuesday over a campaign deemed "likely to inflame racial discord".

'White monopoly capital'

"White monopoly capital" was one of the slogans Bell Pottinger used on behalf of Oakbay Capital, an investment holding company run by the Indian Gupta family.

The Twitter hashtag #whitemonopolycapital is used by supporters of South Africa's ruling Zuma family, which has controversial ties to the Guptas, to discredit opponents.

The British PR giant deliberately created a narrative of "economic apartheid" to defend the Guptas, according to an independent report, which was conducted by law firm Herbert Smith Freehills and published on Monday.

By Thursday, Bell Pottinger chairman Mark Smith told a staff meeting at the PR firm's headquarters in Holborn, central London, that it was likely to go into administration.

Accountancy firm BDO has been hired to look at options including a possible sale.

Various media reported that Bell Pottinger's Asian division will separate from its parent group and rebrand under the name Klareco Communications.

The group's second biggest shareholder, advertising firm Chime, has meanwhile written off its investment and handed back its 27-percent stake.

Nevertheless, Bell Pottinger is still "considering all the options", according to an official spokesman.

The group has pledged to introduce a more formal review of client work to help "identify high-risk clients and high-risk mandates", as well as redeveloping its corporate policies, including for social media, and establishing a new ethics committee.

'Fall from grace'

Bell Pottinger was created in 1987 by Tim Bell, one of Margaret Thatcher's foremost PR advisers, and is well known in the UK for its links to the world of politics and business.

British peers were informed on Thursday that the government has no power to remove the firm from its register of lobbyists.

Speaking in the House of Lords, Conservative Party frontbencher Lord Young said that while the company had acted "unprofessionally and unethically" in South Africa, the only way it could be struck off was if it ceased its public relations business.

He also said that the scandal has had "a very damaging impact" on the Britain's reputation in South Africa.

AFP's source said Friday that they were still "hopeful" about the company's situation, adding that the international response to the scandal in their view had been "out of proportion".

Huge protests in Togo for constitutional reform

Yahoo – AFP, Sophie BOUILLON, September 6, 2017

Protesters carry flags and placards while they march shouting slogans as they
call for reforms during an anti-government rally in Lome on September 6,
2017 (AFP Photo/PIUS UTOMI EKPEI)

Lome (AFP) - Hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters protested across Togo on Wednesday calling for constitutional reform, despite an apparent government concession to their demands.

Amnesty International country head Aime Adi told AFP "at least 100,000" were in the capital, Lome, with similar demonstrations taking place in some 10 other cities.

Opposition party leader Jean-Pierre Fabre for his part called the demonstration "unprecedented" and estimated that "more than one million people" were on the streets of Lome.

Neither figure was independently verified but AFP journalists on the ground said a tide of people had converged on the coastal capital, dwarfing previous protests.

Many brandished placards denouncing the regime of President Faure Gnassingbe, whose family has been in power for the last 50 years.

"The reforms are lies, we don't believe them. If the people's minds are made up, nothing can stop them, not even the army," said one protester, Armand Jarre, 26.

Gnassingbe chaired a cabinet meeting on Tuesday evening, which saw ministers approve plans for a bill about restrictions on terms in office and changes to the voting system.

The opposition has been calling for both since 2005, when Gnassingbe succeeded his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, who ruled for nearly 40 years.

Civil service minister Gilbert Bawara told AFP the government had taken note of the public's "strong expectation" and that a committee was looking into the proposals.

He invited opposition figures to enter into "dialogue and debate" on the issue.

But he said calls to limit the presidential mandate to a maximum two, five-year terms would not be implemented retroactively.

"There is no legislative reason to do so. But we need a consensus so the reform is accepted," he added.

A consensus would mean the approval of four-fifths of parliament, said Bawara.

Parliament only returns from its summer break in October and exact details of the proposals are vague.

Previous protests

Most of Togo's opposition parties decided to come together Lome and some 10 provincial cities on Wednesday, despite the government's apparent olive branch.

They are calling for an acceleration of constitutional reforms, including the limit on how many terms a president can serve and the introduction of a two-round voting system.

"Unir (Unite, the president's ruling party) calls for talks as soon as it is cornered," said Tikpi Atchadam, the head of the Panafrican National Party.

"I think the people have made up their mind because they're fed up," he added, calling on Gnassingbe to "leave by the front door".

"I don't believe in dialogue with the regime anymore," he said.

One man taking part in the protests said on condition of anonymity that after 50 years ruled by the same family, Togo's problems were "too deep".

Hundreds of people were killed in 2005 during violent protests following the death of Gnassingbe Eyadema and the succession of his 38-year-old son.

The president was re-elected in 2010 and 2015, although the opposition rejected the results.

Last month, at least two people were killed in anti-Gnassingbe protests in the city of Sokode, some 300 kilometres (185 miles) north of the capital.

On Tuesday, he appealed for "calm and restraint", adding that the deaths were regrettable.

Hundreds of thousands of people across Togo take to the streets to demand constitutional reformhttps://t.co/rsrWwTb0E3 pic.twitter.com/qvnouvBeTO

— AFP news agency (@AFP) September 6, 2017

 

Shock as Kenya court cancels vote result, demands re-run

Yahoo – AFP, Fran BLANDY, September 1, 2017

Stunned supporters of Kenya's opposition rushed onto the streets of Kibera slum
and elsewhere across the capital Nairobi to celebrate the court's decision
(AFP Photo/YASUYOSHI CHIBA)

Nairobi (AFP) - Kenya's Supreme Court on Friday ordered a new presidential election within 60 days, in a shock ruling cancelling the results of last month's poll over widespread irregularities.

Chief Justice David Maraga said a majority decision by the panel of six judges, with two dissenting, found that President Uhuru Kenyatta "was not validly elected", rendering the result "invalid, null and void".

Supporters of veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga's wept and cheered, utterly stunned at what they saw as a historic ruling, after losses in successive polls they believe were rigged, from a judiciary long seen as compromised in favour of the ruling elite.

Odinga, 72, hailed the "historic" ruling which is a first in Africa.

"It is now clear that no one in Kenya is above the law," he said.

Maraga said the election commission (IEBC) had "failed, neglected or refused to conduct the presidential election in a manner consistent with the dictates of the constitution".

Kenyatta, the first African president to have his re-election overturned by a court ruling, cheerfully took to the streets to address supporters saying he was ready to campaign again.

He slammed Maraga and his fellow judges as "crooks" as he spoke off the cuff, after earlier saying that while he disagreed with the ruling, he respected it.

Beaming broadly, Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga waved at supporters as

 he left Nairobi's Supreme Court following the unprecedented decision to annul the

election result (AFP Photo/SIMON MAINA)

'Kudos to the judges!'

Kenya has a long history of disputed votes, election violence and a lack of faith in the judiciary's independence.

"It was a surprise because the trend in justice in Kenya is not good, but this time justice has been done," said 39-year-old accountancy student Donna Abongo.

"Kudos to the judges!"

"For the first time we have got justice. They have stolen elections for so long," said fishmonger Lynette Akello in western Kisumu.

The run-up to the August 8 election was marred by the murder of top IEBC IT official Chris Msando and opposition allegations that rigging was certain.

Indeed Odinga and his National Super Alliance (NASA) cried foul shortly after counting began, claiming the system transmitting votes had been hacked, and that forms from polling stations that were meant to back up the electronic results were not being uploaded.

The August 11 declaration of Kenyatta's victory with 54.27 percent of the vote -- with not all the tallying forms in -- sparked two days of protests in the slums of Nairobi and Kisumu, traditional opposition strongholds.

At least 21 people, including a baby and a nine-year-old girl, were killed, mostly by police, according to an AFP tally.

'Irregularities and illegalities'

It was the third time in a row that Odinga claimed he had been cheated out of victory at the polls, after his losses in 2007 and 2013.

However, the protests remained isolated and did not reach the levels of the disputed 2007 election which saw politically-motivated ethnic violence in which over 1,100 people were killed.

In 2013, Odinga took his grievances to court and lost.

This time he initially refused to take the case to court but changed his mind, saying NASA wanted the truth to come out even if they believed they had no hope of winning.

However, in a dramatic and unexpected turn of events, the Supreme Court agreed with the opposition coalition.

Maraga said there had been "irregularities and illegalities", notably in the transmission of election results.

He said this had compromised the "integrity of the entire presidential election".

The court's full ruling must be made available within 21 days.

Ahead of the ruling, Kenyan police set up barricades near the Supreme Court

 in Nairobi over fears the outcome could lead to a fresh wave of unrest (AFP 

Photo/SIMON MAINA)

Election commission vows change

Odinga said he no longer had faith in the current election commission and called for them to step down.

But IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati refused to resign, saying he had not been implicated in any wrongdoing personally, but vowed "internal changes to our personnel".

He called for those guilty of wrongdoing to be prosecuted.

NASA official and lawyer, James Orengo, had argued that irregularities -- including unsigned and fake tally forms, hacked servers and deliberate miscounting -- had affected around one-third of the 15.5 million votes cast.

But lawyers for the election commission and Kenyatta countered that errors were simply "clerical" mistakes and technicalities that did not affect the outcome of the vote.

A report filed by the court registrar found a number of errors in the 41,451 polling station tally sheets -- known as form 34A -- as well as in 291 of the form 34B constituency tally sheets, some of which were unsigned, not stamped, illegible or lacking serial numbers or watermarks.

In addition, the registrar's report found that the electoral commission failed to provide full court-ordered access to its servers, which NASA had demanded in order to back up its allegations of hacking.

Kenya Supreme Court orders a re-run of the presidential poll within the next 60 days pic.twitter.com/jLP6Kbs4nx

— AFP news agency (@AFP) September 1, 2017