Nigeria's Igbo leaders reject call for Biafra state

Powerful Igbo leaders in Nigeria have rejected calls for the breakaway state of Biafra to be created for their ethnic group in the south-east.
Their intervention is seen as an attempt to defuse escalating tensions between rival communities in Nigeria.
However, a pro-secessionist group says it will press ahead with its campaign.
Security forces have killed at least 150 people since August 2015 to quell pro-independence protests, Amnesty International says.
The campaign has also fuelled tension in northern Nigeria, where some youth groups have retaliated by threatening to expels Igbos who live there.
So, the statement by Igbo leaders pledging loyalty to Nigeria could help ease tension in the north, says the BBC's Naziru Mikailu in the capital, Abuja.
Following a specially convened meeting in the Igbo heartland of Enugu city to discuss the crisis, state governors, lawmakers, traditional and religious leaders issued a statement on Sunday to give their "full support" to a "united Nigeria".
However, the statement called for the vast and oil-rich West African state to be "restructured" to achieve a "a just and equitable society".
Many people in the south-east accuse successive governments of failing to develop their areas.
The pro-independence Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (Massob) said the meeting failed to reflect the views of the Igbo people.
"We want Biafra and nothing but Biafra. Nigeria must disintegrate. Her faulty foundation has broken beyond repair," Massob said in a statement.
Massob is one of the main groups leading the independence campaign.
On 30 May, many people in cities and towns across the south-east stayed at home to mark the 50th anniversary of the declaration of the breakaway state of Biafra.
The 1967 declaration led to a brutal civil war, which claimed the lives of up to a million people, before the secessionist rebellion was defeated by government forces.
  • First republic of Biafra was declared by Nigerian military officer Odumegwu-Ojukwu in 1967
  • He led his mainly ethnic Igbo forces into a deadly three-year civil war that ended in 1970
  • More than one million people lost their lives, mostly because of hunger
  • Decades after Biafra uprising was quelled by the military, secessionist groups have attracted the support of many young people
  • They feel Nigeria's central government is not investing in the region
  • The government says their complaints are not particular to the south-east

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Zimbabweans donate cattle to AU after Robert Mugabe appeal

Zimbabwe has auctioned cattle worth $1m (£770,000) to raise money for the African Union (AU) Foundation to help end the "donor dependency syndrome", President Robert Mugabe has said.
He added that he had donated 300 cattle from his herd, and other Zimbabweans doubled the number as they wanted to contribute towards a "noble cause".
Mr Mugabe handed the $1m cheque to the AU at its leaders' summit in Ethiopia.
The donation comes amid a severe cash and food crisis in Zimbabwe.
Last year, more than four million people were in need of food aid in the southern African state after rains failed.
However, there has been a bumper harvest this year, with the country expected to be self-sufficient for the first time in years.
The opposition blames the government for food shortages, saying its controversial land reform programme has ruined the farming sector.
Zimbabwe has also been forced to introduce so-called bond notes after running out of the US dollar, the main currency people use.
Hyperinflation forced the government to abandon the Zimbabwe dollar in 2009.
Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi said the cattle had been donated mostly by farmers who had benefited from the land reform programme, the state-run Herald newspaper reported.
Their donation was an "expansion" of a 2015 pledge by Mr Mugabe to donate 300 cattle, he added.

Speaking at the summit, Mr Mugabe said it was a "modest contribution" and a "symbolic step" towards helping to end the "donor dependency syndrome" in Africa.
On its website, the AU Foundation says it focuses on development programmes for youth and women, and promoting gender equality.
Mr Mumbengegwi said the donation was significant as it showed that the AU could find innovative ways to raise money for its projects.
Mr Mugabe, during his term as AU chairman in 2015 and 2016, campaigned for the AU to be self-financed as about 60% of its budget came from foreign donors, the Herald reported.
Cows are a prized asset in many rural parts of Africa, where families measure their wealth by the size of their herd
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Portuguese president speaks out over stolen weapons arsenal


Days after weapons and explosives were taken from a military warehouse in Portugal, the scale of the theft is becoming clear.
A Spanish website has revealed an extensive list of grenades, ammunition and explosives seized from the Tancos site, north-east of Lisbon.
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has called for a no-holds-barred investigation into the raid.
Links to arms thefts in other Nato states should be looked at, he added.
There was no mention of which other countries he had in mind.
The theft was discovered on 28 June and details were passed on to Portugal's Nato allies.
The burglary is thought to have taken place at night at a part of the security perimeter where closed-circuit cameras had been broken for over two years.
The Portuguese defence minister initially described the raid as "serious", but the size of the missing arsenal only emerged when El Español (in Spanish) published what it said was a list of the stolen armaments. Among the weapons taken were:
  • 1,450 9mm ammunition cartridges
  • 150 hand grenades
  • 44 anti-tank grenades
  • 18 tear gas grenades
  • 102 explosive charges
  • 264 pieces of plastic explosive
El Español said it had seen the list after it was handed to Spain's anti-terror forces.
President de Sousa said a far-reaching investigation should look into the "facts and responsibilities" and called for measures to be taken to prevent such a theft "of increasing seriousness" from happening again.
Five military commanders have been suspended while an internal investigation takes place, the BBC's Lisbon correspondent reports.
There was no indication they were directly involved in the raid, chief of staff Gen Frederico Rovisco Duarte said on Sunday. However, their units were thought to be in charge of securing and monitoring the storage area.
Shots were fired close to Tancos military base, which is home to an engineering regiment, late on Sunday night. No-one was hurt. The regiment's commander was one of the five individuals suspended.
A Nato spokesman made no comment on the theft, referring the BBC to the Portuguese authorities.
Senior military figures were reportedly investigating whether the thieves had acted on inside information. The armed forces' top brass were due to meet on Monday to discuss the case.
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Tencent: Gaming app rations child access to hour per day


Chinese internet giant Tencent has limited the hours that children can play several of its most popular games.
It said the measures, restricting gaming depending on the player's age, were "to dispel parents' worries".
According to state media, there has been rising concern over Chinese children's excessive gaming habits.
Parents reportedly worry in particular about both the time and money spent playing Tencent's popular King of Glory mobile game.
From Monday, players aged under 12 will be allowed to log in for only one hour a day, and not after 2100. Older children will be allowed to play for two hours.
Tencent claims the measures are the most strict in the country's booming online gaming industry.

Age verification

Chinese state media quoted a company spokesperson saying that "even though as of now, China has not yet passed clear regulations dealing with gaming addiction, we have decided to take the lead".


The firm said it was also working on better implementation of its identity verification, so that those who had not yet completed the verification would not be able to play.
King of Glory is thought to have about 50 million daily active users, and there are numerous reports of parents and teachers expressing concern and frustration about children's gaming habits.
Reports range from a 17-year old gamer in Guangzhou diagnosed with cerebral infarction after playing for 40 hours straight, to children using their parent's credit cards to spend thousands of dollars on the game.
Excessive online gaming has been recognised as a problem in several countries, with authorities introducing different measures to tackle the challenge.
South Korea in 2011 launched a law to ban access for children under 16 from playing online games between midnight and 0600. In Japan, players get alerted by pop-up windows when they spend more than a certain threshold amount in a month.
Enforcement and reliable age verification remain the main obstacles to successfully addressing the problem, however.
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Swedish music festival is cancelled in 2018 after rape and sexual assault claims


Sweden's biggest music festival is being cancelled in 2018 after one rape and multiple reports of sexual assault at this year's event.
Bravalla was headlined by System of a Down, Linkin Park, Alesso and The Killers at the weekend.
But police in the Swedish town of Norrkoping say they received 11 reports of sexual assault this year.
Officers say the rape victim was attacked while Swedish group Håkan Hellström performed on Friday night.
Organisers have released a statement announcing that next year's event won't be taking place.
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Plus-size model confronts man over 'fat-shaming' during flight


A plus-size US model has been widely praised for confronting a passenger accused of sending "mean and ugly" messages about her during a flight.
Natalie Hage, who was travelling to Los Angeles for a photo shoot, said that in one of the texts, he wrote to a friend that the flight would not take off because of her weight.
In another, he said: "I think she ate a Mexican."
The man later apologised, saying he had had a few drinks before boarding.
Ms Hage shared the incident, which happened on Thursday, on social media. A video of the exchange has been watched more than a million times.
Ms Hage, who described herself as being "extremely flight anxious", said she had paid $70 (£54) for additional space "because I know I need a little extra leg room" but that there were only middle seats available.
"As soon as I sat down, the gentleman on my left began LOUDLY huffing, sighing, and readjusting himself in his seat," she wrote on a post on Instagram.
Then, Ms Hage said, she noticed that he was sending text messages to a friend about her.
"[The recipient] says 'Hopefully she didn't have any Mexican food' and his response is 'I think she ate a Mexican'. Then he proceeds to say he's leaving a 'neck mark on the window' because he's so smashed against the wall."
She said she asked the man on her right to change seats, telling him what had happened, but that he laughed and refused.
"This is a fat person's daily reality and not just on a plane. This is on a bus, standing in line at the grocery store, at a concert, on the internet. You can be completely in your own space, not bothering anyone, and people will still f*** with you and try to hurt you.
"All you can do is know you haven't done anything wrong just by existing and to move on."

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Later, she confronted the passenger, and posted a video of it on Facebook, and the post has been liked by more than 7,000 people. In the video, he apologised. But later said she should not sit on the emergency row as she would be unfit to help people out.
When she cited one of the messages he allegedly sent, he laughed. "Don't ever treat somebody like that again," she told him.

On Facebook, Ms Hage has been widely praised for her "courage" and for being a "brave woman".
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Singapore PM Lee 'prefers not to sue siblings' over feud

Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong says he would prefer not to sue his siblings over claims he abused his power, despite calls to settle a family feud.
Mr Lee spoke in parliament following weeks of a fierce public dispute between him and his brother and sister.
The prime minister's siblings have accused him of misusing his influence in a dispute over their father's house.
Mr Lee has repeatedly denied the allegations, most recently in Monday's parliamentary sitting.
Mr Lee and his father, the late leader Lee Kuan Yew, were known for suing critics and opponents for defamation.
He acknowledged that many had asked why he had not taken legal action, and admitted that in "any other imaginable circumstance but this, I would surely sue".
"But suing my own brother and sister in court would further besmirch my parents' names," he said, adding that the lawsuit would cause "more distraction and distress" to the public.
"Therefore, fighting this out in court cannot be my preferred choice."
But de-facto opposition leader Low Thia Khiang said not taking the matter to court gave the impression the government "was afraid of what the Lee siblings will say or reveal".

Mesmerised, but now fatigued - Tessa Wong, BBC News, Singapore


The row is a rare public spectacle of acrimony within Singapore's tightly disciplined First Family.
For the last three weeks, Mr Lee's siblings Lee Hsien Yang and Lee Wei Ling have lobbed accusations at him on Facebook.
At first Singaporeans were mesmerised but now the saga is tiring them out. Many are confused about the case, and wondering why Mr Lee and his siblings have not resolved the matter through legal action or otherwise.
Singapore is used to swift resolution of public conflicts, and if this does not end soon, questions may be raised about Mr Lee's handling of the feud.
The dispute centres on whether the late Lee Kuan Yew truly wanted his house, known as 38 Oxley Road, to be demolished.
The prime minister's siblings have accused him of wanting to preserve it for his own personal political gain.
In parliament, Mr Lee flatly denied this suggestion. "Regarding the house, and how its continued existence enhances my aura as PM, if I needed such magic properties to bolster my authority even after being your PM for 13 years, I must be in a pretty sad state," he said.
He also denied charges of nepotism involving one of his sons and his wife, and that he had interfered in government decisions on the house.

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Apple to scan iPhones for child sex abuse images

  Apple has announced details of a system to find child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on customers' devices. Before an image is stored on...