Author: CensorBiz

Kenya launched an operation to flush out Al-Shabab terrorists from the northeast Boni Forest on the border with Somalia in 2015.  The operation was meant to last a few months but – nearly five years later – security forces are still struggling to stamp out the Islamist militants.  Villagers are afraid to venture into the forest and a deadly January attack on the county’s joint Kenya-US military base has highlighted ongoing insecurity.  Mohammed Yusuf reports from Kiangwe, Kenya.
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A Norwegian man suspected of killing his stepsister and then storming an Oslo mosque with firearms “with the intention to kill as many Muslims as possible” was formally charged Monday with murder and terror.
Philip Manshaus was overpowered inside the Al-Noor Islamic Center mosque in suburban Oslo in August. He fired six shots but didn’t hit anyone. One person was slightly injured when they jumped on Manshaus inside the mosque and held him until police arrived.
The prosecution says Manshaus, 22, is suspected of killing his 17-year-old stepsister, Johanne Zhangjia Ihle-Hansen, by shooting her four times — three in the head and one in the chest — with a hunting rifle at their home in the Oslo suburb of Baerum.
Shortly after that, Manshaus drove to a nearby mosque where three men were preparing for Eid al-Adha celebrations. He wore a helmet with a video camera attached and a bulletproof vest, according to the charge sheet obtained by The Associated Press.
Armed with a hunting rifle and a shotgun, Manshaus fired four shots with the rifle at a glass door before he was overpowered by one of the men in the mosque at the time, Muhammad Rafiq. During the scuffle, Manshaus fired two more shots but no one was hit.
A trial is scheduled to start May 7 in Oslo.
Norwegian media have reported that Manshaus was inspired by shootings in March 2019 in New Zealand, where a gunman targeted two mosques, killing 51 people, and in August 2019 in El Paso, Texas, where an assailant targeted Hispanics and left at least 22 dead.
Norway’s domestic security agency PST said it had a “vague” tip about Manshaus a year before the Aug. 19 shooting, but it was not enough to act on because they had no information about any “concrete plans” of attack.  
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Doctors in Shanghai are using infusions of blood plasma from people who have recovered from the coronavirus to treat those still battling the infection, reporting some encouraging preliminary results, a Chinese professor said on Monday.The coronavirus epidemic is believed to have originated in a seafood market in the central city of Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, and has so far killed 1,770 people and infected more than 70,000 in mainland China.China’s financial hub of Shanghai on Monday had 332 infected cases, one of whom died in recent weeks. Lu Hongzhou, professor and co-director of the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, said that 184 cases were still hospitalized, including 166 mild cases, while 18 were in serious and critical conditions.He said the hospital had set up a special clinic to administer plasma therapy and was selecting patients who were willing to donate. The blood would be screened to check if he or she had other diseases like hepatitis B or C, he added.”We are positive that this method can be very effective in our patients,” he said.There are no fully licensed treatments or vaccines against the new coronavirus, and the process of developing and testing drugs can take many months and even years.As well as using plasma therapies, which harness antibodies in the blood of someone who has fought off the viral infection, doctors are also trying antiviral drugs licensed for use against other infections to see if they might help.Chinese scientists are testing two antiviral drugs and preliminary results are due in weeks, while the head of a Wuhan hospital had said plasma infusions from recovered patients had shown some encouraging preliminary results.A senior Chinese health official said on Friday 1,716 health workers have been infected by the coronavirus and six of them had died. More than 87% of infected medical workers were in Hubei. 
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The body of a Pakistani journalist was found dumped in a canal just hours after he went missing while on his way to work, police said Monday. His family said he was brutally killed but that they have no idea who was behind the slaying.
The 56-year-old Aziz Memon had worked as a reporter and cameraman for a local TV station in southwestern Sindh province. He went missing while going to work on Sunday.
Police chief Mohammad Farooq said the body was found in a canal in Mehrabpur village and that an investigation was under way. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the abduction and killing of Memon.
His brother, Abdul Hafeez, said Memon had received threats last year after reporting that a politician from the area had paid bribe money to locals to attend an opposition rally.
The International Federation of Journalists and its affiliate, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, have asked the government to investigate.
Pakistan is considered a dangerous place for journalists and those involved in attacks on journalists are rarely punished. The country has also witnessed an intensified crackdown on human rights defenders, activists, journalists and members of civil society over the past years.
Journalists, who have taken on military dictators and been beaten and jailed in the pursuit of a free press, say they now face a form of censorship that is more subtle but no less chilling, spearheaded by the security services, to quash critical coverage.  
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Gunmen killed 24 men, including a church pastor, and kidnapped three others on Sunday in Burkina Faso, an official said. It was the latest attack against a religious leader in the increasingly unstable West African nation.
The mayor of Boundore commune, Sihanri Osangola Brigadie, said the attack occurred in the town of Pansy in Yagha province. The roughly 20 attackers separated men from women close to a Protestant church. At least 10 other people were injured.
“It hurt me when I saw the people,” Brigadie said after visiting some of the victims in the hospital in Dori town, 180 kilometers (110 miles) from the attack. The gunmen looted oil and rice from shops and forced the three youth they kidnapped to help transport it on their motorbikes, he said.
Both Christians and Muslims were killed before the church was set on fire, said a government security official in Dori who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to the media.Attacks have targeted religious leaders in the area in the past. Last week, also in Yagha province, a retired pastor was killed and another pastor was abducted by gunmen, according to an internal security report for aid workers seen by The Associated Press.Extremist violence has dramatically escalated in once-peaceful Burkina Faso. Analysts are concerned that attacks against civilians, including against Christians, are increasing “at an alarming rate,” said Corinne Dufka, West Africa director for Human Rights Watch. “Perpetrators use victims’ links to government or their faith to justify the killings, while others appear to be reprisal killings for killings by the government security forces,” she said.
More than 1,300 civilians were killed in targeted attacks last year in Burkina Faso, more than seven times the previous year, according to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, which collects and analyzes conflict information.
The insecurity has created a humanitarian crisis. More than 760,000 people are internally displaced, according to the government.  
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Elton John intends to play his remaining shows in New Zealand and Australia,  his tour promoters said Monday, a day after illness caused the singer to lose his voice and cut short a performance.Video clips posted online by fans at Sunday night’s performance showed John breaking down in tears as he told the cheering crowd he couldn’t go on any longer. The 72-year-old singer said he had walking pneumonia and was assisted off stage.Tour promoters Chugg Entertainment said John was resting and doctors were confident he would recover. They said a concert planned for Tuesday in Auckland would be delayed until Wednesday on the advice of doctors.”Elton John was disappointed and deeply upset at having to end his Auckland concert early last night,” the promoters said in their statement.The concert was part of John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour. As well as the delayed performance on Wednesday, John is scheduled to play again in Auckland on Thursday and then seven performances in Australia before traveling to the U.S. and Canada.He thanked the concert attendees via an Instagram post  and apologized for ending the show early.”I want to thank everyone who attended tonight’s gig in Auckland. I was diagnosed with walking pneumonia earlier today, but I was determined to give you the best show humanly possible,” John wrote. “I played and sang my heart out, until my voice could sing no more. I’m disappointed, deeply upset and sorry. I gave it all I had.”New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she watched the show and got to meet John for about five minutes before he started playing.”You could tell that he wasn’t feeling well and he said he wasn’t feeling well,” Ardern said. “So I think you could see that on the stage last night, which I think is just a credit to his commitment to his fans.’’Ardern said the pair discussed politics and how her toddler daughter Neve loves to dance to his music. John has previously expressed his admiration for the New Zealand leader.The New Zealand Herald  reported that John told the crowd he was ill but that he didn’t want to miss the show. He slumped on a stool and required medical attention after performing “Someone Saved My Life Tonight,” but recovered and continued to play, the newspaper reported. Later, as he he attempted to sing “Daniel,” he realized he had no voice left and was escorted off stage.John had just returned to New Zealand after performing at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles. He won an Oscar for best original song for his theme song for the movie “Rocketman.’’According to the Mayo Clinic, walking pneumonia is an informal term for a milder form of pneumonia that isn’t severe enough to require hospitalization or bed rest. It affects the respiratory tract and is most often caused by bacteria.
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It has become one of the NBA’s most revered traditions: On the morning of the NBA All-Star Game, the league pays tribute to retired players with what is called the Legends Brunch. It brings together about 3,000 guests, and every year a recent retiree with ties to the game’s host city is honored.When the game was in Los Angeles two years ago, the NBA wanted to honor Kobe Bryant.He declined. He couldn’t attend. His reason: his daughter Gianna Bryant had a game that morning.”That said, to us, everything about his priorities,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Sunday as he recalled that conversation with Bryant.This All-Star weekend was Michael Jordan’s longtime home of Chicago, highlighted by a game where LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo served as captains – but it was, predictably and understandably, overshadowed by the mourning of Bryant.Jennifer Hudson, wearing the Lakers’ deep purple, performed a pregame tribute to Bryant and sang “For All We Know.” Players on James’ team wore Gianna’s No. 2 on their jerseys and players on Antetokounmpo’s team wore Kobe’s No. 24 on theirs. And all players wore a patch with nine stars, one for each victim of the crash.Common, in his pregame tribute to Chicago, also paid homage to Bryant, saying that “even in the darkest times, you’ll feel Kobe’s light.”Everyone at the All-Star Game on Sunday got a 24-page tribute published by Sports Illustrated devoted to Bryant’s career. On the last page of text, just before the back cover, was a quote from Jordan: “I loved Kobe – he was like a little brother to me,” it began. Next to that quote was a photo, Bryant guarding Jordan in 1997, sticking his tongue out much in the same way that the Bulls’ guard often did.Magic Johnson speaks during a tribute to former NBA All-Star Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna who were killed in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020, before the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020, in Chicago.And when the night was over, Kawhi Leonard was the first recipient of the Kobe Bryant MVP Award, given to the player voted as the biggest star of the All-Star Game – a trophy that Bryant hoisted four times.It’s been three weeks now since Bryant, 13-year-old Gianna and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash in Southern California.And the mourning period is still very active, very real, very necessary.It’s a doubly somber time for the NBA, since the league is also coming to grips with the Jan. 1 death of Commissioner Emeritus David Stern – the person credited for taking a fledgling league and turning it into one of the planet’s most powerful sports brands, a multi-billion-dollar entity with a reach that touches nearly every outpost on earth. Stern was remembered as well at the Legends Brunch, and Silver drew a parallel between Bryant and his former boss.”Just as a reminder: Who more embodies the spirit of All-Star than Kobe? … He always played hard. He didn’t care if it was an All-Star game,” Silver said. “And I think that’s what he and David had in common. They always competed. They believed in the power of sports. They believed in winning and they believed it was necessary to always give their all. And I think that’s why their losses have resonated with so many people around the world.’’Magic Johnson – like Bryant, a Los Angeles Lakers legend – had been hired two years ago to introduce Bryant at the Legends Brunch, the one that Bryant couldn’t attend because his daughter had a game that morning.On Sunday, Johnson finally got his chance to speak at the event and pay tribute to Bryant. He told the story about how, before Bryant was drafted in 1996, Jerry West called him to say that he had seen the greatest draft workout that he could recall.He was speaking of Bryant’s workout.”And I said, Really,''' said Johnson, who also paid tribute to Stern and Bryant at United Center before Sunday's game by addressing fans. "He said,Yes, this guy named Kobe Bryant. Just was incredible in his workout and we’re going to do everything we can to draft him.’’The rest is history. Bryant came to the Lakers in a draft-night trade and played there for 20 years, winning five titles. Johnson said he was quickly impressed with Bryant’s work ethic, how he would work for two hours before practice and then go through another two-hour session with the team.”That’s who Kobe Bryant was,” Johnson said. “He was always thinking about How can I get better? How can I lead my team to victory?' And when you think about him scoring 81 points in a game, only second to Wilt Chamberlain, and then five NBA championships, and then to score 60 points in his last game - that was probably the greatest thing I've ever seen from any athlete. He said,Hey, I’m going to go out Mamba-style.’”The brunch paid tribute this year to four individuals: USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo received the Lifetime Achievement award, newly retired three-time NBA champion and Chicago native Dwyane Wade received the Community Ambassador award, retired WNBA player and another Chicago native Cappie Pondexter was the Hometown Hero recipient, and longtime Chicago Bulls star and six-time NBA champion Scottie Pippen was the Legend of the Year.Pippen was at his Los Angeles home when he got the news on Jan. 26 about Bryant.”It was a weird morning,” Pippen said. “And I’m still today regretting that I didn’t get a chance to tell Kobe Bryant how great he really was.”
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The United States and Europe appear divided over the health of the transatlantic relationship following a key security conference in Germany over the weekend, attended by hundreds of political and military leaders. Eruopeans accused Washington of ‘rejecting the idea of an international community’ – but the U.S. said the alliance is in good shape. As Henry Ridgwell reports from the Munich conference, there is an emerging disagreement between Western allies over what exactly represents the biggest threat to Western democracy
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Queen, Adam Lambert, Alice Cooper and Michael Buble have played at a huge concert Sunday to support bushfire victims in Australia. More than 70,000 people attended the televised ‘Fire Fight Australia’ event in Sydney. “Mama, just killed a man,” said Queen Adam Lambert. “Put a gun against his head.  Pulled my trigger, now he’s dead.  Mama, life had just begun.”Fans in Sydney were treated to a spectacular rendition of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ by Queen and the American singer Adam Lambert.They were joined by Olivia Newton-John and Alice Cooper, along with Australian stars 5 Seconds of Summer, Tina Arena and Delta Goodrem.The ‘Fire Fight Australia’ concert aimed to raised almost $7 million for bushfire relief.  Fire services, devastated communities and animal welfare charities are to benefit.Australia’s bushfire crisis began in September.  More than 30 people have been killed, and thousands of homes destroyed, while millions of hectares of land have been scorched.The debate about the influence of climate change on the disaster continues.  The Lord Mayors of Australia’s two biggest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, say they will intensify their efforts to mitigate the impact of global warming.  They  intend to introduce bolder targets on emissions, waste and water use. Sally Capp, the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, says Australia needs more action at a federal level.“Whatever heavy-lifting we do at a local government level we still desperately need national leadership, (a) bipartisan approach saying these are the sorts of initiatives that need to be supported.  We need to see a transition of our economy as part of that,” Capp said.Australia is one of the world’s worst per capita emitters of greenhouse gases.  Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been criticized for underplaying the role of climate change in the bushfire crisis.  His center-right government is an ardent supporter of the coal industry, which generates much of the nation’s electricity.  Morrison has insisted his climate and energy policies are both adequate and responsible.
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It seems inevitable that in this era of smart technology people would begin to think of ways to make their tech part of their body. Today, people have the ability to change themselves in new and unprecedented ways – and a 19-year-old Kai Landre is living proof. Anna Nelson has the story, narrated by Anna Rice
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The United States and Europe appear deeply divided over the health of the transatlantic relationship following a key security conference in Germany over the weekend, attended by hundreds of political and military leaders from around the world.German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier opened the conference with a speech that accused Washington of ‘rejecting the idea of an international community’ – and warned of growing threats from Russia and China.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, center, shakes hands with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, right, as US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper watches during the 56th Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Feb. 14, 2020.The U.S delegation, headed by U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, rejected claims of a transatlantic rift. “Those statements do simply not fact in any significant way or reflect reality,” Sexretary of State Pompeo told the conference Saturday. “I am happy to report that the death of the transatlantic alliance is grossly over exaggerated. The West is winning. We are collectively winning. We are doing it together.”For proof, Pompeo said Europe should look to the tens of thousands of U.S. troops defending NATO’s border with Russia, and America’s lead role in defeating Islamic State.Secretary Pompeo also pledged $1 billion to help eastern European countries end their dependence on Russian gas, with the aim of boosting U.S. liquified natural gas exports.For Europe, the diagnosis appears very different. French president Emmanuel Macron said the U.S. was undergoing ‘a rethink of its relationship with Europe’ – and the continent must take charge of its own destiny. “When I look at the world as it is being shaped, and that is the theme of your conference this year, there is indeed a weakening of the West,” Macron said. “Fifteen years ago, we thought that our values were universal, that we were going to dominate the world in the long term, that we were dominant in terms of technology, military and so on, and then I look at the horizon of 10-15 years, we are going to be increasingly pushed by other agendas and other values, they are emerging.”Macron added that it was time to have a ‘strategic dialogue’ with Russia. Moscow’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told the conference it was time to ‘abandon the cultivation of the phantom Russian threat.’ Many other European nations cited Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine as evidence of the very real dangers.Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks on the second day of the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Feb. 15, 2020.This year’s focus on cyber security saw Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg take the stage, amid widespread accusations that social media platforms are facilitating states like Russia and China to interfere in Western democracy.“We were slow to understand the kind of information and operations that Russia and others were running online,” admitted Zuckerberg, before defending his record. “We take down now more than a million fake accounts a day across our network… We will continue doing our best, we are going to build up the muscle to do it, to basically find stuff as proactively as possible, we will try to draw the lines in the right places.”Conference organizers hailed diplomatic progress in other areas, including a public meeting between the presidents of rivals Azerbaijan and Armenia.There were high level meetings on Libya and Syria – with little tangible progress.The theme of the conference was meant to be ‘Westlessness’, defined by its protagonists as the purported decline of Western democracy. The U.S. delegation flatly dismissed those concerns, insisting the West has never been in better health.They left the conference with a clear message: China is adversary number one – and European allies should wake up to the threat.
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The Palestinian prime minister  lashed out Sunday at U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to end the Mideast conflict, saying it would be “buried very soon.”
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Mohammad Shtayyeh said the U.S. plan was “no more than a memo of understanding between [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and Trump.”Shtayyeh criticized the fact that the proposal would leave a future Palestinian state fragmented and with “no sovereignty,” allowing Israel to annex large parts of the West Bank. He urged other countries to reject the Trump proposal while maintaining that Palestinians “are open to serious negotiations.”
Shtayyeh suggested the Palestinians would seek to increase pressure on Israel through international organizations, citing the recent release by the U.N. human rights office of a list of more than 100 companies allegedly complicit in violating Palestinian human rights by operating in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.Referring to the upcoming Israeli election, Shtayyeh said the difference between Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz  and Netanyahu was “not more than the difference between Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola”  
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Record high temperatures reportedly measured in Antarctica will take months to verify, the U.N. weather agency said Sunday.A spokesman for the World Meteorological Organization said the measurements made by researchers from Argentina and Brazil earlier this month have to undergo a formal process to ensure that they meet international standards.”A formal decision on whether or not this is a record is likely to be several months away,” said Jonathan Fowler, the WMO spokesman.Scientists at an Argentine research base measured a temperature of 18.3° C (nearly 65° F) Feb. 6 on a peninsula that juts out from Antarctica toward the southern tip of South America. Last week, researchers from Brazil claimed to have measured temperatures above 20° C on an island off the peninsula.Fowler said both measurements would need to be transmitted to Prof. Randall Cerveny, a researcher at Arizona State University who examines reported temperature records for WMO.Cerveny then shares the data with a wider group of scientists who “will carefully evaluate the available evidence (including comparisons to surrounding stations) and debate the merits and problems of the observation,” said Fowler.The evaluation normally takes six to nine months, after which Cerveny would “formally either accept or reject the potential extreme,” giving official WMO approval to the new record, he said.Climate change is causing the Arctic and the Antarctic to warm faster than other parts of the planet. 
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WAUCHULA, Fla. – A orangutan named Sandra, who was granted legal personhood by a judge in Argentina and later found a new home in Florida, celebrated her 34th birthday on Valentine’s Day with a special new primate friend.Patti Ragan, director of the Center for Great Apes in Wauchula, Florida, says Sandra “has adjusted beautifully to her life at the sanctuary” and has befriended Jethro, a 31-year-old male orangutan.Before coming to Florida, Sandra had lived alone in a Buenos Aires zoo. Sandra was a bit shy when she arrived at the Florida center, which is home to 22 orangutans.“Sandra appeared most interested in Jethro, and our caregivers felt he was a perfect choice because of his close age, calm demeanor, and gentle nature,” Ragan said in a news release. “Sandra still observes and follows Jethro from a distance while they are in the process of getting to know and trust each other. But they are living harmoniously in the same habitat spaces as they continue to gain confidence in their relationship.”Judge Elena Liberatori’s landmark ruling in 2015 declared that Sandra is legally not an animal, but a non-human person, and thus entitled to some legal rights enjoyed by people, and better living conditions.“With that ruling I wanted to tell society something new, that animals are sentient beings and that the first right they have is our obligation to respect them,” she told The Associated Press.But without a clear alternative, Sandra remained at the antiquated zoo, which closed in 2016, until leaving for the U.S. in late September. She was in quarantine for a month at the Sedgwick County Zoo in Kansas before arriving in Florida.On Friday, Sandra celebrated her birthday, complete with pink signs and wrapped packages. Jethro, who was once in the entertainment business, attended the party.
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Storm Dennis roared across Britain Sunday, lashing towns and cities with high winds and dumping so much rain that authorities urged residents to protect themselves from “life-threatening floods” in Wales and Scotland.The Met Office, Britain’s national weather service, issued more than 250 flood warnings for England, Scotland and Wales.As the winds churned up enormous waves in the North Atlantic and the North Sea, the bodies of two men were pulled from the water Saturday in two separate searches off England’s eastern coast.Severe flood warnings were issued for the River Neath in south Wales and local media reported the River Taff had burst its banks in the Welsh town of Pontypool.In one 24-hour period, Tredegar in southeast Wales was hit by 105 mm (4.1 inches) of rain, while coastal Welsh village of Aberdaron was blasted by hurricane-force winds up to 91 mph (146 kph).Hundreds of flights were canceled because of the high winds while train services were repeatedly disrupted by flooding. The travel chaos affected tens of thousands of passengers on a key weekend for British families as schools closed for the midwinter break.On Saturday, around 75 British army personnel and 70 reservists helped out communities in the flood-hit Calder Valley region in West Yorkshire, constructing flood barriers and repairing damaged flood defenses.
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Almost two decades have passed since the tragedy of September 11, 2001. The heroic actions of the first responders have become the stuff of legend. But one story is not well known — the story of the dogs who worked alongside firefighters and rescuers in the rubble of New York City’s Twin Towers. A unique exhibit commemorates those four-legged heroes.  Anna Nelson has the story narrated by Anna Rice.
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Naomi Pomeroy is a young, successful chef working in Portland, Oregon. When she got into the business, she knew it was traditionally dominated by men, but that didn’t stop her. Today she is an award-winning professional, owner of a restaurant simply called Beast. She is also the author of a cookbook and a television personality. Karina Bafradzhian met with the chef to learn her story. 
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