Mabomu mtawanyiko yanatumiwa Misrata

Majeshi ya Kanali Gaddafi wa Libya yametumia mabomu ya mtawanyiko, katika shambulio jengine katika mji wa bandari ya Misrata, ambao umezingirwa na jeshi hilo.

Msimamizi wa bandari alisema mabomu hayo yaliripuka chini ya lori na kujeruhi watu wawili.

Mwandishi wa BBC mjini Tripoli anasema, waandishi wana picha ambazo zinaonesha wazi mabomu yaliyojizika ardhini, yaliyofyatuliwa kutoka kombora linalorusha mabomu mtawanyiko, ambayo yamepigwa marufuku katika nchi nyingi.

Juma lilopita NATO ilitegua mabomu yaliyolengwa dhidi ya meli katika pwani ya Misrata.

Na mizinga iliyofyatuliwa na jeshi la Gaddafi nchini Libya, inaarifiwa kuwa imepiga ardhi ya Tunisia kwenye mji wa Dehiba, ulio mpakani.

Vita baina ya jeshi la wapiganaji na jeshi la Kanali Gaddafi vimezidi kuwa vikali katika juma lilopita, kwenye milima ya magharibi mwa Libya.

Vifaru vinaingia Banias, Syria

Taarifa kutoka Syria zinaeleza kuwa vifaru vimepelekwa katika mji wa bandari wa Banias, ambao umekuwa na maandamano kadha dhidi ya serikali ya Rais Bashar al-Assad.

Ripoti zinasema vifaru vinaelekea maeneo ya watu wa madhehebu ya Sunni, lakini siyo ya Alawi, koo za Kishia anakotoka Rais Assad.

Mwandishi wa BBC anasema ripoti hizo zikithibitishwa, basi ni tukio la hatari, kwa sababu linaweza kuleta mgawanyiko kati ya madhehebu tofauti.

Siku ya Ijumaa watu zaidi ya 20 waliuliwa na askari wa usalama, wakati wa maandamano dhidi ya serikali nchini Syria.

Marekani imeonya kuwa itachukua hatua zaidi dhidi ya Syria iwapo serikali ya Rais Assad itashindwa kuacha kukandamiza waandamanaji kwa nguvu.

Lakini Marekani haikueleza itachukua hatua za namna gani.

Man United kucheza fainali na Barcelona

Manchester United itakutana na Barcelona kwenye fainali ya klabu Bingwa Ulaya baada ya kuichapa Schalke 04 ya Ujerumani kwa magoli 4-1.

Man United

Magoli ya Manchester United yalifungwa na Antonio Valencia, Darron Gibson, na Anderson kufunga magoli mawili.

Katika mchezo wa kwanza Man United ilipata ushindi wa mabao 2-0.

Barcelona iliingia fainali baada ya kuifunga Real Madrid 3-1 baada ya michezo miwili ya nusu fainali.

Fainali ya Klabu Bingwa Ulaya itachezwa kwenye uwanja wa Wembley, tarehe 28 mwezi Mei.

Mourinho apewa adhabu

Kocha wa Real Madrid Jose Mourinho amepewa adhabu ya mechi tano kwa mechi za Ulaya, kutokana na matukio wakati wa nusu fainali ya kwanza ya ligi ya mabingwa Ulaya, dhidi ya Barcelona.

Jose Mourinho

Chama cha soka Ulaya, UEFA, kimesema Mourinho alitoa matamshi "yasiyofaa", baada ya Real Madrid kufungwa 2-0 na Barcelona, akiwatuhumu waamuzi kwa kujaribu kuisaidia Barcelona.

Mourinho tayari ametumikia adhabu ya mchezo mmoja kukaa jukwaani, katika mchezo wa pili, na michezo mingine mitano itatekelezwa iwapo atafanya makosa katika kipindi cha miaka mitatu ijayo.

UEFA pia imemfungia kutocheza mchezo wa fainali kipa wa Barca wa akiba Jose Pinto.

Libya: Waasi wajipanga baada ya Gaddafi

Chakula kimepungua maeneo ya waasi

Waasi wa Libya wametoa mwelekeo wa kisiasa kwa nchi hiyo iwapo Kanali Gaddafi ataondoka madarakani.

Mwelekeo huo unaonyesha kuanzishwa kwa serikali ya mpito wakati katiba mpya inaandikwa na uchaguzi kufanyika.

Mahmoud Jibril alitoa pendekezo la Libya baada ya Kanali Gaddafi katika mkutano wa kwa wajumbe wa nchi zinazounga mkono waasi uliofanyika Rome Italia.

Alifafanua kuwa serikali ya mpito itaanza kazi mara moja ili kutoa maekezo ya utendaji wa siku kwa siku na kuweka ulinzi, shirika la habari la AFP imeripoti.

Mahmoud Jibril,kiongozi wa Baraza la Kitaifa la Mpito (NTC) amekubaliana na mpango wa misaada uliopitishwa na nchi 22 zinazounga mkono waasi hao.

Katika habari nyingine, Ufaransa imewaamuru wanadiplomasia 14 wa Libya wanaomuunga mkono Kanali Gaddafi kuondoka nchini humo ndani ya siku mbili.

Waziri wa mambo ya nje wa Ufaransa alisema maafisa hao wametajwa kuwa 'watu wasiotakiwa nchini humo.'

Wanaharakti wa Misri wanajadili uchaguzi

Zaidi ya wawakilishi elfu mbili wa makundi yaliyoshiriki katika maandamano kumfanya Rais Hosni Mubarak aondoke mwezi Februari, wanakutana leo nchini Misri kwa mara ya kwanza, kupanga mustakbali wa siasa wa nchi hiyo.

Tangu Rais Mubarak kuondoka madarakani, Misri imekuwa ikiongozwa na halmashauri ya siri ya kijeshi; wanaharakati walioanzisha maandamano katika medani ya Tahrir hawakuchangia katika mabadiliko yanayotokea.

Katika mkutano wa mwanzo wa Halmashauri ya Taifa ya demokrasi, wanaharakati wanataraji kuwa wataweza kukubaliana juu ya njia za kuendeleza shime katika mapinduzi.

Wasi wasi wao mkubwa ni kuwa chama cha Muslim Brotherhood kitahodhi uchaguzi uliopangwa kufanywa mwezi Septemba, kwa sababu hakuna chama kisichokuwa cha kidini kilichoundwa kuchukua nafasi ya chama cha Bwana Mubarak, ambacho kimepigwa marufuku.

Mkutano unazungumza juu ya wagombea uchaguzi na mabadiliko zaidi ya katiba.

Lakini wanaharakati wengi hawana uzoefu, na wengine hawataki kuingia kwenye siasa.

Haijulikani vipi mkutano wa siku moja utaweza kuleta msimamo mmoja kati ya waakilishi wengi hivo.

Na uchaguzi unakaribia, hakuna muda wa kuunda chama kipya cha siasa.

Bin Laden Coup Could Mark New Beginning for Obama

 Six days after U.S. Navy Seals shot and killed Osama bin Laden at his secret compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, U.S. President Barack Obama is enjoying a significant boost in public approval, as well as a transformation in his public image.

The question on most people's minds is what he will do with the new political capital he has gained.

On this, he is being given a great deal of gratuitous advice – from accelerating the timetable for the U.S. withdrawal in Afghanistan that is scheduled to begin Jul. 1, to pushing his own peace plan on Israel and the Palestinians, to pressing Republicans much harder on the necessity for tax increases to reduce the yawning budget deficit.

"The end of bin Laden has given Obama a rare chance for a new beginning," according to Leslie Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). "It gives him the power to get hard things done."

"Just as 9/11 transformed an unpopular and divisive President George W. Bush and empowered him enormously, so 5/1 hands President Obama the rarest of chances to lead," Gelb wrote on the Daily Beast website.

Polls taken since the operation have shown increases in his public- approval ratings to around 50 percent – a strong reversal of a trend that had slowly dragged his poll percentages down to the mid-to-low 40s.

The well-respected Gallup organisation, which Thursday released a three-day-tracking poll, found a six-percent increase in the president's public-approval rating during the three days after the raid in what it called Obama's first "rally event" – a positive reaction to a major international or domestic crisis.

While that was extremely modest compared to the all-time record 35- percent increase George W. Bush received in his ratings after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon, the consensus among even right-wing commentators is that Obama has emerged as a more-formidable political force primarily because he has demolished, at one blow, the increasingly widely accepted notion that he is a cautious, even timid, politician who instinctively favours the safest political option and who sees his foreign-policy role as managing the inevitable decline of U.S. power in the world.

"It is this last claim that took such a profound blow when Obama approved the operation against bin Laden and chose the riskiest option involving a face-to-face confrontation with American commandos – on the orders of the president of the United States," wrote E.J. Dionne, Jr., a political columnist at the Washington Post, this week.

A drone strike or bombing the compound from the air would not have put U.S. personnel at risk or so deeply embarrassed, not to say humiliated, Pakistan's military whose cooperation is still regarded as essential in prosecuting the broader war against the Taliban and its allies.

Both would have been much safer options, particularly given the terrible memories of the "Desert One" operation almost exactly 31 years ago when President Jimmy Carter's attempt to rescue U.S. hostages in Tehran ended in disaster when a transport plane and a helicopter collided at a staging area outside the capital, aborting the mission.

Many political pros believe the debacle contributed importantly to Carter's loss to Ronald Reagan in his re-election bid seven months later.

Not a few analysts this week noted the obvious irony that Obama's "rally event" was made possible by an operation that no doubt would have appealed most to his predecessor, George W. Bush.

"The Democrat who was elected as the anti-Bush has seen his popularity and perceptions of his competence soar for serving as the decisive, 'war on terror' commander-in-chief who oversaw a 'High Noon' like showdown between good and evil," wrote David Rothkopf, a national-security expert who blogs on foreignpolicy.com.

"The thoughtful, lawyerly, multilateralist did what had to be done, acting unilaterally, violating another nation's sovereignty, keeping an ally in the dark to preserve security, and gunning down a man without benefit of trial," he noted.

Indeed, right-wing hawks claimed hopefully that the operation marked further confirmation that, despite his campaign promises to reverse Bush policies in a host of areas, Obama has been forced to embrace his predecessor's "global-war-against-terror" paradigm.

"The most striking fact of Mr. Obama's prosecution of the war on terror is how much it resembles Mr. Bush's, to the consternation of America's anti-antiterror left," enthused the Wall Street Journal's neo-conservative editorial writers who went on to warn against any talk of negotiations with the Taliban or accelerated withdrawal from Afghanistan.

But, as noted by James Traub, also writing on foreignpolicy.com, Obama had pledged when he first launched his presidential campaign almost four years ago that he would not hesitate to strike unilaterally against "high-value terrorist targets" in Pakistan and that any changes - such as closing Guantanamo, ending renditions, and relying more on multilateral institutions -- he would make to Washington's counter-terrorist strategy would be designed above all to increase its effectiveness in protecting national security.

It was Obama, after all, who said at the outset that he didn't oppose war, only "a dumb war" as Bush was waging in Iraq at the time.

"The great despair of Obama's foreign policy advisors in 2007 was how relentlessly he was pegged as the 'soft' candidate," Traub, who is close to senior administration officials, wrote this week.

"The raid on bin Laden's lair has accomplished something beyond the disposing of Public Enemy No. 1: It has freed Obama from having to prove his toughness," he wrote. "He can advocate 'soft' policies without being seen as soft. Having broken the rules with such éclat, he can now safely argue for the rules he believes in."

Rothkopf agreed that the raid could mark a strategic "pivot point" for Obama. "(O)n the foreign policy front, Obama's most-Bush-like moment may be his last such moment …unless the moment and its headiness changes him as a president more than he or his allies might currently anticipate," he wrote.

"(T)his moment signals not just the death of bin Laden, but the death of American nation-building, counter-insurgency and wholesale investment in the forced transformation of the Middle East," Rothkopf predicted.

"(W)e will view it as the beginning of an Obama-era shaped by an Obama will feel much freer to be his own man and who will make policies much less defensively. After all, who among his opponents will be able to call him diffident or uncomfortable with security concerns ever again?

EU commends Sudan parties for 'successful referendum'

The European Union (EU) on Sunday expressed its great satisfaction with the successful conclusion of the Southern Sudan referendum.

In a statement, EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton hailed the referendum as "a historic event and a major milestone."

"I commend both Sudanese parties to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), for their leadership and for their pledges that the safety and security of all peoples in Sudan will be respected throughout this process," said Ashton.

The challenges

"I also commend the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission and the South Sudan Referendum Bureau for their efforts to make this referendum happen despite numerous challenges," she added.

Regarding the recent clashes in the Abyei area, the EU's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy called upon the Sudanese parties to maintain calm and resolve this issue through peaceful dialogue.

Meanwhile, Jerzy Buzek, president of the European Parliament, also praised the referendum as "a success."

Waziri Magufuli ageuka mbogo asusa kupokea baraabra ya Kilwa

Waziri wa Ujenzi, Dk John Magufuli

WAZIRI wa Ujenzi, Dk John Magufuli, amegeuka mbogo kwa wakandarasi wanaojenga barabara ya Kilwa, huku akisusa kupokea barabara hiyo kutokana na kuwa chini ya kiwango iliyojengwa kwa msaada wa serikali ya Japan.
Barabara hiyo yenye urefu wa kilomita 10 kuanzia Bendera tatu hadi Zakhiem ilijengwa na Kampuni ya Kajima kutoka Japan, Dk Magufuli alisema kukutokana na kuwa chini ya kiwango, serikali haiwezi kuipokea hata kama ni msaada.

Pia, Dk Magufuli alitoa siku kumi kwa Kampuni ya Chico kutoka China, kuanza kazi ya ujenzi wa kilomita 1.5, kutoka Zakhim hadi Tanita, vinginevyo serikali itafuta zabuni hiyo na kampuni italipa fidia na kufungiwa kufanya kazi nchini.Waziri Magufuli alifanya ziara ya kushtukiza jana kwenye barabara ya barabara Kilwa, Mandela na Ndundu-Somanga.

 “Haiwezekani kupokea kitu kisicho na ubora eti kwa sababu ni msaada, hiyo haiwezekani. Tutaandikia barua Serikali ya Japan kueleza fedha za walipakodi wao zimefanyiwa usanii na mhandisi na mshauri wa Japan tofauti na lengo lililokusudiwa,” alisema Dk Magufuli.

Kuhusu Kampuni ya Chico, Dk Magufuli alisema kinachoonekana ni wizi kutokana na kusaini mkataba tangu mwaka jana na kwamba, tayari imelipa Sh1.27 bilioni kama malipo ya awali.“Huu ni wizi amesaini mkataba tangu Novemba mwaka jana na amelipwa Sh1.27 bilioni za awali, lakini hadi dakika hii hakuna hata kifaa kimoja cha kufanya kazi kilichopo eneo la kazi,” alisema dk Magufuli akionekana kuchukia.

Kwa upande wa barabara ya Ndundu- Somanga,  Waziri Magufuli alitoa miezi mitano kwa Kampuni ya Kharafi ya Kuwait, inayojenga barabara hiyo yenye urefu wa kilomita 60 kukamilisha kazi hiyo, vinginevyo atanyang’anywa kazi hiyo.

Dk Magufuli alisema ucheleweshaji miradi hiyo inasababishwa na Makao Makuu ya Wakala wa barabara nchini (Tanroads), kutaka kusimamia miradi yote nchini.Alimwagiza Kaimu Mkurugenzi Mkuu wa Tanroads, Patrick Mfugale, kuwashirikisha wakandarasi wa mikoa na wilaya kwenye kazi zinazofanyika maeneo yao, ili wakishindwa kuwajibika wafukuzwe kazi sambamba na kufikishwa mahakamani kwa uzembe.

Pia, Dk Magufuli alitoa wiki tatu kwa Kampuni ya Maltauro kutoka Italia, inayojenga barabara ya Mandela, kukamilisha ujenzi huo na kuagiza Tanroads kuhakiki tena ubora wake.

Chadema waiteka Mbeya

digg Katibu Mkuu wa Chadema, Dk Willibrod Slaa Boniface Meena na  Brandy Nelson Mbeya CHADEMA jana waliliteka Jiji la Mbeya kwa maandamano makubwa yaliyowashirikisha mamia ya wakazi wake, wakiwamo wafuasi wa chama hicho kikuu cha upinzani nchini. Maandamano hayo yaliyoongozwa na viongozi wa ngazi ya juu kitaifa wa Chadema, yalianzia katika eneo la Mafiati na kuishia kwenye Viwanja vya Shule ya Msingi ya Luanda- Nzovwe. Mwenyekiti wa Chadema, Freeman Mbowe,  Katibu Mkuu, Dk Willibrod Slaa, Mbunge wa Arusha Mjini, Godbless Lema na Mbunge wa Mbeya Mjini, Joseph Mbilinyi walikuwa mstari wa mbele kuongoza maandamo hayo, huku wakishangiliwa na wananchi wa Jiji hilo. Pia alikuwepo Mbunge wa Mbozi Magharibi, Silinde David na Wabunge wa Viti Maalum, Susan Kiwanga, Joyce Mukya na Grace Kiwelu.Pikipiki, baiskeli na magari yaliyokuwa yamepambwa bendera za Chadema yalitanda katikati ya Jiji la Mbeya kuanzia mchana, huku baadhi ya wapenzi wa chama hicho wakipiga kelele za kumkashifu, Sambwee Shitambala kwa kukihama chama hicho na kukimbilia CCM. Kabla ya kuhamia CCM, Shitambala alikuwa Mwenyekiti wa Chadema mkoani Mbeya. Maandamano hayo ya Chadema yalilenga kuishinikiza Serikali iachane na mambo kadhaa, ikiwamo muswada wa kubadilisha Sheria ya Ununuzi wa Umma ili kuruhusu ununuzi wa vitu chakavu, mchakato wa katiba uondolewe mikononi mwa CCM, kuunganisha nguvu ya umma ili kupinga bidhaa kupanda bei na kutaka uchaguzi wa Meya wa Arusha ufanyike upya. Wakati maandamano hayo yakiwasili katika Viwanja vya Shule ya Msingi ya Luanda-Nzovwe tayari umati mkubwa wa watu ulikuwa umeshafurika kuwasubiri viongozi wa kitaifa wa chama hicho.Polisi walionekana maeneo mbalimbali yalikopita maandamano hayo wakiendelea kulinda usalama wa watu na mali zao. Wafuasi wa Chadema walikuwa wakiimba nyimbo mbalimbali, huku wengine wakisema kama Dk Slaa si Rais wa Tanzania basi ni Rais wa Mbeya.Wengine walikuwa wamebeba mabango yanayokebei hatua ya CCM ya kujivua gamba na mengine yakilalamikia maoni ya Katiba mpya yanavyoendeshwa. Wakati akifungua tawi la chama hicho katika chuo cha Teofilo Kisanji (TEKU), kabla ya maandamano hayo kuanza, Dk Slaa alimtaka Msajili wa Vyama vya Siasa, John Tendwa kuacha kuvitisha vyama kwa barua kuwa visifungue matawi vyuoni."Tendwa ajue kuwa wanafunzi nao ni wananchi na ajue kuwa sisi kama Chadema tunafuata taratibu, hivyo asitutishe," alisema Dk Slaa. Mbowe kupinga kodi Akizungumza katika mkutano wa hadhara, Mbowe alisema chama hicho kitapinga ongezeko la kodi yoyote bungeni katika bajeti ijayo mpaka kieleweke na kwamba Serikali isipofanya hivyo watapigana bungeni kwa maslahi ya wananchi. Mbowe alisema ongezeko la kodi linawaumiza wananchi na Serikali imekaa kimya wakati hali ya maisha inaendela kuwa mbaya. Mbowe alisema kuwa mapambano hayo watayafanya bungeni, ikishindikana watayahamishia kwa wananchi ili Serikali ielewe kuwa hali ya maisha kwa wananchi wa chini si nzuri."Wabunge wa Chadema tutaendelea kukomaa mpaka kieleweke kwa kuwa hatuvunji amani, bali tunawahangaikia wananchi ili wawe na maisha bora," alisema Mbowe. Mbowe alisema kuwa Taifa lina msiba mkubwa wa umaskini na Chadema itapambana bungeni na nje ya Bunge mpaka kieleweke.Alisema kuwa Serikali imezoea kupanda kodi ambayo husababisha kupandisha gharama ya maisha kwa wananchi kwa kuwa serikalini hawana shida. "Kama Serikali inataka kuona uwezo wetu wa kuhamasisha Watanzania wapandishe kodi katika bajeti ya mwaka huu," alisema Mbowe.Alisema wamekuwa wakifanyiwa hila kuwazuia kutumia haki yao ya kidemokrasia bungeni kwa madai kwamba wabunge wa Chadema wanavunja kanuni, lakini haielezwi ni kanuni gani zimevunjwa. Dk Slaa na bei ya bidhaa Naye Dk Slaa alisema lazima Serikali ishushe bei ya sukari na mafuta kwa kuwa kutofanya hivyo ni kama Serikali haipo."Haiwezekani wanavuana magamba halafu wananchi wanaendelea kuteseka. Magamba ni yao, hivyo wananchi waangaliwe," alisema Dk Slaa. Alisema kuwa wataendelea kuandamana kwa vile ni haki iliyopo kikatiba, hivyo Jeshi la Polisi haliwezi kuzuia au kutishia kuzuia maandamano yao. "Tunawahamasisha Watanzania kuangalia hali ya maisha yao kwa sababu ni haki yetu ya msingi, na tunataka wananchi waionyeshe Serikali yao mambo yanayowasumbua," alisema Dk Slaa. Akihutubia mkutano huo, Mbunge wa Arusha Mjini, Godbles Lema, alimtaka Dk Slaa asimjibu Ridhiwani Kikwete katika hizo siku alizotoa, bali ampe Rais Kikwete siku saba za kuhakikisha kuwa mafisadi wote wanatokomea. Alisema mapambano yake yataendelea bungeni kwa kuwa suala lake na Waziri Mkuu, Mizengo Pinda, bado halijaisha, hivyo Bunge lijalo litawaka moto. "Pinda alinibeep bungeni nikampigia, Makinda akapokea. Lakini mvutano wangu na Pinda haujaisha, nikiingia bungeni mtanisikia," alisema Lema.