LEADERS OF ATTEMPTED COUP ARRESTED AFTER PRESIDENT’S RETURN
CNN reports that the President of Burundi declared that peace had returned two days after a failed military coup left the African nation in a state of chaotic violence. In a nationwide TV address, the President, Pierre Nkurunziza, warned that any more attempts to seize power by force would bring war, poverty and other atrocities not seen before in that country. The attempted coup announced over the radio by an army general, while the President was out of the country, was launched in the wake of violent protests over Nkurunziza’s controversial intention to extend his rule beyond term limits. The unrest sparked fears that Burundi could plunge into ethnic violence, with the country’s history of civil war making it vulnerable to deep divisions. Shortly after the President returned from his Tanzania summit, authorities said that they had arrested Gen. Godefroid Niyombare, as well as others involved in the failed plot. They will be charged with mutiny in a military court, said Willy Nyamitwe, a government spokesman. Nkurunziza sent a tweet congratulating security forces on “their patriotism” and Burundians “for their patience.”
NORWEGIAN CRUISE SHIP RE-FLOATED AFTER RUNNING AGROUND NEAR BERMUDA
A Norwegian Cruise Line ship that ran aground near Bermuda has been re-floated and will be inspected, the cruise line said. “With high-tide, the ship was floated and moved to a nearby anchorage position where it will remain overnight,” Norwegian said in a statement. “The ship will be thoroughly inspected in Bermuda before returning to Boston.” The ship, Norwegian Dawn, has 3,737 people on board – 2,675 passengers and 1,062 crew members. No one was injured and the ship isn’t taking on water, Chief Maritime Operations Controller Denis Rowe said. Norwegian said the ship was fully operational with all on-board services available to guests. But it was a loss of power that got the ship in trouble. “Norwegian Dawn temporarily lost power as the ship was departing King’s Wharf, Bermuda,” spokeswoman Vanessa Picariello said. “The ship’s propulsion was affected and, at which time, the vessel made contact with the channel bed.” Photos of the ship have been posted via twitter by Rachel Hansen. One shows a tug pulling on the Norwegian Dawn. “An action shot of the tug boat attempting to pull us to freedom, I can see it from my balcony in my cabin,” Hansen tweeted.
CHINESE BABY RESCUED AFTER BEING BURIED ALIVE
The Beijing police have rescued a baby boy buried alive in a shallow, unmarked grave on a hillside in southern China’s Guangvi province, according to the country’s state media. Chinese news reports say the baby was believed to have been left alone in the wilderness for as long as 10 days, but the details remain unclear. The boy’s family decided to abandon him because he was born with a cleft lip and a congenital defect, according to a Xinhua news agency report. In China, thousands of infants with birth defects are abandoned every year. Details reported in Chinese media could not be verified because the police and the Civil Affairs Bureau, which is taking care of the baby, declined to give more information to the media. The boy was born on April 20 and discharged from the hospital four days later after receiving treatment for a high fever, according to Tiandong County People’s Hospital. “Normal parents ask the hospital to provide a birth certificate and arrange for medical insurance, but this family didn’t want a birth certificate and left immediately after paying the bill,” Wu Weili, deputy director of paediatrics at the hospital, said. “We do not know what exactly happened during the period of time when the baby was discharged from the hospital on April 24, and when he was admitted to the hospital again in first week of May.” On April 24, the family, including the infant’s grandmothers allegedly hired a man for $290 to get rid of the baby, according to Xinhua. That day, the hired man left the new-born to die in a cardboard box in the wilderness. Two days later, believing the baby to be dead, he buried him, according to Xinhua. Later, a woman who was picking herbs on a hillside heard a wail. With the help of a few villagers, police rescued the baby and sent him to the hospital. Wu said the baby was in critical condition, coughing up mud, his whole body covered in scratches and bruises when he arrived at the hospital. The baby weighed 7.8 pounds when he was born. By the time he was rescued, he weighed only 5.9 pounds. Five people, including the baby’s parents, both of his grandmothers and the man they hired to dispose of the new-born have been arrested for attempted murder. The baby is being nursed back to health and doctors say he can be discharged later. Local government officials say the baby would most likely be put into the care of social services.
It really is incredible. There have been improbable stories of new-borns surviving against all odds and this includes a report last year of a baby surviving six days at the bottom of an Australian storm drain.
CUBAN MIGRANTS RESCUED OFF MEXICAN COAST
Mexico’s navy took two rafts packed with Cuban migrants into custody off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. Ten migrants aboard a wooden raft told authorities who found them about 12 nautical miles north of Puerto Progreso that they’d set sail 16 days ago from Isla de la Juventud, Cuba, the navy said. In a separate instance, another group of 13 migrants were rescued after a fishing vessel spotted a raft floating about 133 nautical miles north of the port. The men received food and medical attention and were turned over to Mexico’s National Migration Institute, which will communicate with Cuban consular authorities to coordinate their return to Cuba, officials said. In recent years, Cuban migrants seeking alternate travel routes have increasingly sailed toward Mexico on their journeys toward the United States, according to a report from the U.S. Congressional Research Service. Hiring a smuggler to travel to Mexico can be more effective and easier than taking a boat ride to Miami, Marc Rosenblum of the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute told The Arizona Daily star.
NEPAL QUAKE: ANOTHER LETHAL TEMBLOR HITS KATHMANDU
At least 65 people have been killed and more than 1,900 injured in a 7.3-magnitude earthquake that struck Nepal, nearly three weeks after the biggest temblor since 1934 claimed more than 8,000 lives. Collapsing already weakened buildings, the latest epicentre was about 75km east of Kathmandu, the capital. Dolakha and Sindhupalchowk are believed to be among the worst affected districts this time. TV footage showed panic-stricken people on the streets of Kathmandu. Resident Shiwani Neupane tweeted that the streets were “completely chaotic” with horns blaring and people standing in the middle of the roads. “We are very scared,” she said. “Everyone is calling family members.” This afternoon’s earthquake was followed by aftershocks, the strongest of which registered 6.3 on the Richter scale. According to eKantipur, a Nepali news portal, flight operations were shut down for two hours at the airport, the Himalayan country’s only international gateway. Incoming international flights were diverted until the airport re-opened at 2.50 p.m. local time. Parts of India were also affected. The eastern state of Bihar, which borders Nepal, suffered at least 15 deaths according to local news reports. In the Indian capital, New Delhi, people came out of their offices and homes after feeling tremors. Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, convened an emergency meeting to take stock of the situation, and the ministry of home affairs said teams from the National Disaster Response Force had been put on alert.
HUNTER KILLS RHINO AFTER CONTROVERSIAL AUCTION WIN
In January 2014, Corey Knowlton bid $350,000 for a permit to hunt and kill a black rhino in Namibia. He won the permit and became a target himself. The hunt is now complete and the rhino is dead. Knowlton seem to have achieved his aim. Knowlton arrived quietly in Namibia to hunt the famed black rhino. Nearly 18 months ago, he had bided to kill a black rhinoceros in the southern African country of Namibia. The permit was issued by Namibia’s Ministry of Environment and Tourism and auctioned by the Dallas Safari Club. Since then, Knowlton has faced scathing criticism and death threats as the world reacted to the controversial hunt of one of the world’s most endangered species. Knowlton has spent the last year and a half preparing and planning the hunt that is being highly scrutinized by animal welfare groups around the world. He agreed to let our CNN crew document the hunt. “At this point, the whole world knows about this hunt and it might be extremely important that people know it’s going down the right way, in the most scientific way that it can possibly happen,” Knowlton said after arriving in Africa. Dallas hunter Corey Knowlton paid $350,000 for a rhino-hunting permit, one of three granted per year by the Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism. (www.cnn.com)
CHILD BRIDE MURDER CHARGES DROPPED
The Nigerian prosecutors have withdrawn murder charges against the 15-year-old girl accused of using rat poison to kill her husband, aged 35. The Kano state attorney general told the BBC that the case would be dropped because the accused is a minor and the victim’s family has forgiven her. When the case was reported in 2014, it threw a spotlight on the issue of child brides and forced marriages in Nigeria. These are especially common in the mainly Muslim north. Charges against the girl will be formally dropped once the court receives either a written or oral presentation from the office of Kano’s attorney general. The girl admitted to killing her husband by concealing rat poison in his food, the police in Kano said at the time. Three other people also died and 10 were taken to hospital apparently after eating the same food. The girl’s father had forced her to marry the 35-year-old man, police said. The BBC’s Will Ross in Nigeria says Islamic police are trying to stop parents from forcing children into marriages. (Source- www.bbc.com/news/world-africa
