Ukraine crisis: Border guards' centre is attacked

Unverified video purporting to show the battle has emerged

Hundreds of separatists in eastern Ukraine are continuing their assault on a border command centre near the city of Luhansk, the border agency says.

It says five militants were killed and eight wounded when the centre came under sustained attack. Seven border guards are said to have been wounded.
A Ukrainian military aircraft was called in to support the centre.
In Luhansk, there was an explosion in the main regional building seized by the separatists several weeks ago.
It was not immediately known what caused the blast. Unconfirmed reports say there were casualties.
Meanwhile, Russia's Gazprom has given Ukraine more time to settle its gas bill after receiving a part payment.
The energy company had previously threatened to halt shipments of gas u

In a separate development, Russia was considering pulling out of the partnership agreement with Nato, Moscow's envoy to the alliance Aleksandr Grushko was quoted as saying by Russia's Interfax news agency.
He also warned that Russia could take "measures of a military character" should there be major deployments in eastern and central Europe.
Poroshenko's pledge A spokesman for Ukraine's border agency, Oleh Slobodyan, said on Monday morning that hundreds of militants had attacked the border centre with heavy weapons.
The agency says fighting is continuing and that the attackers are firing from residential buildings, which makes it difficult for Ukrainian troops to respond.
The attackers - reported by the AP news agency to be wearing uniforms - have promised safety for Ukrainian officers if they surrender and put down their arms.
Correspondents say they have become more and more aggressive in their assaults on government-held positions as they try to obtain weapons and ammunition from Ukrainian forces.
For weeks, Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine has been the scene of deadly clashes between government troops and pro-Russian insurgents who have taken over key buildings across the region.
Ukrainian President-elect Petro Poroshenko has said that his priority is to bring fighting in the east of the country to an end.
"We must make every effort to make sure that no more Ukrainians die at the hands of terrorists and bandits," he said on Friday.
The conflict has intensified in recent days. The rebels say they lost up to 100 fighters when they unsuccessfully tried to seize Donetsk's international airport on 26 May.
Pro-Russian separatists in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk declared independence after referendums on 11 May, which were not recognised by Kiev or its Western allies.
The rebels took their cue from a disputed referendum in Crimea, which led to Russia's annexation of Ukraine's southern peninsula.

Imetumwa na Editorial Team saa 7:39 AM kwenye habari za kimataifa

RAIS JACOB ZUMA AZINDUA SANAMU YA MANDELA

Pretoria, Afrika Kusini. Rais Jacob Zuma amezindua sanamu ya shaba ya shujaa wa Afrika, Nelson Mandela kwenye jengo la Muungano lililopo mji wa Pretoria.

Sanamu hiyo yenye urefu wa mita tisa humuonyesha Mandela akitabasamu, huku akiwa ameonyesha ishara ya kukumbatia.

Wakati akizindua sanamu hiyo jana, Rais Zuma alisema kwamba sanamu nyingi za Mandela zinamuonyesha akinyoosha mkono wake mmoja juu kama ishara ya mapambano iliyokuwa ikitumiwa na Chama cha ANC.

Lakini, ishara ya kukumbatia iliyokuwa ikitumika katika sanamu hii ni tofauti, kwasababu inamuonyesha Madiba akikumbatia nchi nzima na watu wake wote bila kujali rangi, itikadi wala tabaka. Zuma aliizindua sanamu hiyo muda mfupi baada ya kumalizika kwa mazishi ya kiongozi huyo yaliyoshuhudiwa na umati mkubwa watu mbalimbali, wakiwamo viongozi wa nchi tofauti yaliyofanyika katika Kijiji cha Qunu.

Katika uzinduzi huo alikuwapo Waziri wa Utamaduni, Paul Mashatile na familia ya Madiba ambapo Zuma alikuwa na mkewe, Thobeka Madiba Zuma.

Pia, alikuwapo Makamu wa Rais, Kgalema Motlanthe na viongozi wengine nchini humo wakishuhudia kuzinduliwa kwa sanamu hiyo ya historia.

Uzinduzi huo uliofanyika katika jengo hilo, pia ulishuhudiwa na waandishi wa habari kutoka sehemu mbalimbali.

Mandela alizikwa juzi katika kijiji ambacho alizaliwa cha Qunu, mazishi yake yalihudhuriwa na umati mkubwa wa watu wakiwamo viongozi mbalimbali duniani.

Imetumwa na Editorial Team saa 5:14 AM kwenye habari za kimataifa

Graca, Winnie Mandela ni mtu na ‘dada yake’

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, (77) aliinama kumbusu Graca Machel (68), kabla ya kukaa katika kiti cha tatu kutoka kile alichokalia mwanamke huyo. Graca Machel alimwambia maneno machache ‘dada yake’ Winnie wakati akimbusu.

Wanawake hao wote wakiwa wamevalia majaketi meusi na vilemba, walikumbatiana kwa sekunde kadhaa huku Winnie akitabasamu na Graca akitazama mbele.

Wote wawili wanaheshimika nchini Afrika Kusini kutokana na sababu mbalimbali. Winnie anaheshimika kwa mchango wake mkubwa wa kupigania ubaguzi wa rangi; Graca kwa moyo wake wa kujitolea kumtunza kiongozi wao mpaka anafariki dunia.

Hata hivyo Winnie amekuwa akikosolewa kutokana na sababu mbalimbali ikiwamo ile ya kuruhusu wapinzani wake wauawe kwa kuchomwa moto wakitumia mafuta ya petroli na matairi ya magari.

Mwaka 1988 alipatikana na hati ya kumuua kijana wa miaka 14 ambaye ilidaiwa alimtuhumu kuwa kibaraka, hata hivyo hukumu yake ilipunguzwa kutoka kuwa kifungo cha miaka sita jela na kuwa faini.

Winnie pia anatuhumiwa kwa kutokuwa mwaminifu katika ndoa yake iliyodumu kwa miaka 38 ingawa 27 kati ya hiyo hakuwa na mumewe ambaye alikuwa akitumikia kifungo katika gereza la Robben.

Graca Machel alifunga ndoa na Mandela wakati wa sherehe yake ya kutimiza miaka 80. Pamoja na kuwa Winnie na Mandela walitengana, katika kipindi cha ugonjwa wake kilichodumu kwa siku 181, alikuwa akimtembelea mara kwa mara.

Mjane wa Mandela, Graca,ambaye pia ni mjane wa Rais wa zamani wa Msumbiji, Hayati Samora Machel, alitumia muda wote kuwa pembeni mwa kitanda cha Mandela mpaka alipokata roho.

Ndugu wa karibu wanasema, daktari aliposema hakuna kitu kinachoweza kufanyika kuokoa uhai wa Mandela, Winnie alifika nyumbani hapo na alikuwepo muda wote mpaka kiongozi huyo alipokata roho.

Tangu Mandela afariki, Winnie amekuwa akionekana sana tofauti na Graca. Jumapili ya wiki iliyopita, ikiwa ni siku tatu tangu Mandela afariki, Winnie alikwenda kusali katika kanisa ambalo lilikuwa likifanya misa kuu ya kitaifa kumuombea Mandela .

Winnie alikaa pembeni ya Rais Jacob Zuma. Hata hivyo siku yake iliharibia na Mchungaji, Mosa Sono aliyekuwa akiongoza ibada hiyo baada ya kumtambulisha kwa jina la Graca. Kwa upande wake Graca alisali katika kanisa dogo lililopo karibu na nyumba ya Mandela.

Graca ni mdogo wangu

Kwa muda mrefu sasa Winnie amekuwa akisisitiza kuwa hakuna uhasama baina yake na Graca na anamuona kama mdogo wake kwa kuwa kiumri pia amemzidi.

Winnie aliwahi kunukuliwa akisema: “Namuita mdogo wangu, na yeye huwa ananiita dada, hata tunapozungumza huwa maongezi yanamuhusu mume wetu,” anasema Winnie.

Dunia yamuaga Mandela kwa heshima ya kipekee

Dunia imeamua kumpa heshima ya kipekee Nelson Mandela kwa mkusanyiko wa aina yake wa kumuaga kwenye kitongoji cha Soweto, ambapo zaidi ya viongozi 100 wa dunia wanahudhuria ibada hiyo.

Tangu viongozi walioko madarakani mpaka waliostaafu, halijawahi kushuhudiwa kuwa na watu wengi kiasi hiki; zaidi ya watu 95, 000 wamefurika uwanjani tangu usiku wa manane kuhakikisha wanapata nafasi.

Kitongoji hicho cha Jonnesburg ndiko alikokuwa akiishi Mandela kabla ya kukamatwa na kuwekwa gerezani kwa miaka 27, kwa hivyo ni mahala pa kihistoria kutoa heshima za mwisho kwa shujaa huyo wa mapambano dhidi ya ubaguzi wa rangi.

Kiasi cha viongozi 100 wanahudhuria, wakiwamo wa mataifa na Serikali, wafalme au warithi wao, achilia mbali watu wengineo mashuhuri duniani ikiwa ni pamoja na Katibu Mkuu wa Umoja wa Mataifa, Ban Ki-moon.

Wengine ni Mwenyekiti wa Halmashauri Kuu ya Umoja wa Afrika, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, na wajumbe wa Baraza la Wazee la Kimataifa aliloliunda mwenyewe Nelson Mandela, akiwamo Rais wa zamani wa Marekani, Jimmy Carter.

Marekani inawakilishwa na Rais Barack Obama na mkewe pamoja na marais wa zamani, George W. Bush na Bill Clinton na mkewe, waziri wa zamani wa mambo ya nchi za nje, Hillary Clinton.

Viongozi wengine ni pamoja na Rais Raul Castro wa Cuba, Hamid Karzai wa Afghanistan, Waziri Mkuu wa Uingereza, David Cameron, na Mwana wa mfalme Charles, Rais Pranab Mukhrejee wa India, Rais Dilma Russels wa Brazil na watangulizi wake wanne ikiwa ni pamoja na Lula da Silva,

Waziri mkuu wa Italia Enrico Letta, Kiongozi wa Mamlaka ya Utawala wa Ndani wa Palestina, Mahmoud Abbas na mawaziri wakuu wa Norway, Sweden na Canada, kwa kuwataja wachache tu.

China inawakilishwa na Makamu wa Rais, Li Yuanchao huku Japan ikiwakilishwa na mrithi wa kiti cha mfalme, Mwanamfalme Naruhito. Ujerumani inawakilishwa na Rais Joachim Gauck. Takriban viongozi wote wa bara la Afrika wanahudhuria pia ibada hiyo.

Ibada kuendelea

Ibada kadhaa nyingine zinafanyika hadi siku ya mazishi ya Mandela katika kijiji walichotokea wazee wake, Qunu, Desemba 15.

Mbali na ibada rasmi ya mazishi, maiti ya Nelson Mandela imewekwa katika Ikulu kuanzia Jumatano hadi ijumaa itakaposafirishwa kwa ndege hadi Mashariki ya Cape Town kwa mazishi.

Hatua za ulinzi zimeimarishwa. Afrika Kusini inauzoefu kutokana na maandalizi ya Kombe la Dunia la mwaka 2010.

Waziri wa Ulinzi, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, amesema,”Kila kitu kiko tayari, tumejiandaa tangu miaka mitatu au minne iliyopita.”

Makala hii imeandikwa na Julieth Kulangwa kwa msaada wa vyombo vya habari.

chanzo cha habari:http://www.mwananchi.co.tz/

Imetumwa na Editorial Team saa 12:06 PM kwenye habari za kimataifa

KUELEKEA MAZISHI YA NELSON MANDELA

Rais Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete

Serikali ya Afrika Kusini, imetoa orodha ya majina ya wakuu wa nchi na Serikali 91 ambao wamethibitisha kushiriki katika shughuli zinazohusiana na safari ya mwisho ya Rais wa kwanza mzalendo wa taifa hilo, Nelson Mandela.

Jina la Rais Jakaya Kikwete ni la kwanza katika orodha hiyo inayowaweka viongozi hao katika makundi kutokana na mabara wanakotoka. Rais Kikwete alitarajiwa kuwasili jana usiku tayari kuhudhuria Ibada ya Kitaifa ya Mandela ambayo imepangwa kufanyika leo kwenye Uwanja wa FNB (Soccer City).

Kabla ya Serikali kutoa orodha hiyo, Waziri wa Uhusiano wa Kimataifa wa Afrika Kusini, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane alisema wakuu wa nchi na Serikali 53 walikuwa wamethibitisha lakini jana mchana idadi hiyo ilikuwa imeongezeka na kufikia 91. Kulikuwa na wasiwasi kwamba huenda idadi hiyo ikaongezeka na kuzidi 100.

Msemaji wa Wizara ya Uhusiano wa Kimataifa ya Afrika Kusini, Clayson Monyela aliwataja marais wengine kutoka Afrika kuwa ni kutoka Jamhuri ya Kidemokrasi ya Kongo (DRC), Joseph Kabila, Hifikepunye Pohamba wa Namibia, Mike Sall wa Senegal, Allessane Ouattara wa Cote d’Ivoire, Goodluck Jonathan wa Nigeria, Robert Mugabe wa Zimbabwe, Dennis Sassou-Nguesso wa Congo Brazaville, John Dramani wa Ghana na Ali Bongo wa Gabon.

Kutoka Amerika ya Kusini ni marais Nicolus Maduro Moros wa Venezuela na Dilma Rousseff wa Brazil ambaye ataambatana na marais wanne wastaafu wa nchini kwake.

Waziri Mkuu wa Bahamas, Perry Christie, Rais wa Guyana, Donad Ramotar, Rais wa Haiti, Michael Martelly na Rais wa Jamaica, Portia Miller, wakati kutoka Asia, kutakuwa na marais Pranab Mukherjee wa India na Hamid Karzai wa Afghanistan.

Rais Francois Hollande wa Ufaransa, Waziri Mkuu wa Australia, Tony Abbot, Katibu Mkuu wa Umoja wa Mataifa, Ban Ki Moon

Tayari Rais wa Marekani, Barrack Obama na mkewe Michelle walishathibitisha kushiriki, pia watangulizi wake, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush na Jimmy Carter wanatarajiwa kushiriki katika mazishi ya Mandela yatakayofanyika Qunu, Mthatha Jumapili.

Armando Guebuza wa Msumbiji, , Abdelkader Bensalah wa Algeria, Makamu wa Rais wa Angola, Manuel Vicente, Rais wa Niger, Issoufou Mahamdou, Kaimu Rais wa Agentina, Amado Boudou, Waziri Mkuu wa New Zealand, John Key na Rais wa Bangladesh, Abdul Hamid MD Abdul.

Malkia Haakon wa Norway, Mfalme wa Philippe wa Ubelgiji, Rais wa Pakistan, Mamnoon Hussain, Rais wa Benin, Boni Yayi, Rais wa Palestina Mahmoud Abbas, Rais wa Botswana, Seretse Ian Khama, Rais wa Ureno, Anibal Cavaco Silva na Mfalme wa Saudi Arabia, Muqrin bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Rais wa Burundi, Pierre Nkurunziza, Rais wa Saharawi, Mohamed Abdelaziz, Waziri Mkuu wa Canada,

Stephen Harper wa Chad, Idriss Deby Itno, Rais wa Serbia, Tomislav Nikolic, Makamu Rais wa China, Yuanchao, Rais wa Shelisheli, James Alix Michel, Rais wa Comores, Dr Ikiliou Dhoinine na Mfalme wa Hispania, Felipe de Borbon.

Rais wa Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Makamu Rais wa Sudan, Hassan Salih, Rais wa Suriname, Desire Delano Bouterse, Rais wa Slovenia, Pahor, Rais wa Croatia, Josipovic Ivo, Rais wa Sudan Kusini, Salva Kir Mayardit, Rais wa Cuba, Raul Castro Ruz, Rais wa Djibouti, Ismail Omar Guelleh, Waziri Mkuu wa Swaziland, Dr Sibusiso Dlamini, Waziri Mkuu wa Ethiopia, Ato Hailemariam Dessalegn na Rais wa Equatorial Guinea, Obiang Mbasogo.
---Kwa hisani ya MCL.

Imetumwa na Editorial Team saa 3:39 AM kwenye habari za kimataifa, habari za kitaifa