Milton Daniels Bishop: April 2016

Friday, 29 April 2016

SA Judge finds Jacob Zuma should face corruption charges

BBC News

South Africa's President Zuma should face corruption charges over a 1999 arms deal, the High Court has ruled.

The charges were dropped just weeks before the 2009 election which led to Jacob Zuma becoming president. Ruling on the case brought by the opposition Democratic Alliance, the judge said the decision to drop the charges was "irrational".

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) now has to decide if it wants to reinstate the charges.

Mr Zuma always denied the allegations which are linked to the government arms deal worth billions of dollars.

Last week, a judge-led commission of inquiry found no evidence of corruption or fraud by any government officials at the time.

"Today is a great victory for the rule of law and ultimately we believe that Jacob Zuma must face prosecution and this judgement certainly affirms the view that we've always held," Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane said after the ruling.

"I congratulate my colleagues who've worked exceptionally hard on this case; it's been a long battle."

Analysis: Pumza Fihlani, BBC News, Johannesburg

ANC supporters in Port Elizabeth, South Africa - 16 April 2016

This may be the latest in a series of legal blows to President Jacob Zuma but it is not yet time to celebrate for the opposition DA, which brought the case.

The NPA will have to decide if it wants to reinstate the charges. As the judge ruled the NPA's prosecution of this case has been heavily politicised - and it is not clear whether it will want to take on the president.

Mr Zuma, 74, may be under increasing pressure from opposition parties to step down but he is not going without a fight. In spite of the knock to his public image, he still has a place in the hearts of many in South Africa. The ruling ANC secured a huge victory in the 2014 election - many of the votes coming from rural South Africa where these court battles have little influence and Mr Zuma knows that.

An opposition attempt to impeach him earlier this month failed because they simply do not have the numbers. The president would take note only if voters rose up against him - local elections later this year will be the real indication of whether any ground has shifted. But until then, he and the ANC see these court battles as attempts by a few to force him from power undemocratically.

It was dubbed the "spy tapes" case after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) dropped the charges in 2009.

The authority said new phone-tap evidence suggested political interference in the investigation.

'Mr Zuma should face the charges'

South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) said the High Court's ruling did not deal with the merits of any allegations against the president.

"The ANC has consistently supported the legal maxim that justice delayed is justice denied. This matter has dragged on for close to a decade and the ANC is pleased therefore that it now appears closer to resolution, seven years since the NPA decision," it said in a statement.

What are the spy tapes?

A DA supporter holding a placard in 2014 reading:

In 2009, NPA chief prosecutor Mokotedi Mpshe received phone-tap evidence from Mr Zuma's lawyers
He said the recordings suggested political interference in the investigation
The recordings were of conversations that Leonard McCarthy, a former head of an elite unit fighting organised crime, had with several people about the timing of the case against Mr Zuma
In 2014, the opposition DA won a court battle to access the sealed recordings and make them public
After listening to the recordings, the DA legal team believed there was nothing that warranted the charges being dropped
A High Court ruling in April 2016 says the 2009 decision was irrational and Mr Zuma should face charges.

Judge Aubrey Ledwaba said Mr Mpshe had "found himself under pressure" when he decided to discontinue the prosecution and "consequently made an irrational decision".

"Considering the situation in which he found himself, Mr Mpshe ignored the importance of the oath of office which commanded him to act independently and without fear and favour.

"It is thus our view that the envisaged prosecution against Mr Zuma was not tainted by the allegations against Mr McCarthy.

"Mr Zuma should face the charges as outlined in the indictment."

This is the latest legal setback for the South African president.

Last month, South Africa's highest court found that he had breached the constitution by failing to repay public money used to upgrade his private home.

It backed an earlier ruling by an anti-corruption body that said $23m (£15m) of public money had been improperly spent on Mr Zuma's rural home in Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal province.

Controversial arms deal: What you need to know

One of the Saab Gripen fighter jets, bought by the South African Airforce, as part of the country's controversial arms deal - Cape Town, South Africa, 2006

1999: largest-ever post-apartheid arms deal announced with contracts totalling 30bn rand ($5bn; £2.5bn) to modernise national defence force
Deal involved companies from Germany, Italy, Sweden, the UK, France and South Africa
Allegations of bribery over deal dogged governments of President Jacob Zuma and predecessor Thabo Mbeki
Mr Zuma's former financial adviser Schabir Shaik convicted in 2005 for corruption over deal. Found guilty of trying to solicit bribe from Thint, local subsidiary of French arms firm Thales, on behalf of Mr Zuma - then deputy president. Released on parole on health grounds after serving just over two years
Another official, Tony Yengeni, chairman of parliament's defence committee at time of deal and ANC chief whip, convicted of fraud in 2003. Also freed on parole after serving five months of four-year sentence
April 2016: commission of inquiry into deal found no further evidence of corruption or fraud.

Norway helicopter crash: 13 killed near Bergen

BBC News

Thirteen people are presumed dead after a helicopter crashed west of the Norwegian city of Bergen, rescuers say.

Eleven of those on board were Norwegian, one was British and one Italian. No survivors have been found. A major rescue operation was launched but ended within hours of the crash. Meanwhile Norway's civil aviation authority has imposed a flight ban on the type of helicopter that crashed - the Eurocopter (EC) 225L Super Puma. Reports say it was "totally destroyed".

The aircraft was flying from the Gullfaks oil field to Bergen, a centre for the North Sea oil and gas industry.

Eleven bodies have been found, and two other people are still missing.

Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said news of the crash was "horrible".

King Harald and Queen Sonja cancelled a trip to Sweden, Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported.

'Peculiar engine sound'

Oil company Statoil said the aircraft was "on assignment". All the passengers were Statoil employees , reports say.

Both Statoil and the UK energy company BP have suspended use of the Super Puma.

The helicopter came down near the small island of Turoey, just west of the village of Solsvik.

Boats and smoke near the site of a helicopter crash in Norway (29 April 2016) — Image captionSmoke was visible at the scene of the crash

Rescue boats at the scene of the crash — Image captionFirefighters were among those involved in the big rescue operation

Eyewitnesses reported seeing the helicopter's rotor blade come loose and shear off.

"There was an explosion and a very peculiar engine sound, so I looked out the window. I saw the helicopter falling quickly into the sea. Then I saw a big explosion," a resident told local newspaper Bergensavisen.

Photos from the scene showed thick smoke coming from an area of rocky islets.

Local media said the helicopter dropped 640m (2,200ft) in the last 10 seconds before it crashed. Some wreckage was found on the rocks, and parts of the fuselage are in the sea.

Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma

Widely used in offshore oil and gas industry around the world

More than 220 in service

Can also be used in search and rescue and fire-fighting roles

Carries 19 passengers plus two crew and can fly for up to five-and-a-half hours

Safety features include self-deployable emergency flotation device, and traffic collision and avoidance system.

The UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch is sending a team to Norway because it has investigated a number of crashes involving helicopters operating to and from offshore oil and gas fields in recent years.

In 2012, EC225 Super Puma helicopters crashed in two incidents in Scotland, one off Aberdeen and another off Shetland. Both crashes were blamed on gearbox problems.

In both cases, all passengers and crew were rescued. EC225s in the UK were grounded following the crashes but given the go-ahead to resume flying in 2013.

Helicopter International magazine editor Elfan ap Rees said major modifications seemed to have dealt with the gearbox problem, and it was difficult to know what could have gone wrong in the Norwegian crash.

"Overall, the Super Pumas have a good safety record and they have been constantly improved and upgraded," he told the BBC.

"They have had quite a lot of use in the offshore industry."

Lewis Hamilton top in Russian GP practice as Sebastian Vettel breaks down

BBC News

Lewis Hamilton was fastest by a large margin as Mercedes' closest rivals Ferrari hit trouble in second practice at the Russian Grand Prix.

Hamilton was 0.652 seconds clear of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, whose car stopped on the track with an electrical failure halfway through the session. Nico Rosberg was third, 0.867secs off team-mate Hamilton, but did not set a representative lap on the faster tyre.

The German was just 0.14secs behind Hamilton on the slower 'soft' tyre. Sunday's Russian Grand Prix - which is live on the BBC Sport website and BBC Radio 5 live Sports Extra - begins at 13:00 BST. Qualifying is at 13:00 on Saturday.

Hamilton in control - and needs to be

It was exactly the start to the weekend Hamilton would have wanted. The Englishman arrived in Sochi on the Black Sea coast determined to notch his first win of the season and peg back Rosberg's already sizeable advantage in the championship.

Rosberg is leading Hamilton by 36 points after winning all three races so far. The world champion has had a troubled start to the season and has finished second, third and seventh.

Russian GP: Wind, mountains and Putin's house

Mercedes appear to be in a league of their own so far this weekend.

The trend of the season so far has been Ferrari have tended to look competitive in practice only for Mercedes to extend their advantage in qualifying.

But in Russia, Mercedes have been comfortably quicker from the start of running - with well over half a second of advantage over the red cars.

And Hamilton showed highly impressive pace on his race-simulation run later in the session, comfortably clear of anyone else, including Rosberg.

"It's been a constructive day to start the weekend," he said. "I think we're looking strong here - but we need to keep working hard if we are to try and stay ahead of the Ferraris."

Electrical storm at Ferrari

In addition to an apparent lack of pace, Ferrari will be concerned about another reliability failure, especially as they have brought a new, upgraded engine design to this race.

The team have suffered two in-race engine failures so far this season and the impression is forming that they have pushed their reliability too close to the edge in an attempt to close the performance gap to Mercedes.

Vettel's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was fourth fastest overall, but more than 0.5secs slower than the German. "The feeling was all right," said Vettel. "The balance was not quite where I wanted it to be, but the circuit should come our way. It was quite slippery. Lacking a bit of information from my side but other people did their homework and hopefully we can copy that a bit."

Behind Mercedes and Ferrari, Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo was fifth quickest, just 0.101secs ahead of Williams driver Valtteri Bottas, with the second Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat only 0.008secs further adrift.

Behind them, there was some encouraging pace from the McLaren-Hondas, with Jenson Button eighth and Fernando Alonso 10th, sandwiching the second Williams of Felipe Massa.

Next in line were the Toro Rossos, Carlos Sainz edging Max Verstappen, and the Force Indias, with Nico Hulkenberg pipping Sergio Perez.

The new Haas team - who impressed in the first two races in Australia and Bahrain - were struggling, with Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez 16th and 17th respectively, and the Franco-Swiss saying "something is not working on the car" since the Chinese weekend a fortnight ago.

Aeroscreen 'definitely drivable'

Red Bull test new 'aeroscreen' at Russian Grand Prix

In the morning session, Ricciardo gave the first on-track test to the 'aeroscreen' cockpit head protection design, which Red Bull are hoping will be adopted next year instead of the 'halo' device tried by Ferrari pre-season.

The Australian said: "The vision seemed OK; the first impressions were fine. It was definitely drivable. I would not say you are hindered any more than we are now with visibility."

Governing body the FIA has made it clear it intends for one of the devices to be used next season.

Ricciardo is among the vast majority of drivers who back the move - despite criticism in some quarters - because of the number of accidents in recent years in which drivers have been killed or injured by head impacts.

"The talk has been about the open cockpit and that is what people know F1 for, and that is fair enough," he said.

"It would be great to keep it that way but obviously with accidents that have happened, especially more recently, I think at least not to explore this route seems a bit disrespectful.

"If this becomes the norm, I think everyone will get used to it. I don't think it is as bad as some people are saying."

McLaren driver Alonso re-iterated his support for some from of head protection to be introduced.

"It is a must that it will come from next year," he said. "It is a must for safety - we don't need heroes in the sport right now.

"We don't want anyone getting hurt in the future if there is a solution in place, and it seems there can be a solution so let's introduce it."

Team-mate Button praised design of the 'aeroscreen' device, saying: "I prefer the look of it. I think it looks better than a normal F1 car."

Up in smoke: Kenya to torch millions of dollars worth of ivory

Nairobi National Park, Kenya (CNN) It's an overpowering display of the sheer size of Africa's poaching crisis. For the past week, several dozen men have circled a site in Nairobi National Park, unloading elephant tusks from shipping containers -- many of them so big it takes two men to carry one tusk and building them into towers of ivory up to 10 feet tall and 20 feet across. It forms something like a graveyard for some of the world's iconic endangered species.

Confiscated colobus monkey Skins are added to the pyres.

On Saturday, the graveyard will turn into a crematorium. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta will light a match to 105 tons of elephant ivory, 1.35 tons of rhino horn, exotic animal skins and other products such as sandalwood and medicinal bark. This destruction of illicit wildlife goods dwarfs anything similar that has been done before.

A KWS ranger stacks one of the ivory pyres.

The tusks alone -- from about 8,000 elephants -- would be worth more than $105 million on the black market, according to wildlife trade expert Esmond Bradley Martin.

The rhino horn, from 343 animals, would be worth more than $67 million. Together, it's more than $172 million worth of illicit wildlife goods going up in smoke.

That's one and a half times more than Kenya spends on its environmental and natural resources agency every year.

But the Kenyans say that the stockpile is not valuable -- it's worthless.

"From a Kenyan perspective, we're not watching any money go up in smoke," Kenya Wildlife Service Director General Kitili Mbathi said. "The only value of the ivory is tusks on a live elephant."

Record level of poaching

That's not just conservationist rhetoric.

Tourism, mostly from wildlife, makes up about 12% of Kenya's GDP. Over its life, a live elephant generates 76 times more in tourism revenue than it does for its ivory, according to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, an elephant rescue and rehabilitation group.

Unloaded from the back of a pick up, the ivory is catalogued and put into containers.

But the group's founder worries about the future.

"I doubt whether my great-grandchildren will actually be able to see wild elephants living a normal life," said Daphne Sheldrick, the world-renowned Kenyan conservationist who named the charity after her late husband.

Some 1,338 rhinos were poached in Africa last year, a record number and the sixth year in a row that the number of poaching incidents has increased.

Elephants are in serious threat. Every 15 minutes, an elephant is killed for its tusks.

African governments are fighting the illegal trade in wildlife goods, but they have long puzzled over what to do with confiscated ivory and horn.

The potential income that could be generated from the sale has been difficult for many cash-strapped governments to deny.

The Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) allows for the trade of ivory under certain circumstances.

In 2008, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana auctioned 102 tons of stockpiled ivory,raising $15 million which was put toward elephant conservation initiatives.

Killing the market

But Kenya does things differently.

Under the leadership of renowned conservationist Richard Leakey, the Kenya Wildlife Service developed the idea of burning illegal ivory in 1989.

At the time, Kenya was facing a serious crisis, losing about 4,000 elephants to poaching a year.

Then-President Daniel arap Moi torched 12 tons of ivory in the first burn.

"Within six months of the burn, in 1990, the elephant poaching virtually stopped in Kenya and in most African countries because there was no market," said Leakey.

"The only solution was to kill market and we did. It was dead for close to 10 years, maybe longer."

Saturday's ivory burn is Kenya's fourth, and the largest one in history by a large margin.

Leakey attributes the current rise in the demand for ivory to one-off permitted sales of tusks.

"There is so much corruption in Africa, so much corruption in other places, that illegal ivory started to enter the trade and the market value for ivory today is higher than it's ever been," he explained.

The ultimate goal of the burn, the Kenya Wildlife Service says, is to encourage a total and permanent ban on the trade of elephant ivory, and never allow for its sale, even domestically.

READ: How do you save a dying species?

Wrong message?

Heads of state from some countries with the largest elephant populations in Africa will be on site for the burn.

But a delegation from Botswana -- one of Africa's conservation success stories -- is refusing to attend.

The delegation is in Kenya for a summit on steps to protect Africa's endangered wildlife species.

Botswana says the burn sends the wrong message.

"We have told communities living with elephants that there is value in conserving elephants for ecotourism and emphasizing that the value of a live elephant should be upheld at all costs," the government of Botswana said in a statement. "Burning ivory would demonstrate to the communities that the animal has no value."

Others argue that the burn is a PR stunt that has been done before, but Leakey insists that rather than a stunt, the ivory burn is a statement "that elephants are in deep trouble."

"When we burn this ivory, we are doing it for a specific reason," he said.

An Ivory statue seized in transit will also be added to the pyre.

And today there is a new crisis, and new people to reach with this message, Leakey said. China's rapidly growing economy and expanding upper class have created a strong market for ivory and rhino horn, he says.

"They (China) never saw the 1989-1990 (elephant) crisis. They were not subjected to the pressure that we brought on the world markets in those days. So we have to do it again -- and that's what we're doing," said Leakey.

He says the aim should be to change the attitudes of the people of China and other nations who trade in illicit wildlife products.

He hopes that elephant ivory and rhino horn will lose their luster.

"We want to introduce a sense of embarrassment and shame to the use of products for ornaments, for statues or for eating implements," Leakey said. "Nobody should be using someone else's teeth to enrich themselves."