‘Escalating Violence’ in Calais After Clashes Between 100 African Migrants

Authorities have described “escalating violence” in the transit city of Calais, France, following two days of fighting when over 100 Eritrean and Ethiopian migrants clashed, attacking one another with stones and sticks leaving over a dozen hospitalised.

Le Figaro reports that following clashes late Friday evening, a second mass brawl broke out between groups of Eritrean and Ethiopian migrants who have travelled illegally from Africa in hopes of smuggling themselves to the UK.

According to Philippe Mignonet, deputy mayor of Calais in charge of security, police intervened Friday night attending to four separate brawls, using tear gas to disperse the Africans.

“For 12 hours, in terms of violence, it’s an escalation,” Mr. Mignonet said.

Clashes broke out again between the ethnic groups Saturday afternoon in the industrial zone of the city leaving 16 injured, one seriously. A dozen men, mainly Eritreans, were arrested, and police and ambulance personnel attended the scene.

It is believed the violence began whilst an NGO was giving out meals. Rules on the distribution of food, water, and the setting up of makeshift shelters are heavily enforced to prevent charities and camps acting as a draw to migrants, preventing another Calais Jungle springing up in the beleaguered town.

The Rue des Verrotières is the only street on which the pro-migrant charities can distribute food to the illegal immigrants, and it was between 8 pm Friday and 1 am Saturday that the first fights broke out.

Last Monday, the administrative court of Lille ordered a summary of measures to assist illegal migrants in Calais, but rejected the re-opening of a reception centre.

“The events of the last twelve hours show that the mayor is right to appeal [the decision of the administrative justice]. The authorisation to give meals all day long creates situations where masses of people are assembled and this leads to tensions,” said Mr. Mignonet.

The number of illegals waiting at the Calais Jungle surged to 10,000 migrants after the Brexit vote in June 2016, supported by pro-migrant NGOs such as Care4Calais, until the camp was dismantled by French authorities in October. However, as early as February 2017, there were reports of migrants returning to the city.

Between 400 and 600 mostly Eritrean and Ethiopian, and some Afghan, migrants are currently waiting in Calais, attempting daily to secret themselves onto lorries bound for Britain.

In June, Breitbart London reported on the first death of a lorry driver at the hands of migrants after a group of Eritreans blocked the road to the channel port with tree trunks, resulting in a multi-truck pileup and the death of a Polish truck driver.

Prior to the fatality, British and European truckers feared for their lives and have complained of migrants obstructing roads and attempting to break into the trucks. One driver was threatened by a migrant with a chainsaw and another narrowly escaped death when a migrant threw a large wooden stake into his cab window. Read more here

New WHO chief - Ethiopian Dr Tedros - calls on AU as he assumes office

New World Health Organisation Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called on the African Union before assuming office as the head of the United Nations agency.

The mandate of the former Ethiopian health and foreign minister officially began on Saturday, July 1, 2017.

The first African Director General paid a visit to the African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat in Addis Ababa on Saturday before travelling to the Geneva-based office.

“Proud to see Dr Tedros before he takes office as WHO DG. He has Africa’s continued support to ensure health for all during his tenure,” Mahamat posted on social media on Sunday with pictures of the two in a meeting.

Proud to see Dr Tedros before he takes office as WHO DG. He has Africa's continued support to ensure health for all during his tenure.

Proud to see DrTedros before he takes office as WHO DG. He has Africa’s continued support to ensure health for all during his tenure. pic.twitter.com/KwXTSnwIgy

— Moussa Faki Mahamat (@MoussaFaki_M) July 2, 2017

Dr Tedros responded by expressing gratitude for the support he received.

“Honored to meet you @MoussaFaki_M #AU Chair Person. Your support made a difference & look forward to working with you closely,” he tweeted.

Honored to meet you MoussaFaki_M #AU Chair Person. Your support made a difference & look forward to working with you closely.https://t.co/Yx2j4FPLVE

— Tedros Adhanom (DrTedros) July 2, 2017

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus received immense support from the African Union after his nomination by his country to take up the position.

Moussa Faki Mahamat had said ahead of the election that “when Africa speaks with one voice, she wins. Africa is united for Dr. Tedros.”

51-year-old Tedros beat two other candidates after the election on May 23 at a meeting of the World Health Assembly – the WHO’s major decision making body – in Geneva, Switzerland.

He is the first non-physician to be elected to the post and first African in the nearly 70-years existence of the WHO.

His vision includes making the WHO strong and effective to meet emerging challenges and achieve the health objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wants to “efficiently managed, adequately resourced and results driven, with a strong focus on transparency, accountability and value for money.” Read more here

Ethiopian runner Abebech Bekele breaks Gold Coast Marathon women’s record

THE Gold Coast Marathon has enhanced its reputation as one of the world’s elite races after Ethiopia’s Abebech Bekele took the women’s race into new territory with her 2hr 25min 34sec win.

Bekele’s time was the fourth fastest alltime in Australia, with only the Sydney Olympic medallists bettering her effort.

Bekele and Kenya’s Mercy Kibarus went through the halfway mark locked together but Bekele made her decisive move soon after and had established a 20sec lead by the time the runners passed 25km.

Bekele had hoped to finish in 2:24 but used every ounce of energy to win, becoming physically ill after the finish and taking several minutes to recover before addressing the media.

“I was well prepared to win this race and I’m happy I won today and I’m so glad,” Bekele said of her ability to make the pace for so long.

“The conditions were good but I was well prepared and had done a lot of training and that made me win today.

“I was planning to finish in 2:24 but I’m happy.”

Bekele snared $30,000 for her efforts - $20,000 for the race win and another $10,000 for breaking Misato Horie’s 2016 race record.

While Erico Asai’s record of 2:29.29 stood untouched for 20 years before Yukiko Akaba (2:27.17) broke it in 2013, the record was bettered again last year by Horie before Bekele broke it again yesterday, smashing a five-year stranglehold by Japanese women.

But it’s not the end for Bekele, who hopes to push further towards the 2:20 barrier.

“After this I will do the best training and then I’m trying to be successful with 2:20-2:21, that’s my aim,” she said of a mark that would put her among the world’s best.

Bekele finished ahead of Kibarus and Japan’s Risa Takenaka, whose husband Takuya Noguchi won the men’s title yesterday.

Takenaka was thrilled when she learnt post-race that Noguchi had broken the 2:09 barrier, although she was aware before she crossed the line that he had won.

“Part way through, somebody shouted: ‘your husband just won’ and I was like, ‘really?’

“And my coach told me, ‘you’re both going to be on the podium’, so I was very happy about that.”

In an outstanding result for Australia, Virginia Moloney finished fifth, setting a Commonwealth Games qualifier with her 2:29.14 effort.

The result leaves her ninth on the Australian alltime list but Moloney is not talking up her chances of wearing green and gold on the Gold Coast next year.

“At the moment there’s so many girls faster than me, I’ve got to be realistic, but (sub 2:30) was our goal,” the Victorian said.

“(The Games qualifier is 2:45) but realistically, with such strong competition, you’ve really got to go under 2:30.

“I think we’ll have to try and do better than that again.” Read more here

Gold Coast Marathon 2017 action

Gold Coast Marathon

Matthews Suggests Trump Channel Mussolini, Murder Kushner; Compares Him to Ethiopian Dictator

By Curtis Houck | June 29, 2017 10:25 PM EDT

Go ahead and criticize President Trump’s Mika tweet, but there’s no denying this was disturbing. On Thursday’s Hardball, MSNBC pundit Chris Matthews compared the President to not only communist Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam and a modern-day Romanov but also channel Benito Mussolini having son-in-law Jared Kushner murdered.

As he’s previously done(documented here, here, and here), Matthews reiterated his belief that Kushner and wife Ivanka Trump are akin to the murderous sons of Saddam Hussein, Uday and Qusay.

Let’s first start with Matthews invoking Mengistu. During a tease about reported disarray in the Trump administration with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson being stonewalled from doing his job, Matthews gloated about the “meltdown.”

“It’s a far cry from that love feast we watched a few weeks ago, which is right out of Mengistu’s government in Ethiopia with all the people bowing to the president. Apparently all is not well in paradise,” Matthews quipped.

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Later, Matthews told The Washington Post’s Ashley Parker that he’s “allowed to have opinions” (unlike print reporters, supposedly) “and one of my opinions was that nepotism is a bad thing in government” as evidenced by the supposed American incarnations of the Husseins: 

You put Uday and Qusay in your government and you’re going to have a problem with everybody else in the government because nobody can fight with them. Nobody can challenge them and, in the end, the son-in-law is always right because he can always to go his father-in-law or his wife and say they were mean to me.

Instead of Tillerson overseeing foreign policy, Matthews observed how “[t]he power seems to have gone to the son-in-law” and thus the Trump’s are “the Romanovs.” He then nudged Parker to agree (which she didn’t): “Is it a royal family instead of a Democratic or a Republican form of government? Or is it a family running the government? Is it Ivanka and Jared and the President sitting around in the White House upstairs ruling the world?”

Once Parker finished her thoughts on how the Trump’s perceive what they’re doing as simply running government like a business, Matthews told New York Times columnist Frank Bruni that it might behoove Trump to take a page out of Mussolini’s playbook, which was murder your son-in-law.

“So the son-in-law — you know, one good thing Mussolini did was execute his son-in-law. I mean, I’m talking about Ciano,” he clownishly argued.

Bruni awkwardly stepped in to play the role that Keith Olbermann did when Matthews had a thrill up his leg, telling him that he should “be careful here.”

“That was an extreme measure. But this was — this is a strange situation,” Matthews concluded before giving way to Bruni.

Matthews's joke about Trump murdering his son-in-law was brought to you by Cascade, Johnson's baby lotion, and Lincoln Financial. Read more here

Ethiopian worker commits suicide at south Lebanon employment agency

The Daily Star

 

BEIRUT: An Ethiopian domestic worker Thursday committed suicide at an employment agency in Tyre, a security source told The Daily Star.

The unnamed domestic worker threw herself off the balcony.

A Lebanese Red Cross arrived to collect her body, and security forces are conducting an investigation to identify the root of the problem.

"So far, some sources say that it was a dispute [that led to her suicide], but it could also be due to a psychological illness," the security source told The Daily Star.

Earlier this month, an Ethiopian domestic worker was found hung from the branch of a tree in the south Lebanon border town of Blida in Marjayoun. Following an investigation and examination, a coroner declared the death to be a suicide. Read more here