Police and thousands of opposition supporters clashed in the centre of the city on Tuesday evening.

Tear gas was fired and one student died when he was run over by a truck.

Earlier in the week, two people were shot dead during protests in a northern town after a court ruled that Mr Wade’s third-term election bid was legal.

Elections in the West African country – often held up as one of Africa’s model democracies – are due on 26 February.

‘Fear of the unknown’
Seydi Gassama, director of Amnesty International Senegal, told the BBC that Mamadou Diop, a 32-year-old student at Cheikh Anta Diop University, was run over – and a another female protester also died.
The opposition June 23 Movement (M23) had organised the demonstration and has sworn a campaign of « national resistance » until Mr Wade rescinds his candidacy.

This will probably not happen, according to George Ajjan, a political analyst in Dakar.

« Protests can only accomplish so much, » Mr Ajjan told the BBC Network Africa programme.

« It is unlikely that Mr Wade will step down just because he sees some people out on the streets, » he said.

Once a veteran opposition leader himself, Mr Wade, 85, was first elected in 2000 – ending 40 years of rule by the Socialist Party.

Senegal’s constitution has a two-term limit but the constitutional court has ruled this does not include Mr Wade’s first term, which began before the clause was adopted.

At the same time as allowing Mr Wade to stand, the court ruled singer Youssou N’Dour and two other opposition candidates could not run.

There has been international criticism of the ruling amid warnings that Senegal’s long-standing record for democracy and political stability could be jeopardised.

Nigeria’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo – himself a failed third-term bidder – told the BBC that « fear of the unknown » made leaders like Mr Wade hang onto power.

« But there is life after the government house – as I have found, » the former president told Network Africa.

On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Senegal’s authorities « must act in a manner that preserves and consolidates Senegal’s democratic traditions ».

He also urged political parties to refrain from violence.

Mr Wade’s campaign spokesman, Amadou Sall, told the BBC if opposition supporters do not want Mr Wade as president they should go to the forthcoming polls.

« Every five years the Senegalese citizens have the right to express themselves… on 26 February if they decide they don’t want no more Abdoulaye Wade for president, Abdoulaye Wade will not be president, so it’s all in their hands, » he said.

BBC NEWS

Shortly after Reddit user kohlio posted the picture to the site under the heading « They killed this in my friends hometown back in Africa, » posts started popping up questioning the veracity of the photo, followed by responses asking how anyone could fail to recognize the obvious forces at work — namely, the trick of forced perspective.

« Based on the number of people there I was guesstimating at over 20 feet. That is troublesome because the largest ever nile croc is supposedly 21 feet, » wrote Reddit user uncwil in response to the original post.

« That thing is at least 20ft long. I couldn’t imagine being one of the people hunting it, » another user wrote.

But users quickly pointed out that the people in photograph are sitting quite far back from the crocodile, making the animal appear much larger than it probably is.

« For this image (and the monster hog image also posted in comments) they are using a « forced perspective » camera trick that makes the animal appear much bigger than it actually is (although the croc still is huge), » Reddit user GWS2000 wrote. « Notice nobody in the photo has a hand or arm hanging over the front side of the animal. They are sitting further back from the animal than the picture implies. »

Richard Freeman echoed those sentiments on the cryptozoology blog « Still On The Track, » writing that « There is little close to the crocodile to indicate its length, but if the wall is the same hight as the one the people are sitting on in the background then it would seem that the croc is not remarkably large 14-15 feet; about average for an adult. »

Those suspicions were verified by the text accompanying an original print of the photo, which Reddit users were able to trace back to a posting on a French site, among other places.

According to the caption, the crocodile was shot and killed by an animal control officer in Zimbabwe after it had attacked and killed a number of fully grown cows. Regarding its size, the caption offered the following estimate:

This beast of a crocodile was shot in the extreme north of Zimbabwe on the border with Mozambique and unfortunately, circumstance did not allow for a measurement. However, several guestimates put it over 16 feet. Our own estimate (based on a 25 mm cigarette filter lying slightly in the foreground) does suggest it measures closer to 15 feet. A return trip is planned to the little dam where this croc was shot, and a measurement will be taken from the wall upon which the croc is laying. Watch this space!

Reddit users noted that the picture recalls an earlier instance in which a man used forced perspective in a hunting photo to make it appear that his 11-year-old had captured a monstrous hog dubbed « Hogzilla » by the media.

As it turned out, experts confirmed that pig in question was in fact huge — 8 feet long and 800 pounds — but not as massive as photos originally suggested, according to the Associated Press.

Similarly, the Reddit crocodile is a huge animal, even if it doesn’t measure up the largest crocodile ever caught. Scientists believe a 21-foot-long crocodile captured in the Philippines last year may be one of the largest crocs ever caught, according to the Daily Mail.

huffingtonpost

Ihab Albusaifi struck in each half for the Libyans, the second a wonderful volley and worthy match winner.

Deme Ndiaye scored for Senegal but it was of little consolation as the Senegalese go home after three losses.

Libya’s win marked their first in the Nations Cup in 30 years, as they ended up third in Group A behind Zambia and Equatorial Guinea, with Senegal bottom.
The Mediterranean Knights needed a win at the start of the game to have any hope of staying in the tournament, with Zambia and co-hosts Equatorial Guinea kicking off in Malabo at the same time.

Pre-tournament favourites Senegal, meanwhile, were looking to salvage some pride after losing their opening two games.

And the Libyans got off to the perfect start with Albusaifi prodding home with the outside of his boot, underneath Senegal goalkeeper Khadim Ndiaye, after just five minutes.

Senegal, who looked sharper in their final group game, hit back just 11 minutes later.

Deme Ndiaye headed in captain Mamadou Niang’s corner off the inside of the woodwork, after rising highest at the near post.

The Senegalese forced another series of corners, looking to edge ahead through a further set-piece, but could not make the pressure count.

Meanwhile, Libya’s passing was found wanting as they tried to press forward but overcooked several balls aimed towards their front men.

The match also became very stop-start, with niggly fouls from both sides, as the two teams sought to edge ahead.

Moussa Sow came on for Senegalese captain Mamadou Niang, while Papiss Demba Cisse replaced Newcastle team-mate Demba Ba in attack.

But neither substitute could convert chances, with Cisse trying to chip Aboud from outside the box but floating it over, and Sow missing a good chance at the near post.

The Libyan attack finally got back into their stride deep in the second half, with Ahmed Sa’ad Osman threatening and trying to thread balls through, mainly to Ahmed Zuway.

And they eventually got their reward when Zuway laid off the ball wonderfully to Albusaifi who rifled into the back of the net with his right foot from eight yards out.

Ihab wheeled away in delight, as Libya held on for their first Nations Cup victory since hosting the tournament in 1982, and their first on foreign soil.

It was not enough for them to go through to the last eight, however, after Zambia’s 1-0 win over Equatorial Guinea in Malabo put the Chipolopolo through as Group A winners, with the co-hosts finishing second.

bbcnews

Protesters set buildings and barricades on fire in the capital. A policeman was killed in the unrest, officials say.

The court also barred Senegal’s best-known music star Youssou N’Dour – an opponent of Mr Wade – from standing.

Mr Wade, 85, appeared on television to call for calm, describing the protests as « displays of petulance ».

The president has already served two terms in office, but the constitution has been amended since he was last elected and he argued that the change did not apply retrospectively.

The opposition had earlier warned it would hold street protests if Mr Wade’s candidacy was approved, and crowds had gathered in the capital Dakar to await the ruling.

After the decision by the constitutional court, youths set fire to tyres and threw stones at riot police, who responded by firing tear gas.

Reports from the central town of Kaolack said the local headquarters of Mr Wade’s party had been burned down.

Unrest was also reported in Thies and Mbour, near Dakar.

The authorities earlier said the protests would be tolerated in spite of an official ban on demonstrations.

‘Fed up’

The court’s statement, issued late on Friday, listed 14 candidates – including Mr Wade – as eligible to stand in the 26 February election.

However the court barred Youssou N’Dour from running, saying many of the signatures he had gathered to support his candidacy could not be verified.

The Grammy award-winning musician had announced earlier this month that he would stand.

« The people are fed up with career politicians who almost all enriched themselves with the state’s money, » he said at the time.

The list of candidates who can stand includes three former prime ministers, Idrissa Seck, Macky Sall and Moustapha Niasse as well as the main opposition leader Ousmane Tanor Dieng.

Youths at Place de l’Obelisque in central Dakar told the Associated Press that they planned to turn it into the equivalent of Egypt’s Tahrir Square if Mr Wade’s candidacy was allowed to go ahead.

Mr Wade insisted in his television appearance that the February poll would be fair.

« The electoral campaign will be open. There will be no restrictions on freedom, » he said.

« Stop these displays of petulance which will lead to nothing, » he told the protesters.

Senegal is seen as one of the most democratic and stable countries in West Africa – it is the only country in the region never to have experienced a military coup.

However, tension is rising ahead of the election and one prominent politician has been charged with murder.

bbcnews

Norway Mayor Jim Preacher is being probed by the state after he was pulled over for speeding by a state trooper on Jan. 18 — and then pulled rank by pulling over the same trooper just minutes later, according to The Times and Democrat.

Preacher doesn’t deny that he was cruising at 70 mph in a 55 mph zone at about 7 p.m., but now a South Carolina law enforcement agency is trying to figure out whether the mayor had any authority to then pull over the very same officer and try to issue him a summons — a request that the trooper refused.

After a bit of hesitation, and a look at the trooper’s license and registration, Preacher let him go.

Mayors don’t often fire up their red and blues to pull over a state trooper, but Preacher said he was acting within his rights as Norway’s chief constable. Plus, the mercenary mayor said that he was trying to pull over a vehicle he believed to have been involved in a recent robbery attempt, not a cop, according to CBS News.

It’s yet unclear whether the mayor routinely makes traffic stops — or tries to single-handedly take down burglary suspects — but the « chief constable » is sticking to his guns on this one.

« Nobody knows that Norway has a [chief constable], » which is why the confusion arose with the state trooper, Preacher told the South Carolina paper.

He told the paper that he might have « some makeup work to do » in terms of completely certifying himself to be a constable, but that the state had previously given him a « clear status » to act as law enforcement.

The now-famous mayor of Norway — a small town with a population of just over 360 — was in the local headlines earlier this year when cops allege that he broke into his own town hall through a window because he lost his keys, according to The Post and Courier.

The chubby Preacher said he didn’t climb in himself, but employed the help of a smaller man to get inside and unlock the door. The paper also reports that a former mayor called for burglary charges to be brought against Preacher.

huffington post

« People are monsters, » Baraa Melhem said her father would tell her, according to a social worker dealing with the case.

Palestinian police said on Monday they freed Melhem from the small bathroom of a home in the West Bank city of Qalqilya on Saturday after an anonymous tip.

Her father, who holds Israeli citizenship, was arrested and handed over to Israeli authorities. He is due to appear in an Israeli court on Wednesday, an Israeli police spokesman said.

Melhem told Voice of Palestine radio that when she was 11, her father confined her to the toilet and did not allow her to go to school or see her mother, whom he had divorced.

She was beaten with a baton and metal wires and given only one blanket to keep her warm, said the social worker, Hala Shreim.

« The bathroom was only 1-1/2 meters big, it was like a cell, » Shreim said.

According to a statement issued by Palestinian police, the father, citing a « family dispute », admitted to locking up his daughter and feeding her mainly bread.

Melhem told Voice of Palestine that her father used to shave her hair and her eyebrows, and allowed her to shower only once a month. He would let her out of the bathroom every night at 1 a.m. to clean the house until 4 a.m., she added.

Melhem’s father, the social worker said, often encouraged his daughter to commit suicide.

« Her only consolation was a radio which kept her connected to the world, » Shreim said.

The young woman has now been reunited with her mother.

« She told me that she loves life and has to live, » Shreim quoted Melhem as saying.

huffington post

The star-studded Lions were tipped to finish top of Group A but now face a battle to qualify after falling 2-1 to the Zambians yesterday, with their situation complicated further by Equatorial Guinea beating Libya. Traore, however, said today: « We lost a battle, not the war. It’ll wake us up, and that’s going to help me a lot on the psychological front.

« We turned the page on this match this morning, holding a debriefing on what needed to be fixed. My talk to the team was based on the fundamentals: passing, working as a unit, to be aggressive. »

He added: « Quite a few of the players are competing in their first Nations Cup. We can’t rest on our showing in the qualifiers, we have to do more. »

We lost a battle, not the war. It’ll wake us up, and that’s going to help me a lot on the psychological front.
Senegal coach Amara Traore on their loss against Zambia
Traore was talking after overseeing a post-match training session in which captain Mamadou Niang, taken off at the break yesterday, figured in the ‘B’ side.

Senegal were stunned by two breakaway goals in the first 20 minutes from Emmanuel Mayuka and Rainford Kalaba, and all they had to show for their dominance after half-time was a Dame N’Doye goal which set up a tense climax.

Straight after the match Traore had described the first-half performance as « a calamity ». But he noted: « Zambia caused us a lot of discomfort and did more running. But we still have a chance to get through. Tonight changes nothing. »

Senegal have a chance to make amends on Wednesday when they meet the co-hosts Equatorial Guinea.

fifa.com

The signers of the open letter, which was released Friday (Jan. 20), cited Gingrich’s repeated criticisms of Barack Obama as a “food stamp president” who encourages government dependency for the poor, especially for African-Americans.

They also criticized Santorum’s statement that he does not want “to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money.” Santorum later said he intended to use a word other than “black” but did not say what that word would have been.

At Thursday’s debate in South Carolina, both Santorum and Gingrich continued to blast the Obama administration for allegedly encouraging the use of food stamps.

Those statements have been criticized for encouraging racially charged associations between blacks and government welfare, and have drawn sharp denunciations from civil rights groups and many pundits.

In their open letter, the Catholic leaders — many of them associated with progressive and Democratic causes — say that raising “racist caricatures is irresponsible, immoral and unworthy of political leaders.”

“Some presidential candidates now courting ‘values voters’ seem to have forgotten that defending human life and dignity does not stop with protecting the unborn,” the authors write.

“We remind Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Santorum that Catholic bishops describe racism as an ‘intrinsic evil’ and consistently defend vital government programs such as food stamps and unemployment benefits that help struggling Americans.”

Since December 2008, a month before Obama took office, food-stamp use has increased 46 percent, The Associated Press reported. Even though the economy has begun to recover, total spending has more than doubled in four years to an all-time high of $75.3 billion.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, about one-third of food-stamp recipients are white, while 22 percent are African-American and 16 percent Hispanic. Some 41 percent of all recipients live in households where family members are employed. Surveys show that strong majorities of Americans say they do not want food stamp programs cut.

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WashingtonPoat

Despite three-time defending champions Egypt and the likes of Nigeria, South Africa and Cameroon all failing to qualify for this year’s finals, the presence of Ghana, the Ivory Coast and Senegal ensures that the tournament will once again be the focus of attention for millions of football fans around the world. The current Elephants squad is full of star names who ply their trade at some of Europe’s leading clubs, but they have not been able to turn that into continental success in recent times with the nation’s sole Nations Cup triumph coming 20 years ago.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the Ivory Coast are firm bookmakers’ favourites to emerge victorious in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, and midfielder Cheik Tiote is determined to see his side live up to that billing.

« We have great players so we have to win something – we have to win this Cup of Nations, » said the Newcastle midfielder, who counts players such as Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, Yaya and Kolo Toure, Gervinho and Didier Zokora among his international team-mates.

« Every time there is an African tournament people tell us that we are favourites to win, but when you look at our trophy cabinet there is nothing there. Absolutely nothing. »

Despite the absence of several leading nations, Chelsea striker Drogba believes his country still have a tough task on their hands to end their long wait to win the event for a second time.

« I think the 2012 Cup of Nations will be very difficult, perhaps even more difficult than previous editions, » the two-time African Player of the Year added on www.cafonline.com.

« Our ambition is to improve on two years ago when we were eliminated in the quarter-finals. »

Ivory Coast have been drawn in Group B alongside Angola, Burkina Faso and Sudan, who they face in their opening match in Malabo on Sunday.

The tournament kicks off on Saturday with two Group A matches, including co-hosts and debutants Equatorial Guinea facing Libya and Senegal meeting Zambia. In Group C are Tunisia – the last country to win the tournament before Egypt’s recent domination – Morocco, Niger and the other co-hosts Gabon.

Meanwhile, Group D is made up of 2010 runners-up Ghana, Mali, Guinea and Botswana.

Highly-fancied Ghana, who look to have striker Asamoah Gyan available again after injury, have been African Nations Cup champions on four occasions but their last success was back in 1982.

However, Black Stars coach Goran Stevanovic is in optimistic mood heading into this year’s event, saying on www.bbc.co.uk: « I am sure after the first game Ghana will show the people of the world that we are really really favourites for this tournament.

« Senegal and Ivory Coast are our biggest opponents but in a tournament everybody can surprise. »
ghanaweb.com

yahoo.com