Cameroon’s President, Paul Biya, has appealed for international military help to fight Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which during the week threatened to step up its cross-border raids into the country from Nigeria.

The Nigerian group is part of a “global” movement that has attacked Mali, the Central African Republic and Somalia in its drive to establish its authority from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic, Biya said.

“A global threat calls for a global response. Such should be the response of the international community, including the African Union and our regional organizations,” he said in a New Year speech on Thursday to diplomats at the presidential palace.

He said that he regretted that a regional military force against the Islamists had yet to be established.

At least 15 people were killed in an attack on a bus in north Cameroon on New Year’s day.

A man purporting to be Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, threatened in a video posted online during the week to step up violence in Cameroon unless it scrapped its constitution and embraced Islam.

Biya did not comment on the video in his speech.

The country has deployed more troops to its Far North region and has killed hundreds of the Islamist fighters. New laws aimed at stamping out the militants were also helping, Biya said.

“Although weakened by the losses it has suffered, our foe nonetheless remains capable of bouncing back,” he said.

The German government donated 120 all-terrain vehicles to Cameroon’s military in November.

Boko Haram is the main security threat to Nigeria, Africa’s leading energy producer and biggest economy and also threatens Chad and Niger.

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The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, has appealed to passengers to bear with the flights cancellation due to poor visibility in the last few days.

Over 100 local flights have either been cancelled or re-scheduled since Wednesday because of bad weather.

At the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja, several passengers have had to spend hours waiting for their boarding announcements long after they have been checked in at the airline counters.

The Manager, Corporate Communications, FAAN, Dati Yakubu, said that the delays and flights cancellation is caused by the bad weather that comes with the harmattan season.

He pleaded for passengers understanding, adding that the decisions were necessary in the interest of the passengers.

While authorities believe the action is a safety measure to prevent crashes, some affected passengers, who spoke to Channels Television, insisted they should be compensated for their time.

However, some passengers agreed with the flights cancellation and delay since it is because of their safety.

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency had predicted hazy weather conditions and poor visibility range of one to three kilometres on Wednesday.

The condition has continued to badly affect flying.

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FRENCH POLICE / AFP

Two brothers suspected of a bloody attack on the offices of French satirical newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, were killed when police stormed their hideout on Friday, while a second siege ended with the deaths of four hostages.

The violent end to the simultaneous stand-offs followed a police operation of unprecedented scale as France tackled one of the worst threats to its internal security in decades. The heavy loss of life over three consecutive days also risked fuelling anti-immigrant voices in the country and elsewhere in the West.

Officials said Cherif Kouachi and his brother Said, both in their 30s, died when anti-terrorist forces moved in on a print shop in the small town of Dammartin-en-Goele, northeast of Paris, where the chief suspects in Wednesday’s attack had been holed up.

The hostage they had taken was safe, an official said.

Automatic gunfire rang out, followed by blasts and then silence as smoke could be seen billowing from the roof of the print shop.

Amid thick fog, a helicopter landed on the building’s roof, signalling the end of the assault. A government source said the brothers had emerged from the building and opened fire on police before they were killed.

Minutes later, police broke the second siege at a Jewish supermarket in eastern Paris.

A police union source said four hostages had died there along with a gunman, believed to have had links to the same Islamist group as the Kouachi brothers, who was holding them.

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Fireworks, merry-go-rounds, masks and desert loads …read more      

Two brothers suspected of attacking the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo were killed when police stormed their hideout, and at least four other hostages had been killed at a separate siege at a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris. Jillian Kitchener reports.

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French television images showed some people running out of the supermarket in eastern Paris after police conduct a raid on the business. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).

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A man found dead in Kenya who was linked to the trial of Deputy President William Ruto was implicated in efforts to corrupt witnesses, the International Criminal Court (ICC) says. …read more      

Several rounds of automatic gunfire rang out, accompanied by loud explosions, at a print workshop north of Paris where security forces have encircled the two suspects in the Charlie Hebdo killings. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).

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Athletics Kenya issues new anti-doping rules amid reports an increasing number of Kenyan athletes have failed doping tests. …read more      

Ahead of the February 2015 general elections, civil rights activists have appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission to ensure the availability of Permanent Voters Card (PVC) to all registered voters.

The activists, who are members of the Youth initiative for advocacy, growth and advancement, made the appeal while presenting an observatory report on the PVC in Abuja on Friday.

The Head of research, policy and advocacy of the organisation, Mr Samson Itodo, said there was palpable fear amongst the youths that they may be disenfranchised due to inadequate production of the PVCs.

He appealed to INEC to device new methods of providing the voters cards to all eligible registered voters.

The challenge of poor distribution of PVC across Nigeria has been a major issue and tge activists’ statement gain brought to the front burner as they presented its report on the issuance of the cards.

The Head of Research, Policy and Advocacy of the organisation, Mr Samson Itodo, identified areas the electoral body needed to address before the elections.

Allaying the fears of registered voters on tge PVC issue, the Head of Enlightenment of the Independent National Electoral Commission in the Federal Capital Territory, Mr Okezie Nwankwo, announced the decentralisation of collection centres to enable registered voters pick up their cards in the FCT.

He said the efforts would be replicated in other states with low rate of collection.

With over 54 million permanent voters card received as at January 7, 2015, the Electoral body said it had distributed over 38 million which is about 71 per cent of the cards.

The Commission, therefore, appealed to registered voters to pick up their cards before the end of January so that the over 15.5 million cards yet to be collected will be cleared.

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