Nigeria: Dozens dead in church bombings and rioting

At least 36 people have been killed in multiple blasts at at least three churches in the northern Nigerian state of Kaduna, and in subsequent reprisals.

Officials said at least 16 people died and dozens were injured in the blasts.
Some 20 more people were killed in later rioting apparently targeting Muslims, aid workers and witnesses said.

Kaduna state authorities have imposed a 24-hour curfew as soldiers and police try to restore order.
No-one has yet claimed responsibility for the blasts, but Kaduna state has previously seen attacks by the radical Islamist group Boko Haram.

Last week the group attacked two church services, sparking violence which killed seven people. Hundreds have died in its previous attacks on churches.

Revenge attacks
 
Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency said two of the blasts happened in the Wusasa and Sabon-Gari districts of Zaria.

Wusasa is the site of the first church to be built in northern Nigeria.

A third blast reportedly hit the nearby city of Kaduna, the state capital.

Unconfirmed reports from AFP news agency say explosions have hit two further churches in the state, south of Kaduna city, bringing the total number of attacks to five.

Red Cross officials told the agency that more than 20 bodies had been recovered after rioting, most "burned beyond recognition", and witnesses reported that Christian youths at a roadblock south of Kaduna were pulling Muslims out of cars and killing them.

Boko Haram has previously justified attacks on churches by saying they were carried out in revenge for killings of Muslims in central Nigeria during earlier bouts of violence.

Recently, hardly a Sunday has gone by without reports of churches being attacked in Nigeria, the BBC's Will Ross reports from Lagos.

Boko Haram says it wants Islamic sharia law in place across Nigeria and analysts suggest it is trying to trigger clashes between Christians and Muslims, our correspondent says.

Last weekend an archbishop in central Nigeria appealed to Christians not to retaliate when churches were attacked, he adds.

Ethiopia 'forcibly displacing' for sugar plantations

The Ethiopian government is forcibly displacing tens of thousands from their land to make way for state-run sugar plantations, a campaign group has said.

The displacements are happening in the country's Omo Valley, according to a report by the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW).

The valley, a World Heritage site, is also the site of a controversial dam.

The Ethiopian government has denied forcing anyone from their homes and says the project will create jobs.

HRW says that in order to make space for the plantations, government security forces are compelling communities to relocate from their traditional lands, using violence and intimidation.

In its report, the campaign group says that at the time of its visit to the area - in June 2011 - "military units regularly visited villages to intimidate residents and suppress dissent related to the sugar plantation development". It added that "soldiers regularly stole or killed cattle".

These allegations were denied by government spokesman Bereket Simon.

"There is no forcing out of people from their residence, if there is any reason to relocate people, then it is based on... open communication," he told the AFP news agency.

'No shortcut'
 
The sugar plantations will be irrigated in part by the Gibe III hydropower project, the group says.

The dam, which would become Africa's largest and the fourth-biggest in the world, has provoked much controversy.

Egypt's military grants itself sweeping powers

 

 

Turnout in the second round was reported to be low

Egypt's ruling military has issued a declaration granting itself sweeping powers, as the country awaits results of presidential elections.

The document by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (Scaf) says new general elections cannot be held until a permanent constitution is drawn up.

It also gives the Scaf legislative control.

Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood says its candidate, Mohammed Mursi, has won Sunday's presidential election.

Mr Mursi, an Islamist, is competing against Ahmed Shafiq, who served as prime minister under former President Hosni Mubarak.

Mr Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood said he was holding a 52%-48% lead over Mr Shafiq with almost all the vote counted after Sunday's second-round run-off election.

A pro-Brotherhood TV station said Mr Mursi had won over 13m votes, and state TV reported that he was ahead in preliminary results.

Speaking at his party headquarters, Mr Mursi pledged to be a president for all Egyptians, adding that he would not "seek revenge or settle scores".

"Thanks be to God who has guided Egypt's people to the path of freedom and democracy, uniting the Egyptians to a better future," he said.

But Mr Shafiq's campaign said it rejected "completely" the victory claim by Mr Mursi.

"We are astonished by this bizarre behaviour which amounts to a hijacking of the election results," Shafiq campaign official Mahmud Barakeh was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

Official results from the Higher Presidential Election Commission (HPEC) will be announced on Thursday, state TV reported.

The election - the first since Hosni Mubarak was forced from office in 2011 - also comes amid a bitter row over the dissolution of parliament following a court ruling on Thursday.

The Brotherhood has denounced the step as unlawful and a coup against democracy.
 
'Grave setback'
 
The Scaf issued its declaration late on Sunday - just hours after the polls closed.

The document effectively gives the Scaf control over the budget and who writes the permanent constitution following mass street protest that toppled Mr Mubarak, reports say. It also strips the president of any authority over the army.

The full details of the declaration are expected to be announced later on Monday.
However, prominent political leader Mohammed ElBaradei already described the document as a "grave setback for democracy and revolution".

The Brotherhood earlier urged Egyptians to protect their revolution after the Scaf declared the parliament null and void on Saturday.

Two days earlier, the Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that last year's legislative polls were unconstitutional because party members were allowed to contest seats in the lower house reserved for independents.

The decision was made by judges appointed under Mr Mubarak.

The dispute has laid bare the fears of some that the military council is trying to consolidate power and resist the democratic changes demanded during last year's demonstrations.

Soldiers have already been stationed around the parliament with orders not to let MPs enter.

Law and order

Polls began closing at 22:00 (20:00 GMT), after voting was extended by two hours.

Turnout appeared to be down compared to the first round.

The BBC's Jon Leyne says that there was less enthusiasm in the run-off election than there was for previous rounds of voting, and some have called for a boycott or spoiled ballots.

Many voters have expressed scepticism at the choices they face, and have voted with reluctance.

"Boycotting the elections is not a practical solution because at this point one of the two candidates will win anyway," Saber Abdullah, voting in Alexandria, told the BBC.

"I demand the next president to concentrate on helping the youth because the old regime have ignored them to the extent that they have reached rock bottom."

Mr Shafiq has campaigned on a platform of a return to stability and law-and-order which, correspondents say, many find attractive after months of political turmoil.

But to his critics, the former air force officer is the army's unofficial candidate and a symbol of the autocratic days under Mubarak.
Mr Mursi, meanwhile, has cast himself as a revolutionary and part of the movement that overthrew Mubarak, and has promised economic and political reform.

He has also softened his religious stance in an attempt to attract liberals and minorities.

Mr Shafiq came second in last month's first round, in which turnout among the 52 million eligible voters was only 46%. Official results gave Mr Mursi 24.8% and Mr Shafiq 23.7%.