QUOTE OF THE DAY “He is our father; we must welcome him home.” Boneka Mpopoma, a schoolteacher who walked several miles from
her South African village to see the motorcade that
carried the body of former President Nelson Mandela, who will be buried today near his home in Qunu Article, this pageMinibus bombing kills 4 in Kenya capital
NAIROBI, Kenya - At least four people were killed Saturday after a device exploded inside a passenger van in the Kenyan capital, police said, in what appears to be the first attack inside Nairobi since the deadly terrorist assault on an upscale mall in September.
The explosion happened as the minibus was traveling from Eastleigh neighborhood of Nairobi to the city center, said Benson Kibue, chief of police in Nairobi. Investigators believe an improvised explosive device was used in the Saturday attack, which injured at least 25, the chief said.
Eastleigh is known for its large population of ethnic Somalis. The neighborhood came under scrutiny by investigators after the Sept. 21 attack on Nairobi’s Westgate Mall, a bloody four-day siege in which at least 67 people were killed. A Western official familiar with the Westgate attack investigation said last month that all four attackers were ethnic Somalis who had spent time in Eastleigh.
Kenya has been the scene of multiple terrorist attacks since the country sent its military to Somalia in 2011 to fight the extremist Somali militant group al-Shabab. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the Westgate attack and has said more attacks will be carried out unless Kenya withdraws.
Bomb kills 2 U.N. peacekeepers in Mali
DAKAR, Senegal - A bombing killed at least two United Nations peacekeepers in Mali and seriously wounded several others in the northern city of Kidal, U.N. officials said Saturday.
A car packed with explosives detonated in front of a bank guarded by the peacekeepers, an intelligence official in northern Mali said. The explosion blew open the doors of houses in the area.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media, said two Senegalese peacekeepers were killed.
Abdallah Ag Ibrahim, a Kidal resident, said the bank crumbled, a U.N. armored personnel car caught fire, and a nearby school was in flames. He said he saw four people who were either dead or injured.
Thai army steps in, hosts political forum
BANGKOK - Thailand’s armed forces took center stage Saturday in the country’s ongoing political drama, showing off its gentler side by hosting a forum to allow the leader of a protest movement to present his demand for an immediate change of government.
The military did not indicate whether it would act on the protesters’ behalf, and protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban repeated his position that caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra must step down and an interim, non-elected government administer the country before any new polls are held. An election has been called for Feb. 2.
Thailand’s military is historically noted for intervening during political crises, staging about a dozen coups since the country became a constitutional monarchy in 1932, and using the threat of force for leverage.
The military has repeatedly declared itself neutral in the current political battle.
Suthep and his People’s Democratic Reform Committee want new laws to banish corruption in politics before any election is held. The protesters say Thai politics are hopelessly corrupt under the purported continuing influence of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck’s brother, who has lived in self-imposed exile since 2008 to avoid jail time on a corruption charge.
Social Democrats OK Merkel’s third term
BERLIN - Germany’s main center-left party cleared the way Saturday for Angela Merkel to start her third term as chancellor, announcing that its members had voted by a large majority to join the conservative leader in government.
The ballot of the Social Democrats’ nearly 475,000 members capped post-World War II Germany’s longest effort to form a government. It set the stage for Parliament to reelect Merkel on Tuesday - ending nearly three months of post-election political limbo in Europe’s biggest economy.
About 76 percent of members who took part approved a deal to form a “grand coalition” government of right and left under Merkel.
“What we want to do now is to show the 24 percent over the next four years that the 76 percent were right,” party leader Sigmar Gabriel said. He added that the party had shown a great “sense of responsibility” to the country.
Merkel’s conservatives won Sept. 22 elections but fell short of a majority and saw their previous pro-business coalition partners lose their parliamentary seats - forcing them to reach across the aisle for new allies.
Front Section, Pages 8 on 12/15/2013