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SA football boss Danny Jordaan denies raping Jennifer Ferguson
Image copyright AFP South Africa’s football boss Danny Jordaan, 66, has broken his silence to deny raping singer and ex-MP Jennifer Ferguson nearly 24 years ago.
Mr Jordaan rejected Mrs Ferguson’s offer of mediation, saying the accusations must be dealt with in a court of law, his lawyer said.
Ms Ferguson alleges Mr Jordaan “overpowered” her and raped her in a hotel in Port Elizabeth city in 1994.
She said she was inspired to speak out by the #MeToo campaign on social media.
Ms Ferguson said the attack took place when she was “high and happy” following her unexpected nomination by Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress (ANC) party to serve in South Africa’s first democratically elected parliament in 1994.
Now living in Sweden with her husband, Ms Ferguson said she wanted prominent South African cleric Paul Verryn to broker “mediation” between her and Mr Jordaan to achieve “restorative justice”.
Mr Jordaan, however, rejected mediation, as it could be perceived as a “cover-up” with “one law for the powerful and another for the masses”, his lawyer, Mamodupi Mohlala-Mulaudzi, said in a statement, adding her client had not commented up to now because of his “empathy with victims of gender-based violence”.
Mr Jordaan, she continued, was innocent, and believed that the singer’s allegations could “only be ventilated in a court of law, where the rights of all parties are protected”.
In response, Ms Ferguson said she was “preparing for a course of action, the nature of which I will be disclosing in the near future”.
She says she has spoken to two other women with similar allegations against Mr Jordaan since first publishing her account on her blog.
Ms Ferguson alleged that Mr Jordaan came to her hotel suite after she had given a performance at a dinner.
“He overpowered me and painfully raped me. It must have been over in about 20 seconds although it felt like a lifetime,” she said. “He left immediately without saying a word.”
Mr Jordaan, a prominent member of the ANC and president of the South African Football Association, was widely praised for spearheading South Africa’s 2010 World Cup bid. It was the first time that the football tournament was played in Africa.
In 2015, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) alleged that South Africa had paid a $10m (£6.5m) bribe to host the tournament. Mr Jordaan and the government strongly denied the allegation.
Mr Jordaan was mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay, which includes Port Elizabeth, until 2016, when the opposition took control of it in elections.
Ms Ferguson campaigned against military conscription during white-minority rule in South Africa.
State radio banned her songs, including Letters For Dickie, sung in the form of letters from a girl to her boyfriend who was a conscripted soldier on the border.
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Liberia presidential vote halted by country’s Supreme Court
Image copyright Reuters/ EPA Liberia’s Supreme Court has ordered preparations for Tuesday’s presidential run-off to be halted amid allegations of fraud in the first round.
Ex-football star George Weah and Vice-President Joseph Boakai are due to go head-to-head in the 7 November vote.
But the Liberty Party’s Charles Brumskine, who came third in the first round, has challenged the result.
Last month’s election was the country’s first independently run vote following the end of civil war in 2003.
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Following the announcement, riot police were deployed to guard the court and electoral commission.
Later, a delegation arrived in the capital, among them the heads of the regional grouping Ecowas, and the Africa Union. They are meeting the heads of all the political parties.
Who does the president support?
Mr Brumskine and the Liberty Party said the first round was “characterised by massive systematic irregularities and fraud”, including polling stations opening late and therefore preventing people from voting.
The election is to be postponed until his accusations are properly investigated, the court says.
But even if his case is thrown out, observers say it is likely to delay next week’s vote as the commission will have lost valuable preparation time.
The Liberty Party is not alone in its allegations. The accusation of irregularities is backed by two other political parties – including Mr Boakai’s Unity Party, which on Sunday alleged that its own president had interfered in the process.
In a statement, it said Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first female elected president and a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, had attempted to influence the outcome of the poll.
Relations between Mrs Sirleaf and her deputy are not warm, with some ruling party officials saying the vice-president was not her choice to succeed her, the BBC’s Jonathan Paye-Layleh reports from the capital Monrovia.
Mrs Sirleaf, 79, has however said more than twice that she supports Mr Boakai, who won 28.8% of the vote compared to Mr Weah’s 38.4% in the first round.
Mr Weah’s Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) responded to the accusations by noting it was “sad for a ruling party that has been in power for 12 years [to] be crying”.
International observers, including the European Union, had not raised major concerns about the first round of voting, although some irregularities were observed, AFP news agency reports.
The court has instructed the Liberty Party and the electoral commission to present their cases by Thursday.
However, election commission spokesman Henry Flomo told the BBC it had not yet been officially informed of the Supreme Court’s order, made late on Tuesday.
But if there is an injunction, the commission will abide by it as the Supreme Court is the highest court and its decisions are final, Mr Flomo added.
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New York truck attack: Trump backs Guantanamo for suspect
Image copyright Reuters US President Donald Trump has said he is open to sending the New York truck attack suspect to Guantanamo Bay.
“I would certainly consider that,” he told reporters at a cabinet meeting. “Send him to Gitmo,” the president added, using the prison’s nickname.
Mr Trump said “these animals” need to face “far greater” US punishment.
He also pledged to end the green card lottery under which the man suspected of killing eight people in Manhattan on Tuesday entered the US.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the suspect, Uzbek immigrant Sayfullo Saipov, 29, came to the US in 2010 under the diversity visa programme.
The popular 1990 scheme awards US permanent resident visas to around 50,000 applicants from around the world each year.
Speaking at the White House, the president said: “I am today starting the process of terminating the diversity lottery programme.
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“I’m going to ask Congress to immediately initiate work to get rid of this programme.”
Of the diversity green card, Mr Trump said: “Sounds nice, it’s not nice, it’s not good – we’ve been against it.”
Two hawkish Republican senators – John McCain and Lindsey Graham – are advocating holding Mr Saipov as an “enemy combatant”.
The suspect, who is not a US citizen, allegedly ploughed a rented truck into cyclists and pedestrians on a Manhattan bike path before he was shot by an officer and taken into custody.
Mr Trump told reporters: “We also have to come up with punishment that’s far quicker and far greater than the punishment these animals are getting right now.
“They’ll go through court for years at the end, who knows what happens.”
He added: “Because what we have right now is a joke and it’s a laughing stock and no wonder so much of this stuff takes place.”
Guantanamo Bay’s population of inmates has dwindled from a high of more than 750 to 41.
Former President Barack Obama’s administration tried unsuccessfully to close the prison amid claims of abuse and a lack of due process.
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New York truck attack: Driver ‘inspired by Islamic State’
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The man suspected of killing eight people in New York by driving a truck down a cycle lane was inspired by the Islamic State (IS) group, police say.
New York Police’s Deputy Commissioner John Miller said that notes in Arabic claiming the attack on behalf of IS were recovered from the scene in Lower Manhattan.
The suspect, Sayfullo Saipov, 29, is an Uzbek immigrant, and was shot and injured by police.
He is in hospital and under arrest.
Mr Miller said the suspect had closely followed IS instructions from social media on how to carry out such an assault.
“It appears that Mr Saipov had been planning this for a number of weeks,” said Mr Miller. “He did this in the name of Isis,” he added, an alternative name for IS.
It was the deadliest terror attack in the city since 11 September, 2001.
Who were the victims?
The deaths of five Argentines were confirmed by the country’s foreign ministry. They were part of a group of nine friends in New York to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their graduation from a polytechnic college in the central city of Rosario, Argentine media said.
One of the men who died, steel firm owner Ariel Erlij, helped pay for the friends’ trip, La Nación newspaper reported (in Spanish).
The men – all aged 48 or 49 – were named as Hernán Diego Mendoza, Diego Enrique Angelini, Alejandro Damián Pagnucco, Ariel Erlij and Hernán Ferrucci.
Belgian officials said Anne-Laure Decadt, a 31-year-old from Staden in Flanders, was also killed. Three Belgians were wounded.
Two other victims, both Americans, have not yet been named.
How did the attack unfold?
The suspected attacker rented the truck from a New Jersey branch of retailer Home Depot on Tuesday afternoon before driving to New York City and entering the bike lane, police said.
Video cameras show the van driving at very high speed, appearing to target bike riders and pedestrians.
After the van collided with a school bus, its driver emerged and brandished what appeared to be two weapons.
A suspect was shot and wounded by police officer Ryan Nash, 28, one of three NYPD officers who attended the scene after being alerted by witnesses.
Police say the suspect is currently being treated at Bellevue hospital, where he has been interviewed by officers.
Knives, a paint gun and a pellet gun were recovered from the scene.
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Who is the suspect?
Sayfullo Saipov had reportedly lived in Tampa, Florida, and Paterson, New Jersey.
He arrived in America from Uzbekistan in 2010 and is a legal resident in the country. Uber confirmed he had been working as a driver for them.
Three officials said Mr Saipov had previously come to the federal authorities’ attention because of an unrelated investigation, the New York Times reported.
Police records show he was arrested in Missouri last year over a traffic fine.
Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev told President Donald Trump his country was ready to “use all forces and resources” to help investigate the attack. Uzbek officials have not yet confirmed the identity or nationality of the attacker.
What has been the reaction?
President Trump took to Twitter to call the attacker “a very sick and deranged person”, adding: “We must not allow Isis [Islamic State] to return, or enter, our country after defeating them in the Middle East and elsewhere. Enough!”
He also announced he had ordered extreme vetting to be stepped up, without elaborating further.
Mr Trump first said he wanted “extreme vetting” of immigrants during his presidential campaign last August. As president, he introduced a ban on arrivals to the US from a number of mainly-Muslim countries – a move that has been challenged legally and is due before the Supreme Court in the coming weeks.
The American Civil Liberties Union civil rights group said the term extreme vetting was a “euphemism for discriminating against Muslims”.
Early on Monday, he called for a “merit-based” visa system and attacked Democrat rival Chuck Schumer for having pushed for the creation of a diversity visa – or green card lottery – in the early 1990s.
A diversity visa is given to residents of countries with few immigrants to the US. A friend of Mr Saipov told the BBC the 29-year-old had obtained his residency this way.
Mr Schumer responded to Mr Trump on Twitter, saying: “Always believed & cont. to believe that immigration is good for America. President Trump, instead of politicizing & dividing America, which he always seems to do at times of national tragedy, should focus on anti-terrorism funding which he proposed cutting in his budget.”
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the incident was a “cowardly act of terror aimed at innocent civilians”.
“We know that this action was intended to break our spirit. But we also know that New Yorkers are strong, New Yorkers are resilient and our spirit will never be moved by an act of violence and an act meant to intimidate us,” he said.
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Social-media images shown as evidence of ‘Russian trolls’
Image copyright Getty Images US senators have put on show several examples of what they believe to be Russia’s attempt to influence US citizens via social media.
Facebook, Twitter and Google had previously shared with congressional investigators some examples of what they suspected to be adverts and messages posted by Russia-based “troll” operatives, but the material had not previously been made public – although some instances had already been identified by the press.
Below are the cases displayed during the Senate Subcommittee on the Judiciary’s hearing on Tuesday and a follow-up event held by the Senate Subcommittee on Intelligence, which is ongoing.
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Brett Ratner: Director denies accusations of sexual harassment
Image copyright Getty Images Six women have accused Hollywood filmmaker Brett Ratner of sexual harassment or misconduct.
The women, including The Newsroom actress Olivia Munn, made the allegations in the Los Angeles Times.
Ratner’s lawyer “categorically” denied all of the accusations on his behalf in response to the article.
Natasha Henstridge, who appeared in Species and The Whole Ten Yards, claimed she had been forced into a sex act with Ratner as a teenager.
The actress, now 43, was a 19-year-old model at the time she alleges Ratner stopped her from leaving a room at his New York apartment and then made her perform a sex act on him.
“He strong-armed me in a real way,” she told the LA Times. “He physically forced himself onto me.”
Munn said that Ratner masturbated in front of her in 2014 when she was visiting the set of his film After the Sunset.
She said she since made the decision not to work with Ratner, and added: “It feels as if I keep going up against the same bully at school who just won’t quit.”
Ratner, 48, who directed the Rush Hour film series and X-Men: The Last Stand, made a strong denial via his lawyer Martin Singer.
He told the LA Times: “I have represented Mr Ratner for two decades, and no woman has ever made a claim against him for sexual misconduct or sexual harassment.
“Furthermore, no woman has ever requested or received any financial settlement from my client.”
The BBC has also contacted representatives of Brett Ratner for a response to these allegations.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
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Nigeria: Gombe State Council On Health Brainstorms On Health Financing, Service Delivery
By Ahmad Umar
Gombe (Nigeria) — Gombe state government, northeast of the country has organised a Council meeting on enhancing the health care financing and support universal health coverage
Speaking at the opening on Wednesday, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Hajiya Laraba Kawu said the meeting was in collaboration with international NGOs, Save the Children, MamaYe E4A, Society for Family Health, Marie Stopes Nigeria, Pact and Cihp.
The meeting, She said, brought together all stakeholders to discuss health related issues with a view to finding solutions to challenges to enhance service delivery.
Kawu said far reaching resolutions are expected to be arrived at during the meeting which would be forwarded to government for consideration and implementation.
While restating the commitment of government to enhancing healthcare delivery, she urged participants at the meeting to initiate workable ideas that would further boost healthcare delivery in the state.
Speaking on the overview of the meeting, Director, Planning, Research and Statistics of the Ministry, Abdu Usman said the council is a replica of the National Council on Health but tailored to suit the health needs of the state.
Usman said participants were expected to discuss health related issues that have direct bearing on the state.
He gave the names of members of the state council on health to include, state Commissioner for Health as chairman, all local government chairmen, Committee Chairman on Health at the state assembly, development partners as well as traditional rulers.
The theme for the 2-day meeting is: “Strengthening Health Care Financing in Gombe State to Support Universal Health Coverage”.
The meeting equally has sub themes including, ending all preventable deaths from pneumonia and review of the one functional Primary Health Care centre per ward initiative.
Participants are expected to submit memos during the first day which would be discussed before a communique is drawn on the second day.
Participants at the meeting who spoke to Africa Prime News maintained that without adequate financing, any strategic plan initiated towards enhancing the health sector, was bound to fail.