Hillary Heads To Congo After Angola

Angola: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton heads to the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday to target an epidemic of sexual assault in the violence-torn nation after wrapping up a trip to Angola where she pushed democratic reform and trade.

Clinton will leave Angola after signing a new agreement with Angolan health officials to fight HIV/AIDS and meeting President Eduardo dos Santos, who has ruled for 30 years and has been criticized for postponing a presidential vote scheduled for this year.

In the Congolese capital of Kinshasa, she will visit a hospital founded by former NBA star Dikembe Mutumbo, a native of Congo, and hold a town hall meeting. On Tuesday, she travels to the devastated east of the country to meet victims of rampant rapes and other sexual crimes.

While in the eastern city of Goma, Clinton also plans to meet Congolese President Joseph Kabila to press him and his government on democratic reform and fighting corruption in the wake of a brutal conflict that at its height drew in a half dozen of the country’s neighbors.

Clinton delivered a similar message in oil-rich Angola, which is struggling to rebuild after 27 years of war that ended in 2002.

On Sunday, she urged Angola’s government to build on successful legislative elections held in 2008 — the first in 16 years — by holding presidential elections as soon as possible and dealing with the legacy of 27 years of civil war.

“We look forward to Angola building on this positive step, including the adoption of a new constitution, investigating and prosecuting past human rights abuses and holding a timely, free and fair presidential election,” she said.

“So, Mr. Minister, we have our work cut out for us,” she said.

Clinton stressed the need for greater accountability and transparency in Angola’s petroleum sector, particularly with revenue from exports, which account for nearly 60 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, according to officials traveling with her.

Clinton came to the Angolan capital on the third leg of a seven-nation trip to reinforce America’s presence in a country where it increasingly is competing for energy resources with China. Beijing has loaned Angola billions of dollars in recent years without pressing reform.

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Hillary Heads To Congo After Angola

Iraq Bombing’s Wave Leave 41 Killed

BAGHDAD: At least 41 people were killed and nearly 150 wounded in a spate of bomb attacks near the restive northern Iraqi city of Mosul and in the capital Baghdad on Monday, police said.

In the deadliest single attack, two booby-trapped lorries exploded before dawn in the village of Khaznah, east of Mosul, leaving 25 people dead and 70 others wounded. Thirty-five houses were destroyed in the village, which is home to members of the tiny Shabak community, a sect of Kurdish origin.

In Baghdad, two car bombs went off as day labourers were gathering in the early morning hours looking for jobs.

The first bomb exploded at Hay al-Amel, in the west of the capital, killing nine people and injuring 46. The second bomb attack in Shurta Arbaa in the north of the city killed seven people and wounded 35 others.

On Friday, a powerful car bomb blast killed at least 37 people were killed near a mosque in Mosul in a wave of attacks that also killed 10 people in Baghdad.

Despite a marked reduction in violence in recent months, attacks against security forces and civilians remain common in Baghdad, Mosul and the ethnically divided northern oil city of Kirkuk.

The number of violent deaths fell by a third last month to 275 from 437 in June, following the pullout of US forces from urban areas.

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Iraq Bombing’s Wave Leave 41 Killed

Flood Rocked Taiwan, 12 Dead and 52 Missing

TAIPEI: At least 12 people were confirmed dead and 52 others were missing in Taiwan on Monday after Typhoon Morakot caused the island’s worst flooding in half a century, the rescue services said.

The military was also trying to rescue thousands of people cut off by fallen bridges or raging rivers after the typhoon dumped a record 2.5 metres (100 inches) of rain on the island before it headed for the coast of mainland China.

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Flood Rocked Taiwan, 12 Dead and 52 Missing