MAYEGBA'S BLOG ™ ̷̐ ̈́ ̈́ ̈́ ͂ ̷̐ ̈́ ̈́̈́ ͂ ̐

Two people have been killed after a police helicopter monitoring violent clashes between white supremacists and anti-fascists in Charlottesville, Virginia, crashed. In a message on Twitter, Donald Trump said: "Deepest condolences to the families and fellow officers of the Virginia State Police who died today. You're all among the best this nation produces." Fighting broke out between the two groups after far-right demonstrators gathered to protest against plans to remove a statue to Civil War Confederate general, Robert E Lee. Some were dressed in paramilitary uniforms and carried assault rifles, while others were had shields, helmets and gas masks. At least one person was killed when a car drove into a group of anti-fascist activists. Police said the pilot and a passenger had died in the police helicopter. Officials said the crash was linked to the protests, but it was not immediately clear whether this was simply because the helicopter had been monitoring events on the

Donald Trump's response to the violence which engulfed Charlottesville has come under fire from senior Republicans. The US president, who has been at his golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey, gave what was seen as a muted response to the mayhem which unfolded after white supremacists descended on Virginia. One woman was killed when a car was driven into a group of counter-protestors and two Virginia State Police officers died when their helicopter crashed. Charlottesville far-right protest Mr Trump condemned the hate and bigotry "on many sides" rather than giving an unequivocal condemnation of the neo-nazis who organised the rally. Some critics of Mr Trump argue that his refusal to pin the blame on white supremacists are because he fears he could loose some of the voters who swept him into power. David Duke @DrDavidDuke I would recommend you take a good look in the mirror & remember it was White Americans who put you in the presidency, not radical leftists. https://t

Kenyan minister denies police fired live bullets, says there were no real protests, just criminals. At least 24 people have been shot dead by police in violence during Kenya's disputed election, including many killed in protests in opposition strongholds after President Uhuru Kenyatta's victory late on Friday, according to Kenyan human rights observers. The Kenya Red Cross Society said it picked up 93 people injured by the violence. MSF Kenya, which has its own ambulances and involves figures not counted by the Red Cross, reported 54 people were treated at its clinics, raising the toll to at least 150 wounded. Police on Saturday fired live bullets and tear gas on protesters in volatile areas of Nairobi and other parts of the country, provoking anger from opposition supporters and condemnation from human rights activists. Kenya faced its third successive disputed election after the opposition National Super Alliance claimed its candidate, Raila Odinga, won but Kenyatta, the incu

South Sudan's rebels on Saturday said they had wrested control of Pagak, their stronghold town near the country's border with Ethiopia, from government forces, a day after launching an offensive to drive them out. Formerly controlled by the rebels, the town was captured by South Sudan's military five days ago but heavy fighting erupted on Friday with rebels vowing to retake it. "We took control of Pagak...government forces are not in Pagak, we have pushed them out," rebel spokesman Lam Paul Gabriel told Reuters. Dickson Gatluak Jock, spokesman for South Sudan's Vice President, Taban Deng Gai, denied the military had lost Pagak but said they had lost three soldiers in the fighting while four were wounded. Gai is a former rebel but last year he defected to the government side and was handed the vice presidency job. His former rebel forces, who are now part of the government military, are the ones on the frontline in Pagak. "We clashed with them (rebels) yes

Several senior members of Islamic State's central Asian affiliate were killed in a U.S. air strike in Afghanistan, officials said on Sunday. The attack on Thursday killed Abdul Rahman, identified by the U.S. military as the Kunar provincial emir for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-Khorasan, according to a statement from the command in Kabul. "The death of Abdul Rahman deals yet another blow to the senior leadership of ISIS-K," said General John Nicholson, the senior U.S. commander in Afghanistan. Three other senior ISIS-K members were also among those killed in the strike in eastern Kunar province. Nicholson has vowed to defeat Islamic State militants in Afghanistan this year. The group's emir, Abu Sayed, was reported killed in a strike on his headquarters in Kunar in July, the third Islamic State emir in Afghanistan to be killed since July 2016. In April, Nicholson deployed a 21,600-pound (9,797 kg) "Massive Ordnance Air Blast" bomb against Islamic State po