10th December 2013- Johannesburg, South Africa. Former US President George W Bush is at the FNB Stadium to mark the passing of Nelson Mandela. A National Memorial Service at the FNB Stadium in Soweto was held to mark the life and achievements of Nelson Mandela. Tens of thousands of people were in attendance at a rainswept stadium as well as a host of dignitaries from around the world. People gather to commemorate his passing as the first President in a post-aprathied South Africa who passed on Thursday 5th December at the age of 95.
During the offensive by Burundian AMISOM forces started Thursday 20th October to capture the Daynille District of Mogadihsu , the last district still in Al-Shabab hands in the capital, the Burundians have come up against stiff resistance. The fighting is fierce and ongoing. While Al-Shabab recently released images of 70 dead AMISOM soldiers they claim have been killed during the offensive, official figures and eyewitness accounts from the military hospital at the AMISOM base seem to indicate that the number dead is much lower at 16 with over 46 casualties being treated at the hospital.
19th January 2014- Bor, South Sudan: Three soldiers stand guard at Bor airport, a stragetically important town, 200km North of the capital Juba in South Sudan following its recapture by Government SPLA forces on Saturday 18th January 2014. There appears to have been a lot of damage from general looting but little evidence of heavy fighting, gunfire or shelling from the deserted and much-destroyed ghost town. (George Philipas/Polaris)
26th January 2014 - A Cartouche rocket fired by SPLA forces from the back of a military 4x4 vehicle at rebel positions at Mathiang near Bor. Hostilities continue on the frontline of fighting between rebels and Government SPLA forces in Mathiang where the Government has re-inforced its position 15km North of Bor.
Deborah Awui in Leodar district who shows a bullet wound that she suffered during hostilites in the town. It remains untreated as medical facilities remain non-existent. In Bor, according to the Mayor Nhial Majak Nhial 2,500 people - mostly civilians - have been killed with huge numbers unaccounted for. In this part of the country, atrocities have allegedly been commited by the so-called White Army of the rebels during their re-capture of the town between 31st December 2013 and 18th January 2014 and are allegedly mostly women, children and the elderly of the Dinka community who were unable to flee once the town was re-captured. The mayor of Bor who saw 15 members of his own family perish says that he does still believe there is a chance for reconcilation with the Nuer tribe many of whom support and fight with the rebels. But many in his own community question whether such atrocities would be repeated if the two communities were to live side-by-side again. The fighting that erupted on 15th December 2013 in Juba and spread throughout South Sudan quickly has displaced over 500,000 people according to latest reports and killed close to 10,000 people.
26th January 2014 - A missle fired by the SPLA Government forces at rebel positions cruises over a hut burnt by debris created by a previous missile fired shortly before. Hostilities continue on the frontline of fighting between rebels and Government SPLA forces in Mathiang where the Government has re-inforced its position 15km North of Bor.
December 7, 2014- Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa. Lightening strikes Naval Hill in the Franklin game reserve in the centre of Bloemfontein and engulfs the statue of Nelson Mandela, the first black President of an apartheid-free South Africa. It is just over a year since the death of Nelson Mandela on December 5 2013 and whose anniversary was observed by many throughout the country.
