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Canada will grant asylum to an 18-year-old Saudi woman who fled to Thailand to escape her allegedly abusive family, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday.

Rahaf Al-Qunun will head to Toronto, with a stopover in Seoul, said Thailand's Immigration Police Chief Surachate Hakparn. She boarded a Korean Airlines plane in Bangkok.
Trudeau told reporters in Saskatchewan that his nation accepted the request made by United Nations officials.
The news followed confusion earlier in the day over where the teenager would be resettled.
Hakparn initially told CNN that Qunun had been offered asylum by both Australia and Canada. But he later requested that the statement be retracted.
Adding to the sense of uncertainty surrounding the case, the Twitter account used by Qunun throughout her appeal for asylum was deactivated.
ABC reporter Sophie McNeill tweeted Friday that Qunun was "safe and fine" but had been "receiving a lot of death threats. She will be back on Twitter but for now she's apparently having a short break."
Rahaf al-Qunun has been given UN refugee status, Australian officials say
Rahaf al-Qunun has been given UN refugee status, Australian officials say
Qunun had flown to Thailand from Kuwait to escape her family, saying she feared they would kill her because she renounced Islam. She had intended to fly on to Australia, but barricaded herself in a hotel room in Bangkok's main airport on Sunday after Thai immigration officials attempted to deport her back to the Middle East.
Qunun and her supporters drew global attention to her case through a social media campaign launched mostly on Twitter. She documented her arrival and subsequent detention in Bangkok on her smartphone, creating new Twitter and Periscope accounts where she received a deluge of supportive messages.
Her story has also put Saudi Arabia's guardianship laws, which restrict many aspects of women's lives, back under international scrutiny.
In response to the media campaign, Thai authorities allowed Qunun access to the UNHCR and did not deport her to Kuwait. Her online campaign was so successful that Saudi chargé d'affaires Abdalelah Mohammed A. al-Shuaibi told Thai officials through a translator: "We wish they had confiscated her phone instead of her passport."
Qunun later tweeted the video of that meeting and wrote that her "Twitter account has changed the game against what he wished for me."

Resettlement not an option for many refugees
It is not an automatic right for refugees to be resettled and fewer than 1% of registered refugees globally were resettled in 2017, according to the UNHCR.
Refugees can wait their whole lives for a third country to accept them. The process is often assessed on the urgency of a refugee's individual needs, with the most vulnerable prioritized. Refugees can wait from nine months to several years to hear an answer -- longer if they appeal a refusal.

edition.cnn.com/2019/01/11/asia/saudi-teen-australia-asylum-intl/index.html

admin:

Remember when you said you wanted to move to Canada? Now is a good time to start packing your bags.

The Canadian Parliament has announced plans to add more than one million new permanent residents in the next three years. That's nearly one percent of the country's population each year.
Canada welcomed more than 286,000 permanent residents in 2017 and projects that number could reach 350,000 this year.
And 360,000 in 2020.
And 370,000 in 2021.
That's a lot of immigrants, eh?
Canada photos: 20 of the most beautiful places
Photos: Canada photos: 20 of the most beautiful places
"Thanks in great part to the newcomers we have welcomed throughout our history, Canada has developed into the strong and vibrant country we all enjoy," said Ahmed Hussen, Canada's minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC).
Hussen, himself an immigrant from Somalia, said the influx will help offset Canada's aging population and declining birth rate while growing its labor force.
Canada's friendly stance towards new residents comes as many other Western nations, including the United States, are adopting more restrictive immigration policies.
Canada is especially dedicated to offering protection to refugees. The United Nations Refugee Agency reported unprecedented levels of refugees in 2017, with the number of forcibly displaced people reaching 68.5 million.
IRCC has pledged $5.6 million to support global resettlement initiatives.

edition.cnn.com/2019/01/10/world/canada-immigration-trnd/index.html

admin:

And so a golden career is nearing the end. Andy Murray's body is giving up on him.

Four months shy of his 32nd birthday, the Scotsman, arguably Britain's greatest sportsperson, has admitted tearfully that the ceaseless, thudding pain in his hip, which has made even putting on his socks an ordeal, will bring his playing days to a premature end. Monday's Australian Open first-round match against Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut could be his last.
"The pain is too much," the Briton, who has plunged to 230 in the world rankings, said in an emotional press conference in Melbourne Friday.
He had to leave the room to compose himself before returning to admit he had been struggling for "a long time." The 31-year-old was reportedly not the only one in the room crying. Some journalists shed a salty tear, too, because before them was a man who had achieved greatness but not changed as a person since he first emerged onto the men's Tour as a gangly, gifted, hirsute teenager.
Witty, honest, assiduous, decent -- all are adjectives used in the last few hours to describe the father of two.
READ: Roger Federer: My dream opponent would be...

edition.cnn.com/2019/01/11/tennis/andy-murray-feminist-retirement-spt-intl/index.html

admin:
Two years after she signed with the network amid much fanfare, Megyn Kelly and NBC have officially parted ways.

The split was announced on Friday ending a drawn-out and acrimonious exit that was put in motion in the fall after Kelly defended Halloween costumes that incorporate blackface during a segment on her 9 a.m. talk show.
"The parties have resolved their differences, and Megyn Kelly is no longer an employee of NBC," the network said Friday night.
Talks about ending "Megyn Kelly Today" started before the blackface remarks, due to underperforming ratings and growing tensions between Kelly and NBC executives. But the Halloween controversy sealed her fate, according to sources familiar with the matter. Her talk show was cancelled within days, and her lawyer began negotiating the terms of her exit.
Kelly is halfway through a three-year contract worth a total of $69 million -- an eye-popping sum even by the inflated standards of television news.
Bowing to the terms of the contract, NBC will pay Kelly the remaining sum of money, believed to total about $30 million, two of the sources said.
Kelly will be subject to an industry standard nondisparagement clause, limiting what she can say about her time at NBC and her interactions with NBC executives. Television contracts typically include language to protect both sides in the event of an ugly breakup.
But representatives for the host and the network declined to comment on the exact terms of her exit.
Kelly is not believed to be subject to any "noncompete" clause, which means that in theory she can join another network right away, the sources said.
But Kelly does not currently have an agent, and there is no indication that she has another job lined up.
When approached by celebrity photographers on the street in New York City on Thursday, and asked "will we see you on TV this year," Kelly said. "You will definitely see me back on."
A representative for Kelly declined to comment further.
Friday's announcement marks a premature end to a partnership that ultimately failed to elevate the anchor's stature and the network's ratings. And the hostility surrounding her departure stands in sharp contrast to the optimism that greeted her arrival at NBC in January 2017.
After 12 years at Fox News, Kelly was one of the most sought-after stars in the television news world, drawing interest from a number of networks. Fox reportedly offered her a new contract worth more than $20 million a year, but Kelly was eager to shed the combative style she honed at the conservative network.
"Barbara Walters has retired," Kelly told Variety in 2015, when she was still at Fox. "Oprah has moved to the OWN network and is doing a different thing now. So why not me?"
At NBC, Kelly hoped she would be able to fulfill the softer role she had long envisioned for herself. The network had ambitious plans for Kelly, handing her hosting duties for a Sunday evening news magazine and the 9 a.m. hour of the "Today" show. But the marriage was awkward from the jump.
"Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly" was poorly received and ended after a short run in the summer of 2017. And "Megyn Kelly Today" was defined by disappointing ratings and awkward moments, with the host sometimes seeming ill-suited for the bubbly world of morning television.
Kelly won plaudits for aggressively covering cases of s*xual misconduct when the #MeToo movement became an international story in late 2017.
But her coverage -- especially of the case involving "Today" show co-host Matt Lauer -- rankled some of her colleagues.
This contributed to tensions between Kelly and NBC executives, including NBC News chair Andy Lack, who invested tens of millions of dollars in her hiring.
Last September, Kelly publicly contradicted part of Lack's account about why NBC opted not to air Ronan Farrow's reporting about Harvey Weinstein.
By that point, there were already questions about how much longer Kelly's 9 a.m. show would last. She had few allies inside NBC, and more than a few detractors.
Her lowest moment came on October 23, when she led an on-air discussion about offensive Halloween costumes.
Kelly said it was acceptable when she was a kid to don black face "as long as you were dressing up as, like, a character." And she defended a reality TV star who took heat last year for dressing up as Diana Ross.
"And I don't know, I felt like who doesn't love Diana Ross?" Kelly said. "She wants to look like Diana Ross for one day. I don't know how, like, that got racist on Halloween."
The backlash to Kelly was swift and immediate, exceeding the outrage she generated for her remarks years ago about Santa's race. Kelly apologized to her staff that afternoon. And she apologized on her show the following day, saying "the country feels so divided and I have no wish to add to that pain and offense."
Many of her "Today" show colleagues were not satisfied. Kelly drew forceful on-air denunciations from Al Roker and Craig Melvin, two African-American hosts on "Today." And Lack condemned Kelly's comments at a town hall, a clear sign that she had lost the support of the executive who helped woo her to the network.
She didn't appear on the network again. Three days after her blackface remarks on air, NBC announced that it had canceled "Megyn Kelly Today."
Talks about the terms of her exit soon turned contentious, with Kelly's attorney Bryan Freedman accusing Lack of leaking details about the negotiations. NBC fired back, saying the network had respected the confidentiality of the process while Freedman has "repeatedly commented to the media throughout the negotiations."
Both sides then reached a quiet resolution, which was announced on Friday night.

edition.cnn.com/2019/01/11/media/megyn-kelly-leaves-nbc/index.html

emmynwah:Stunning Story Of Boko Haram Fighter's Ex-Wives Who Prefer Life With The Terrorists Than In IDP Camps

By Mod - 20 minutes ago - [ Update ]





An internally displaced person camp in Maiduguri, Nigeria, like the one that houses Zahra and Amina. Photograph: Sunday Alamba/AP

Zahra and Amina seem like lucky survivors of the scourge of northeastern Nigeria, the jihadist movement known as Boko Haram. Both were wives of fighters. Zahra escaped by agreeing to detonate an explosive vest that the militants strapped to her. After walking miles to her intended target, a government checkpoint, she turned herself over to soldiers. Amina fled with her three children after her husband was killed in battle.

Today, both women live in a camp for survivors of the conflict in the northeastern city of Maiduguri. When I met them on a recent research trip to the city, the last thing I expected to hear was that they wanted to rejoin the insurgents. Conventional thinking and security policies that aim to dissuade women from extremist groups tend to focus on ideology, presuming that only brainwashing could compel them to voluntarily join radical, violent militias. But here in the northeast, some women have largely been compelled to affiliate with Boko Haram by social and political conditions. Perversely, the group offers them respite from insecurity and the limited opportunities afforded them in a deeply patriarchal society riven by poor governance.

Zahra and Amina say that when they were with the militants, life was harsh and uncertain, but they had enough to eat. As voluntary wives of fighters, they were protected from s*xual predation. They attended religion classes, the first formal schooling many had ever received, and their children went to school, learning literacy and religion. There were courts where women could report abusive husbands. In contrast, in their now emancipated lives in the camp, they often go hungry. There is little chance to work to buy more food, and shortages have contributed to s*xual exploitation by the security forces who guard them. “Most Boko Haram women regret coming here, because life is just so hard,” says Amina.

These two women are just one small part of a massive humanitarian and security crisis that has been unfolding across the Lake Chad basin – the area where Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon meet – since 2014. Overshadowed by the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, the scale of humanitarian disaster in the region is nevertheless vast: more than 2.4 million people displaced, 5 million in need of food and shelter, and half a million children at famine levels of malnourishment.

While the Boko Haram insurgency may not directly affect the west – it doesn’t contribute to migration flows and the militants are not involved in attacks in Europe – the experiences of Boko Haram women carry wide implications for our understanding of why people join such movements. While the group, like many others that self-identify as “jihadist”, deploys ideological rhetoric to promote its political goals, it is the deprived and fractious context in which it operates that best explains its appeal – especially to women.

Zahra and Amina, like many women in the northeast, joined the militants by choice. They left by choice, too – unwilling to marry other fighters appointed by the group after their own husbands had died. Their stories challenge the dominant narrative around Boko Haram, shaped by the global outcry over the Chibok schoolgirls’ kidnapping, which holds that women only join by force, and that, similarly, only those who were abducted can be regarded as genuine victims. Returning from Nigeria, I met a group of Swiss women who regularly spend their holidays doing freelance volunteer work with female victims of Boko Haram. “We only help the ones who were kidnapped,” one pointedly told me.

But the circumstances that propel women such as Zahra and Amina into and out of Boko Haram show the limits of the neat categories of victim and perpetrator. In the early days of the insurgency, many women found the movement appealing because it offered alternatives to the patriarchy endorsed by their conservative families. The group’s leaders supported lower dowries, which meant more young women could choose husbands from among their peers, rather than the greying, financially secure men they would be traditionally compelled to marry. And while the militants were only able to provide for them so generously by looting and pillaging, some women felt the Nigerian state’s corruption justified these abuses. Life in the forest felt freer and more dignified than living in the dust of an internally displaced persons’ (IDP) camp, dependent on international aid groups for a meal a day.

Even now, Zahra’s and Amina’s thinking about the group – their belief that returning to the militants would improve their lives – is mostly a calculus of immediate survival. Dalori II, the camp where they live, like most in the city, is chronically short on food, and across satellite camps in the region groups such as Amnesty International have documented an epidemic of rape and s*xual exploitation. Some progress has been made to curtail these abuses, and humanitarian groups have tried to adjust food distribution practices to blunt the potential for abuse, but this has only changed the dynamic of the exploitation. “You have to become a harlot to stay in the camps,” says Amina.

One reason Zahra says she was glad to leave the militants was because she saw that their blind rejection of teaching in English was harming her children: “It does not benefit them to stay home. It’s better for them to learn.” She assumed that in Maiduguri, her kids would be able to attend school. But camp managers in Dalori II dismantled the one school on its premises, claiming it was no longer needed since people would be returning to their villages. But nobody has gone home, and now there is no school.

The northeast Nigerian state of Borno is now a vast patchwork of towns and villages with few men, a whole sub-society of single mothers trying to cope as breadwinners in areas with collapsed economies without their husbands’ protection and support. Some reintegration programmes offer skills training, but embroidering and selling a cap a month neither enables a woman to feed three children nor does it protect her from rape after dark. Plus, some international groups devote funds and attention to what they call “countering extremism”, with extremism often conceived in an amorphous way that views ideology, rather than a complex patchwork of political grievance and social frustrations, as a root cause of the violence.

While ending the insurgency and countering the militants’ appeal is obviously vital, it is also essential to recognise what precisely has guided women to join the militants in the first place. This has wider implications for the whole of the northeast, not just displaced women in the camps, or former Boko Haram women, but all women, who are trying to cope with conditions so impoverished and limiting that, sometimes, joining a militant group appears to offer a way out.

• Zahra’s and Amina’s names have been changed

• Azadeh Moaveni is senior gender analyst for the International Crisis Group and a former Middle East correspondent for Time magazine

***

Source:

www.tori.ng/news/114369/stunning-story-of-boko-haram-fighters-exwives-who.html

admin:
Informants at risk of losing awards. A growing backlog of evidence untested. Assistance in an international kidnapping case turned down.

As the partial government shutdown continues without an end in sight, FBI agents say that lack of funding is hurting the nation's premier law enforcement agency.
Nearly 5,000 special agents, intelligence analysts, and support staff are among the hundreds of thousands of federal employees told they can't show up to work as President Donald Trump and congressional leaders fight over appropriations bills and the border wall.
"Operations are being hindered," said Tom O'Connor, president of the FBI Agents Association, which represents most of the bureau's active duty special agents. "We believe strongly that the FBI, as a national security organization, we need to be fully funded."
At the FBI, a limited budget for operations means active investigations are losing support, according to law enforcement officials who spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity and the agents association.
Intelligence gathering to prevent future crime will also be impacted as the budget to pay informants, who can earn thousands of dollars for sharing valuable information with law enforcement, dries up.
Law enforcement sources said FBI agents have been told to make payments to informants if the integrity of an investigation is at risk, but say it's possible there are cases in which funds have already been withheld.
"Agents build trust with people and recruit them to help, and these informants often get paid in return," said Josh Campbell, a former FBI supervisory special agent and a CNN law enforcement analyst.
"Being unable to pay informants destroys that relationship of trust that is so key to recruiting people to report crime," Campbell added.
The majority of FBI agents remain at work without pay. Earlier this month, FBI Director Christopher Wray thanked employees for their continued work and promised to help end the shutdown and get agents paid in a video message, according to an FBI agent.
The FBI did not respond to CNN's request for comment.
On Thursday, the FBI Agents Association sent a petition to the White House and leaders in Congress signed by representatives from all of the association's field offices across the country warning of the continued impact the shutdown was having on the bureau.
In the petition, the association representatives also said that the lack of pay for agents could "create delays in securing or renewing security clearances" and said that "pay uncertainty undermines the FBI's ability to recruit and retain high-caliber professionals."
The FBI Agents Association has met with the offices of Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as the shutdown has continued. O'Connor, the association president, said "we found them very open to hearing from the FBI agents association and hearing the issues that agents are having with the shutdown and the operational tempo issues."
"As that pot of money is diminished, things such as purchasing narcotics in investigations and surveillance specialists, these types of support and functions of investigations are clearly being hurt," O'Connor said. "We have no knowledge that this is going to be back-filled and it's only going to get worse."
CNN's Evan Perez contributed to this report.

edition.cnn.com/2019/01/10/politics/fbi-shutdown-impact/index.html

admin:The Iowa Republican, who has repeatedly expressed xenophobic sentiment and cozied up to politicians affiliated with white nationalist sentiments and movements, offered this doozy of a quote in an interview with The New York Times earlier this week.
"White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive? Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization?"
When did white supremacy, an "ideology" behind the centuries of hate, oppression and murder both here in the United States and abroad, become a bad word? Sort of always. (King later clarified that he is "simply a Nationalist." Uh, OK.)
That King even thought this -- much less decided to say it in an interview with The New York Times -- is both not at all surprising and deeply troubling.
Not surprising in that King has repeatedly dabbled -- and more -- in deeply anti-immigrant rhetoric and white nationalist rhetoric over the years. In just the last few years, King has:
Endorsed a white nationalist candidate for Toronto mayor (he said he didn't know her views)
Met with a far-right Austrian party and said, "What does this diversity bring that we don't already have?"
Retweeted a British white supremacist and neo-Nazi sympathizer
Tweeted: We can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies"
You get the idea. (If you don't get the idea, you need to make sure you are still, you know, alive.)
In a statement on the House floor Friday, King said the Times article "has created unnecessary controversy."
He added, "There's nothing about my family or my history or my neighborhood that would suggest that these false allegations can be supported by any activity whatsoever. I reject that history. I reject that ideology. I defend American civilization which is an essential component of western civilization."
King has come under increased scrutiny -- and criticism -- in recent years. In 2018, National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Steve Stivers of Ohio condemned King for his comments and said he would no longer support the Iowa Republican.
Money poured into the campaign of Democrat J.D. Scholten despite the clear Republican lean of the western Iowa district King has held since 2002. In the end, King won -- albeit narrowly.

edition.cnn.com/2019/01/11/politics/steve-king-iowa/index.html

admin:
Canadian cannabis company Tilray soared Friday after Privateer Holdings, the investment firm backed by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, said it had no plans to sell its 75 million shares any time soon.

Thiel, the billionaire most well-known for being the co-founder of PayPal (PYPL) and the secretive big data unicorn Palantir, first invested in Privateer in 2014 through his Founders Fund.
Investors had worried Privateer might start to dump its Tilray stock once that so-called lockup period expired that would allow Privateer to sell shares. Tilray's stock is down about 70% from the all-time high it hit last July following its debut on Wall Street.
But Privateer put those fears to rest Friday.
"Privateer Holdings strongly believes in Tilray's long-term global growth strategy and pioneering role in shaping the future of the legal cannabis industry," said Michael Blue, managing partner of Privateer in a statement. "Given this, we do not have plans to register, sell or distribute the shares Privateer holds in Tilray during the first half of 2019."
Tilray (TLRY) surged more than 20% on the news. The company has a deal with Budwesier brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) to work on cannabis-based drinks in Canada and a partnership with Novartis (NVS) subsidiary Sandoz for medical marijuana.
More big consumer companies will bet on pot this year
More big consumer companies will bet on pot this year
Marijuana stocks have been extremely volatile in the past few months, following the legalization of recreational pot in Canada in October and votes in a few US states in November to legalize recreational and medical use of marijuana.
But several cannabis companies have attracted the interest of larger consumer firms. Beer and wine giant Constellation Brands (STZ), which owns Corona, has made a $4 billion investment in Canopy Growth (CGC). And Marlboro maker Altira (MO) recently bought a 45% stake in Canada's Cronos (CRON).
It wasn't all good news for cannabis companies on Friday. Aphria (APHA), another pot stock based in Canada, reported that its sales missed forecasts and announcing that its CEO and co-founder would both be stepping down. Still, its stock rose 8%.

edition.cnn.com/2019/01/11/investing/peter-thiel-tilray-privateer-cannabis/index.html

admin:
The junk bond market, one of the biggest beneficiaries of easy money, has screeched to a halt.

No US high yield bonds were offered between November 30 and January 10, according to Dealogic. December marked the first month since the 2008 crisis without any junk bonds being issued, the research firm said.
The reversal of fortunes underscores how quickly sentiment can change in financial markets, especially in the riskiest pockets of Wall Street.
Deep fears about the end of the economic cycle similarly led to an exodus out of momentum stocks and the oil patch. Both the Nasdaq and crude oil tumbled into bear markets.
"The stock market and oil really drive the junk bond market. They were a double-barreled depressant in December," said Mark Howard, senior multi asset specialist at BNP Paribas.
The energy sector accounts for about 15% of the US high-yield market, making the junk bond market particularly sensitive to sharp swings in oil prices. The 2014-2016 oil crash sparked dozens of oil bankruptcies.
The silence of the junk bond market marks a sharp slowdown from last December, when 36 companies tapped the junk bond market to raise nearly $18 billion, according to Dealogic.

edition.cnn.com/2019/01/11/investing/junk-bonds-markets-debt/index.html

admin:Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes his side are no longer "childish" in controlling matches after Mohamed Salah's penalty edged out Brighton to extend their lead to seven points at the top of the Premier League.

The Reds dominated with more than 70% possession against their cagey hosts but created little in a workmanlike performance until Salah was felled in the area by Pascal Gross.

The Egyptian duly lashed the spospam blocked by adminick left-footed across his body and into the net for a 17th goal of the season.

Brighton briefly rallied, with Fabinho - at the heart of Liverpool's defence for the injured Dejan Lovren - producing a key block to deny Gross in the area as the home side failed to register a shot on target.

"I think it was the most mature performance we have made so far," Klopp told BBC Sport. "There were a few situations where we could have been a bit more inspired, creative and cool.

"We know we can control the game and we are not that childish anymore."

Klopp's side were far from their fluent best but comfortably repelled their hosts to lengthen their advantage in the title race, with third-placed Tottenham playing on Sunday and nearest rivals Manchester City not in action until Monday.

'Mature' Reds get job done

Klopp embraced Salah at the final whistle after his side had seen off sporadic bursts of pressure from their hosts in the closing stages.

The threat of a third straight defeat was held at bay after a loss to City and an FA Cup loss at Wolves, and the Reds can still boast being without back-to-back league defeats under Klopp's charge.

At the Amex, they demonstrated the efficiency and control of a side capable of winning while not at their best.

Salah - who had just 13 touches in a quiet first half - produced a single moment of game-defining trickery to tangle with Gross, and it proved enough as Liverpool eased to a 13th clean sheet of the season.

Georginio Wijnaldum flashed a shot wide and Salah missed a glorious chance from six yards after a James Milner pullback, which would have provided late breathing space.

But on a day where the heart of Liverpool's defence was shuffled - with Fabinho joining Virgil van Dijk to cover for injuries - Klopp pointed to an "unbelievably mature" display by his side as they returned to form.

Grown-up Reds set relentless pace

www.bbc.com/sport/football/46766860

admin:

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri said "very important" Willian "has to stay" with the club after the winger scored a spectacular goal to give the Blues a win over Newcastle.

Willian curled the ball past Martin Dubravka in the 57th minute after Ciaran Clark's header had cancelled out Pedro's opener.

Earlier this week, the Blues reportedly rejected a player-plus-cash bid from Barcelona for the 30-year-old Brazilian in a deal that would have also seen Barca winger Malcom move to Stamford Bridge.

"For us Willian is really a very important player," said Sarri. "We need wingers, so we need Pedro, we need (Callum Hudson-) Odoi, we need Willian of course.

"In this moment, he's a fundamental player - he has to stay with us."

Willian joined Chelsea from Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala in a £30m deal in August 2013 and has helped the Blues win the Premier League twice, the FA Cup and the League Cup.

When asked about the transfer speculation, he replied: "My future is here at Chelsea, I don't know what you're talking about."

Chelsea are now fourth, one point behind third-placed Tottenham, but six points clear of Arsenal, who they face at Emirates Stadium in their next game on 19 January, while the Magpies have dropped into the relegation zone.

Relive Chelsea v Newcastle as it happened
Sarri's side do enough for the three points
Chelsea had failed to score in their previous two league matches at Stamford Bridge - a 1-0 loss to Leicester and a goalless draw with Southampton - but they netted in the ninth minute when Pedro collected David Luiz's ball over the top, took a touch, then shot past Dubravka for his seventh goal of the season.

However, with Eden Hazard again featuring as a 'false nine' with Olivier Giroud on the bench and Alvaro Morata left out of the squad, they struggled to create further clear-cut chances before Clark equalised, powerfully heading in from Matt Ritchie's corner.

There were boos heard inside Stamford Bridge at half-time, but Sarri's side were greatly improved in the second half, with Hazard a much more prominent threat.

The Belgian led Chelsea's attack, which resulted in their second goal as he ran at the Newcastle defence, offloaded to Willian who, from a tight angle, cut inside onto his right foot and curled a beautiful effort past Dubravka with the ball going in off the post.

With nine minutes left, 18-year-old Callum Hudson-Odoi, the subject of a £35m bid from German champions Bayern Munich, came on for only his second Premier League appearance.

The home fans chanted "we want you to stay" in the direction of the talented winger, who was part of England's Under-17 World Cup triumph in 2017 and has 18 months left on his current Chelsea deal.

Newcastle drop into the bottom three
Newcastle started the day 15th in the Premier League, but wins for Burnley and Southampton - along with Cardiff drawing - leaves Rafael Benitez's side in the bottom three.

Benitez won the manager of the month award in November, but since then United have only won one match in 10 in all competitions.

With the Spaniard unlikely to be given any money to make further signings - amid ongoing uncertainty about a possible takeover - there are real concerns that the club could drop into the second tier after only two seasons back in the top flight.

Before the game, Benitez said that the club's "reality" was "having to compete in a division when we cannot compete against Bournemouth, who are spending money".

At Stamford Bridge, Newcastle had late chances to snatch a point, but Ritchie shot over the bar and Salomon Rondon headed a chance wide.

Newcastle face a hugely important home game against Cardiff in their next league match, before tough assignments against Manchester City and Tottenham.

www.bbc.com/sport/football/46766861

emmynwah:Russia, Japan Meet In Moscow To Resolve WWII Dispute

By Mod - 5 minutes ago - [ Update ]

 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) meets with his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono in Moscow on January 14, 2019. Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP

The foreign ministers of Russia and Japan met in Moscow on Monday pushing ahead with efforts to strike a peace deal and end a decades-old dispute over four strategic islands.

Meeting his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the resources for cooperation were “truly inexhaustible” and should be used to work towards a peace agreement.

Japan and Russia have never signed a treaty ending World War II. The USSR invaded the far-eastern Kuril chain in the final days of the war and Japan refuses to give up its claim to them although the United Nations formally recognises them as Russian territory.

“It’s a difficult issue, we have to deal with the legacy of World War II, whose outcomes have been codified in the UN charter and Allied documents,” Lavrov said.

In November, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to accelerate talks on a peace agreement which would build on a 1956 Japan-USSR declaration which restored diplomatic ties.

The joint declaration said that the USSR agreed to hand over two of the islands — Habomai and Shikotan — to Japan following a peace deal. Japan however demanded sovereignty over all the disputed islands, which include Iturup and Kunashir and peace talks stalled.

In remarks before the Monday meeting, Japan’s Kono said the two countries must use the great potential for cooperation.

He said, in remarks translated into Russian, that they should “speed up (peace) negotiations, going beyond the boundaries of previous positions,” without elaborating.

The Kuril islands had been neglected by Moscow for decades, however, in recent years it increased its military presence there, to a furious reaction from Japan.

Ceding any islands to Japan is unlikely to go down well in Russia, where a wave of patriotic sentiment has been whipped up by the Kremlin since 2014, when Moscow annexed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine.

The governor of the Russian island of Sakhalin, who also administers the Kurils, last week said locals oppose territorial changes. Hundreds protested recently against any handover.

“The Kuril islands are Russian soil, that is clear. The issue of handing over the Kuril islands is not on the agenda,” governor Valery Limarenko told Gazeta.Ru news website.

AFP


Source:

www.channelstv.com/2019/01/14/russia-japan-meet-in-moscow-to-resolve-wwii-dispute/

kenability:Hello postmanians,
I have been wondering what fate awaits our education system under this Government. Please this post is meant to be objective and am not in anyway campaigning for any politician.
INEC released a statistics which shows a strong 24 million number of registered voters are youths and students. With such a number i believe the students can and should rise and change the face of this years election. Am so sorry to say but are we not all tired of the fact that our leaders do not value education? But i blame us yes the youths and even the academia because we have all left politics for the less educated.

Imagine when your president,senator or Governor is a grade II certificate holder in this age of educational advancement.how are they going to value education?

Also imagine the disrespect our constitution gives to education because it qualifies a person to contest for any political office with an SSCE which is not even a qualification used for sales girls jobs now in Nigeria.
How do you expect somebody who never had a tatse of the four walls of the tertiary institution to understand the effects of strikes?

I urge all of us youths and students to be very objective come February and elect people especially lawmakers who are educated and have positive plans for the System. Enough is enough we must use our votes to demand and end to incessant strike and poor attention to education. Until we show we are powerful with our votes these politicians would not take us seriously.
It is now or never.

Wapo:Let,prove This Scientific Phenomenon,why Will A Life Body Of A Living Thing Sink And A Lifeless Body Float

Wapo:Pls Guys,i Am Planning On Designing And Hydroelectric System Using Drum As My Dam And Pvc Pipe As My Penstock,i Will Connect A 12v Water Turbine Acquired From Konga To It,then Connect It To An Inverter,pls Physcist In The House I Want Calculations Based On Factors That Will Favour High Pressure,thanks

ClassikjoyMary:*FRESH DEW OF THE SPIRIT*

As a child of the Kingdom, *I stand and I affirm that this is the morning of my life* ! I am in the centre of God’s will and purpose for my life. I am celebrating my riches lavishly because the forces of success, prosperity, and divine health are let loose in my life. *There’s no defeat in my path* because my way is paved by the Lord. The Name of Jesus is named upon me, and His divine life has completely inundated my entire being – spirit, soul, and body! That life in me makes me supernatural, and impregnable to sickness, disease, failure, death, and the devil. *My steps this week are ordained for Supernatural Speed,* with Supernatural Success and in Supernatural Security. I move by the Extraordinary energy of the Spirit, for unusual Excellence in this week. *IJN!!! Hallelujah*

✋ *GLORY* ✋

mbiaperfect:Dating is a romantic stage in a relationship between two people with the aim of getting to knowing each other better for the prospect of marriage.

Knowing the right person to date and the right time to date is a major issue among people in our society.

When do you think is the right age for dating?

mbiaperfect:The rate at wish how young ladies are giving birth nowadays is alarming. Most of them give birth out of wedlock.

There is also an increase in the rate of s*xually transmitted diseases (STDs) like H.I.V, Gonorrhea e.t.c.

do you think teenagers should have access to condoms and birth control?

What do you think?

majee:The heat during summer has made us fond of using Air conditioners (ACs) from our cars, office, and even every single room in our house. When temperature rises to about 45 degree, AC becomes more important to us. But staying under an AC for a long period of time always has negative side effects on us.

Below are some of the side effects of Air conditioners (ACs):

Dry skin
People who sit in AC indoor for long period of time can experience itchy and dry skin. Excessive exposure of the body to AC along side with sun can cause itchy and dry skin, your skin may return to normal during the few hours of staying outside, but the dryness of the skin may stay longer than before.

Respiratory problems
Staying for a long period of time in Air conditioners can result to respiratory problems in throat and nose. During this process one may experience nasal blockage, dry throat and even rhinitis.

Stuffy nose (rhinitis) is a situation which causes unusual swelling of the mucous membrane of the human nose.

Increase in Asthma and allergies
Air conditioner (Ac) can worsen the condition of individuals suffering from asthma or allergies. Although staying indoor can help those who are sensitive to pollutants, but others may experience the opposite side of it. When Air conditioners are not properly maintained and cleaned, it can worsen asthma and allergies problems.

Headaches
This is an unfortunate side effect of Air conditioners (ACs), especially when it is not well maintained. Dehydration can be trigger which is often unnoticed when it comes to migraines.

Staying under an air conditioner for a long period of time can cause dehydration which can also leads to headache.

Air Conditioners Can Cause Infectious Diseases
When you spend much time in Air conditioners (ACs) it can result in drying out the mucous membrane of the noise. When this mucous membrane is not well maintained it can make it to be more prone to viral infections.

Increase in Dry Eye symptoms
Dry eye will irritates and itch more if people suffering from such symptoms stay under the AC for a long period of time. It is advisable for people having this symptom not to stay for long in air conditioners (ACs), because it tends to worsen the situation.

nnu.ng/post/Side-Effects-of-Using-Air-Conditioners--ACs-

admin:


Rolls Royce is not just into cars; they are into the design and production of engines used by planes.

Rolls Royce has announced their world record plan to build the fastest all-electric plane; it will be the first of its kind.

This zero-emissions plane is expected to make a run for the record books with a target speed of 300+ MPH (480+ KMH)

Inside a bustling hangar bay at the far end of Gloucestershire airport in South West England, a team of British engineers, designers, and data specialists recruited from across Rolls-Royce and beyond have set out to make history.

The high-performance electric plane is scheduled to take to the skies over Great Britain in 2020.

Rolls Royce guys went further to clear the air that this is not any form of publicity stunt. It’s part of a Rolls-Royce initiative called ACCEL – short for “Accelerating the Electrification of Flight” – that’s intended to pioneer a third wave of aviation in support of Rolls-Royce’s strategy to champion electrification.

– “This plane will be powered by a state-of-the-art electrical system and the most powerful battery ever built for flight. In the year ahead, we’re going to demonstrate its abilities in demanding test environments before going for gold in 2020 from a landing strip on the Welsh coastline.”

To actualize this project is no child’s play. They have myraids of challenges to overcome for the project to be feasible.

They’ll need to build an immense battery that’s powerful enough to beat a series of speed and performance records, light enough to fly, and stable enough not to overheat.

They will be monitoring more than 20,000 data points per second, measuring battery voltage, temperature, and overall health of the powertrain, which is responsible for powering the propellers and generating thrust.

Accel has the most energy-dense battery pack ever assembled for an aircraft, providing enough power to fly 200 miles (London to Paris) on a single charge.



autojosh.com/rolls-royce-building-world-fastest-electric-aeroplane/

admin:




The United States of America and European countries may with effect from tomorrow, stop issuance of visas to prominent Nigerian elite and politicians.

Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Akwa Ibom State, Dr. Mike Igini, who disclosed this yesterday, said the ban would remain in place until after the elections.

In an exclusive interview with The Guardian in Uyo, Igini said: “I have been calling on various countries. First I have been advising Nigerians that they should not make election a violent thing.

“We should not destroy our country because you think that you have U.S., UK visa and visas of other European countries where you can run to with your family.”

Igini had made similar call during an exclusive interaction with party chairmen and secretaries in the state last Friday.

“My call is that, having called on Nigerians to reject violence and those who are planning it, I also think the international community should be involved. Nigeria cannot be in autarchy of best practices, you have the capacity to identify those who are planning violence across the federation.

According to the REC, the real threat to 2019 are the elite of Nigeria, and the political class who are recruiting thugs, and pilling up money to buy votes.

“They are even more sophisticated now, they have hired some houses, collecting peoples Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs), VIN numbers, telephone numbers and are also now collecting their account numbers,” he said.

He disclosed that INEC has been receiving the report about these elite and politicians, including their importation of military camouflage and fake police uniforms.

Igini lamented that politicians are the greatest enemies of Nigerians, adding that if Nigeria will ever rise to achieve greatness, it cannot do so outside the value and orientation of its elite.

He stated: “A periodic election is what distinguishes democracy from other forms of government, because it is what enables the electorate the power to exercise their residual sovereignty.”

The REC stressed that in other climes, security agencies have no role to play in an election, but are supposed to do their normal jobs.

But, because of the level of criminality among the political elite, who are very reprobate set of people, ready to kill and read signature blind, security has become an issue today.

“The point is that INEC and security are now the focus of either the success, or failure of the 2019 election. For us as a commission, we will stand tall and mighty in the defence of democracy and the rule of law.

m.guardian.ng/news/u-s-europe-may-stop-giving-visa-to-nigerian-elite-politicians-from-tomorrow-says-igini/

The presidential candidate of Young Progressive Party, Kingsley Moghalu and his running mate, Uma Getso, appeared on “The Candidates” on January 9th. Here are videos of that episode.

www.nairaland.com/4959362/buhari-osinbajo-appear-live-candidates

emmynwah:Stunning Story Of Boko Haram Fighter's Ex-Wives Who Prefer Life With The Terrorists Than In IDP Camps

By Mod - 20 minutes ago - [ Update ]





An internally displaced person camp in Maiduguri, Nigeria, like the one that houses Zahra and Amina. Photograph: Sunday Alamba/AP

Zahra and Amina seem like lucky survivors of the scourge of northeastern Nigeria, the jihadist movement known as Boko Haram. Both were wives of fighters. Zahra escaped by agreeing to detonate an explosive vest that the militants strapped to her. After walking miles to her intended target, a government checkpoint, she turned herself over to soldiers. Amina fled with her three children after her husband was killed in battle.

Today, both women live in a camp for survivors of the conflict in the northeastern city of Maiduguri. When I met them on a recent research trip to the city, the last thing I expected to hear was that they wanted to rejoin the insurgents. Conventional thinking and security policies that aim to dissuade women from extremist groups tend to focus on ideology, presuming that only brainwashing could compel them to voluntarily join radical, violent militias. But here in the northeast, some women have largely been compelled to affiliate with Boko Haram by social and political conditions. Perversely, the group offers them respite from insecurity and the limited opportunities afforded them in a deeply patriarchal society riven by poor governance.

Zahra and Amina say that when they were with the militants, life was harsh and uncertain, but they had enough to eat. As voluntary wives of fighters, they were protected from s*xual predation. They attended religion classes, the first formal schooling many had ever received, and their children went to school, learning literacy and religion. There were courts where women could report abusive husbands. In contrast, in their now emancipated lives in the camp, they often go hungry. There is little chance to work to buy more food, and shortages have contributed to s*xual exploitation by the security forces who guard them. “Most Boko Haram women regret coming here, because life is just so hard,” says Amina.

These two women are just one small part of a massive humanitarian and security crisis that has been unfolding across the Lake Chad basin – the area where Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon meet – since 2014. Overshadowed by the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, the scale of humanitarian disaster in the region is nevertheless vast: more than 2.4 million people displaced, 5 million in need of food and shelter, and half a million children at famine levels of malnourishment.

While the Boko Haram insurgency may not directly affect the west – it doesn’t contribute to migration flows and the militants are not involved in attacks in Europe – the experiences of Boko Haram women carry wide implications for our understanding of why people join such movements. While the group, like many others that self-identify as “jihadist”, deploys ideological rhetoric to promote its political goals, it is the deprived and fractious context in which it operates that best explains its appeal – especially to women.

Zahra and Amina, like many women in the northeast, joined the militants by choice. They left by choice, too – unwilling to marry other fighters appointed by the group after their own husbands had died. Their stories challenge the dominant narrative around Boko Haram, shaped by the global outcry over the Chibok schoolgirls’ kidnapping, which holds that women only join by force, and that, similarly, only those who were abducted can be regarded as genuine victims. Returning from Nigeria, I met a group of Swiss women who regularly spend their holidays doing freelance volunteer work with female victims of Boko Haram. “We only help the ones who were kidnapped,” one pointedly told me.

But the circumstances that propel women such as Zahra and Amina into and out of Boko Haram show the limits of the neat categories of victim and perpetrator. In the early days of the insurgency, many women found the movement appealing because it offered alternatives to the patriarchy endorsed by their conservative families. The group’s leaders supported lower dowries, which meant more young women could choose husbands from among their peers, rather than the greying, financially secure men they would be traditionally compelled to marry. And while the militants were only able to provide for them so generously by looting and pillaging, some women felt the Nigerian state’s corruption justified these abuses. Life in the forest felt freer and more dignified than living in the dust of an internally displaced persons’ (IDP) camp, dependent on international aid groups for a meal a day.

Even now, Zahra’s and Amina’s thinking about the group – their belief that returning to the militants would improve their lives – is mostly a calculus of immediate survival. Dalori II, the camp where they live, like most in the city, is chronically short on food, and across satellite camps in the region groups such as Amnesty International have documented an epidemic of rape and s*xual exploitation. Some progress has been made to curtail these abuses, and humanitarian groups have tried to adjust food distribution practices to blunt the potential for abuse, but this has only changed the dynamic of the exploitation. “You have to become a harlot to stay in the camps,” says Amina.

One reason Zahra says she was glad to leave the militants was because she saw that their blind rejection of teaching in English was harming her children: “It does not benefit them to stay home. It’s better for them to learn.” She assumed that in Maiduguri, her kids would be able to attend school. But camp managers in Dalori II dismantled the one school on its premises, claiming it was no longer needed since people would be returning to their villages. But nobody has gone home, and now there is no school.

The northeast Nigerian state of Borno is now a vast patchwork of towns and villages with few men, a whole sub-society of single mothers trying to cope as breadwinners in areas with collapsed economies without their husbands’ protection and support. Some reintegration programmes offer skills training, but embroidering and selling a cap a month neither enables a woman to feed three children nor does it protect her from rape after dark. Plus, some international groups devote funds and attention to what they call “countering extremism”, with extremism often conceived in an amorphous way that views ideology, rather than a complex patchwork of political grievance and social frustrations, as a root cause of the violence.

While ending the insurgency and countering the militants’ appeal is obviously vital, it is also essential to recognise what precisely has guided women to join the militants in the first place. This has wider implications for the whole of the northeast, not just displaced women in the camps, or former Boko Haram women, but all women, who are trying to cope with conditions so impoverished and limiting that, sometimes, joining a militant group appears to offer a way out.

• Zahra’s and Amina’s names have been changed

• Azadeh Moaveni is senior gender analyst for the International Crisis Group and a former Middle East correspondent for Time magazine

***

Source:

www.tori.ng/news/114369/stunning-story-of-boko-haram-fighters-exwives-who.html

admin:A robbery gang led by a ‘fake’ soldier, has been busted by the operatives of the federal special anti-robbery squad (FSARS).

The robbery gang led by the ‘fake’ soldier who specializes in car snatching from innocent victims at gun point, reportedly operate in the federal capital territory, Kaduna and Benue states. The suspects have been paraded by the police, and it was gathered that various weapons were recovered from them.

Here are photos below;

Robbery Gang Who Disguised As 'Fake' Soldier Busted By SARSRobbery Gang Who Disguised As 'Fake' Soldier Busted By SARS

This is coming few months after the LAGOS State Police Command, smashed a notorious armed robbery gang known as ‘NO CASE‘ which has been terrorising residents of Ejigbo and its environs, and arrested its suspected leader, Kazeem Segun, popularly known as omi ( water). Kazeem, who had been on the command’s wanted list, was arrested alongside a suspected member of his gang, Kazeem Femi by policemen attached to Ejigbo Division.


Source: www.nairaland.com/4958955/robbery-gang-led-fake-soldier

admin:

Dino Melaye Celebrates His Son On His Birthday
Senator Dino Melaye took to his Instagram handle as he celebrates his son who adds another year to his age.

He shared his photo with caption;

Happy Birthday my Son. God will keep you and bless you on all sides. Grace will envelope you. Daddy loves you. You will be greater than me IJN.

Gist from Gistmore - gistmore.com/dino-melaye-celebrates-his-son-on-his-birthday

admin:


Chelsea midfielder Eden Hazard has revealed he believes Barcelona Star Lionel Messi is the "Greatest Player Of All Time" despite historic Cristiano Ronaldo rivalry.

Hazard took on Messi twice in the 2017/18 Champions League as Barcelona dumped the Blues out of the competition 4-1 on aggregate.

MySportDab report the magical Messi, who reached the milestone of 400 La Liga goals at the weekend, bagged three of Barca's goals in that last 16 tie.

However, Chelsea star Hazard does not think there is an argument as to who is the best.

'Two G.O.A.T.s you say? No way. There is only one G.O.A.T (The Greatest Of All Time): Him, Lionel Messi!' he told Belgian Outlet HLN.

"Those two games against Barcelona were not my best memories of 2018. I was happy to play against Barcelona and Messi, but I didn't deliver what I expected. I was disillusioned.

"My three sons were there for the home at Stamford Bridge. The eldest is a big Messi fan - all of us are Messi fans, actually. He wanted to see Messi that day, because Messi is a special player," he added.

See more;www.mysportdab.com/2019/01/is-only-one-goat-lionel-messi-eden.html

admin:


The Federal High Court in Abuja has stopped the Federal Government’s plan to arraign the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, before the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

The Federal Government through the Code of Conduct Bureau filed six counts of non-declaration of assets against the CJN on Friday.

He was due for arraignment before the CCT on Monday but he was absent from court.



But ruling on two separate ex parte applications on Monday, Justice N.E Maha, ordered parties to maintain status quo till January 17.

He ruled in the two different suits that the defendants should be served with all the papers filed and they should appear in court at the next hearing.

One of the two suits marked FHC/ABJ/CS/27/2019 was filed by incorporated ‎trustees of the Centre for Justice and Peace Initiative.

Those joined as defendants in the suit, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, the Chairman of CCT, Danladi Umar; the National Judicial Council, the Inspector-General of Police, ‎Mr. Ibrahim Idris, and the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki.

‎The other suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/28/2019 was filed by the incorporated ‎trustees of the International Association of Students Economists and Management.

The suit has as the defendants, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Malami; the CCT, the CCB, the Chairman of CCT, Umar; and the Inspector-General of Police, ‎Idris.

While the ex parte application in the suit FHC/ABJ/CS/27/2019 was moved by Mr. R.A Lawal-Rabana (SAN), before Justice Maha on Monday, the ex parte application filed in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/28/2019 ‎was moved by Mr. Jeph Njikonye.

The applications were being filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja while the CCT proceedings where Onnoghen was being expected to be arraigned was ongoing.

‎Justice Onnoghen was however absent at the CCT proceedings forcing the tribunal to adjourn till January 22.

But Justice Maha ruled at the Federal High Court on Monday that no steps should be taken in respect of the trial until January 17 when all parties to the two suits should return to court for the hearing of the plaintiffs’ motion on notice.

‎The hearing took place shortly after the CCT proceedings ended on Monday.

thenigerialawyer.com/updated-cct-versus-cjn-fhc-restrains-cct-from-trying-cjn/

admin:

Nigerian Singer and Photographer who is first popular for the song "The Land is Green" clocks 41 years old today, she wrote this on her Instagram Page...

"14-41-14... this is. Special day for me really .. 14 years of love .. 41 years of life and another reminder that 14 days after is perfect. Even I came 14 days late .. but it wasnt late at all.. it was perfect timing ..my mum was at the hospital to have me in the 31st of December.. 41 years later I gave my self a deadline of 31st December 2018 to finish work on the project with@tope_alabi_ .. I did EVERYTHING .. sleeping and average of less than 2 hrs a day ... pouring in everything. .. pushing everyone on the music production to the max ( sorry guys�) .. today on this 14th its all done .. I did my final tweeking .. I’m looking at the body of work and all I feel is gratitude. This is by far the most important album I’ve ever produced .. 17 songs .. gifted like fresh bread of heaven . We literally worked on each song in awe an wonder of His song and the depth of the beautiful @tope_alabi_ . This is God’s present to me .. THE SPIRIT OF LIGHT .. out this week. #happybirthdaytome"

source: www.musictori.com/2019/01/tybello-clocks-41-today-happy-birthday.html

admin:

From Gistvic.com>>

Ray Hushpuppi finally reacts to criticism on his last after taking sides with Atiku and drops picture with Atiku

Hushpuppi says Sowere or any other youth doesn’t have the “resources” to take power this 2019, which puts Atiku in the right position.

He also said we should not use 500 naira today to sell our vote and suffer 4 years. Gistvic Reports

He wrote:
"A lot of people has hit me up in the past few days with messages like hushpuppi why are you using your platform to promote and ask us to vote for atiku instead of other candidates from the younger generation and I haven’t been able to reply to everybody one by one but here it is which I want u all to read and understand before you respond and not just ignorantly type nonsense like you all do which is why you always fail your own selves most of the time cos you lack the ability to digest information, process it before responding. First I will like you all to not forget that our so called perfect young candidate (sowore) was the one who made us vote in Buhari who’s only achievement in the past years is to use power to oppress the media and anyone who criticizes his government which opposes what democracy stands for. As much as I like Nigeria to be in the hands of the younger generation, we have to understand Sowere or any other youth doesn’t have the “resources” to take power this 2019, politics in nigeria requires billions of cash, our politics don’t work based on the truth at all. We have to realize we have only two eligible candidates standing tall above others with the backings of who is who in the country. Between this two people it will only be wise we vote someone who u can see in the video above how he is accessible and welcoming to the youths, someone open minded unlike the other closed minded candidate sitting in power now who’s corruption fighting program is yet to arrest the likes of Kano governor, Adams oshiomole and so many other corrupt people in his circle. Clearly don’t be surprised if they declare me an enemy of the state for being open and truthful but one thing I won’t do is be silent and let our people give suffering a second chance, 4 years of suffering is enough let’s change hands. Let not accept 500 naira today to sell our vote and suffer 4 years, vote wisely today and enjoy for four years. Make up your mind today fellow Nigerians if not we are all dead if we give them a second chance, remember if they get a second chance they know it’s the last so they will make us suffer more than we are suffering now that they are even trying to get vote"

See more photos:

Gist From Gistvic.com>> www.gistvic.com/2019/01/sowere-cant-take-power-this-2019-ray.html

Join nnu now just with the amount of #1600 and start making money online by reading news,sharing sponsored post everyday u could make 1000 daily and u will be smiling with alarts on ur phone monthly to register use the name joshuajohn as ur refferal u too can also reffer people and gaining 1000 on anyone u reffer dont waste time and register for nnu now

Chillexy12:www.vanguardngr.com/2019/01/ibediro-chalvon-nshirim-others-dump-okorocha-nwosu/

admin:Nigerian Lady Gets Car Gift After Her Boyfriend Proposed On Her Birthday
It was a triple celebration for a Nigerian lady based in the US, Anita Festus, when her boyfriend of many years, Dozie Nwafor, proposed to her on her birthday in December and also gave her a brand new car for accepting to marry him.

See photos of Anita with her ride below.

source: www.musictori.com/2019/01/lady-gets-car-as-birthday-gift-from-her.html

admin:

Lionel Messi Scores 400th La Liga Goals
Lionel Messi has become the first player to score 400 La Liga goals after netting against Eibar on Sunday.

The Argentine made it 2-0 when he netted for the Liga leaders at Camp Nou, extending his record as the highest scorer in the Spanish top flight's history.

Incredibly, Messi only took 435 games to get to his 400th goal, scoring an average of 0.92 goals per game.Image result for messi 400 la liga goals

Messi, 31, has scored eight goals in his past five league games, including a double against Espanyol and ahat trick against Levante.

His record looks set to stand for many years to come, as Aritz Aduriz is the next top scorer to be currently playing in La Liga with 157 goals in 422 games.

The strike makes Messi the second player to have scored 400 goals in any of Europe's top five leagues, reaching the milestone in 63 games fewer than Cristiano Ronaldo did, and he has now nearly doubled Alan Shearer's Premier League record of 260 strikes.

The 31-year-old's first goal came back in 2005 against Albacete when he was just 17 years of age and was assisted by Barca and Brazil legend Ronaldinho, who scored 70 league goals for the Catalan club in 145 appearances.

Among his 400 finishes have been 83 braces and 31 hat-tricks, helping to put him 89 goals ahead of the league's second top-scorer Ronaldo.

Next on the list is Telmo Zarra, who played for Athletic Bilbao from 1940 to 1955, with 251 efforts. He is followed by Mexican Hugo Sanchez with 234 and Real Madrid legend Raul with 228.

Messi's dominance has not been confined to the league though, and in all competitions he has scored 575 goals.

That gives him a colossal lead over Luis Suarez, who is the second-highest active scorer for Barca with 166 tallies.

READ MORE HERE: newsblenda.com/post/football/messi-reach-another-milestonescored-a-rocord-400th-la-liga-goals.html

Clinton49:

This may not be the best of times for President Muhammadu Buhari as Nigerians have come down hard on him over the provision of $1 billion (about N305 billion) for payment of fuel subsidies in the 2019 budget despite his administration earlier claim it has stopped the infamous subsidy regime.

The move to reintroduce the controversial Petroleum Subsidy Fund (PSF) may have opened a fresh can of worms as stakeholders have queried the rationale behind the decision.

Those opposed to it have, however, submitted that the reintroduction of PSF under a new name of under-recoveries may have reopened a cesspit of corruption for the country’s lean resources considered no longer sustainable for the moment.

Contrary to popular belief, it is the rich not the poor who disproportionally benefit from Nigeria’s fuel subsidy. With the government subsidising the market to keep domestic fuel prices artificially low, it is those who consume the most that have a greater benefit from the subsidy.

President Buhari had last December shocked millions of Nigerians when he revealed that his administration has earmarked $1 billion (N305 billion) to settle petrol subsidy payouts in 2019.

The revelation was in contrast to his administration’s repeated denial that it was not cut out for subsidy payment, having jerked up petrol price from N87/litre to N145/litre at the beginning of his tenure in 2015.

Speaking to the joint session of the National Assembly last December in Abuja, the President captured the $1 billion as under-recoveries of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Buhari said, “we have allowed N305 billion, equivalent to $1 billion, for under-recoveries by NNPC on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in 2019. We will continue working to bring it downwards so that such resources are freed to meet the developmental needs of our people.

“Let me also use this opportunity to address and clarify the under-recoveries or subsidies on petrol in a period of economic challenges. Our purchasing power is weak, we must reduce some of the burden on Nigerians.”

According to him, subsidy payouts today are much more different from what they used to be in the past. He justified his assertion by pointing out that the NNPC is the sole importer of oil today.

“The problem in subsidies in the past was abuse and corruption. Today, the government, through the NNPC, is the sole importer of PMS. Therefore, the under-recovery is from the NNPC trading account. This means the possibilities of some marketers falsifying claims are removed.”

In 2017, NNPC recorded N144.5 billion under-recoveries and N623.16 billion between January and November 2018.

According to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, subsidy on PMS, currently stands at over N1.4 trillion.

But reacting to the debate, Partner, Bloomfield Law Practice, Mr. Ayodele Oni, said the whole issue around subsidy is upsetting, non-transparent and should be stopped forthwith.

Oni maintained that the N305 billion budgeted for subsidy in the 2019 budget will definitely balloon before the year ends because it is subjected to market dynamics as oil prices are never static.

He said rather than paying subsidy, government should come up with social safety nets, infrastructure and other means of transportation that would make life meaningful for Nigerians.

The energy expert warned that the time for Nigeria to reduce its dependence on oil is now, stressing that developed economies are beginning to move away from fossil fuels to renewable, which are more sustainable.

‘‘There is no clarity as to how much we spend on subsidy. The whole process is shrouded in secrecy as we keep hearing different figures and that to me is worrisome because there are other sectors of the economy that the spending on subsidies could be channeled to,’’ he stated.

He said Nigeria should exit the concept of subsidy and allow the downstream sector to be market-driven, saying the Dangote refinery and the plan of Femi Otedola to go into refining of petroleum products will compel government to dump subsidy administration.

A member of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) who pleaded not to be named said it remained regrettable that rather than government to concentrate its efforts towards reforming the downstream sector, it was more interested in setting aside subsidy.

She said government should place in place mechanisms that would engender discussions among all stakeholders in the downstream sector which will eventually led to the deregulation of the sector.

According to her, the incursion of too many briefcase businessmen in the downstream sector was a major disincentive to serious players who have invested so much in asset acquisition but are now operating far below their capacity utilization due to the activities of rent seekers.

Subsidy is fraud. Sometimes they say the fraud associated with subsidy is perpetrated either by government or marketers. The people who are supposed to be gate keepers eventually become rent seekers. The genuine business owners do not like subsidy because they don’t like giving back because such kick backs affects their bottom line.

For his part, Director General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mr. Muda Yusuf, lamented that the biggest burden on the country’s economy today is the petroleum subsidy regime.

Yusuf said the government should encourage private sector players to take over the downstream sector of the petroleum business.

“When this is done, most of the challenges we see today regarding subsidy, refineries and others will be adequately addressed. The government should only play a regulatory and not an operational role. Government has no business refining petroleum products, retailing or distributing fuel as well as the marketing of these products. We cannot continue to carry that kind of burden in the oil sector,” he said.

Yusuf regretted that subsidy has left a big hole in the finances of government, adding that it has also put tremendous pressure on the foreign exchange market and Nigeria’s foreign reserves, while exerting immense stress on the nation’s treasury.

“It remains a cause for concern that the subsidy regime has subsisted, especially at a time when the economy is facing unprecedented fiscal challenges. At a time when productivity in the economy is constrained by acute infrastructure deficit; when public institutions are finding it hard to pay salaries; there cannot be a better example of resource misapplication than payment of fuel subsidy.

“There are two components to this; the first is the genuine subsidy, which is the differential between the pump price and the landing and other costs of fuel.” The stakeholders said it had become imperative for government to embark on total deregulation of the downstream sector to attract investors and also save the country from the huge amount spent on subsidy.

Also commenting, Executive Director, Blue Sea Energy Limited, Mr. Felix Andrew, lamented that the continuous payment of subsidy was not sustainable, urging government to liberalise the downstream market and encourage “free entry, free exit” to attract investors in the sector.

He said it remained worrisome that Nigeria spends about N1.7 trillion on fuel subsidy annually while its education and health sectors can only access a paltry budget of N300 million and N400 million respectively. According to him, it is obvious that the fuel subsidy programme is placing a huge financial burden on the nation’s resources.

“There is no better time to deregulate as this initiative is an enabler in freeing up scarce resources to address the concerns clearly expressed by the citizens, which political leadership is unable to find the resources to satisfy, such as providing adequate funding to support the health and education sectors; improved infrastructure and better working conditions for the average Nigerian worker, among others.”

To compound the woes of the Federal Government, oil marketers recently threatened to shut down depots across the country over N800 billion fuel subsidy debts owed them.

But to douse the tension, the Federal Government made available N236 billion to oil marketers through promissory notes, a development that did not go down well with them as they preferred to have the money in cash.

Despite the payment, there is still a shortfall of N564 billion in fuel subsidies, which is not captured in the 2019
Source-www.sunnewsonline.com/2019-budget-shocker-nigerians-query-fg-over-n305bn-fuel-subsidy-provision/

admin:A Canadian citizen in China has been sentenced to death after a court convicted him of drug smuggling on Monday, a move likely to further inflame tensions between Ottawa and Beijing.
The Dalian Intermediate People's Court in northeastern China said Robert Lloyd Schellenberg was given a death sentence based on the nature and severity of his crime and in accordance with the Chinese criminal code.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticized the ruling, which comes as relations have strained between the two countries following the arrest of a senior executive from the Chinese tech firm Huawei in Vancouver last month.

According to the court, Schellenberg was dispatched to Dalian by drug traffickers in November 2014 to orchestrate the smuggling of more than 222 kilograms (489.4 pounds) of methamphetamine from the Chinese port city to Australia.
Schellenberg and an accomplice bought tools and tires in an attempt to repackage the drugs before shipping them out in containers, according to the prosecution.

The Canadian was said to have inspected the cargo, assessed the workload and decided on a shipping date. After his accomplice turned himself into the police, Schellenberg fled Dalian and was arrested in southern China on December 1, 2014, when he tried to fly to Thailand, the court said.
"I am not a drug smuggler. I came to China as a tourist," Schellenberg said Monday before the verdict was announced, the AFP news agency reported.
The court said Schellenberg is entitled to appeal his verdict and sentencing within 10 days. The court added that his rights to defense and translation were protected during the trial and officials from the Canadian embassy were in attendance.
Schellenberg's uncle told CNN the family was in shock over the ruling.
"We don't know how much to talk about right now and what to say. We are all very heartbroken right now and we are all in shock. We are just overwhelmed," Gary Schellenberg told CNN by phone.
Schellenberg went on to say the family is in close contact with Global Affairs Canada but have not had any contact with his nephew.
The Schellenberg family released a statement Monday asking the Canadian government to protect its citizens.
"The Schellenberg family cares deeply about our Robert who is being held under very difficult circumstances in China," the statement read. "As a family we are communicating with our Member of Parliament, Mr. Ed Fast, who is working hard on our behalf to ensure that the Trudeau Government makes every effort to secure fair treatment for Robert.
"The Schellenberg family requests that all Canadians stand with us and pray for the safe return of our loved one."
Trudeau 'concerned' amid rising tensions
Trudeau said the Chinese court's decision was "of extreme concern."
"It is of extreme concern to us as a government, as it should be to all our international friends and allies, that China has chosen to begin to arbitrarily apply the death penalty in cases facing, as in this case, facing a Canadian," Trudeau said in a news conference following Monday's ruling.
Schellenberg was first tried in March 2016 and was convicted of being an accessory to drug smuggling in November 2018. Upon receiving a sentence of 15 years in prison, he appealed the verdict.
A high court ordered a new trial in late December 2018 when the prosecution said they had uncovered new evidence to prove Schellenberg's principal role in the case.

Schellenberg's conviction and sentencing came amid worsening diplomatic tensions between the two countries after Canadian police detained top Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on December 1.
Meng, who is also the daughter of the Chinese tech company's founder, has since been released on bail pending an extradition hearing to the United States on charges of violating sanctions against Iran. Since her arrest, multiple Canadian citizens have been detained in China.
Guy Saint-Jacques, Canada's ambassador to China from 2012 to 2016, said he believes China is making an example out of Schellenberg.
In an opinion piece on January 9, the Chinese ambassador to Canada Lu Shaye effectively confirmed that the detention of two Canadian academics was in response to Meng's arrest, raising further questions around Schellenberg's case.
"I have recently heard a word repeatedly pronounced by some Canadians: bullying. They said that by arresting two Canadian citizens as retaliation for Canada's detention of Meng, China was bullying Canada," the ambassador wrote last Wednesday in The Hill Times, a Canadian publication.
"To those people, China's self-defense is an offense to Canada. If someone slaps you on your left cheek, give him your right cheek, they told us. But I have never seen them doing as they said."
Saint-Jacques said Schellenberg's conviction is "confirmation that we're going through a crisis."
"Of course, the government will ask for clemency," he said. "I would add also that Mr. Schellenberg claims that he was framed and that he never dealt with drugs"


China severely punishes those caught smuggling or trafficking drugs, including foreigners. Anyone found with more than 50 grams (1.76 ounces) of a controlled substance can face the death penalty.
"The administration of justice is not the same in China and the way that they collect evidence would not be acceptable in North American tribunals," he said.
He said that it was normal for China to invite foreign journalists to attend the trial.
Canada updated its travel advice for citizens traveling to China Monday. The advice states that citizens should "exercise a high degree of caution in China due to the risk of arbitrary enforcement of local laws."
"The decision to travel is your choice and you are responsible for your personal safety abroad," the advisory read. "We take the safety and security of Canadians abroad very seriously and provide credible and timely information in our Travel Advice to enable you to make well-informed decisions regarding your travel abroad."
In 2009, Akmal Shaikh, a British citizen convicted of carrying up to 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds) of heroin, was executed by lethal injection despite fierce protests from the UK government and his family, who said he suffered from a mental disorder and was tricked into carrying the drugs.

According to China.org.cn, a government-run website, at least 12 foreign drug dealers have been executed in China since 2000, "and other foreigners were sentenced to death for other serious crimes."
China remains the world's top executor, according to international monitors, though the country does not publish detailed statistics.

edition.cnn.com/2019/01/14/asia/china-canadian-drugs-death-sentence-intl/index.html

Kinging:The Akwa Ibom State governor, Udom Emmanuel has assured the state Labour Congress of his readiness to pay of N30,000 as minimum wage in the state, explaining that new minimum wage has never been a problem to him right from the beginning.

The governor who said this on Monday in Uyo during a consultation with the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, United Labour and other affiliate unions stressed that the state government was only waiting for the Federal government to decide on the new minimum wage so that it can implement it in the state.

He said labour is the bedrock of development in any nation and that his administration would do everything possible to ensure that it satisfies the needs of the unions.

Emmanuel said he has kept this promise for a long time, adding that even when allocations from the federal government were still pending, he sourced for money to make sure salaries were paid.

“Labour is the key to development. You cannot relegate labour to the background.

“Minimum wage has never been an issue; it is just that it has been a matter of legislation. We are waiting for directions from the federal government, once the direction is given, we will pay.

“In the face of circumstances and what we face in this country, I have done my best to make sure that workers do not suffer. I pay salaries in circumstances that I do not receive allocation. You did not elect me to make excuses but to find solution to problems.

“I have demonstrated capacity yesterday and can look into the future. I am here today because you people have strengthened me to be here and made it possible for me to be here, and we can talk and negotiate. I thank labour for the fantastic relationship between the labour and us.

“The Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) has the best blueprint for workers in the country. We need your support in the usual manner to support us in the coming election. Today is the day for consultation. I want to thank God for the leadership of the labour and for this state. It is not in every state that labour sits like this with the governor,” he said.

Earlier, the Nigeria Labour Congress State Chairman, Comrade Etim Ukpong said labour is a very economically and socially variable group, adding that he is happy the governor knows the labour has given him support.

He said the workers were appreciative of what the governor had done, and hoped that he would fulfil all outstanding promises to them.

“Over three and a half years, there had been no labour restiveness in Akwa Ibom State because you are working with people who can manage the situation.

“Your coming gives us the satisfaction that we are working with somebody who understands the meaning of labour union. We welcome you here, you saw how the labour leaders welcomed you.

“They appreciate you and what your government has spent during the period as governor, and as you are leaving this place, you will address what the people want to hear. Our workers want to see the consultation in action” he stated.

Source:
dailypost.ng/2019/01/15/new-minimum-wage-governor-udom-states-stand-n30000-demand/

Clinton49:Read more at 007reporters.com/posts/?post=Super%20Falcons%20Off%20To%20China%20For%20Four-nation%20Tourney

majee:Bitter leaf in Africa is mostly use for cooking several dishes and delicacies. It has various medicinal importance and benefits to human health. Bitter leaf possesses some antifungal and antibacterial properties making it a good home remedy to many health problems such as diarrhea, dysentery, high blood pressure and lots more.

Most people may not find bitter leaf important due to the bitter taste but trust me the medical health benefit of bitter leaf as listed below will change your concept about the leaf.

Help in Lowering High Blood Pressure
Drinking the juice extract or chewing fresh bitter leaf help in reducing the level of sugar in the blood. The presence of andrographolide content in bitter leaf helps in reducing sugar in the blood thereby reducing the risk of diabetes. The trace of potassium in bitter leaf is a good remedy for hypertension.

Help in Clearing Fever
The presence of flavonoids in bitter leaf has a strong antioxidant effect which help in treating various health problems such as feverish conditions. Other elements like glucosides, lactones, diterpene and even andrographolide present in bitter leaf help to treat fever symptoms. When a glass of bitter leaf juice is taken, it helps to reduce malaria symptom.

Help Body Metabolism
Vitamin B1 also called thiamine is a very essential dietary supplement present naturally in bitter leaf, it help to oxidize fatty acids by producing synthesis of lipids. Bitter leaf is very essential in the chemical synthesis of metabolism because it contains the mineral which play a major role in the process.

Treats Stomach Pain
When bitter leaf is eaten raw or squeezes to get the juice, it helps in treating abdominal problems such as stomach upset, diarrhea, and gastrointestinal tract disease such as dysentery. Bitter leaf is a perfect natural remedy for stomach cramps and intestinal problem.

Squeeze some fresh bitter leaf together to get the extracted juice, add salt and take two glass of the juice a day to clear stomach problems.

Preventing the Risks of Cancer
The anti-cancer properties present in bitter leaf help in preventing trophoblastic tumor, hydatidiform mole, and lung tumor which are perfect sign of cancer.

Andrographolide present in bitter leaf is a plant compound and a powerful cancer agent, which has been studied scientifically and proven to be effective in the treatment of colon, prostate cancer and gastric cancer.

Helps in Improving Fertility in Woman
Bitter leaf is important in woman reproductive life due to its ability in providing balance in the genital hormone. It improves the quality hormone profile and help in preventing toxification of immunoglobulin that fight female s*x hormone called estrogen.

nnu.ng/post/AmazingHealth-benefit-of-bitter-leaf

admin:
The former President of Cote d'Ivoire Laurent Gbagbo has been acquitted of all charges of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, an ICC press officer tells CNN.
Gbagbo, who ruled the West African country from 2000 till his arrest in 2011, had been on trial for violence in the country following the 2010 elections.
The Netherlands court said prosecutors were not able to prove his guilt nor that of his co-accused Charles Ble Goude, a former minister in the country.

The prosecutor may request that he remains in detention, the court press officer says. The ICC judges will hear that possible request Wednesday morning at 4am ET.
Ivory Coast suffered months of violence when Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent, refused to step down after Ouattara was declared the winner.
Thousands of people died and hundreds of thousands were displaced during the civil war that broke out.
Gbagbo was arrested a few months later and taken to the ICC court where he faced charges of crimes against humanity in the West African country, also known as Cote d'Ivoire.

Marie-Evelyne Petrus Barry Amnesty International's West and Central Africa Director reacted to the ruling, calling it a "crushing disappointment" to the victims.

"The acquittal of Gbagbo and Ble Goude will be seen as a crushing disappointment to victims of post-election violence in Cote d'Ivoire," she said in a statement.
"However, the judges found that the Office of the Prosecutor had not presented evidence needed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt... This ICC ruling reminds us that fair trial and due process must be at the heart of international criminal justice."

admin:

Protests have broken out in Zimbabwe's two main cities over a sharp hike in the price of fuel announced by the government.
The army and police were deployed after protesters barricaded roads and burned tires in the capital Harare on Monday.
In Bulawayo, angry protesters threw stones at policemen as they marched towards the Bulawayo High Court, according to footage shared on social media by the Centre For Innovation and Technology, a local news service.

Many shops and supermarkets remained closed after mass looting at the city center on Monday, the local outlet said.
It posted images of the city center in Bulawayo and shared photos of cars that had been vandalized by angry protesters.
Abigail Hupe, one of the protesters caught in the crowd, told CNN many residents ran to safety as police fired tear gas to disperse those gathered at the city center.

"We have no problem with anyone peacefully protesting against the fuel and commodities price hikes. We are equally worried just like any other citizen," Zimbabwean Deputy Information Minister Energy Mutodi told CNN.
"But there is nothing which the government can do to stop fuel price increases. We have been the country selling fuel at the lowest price in the region," he said.
Owen Ncube, Minister of State for National Security, said the escalating violence was "a culmination of a well-orchestrated series of events" by NGOs, civic society, youth organizations and individuals working with the country's opposition group MDC Alliance.
Eyewitness accounts suggests shots were fired during the ongoing protests. Ncube confirmed there has been casualties, but the numbers are unknown.
"Regrettably, this has resulted in the loss of life and property including injury to police officers and members of the public," said Ncube in a statement. "We express our deepest condolences to the bereaved families. Full investigations are underway."
In his statement, Ncube suggested that meetings held on Friday, January 11, by Crisis Coalition, a group made up of more than 80 civil society organizations in the country, were "to plan for the disturbance of peace and (to) render the country ungovernable."
On Saturday night, President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced a 150% fuel price hike, saying it was meant to ease access to fuel that has been in short supply for months.
The hike meant that petrol prices rose from $1.24 a liter to $3.31, and diesel went up from $1.36 a liter to $3.11.
Mnangagwa blamed the fuel shortage on growing usage in a growing economy, and said in a press conference that it was compounded by "rampant illegal currency and fuel trading activities," which he deemed "unsustainable."
According to the President, a rebate will be given to all registered businesses in the "manufacturing, mining, commerce, agriculture and transport" sectors, though exact details will be "decided at a later date."
But after the announcement, citizens took to social media accusing Mnangagwa's administration of further plunging Zimbabwe's economy after years of cash shortages inherited from former President Robert Mugabe's rule.

Zimbabwe abandoned its own currency, the Zimbabwean dollar, in 2009 after hyperinflation rendered it worthless. The country has since adopted the US dollar, the South African rand and other currencies.
Mnangagwa is currently on a foreign tour, visiting Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Azerbaijan in a bid to attract foreign investment to the country. He returns home after attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.


edition.cnn.com/2019/01/14/africa/zimbabwe-fuel-protests-intl/index.html

admin:

Many people have been killed in an ongoing terrorist attack at hotel in Nairobi, Kenya.

The terrorist attack which is still ongoing at an upscale hotel complex in Kenya’s capital has left many people dead.

AP reported that, Kenyan police officer among attack’s 1st responders says he saw bodies but ‘no time to count the dead’

It was gathered that the attack started with a blast and heavy gunfire. Witnesses and police at the scene are calling it a terror attack.

The complex in Nairobi includes a large hotel known as DusitD2, banks and offices. Several vehicles are burning. People are being rushed and carried from the scene while gunfire continues several minutes after the first reports.

Police spokesman Charles Owino says that “we have sent officers to the scene, including from the anti-terrorism unit, but so far we have no more information.” Ambulances, security forces and firefighters have rushed to the scene, sirens wailing.

The attack reminds many Kenyans of the Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi in 2013, when al-Shabab extremists burst into the luxury shopping center, hurling grenades and starting a days-long siege that left 67 people dead.

A Kenyan police officer who was among the first responders at the at Dusit Hotel attack says he saw bodies but ‘no time to count the dead’.

Some Kenyan hospitals are appealing for blood donations as the number of people wounded in an attack on an upscale hotel complex in Nairobi remains unknown.

Night has fallen and it is not immediately clear whether attackers are still active in the complex and how many people might be trapped or hiding inside.

The Somalia-based extremist group al-Shabab is claiming responsibility for the attack on an upscale hotel complex in Nairobi and says its members are still fighting inside.


See More At: www.brainnewsradio.com/many-people-confirmed-dead-as-terrorists-attack-hotel-complex-in-nairobi/

admin:


Colonel Emmanuel Nwobosi, one of the army majors that planned the first 1966 Military coup in Nigeria, has fully opened up on the issue 53 years after. The 80-year-old former soldier spoke on the coup in a broadcast made on January 15th, from Israel where the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) currently is.

Below is the text of the broadcast.

Dear Biafrans and Progressive Nigerians. I welcome you to this historic January 15th broadcast on behalf of all those who carried out the Januarv 15 Revolution in 1966. I bring to you a message of Truth and Freedom for It is only the truth that can set us free from the bondages of War and Propaganda, which we confuse as history.

My name is Colonel Emmanuel Nwobosi I am 80 years old, It is time to be bold, I am too old to lie. I am not afraid to die. It is time to tell you why, we had to try.

I am the last of the original coup planners of January 15, 1966 with Major Kaduna Nzeogwu. I knew Nzeogwu well. We went to school together. We trained at Sandhurst Military Academy, UK. We lived together. Nzeogwu was our first Head of Military Intelligence and uncovered terrible plans to wreak havoc across the country. We organised a group of progressive military officers to carry out a coup on 15th January, 1966 to stop a Jihad and bring sanity to a Nigeria steeped in nepotism, corruption and mass murders. The Government of Tafawa Balewa, controlled by the Premier of Northern Nigeria, Ahmadu Bello, were using us in the army to repress the Middle Belt and Western Nigeria. Houses and cars were burnt. Thousands were killed. All these happened between 1962-66.

There were nine of us that planned the January 15 Revolution: Majors Nzeogwu, Anuforo, Ifeajuna, Ademoyega, Chukwuka, Okafor, Onwuategwu, Obienu and myself. However, four of us started it. Major Ifeajuna and Major Ademoyega in the South; and Major Nzeogwu and myself in the North. We then united as a single revolution. I am the last of the four original revolutionaries. None published the complete truth. Only me, Colonel Nwobosi, is alive today, to tell the Final Truth, so that the lies will not triumph forever.

They used us to repress the Middle-belt and the Yorubas. When we saw genocide, we began to disobey orders and swore to stop them. For instance, Major Anuforo refused to release mass murderers caught with weapons, and was court martialled. He was replaced by Major Hassan Katsina, a Northern Muslim, willing to act. I was in Abeokuta but refused to repress Yorubas, instead I opened our barracks as a safe place for them to run to. They told many lies about the January 15 boys, to justify their genocide, but it is those of us that planned the revolution that they should have killed, not the three million innocent Biafrans that knew nothing.

For years I kept quiet, blaming myself and wondering whether at 27, I was too radical that my actions led to the deaths of millions. Today, the same evil in 1966 is being unleashed. As I watch, my sense of guilt has vanished, because we were not the evil. We were trying to stop the evil. That Evil is Radical Islamism. I have decided to speak out and warn the world of the impending disaster if we do not stop it.

Each time Radical Muslims plan a Jihad, in their religious mission to conquer the world, they will fail, but in the attempt, thousands and even millions will die. That happened to us in Biafra. At this point let me differentiate between peaceful, law-abiding Muslims and Radical Muslims who want to kill others to force their religion on them. The problem is that wherever peaceful Muslims are, there are some Radical Muslims amongst them. That is why they began a Jihad in 1966. That is why we had to stop it. That is why they killed millions of our people. That is why we declared Biafra, because we are a peaceful people and oil and water can never mix.

My story is a warning to Nigerians. For years, I was prevented from speaking the truth by exile, prison, harassment, poverty, surveillance and death threats held over many of the actors like Ojukwu, Zik, Awolowo, Ibiam and the January 15 boys that survived. But as I watch today, many of the events that led to our revolution are happening again: Boko Haram, Fulani Militia, Niger Delta Militants, Shiites, IPOB and mass murders.

Some people think we acted wrongly in carrying out the January 15 revolution, but they may not be fully aware of the realities then. We were trained by the British to be patriotic, to give the ultimate sacrifice for Nigerian and to stop anyone acting against the nation.

Instead of our leaders using us to defend Nigeria they were using us to suppress citizens. We, decided to arrest them for their atrocities because no one was willing to act. Not Zik, the President, who was powerless, not Ironsi, the Head of the Army, who was a conservative. There were many reasons why we had to act:

1. To stop the killings in Yoruba land and the Middle Belt by NPC the ruling Party;

2. To stop the invasion of Yorubaland on 17th January, 1966;

3. To correct the massive rigging of the 1964 elections;

4. To free Awolowo from Prison and make him the Prime Minister;

5. To stop the terrible corruption, nepotism and regionalism of the NPC, the Ruling Party;

6. To stop Ahmadu Bello’s planned Jihad.

It was good that we acted to save the Yoruba and the Middle Belt people, and we thought that was enough to stop the Jihad. We could not foresee that they would massively attack innocent Igbos. Blame those who decided to massacre our people for their evil. Today we are fighting Buhari. He is killing Shiite Muslims and IPOB members. With the benefit of hind-sight we can see other ways of dealing with such evil, but for us in 1966, we just wanted to save the people from massacre.

I wish to congratulate Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB for the good work they are doing to free our people from Nigeria and Radical Islamism.

Many of our people do not understand how vast IPOB is, as an organisation and the quality of the people that run it. On arrival in Israel, I started meeting high quality professionals and I was amazed. I don't know how IPOB united power professionals abroad, power traders at home and ordinary people from market women to even riff raff all under one IPOB family, with world-wide Radio and Television.

Every Igbo and Biafran should be proud of them. They are the strongest force we have today to achieve freedom for all Nigerians. No wonder they can take on the Nigerian Government and win. However, it is money that makes things work. I shall donate 10% of all the profits of my new book to IPOB. It is my tithe to freedom. Tithing is God’s tax to raise money for the government of the children of God. I urge you all to regularly do the same so we can have the resources to achieve our objectives.

On this day of 15th January, 2019, the anniversary of our Revolution, I want to hand over to Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB, the baton of the January 15 boys, so you can complete the revolution we started. I am the Ogene Obosi, a Chief and elder of the Obosi people. I bring to you the blessings of the Ancients. I fought for Biafra; I was wounded for Biafra and I shall die for Biafra. Iseeee.

We carried out the coup and partially succeeded. We went to Kirikiri Prison with Nzeogwu and other coup planners, where we shared our stories some of which were recorded by Major Ademoyega and Captain Ben Gbulie in their books. I fought with Nzeogwu who died at the Nsukka Sector. I mourned my leader and friend. I also knew Ojukwu well. I was his Chief of Operations in the Biafra War. We went into exile together. On our return he made me his ADC. I put it all in my book, 1966: THE DARK TRUTH.

Watch the video of the broadcast below.

See more; www.nationalhelm.co/2019/01/colonel-emmanuel-nwobosi-speaks-on-1966-military-coup-in-nigeria.html

admin:


Colonel Emmanuel Nwobosi, one of the army majors that planned the first 1966 Military coup in Nigeria, has fully opened up on the issue 53 years after. The 80-year-old former soldier spoke on the coup in a broadcast made on January 15th, from Israel where the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) currently is.

Below is the text of the broadcast.

Dear Biafrans and Progressive Nigerians. I welcome you to this historic January 15th broadcast on behalf of all those who carried out the Januarv 15 Revolution in 1966. I bring to you a message of Truth and Freedom for It is only the truth that can set us free from the bondages of War and Propaganda, which we confuse as history.

My name is Colonel Emmanuel Nwobosi I am 80 years old, It is time to be bold, I am too old to lie. I am not afraid to die. It is time to tell you why, we had to try.

I am the last of the original coup planners of January 15, 1966 with Major Kaduna Nzeogwu. I knew Nzeogwu well. We went to school together. We trained at Sandhurst Military Academy, UK. We lived together. Nzeogwu was our first Head of Military Intelligence and uncovered terrible plans to wreak havoc across the country. We organised a group of progressive military officers to carry out a coup on 15th January, 1966 to stop a Jihad and bring sanity to a Nigeria steeped in nepotism, corruption and mass murders. The Government of Tafawa Balewa, controlled by the Premier of Northern Nigeria, Ahmadu Bello, were using us in the army to repress the Middle Belt and Western Nigeria. Houses and cars were burnt. Thousands were killed. All these happened between 1962-66.

There were nine of us that planned the January 15 Revolution: Majors Nzeogwu, Anuforo, Ifeajuna, Ademoyega, Chukwuka, Okafor, Onwuategwu, Obienu and myself. However, four of us started it. Major Ifeajuna and Major Ademoyega in the South; and Major Nzeogwu and myself in the North. We then united as a single revolution. I am the last of the four original revolutionaries. None published the complete truth. Only me, Colonel Nwobosi, is alive today, to tell the Final Truth, so that the lies will not triumph forever.

They used us to repress the Middle-belt and the Yorubas. When we saw genocide, we began to disobey orders and swore to stop them. For instance, Major Anuforo refused to release mass murderers caught with weapons, and was court martialled. He was replaced by Major Hassan Katsina, a Northern Muslim, willing to act. I was in Abeokuta but refused to repress Yorubas, instead I opened our barracks as a safe place for them to run to. They told many lies about the January 15 boys, to justify their genocide, but it is those of us that planned the revolution that they should have killed, not the three million innocent Biafrans that knew nothing.

For years I kept quiet, blaming myself and wondering whether at 27, I was too radical that my actions led to the deaths of millions. Today, the same evil in 1966 is being unleashed. As I watch, my sense of guilt has vanished, because we were not the evil. We were trying to stop the evil. That Evil is Radical Islamism. I have decided to speak out and warn the world of the impending disaster if we do not stop it.

Each time Radical Muslims plan a Jihad, in their religious mission to conquer the world, they will fail, but in the attempt, thousands and even millions will die. That happened to us in Biafra. At this point let me differentiate between peaceful, law-abiding Muslims and Radical Muslims who want to kill others to force their religion on them. The problem is that wherever peaceful Muslims are, there are some Radical Muslims amongst them. That is why they began a Jihad in 1966. That is why we had to stop it. That is why they killed millions of our people. That is why we declared Biafra, because we are a peaceful people and oil and water can never mix.

My story is a warning to Nigerians. For years, I was prevented from speaking the truth by exile, prison, harassment, poverty, surveillance and death threats held over many of the actors like Ojukwu, Zik, Awolowo, Ibiam and the January 15 boys that survived. But as I watch today, many of the events that led to our revolution are happening again: Boko Haram, Fulani Militia, Niger Delta Militants, Shiites, IPOB and mass murders.

Some people think we acted wrongly in carrying out the January 15 revolution, but they may not be fully aware of the realities then. We were trained by the British to be patriotic, to give the ultimate sacrifice for Nigerian and to stop anyone acting against the nation.

Instead of our leaders using us to defend Nigeria they were using us to suppress citizens. We, decided to arrest them for their atrocities because no one was willing to act. Not Zik, the President, who was powerless, not Ironsi, the Head of the Army, who was a conservative. There were many reasons why we had to act:

1. To stop the killings in Yoruba land and the Middle Belt by NPC the ruling Party;

2. To stop the invasion of Yorubaland on 17th January, 1966;

3. To correct the massive rigging of the 1964 elections;

4. To free Awolowo from Prison and make him the Prime Minister;

5. To stop the terrible corruption, nepotism and regionalism of the NPC, the Ruling Party;

6. To stop Ahmadu Bello’s planned Jihad.

It was good that we acted to save the Yoruba and the Middle Belt people, and we thought that was enough to stop the Jihad. We could not foresee that they would massively attack innocent Igbos. Blame those who decided to massacre our people for their evil. Today we are fighting Buhari. He is killing Shiite Muslims and IPOB members. With the benefit of hind-sight we can see other ways of dealing with such evil, but for us in 1966, we just wanted to save the people from massacre.

I wish to congratulate Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB for the good work they are doing to free our people from Nigeria and Radical Islamism.

Many of our people do not understand how vast IPOB is, as an organisation and the quality of the people that run it. On arrival in Israel, I started meeting high quality professionals and I was amazed. I don't know how IPOB united power professionals abroad, power traders at home and ordinary people from market women to even riff raff all under one IPOB family, with world-wide Radio and Television.

Every Igbo and Biafran should be proud of them. They are the strongest force we have today to achieve freedom for all Nigerians. No wonder they can take on the Nigerian Government and win. However, it is money that makes things work. I shall donate 10% of all the profits of my new book to IPOB. It is my tithe to freedom. Tithing is God’s tax to raise money for the government of the children of God. I urge you all to regularly do the same so we can have the resources to achieve our objectives.

On this day of 15th January, 2019, the anniversary of our Revolution, I want to hand over to Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB, the baton of the January 15 boys, so you can complete the revolution we started. I am the Ogene Obosi, a Chief and elder of the Obosi people. I bring to you the blessings of the Ancients. I fought for Biafra; I was wounded for Biafra and I shall die for Biafra. Iseeee.

We carried out the coup and partially succeeded. We went to Kirikiri Prison with Nzeogwu and other coup planners, where we shared our stories some of which were recorded by Major Ademoyega and Captain Ben Gbulie in their books. I fought with Nzeogwu who died at the Nsukka Sector. I mourned my leader and friend. I also knew Ojukwu well. I was his Chief of Operations in the Biafra War. We went into exile together. On our return he made me his ADC. I put it all in my book, 1966: THE DARK TRUTH.

Watch the video of the broadcast below.

See more; www.nationalhelm.co/2019/01/colonel-emmanuel-nwobosi-speaks-on-1966-military-coup-in-nigeria.html

admin:


An angry crowd of residents descended on two young men after they were nabbed stealing panties few days ago in Benin city, Edo state.

The young men stole the two underwear and were looking for more to pick before they were apprehended along Sapele road in Benin.

They were beaten by the residents who even forced them to burn the panties right in public.

This is coming days after another young man was apprehended after stealing panties and other clothing items in Edo state.

The Hausa man popularly known as Aboki, stole the items at Lagos street in Ring road area, Benin city and was caught at Orominyan area by the residents.

Female leggings, boxers, underwear and other clothing items were also found in his possession.

See more; www.nationalhelm.co/2019/01/young-men-caught-stealing-panties-in-benin-forced-to-burn-them.html

admin:The Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, today, bagged the endorsement of South East, South South and Arewa women groups in Lagos. The cosmopolitan city has since come to be a home for all, with every ethnic group being represented. The women group who welcomed the wife of the aspirant, Mrs. Jennifer Douglas Abubakar and Margaret Peter Obi, rallied all available support for the women.

The parley was hosted by Hon. Rita Orji, member representing Ajeromi/Ifelodun constituency in the house of Reps. This gathering is one of a kind, and a way that PDP get onward feedbacks from the grassroots on what they need in governance. The women who were clearly joyous, danced and hailed the candidacy of the PDP, as music and claps rent the air.

Mrs. Abubakar in her speech reminded the women of Alhaji Atiku’s plan to devote 30% of roles in his government to women. It is clear that this plan stems from Atiku’s background, having been brought up by his mother single-handedly. In the past, it was this kind of quota system that gave Honorable Member, Mrs. Rita Orji, the chance to become a member of the House of Representative.


thepunditng.com/atiku-bags-the-endorsement-of-lagos-south-east-south-south-and-arewa-women-groups/

admin:Abuja National Stadium

Revamping of the Railway Sector

Launching of the first Satellite into space

Launched the first Unmanned Drone

Built 150 the Schools Across the Northern States.

Built 36 NNPC Mega Stations across the 36 States and the FCT

Established 12 Federal Universities, 9 in some Northern State, ( Kogi, Taraba, Jigawa, Gombe, Nasarawa, Kastina, Yobe, Kebbi and Zamfara and 3 in the southern States of Ebonyi, Bayelsa and Ekiti).

Built 36 Federal Medical Centers.

Established the Civil Defence Corps, Tetfund, ITF, Due Process Office and SERVICOM.

Passed the Freedom Of Information Bill.

Constructed the following roads:
Abuja-Lokoja Expressway,

Enugu-Abakilike Expressway,

Lagos-Benin Expressway,

Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway,

Kano-Maiduguri Expressway,

Abuja-Keffi Expressway.

Introduction of the Nigerian Electronic ID card (E-ID card)

Introduction of the Cashless Syatem, E-Payment.

The Uyo Stadium, built by a PDP Governor,
Tinapa, Ogbodu Cattle Ranch, built by another PDP Governor.

The PDP Governors also built and established the following State Universities:-
Adamawa State University, built by Gov Boni Haruna

Taraba State University, built by Late Governor Danbaba Suntai

Gombe State University, built by Governor Danjuma Goje while still in PDP

Abia State University built by Gov Orji Kalu while in PDP.

Nasarawa State University built by Gov Abdullahi Adamu while in PDP

Plateau State University built by Gov Joshua Dariye while still in PDP.

Bauchi State University built by Gov Isa Yuguda of PDP

Sokoto State University built by Gov Wammako while in PDP

Kebbi state university of science and technology built by Adamu Aliero while in PDP,

Kaduna State University built by Gov Ahmed Makarfi of PDP

Kano State University built by Gov Kwankwaso while still with the PDP

Umaru Musa Yaradua University built by late President Musa Yaradua of PDP.

Ebonyi State University built by Gov Sam Egwu of PDP

Akwa Ibom State University built by Gov Godswill Okpabio of the PDP

Cross River State University of Science and Technology built by Gov Donald Duke of the PDP

Ekiti State University built and repositioned by Gov Ayo Fayose of the PDP

Ibrahim Babangida University built by Gov Abdulkadir Kure of the PDP

Kwara State University built by Gov Bukola Saraki of the PDP

Niger Delta University built by Gov DSO Alamieyesigha of the PDP

Northwest University built by Gov Kwankwaso of the PDP.

OSUN State university built by ỌMỌ Ọba Ọlagunsoye Oyinlola

admin:

It was earlier reported that Musiliu Akinsanya, a chieftain of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) better known as MC Oluomo, has been discharged from a Lagos hospital where he was receiving treatment.

MC Oluomo was attacked at an All Progressives Congress (APC) rally in Ikeja on January 8 and was immediately taken to Eko Hospital, following injuries he sustained.

NAN reports that MC Oluomo left the hospital on Tuesday night after payment of over N2 million medical bill.

Many supporters and well wishers gathered at his house to greet him shortly after spending days in the hospital.

A source was quoted as saying that the NURTW leader may have left for the US after he was discharged.

See more; www.nationalhelm.co/2019/01/see-pictures-of-mc-oluomo-after-being-discharged-from-lagos-hospital.html

admin:ISIS has claimed responsibility for a deadly explosion that killed two US service members, a defense contractor and a Department of Defense civilian in the Syrian city of Manbij on Wednesday, according to US Central Command.
The civilian was an intelligence expert who was with the troops hoping to collect information about security and adversaries in the area, according to three US officials.
The US-led coalition confirmed earlier Wednesday that US service members were killed in the attack, but did not provide details regarding the number of casualties at the time.

"U.S. service members were killed during an explosion while conducting a routine patrol in Syria today. We are still gathering information and will share additional details at a later time," a tweet from Operation Inherent Resolve's spokesperson said.
The names of the two US service members will be withheld for 24 hours until next of kin is notified in accordance with DOD policy, CENTCOM said in a statement.
Prior to Wednesday's attack, only two US service members had been killed in action in Syria since the start of the campaign in 2014.
There were several reported casualties in the city a militia controlling the city and a UK-based monitoring group said.

The ISIS-affiliated Amaq agency said the attack in the northern city of Manbij was carried out by a suicide bomber with an explosive vest.
"An explosion in Manbij's busy market street, initial reports of casualties," spokesman of the Manbij military council Shervan Darwish wrote on Twitter.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least eight people were killed.
A spokesperson for Operation Inherent Resolve tweeted Wednesday that the coalition is "still gathering information" about the explosion.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said President Donald Trump has been briefed on the situation and issued a statement on the attack later Wednesday.
"Our deepest sympathies and love go out to the families of the brave American heroes who were killed today in Syria. We also pray for the soldiers who were wounded in the attack. Our service members and their families have all sacrificed so much for our country," it said.
Vice President Mike Pence has also been briefed, according to a tweet from his press secretary.
However, Pence made no mention of the attack or the deaths of US service members while making remarks at the Global Chiefs of Mission conference at the US State Department Wednesday, claiming "The caliphate has crumbled, and ISIS has been defeated."

A White House official said the administration had not publicly confirmed the deaths of US service members when Pence made his remarks even though the coalition against ISIS tweeted a message confirming there had been US deaths nearly an hour before his speech.
Pence released his own statement after making those remarks saying, "We will never allow the remnants of ISIS to reestablish their evil and murderous caliphate -- not now, not ever. "
"President Trump and I condemn the terrorist attack in Syria that claimed American lives and our hearts are with the loved ones of the fallen. We honor their memory and we will never forget their service and sacrifice," he said.
However, he also indicated that the White House still intends to withdraw US troops from Syria.
"Thanks to the courage of our Armed Forces, we have crushed the ISIS caliphate and devastated its capabilities. As we begin to bring our troops home, the American people can be assured, for the sake of our soldiers, their families, and our nation, we will never allow the remnants of ISIS to reestablish their evil and murderous caliphate -- not now, not ever," the statement added.
The attack comes less than a month after Trump announced that US troops would withdraw from Syria. In making his announcement, Trump declared in a video released on Twitter: "We have won against ISIS. We've beaten them and we've beaten them badly. We've taken back the land and now it's time for our troops to come back home."
The US has about 2,000 troops in Syria, with no specific date for their withdrawal. Last week, the US began withdrawing some military ground equipment from Syria, according to an administration official with direct knowledge of the operation.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was a harsh critic of Trump's plans to bring home US troops from Syria when the decision was announced earlier in December, said Wednesday that he is concerned that the President's statements about withdrawing from Syria have emboldened the enemy.
"My concern, by the statements made by President Trump, is that you set in motion enthusiasm by the enemy we're fighting. You make people we're trying to help wonder about us. And as they get bolder, the people we're trying to help are going to get more uncertain. I saw this in Iraq. And I'm now seeing it in Syria," Graham said during impromptu remarks at a Judiciary Committee hearing on Attorney General nominee William Barr.
"Every American wants our troops to come home, but I think all of us want to make sure that when they do come home, we're safe," he added. "So I would hope the President would look long at hard at where he's headed in Syria. I know people are frustrated, but we're never going to be safe here unless we're willing to help people over there who will stand up against this radical ideology."
During his surprise visit to Iraq on December 26, Trump was warned by military commanders that -- despite his claims -- ISIS was not entirely defeated in Syria. People familiar with the President's reaction said the conversation was eye-opening for a leader who, days earlier, claimed the terror group was defeated "badly" in the country.
The discussion occurred inside a tan tent at the al-Asad airbase west of Baghdad and included the US Ambassador to Iraq Douglas Silliman, Lieutenant General Paul LaCamera, national security adviser John Bolton, and the first lady Melania Trump, along with other officials.
Trump was told that pockets of ISIS militants remained in the Euphrates River valley and that the US military had not yet eliminated all of their strongholds. Commanders told him the US had been successful in taking back other areas but that the job was not finished.
The people familiar with the conversation described it as sobering, and said it broke through to Trump in a way his conversations with national security officials in Washington had not. Coming days after Trump's decision to withdraw troops from Syria, it centered partly on the remaining challenges of going after ISIS fighters in pockets of Syria.

In addition to the briefing from the commanders, Trump found the massive security apparatus on the trip surprising -- something his advisers told him was reflective of the remaining challenges against ISIS.
Still, it remains unclear whether Wednesday's attack will impact Trump's decision to pull US forces from Syria as top administration officials continue to qualify the terms and timing of a pullout -- altering the President's December 19 assertion that forces would leave "now."
After Trump declared that the US would pull troops from Syria and a US Defense official told CNN that planning was underway for a "full" and "rapid" withdrawal, national security adviser John Bolton began adding conditions that could indefinitely delay a troop departure and has refused to discuss timelines.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also avoided offering a specific timeline but insisted in a Cairo speech last week that under the Trump administration, the US is a stalwart presence in the Mideast. He told reporters separately that "there's no contradiction whatsoever" in the US policy on Syria, arguing that "this is a story made up by the media."
At the same time, the top US diplomat has denied allies were confused about the US withdrawal from Syria. "I think everyone understands what the United States is doing," Pompeo said. "At least the senior leaders in their governments do."
Yet on the ground and in diplomatic circles, Trump's decision landed with explosive effect.
US allies in the region were blindsided. Two diplomatic sources say their countries were not consulted or informed and the news came as a total surprise.
But discussions about a US withdrawal have continued this week.

Trump and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan discussed "ongoing cooperation in Syria as US forces begin to withdraw" during a phone call Monday, just one day after Trump threatened to "devastate Turkey economically" if the NATO-allied country attacks Kurds in the region.
"The President expressed the desire to work together to address Turkey's security concerns in northeast Syria while stressing the importance to the United States that Turkey does not mistreat the Kurds and other Syrian Democratic Forces with whom we have fought to defeat ISIS," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement about the call.

edition.cnn.com/2019/01/16/politics/syria-attack-us-patrolled-city/index.html

admin:
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has secured a seat on the House Financial Services Committee, giving the freshman New York Democrat whose sizable political influence was built in large part on her populist progressive economic message a voice on the powerful oversight panel.
Ocasio-Cortez announced her assignment in a tweet Tuesday night.
"I am very grateful for the opportunity to sit on this committee as a freshman, and look forward to working under the leadership of @RepMaxineWaters!"

In another tweet, she wrote: "Personally, I'm looking forward to digging into the student loan crisis, examining for-profit prisons/ICE detention, and exploring the development of public & postal banking. To start."
The committee, which is now under the Democratic leadership of California Rep. Maxine Waters, is being closely watched as the party weighs how it will use its oversight power to investigate various parts of President Donald Trump's administration and personal finances. The committee also deals with financial regulations, though the prospect of sweeping reform is muted given that Republicans control the Senate.
Politico reported last week that Ocasio-Cortez sought a seat on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, upsetting some veteran House Democrats, who typically assign seats to that panel to more veteran lawmakers.

edition.cnn.com/2019/01/16/politics/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-financial-services-committee/index.html

admin:
During the longest government shutdown in US history, President Donald Trump has been losing support among those who may be his strongest supporters -- white Americans who don't have college degrees.
Among this group, only 45% said they approved of the job Trump is doing as President, according to a recent CNN poll conducted by SSRS. That is the lowest level of support among this subgroup by 1 percentage point in CNN's surveys and a dip from a poll conducted in early December, before the partial shutdown, when 54% of whites without college degrees approved of his job as President and 39% disapproved.
The dip is notable since among whites who hold college degrees, Trump's ratings are largely unchanged in the last month and remain sharply negative -- 64% disapprove and 32% approve.

This trend is backed up by a new Quinnipiac poll released Tuesday. Approval for the President remained somewhat stable between its mid-December poll and now among whites without college degrees (down from 56% to 53%), but disapproval increased from 37% to 43%. That is going from a net 19% positive approval to a net 10% for Trump, a 9-point loss.
The January CNN poll found a majority of Americans placed most of the blame for the government shutdown on Trump (55%) over the Democrats in Congress (32%). Trump has tried to push back from his December claim that he would be proud to shut the government down.


"So, I will take the mantle," Trump said in December during a meeting with Democrats. "I will be the one to shut it down. I'm not going to blame you for it."
More recently, he's tried to shift the blame toward Democrats.

A plurality of whites without college degrees (45%) attributed the government shutdown to Trump, according to the CNN poll. Almost 2 in 5 blamed the Democrats in Congress. Among white college graduates, 63% said Trump was responsible and only a quarter blamed the Democrats.
In 2016, two-thirds of whites without college degrees voted for Trump and 29% voted for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. They're one of the President's strongest groups of supporters. The GOP support held true in the two most recent midterm elections, in 2014, when 64% of whites with no college degrees supported Republican candidates, and in 2018, when 61% did the same.

edition.cnn.com/2019/01/15/politics/white-noncollege-shutdown-polling/index.html

Genjina:The spokesperson of the Buhari Campaign Organization, Festus Keyamo, has indicated that the APC presidential candidate, President Buhari and his Vice, Yemi Osinbajo, will be participating in a live televised 2-hour presidential townhall programme on Wednesday, January 16th.

According to Keyamo, other presidential candidates will participate in the townhall programme. Read the statement below.

The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR and the Vice-President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, GCON, who are also the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Candidates of the All Progressives Congress in the forthcoming Presidential elections will, on Wednesday, January 16, 2019, at 8:00pm (Nigerian time) participate in a live televised two-hour presidential town-hall programme. The venue shall be the Ladi Kwali Conference Center, Ballroom of Sheraton Hotel Abuja. Attendance is strictly by invitation. All guests are expected to be seated by 7:00pm.

The presidential series, which is titled “The Candidates”, is designed by the organisers to have both the Presidential and their Vice-Presidential Candidates of selected political parties on stage at the same time and at different dates to take questions from the moderator, Kadaria Ahmed and from the general public through various platforms.

The programme would be broadcast live on NTA, which shall in turn provide the live feeds to other partner stations like TVC, Wazobia TV, Oak TV and on all Radio Nigeria stations. It will also be streamed on-line at dtv.media to enable Nigerians in diaspora to participate.

Nigerians are encouraged to kindly tune in to participate.

Thank you.

admin:UK Prime Minister Theresa May has seen off a bid to remove her government from power, winning a no confidence vote by 325 to 306.

Rebel Tory MPs and the DUP - who 24 hours earlier rejected the PM's Brexit plan by a huge margin - voted to keep her in Downing Street.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn argued that Mrs May's "zombie" administration had lost the right to govern.

Mrs May will be making a statement from Downing Street at around 2200 GMT.

The PM won the vote by margin of 19, including 10 votes from the DUP. Had the party voted against her, she would have lost by one.

Live: Latest as government survives no confidence vote
Brexit: What could happen next?
No confidence motion: How did my MP vote?
What is a vote of no confidence?

Giving her reaction to the result, Mrs May told MPs she would "continue to work to deliver on the solemn promise to the people of this country to deliver on the result of the referendum and leave the European Union".

She invited leaders of all parties to have individual meetings with her on the way ahead for Brexit - starting tonight with offers made to the Westminster leaders of Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the SNP and Plaid Cymru - but called on them to approach them with a "constructive spirit".

"We must find solutions that are negotiable and command sufficient support in this House," she added.
Media captionTheresa May said MPs had a resp


www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-46899466

admin:
The Juventus forward scored the game's only goal in his side's victory over Milan in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday

Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo continued his stellar form in finals by scoring the game's only goal in Wednesday's Italian Supercoppa triumph over Milan.

Ronaldo's header in the 61st minute sealed a 1-0 victory in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as the Portugal star clinched his first trophy with the Bianconeri in the lowest-scoring Supercoppa final since 2007.

The goal meant that Ronaldo has now scored eight times in his last seven finals.

The 33-year-old was a big part of Real Madrid's three consecutive Champions League titles, and he scored a total of two goals in Madrid's three victorious finals over the past three seasons.

In addition to those three Champions League finals, Ronaldo scored against Barcelona in the 2017 Spanish Super Cup, and netted a total of four times over two Club World Cup finals: 2016 against Kashima Antlers and 2017 against Gremio.

Wednesday's Supercoppa win continued a strong first season with Juve for Ronaldo, with the forward now having scored 16 goals in all competitions for the Bianconeri.

Speaking to Rai Sport after the match, Massimiliano Allegri hailed the Portuguese, stating that decisive goals are precisely the reason the Italian champions signed him.

"We signed Cristiano Ronaldo because he is decisive and scores big goals," he said.

"He scored a great goal and moved very well, but the whole team put in a good performance.

"There were a few too many counter-attacks - we should've had more moves like the [Paulo] Dybala disallowed goal.

"Instead, we kept trying to move it around too quickly and allowed Milan some counters, forcing us to sprint back."

Juventus and Milan went into the match tied for the most Supercoppa wins with seven apiece, and now Juve are in sole posession of first place after winning their eighth title.

For Milan's part, they have now gone three matches without scoring against the Old Lady, and took their tally of hitting the woodwork to 10 times across all competitions this season.

In addition, Franck Kessie's red card takes the Rossoneri's tally to five for the 2018-19 campaign, with two of those coming against Juventus.

The Bianconeri will continue their quest for their eighth consecutive Serie A title when they take on Chievo on Monday.


www.goal.com/en-ng/news/ronaldo-continues-remarkable-finals-record-with-supercoppa/73lbhma1ncu7152zzx04k9o9m

admin: The Reds had been linked with a move for the Salzburg striker, but he looks set for a La Liga transfer instead

Sevilla have revealed that Salzburg striker Munas Dabbur will undergo a medical with them.

Dabbur has been linked with a £22 million (€25m/$28m) move to Liverpool but the Israel international instead looks set to sign for the Andalusian side.

The La Liga side posted a photograph of Dabbur arriving in Seville for a medical on Wednesday.

Salzburg confirmed Dabbur is in talks over a move away, but said he will stay at the club for the rest of the season.

Munas Dabbur touches down in Seville for a medical. #vamosmisevilla pic.twitter.com/PsaRNSheyW — Sevilla FC (@SevillaFC_ENG) January 16, 2019

Dabbur has hit nine goals in 18 league appearances for the Austrian outfit this season, having found the net 22 times in the league last term.

The 26-year-old also scored six goals as Salzburg recorded a perfect record in the group stage of the Europa League under highly rated coach Marco Rose. They face Club Brugge in the last 32 next month.

Salzburg are 14 points clear at the top of the Austrian Bundesliga table, seeking to defend the title they have won five years in a row.

www.goal.com/en/news/liverpool-target-dabbur-to-undergo-sevilla-medical/168bnl7ftt3nzzua0xbufjuq5

admin: The man credited for signing Dortmund's golden generation of players is set to leave the Emirates after only a year in his role

Arsenal’s head of recruitment Sven Mislintat is set to leave his post a year after being appointed, with the club scouring their global network in the search for a new technical director, Goal understands.

The German, nicknamed ‘Diamond Eye’ for his track record of finding top players, was appointed in November 2017 and immediately brought in highly-rated Greek centre back Konstantinos Mavropanos as his first signing.

Mavropanos was expected to go out on loan immediately after joining but such was his impressive form in training that then manager Arsene Wenger decided to keep him among the first team instead.

Former Dortmund chief scout Mislintat was keen on filling the newly formed technical director role at Arsenal but with the hierarchy looking elsewhere, it appears that his influence with regards to transfers is likely to decrease.

Denis Suarez Barcelona

Responsible for bringing in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to the Gunners last January as well as the summer signings of Lucas Torreira and Sokratis Papastathopoulos, the influence of Mislintat has been evident since his arrival at the end of 2017.


www.goal.com/en/news/mislintat-set-to-leave-as-arsenal-continue-search-for/1critv77kqq9y1ohj9ftji1hdh

admin: Blues boss Maurizio Sarri is rightly frustrated by his employers' reluctance to invest in players over 30 - if you're good enough, you're old enough

Before selling Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus, the biggest mistake Real Madrid president Florentino Perez had ever made in the transfer market was allowing Claude Makelele to join Chelsea.

In the summer of 2003, the French defensive midfielder was seeking a pay rise that still would have only seen him earn half as much as his compatriot, Zinedine Zidane.

In an embarrassing show of ignorance, Perez utterly dismissed the merits of a player who was integral to how Real were playing at the time and deemed Chelsea's offer of £16.8 million for a 30-year-old far too good to turn down.

"He wasn't a header of the ball and he rarely passed the ball more than three metres," the Santiago Bernabeu supremo smugly reasoned. "Younger players will arrive who will cause Makelele to be forgotten."

The stupidity of the sale has never been forgotten, though, at least not in Madrid.

Bizarrely, it seems they have shorter memories at Chelsea, with whom Makelele won two Premier League titles, two League Cups and one FA Cup during six successful seasons at Stamford Bridge.

How else to explain the Blues' ageist and self-defeating policy of nothing more than one-year deals for players aged 30 or over?

Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri has already publicly admitted he would scrap the restrictive stance if he could, given it has caused consternation with several members of his squad seeking contract extensions, including Willian, David Luiz and Cesc Fabregas, who has just departed for Monaco, leaving the Blues without a back-up for playmaker Jorginho.

More importantly, the west London club's reluctance to invest in players the wrong side of 30 is also frustrating the manager's attempts to add some badly-needed firepower to his team, in the shape of Gonzalo Higuain.

The Argentine turned 31 last month and, as well as being put off by the complexities of negotiating a deal with two clubs – Juventus own Higuain but he joined AC Milan last summer on loan for €18M (£16m/$20m) with a view to a permanent transfer for €36m (£32m/$40m) – his age is clearly an issue for Chelsea.

Their caution is understandable, of course. Higuain's very best years may well be behind him. Furthermore, in England, he is primarily known as a mentally fragile player who misses big chances in big games (a.k.a. the reason why Messi has never won a major international tournament).

Such a reductive appraisal does Higuain a great disservice. We are talking about one of the most prolific strikers of the past decade.

www.goal.com/en/news/higuain-too-old-at-31-why-ageist-chelsea-wont-do-any-better-than-/zz6jovns3g7y1miybglefw9d9

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The summer signing has yet to score or create a goal for the Reds, but Jurgen Klopp has faith in his ability to reach his potential at Anfield

In a city steeped in music, Liverpool assistant coach Peter Krawietz knew the right metaphor to use when describing his role in Jurgen Klopp's backroom.

“We are like a music band, with our own instrument,” Krawietz told the Telegraph in 2016. “Jurgen is the band leader, and others are behind him playing the bass guitar or drum. I’m not sure which instrument is mine!”

Since arriving at Anfield, Klopp has had plenty of similes thrown at his side by the media, who (prior to Philippe Coutinho's transfer to Barcelona) crowned their attackers the 'Fab Four' after Liverpool's most famous export, The Beatles. The German has also ushered in a new era of hits for the club, with the Mohamed Salah-tribute chant 'Allez Allez Allez' now as common on the terraces as long-time favourite 'You'll Never Walk Alone.'

The most important thing for band leader Klopp is that his players are all singing from the same hymn sheet. The methodical manager ensures this by making sure every player knows their role at the club - something Krawietz spent months doing with Fabinho, showing him videos and using analytics to make sure he understood exactly what was needed from him.

Fabinho, like Roberto Firmino before him, took time to adjust to playing in the Premier League, playing for Liverpool, playing for Klopp. The former Borussia Dortmund boss is aware that summer signing Naby Keita will also take time to adjust to his new surroundings following a £53 million ($70m) move from RB Leipzig.

"That is sometimes how it is," Klopp told reporters. "I spoke to him. Everything is fine. I am completely happy with him. Could he be a bit more confident in the games? Yes. Is he exactly the player in his best time at Leipzig? No, but he is still adapting - that is how it is."

Keita's development at Anfield has also been hindered by injury, with muscular problems seeing him sidelined for four games immediately after being handed a start against Manchester City.

"It was kind of a little setback but he is a fantastic player and I am really happy to have him here. I am really looking forward to our common future," Klopp responded after Keita spent three games on the bench during the Christmas period.

"You see every day, wow, there is so much to come and so much influence he can have on each game. That's all good. There was no reason - just because other boys were in good shape as well. It was a bit about positioning and system - that is how football decisions are. There is really no doubt about the boy, he is an outstanding player."

Fans have yet to see the midfielder who was a revelation in the Bundesliga, where he was named in the team of the season after a debut campaign at age 21. Liverpool decided to pay his release clause before his second season with Leipzig, allowing him to develop for another year in Germany before moving to the Premier League.

His second season was not quite as impressive as his first, but Keita was still a difference-maker for Leipzig domestically and in Europe, where he helped the team to the Europa League quarter-finals and was named in the squad of the season.

He was handed the No. 8 jersey when he arrived at Liverpool, but has not been operating in the role once occupied by club legend Steven Gerrard. Instead, Klopp has played him on the left of midfield as he adapts to the Premier League and to the way the Reds play.

Liverpool's approach is much different to Leipzig's. In Germany, he played through the middle in Ralph Hasenhuttl's 4-2-2-2 and could use his speed, strength and technical ability to create chances and drive forward in their fast, direct, counter-attacking style. Liverpool, on the other hand, dominate possession, so Keita has to be more patient when he is on the ball and does not have the same freedom to chase without the ball for fear of being caught out of position.

As a result, he is making a lot more backwards or sideways passes than he did at Leipzig. There, getting the ball forward quickly was the primary aim, but Liverpool are more patient and keep possession until they can find an opening. This means Keita's main abilities are not yet being utilised fully.

However, it is a means to an end. Keita may not be Liverpool's number eight on the pitch yet, but he is learning the way the team play and how to adapt to certain situations. Klopp integrated Mario Gotze in a similar fashion at Borussia Dortmund, giving him experience on the side of midfield before moving to a freer role through the middle.

Once Keita fully understands the tactical approach and has the discipline to follow Klopp's instructions closely, he will have the opportunity to show what he can do more centrally. He has shown already that he has the ability to keep play ticking over in midfield, win the ball back and help Liverpool retain possession. However, he currently is playing within himself as he adjusts to what Klopp expects from him.

www.goal.com/en/news/how-liverpool-can-get-the-best-out-of-struggling-53m-signing/n2275qr4qruf1cncfv1xdrew5

admin:
The Ligue 1 strugglers have agreed to take the Belgium striker on loan until the end of the season, but the Blues are not keen on a temporary deal

Monaco have revealed that Chelsea are holding up Michy Batshuayi's move to the Ligue 1 outfit, with the Blues keen to offload the striker permanently rather than on loan.

Batshuayi has spent the first half of the season on loan at Valencia but has struggled to make an impact, scoring just three goals in 23 appearances.

As such his time in Spain is set to be cut short, and it was understood he would be moving to Monaco on a temporary basis to reunite with Thierry Henry, who he worked with during the former Barcelona forward's time with Belgium.

Monaco now claim, however, that despite there being an agreement with the player as well as Valencia, Chelsea are now pushing for the move to become permanent.

"We are happy with our transfer window so far," vice-president Vadim Vasilyev told a press conference.

"It's true that a striker could help the team. We're just looking to good opportunities on the market.

"Batshuayi? We have an agreement with the player and with Valencia but not with Chelsea.

"They want a [permanent] transfer. Everything could go very quickly in football so we'll see."

Everton had previously shown an interest in Batshuayi, with it understood the Toffees would be willing to pay up to £18 million ($23m) to sign the former Marseille hotshot.
www.goal.com/en/news/chelsea-holding-up-batshuayi-to-monaco-move-in-hope-of-permanent-/1dj2aavrx14971xiy2yorcp2ke

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'Champions celebrating with a champion', the club said following their victory over the Rossoneri

Cristiano Ronaldo and his Juventus team-mates were paid a visit by Floyd Mayweather in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, the boxing icon celebrating the Italian side's 1-0 Supercoppa Italiana victory over AC Milan.

Ronaldo himself was responsible for the win, heading home a Miralem Pjanic assist in the 61st minute to ultimately seal the Old Lady's eighth title – one more than opponents Milan.

Franck Kessie's second-half sending off made things even more difficult for the Rossoneri, with the Ivory Coast international the second Milan player to be shown red against Juventus this term after Gonzalo Higuain was sent off earlier this season.

Wednesday's win marks the first medal Ronaldo has won as a Juve player since he joined from Real Madrid in a €112 million deal in the close season and the Portugal star, before being congratulated by the undefeated Mayweather, said that hopes this is the beginning of bigger and better things.

www.goal.com/en/news/ronaldo-celebrates-supercoppa-win-with-floyd-mayweather/2dt20kikhecs1j576ga5ckbac

Cletzjohn:The National Party chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole might be in serious trouble after Imo State chapter of the party filed a contempt suit against him.

At a press conference in Owerri, the Imo State capital on Wednesday, the APC chairman in the state, Daniel Nwafor, said the contempt suit was filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, a report by Punch revealed.

Nwafor, who accused Oshiomhole of working against the success of the party, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to “watch the national chairman closely.”

He said that the contempt suit was suited to checkmate the undemocratic and illegal activities of the former governor of Edo state.

Nwafor said that Oshiomhole had no power,morally or legally to arbitrarily “dissolve” dully elected APC executives in Imo state and appointed a caretaker committee.

He said that the action was contemptuous in the sense that there was an exiting court judgment which barred Oshiomhole from doing so.

Nwafor said “we have commenced a contempt proceeding against Mr Adams Oshiomhole. It is at the federal High Court, Abuja.”
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BREAKING News: Imo APC Drags Oshiomhole To Court, Files Contempt Suit Against Him
January 16, 2019 in News 6 0
BREAKING News: Imo APC Drags Oshiomhole To Court, Files Contempt Suit Against Him
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The National Party chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole might be in serious trouble after Imo State chapter of the party filed a contempt suit against him.

At a press conference in Owerri, the Imo State capital on Wednesday, the APC chairman in the state, Daniel Nwafor, said the contempt suit was filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, a report by Punch revealed.

Nwafor, who accused Oshiomhole of working against the success of the party, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to “watch the national chairman closely.”

He said that the contempt suit was suited to checkmate the undemocratic and illegal activities of the former governor of Edo state.

Nwafor said that Oshiomhole had no power,morally or legally to arbitrarily “dissolve” dully elected APC executives in Imo state and appointed a caretaker committee.

He said that the action was contemptuous in the sense that there was an exiting court judgment which barred Oshiomhole from doing so.

Nwafor said “we have commenced a contempt proceeding against Mr Adams Oshiomhole. It is at the federal High Court, Abuja.”

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“In the days to come we will publish it in the National newspapers for the world to read.We have said that president Muhammadu Buhari should watch Mr Adams Oshiomhole closely.”

“The National chairman had no powers to arbitrarily dissolve a dully elected APC executives in Imo state and so appoint a purported caretaker committee.”

Nwafor also informed that the APC in the state under his leadership had suspended the “purported” caretaker committee chairman,Marcellinus Nlemigbo and the members of his committee.

He said that Nlemigbo,had engaged in anti party activities and had not attended APC meeting in his Ezinihitte ward in the Mbaitoli Local Government Area in the last one year.

Describing the caretaker committee chairman and his members as impostors, Nwafor said that he would not be distracted.

He said that the suspension was indefinite.

Nwafor said that despite the crisis in the party,APC would carry the day in the state.

According to him,the caretaker committee had no powers to summon the state governor ,Rochas Okorocha and five others to appear before a “purported disciplinary committee.

He said that he remained the only person in the state who had the powers to set up a disciplinary committee and to ask anyone to appear before it.

The post BREAKING News: Imo APC Drags Oshiomhole To Court, Files Contempt Suit Against Him appeared first on Naijaloaded | Nigeria’s Most Visited Music & Entertainment Website.

Source: wstreams.com/breaking-news-imo-apc-drags-oshiomhole-to-court-files-contempt-suit-against-him/