2100 Days in Office: Fashola Tasks Lagosians to use Water Transport

Governor Babatunde Fashola while speaking on his achievements so far for the 2100 days he has been in office enjoins all Lagosians to make use of the water transport system.

The governor speaking on a jetty in Agboju area of Festac, Mile2 in Lagos  stated that the State Government is poised to making transportation an ease for all Lagosians. He did not fail to mention the traffic laws as well as the motorbike restrictions.

He said injuries resulting from road accidents have reduced from over 500 in September 2012 to about a 100 in January 2013. The various deaths resulting from motorbike accidents reduced from above 10 in each month from September 2012 to zero in January 2013.

He said the Ado-badore water transport system will be completed by March and will be effective from then while that of Osbourne will be completed later. Eight jetties from the regime of Lateef Jakande are to be refurbished to efficient capacity.

He stated that the waterway is a viable alternative means of transportation as well as a strategic way of easing traffic congestion with standard safety guards and facilities.

The governor tasks all Lagosians to obey the traffic laws as they are for their benefits.

China still Trades the Tiger; Violates UN Agreement

China continues to allow the sale of captive-bred tiger skins and body parts despite signing up to a UN agreement which calls for such trade to be banned, a London-based environmental lobby group claimed on Tuesday. Full Report.

China is not the only country flouting such others but the country is at the heart of it. It even buys illegal ivory from West Africa mostly from the Congo.

Courtesy: @CareNews

Court Okays Eavesdropping on Americans: Amnesty International Loses

The United States Supreme Court will not let Americans challenge a provision in a foreign intelligence law that lets the federal government secretly eavesdrop on the intimate communications of millions of Americans.

The top justices in the US said the country’s highest court will not hear a case in which Amnesty International and a slew of co-plaintiffs have contested a provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, or FISA, that lets the National Security Agency silently monitor emails and phone calls.

Under the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 (FAA), the NSA is allowed to conduct electronic surveillance on any US citizen as long as they are suspected of conversing with any person located outside of the United States.

Along with human rights workers and journalists, Amnesty International first challenged the FAA on the day it went into effect, arguing that the powers provided to the NSA under the FISA amendments likely puts the plaintiffs and perhaps millions of other Americans at risk of surveillance.

“Under the FAA, the government can target anyone — human rights researchers, academics, attorneys, political activists, journalists — simply because they are foreigners outside the United States, and in the course of its surveillance it can collect Americans’ communications with those individuals,” the American Civil Liberties Union wrote on behalf of the plaintiffs in a legal brief filed last year with the court.

“But instead of allowing the case to be heard on the merits, the Obama administration asked the Supreme Court to review the case,” the ACLU’s Ateqah Khaki, wrote. “Our brief urges the Court to affirm the appeals court’s decision.”

On Tuesday, however, the Supreme Court dismissed the claims that the plaintiffs were being watched under the FAA.

Source: @Rt_com

United States Deploys Forces to Niger; Nigeria to host Drone Base

It is no longer a surprise that energy drove France to Mali because of Niger's Areva. Though France had an ulterior motive of her own to be in Mali, she however received massive accolades for the intervention. On getting to Mali, she deployed troops to Areva in Niger. Now, it is the US' turn.

The US military deployed about 100 troops in Niger to help coordinate intelligence sharing with the French, whose forces are currently fighting to seize Islamist-controlled territory in Mali, President Obama announced Friday.

The US forces are armed with “weapons for the purpose of providing their own force protection and security,” Obama said in a letter to Congress, adding that Niger officials consented to their deployment. The president said the troops will operate out of Niger to help gather intelligence information about the conflict in Mali, but did not elaborate on any specific plans that will be assigned to them.

The announcement comes just a few weeks after the Nigerian Defence Ministry revealed their approval to host an airbase for unarmed American spy drones, which could be used in Mali to monitor Islamists.

United States Radar to Visit Japan

North Korea has got the US, South Korea and Japan on their toes with the last rocket launch. This has made the US to concentrate more on the events going on around the region.

The US is planning to install an early-warning radar system at a coastal base near the Japanese city of Kyoto to bolster its defences against the North Korean missile threat, reports in the Japanese media claim.

It’ll be the second X-band radar system to be installed in Japan, with another one already operating in northern Aomori prefecture. The location was selected as military experts believe that a North Korean missile targeting Guam or Hawaii would most likely fly over western or central parts of Japan.

Iran's Economy is going through Difficult Times --Ahmadinejad

The series of sanctions imposed by Western nations is beginning to take a naked toll on the economy of Iran as admitted by the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Western nations remained skeptical that Tehran's nuclear programme is to make the Islamic Republic a nuclear power which represents a threat to Israel and the greater Middle East. Tehran denies this saying her programme is for peaceful purposes.

Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made a rare acknowledgment, saying the country’s economy is going through harsh times. “This was a very difficult year for our economy,” he stressed.

The statement came during a live television interview, in which the head of the Islamic Republic outlined his government’s budget plan for the coming fiscal year. Ahmadinejad has blamed the US of using all its economic might to put unfair pressure on the Iran.

United States risks a Nuclear Holocaust if it Attacks Iran ---Castro

In a rare public appearance at the Cuban parliament, erstwhile Cuban president, Fidel Castro says the United States risks a nuclear holocaust if it dears attack Iran.

There have been numerous outbursts on possible Israeli or US attack on Iran in relation to Iran's nuclear programme which the West believes is to make Iran a nuclear power.

Tehran continues to deny the allegations saying its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes of energy and medical researches.

Castro while speaking to parliamentarians in an event that saw the re-election of his brother, Raul Castro took them aback in spirits to the famous Cuban Missile Crisis while emphasizing on his point.

The closest the world was to a nuclear disaster and holocaust was during Castro's regime when the Soviet Union transferred nuclear elements to Cuba deter the US from attacking Cuba or ousting Castro. US activities was rampant then to oust Castro as well as destabilize his regime after the Bay of Pigs event.

Breaking News: Balloon Explodes in Egypt killing Tourists

CAIRO (AFP) – A hot air balloon exploded and plunged to earth at Egypt’s ancient temple city of Luxor during a sunrise flight on Tuesday, killing up to 19 tourists, including Asians and Europeans, sources said.

The balloon carrying 21 people was flying at 300 metres (1,000 feet) when it caught fire, a security official said.

An employee at the company operating the balloon, Sky Cruise, said the pilot and one tourist survived by jumping out of the basket before it hit the ground. Both were taken to hospital.

There were contradictory reports over the death toll and the nationalities of those killed in the crash.

An Egyptian security official said 19 tourists had died including nine from Hong Kong, four from Japan, three Britons, two French tourists and one Hungarian.

The health ministry said 14 people had died, and four were missing. It said three people survived but were injured in the crash, including two Britons and one Egyptian.

The Britons were in “critical condition” including one undergoing surgery, state television reported, but security officials said all three Britons had died.

The British foreign office could not immediately confirm if any Britons had died. “We are aware of the reports. We are making inquiries,” a foreign office spokesman said.

In Luxor, security services cordoned off the scene of the crash in the dense sugar cane fields, as police and residents inspected the charred remains of the balloon. The Japanese embassy in Cairo said it was trying to confirm the reports that Japanese nationals died in the accident.

The French embassy was also trying to ascertain whether French nationals had died in the crash, amid conflicting reports.

In Hong Kong, the general manager of a tour operator said nine Hong Kong people were feared dead. “We believe that there is a high possibility that nine of our customers have died,” Raymond Ng of travel agency Kuoni which organised the Hong Kongers’ tour told a news conference.

The five women and four men were aged between 33 and 62, Ng said. Their relatives were to fly to Cairo later on Tuesday via Qatar, accompanied by three staff from Kuoni, he added.

The nine were from a group of 15 Hong Kongers who had left for Egypt on February 22. Ng said that according to local employees, the balloon caught fire about an hour after it had set off, plummeting to the ground two minutes later.

“This is terrible, just terrible,” the Sky Cruise employee told AFP by telephone, declining to give her name. “We don’t yet know what happened exactly or what went wrong,” she said.

The balloon had been floating over the west bank of Luxor, one of Egypt’s most renowned archaeological sites and home to the famous Valley of the Kings and the grand Temple of Hatshepsut.

In 2009, 13 foreign tourists were injured when their hot air balloon hit a phone mast and crashed at Luxor. Sources at the time said the balloon was overcrowded.

The crash comes amid widespread anger over safety standards in Egypt following several deadly transport and construction accidents.

Emergence of Tony Anenih as the BoT chairman of the PDP

Chief Tony Anenih was on Monday February 25th elected Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Board of Trustees after a meeting of the party at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The meeting was attended by President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice President Namadi Sambo, Senate President David Mark, House of Representatives Speaker, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, PDP chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim.

The Chief had earlier held the position during the Obasanjo days as president of Nigeria. He was earlier in the year appointed the Chairman of Nigeria's Port Authority which sparked massive criticisms from Nigerians on the kind of future for the youths if such an old man could be appointed.

Anenih's appointed simply shows the cycle of corruption in Nigeria which rotates around government cronies and confederates.

Russia to Soft-pedal on Oil Exploration

Russia’s remote regions could become alive with access by foreign companies to explore oil in order to avoid the possible decline in oil, gas and mineral extraction.

They may be allowed to co-developing onshore deposits of federal importance, the Russian Natural Resources Minister Sergey Donskoy told a news-conference. He explained deposits in the Far East and Eastern Siberia will be first.

The initiative concerns all kinds of mineral resources except of those on the continental shelf, the Russian Deputy Minister of Natural Resources, Denis Khramov, told the Vedomosti daily.

In current Russian law, oil and gas deposits of national importance are those having 70mn tones of oil and 50bcm of gas. The list of those deposits was outlined in 2008. Ever since, only two Russian majors, Gazprom and Rosneft, have had access to sea deposits, while the right to develop fields were put up for auction with the limited list of bidders.

The access of foreign investors to such deposits was restricted four years ago; they have to get government approval to have more than 10% of the company developing deposits of federal importance.

The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources expects oil production in the country to considerably drop in the near future. In 2013 the decline is expected to reach 0.8% or 510 million tonnes. In order to change the trend and until the Arctic shelf can fill the gap, which is unlikely to happen until 2020, the ministry plans to propel onshore production.

It is hoped the initiative will have a major impact on ore extraction as well as oil and gas. Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East are under-explored even though they have great potentials. If the initiative is approved by the government and the president, it could stimulate companies to develop the  area.

This will mark a turning point in Russia's Oil Industry and in Vladimir Putin's external rapport. The KGB 'guy' has always been skeptical of foreign investments and actions in Russia. Russia could simply be taking a leaf from China.

Russia to become Developed in Seven Years

Russia has been projected to become a developed country with low inflation, a sizable middle class, and much slower economic growth rates in just seven years according to a research report from Bank of America's Merrill Lynch.

Ironically the research argues that the country’s problems, such as a declining population, will become the catalysts for these changes and will actually drive the country to improvement in internal consumption.

“By the year 2020, Russia will turn into a developed country thanks mainly to its demographic problems,” the research by Vladimir Osakovsky of Bank of America Merrill Lynch suggests.

The Russian Ministry of Economic Development also supported this concept, Finmarket.ru reports. Economists believe that scarce human resources will force employers to compete for qualified workers. Hence higher salaries will boost internal consumption.

Experts of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development however have disagreed with such a notion.

Nigeria achieves an Important Phase in her Economy --Peterside

Mr. Atedo Peterside said Nigeria’s economy has reached a threshold, a critical phase during which the country will accelerate the realisation of its vast economic potentials and deliver growth on a sustainable basis.

Speaking at the 2013 Standard Bank West Africa Investors’ Conference in Lagos last week , Peterside, who is the Chairman of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc and Chairman of the Technical Committee of the National Council on Privatisation, said Nigeria’s economic foundations and thrusts are getting stronger every day.

According to him, this is pivotal in helping investors to leverage the attractive investment opportunities that exist in the country and to derive optimal value from such investments. “We all know that a tipping point only becomes unmistakably clear after the fact when one has joined the ranks of those who are left to ponder how they could possibly have missed out,” Peterside stated.

Nigeria’s quest for economic growth and development attained important milestones in the last 12 months, with the power sector, capital market, ports, agriculture and foreign direct investments recording significant improvements.

He enjoined all Nigerians to contribute their quota to the development of the economy and the advancement of Nigeria.

Lagos State Government Violates Human Rights -- Amnesty International

The International Human Rights Watchdog, Amnesty International has accused the Lagos State Government of human rights violations in the government latest demolition process at Ijora Badiya in which hundreds of people have being evacuated and displaced.

The government in its bid to make the state a megacity has demolished numerous houses and structures around the area rendering hundreds of people homeless and without support or palliatives.

In a related development, the state government has also made its intention to eradicate slums in Lagos. This move is to render about 40,000 people homeless at the Ajegunle area of Lagos.

Some Lagosians reacting to the move say there are slums all over the world, hence while should the state government put more people on the suffering line by compounding their problems all in a bid to make the convenient for the rich.

No Going Back on N4BN Peace Mission Building Proposal – First Lady

The proposed N4 billion African First Ladies’ peace mission building project must not be turned down as canvassed by the opposition because it will amount to abdication of responsibility by Nigeria and such diplomatic somersault will be incongruent with the country’s status and leadership role in Africa, the first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan said yesterday.
 

She refuted the claim that the peace mission building was a non governmental organisation (NGO) of the first lady, just as she implored Nigerians to be wary of politicians who see both the media and the unsuspecting public as instruments to pursue private and personal political objectives of bringing dishonour and embarrassment to government, using every issue that concerns her.
 

The proposed N4 billion African First Ladies’ Peace Mission building had been the subject of a raging criticism, with the opposition parties, including the Action Congress of Nigeria(ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and civil society groups contending that, apart from being illegal and a misplaced priority, it would also constitute profligacy on the part of the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration.
 

Drawing the attention of the federal lawmakers to it, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) had on Sunday also joined those opposing the proposed project to argue that it was one of the flamboyant life styles of the first lady and also one of the exorbitant and extravagant ventures of wives of leaders in the country.
 

But speaking through her special assistant, Mr. Ayo Osinlu, the first lady told State House Correspondents that despite the pressure being mounted on the National Assembly to turn down the endorsement of the peace mission building, the project deserves to proceed.
She said that her office would, instead, expect that objective attention should be given by both the public and the legislature, to the gains of what she described as the all important continental attraction to the country.
 

Dame Patience added that, while it was not the duty of the office of the first lady to defend the budget which was not its proposal, but that of the FCT ministry which has responded appropriately, there was every cause to wonder why it is suddenly an issue that a group of the wives of Africa presidents came together to undertake the moral duty to stop violent conflict on the continent and in the case where the conflict becomes inevitable, to try to see if they can provide relief to victims, saying “it offends the original African culture of charity to obstruct any effort to promote peace and development such as the decision of all African First Ladies to rise up to the social responsibility as mothers and wives of leaders on the continent to save the women, children and the aged on the continent from the traumatic consequences of violent conflicts and wars.”
 

Osinlu said, “I can assure you, without any doubt that it is far from the desire of the first lady to have the project turned down. One, it will amount to an abdication of responsibility by Nigeria and that level of disappointment will be injurious for the leadership status of Nigeria in Africa. Certainly, the first lady will not expect Nigeria to behave in such a manner.
 

“Two, the first lady would not also want the project abandoned because it is an undertaking that the country has made to the continent. It means therefore that the credibility of Nigeria will drop significantly if it goes back on its deliberate and willing commitment to host such an organ for the continent and at the request of the continent. Africa First Ladies Mission give us a secretariat and you agreed that you will do it and then five years after, you wake up and say you don’t want to do it again. I don’t think that level of irresponsibility would be expected of Nigeria and the first lady won’t encourage that at all.”
 

Source: Leadership; Tony Nwajei

On the Road to Kazakhstan: Iran Discovers More Uranium Sites

As Iran prepares for talks over its disputed atomic programme, it said on Saturday it had found significant new deposits of raw uranium and identified sites for 16 more nuclear power stations.

State news agency IRNA quoted a report by the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) which said the reserves were discovered in northern and southern coastal areas and had trebled the amount outlined in previous estimates.

"We have discovered new sources of uranium in the country and we will put them to use in the near future," Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, head of the AEOI, was quoted as saying at Iran's annual nuclear industry conference.

The announcement could be deciphered as Iran's strategy to bolster its negotiation power at talks in Kazakhstan on Tuesday with the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. by talking up its reserves and nuclear ambitions, may hope

Diplomats say the six powers, known as the P5+1, are set to offer Iran some relief from international sanctions if it agrees to curb its production of higher-grade enriched uranium.

The West says Iran's enrichment of uranium to a fissile purity of 20 percent demonstrates its intent to develop a nuclear weapons capability, an allegation the Islamic republic denies.

Iran's reserves of raw uranium now stood at around 4,400 tonnes, taking into account discoveries over the past 18 months, IRNA quoted the report as saying.

In another sign that Iran is intent on pushing forward with its nuclear ambitions, the report also said 16 sites had been identified for the construction of nuclear power stations.

The exact locations was not specified but they included coastal areas of the Gulf, Sea of Oman, Khuzestan province and the Caspian Sea.

Iranian authorities have long announced their desire to build more nuclear power plants for electricity production. Only one currently exists, in the southern city of Bushehr, and that has suffered several shutdowns in recent months.

The announcements could further complicate the search for a breakthrough in Kazakhstan, after three unsuccessful rounds of talks between the two sides in 2012.

In what Washington has called a provocative move, Iran is also installing new-generation centrifuges, capable of producing enriched uranium much faster, at a site in Natanz in the centre of the country.

Western diplomats say the Six-power will reiterate demands for the suspension of uranium enrichment to a purity of 20 percent, the closure of Iran's Fordow enrichment plant, increased access for International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors and agreement to address concerns on existing uranium stockpiles.

In return, the latest embargoes on gold and metals trading with Iran would be lifted. Iran has criticized the offer and says its rights need to be fully recognized. Suggestions were earlier made that Iran transfers its enriched uranium to Russia and in return it gets tghe 20% purity needed for medical isotopes.

"If the Six-power group wants to start constructive talks with Tehran it needs to present a valid proposal," said Jalili. "It needs to put its past errors to one side ... to win the trust of the Iranian nation." Ayatollah Khameini had earlier rejected direct talks with Washington saying "it is holding a gun against Iran."

In a statement issued before the Iranian announcement, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said the Six-power group wanted to enter a 'substantial negotiation process' over Tehran's nuclear programme.

Russia and Cuba: Remembering the Cold War

Cuba's President, Raul Castro and Russia's Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev

Russia to lease eight jets worth $650 million to its Cold War- era ally Cuba and will partially write off the country's multi-billion-dollar debt owed during the Soviet-era under agreements signed during Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Havana.

Moscow will write off part of the $30 billion debt and will offer a 10-year refinancing plan for the remaining amount, according to the preliminary agreement, Russia's industry and trade minister Denis Manturov told reporters on the sidelines of the talks.

"There was an accumulated debt on loans allocated by the Soviet Union and we have now prepared an agreement that should undergo all the necessary procedures," he said.

Manturov said the final decision on debt settlement will be signed by the end of the year.

Russia will also lease three Ilyushin-96-400 long-haul jets, three AN-158 regional planes and two TU-204SM mid-range aircraft to Cuba under the agreements inked in the presence of Medvedev and Cuban leader Raul Castro.

Moscow will provide sovereign guarantees to a syndicate of Russian banks financing the deal, Manturov said.

Medvedev and Castro were seen chatting informally and broadly smiling during the ceremony. The Cuban leader greeted reporters in Russian.

Russia and Cuba enjoyed close relations during the Cold War which was between the Soviet Union and Washington over world hegemony and supremacy.

The volume of trade between the two countries last year was roughly $200 million. Oil companies from Russia, the world's largest energy exporter, are drilling into Cuba's offshore oil deposits which has also being of interest to the United States.

Killing Africa's Future: Mali's Crisis Disrupts Schooling of 700,000 Children - Unicef

The education of some 700,000 children in Mali has been disrupted due to the violence in the country according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The organisation  added that there is an urgent need to rebuild schools, train teachers and provide learning supplies.

Since the violence began over a year ago, at least 115 schools in the north were closed, destroyed, looted and sometimes contaminated with unexploded ordnance. Of the 700,000 children affected, 200,000 still have no access to school, UNICEF said in a news release.

Many teachers were among those displaced and have not returned to the northern part of the country. Instead, they are working in the already overcrowded schools in the south, which cannot cope with the amount of displaced students from the north.

"When a teacher is afraid to teach and when a student is afraid to go to school, the whole education is at risk," said UNICEF's Representative in Mali, Françoise Ackermans.

In the north, only one in three schools is now functioning. In some towns, all schools remain closed, as is the case in Kidal, while in others a few have opened. Five per cent of schools have now reopened in Timbuktu.

UNICEF noted that the violence has also had a significant psychological impact on children, who have reported hearing gunshots at school and at home.

The agency said it is working with the Malian educational authorities to accelerate the return of children to school. Since December, UNICEF has trained 1,190 Malian teachers to provide psychological support and mine-risk education to children. In addition, more than 16,000 children have received educational materials across the country.

Other UN agencies have continued to work in Mali to assist the estimated 1.2 million people that have been affected by armed operations.

This was a war that  was started covertly by the West and now they claim to be the 'rescuer.' Mali was a country that enjoying relative peace and flourishing democracy till the United States started pumping cash into her military on the one hand and France started bribing rebels on the other hand.

Those who ignited the fire are now the firefighters; appearing in deceitful robes like saviours.

Who wants to Destabilise Iran and Nigeria's Relations?

Iran has denied it has any terror cell in Lagos or in any other part of Nigeria. The government of Iran released a statement saying Western media and Nigerian media are not faithful to media professionalism for not looking into the issue properly before broadcasting the lies.

Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said such allegations were "made up as the result of the ill will of the enemies of the two countries' good relations", Iranian state television reported.

"Iran and Nigeria have friendly and close relations and despite the vast efforts of the two countries' enemies in recent years relations and cooperation have always improved," he said.

Iran says the West, especially the United States is behind the series of deceit and lies to destabilise the peaceful and cordial relations between the Islamic Republic and Nigeria. Earlier in the week, the SSS released a report that Iranian Terror Cell was uncovered in Lagos.

This report came a day after Nigeria signed a Memorandum of Understanding on irrigation farming with Israel. Putting prejudice and propaganda apart, Iran has continued to be a rational player in the world. It has never attacked a country or forcefully remove any regime.

Everyone in the world knows the whole noise and saga about Iran's Nuclear Programme and the various tactics employed by Washington and Tel Aviv to label Iran an outlaw nation in the world. Washington had earlier lied claiming Iran wanted to attack a Saudi Embassy. The whole allegation died on falsehood.

Iran, though might be against the US and Israel but has never launched any direct attack straightforwardly on any country or does any directly linked to it. America and Israel simply want to make Nigeria an accomplice and in the end destabilise Nigeria rather than blackmail Iran.

CONSPIRACY OF THE CUSTODIAN

Unearthing the gone glory of the Media

Society grows or retards according to the information available to it and the actions forthwith which the pieces of information engineered. No other sector of the society makes the information available and effectively spread it other than the media. The media is the custodian of the society. Everything about a people is known through no other means than the media. The richness in culture, tradition not excluding the organisation of the country in politics and economics are portrayed to the outside world through the artistic exertions of journalism. The job of the journalist anywhere in the world can never be circumvented. In this, the journalists are committed to two guiding principles which are the umbilical cords of the job. Professionalism and Objectivity. In keeping to these ethics, they shoulder a large and heavy load; balancing facts and fictions, separating lies from truths and also keeping the nucleus of the society alive.

Many a time the journalists have swayed in their quest in the separation of facts and fictions as well as promoting more of lies than truths especially when the lies are paid for or wanted by the government of the host country. Propaganda. Loss of prestige. Fox News in the US is clearly notorious for propaganda in the US. Even the Canadian government rejected it as a local broadcasting station. It can only be watched via satellite in Canada. Aljazeera is clearly quite in the propaganda race too. I took special time to view the Arab Spring from different angles, always switching constantly consistently from CNN to Aljazeera. CNN was simply awesome in objectivity though the impression I had for long had about it was that of a Western media bulldog. Aljazeera clearly made it flagrantly known that the Qatari government did not like Maummar Gaddafi and Bashar al Assad. Marvelous propaganda. 'Un-professionalism' at its heights. When CNN was keen on the Bahrain protest and that of Saudi Arabia, complaining of Western connivance and silence, Aljazeera mentioned them in passing. Despite this, Aljazeera still has more educative, innovative and factual programmes than most international media.

Back home, the media in Africa is nothing but ordinary news arena, mostly imbalanced and uninteresting. Gory tales. Horrific news. The media is clearly more of an horror movie news industry. There is no gainsaying the fact that Africa has more of outrageous events than those that positively catch the mind but the media has forgotten that there is a generation to be nurtured after the heinous thieves ruling the continent might have been deposed or gone naturally to meet their king, Lucifer. I wonder if the tales of woes now are more than those of the past. Definitely by all standard NO. Africa now only needs more objectivity and problem-solving media criticism. Constructive criticism. Africa needs a media that will charge the system and not continue to make the thieves influential criminals. Africa needs a media that will tell the people what they need to do. Africa needs a media that will not be too quick to announce to the world that there is a riot after election as witnessed in Ghana.

During the US election, the Republicans objected to the process in Florida claiming they will contest the result. Many hiccups occurred in the process that produced Obama but all were kept at the base so that distractions will not occur. So also was that of George Bush. The media knows that it is capable of disrupting even the best electoral process in the world. Did we ever hear of the African-like election tales and stories? Rigging is so cheap in the US that only a $2 dollar microchip will perform the magic. Both the Republicans and Democrats know this. Who heard of Patraeus during the campaign and election? How about the US drone fired at by Iran? Media guides societies. Africa does not need a media that only makes bribery and corruption look institutionalised. Africa needs a media that juxtapose facts and developments in different African countries as well as in the world. Africa needs a media that will unearth the past and remake it for the modern age. Africa needs real investigative journalism.

When the continent was really hot with almost 2/3^rd of the wars and conflicts domiciled in it, the media of then still had time to broadcast educative programmes for children and youths. We also heard more from our parents. They contributed to the morals of many today. All these programmes we reminisce today as growing adults and we silently cry. The Tales by Moonlight (traditional African stories of great and dynamic morals), the Village Headmaster (western education in an indigenous act), Checkmate, Palace (showing real fatherly love). There were many too in indigenous languages. How about foreign ones? The most popular was the 'The Rich also Cry'. This movie gave many of us the strong-will that money is not all. We watched 'Passion' and realised the West (US) has charms and voodoo power too. So educative and informative. Programmes with near-adult contents like deep kissing were always broadcast at night where parents would have guided their children to bed. What we have today is extreme adult movies shown in broad daylight even on weekends when children will be at home mostly likely to view them. Where are the 'Power Rangers' and 'Voltron' that simulate a quasi-technology desire in us? All gone. Mexican soaps and even African-style porn mostly coming from Ghana have flooded the media.

We are a continent of great cultural heritage, envied by many in the world. Taking a leaf from China and India, we would see and realise that their cultural pattern influenced their developments. China's censorship of the media is mostly centred on political events. She did not make the mistake of allowing her awe-inspiring culture to be silenced. India is same. Porcelain today is China's traditional commodity and now re-packaged to be accepted in the modern world. Numerous documentaries about great China are shown on CCTV. India is doing same in NDTV. What do we have in Metro TV in Ghana? AIT and many others in Nigeria? Political news on corruption always; making these nefarious ones popular rather than contrast the past and their acts as well as broadcast programmes to show the upcoming ones that this was not the way it was and it can never continue. One day all must be revolutionalised for good. The media has gone along with the society in the extremely colossal search for wealth; thrown ethics, professionalism and objectivity into the thrash bin. No investigative journalism.

Youths need to know that African women were not slaves as portrayed by Western media. They need to know that traditional leadership in Africa was based on the interest of the people not the pockets. They need to know that slave trade and colonialism changed all these. They need to learn about the Amazon of Dahomey. They must know about Queen Amina of Zaria. They should be enlightened about Funmilayo Ransome Kuti. They must know about the Queen mother in the Kikuyu and Ashanti kingdoms. They must know how powerful they were before and immediately after Western-infested contacts. The West bribed African leaders and media not to broadcast 'The Root' again claiming it makes African children and youths hate them. What nonsense! So they never wanted hatred and they destroyed the future from slave trade to colonialism and now neocolonialism. Besides, 'The Root' never made us hate anyone, it built our resolve back then to build our Africa because we could not withstood the sufferings and felt we need to tell the world that Africa shall be free and advanced. I am so sure it will do same magic to the coming ones too.

They must learn that when African women were great traders and farmers, German men used chains and padlocks to lock the private parts of their women till around the 16^th century. They must know that no African woman ever disguised her name to be accepted by the society. The TS Elliot and others of today were women with the pseudonym of men because of the European male stigmatisation of women. African youths must know that all these historical and indigenous feats can be brought back and re-fashioned with modern trends. They need to know that no place is like home. The media needs to bring back the African nucleus for the coming generation if truly Africa must advance.

Bomb Blast in India

At least seven people have been killed  and 47 people injured after three bomb blasts struck the southern Indian city of  Hyderabad.

"There have been three blasts and seven people are dead and 47 people have been rushed to hospital with injuries," an official in the police control room told AFP news agency on Thursday, adding that one of the explosions occurred in a small suburban eatery.

The blasts were about 10 minutes apart and occurred near a movie theatre and a bus station. Police say they are trying to determine the cause of the explosions.

The KGB guy of the Soviet Era: Putin Wants New Universal History Textbooks

United Russia has prepared suggestions for a single history textbook for secondary schools in response to President Vladimir Putin's call for more consistency in textbooks.

At a meeting of the council on inter-ethnic relations, Putin said: "School textbooks must be written in good Russian and free of internal contradictions and ambiguities. This should be a mandatory requirement for all teaching materials," RIA-Novosti reported.

Textbooks must be "designed for different ages but built around a single concept, with the logical continuity of Russian history, the relationship between the different stages in history, and respect for all the pages of our past," he said.

Irina Yarovaya, a United Russia deputy and the coordinator of the Patriotic Platform, told RIA-Novosti that United Russia had specific proposals for history textbooks.

Currently, she said, as many as 36 different textbooks are used for one year of school, leading to contradictions and confusion.

She said the party planned to open a discussion on the matter and present "direct contradictions that are embedded in school textbooks," RIA-Novosti reported.

"Given the president's statement, I hope this discussion will increase public interest and thereby enable us to unite efforts and address this issue," she said.

Putin has always 'reformed' aspects of Russian 'civilisation' each time he is at the corridor of power. He has been a man who believes in challenging Western actions on Russian soil and elsewhere Russia's interests lie. His new call for textbooks is reminiscent of the Soviet days when Russia stood separate from the world.

Nigeria, Israel and Iran: Treading a Dangerous Path

Nigeria might be threading a path so dangerous for the corporate existence of the country with the SSS report that Iranian Terror Cell was uncovered in Lagos.

The State Security Service said in Abuja on Wednesday that it had uncovered a terror network, coordinated by Iranians, in Lagos.

 The SSS said this while parading a leader of an Islamic sect, Abdullahi Berende, and two others said to be operators of the Iranian terror cell gathering information about Israelis and Americans living in Nigeria.

Paraded alongside 50-year-old Berende were Sulaiman Saka and Saheed Adewunmi. The three were said to be working for Iranian terrorists planning to attack Americans and Israelis in the country. Another suspect, Bunyamin Yusuf is said to be at large.

This report comes a day after Nigeria signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Israel on irrigation farming. The report has every semblance with the model employed by the United States last year to pit Saudi Arabia against Iran when she announced a terrorist trained by Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRG), the highly trained and professional paramilitary body of the Islamic Republic's Armed Forces, wanted to attack the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington.

The allegation died a natural death. Experts in the United States reported that the alleged attacker has psychological disorder and that Iran and the IRG could not have carried out such attempted attack. The body is far sophisticated in acts than that.

Now, Nigeria wants to follow the same path. Why Iran? These two nations; US and Israel have the most sophisticated intelligence units (CIA and Mossad) that can penetrate any regime and destabilise any government. Already, they believe Nigeria will disintegrate come 2015. Now, we are inviting them in full.

The implication of this with regards to the Tel Aviv and Washington styles is that militants will be annoyed in the North of Nigeria, hence they will increase attacks all in the name of the incident. Nigeria will then call on the US and Israel to send in 'intelligence experts' who rather than uncover plots to attack Nigeria will work secretly for the demise of the fragile entity.

Nigeria will be so gullible if all because she has signed an MOU with Israel on farming, she wants to frame and rope Iran in other to appease her and the US.

Jesse Jackson Jnr to be sentenced to Prison over Corrupt Practices

Former Democratic Congressman, Jesse L. Jackson Jnr, representative from Illinois, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one felony fraud count in connection with his use of $750,000 in campaign money to pay for living expenses and buy items like stuffed animals, elk heads and fur capes.

As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors recommended that Mr. Jackson receive a sentence of 46 to 57 months in prison. The federal judge overseeing the case, Robert L. Wilkins, is scheduled to sentence Mr. Jackson on June 28.

“For years I lived off my campaign,” Mr. Jackson, 47, said in response to questions from the judge about the plea. “I used money I shouldn’t have used for personal purposes.”

At one point during the hearing, the judge stopped his questioning of Mr. Jackson, who was crying, so that he could be given a tissue.

“Guilty, Your Honour; I misled the American people,” Mr. Jackson said when asked whether he would accept the plea deal. Mr. Jackson’s father, the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, his mother and several brothers and sisters accompanied him to the hearing.

Mr. Jackson’s wife, Sandi, also accompanied him, and later in the day she pleaded guilty to a charge that she filed false income tax statements during the time that Mr. Jackson was dipping into his campaign treasury. Prosecutors said they would seek to have her sentenced to 18 to 24 months.

Mr. Jackson’s plea was yet another chapter in the downward spiral of his career. Elected to Congress in 1995 at the age of 30 from a district that includes part of the South Side of Chicago, Mr. Jackson was once one of the most prominent young black politicians in the country, working on issues related to health care and education for the poor.

Last summer, Mr. Jackson took a medical leave from Congress and was later treated for bipolar disorder. After winning re-election in November, he resigned, citing his health and the federal investigation into his use of campaign money.

After the hearing, Mr. Jackson’s lawyer, Reid H. Weingarten, said his client had “come to terms with his misconduct. Mr. Weingarten said that Mr. Jackson had serious health issues that “directly related” to his conduct. “That’s not an excuse, it’s just a fact,” Mr. Weingarten said.

Court papers released by federal prosecutors on Wednesday provided new details about how Mr. Jackson and his wife used the $750,000 in campaign money to finance their lavish lifestyle.

From 2007 to 2011, Mr. Jackson bought $10,977.74 worth of televisions, DVD players and DVDs at Best Buy, according to the documents. In 2008, Mr. Jackson used the money for things like a $466.30 dinner at CityZen in the Mandarin Oriental in Washington and a $5,587.75 vacation at the Martha’s Vineyard Holistic Retreat, the document said.

On at least two instances, Mr. Jackson and his wife used campaign money at Build-A-Bear Workshop, a store where patrons can create stuffed animals. From December 2007 through December 2008, the Jacksons spent $313.89 on “stuffed animals and accessories for stuffed animals” from Build-A-Bear, according to the documents.

One of the more exotic items they bought was an elk head from a taxidermist in Montana. According to the documents, Mr. Jackson arranged in March 2011 to have $7,000 paid to the taxidermist, with much of the money coming from a campaign account, and it was shipped a month later to Mr. Jackson’s Congressional office.

A year later, Mr. Jackson’s wife, knowing that the elk head had been bought with campaign money, had it moved from Washington to Chicago, and she asked a Congressional staff member to sell it, the documents say.

In August 2012, the staff member sold the elk head for $5,300 to an interior designer and had the money wired to one of Mr. Jackson’s accounts. What the staff member did not know was that the interior designer was actually an undercover F.B.I. employee who was investigating the Jacksons, the documents say.

Documents released on Friday showed how Mr. Jackson used his campaign money to buy items like fur capes, celebrity memorabilia and expensive furniture.

Among those items were a $5,000 football signed by American presidents and two hats that once belonged to Michael Jackson, including a $4,600 fedora.

Tunisian Prime Minister Resigns

Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali has announced his resignation according to AFP reports.

It comes after Jebali's plan to form a cabinet of technocrats failed. Opposition to the proposed government came from the leader of Jebali’s own Ennahda party, Rached Ghanouchi.

The country has been in political crisis since the killing of opposition politician Chokri Belaid, which triggered mass protests earlier this month and led to resignations from the country’s coalition government.

Seven French nationals kidnapped in Cameroon; taken to Nigeria

Armed gunmen have again seized seven French citizens in the north of Cameroon on Tuesday and were heading to Nigeria, media reports say.

A spokeswoman at the French embassy in Cameroon confirmed there had been a kidnapping, Reuters reported.

The tourists were kidnapped in the morning in a small village about 10km from the Nigerian border. The kidnappings come amid a French-led intervention in Mali to oust Islamist rebels. Eight French citizens are being held in the Sahel region by Islamist groups.

This is coming after a new militant group, Ansaru, claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of seven foreigners in Northern Nigeria.  The incessant kinapping cases are not unconnected with the promise of the al Qaeda-linked rebels in Mali to give France and Western nations a 'long war'.

Will Iran Ease Up?

Tehran is prepared to ease Western concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for pledges about the country's ability to enrich uranium, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday.

Ramin Mehmanparast said that an important "opportunity" awaits next week's talks in Kazakhstan between Iran and six world powers, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany.

“We will offer ways for removing possible concerns and ambiguities to show our goodwill, if Western countries, especially the US, fully recognise the nuclear rights of countries, which shows their goodwill,” Mehmanparast said. Same-level mutual actions can be followed by Iran to reach an "understanding point," he added.

This declaration is likely not to yield any meaningful result because one of the cogent conditions to make Washington listen is for Iran to allow full access of the UN Nuclear Watchdog, IAEA into its facilities, a move Iran resents.

Iran continues to reiterate that her Nuclear Programme is completely for peaceful means; medical research for isotopes while the West with the interest of Israel at heart believes she wants to produce nuclear weapons.

Brussels Airport Theft: Robbers seize diamonds worth 350mn Euro

Eight armed robbers disguised as police officers and brandishing machine guns have disappeared into thin air with diamonds worth 350 million euro ($467 million) while the gems were being loaded onto a plane at Brussels Airport on Monday evening, media reports say.


Two vehicles carrying four armed men drove up to a security van near the Swiss passenger plane, Reuters said, citing officials. The men were masked.

No shots were fired and nobody was injured. Both vehicles sped off and robbers got onto the tarmac after breaking through the fence that surrounds the airport.

The robbery was carried out with carefully orchestrated plans and a high degree of expertise. The robbers must have been familiar with the terrain well and would have perfected different strategies of escape in case complications arose.

Fire guts Airport's Fuel Dump

The fuel dump operated by the Federal Airport Authority of (FAAN), Tuesday, was gutted by fire around 10:40 am at the Domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Lagos. No lives were lost in the inferno.

Investigations reveal that the fire broke out while work was in progress at the site of the incident and lasted for about ten minutes before it was put off by FAAN firemen.

One of the workers said that the dump stored diesel but stressed that he did not know what happened adding that all they saw was fire. The fire was put off in time to avert heavy damages.

Beyond the Invasion: Western Designs for Mali

The United States is likely to eventually resume direct support for Mali's military, but only after full restoration of democracy through elections, the head of a visiting US Congress delegation said.

Senator Christopher Coons, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Africa, led the first American congressional visit to the West African nation since France sent a military force there last month to halt the advance of al Qaeda-allied islamists.

The United States and United Kingdom have been providing airlift and refueling support for the French-led operation involving hundreds of French and African troops that has driven the Islamist rebels from a string of northern Malian towns in the last five weeks.

Washington has also been sharing intelligence to back the operation, but ruled out sending its own ground troops mainly because of Afghanistan and Iraq's experiences as well as its battered image in the Islamic world.

Coons, heading a four-member delegation from the US Senate and House of Representatives, said both French and African military commanders were happy with the support that Washington was providing, but he indicated they might welcome more.

Asked if increased US support for the military intervention could materialize, Coons said US law prohibited direct assistance to Mali's armed forces because of the military coup there last year that toppled the elected government.

"After there is a full restoration of democracy, I would think it is likely that we will renew our direct support for the Malian military," Coon said.

French and African forces are hunting the Islamist insurgents who have retreated to Mali's remote Northeast, and Malian interim President Dioncounda Traore has said presidential and parliamentary elections will be held in July.

Coons said al Qaeda's North African wing AQIM and its allies in Mali and elsewhere posed a "very real threat" to Africa, the United States and the wider world and he said the United States wanted to be part of the response to this security challenge.

Before last year's coup in Mali - led by a US-trained Malian army captain - the American military had been providing combat training to several Malian army battalions.

But this was quickly suspended after the coup, which plunged Mali into chaos and led to the occupation of its Saharan north by jihadists who hijacked a rebellion by Tuareg separatists.

Although the French-led offensive has driven the bulk of the Islamist forces northwards back up to the Algerian border, there are fears their fighters and sympathizers could strike back with reprisal attacks in Africa and elsewhere.

The election in Mali will be largely determined by Western whims and caprices. France, UK and America's energy interest will determine who wins or not and this will likely contribute to more insurgencies which has always characterised Western interference in nations. This could ruin France's international accolade though they do not care  for as long as the uranium keeps coming.

Will the United States attack China?

'On the outskirts of Shanghai, in a run-down neighborhood dominated by a 12-story white office tower, sits a People’s Liberation Army base for China’s growing corps of cyberwarriors,' according to the New York Times.

'The building off Datong Road, surrounded by restaurants, massage parlours and a wine importer, is the headquarters of P.L.A. Unit 61398. A growing body of digital forensic evidence — confirmed by American intelligence officials who say they have tapped into the activity of the army unit for years — leaves little doubt that an overwhelming percentage of the attacks on American corporations, organizations and government agencies originate in and around the white tower.'

“Either they are coming from inside Unit 61398,” said Kevin Mandia, the founder and chief executive of Mandiant, in an interview last week, “or the people who run the most-controlled, most-monitored Internet networks in the world are clueless about thousands of people generating attacks from this one neighborhood,” according to the New York Times.

The real issue to the attack is the US' Rules of Engagement in Cyberwarfare. In the days of David Patraeus, Pentagon and Washington drafted counter-responses to cyberattacks and foremost among the responses is a high chance and possibility of military strikes.

The Rules of Engagement as propounded by Pentagon targeted Iran majorly. Washington as at then believed the series of cyberattacks on the US was coming from Iran till experts proved the fictitious fact wrong.

Washington and Pentagon in the formulation of the Rules of Engagement were so abrasive. It was at the time when Israel was making heinous and calculative moves to launch an attack on Iran and bring Washington in.

Now that China is 'behind' the attacks though the allegation has been denied by the Chinese embassy in Washington, will the United States in the long run go ahead and fulfil the mission of her Rules of Engagement by attacking China?

Nato Airstrikes Ban in Afghanistan

                                              Afghan President; Hamid Karzai

Afghan president Hamid Karzai signed a decree prohibiting members of the Afghan security forces from requesting NATO airstrikes during operations in residential areas.

Karzai promised to issue the ban two days ago, and signed it on Monday, amidst anger over a NATO airstrike requested by the national intelligence service that local officials said killed at least 10 civilians and four fighters in northeastern Kunar province.

"No Afghan security forces, under any circumstances, any circumstances, can ask for the foreigners' planes for carrying out operations on our homes and villages", Karzai said at a Sunday press conference.

The presidential order is directed at the defence and interior ministries, and the National Directorate of Security, the Afghan spy agency.

It states: "During your operations, do not call for air support from international forces during operations on residential areas." The coalition, however, can still carry out airstrikes on its own accord.

General Joseph Dunford, the US commander in Afghanistan, said he believes the American-led NATO coalition can operate effectively under the terms of the ban.

General John Allen, the erstwhile US-led NATO commander had earlier passed a similar rule aimed at mitigating civilian casualties. Dunford reiterated that NATO will continue to assist the Afghan government in more ways than airstrikes.

The US-led military coalition said last June that it would use airstrikes only in self-defence, as a weapon of last resort, and would avoid hitting structures that could house civilians.

That followed a bombardment that killed 18 civilians celebrating a wedding in Eastern Logar province, which drew an apology from the US commander.

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan said that 83 civilians were killed and 46 wounded in aerial attacks by international military forces in the first half of 2012.

Karzai's decree came after a NATO statement that an Afghan soldier who killed his US counterpart, in a so-called "insider attack" in Eastern Afghanistan last year, was killed in last week's Kunar province airstrike. He was identified as Mahmood.

Mahmood is thought was responsible for the May 11 killing of US army lieutenant Alejo Thompson, who died during an insider attack on a base in the Northeastern province. The attack also wounded two US soldiers. The Taliban said he joined the armed opposition group.

US is due to withdraw all her troops from Afghanistan by 2014 after the initial withdrawal of 34,000 soldiers.

Cuba and the United States: Who is tired of Who?

                               

                                 Cuban President: Raul Castro

A seven-member delegation of US lawmakers arrived in Cuba in an effort to improve political relations that have been frozen since US government contractor Alan Gross was imprisoned there in 2009.

Democratic senator Patrick Leahy, who saw Gross and met with Cuban president Raul Castro and other high-ranking officials a year ago, led the group of five senators and two members of the House of Representatives on a three-day visit to communist Cuba.

"There are obvious problems between our two countries, but we are not here to negotiate. We are here to listen and then go home and talk about what we see," according to Patrick Leahy.

"We all want to see relations improve and both sides take steps in that direction," US Senator Patrick Leahy said.

The lawmakers, all Democrats except for Arizona senator Jeff Flake, include congressmen Chris Van Hollen, who represents Gross's district in Maryland, and Jim McGovern of Massachusetts; and senators Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.

Members of the group said they planned to meet with Gross, parliament president Ricardo Alarcon, foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez and perhaps Raul Castro.

Leahy said the delegation would like to take Gross with them when it leaves for Haiti on Wednesday, an occurrence that might not see the light of day.

"There are obvious problems between our two countries, but we are not here to negotiate. We are here to listen and then go back home and talk about what we see," he said.

Despite the tension between the US and Cuba, more people travelled between the two countries in 2012, cash remittances sent to the island also increased, as did food-for-cash sales under a 2000 amendment to US trade embargo.

President Castro has lifted most travel restrictions and freed Cubans to buy and sell homes and cars over the past year, even as he accelerates efforts to reform the Soviety-style economy in a more market-friendly direction. The Obama administration has said relations will not improve while Gross remains in custody.

In addition, under the 1996 'Helms-Burton' law, sanctions cannot be lifted until Cuba's one-party communist political system is changed, a demand rejected by the Cuban government. Gross, 63, was arrested in Havana in December 2009 and sentenced to 15 years in prison for installing Internet networks under a secretive US program the Cuban government considers subversive.

The case put the brakes on a brief warming in long-hostile US-Cuba relations during the first 11 months of Obama's first term in office. Raul Castro's mild reforms have helped in reducing tensions between Havana and Washington.

Cuba has linked Gross' fate to that of five agents imprisoned in the late 1990s for infiltrating Miami exile organisations and US military bases. The agents, known as the Cuban Five, were sentenced to long terms ranging from 15 years to life and are considered heroes in Cub.

When Fidel castro became ill, Obama extended an 'olive branch' to Cuba and Raul Castro to help bring about democratic change, a move many Cubans rejected. Now, it seems Cuba struck the US where it matters.

Bauchi: Governor to Institute Social Scheme for Unemployed Youths

                 

 The Bauchi State Government began the registration of unemployed youths between the ages of 18 to 25 on the 18th of February. The registration is to last for a week.

According to an official in the state, the exercise is help determine the number and size of the unemployed youths so as to institute a social scheme to cater for them.

This event is co-incidental with the most notorious kidnapping scenario in Northern Nigeria in which seven foreigners were abducted; a Briton, an Italian, a German and four Lebanese.

The various unrest in northern Nigeria is enough fact for the institution of the scheme because all is not well. They just have to wake up to the social call. This should and ought to be a programme for the entire country in order to keep in touch with development and records.

With its take-off in Bauchi, one hopes other governors will wake up and act accordingly.

Determining the causes of Disasters in Lagos

                        

The Lagos State Government has taken a step further in ensuring that disasters are studied and properly managed in the state. The State Governor on the 18th of February constituted a tribunal to look into the causes of disasters in Lagos beginning from the December Fire incidence at Lagos Island.

This is coming at a point when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) according to the classified report of the Police anti-bomb squad exploded at around Festac axis on the 18th of February. The explosion took the life of a police officer and critically injured another.

This step is commendable only if the forthcoming report will be acted upon to the letter. Lagosians wait to see the plausible outcome or otherwise of the report.

On Tax: Americans Renounce Citizenship

Thousands of Americans pack their suitcases, rip up their US passports and move permanently overseas to prevent Uncle Sam from taking their money evey year in anger over the latest tax hikes each year. In the first three quarters of 2012, more than 1,100 Americans renounced their citizenship and made their homes elsewhere, according to the Federal Register.

Available data does not yet include those who left in the fourth quarter, but it is on track to surpass the 1,781 Americans who relinquished their passports in 2011. And the number of Americans who ditched the US in 2011 was seven times higher than those who left in 2008.

With 6 million US citizens living abroad and continuing to pay US taxes, expatriates increasingly abandon their citizenship for the sake of saving cash. The US is the only industrialized country that requires its overseas citizens to pay income taxes – even if their income is generated abroad.

And for wealthy expatriates, the financial consequences of remaining a US citizen are most severe. Individuals earning more than $400,000 a year and married couples earning more than $450,000 a year will be paying an income tax rate of 39.6 percent – which is up from last year’s rate of 35 percent.

Those who earn more than $1 million annually will pay Uncle Sam about $170,341 more this fiscal year, according to the Tax Policy Center. Those who fear losing their savings frequently move to countries that do not tax their incomes.

One third of all billionaires that moved from the US to another country chose to go to ‘tax havens’ such as Switzerland, Bahamas, and Singapore, according to a 2012 study by the Research Institute of Industrial Economics.

While those who forego their citizenship will lose protection from the US government and could face difficulty in visiting the US, expatriates increasingly consider it worth it – including high-profile celebrities like 73-year-old American-born singer Tina Turner and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin.

Turner, who is worth an estimated $200 million, in January became a Swiss citizen and ditched her US citizenship. Saverin, whose net worth is an estimated $2.2 billion, holds Brazilian citizenship and lives in Singapore. Bloomberg estimates that the Facebook co-founder saved at least $67 million in federal income taxes by cutting his ties to the US.

But while the rich and famous make headlines for escaping the IRS’ grip on their finances, all American expatriates are subject to US taxes and are required by law to file estimated taxes and income, estate and gift tax returns. Some lawmakers are even trying to subject Americans to taxes even after giving up their citizenship. Sens.

Charles Schumer and Bob Casey last yearsuggestedthat Congress vote for a law that would force former US citizens to pay taxes for years after renouncing their citizenship – as well as ban them from ever returning to the US.

But in the short-term, ditching the US comes with its own financial penalties: Americans renouncing citizenship are required to pay an often-hefty exit fee. Those whose net worth is more than $2 million or whose annual income tax average is more than $145,000 are required to pay a 15 percent tax on capital gains above $641,000 and taxes on other assets including retirement accounts at the income rate of 39.6 percent.

As the only country to tax its citizens abroad, the US is pushing thousands of its citizens away.
“If you don’t mind where you live and the tax becomes excessive, then leaving might be a good choice,” Nigel Green, CEO of deVere Group, told Yahoo! Finance. “Countries have less of a hold on people. Governments have to raise more taxes, but they can’t go too far.”

G20 Leaders Pledge to Avoid Currency Wars

G20 Leaders Pledge to Avoid Currency Wars
By Alexander Bratersky

Leaders of the Group of 20 said Saturday that global economic growth remains weak despite government measures, but they agreed to avoid currency wars intended to stimulate the economy by devaluing their money.

A meeting of the group's finance ministers and central bankers was held in Moscow for the first time, due to Russia's current G20 presidency. The Manezh exhibition hall, a stone's throw away from the Kremlin, was the venue.

"We recognize that important risks remain and that global growth is still too weak, with unemployment remaining unacceptably high in many countries," read a joint communique published on the G20's official site Saturday.

The communique, signed by high-profile financial experts including former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, also called on countries to avoid "persistent exchange rate misalignments."

"We will refrain from competitive devaluation," the statement said.

Financial experts said the communique indirectly criticized Japan, which recently devalued the yen to encourage economic growth by keeping interest rates at almost zero.

French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici told reporters Saturday that G20 members had agreed not to engage in currency wars.

The commitment is in line with the position of Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, who has said exchange rates should be set by the market because Central Bank interference could lead to imbalances, Rossiiskaya Gazeta reported Saturday.

G20 leaders also said they had agreed to establish a joint study group with the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and United Nations to stimulate the financing of long-term investment.

The G20 is also seeking to increase governments' control over the global financial system.

"The pendulum has swung toward tougher financial regulation," Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak said Saturday, Prime reported.

The G20 meeting in Moscow was seen as a milestone for Russia, which is nursing the idea of turning Moscow into a key financial center despite purportedly poor corporate governance.

"A clear and enforced rule of law will be important for Russian financial markets to reach their full potential," Lawrence Goodman, head of the Center for Financial Stability, a U.S.-based financial think tank, told the Moscow Times in an e-mail interview Friday.

"Russian participation in the G20 and inclusion in the BRIC category of nations helps deepen its local financial markets," said Goodman, a former adviser to the U.S. treasury secretary.

"Although the clustering of Brazil, Russia, India and China is somewhat artificial," he said, "the four nations maintain the potential to shape future growth outside the advanced economies."

Moscow to hold beauty pegeant for Snakes

The Moscow Zoo plans to hold a "beauty pageant" for snakes from March to May to mark the year of the snake.

The zoo has already allocated about 2 million rubles ($66,000) for the event's organization, according to information on the official state procurement website.

A condition of the event is that it must be held in a pavilion with a total area of nearly 300 square meters.

In the statement, the maximum price of the contract was calculated based on the planned attendance of the zoo from March to mid-May, and that at least 36 different kinds of non-venomous snakes will be on display at the event.

Only the brightest, most beautiful and unique kinds of snakes will be showcased: Leptocercal ladder snakes, false smooth snakes, slim, ancestral, European, American and burrow snakes, sand snakes, South American bush snakes, king snakes, red king snakes and Madagascar snakes, as well as Australian and reticulated pythons, ordinary snakes and tree boas.

The zoo requires whoever wins the contract to ensure veterinarian services for the animals and any treatment they require, as well as to prepare admission tickets for the show and forms for voting. The tender winner will also have to provide all equipment and heating for the snakes' cages, as well as security for the event.