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.