The Educated Ones Hold Nigeria to Ransom

The people the politicians use to carry out their nefarious political activities, beginning from electoral mobilisation to fraudulent acts, are mostly the uneducated and societally segregated ones. They are mentally helpless and economically hopeless. They don't dream of a country that will compete with China or others in the world. They just want to live, eat and die one day. They are religiously caged too. No religiously neutral person can win in their enclave. After the political victory, the politicians would turn to the educated hyenas on the prowl to permanently stamp the governance infamy. 

In the course of this hocus-pocus and shenanigans, the glimmer of hope ought to reside in the intellectual capabilities of the genuinely educated and enlightened minority. The crucial rescue mission usually rests on their shoulders. They are the ones who can galvanise the uneducated ones towards a mission of liberation. However, the Nigerian situation is almost seemingly completely irremediable and irredeemable because the educated ones are either in cahoots with the oppressors, support one form of oppression against another or wait patiently for their time to be the oppressors. 

Those with conscience are either running out of the country or simply doing their best to survive within the contraption because they have been mentally weakened with no enthusiastic vigour left in them. The last group simply stick to social media to keep talking and talking with no visible solutions or progress. Everybody has been beaten to the game. The country has been organised into a massive garrison where people simply wait for orders and dramatic activities from their so-called leaders. The failure of Nigeria in the 21st century is the EDUCATED ONES. They are the ones who understand how the world works, the development in other places and on the global scene but they are either in support of the oppressive system, waiting for their turn to oppress or they are just weakened to do anything tangible. 

Let us prepare as our lifeless brain creates the foundation for the re-colonisation; beginning from Macron's cultural diplomacy at the African Shrine to Theresa May's economic penetration and the combination of both cultural diplomacy and economic servitude by Angela Merkel. Don't forget after Merkel, we went to China to sign off the remaining piece. Slavery is surely interesting!

Egyptian prosecutors launch criminal investigation against Morsi

Egypt’s public prosecutor’s office has started investigating allegations and complaints against ousted president Mohammed Morsi accused of spying, inciting the killings of protesters, and damaging the economy. The country’s first freely elected leader has been held at an undisclosed location since the military, yielding to popular uprising and in a bid to 'save' the country, removed him from power on July 3. No charges have been pressed against him.

In the Egyptian legal system, complaints are to be investigated for days or months before formal charges are brought. Such complaints can be triggered by any member of the public or police. The announcement is an unusual step, as prosecutors typically wait until charges are filed before making any public statements. Eight other Muslim Brotherhood leaders are being investigated alongside Morsi not excluding the Supreme Guide; Mohamed Badie.

The accused are expected to be questioned in the coming days, according to the public prosecutor’s office. Details of those who made complaints were not revealed. It was announced earlier this week that Badie and several other Brotherhood officials already face charges of inciting violence, though most of them have avoided arrest.

Pressure to release Morsi from the international scene is increasing, with the US joining Germany’s call to “end to all restrictive measures” against the ousted president. The Muslim Brotherhood believes the military’s actions amounted to an undemocratic coup while the army claims that it carried out the will of millions of the people when it ousted Morsi . Morsi’s supporters say they will not stop calling for protests until the former leader is restored to power.

On Friday, tens of thousands of people turned out for what the Muslim Brotherhood called a "day of marching on,” which ended peacefully before dawn on Saturday. High-ranked Brotherhood figure Essam El-Erian, who is among those facing arrest, has called for more protests on Monday. "Egypt decides through the ballot box, through protests, mass marches and peaceful sit-ins," he wrote on his Facebook page.

The interim Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi is expected to swear in a new cabinet next week to enforce a military-backed “road map” to restoring civilian rule in Egypt. “The final composition of the new government will, possibly, be announced on Tuesday or Wednesday,” el-Beblawi said, as quoted by ITAR-TASS news agency. The interim PM said that he will have two advisers, with the future government consisting of 30 ministries.

Israel runs the World: Twitter hands over confidential data of anti-Semitic users to French authorities

A legal battle started last year between Twitter and Jewish students in France when the French Union of Jewish Students sued Twitter for allowing hate speech. In a bid to end the legal fracas and dance to the tune of the students, twitter decided to hand over confidential account information to French authorities in order to track the anti-semitic users.

Twitter said in a statement that the disclosure of information “enables the identification of some authors" and  "puts an end to the dispute" with the French Union of Jewish Students (UEJF), AFP reported. The social network added that the two parties had "agreed to continue to work actively together in order to fight racism and anti-Semitism.”

In June, the court upheld a January  ruling that said the social media site must provide personal information on some users to the UEJF and four other organizations that filed a complaint against the company in November last year. On Thursday, Twitter lost its legal fight after the Paris Court of Appeal dismissed its objections against the original ruling.

The complaint came after a deluge of anti-Semitic messages tweeted under the hashtag  #unbonjuif (#agoodjew), with some users posting offensive tweets such as “#agoodjew is a dead Jew.” Some of the tweets were later removed by the social network.

Hate crimes are strictly punished in France. However, Twitter originally argued that it does not adhere to French law, and that only an American judge could force the company to release such information, Twitter’s lawyer, Alexandra Neri, said. While Twitter says it defends freedom of speech from anonymous users, French prosecutors say the social media site has “commercial interest.”

“Twitter is playing a commercial game by raising a number of legal hurdles to not having to comply with its legal obligations,” Stephane Lilti, counsel for the UJEF students, told the court.

Twitter also shut down the account of neo-Nazi group “Better Hannover,” following a request by German police last year, which was banned by the state for spreading nationalist socialist ideology and damaging to Israel who suffered greatly during Adolf Hitler's reign. It was the first time Twitter withheld content by request of a specific country.

Snowden: United States and Israel created the Stuxnet Virus that attacked Iran

The Stuxnet virus that decimated Iranian nuclear facilities was created by the NSA and co-written by Israel, Edward Snowden has confirmed. The whistleblower added the NSA has a web of foreign partners who pay “marginal attention to human rights.”

In an interview with Jacob Applebaum published in German daily Der Spiegel on Monday, Snowden stated that the US and Israel were behind the computer worm. Stuxnet infiltrated Iranian nuclear facility networks in 2009-2010 and was used to change the speed of thousands of gas-spinning centrifuges, sabotaging nuclear research.  

Washington and Tel Aviv were thought to have been behind the cyber-attack, however, this was never confirmed by either government. “The NSA and Israel wrote Stuxnet together,” Snowden told Applebaum in the interview that was carried out in May.

Snowden stressed that the National Security Agency (NSA) often cooperates with foreign partners through a special body known as the Foreign Affairs Directorate (FAD). Referring to Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, also known as the ‘Five Eye Partners,’ he said their practices often go further than those of the NSA.

In particular he flagged the system used by the UK’s General Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), TEMPORA as one of the worst offenders. “TEMPORA is the signals intelligence community's first ‘full-take’ internet buffer that doesn't care about content type and pays only marginal attention to the Human Rights Act,” said Snowden.

The UK buffer is able to hold a vast quantity of internet data for up to three days, said the whistleblower. “You should never send information over British lines or British servers. Even the Queen’s ‘selfies’ with her lifeguards would be recorded, if they existed.”

While Snowden conceded that monitoring abroad had its limits and the NSA has to prioritize the information it collects, he stressed that monitoring on its own territory was “practically limitless.” Private enterprise is also involved in the NSA’s mass collating of internet data, but proving their complicity is very difficult.

“The names of the cooperating telecom companies are the crown jewels of the NSA... Generally you can say that multinationals with headquarters in the USA should not be trusted until they prove otherwise,” Snowden pointed out.

When asked about how one could avoid falling into the traps of NSA surveillance, Snowden said anyone who had been targeted “was just owned.” The analyst charged with following an individual receives a report every day, meaning the “target's machine doesn't belong to them anymore, it belongs to the US government.”

Snowden’s interviewer, 30-year-old Jacob Applebaum, has also fallen foul of US law enforcement in the past. Applebaum co-wrote a book with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange detailing tips on how to evade cyber-surveillance while surfing the web.

The book called ‘Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet’, was also co-written by Jeremie Zimmermann and Andy Muller-Maguhn. Assange invited his co-authors on to the Julian Assange show, which aired on RT last year in March, to discuss cyber resistance.

“Two of them, besides myself, have been targeted by law enforcement agencies as a result of their work to safeguard privacy and to keep governments accountable. Their words, and their stories, need to be heard,” Assange told the New York Times.

The members of the Cypherpunks movement shared their stories with Julian Assange whilst sitting down to discuss the problems of privacy, online communication and freedom on the internet.

US citizen Edward Snowden is believed to be eluding an extradition order to the US on charges of espionage in the transit zone of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport. Snowden has sent a number of applications for political asylum. Thus far Venezuela and Nicaragua have confirmed receipt of the applications, but are yet to grant asylum. However, Snowden is still unable to travel as his passport has been voided by the US authorities.

Russia Today

EU demands Clarification on US Espionage Acts on its Diplomats; Warns of Consequences

A new word ought to surface just as the United States got 'Romnesia' (a disease that makes you forget anything that makes you bad) during the Presidential debates and campaigns. Presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, always did not usually remember anything he had said that contradicted him. There would probably be another cyber, internet and espionage coinage superior to Wikileaks; maybe termed 'Snowdenvirus' due to the recent leaks by Edward Snowden.

Snowden's new leak showed that the United States had been spying on European diplomats. Reacting to this, the president of the European parliament has demanded an explanation from US authorities over the latest revelation that EU diplomatic missions in Washington, New York and Brussels were under electronic surveillance from the NSA.

“I am deeply worried and shocked about the allegations of US authorities spying on EU offices,” said the President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz. “If the allegations prove to be true, it would be an extremely serious matter which will have a severe impact on EU-US relations.”

“On behalf of the European Parliament, I demand full clarification and require further information speedily from the US authorities with regard to these allegations," he added. Meanwhile, Germany's justice minister also called for an immediate explanation from the United States saying the news that Washington bugged European Union offices was "reminiscent of the Cold War."

"It must ultimately be immediately and extensively explained by the American side whether media reports about completely disproportionate tapping measures by the US in the EU are accurate or not," Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said in a statement.

Other EU diplomats also expressed shock concerning the latest batch of revelations in the NSA leak, reported by Der Spiegel magazine on Saturday. "If these reports are true, it's disgusting,” Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn told Der Spiegel. "The United States would be better off monitoring its secret services rather than its allies,” Asselborn continued. “We must get a guarantee from the very highest level now that this stops immediately."

A spokesman for the Office of the US Director of National Intelligence had no comment on the Der Spiegel story, Reuters reported. Der Spiegel, quoting from a September 2010 "top secret" US National Security Agency (NSA) document leaked by former CIA employee Edward Snowden, reported on Saturday the NSA was eavesdropping on the EU’s internal computer networks in Washington, as well as at the 28-member bloc UN office in New York.

The German magazine also reported that five years ago, the NSA also targeted telecommunications at the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels, home to the European Council, where all EU member states have their offices. Snowden, 30, fled the US for Hong Kong in May, just weeks before The Guardian and Washington Post published details he provided about a top-secret US government surveillance programme that accumulated internet and telephone traffic both at home and abroad.

The whistleblower is presently in the transit zone of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, where it is believed he is attempting to gain political asylum in Ecuador. Lode Vanoost, former deputy speaker of the Belgian parliament, believes that the main purpose of the US surveillance programme was “economic spying” on the EU.

“At the moment, the EU is negotiating a new free trade agreement with the United States,” the former deputy speaker noted. “On the economic level, [the US] is losing ground everywhere,” he said. “Look at what the BRIC countries are doing. The EU is having stronger ties with Russia, with Africa, with Latin America. And the US doesn’t seem to get its economic priorities imposed as it used to. So what I see is a big risk for economic spying.”

He added that there is “too much at stake” for there to be a total breakdown in US-EU bilateral relations, however, “behind closed doors there will be some very tough words” exchanged between EU and American officials.

Ecuador has revealed that the choosing and the safe landing of Snowden in any destination is in the hand of Russia. Russia seems to be the love, the land currently romanced by anybody dissatisfied with the condition and system of the obtainable in any Western nation as noticed in the case of the French actor, Gerard Depardieu, who recently received Russian citizenship in protest against high taxes in France. This has also been the case with anybody not comfortable with/in Russia.

Putin Back Again: Russia counters United States Credit Ratings

The Kremlin has alleged that the US credit ratings is not completely fair. With that, Russia has begun to publish its own sovereign debt ratings in a move that is widely seen as a challenge to the grade given by US rating agencies.

Russia using its domestic Expert RA issued its first sovereign debt ratings this week, with Russia getting an A- grade – higher than its current BBB rating assigned by US majors Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings.

"It's already abundantly clear that the work of all three American agencies is directed toward inflating the US rating and lowering ratings for emerging economies," President Vladimir Putin's economic adviser Sergei Glazyev, said at the presentation of the rating, Bloomberg reported.

 He pointed out that Russia should stop relying on the ratings issued by the three US agencies, since domestic analysts are no worse than foreign ones.

"Expert RA has analyzed the main problems of  ratings, based on the example of the latest two economic crises, and offered an approach minimizing the effects of those problems on the grades," the rating agency said on its website.

The key difference in approach is giving separate assessments to a country's government as a borrower and its credit climate – the overall credit risk level, the agency said.

Expert RA assigned the United States an AA+ grade, below its top AAA and Aaa grades by Fitch Ratings and Moody's, respectively. America saw its triple-A rating by Standard & Poor's cut a notch to AA+ in 2011. Austria and Canada earned the same assessment.

The highest AAA grade was assigned by Expert RA to Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

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.

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.

Islamists Threaten to Attack Germany

A German Islamist threatened in an internet video to attack Berlin this summer and kill Chancellor Angela Merkel, Die Welt newspaper reported.

The video threat is being evaluated by the country’s security services, an intelligence spokesman said.

The Islamist Abu Azzam, believed to be a radical Salafist who moved to Egypt last year, added that Germany's Reichstag parliament building would be subject to attacks like those on New York's World Trade Center in 2001.

This event could not be unconnected from the activities of France in Mali and the worldwide support she receives especially from Europe. The Islamists in Mali have threatened to give France a long war through their axis in Europe and elsewhere.

Iran and World Powers should stop Bickering - Lavrov

Russia's foreign minister has taken a quick and smooth swipe at World powers and Iran. Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that Global powers and Iran should "stop behaving like little children" and agree a date and place for new talks on Tehran's nuclear programme.

European officials have accused Tehran of circumventing the arrangement of a meeting with the six nations, including Russia, that are trying to prevent Iran from developing atomic weapons. Tehran says its nuclear programme is entirely for peaceful purposes.

"Some of our partners in the six powers and the Iranian side cannot come to an agreement about where to meet," Lavrov told a news conference after talks with Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders.

"We are ready to meet at any location as soon as possible," Lavrov said. "We believe the essence of our talks is far more important (than the site), and we hope that common sense will prevail and we will stop behaving like little children."

Three rounds of talks in the first half of last year between Iran and the six powers - Russia, the United States, China, Britain, France and Germany - produced no breakthrough, increasing speculation Israel could attack Iranian nuclear installations.

Talks had been expected to resume after the U.S. presidential election, possibly as early as this month. An Iranian news agency reported this month that talks might resume on January 28 and 29, but the EU said there was no agreement.

Iran continues to perform her war games in and around the Strait of Hormuz in preparation for a possible 'attack' if possible by the U.S. and Israel. The U.S. too and other allies have also performed similar war games around the strait.

Patriot Missiles Arrive in Turkey

Turkey's defence against the Assad regime has been bolstered with the arrival of the Patriot Missiles. In a bid to avoid direct confrontations with the the Syrian military as much as possible, Turkey called for the deployment of the missiles to guard her border with Syria.

The Turkish port of Iskenderun welcomed a German ship carrying patriot missile equipment as part of an effort to stop violence in Syria from spilling over its borders.

240 German troops had earlier touched down in Turkey to be deployed to the border with Syria, as part of a NATO mission. The Suecia Seaways vessel later arrived on Monday after the Netherlands-registered Louise Russ ship also carrying missile kits pulled into the area on Sunday night. 

The German batteries are part of a NATO contingent of Patriot missiles that intercept incoming ballistic missiles, which will remain in Turkey for a year. Two Dutch and two US batteries are also being deployed to other parts of southern Turkey.

In December, NATO announced its decision to position Patriot anti-missile systems near Turkey's southern border to defend against the threat of cross-border attacks and bringing the United States and its allies closer to the Civil War raging between Syrian opposition rebels and President Bashar Assad's regime.

Turkey, a NATO member, requested the missiles to boost its air defences. Violence has flared along the border in recent months, with Turkey firing artillery across the frontier to retaliate for Syrian shells hitting Turkish soil.

Iran and Russia have objected to the move saying Syria could just be a smokescreen to upturn the military balance and calculations in favour of NATO and the United States. They believe the missiles might be available more to spy on their weapons' systems than counter Assad's forces.