Coup Attempt Foiled in Benin Republic

While Africa waits for the election in Mali to have a logical and positively conclusive end, some blindfolded soldiers in Benin Republic, a stable West African state were planning a shocker.

A coup attempt to oust the President and install a military regime in the African nation was foiled according to authorities on Sunday.

Colonel Pamphile Zomahoun and businessman, Johannes Dagnon, have been arrested for a conspiracy "to block the head of state from returning to Cotonou after his trip and to institute a military regime," state prosecutor Justin Gbenameto Yayi told the press.

The investigation is continuing into the alleged coup. If successful, the coup would have cast a deep dark shadow on democracy and governance in West Africa as the region still battles Mali which became what it is today as a result of a coup also. It could also reverberate in Kenya too.

Search for an Alternative to Fossil Fuel: The Rising Power of Solar Energy

Royal Dutch Company prognosticates that world demand for oil will reach its peak between 2035-2040, after which solar power or gas will take the lead according to a study.

After research into global energy prospects, Shell came up with two possible scenarios called ‘Mountains’ and ‘Oceans’.

The first one predicts slow international economic development and the markets largely controlled governments that will stimulate nuclear energy exploitation.

It also suggests that ecology-friendly natural gas will become the backbone of the world’s energy system substituting coal as the main fuel in electricity generation. In this case, there will be some changes in transportation, with trucks and cars largely powered by electricity and hydrogen, and CO2 emissions will be reduced.

‘Oceans', which is the second forecast considers a more dynamic and ‘fluid’ global economy where reforms trigger a productivity growth and whose development will be determined largely by market forces and civil society, with a smaller role of government.

This scenario focuses on solar power that can become the dominant energy source outsmarting the traditionally known ones in 2060s-2070s as high energy prices unlock more expensive resources and technologies based on the in-depth analysis .

Nuclear energy development will be restrained by the popular concern while coal will continue to be widely used in electricity generation, Shell experts predict.

The demand for oil has been declining every month and at the end of the year will have decreased by 2.08% which is 18.56 million barrels per day according to global oil report.

China Wants More in Space Market; Moving Towards Hegemony

China is really keen to boost its share of the global commercial space-launching business, with the target of owning 15 percent of the market by 2020.

Deputy head of China's Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology Liang Xiaohong told Xinhua News Agency that to achieve this goal, the country plans to build strategic alliances with major launch service providers and satellite manufacturers, and to develop its own technology.

China currently owns only 3 percent of the market but it hopes to become a major player in space in the near future. According to Liang, China's first solid-fuel rocket will be ready to make its first flight by 2016.

Chinese rockets' venture has been overshadowed by the achievements of rival Japanese and Indian aerospace industries, as well as private aerospace enterprises from Europe and the US in cost-efficiency advantage, Liang explained.

Russia continues to maintain the world champion in the space launch market, according to Russian federal space agency Roscosmos. Company head Vladimir Popovkin said that Russia conducted 24 space launches in 2012, sending 33 vehicles into space, accounting for 38 percent of all launches worldwide.

China has several types of 'Long March' rockets for use in commercial launches, all of which now mainly burn liquid fuel that must be pumped in just prior to launch, according to AP.

"The development of the Long March 11 will greatly improve China's capabilities to rapidly enter space and meet the emergency launching demand in case of disasters and emergencies," Xinhua quoted Liang as saying.

Earlier this week, China's space programme unveiled plans to send three astronauts to its orbiting space station this summer as part of preparations to establish an even larger permanent presence above Earth.

The Shenzhou 10 spacecraft, which will carry one female astronaut, will spend two weeks aboard the Tiangong 1 space station, during which time a team of astronauts will conduct a variety of experiments. This will be China's second manned docking of two spacecraft in orbit.

The station will be replaced around 2020 with a permanent one weighing about 60 tons, slightly smaller than NASA's Skylab of the 1970s, and about one-sixth the size of the 16-nation International Space Station, according to AP.

Advancing Cancer Research Through Smartphone Game

Scientists from a British Cancer charity are teaming up with technology giants Amazon, Facebook and Google to design and develop a mobile game aimed at speeding the search for new cancer drugs.

The project, led by the charity Cancer Research UK will design applications that anyone with a smart phone and five minutes to spare will be able to investigate vital scientific data at the same time as playing a mobile game.

A preceding phase is for 40 computer programmers, gamers, graphic designers and other specialists to take part in a weekend "GameJam" to turn the charity's raw genetic data into a game format for future so-called "citizen scientists".

"We're making great progress in understanding the genetic reasons cancer develops. But the clues to why some drugs will work and some won't are held in data which need to be analysed by the human eye - and this could take years," said Carlos Caldas at Cancer Research UK's Cambridge Institute while speaking to Aljazeera.

"By harnessing the collective power of citizen scientists we'll accelerate the discovery of new ways to diagnose and treat cancer much more precisely."

Cancer already kills more than 7.5 million people a year and the number of people with the disease worldwide is expected to surge by more than 75 percent by 2030, according to the World Health Organisation's cancer agency IARC.

The objectives of the CRUK's scientists are to identify the genetic faults that drive cancer to try to find new ways of diagnosing and treating patients in a more targeted way based on their genetic profile and that of their tumours.

US has deployed Intelligence Machinery to Support Nigeria; 'Drone Diplomacy' Coming --Gen Carter Ham

Gradually, the drones are coming to Africa with Niger as the first point of contact. Britain tested her Apache helicopters in Libya and America wants to start testing new versions of the drones in Africa now. The admission of Gen Carter Ham, a man who had once noted the ruthless acts of US army in Africa  shows the drones are coming big time.

It is noteworthy that commander of the United States Africa Command US AFRICOM, Gen. Carter Ham, confirmed that the US has deployed its intelligence machinery to support Nigeria in fighting the threat posed by Boko Haram.

Ham, who spoke in an interview session with a Nigerian media delegation in Stuttgart recently, said the support followed a request from the Nigerian authorities. The AFRICOM commander, who assumed the post in 2011, however, declined to give the details of the partnership with the Nigerian military against the terrorist group.

Gen. Carter Ham was at the Nigerian Defence College (NDC) where he expressed concern over the increasing connectivity and collaboration between the network of Al Qaeda affiliates and adherents in Africa, including the Boko Haram sect.

Gen Ham reiterated: 'Our core concern in the big picture is that if the US "drone diplomacy" must enter Nigerian sovereign territory, it must be a clearly defined collaborative arrangement, not a mish-mash of hazy cooperation without specific rules of engagement. Our weight and clout on the continent must be properly reflected in this matter. Our foreign policy priorities and internal security imperatives must take centre stage.'

Nigerian leaders will be gullible enough to allow rhetoric becloud their sense of reasoning. Drones have done more harms and damages to Pakistan, killing innocent youths and children yet Niger accepted them and they are now with us in West Africa, close to Nigeria while Nigeria will soon domicile them in her territory too.

The prediction of a possible break-up of Nigeria in 2015 predicted by the US as far back as 2005 is what all these point to beginning from the so-called SSS report on Iran. This is just a way to infuriate the people of the North and the reactions will heat and boil up the already fragile disunited and disjointed unity.

Iran and Syria blast the United States for Declaring Support for Syrian Rebels

 The Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Moualem, left, and his Iranian counterpart, Ali Akbar Salehi, in Tehran. Photograph: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images

Iran and Syria are blasted the United States for providing funds, food and medical supplies to rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Secretary of State John Kerry had announced in the week that, for the first time, the United States would provide non-lethal aid directly to anti-Assad forces. The linkage between non-lethal aid and sophisticated weapons transfer in such scenario is very thin, hence the condemnation by Iran and Syria.

At a joint press conference in Tehran, the Syrian and Iranian foreign ministers called the policy a "double-standard."

"If you really feel sorry about the ongoing situation in Syria you should force the opposition to sit at the [negotiating] table with the Syrian government and put an end to bloodshed," said the Iranian official, Ali Akbar Salehi. "Why do you encourage the opposition to continue these acts of violence?"

"I do not understand how the United States can give support to groups that kill the Syrian people," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said. "This is nothing but a double-standard policy ... One who seeks a political solution does not punish the Syrian people."

The first US aid is designed to boost the rebels and pave the way for a peaceful political transition. It includes $60 million for opposition groups.

Bashar al Assad has been defiant since the uprising began and he is enjoying the support of Russia mostly and in a way China. Russia continues to call for diplomacy and negotiation to end the crisis. The war has also got to the Iraqi border in a province called Yaarabiya. The Syrian civil war has killed 70,000 since it began in 2011.

Rwanda: A Real Model for Africa

20 percent of Rwanda's population was killed in the 1994 genocide and two million of its people were displaced. The violent episode took a heavy toll on its economy and health service.

Close to two decades after Rwanda’s darkest hour, the country is being hailed as a model for recovery and reinvention and praised as a spectacular public health success story.

Danielle Beswick, a lecturer and specialist on Rwanda at the University of Birmingham speaking to Aljazeera stated: "Rwanda has been able to develop quite an innovative relationship with the donors. Rwanda as a government has quite  unique approach, a strongly nationally-owned approach to development which is a thing that we don't often see in Africa .... Donors don't just feel guilty and therefore they pour money into Rwanda. They also recognise that the Rwandan government has a strong vision for development."

United States health experts in a study say Rwanda has improved the quality of life in almost all walks of life. One year after the genocide life expectancy stood at 30 years; latest figures show it has now almost doubled to 59.

To fully get the Rwandan picture, a comparison would be necessary. Ethiopia has an average life expectancy of 54 and in the conflict-stricken Democratic Republic of Congo, it is 49.

In 1994, 78 percent of the population in Rwanda lived below the poverty line. By 2010 that figure had dropped to 45 percent, and in the five years up to 2010, one million Rwandans were lifted out of poverty. Rwanda is also winning the fight against infectious diseases.

Deaths from HIV, TB and malaria have each dropped by around 80 percent over the past 10 years. For tuberculosis, Rwanda has a rate of around 128 sufferers per 100,000 people. In Ethiopia it is close to 400 people, and in the DRC it is well over 500 for every 100,000 people.

Selam Hailemichael, Care International in Norway also speaking to Aljazeera stated: "The vision and the framework first needs to be in place for aid to make sense.... For the country to reach the level that it's at now, I would say what has contributed is the shared vision .... It's quite a mixed information that's coming out of Rwanda, that's a fact. But [what we are seeing] is a very inclusive development in Rwanda".

The African nation has emerged from a failed state, to break the cycle of poverty, despair and disease. Paul Kagame has also being described as the model for African leaders.

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.