New US Military Base in Romania Due to Operate in 2015: US Navy Department

Click banner for more info

A new US military base in Deveselu, Romania is due to be up and running next year as a part of NATO's overall ballistic missile defense (BMD) system, the US Department of the Navy said in a statement. "NSF Deveselu will utilize both a SM-3 missile interceptor battery platform and an Aegis SPY-1 radar platform," the statement reads.

"The Aegis BMD system is the key component in the Obama administration's plan for a phased deployment of a missile defense umbrella in Europe, which is intended to protect US forces and NATO allies from regional threats," the department said.
Continue...

2 Earthquakes Up to 5.2 Magnitude Rock Eastern Indonesia

Click banner for more info

Two earthquakes, measuring 5.0 and 5.2 magnitude, struck off Indonesia's eastern coast without raising a tsunami wave, the nation's Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) reported early on Saturday.

The epicenter of the stronger quake was located 31 kilometers southwest of the Talaud archipelago in the Pacific, right on the maritime border between Indonesia and the Philippines. The center was under the Sulawesi sea floor at the depth of 42 kilometers.

G20 Finance Chiefs Consider Scrapping Russia Sanctions: Russian Finance Minister

Click banner for more info

 G20 finance ministers and central bank governors discussed the outlook for lifting sanctions against Russia and settling the Ukraine crisis on the sidelines of IMF-World Bank fall meetings in Washington this week, Russia's Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said Friday.


"During 'off-stage' meetings everyone was talking about their desire to resolve as soon as possible the situation in southeastern Ukraine, and to get rid of sanctions that are clearly in the way of their own business and economic stimuli," the Russian finance chief told journalists in Washington.
Continue..

Macedonia Seals Hotel after British Man with Ebola Symptoms Dies

Click banner for more info

A British man with Ebola-like symptoms has died in Macedonia and the hotel where he was staying has been sealed off and those thought to have had contact with him put under quarantine.



Reuters reports that a Health Ministry official said the man had arrived from Britain on Oct. 2 and had been rushed to hospital at 3 p.m. on Thursday, where he died several hours later. Dr. Jovanka Kostovska of the ministry's commission for infectious diseases said the man had been suffering from fever, vomiting and internal bleeding, and that his condition had deteriorated rapidly. 

Pastor Accused of Impregnating Church Member in Enugu

Click banner for more info

A pastor in Enugu State has been arrested for allegedly impregnating a female member of his ministry and went a step further to force the girl to abort the pregnancy.

Meanwhile, men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, have arrested a 14-year-old boy in Enugu for allegedly sleeping with a she-goat. State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, who confirmed the alleged crime committed by the Pastor, said:

IS Poses Substantial Threat, Could Carry Out Terrorist Attacks in Europe: Expert

Click banner for more info

© REUTERS/ Stringer

 Daria Chernyshova - The threat posed by the Islamic State (IS) is substantial, including terrorist attacks within European borders, as Syria-trained IS sympathizers return to their home countries with training and experience in the battlefield, Raffaello Pantucci, director of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute, told RIA Novosti.
Continue..

WHO to officially Declare Nigeria Ebola- Free

Click banner for more info

The World Health Organization (WHO) is hoping to announce later on this week that Nigeria and Senegal are free of Ebola after 42 days with no infections.

The 42 days is the standard period for declaring an outbreak over, twice the maximum 21-day incubation period of the virus.

According to a statement signed by the Director of Information in the Ministry of Health, Mrs. Ayotunde Adesugba, WHO will soon make the official declaration after Nigeria successfully curbed the virus which was imported into the country by Liberia-American, Patrick Sawyer, in July. The country recorded seven deaths in the process.

2015: Why Jonathan may lose as an incumbent

Click banner for more info

For those who are upbeat about the chances of the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan winning re-election if he decides to run, I have bad news for them. The President may not only lose in 2015, he could lose by a landslide even with the incumbency factor perceived to be in his favour. Let’s even consider a massive defeat of an incumbent impossibility; he could still be edged out by a narrow margin. Indeed all evidence point to the first shocking defeat of an incumbent in a presidential election in the country. For the first time ever, it seems the incumbency effect may not matter. While I acknowledge the usual arguments about the incumbent advantage; 2015 may yet prove to be an exception.
Continue..

Federal Government of Nigeria to review the nature of its relationship with the U.S & SA

Click banner for more info

By Egheomhanre Eyieyien

Time has come for the Federal Government of Nigeria to review the nature of its relationship with the United States of America and South Africa. The U.S. has become adversarial in its relationship with Nigeria in recent times. Despite its avowed commitment to supporting Nigeria in its war against terrorism, the U.S. Government has repeatedly blocked our bid to buy weaponry in that regard. And statements by ranking American officials have been needlessly critical of Nigeria.

African leaders unite against Boko Haram

Click banner for more info

The Lake Chad Basin Commission Heads of State and Government as well as the representative of the Republic of Benin, on Tuesday in Niamey, Niger Republic, resolved to fight in synergy against the Boko Haram sect wherever it rears its ugly head in the region.

This was one of the resolutions of an Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the LCBC, attended by President Goodluck Jonathan.

The sect had so far killed about 13,000 Nigerians since it started his campaign of violence in Nigeria, especially in the north-eastern part of the country.

Asari-Dokubo took part in $9.3m arms scandal –APC

Click banner for more info

The All Progressives Congress says ex-militant, Alhaji Mujaheed Dokubo-Asari, was involved in the $9.3m arms deal which led to the arrest of two Nigerians and an Israeli in South Africa.

The party, therefore, asked President Goodluck Jonathan to explain to Nigerians what Dokubo-Asari was doing on the plane where the money was found and confiscated by the South African authorities.

But Dokubo-Asari had distanced himself from the $9.3m botched arms deal.
Continue..

Nigeria donates $3.5m to Liberia, others

Click banner for more info

The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, on Wednesday said Nigeria had already donated $3.5m as part of its intervention in the affected countries.

Chukwu said the sum was made up of $500,000 to each of the countries and the balance to the common ECOWAS Fund for the disease.

He also said 591 health practitioners had volunteered to join the international force that would go to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea to help in the containment of the Ebola Virus Disease.

He said the volunteers registered with his ministry at three points in Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt.
Continue.

Donetsk Republic Estimates War Damage at $1 Bln

Click banner for more info

The cost of Kiev's military crackdown will weigh heavily on the besieged region of Donetsk, with war damage estimated at about $1 billion, the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) said Wednesday.

US in De Facto Alliance With Iran to Fight IS Threat: Expert

Click banner for more info

 The United States has de facto formed an alliance with Iran to fight the Islamic State (IS) movement, despite the strong reluctance by US officials to admit it, the former director of the Iraq program at the National Security Council told RIA Novosti.

"We are in a unique position where, in the extremely short term, our interests and Iran's inside Iraq are almost identical," said Douglas Ollivant during a New America web discussion on Wednesday.

"So, de facto we're in an alliance with Iran. Now, I don't expect anyone in a position of power in the US government to ever say that," he said, continuing that much of the realities and facts of the region are "politically inconvenient to say."

Continue..

Ukraine SITREP October 8th, 16:00 UTC/Zulu: The calm before the storm?

Click banner for more info

Military situation

The situation in the Ukraine and Novorussia is a very tense and could lead to a major resumption of hostilities.

The Junta Repression Forces (JRF) have used the ceasefire to lick their wounds, get reorganized, concentrate their forces, bring in much needed reinforcements, prepare defensive fortifications and bring in new units.  The Novorussian Armed Forces (NAF) have done the same but, unlike the JRF, the NAF suffer from a lack of equipment, possibly made worse by a reduction of the flow of weapons, in particular heavy ones, from Russia (the so-called voentorg).  In terms of personnel, the influx of volunteers to the NDF has remained steady and strong.
Continue..

Australian Air Force Launches First Airstrikes Against IS Positions in Iraq

Click banner for more info

The Australian Air Force has launched its first airstrikes against Islamic State positions in Iraq, the country’s Defense Ministry said in a statement early on Thursday.
“Overnight the Australian Air Task Group operating in the Middle East attacked its first target in Iraq. Two bombs were dropped from an F/A-18F Super Hornet on to an ISIL facility,” the ministry said.
Continue...

US Aggressive Policy Toward Russia Could Trigger Nuke War: Nuclear Disarmament Advocate

Click banner for more info

Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown a great deal of restraint in the face of provocations by the United States and NATO directly at the Russian borders, but a conflict between the two greatest nuclear powers remains a very grim perspective, Dr. Helen Caldicott, an author and nuclear disarmament advocate told RIA Novosti.

"Putin... I think he is being very restrained at the moment," Dr. Caldicott said during a press briefing on Wednesday, adding that US attempts to create an enemy image around Putin are "totally inappropriate."

Continue..

Spain Health Authorities Euthanize Ebola Patient's Pet Despite Protests: Official

Click banner for more info

Madrid health authorities have euthanized Excalibur, a dog belonging to the Spanish nurse suffering from the Ebola virus, EFE news agency reported Wednesday, citing officials.

“Unfortunately we had no other choice,” Madrid regional government health spokesman Javier Rodriguez said.  The report was confirmed by Partido Animalista – PACMA, a Spanish political party focused in the animal rights.

“We confirm the bad news. Excalibur was killed. From the bottom of the heart, we thank you for your support. We will keep working," the organization said on its Twitter page.

Another Passenger Check to Be Introduced in US Airports Due to Ebola Threat: White House

Click banner for more info

Additional measures to prevent the Ebola virus from entering the United States will be introduced in five airports of the country: in New York, Washington, Chicago and Atlanta, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters on Wednesday.

"Additional layer of screening will be put in five airports across the countries. These five airports are the destination of 94 percent of individuals who travel to the US from the tree countries that are currently affected by Ebola right now," Earnest said.

"We continue to have a lot of confidence in screening measures that are already in place. By far the most effective measures that are already in place are… the screening that takes place in these tree countries in West Africa," the spokesman said. "Preventing those individuals, who already exhibiting the symptoms of Ebola from boarding the plane is the most effective measure that would counter and has countered the spread of Ebola."

Continue..

Another US Patient With Signs of Ebola Hospitalized in Texas: Reports

Click banner for more info

A sheriff’s deputy who had been in the apartment of the deceased US Ebola patient and contacted his relatives was taken to a Texas hospital on Wednesday after exhibiting symptoms of the lethal virus disease, CBS cited Dallas officials as saying.
“The deputy expressed concern and we directed that deputy to the Dallas County Health & Human Services for care. We now wait for further information as medical staff attends to the deputy,” the Dallas County Sheriff's office said Wednesday as quoted by CBS.
Continue..