Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Ukraine's president & opposition agree to truce





Opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk stated that the truce has been reached during negotiations between Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich and the opposition. It was decided to begin negotiations for the stabilization, according to the Batkivshchyna press office.

"There is positive news, the assault and clearance of the Independence Square that was planned before is cancelled. Now the truce and the beginning of the negotiation process in order to stabilize the situation has begun," said Yatsenyuk.

Boko Haram: Why We Haven't Been Able To Flush Them Out - Presidency



Amidst terror inducing attacks of the notorious Boko Haram movement, the Presidency has addressed the outcry of citizens in the country, saying that the fight against the terrorists is complicated.

It said that though they are trying, there were some situations on ground making it difficult to flush out from their hideouts, members of the Boko Haram sect, who have massacred innocent people and massively destroyed property in the North Eastern part of the country; adding that the situation was a complex one.
It said the security forces were constrained by international conventions which prevent them from pursuing terrorists to foreign countries, while the civilian settlements are also co-located within the vicinity of the insurgents' hideouts, making selective engagement tenuous and difficult.

Soldiers, Police, Hoodlums Clash In Enugu



There was pandemonium in the Coal City, Enugu, weekend, during a bloody clash between soldiers and the police which took place at Ibagwa-Nike area of the town leaving a yet-to-be identified person dead.
The crisis which later involved some hoodlums resulted in the escape of eight suspected murder and robbery kingpins earlier arrested by the Police from the state Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS.

Tinubu’s Daughter In Bribery Scandal



Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, daughter of former Lagos State Governor and leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, has been embroiled in a bribery allegation.

According to a report, it was alleged that Tinubu-Ojo, who is Lagos State's market leader, demanded millions of naira and cards of APC before she re-opened the Abibatu Mogaji Model Market in Lagos.
The market, popularly called Iponri Market, was recently opened 10 days after it was locked up by the market leader.

17 year old Bowen Student murdered for rejecting s3xual advances (PHOTOS)



 
The life of a 17-year-old student of Bowen University, Opeyemi Odusanya, has been cut short by some cult members in Lagos.
It was gathered that the undergraduate was murdered for allegedly rejecting sexual advances from some youths in the area and also for “being too proud.” Punch Metro learnt that the victim was a 300 level student of Biochemistry at the university. Police authorities told our correspondent that Opeyemi was stabbed to death by the cultists at her parents’ house in the Alakuko area of Lagos on February 3, 2014.

Ukraine crisis mediators must be chosen by Kiev - Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov



It is the government and parliamentary opposition of Ukraine that must decide who to ask to be the possible mediator in the current Ukrainian crisis, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisted on Wednesday.

"We will support any form of external assistance in crisis settlement efforts by the current authorities in Ukraine within the Ukrainian constitutional framework. But it is up to the authorities and opposition, which represents a certain part of the population in [parliament], to make decisions," Lavrov told a news conference in Kuwait City.

Ukraine’s Security Service starts nationwide counterterrorist operation



The Ukrainian Security Service and Antiterrorist Center are beginning an antiterrorist operation in the country, Ukrainian Security Service Head Oleksandr Yakymenko said in a statement released on Wednesday.

"The Ukrainian Security Service and Antiterrorist Center decided today to start holding an antiterrorist operation in Ukraine : I have already informed the president of the decision regarding holding the antiterrorist operation," the document said.

Russia's Lavrov slams attempts to portray Geneva-2 as failure



Attempts to portray the results of the Geneva-2 international peace conference on Syria as a failure and push for military intervention in Syria are categorically unacceptable, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.

"Everyone is saying that there can be no military solution. But increasing attempts to portray Geneva-2 as failure against the backdrop of those statements give the impression that someone is harboring a military scenario. This is categorically unacceptable," Lavrov told reporters after talks with Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh a-Sabah.

Ukraine: opposition leaders, Western countries to blame for clashes escalation - Lavrov



Several Western countries to blame for failure of understanding between Ukranian government and opposition by encouraging opposition to provocate actions and threatening with sanctions, said Russia FM Sergei Lavrov. Russia urges West to refrain from obtrusive mediation in Ukraine, said Lavrov.

Extremists are to blame for the events happening in Ukraine, however opposition forces, which refused the compromise, and Western countries, which interfered in the domestic affairs of Ukraine, bare some responsibility as well, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
 "Of course, the blame is on extremists, who tried all these weeks and all these months to bring the situation to such forceful scenario but considerable share of responsibility is also on opposition activists, who refused compromise, gave the authorities demands outside the legal frame and in the end turned out to be incapable to fulfill what has been agreed," Lavrov said at a news conference following a meeting with his Kuwaiti counterpart.
 Continue...

Ukraine: weapons, ammunition stolen from Security Service department.



Weapons and ammunition have been stolen from a Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) department in the Ivano-Frankovsk region, said Volodymyr Porodko, deputy head of the Ukrainian Security Service.

"A total of 268 service pistols, two rifles, three assault rifles, 92 grenades, and some 15,000 cartridges were seized in a Ukrainian Security Service department in the Ivano-Frankovsk region," SBU deputy head Vladimir Porodko said at a meeting with foreign ambassadors at the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday.

Stella Oduah hands over to Minister of State for Trade & Commerce, list achievements as Aviation Minister



Princess Stella Oduah has formally handed over to the Minister of State for Trade and Commerce, Dr Samuel Ortom following her sack by the President last Wednesday, February 12th. (Pictured above)

In her speech, she thanked President Jonathan for finding her worthy out of the 160million Nigerians and also listed her achievements while she was Minister. Excerpts from her speech below...
"It was a great privilege to be chosen from amongst the 160million Nigerians to serve in the Federal cabinet. My profound gratitude goes to Mr President who gave me this rare privilege. I also want to thank for him all the support he accorded me to pursue his transformation agenda in the Aviation sector. I equally wish to thank my aides, aviation sector workers and stake holders who partnered with me to realize our vision & mission in the sector. During my tenure, we gave our best to institute reforms in line with Mr President's Transformation Agenda. We produced the Aviation sector Master-plan and implementation Road map. Using the Masterplan and Roadmap, we were ably to...

Pres. GEJ appoints new Chief of Staff - Brig General Arogbofa



  Presidential aide Reuben Abati just announced President Jonathan has appointed a new Chief of Staff a week after his former Chief of Staff, Mike Oghiadome resigned. The new Chief of Staff to the President (pictured right) was born on Nov. 10, 1952. He hails from the Akoko South West Local Government Area of Ondo State.


Photos: Actors'Guild of Nigeria (AGN) members visit President Jonathan at the State House



 Actors'Guild of Nigeria members including Ibinabo Fiberesima, Monalisa Chinda,Stephanie Linus, Fred Amata, Joseph Benjamin, Desmond Elliot, Victor Osuagwu, Chidi Mokeme, Mercy Aigbe and others paid a courtesy trip to President Jonathan at the State House today Feb. 18th to install him as Grand Patron of the Guild.

Pastor E. A Adeboye's message to skin bleachers



 

 Adeboye's message to skin bleachers


Gr*phic Pic: Aborted baby found at a university female hostel bathroom



A foetus was found on the floor of a female hostel bathroom at a university in Nigeria today. The student who sent in the pic said it happened in her school but  wasn't able to confirm this really happened in the school so the name of the university and hostel is out of this report for now until there is more details. The foetus was found by another female student who raised the alarm. Find it after the break...*viewer discretion advised*...

Court jails ex-banker 115years for N8.9m scam (EFCC press release)



 115 years for N8.9m fraud? Choi. Well, thankfully it will run concurrently. See the EFCC press release below...

A Lagos High court sitting in Igbosere, presided over by Justice Adebisi Akinlade on Monday February 17, 2014 sentenced Jamiu Seun Odunayo (pictured above), a former banker, to One Hundred and Fifteen Years (115) imprisonment with no option of fine over an offense which borders on fraud, stealing, and obtaining money by false pretense.

Must read! Chimamanda Adichie writes on the anti-gay law.




Article written by award winning writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie titled 'Why can’t he just be like everyone else?'  Find it below...

I will call him Sochukwuma. A thin, smiling boy who liked to play with us girls at the university primary school in Nsukka. We were young. We knew he was different, we said, ‘he’s not like the other boys.’ But his was a benign and unquestioned difference; it was simply what it was. We did not have a name for him. We did not know the word ‘gay.’ He was Sochukwuma and he was friendly and he played oga so well that his side always won.

Femi Kuti, D'banj, other African artistes collaborate on ONE theme song



 Femi Kuti, D'banj, Omawumi, Victoria Kimani, Buffalo Soulja, Yvonne Chaka Chaka and additional African artistes collaborate on ONE Agric official theme song. They are all currently in the studio in South Africa.
See more photos after the break...

World press digest February 19: 'Pentagon experiments with electric brain stimulation'



Check out some several stories worth reading. The US Air Force is experimenting with electric brain stimulation on several dozen volunteers in the hopes it may improve alertness and acuity in personnel who must spend hours monitoring drone footage and surveillance data.

A proposal to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, championed by President Obama, could reduce total employment by 500,000 workers by the second half of 2016, although it would also lift 900,000 families out of poverty and increase the incomes of 16.5 million low-wage workers in an average week.

Thai protesters drop at embattled PM's Bangkok office after deadly police crackdown



Anti-government protesters in Bangkok on Wednesday surrounded the temporary office of caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, the day after a police crackdown left five dead in the capital's centre.

Suthep Thaugsuban, secretary general of the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), led a convoy of 200 cars to the Permanent Secretary of Defence office in northern Bangkok, which Yingluck and the cabinet have been using as a temporary office since protesters closed down Government House in December.

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