12 National & International Highlights To Know For Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Graphitti News collates 12 national and international highlights from late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Wednesday:

Late Professor Dora Akunyili, Former Nigerian Minister and DG, NAFDAC

1. CANADA PULLING EBOLA LAB TEAM FROM SIERRA LEONE

Canada is evacuating a three-member mobile laboratory team from Sierra Leone after people in their hotel were diagnosed with Ebola. The World Health Organization earlier announced it is pulling a team out of the country.

The Public Agency of Canada said in a statement late Tuesday none of the team members had any direct contact with the sick individuals and they are not showing any signs of illness. They will remain in voluntary isolation and be monitored closely.

The laboratory team was helping to control the outbreak there by helping health care workers diagnose and rule out infections. The agency did not say what city the team was in.

Canada said it will send in another team once it is deemed safe. Canada has been rotating three teams of scientists in out and out of West Africa.

The World Health Organization said earlier Tuesday is pulling out its team from the eastern Sierra Leonean city of Kailahun, where an epidemiologist working with the organization was recently infected. Daniel Kertesz, the organization's representative in the country, said that the team was exhausted and that the added stress of a colleague getting sick could increase the risk of mistakes.

The disease has overwhelmed the already shaky health systems in some of the world's poorest countries.

The outbreak has killed more than 1,400 people in West Africa. There is no proven treatment for Ebola, so health workers primarily focus on isolating the sick. According to WHO, the Ebola outbreak has killed more than half of the more than 2,600 people sickened. The U.N. agency said an unprecedented 240 health care workers have been infected.

2. JONATHAN, GOWON, OTHERS HONOUR AKUNYILI AS LATE MINISTER’S HUSBAND RECOUNTS HER HEROIC MOMENTS

President Goodluck Jonathan has urged public office holders to leave indelible marks that will speak for them after they are gone.

Mr. Jonathan also described the late Dora Akunyili as a public officer who distinguished herself through her achievements as Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control [NAFDAC].

President Jonathan, who spoke at the requiem mass for Mrs. Akunyili at the Pro Cathedral Garki, Area 3, Abuja, on Tuesday, said he would have been sad if he had missed what he described as the last assignment in her honour, because of his just concluded visit to Germany.

Recalling his encounter with the late information minister when he was still the deputy governor of Bayelsa State, the President said, “At a time, we appreciated and encouraged those working at the centre, unlike today that media aides to governors abuse the President. She went into NAFDAC and changed the story of NAFDAC‎ and now everybody knows about NAFDAC.”

According to him,  although she held several positions, including Minister of Information and Communication under the late President Musa Yar’Adua, her days at NAFDAC was the most remembered because of her service to the nation.

3. FLEEING NIGERIAN TROOPS RETURN HOME — DHQ

Cameroonian authorities have repatriated about 480 Nigerian troops who had previously fled into the country after a fierce gun battle with Boko Haram insurgents. They arrived in the country through Mubi, Adamawa State.

A resident of the town (name withheld) told the Hausa service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that the troops arrived in Mubi, some with guns and some without guns while others were with armoured personnel carriers (APC).

The agency reported that “the troops were fed in Mubi Barracks; some of them were still in military fatigue while others were on vest”.

Cameroonian army spokesman on Monday told the BBC that 480 Nigerian troops fled to the country after a gun battle with the sect, but Defence Headquarters debunked the allegation saying the troops’ action was a “tactical manoeuvre”.

Meanwhile, the sect yesterday attempted to blow up a bridge linking Nigerian and Cameroon after overrunning a town and sending residents and soldiers fleeing, Cameroon police and locals said. A Cameroon police officer stationed in the far north town of Fotokol, Cameroon, told AFP that the militants tried to destroy the bridge, which serves as the border crossing with Gamboru Ngala in Nigeria.

4. ENUGU DEP GOV, ONYEBUCHI, IMPEACHED, SAYS I’LL GO TO COURT

The Enugu State House of Assembly, on Tuesday, formally impeached the state’s deputy governor, Sunday Onyebuchi, over the alleged two-count charge of misconduct and disrespect to the constituted authority it brought against him.

Onyebuchi’s impeachment came through when the House adopted the report of the impeachment panel set up by the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Innocent Umezurike, who found him guilty of the allegation of gross misconduct levelled against him.

It was gathered that the Franklin Oraeke-led panel, last Wednesday, concluded its investigation and found the former deputy governor guilty of the three allegations levelled against him. He was alleged of rearing poultry in his official quarters, failed to represent the governor in Anambra State when President Jonathan came to launch the 2nd Niger Bridge as well as failed to represent Governor Chime at the South-East Governors’ Forum meeting held at Government House, Enugu, in June.

While moving for the deputy governor’s impeachment at the floor of the House, the leader of the House, Honourable S.K.E Udeh-Okoye, representing Awgu North Constituency, stated “the House, having carefully considered the report on investigation of the allegations, do adopt it and it is hereby adopted.  Be it moved and is hereby moved.”

Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Reuters / Chris Wattie)

5. CANADA TO RUSSIA: ‘WE WILL DEFEND OUR SOVEREIGNTY IN THE ARCTIC’

Canada is ready for a confrontation with Russia if it expands its ambitions in the Arctic region, Foreign Minister John Baird told a Danish newspaper. The oil-rich region is set to become a key political battleground in the coming decades.

“We are deeply concerned, and we are determined to promote and defend the sovereignty of Canada in the Arctic,” Baird said in an interview with the Danish publication Berlingske, published in the native language.

“For us, this is a strategic priority. In connection with the militarization that we are seeing, we would prefer to alleviate the conflict, but it's clear that we will defend our own sovereign power.”

Russia, last year unsealed a long-mothballed base on Novosibirsk Archipelago, off the north-eastern coast of the country, which has since then reinforced the area with warships and icebreakers that now constitute a coherent defense system. Moscow and Ottawa also engaged in a frosty exchange earlier this summer, after Canada scrambled its fighter jets to tail Tu-95 heavy bombers, which it said came close to its airspace.

“We have seen Russian provocations in the Arctic for decades, so there is nothing new under the sun,” said Baird, when questioned about the incidents. “We call once again upon the countries of the Arctic Council to sit down and solve problems constructively.”

Canada however already boycotted the high-ranking Moscow Arctic Council conference earlier this year, and with harsh rhetoric, a further escalation seems inevitable.

6. DOZENS OF US STATES POLICE DEPARTMENTS SUSPENDED FOR LOSING US MILITARY-GRADE WEAPONRY

Close to 200 state and local police departments in the United States have been suspended for losing military-level equipment transferred to them by the Pentagon, a new investigation found.

According to the media outlet Fusion, its independent investigation into the Pentagon’s “1033 program,” which equips state and local police departments across the US with excess military equipment, turned up an alarming trend: Not only did many law enforcement agencies fail to comply with the program’s guidelines, they routinely lost dangerous weaponry.

Already, the investigation has found that police departments in Arizona, California, Mississippi, Missouri, Georgia, and others have lost or cannot account for various types of weapons. This list includes M14 and M16 assault rifles, .45-caliber pistols, shotguns, and even vehicles.

So far, 184 state and local departments have reportedly been suspended in a program that involves the participation of more than 8,000 agencies. Since 1990, the 1033 program has administered more than $4.3 billion worth of equipment and weapons.

In the wake of heavy police response to protests surrounding the death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, the topic of police militarization has emerged at the forefront of public debate in the US. Police employed heavily armored vehicles, sniper rifles, tear gas, and riot gear as they confronted demonstrators against excessive force, sparking widespread concern throughout the country, particularly over the Pentagon’s military equipment transfer program.

Although the Pentagon stated the program is meant to “enhance public safety and improve homeland security,” critics argue that the inability of police to keep track of their equipment adds another layer of doubt to the idea that security is being improved.

“The case for giving military weaponry to these small police departments was already thin in the beginning,” Tim Lynch of the CATO Institute’s project on criminal justice said to Fusion. “Now that we’re finding that there is insufficient accountability for tracking this equipment, then the case is beginning to fall apart.” 

Reuters / Lucy Nicholson

7. PERU POLICE SEIZE 3.3 TONS OF COCAINE

Peruvian police say they have seized at least 3.3 tons of cocaine, the year's biggest haul, hidden in a shipment of coal that was bound for Belgium and Spain.

Counter-narcotics police chief Vicente Romero flew reporters from the capital to see the drugs Tuesday near the northern port of Trujillo.

He said the house in the countryside holding the cocaine was raided the previous day after a six-week joint operation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration that included wiretapping.

He said two Mexicans and five Peruvians were arrested and that a Mexican cartel was believed to be behind the operation.

Romero said it was the biggest cocaine seizure this year in Peru, which in 2012 overtook Colombia as the world's No. 1 cocaine producing country.

8. TWO NATO WARSHIPS HEADING TO BLACK SEA – REPORT

A US Navy destroyer and a French frigate are expected to enter the waters of the Black Sea next week, a diplomatic and military source said.

“Two NATO warships at once will arrive in the Black Sea on September 3. They are US Navy’s destroyer USS Ross and frigate, Commandant Birot, of the naval forces of France,” the unnamed source told RIA-Novosti news agency.

There’s currently one NATO ship present in the Black Sea, with French surveillance ship, Dupuy de Lome, expected to remain in the area until September 5.

USS Vella Gulf, which was patrolling the black Sea since August 7, recently left for its port of commission.
The maintenance of the operational rotational presence of NATO ships does not promote stability in the Black Sea region in any way, the source noted.

According to the Montreux Convention of 1936, warships of non-Black Sea states can stay in the Black Sea for no more than 21 days.

Reuters / Konstantin Grishin

9. RUSSIA, UKRAINE AGREE TO KICK-START STALLED GAS TALKS​

Leaders of Russia and Ukraine have decided to resume talks on energy issues between the two countries in September, as fears of gas delivery disruptions and Kiev's unwillingness to settle disputes and pay bills threaten Europe’s energy security.

Following an intense round of direct talks between President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko, the head of the Russian state said that both leaders were able to reach an agreement on the resumption of consultations on energy and gas.

Yet Putin said, there are “a lot of concrete questions,” stressing that while Russia fully complies with all the conditions of the gas contracts with Ukraine, the actions of Naftogaz create risks for gas transit to Europe.

In June, Russia’s national gas company Gazprom stopped gas deliveries to Ukraine over chronic late payment and an unpaid bill of over US$5 billion.

Photo credit: Daily Mail

10. REPORT FOUND THAT AROUND 1,400 CHILDREN WERE SEXUALLY EXPLOITED IN ROTHERHAM, SOUTH YORKSHIRE, UK; PCC URGED TO QUIT OVER ABUSE REPORT

A landmark report has revealed children as young as 11 were trafficked, beaten, and raped by large numbers of men between 1997 and 2013 in Rotherham, South Yorkshire (pictured). And shockingly, more than a third of the cases were already know to agencies. But according to the report's author: 'several staff described their nervousness about identifying the ethnic origins of perpetrators for fear of being thought racist'.

The report comes four years after sex attackers (left to right) Adil Hussain, Razwan Razaq, Mohsin Khan, Umar Razaq, and Zafran Ramzan were jailed for grooming girls as young as 13. The men, all British-born Pakistanis, attacked the four girls in play areas, parks and in the back of their cars, Sheffield Crown Court heard.

In the landmark report, Professor Alexis Jay warned that a lack of reports was partly down to a fear of being racist as the majority of the perpetrators were described as 'Asian men', and many were said to be of Pakistani origin.

South Yorkshire's Police and Crime Commissioner is facing increasing pressure to resign after a shocking report found 1,400 youngsters in a town suffered sexual exploitation in a 16-year period.

Shaun Wright was the cabinet member responsible for children's services in Rotherham from 2005 to 2010, in the middle of a period when, according to a report released yesterday, gang rapes, grooming, trafficking and other sexual exploitation on a wide scale was taking place.

Rotherham Council leader Roger Stone resigned yesterday following the publication of Professor Alexis Jay's report, and there were calls for Mr Wright, a former Labour councillor who was elected as PCC in 2012, to follow suit.

WBO Welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao, left, of the Philippines, and WBO junior welterweight champion Chris Algieri of United States, right, pose for photographers during a news conference in Macau, Monday, Aug. 25, 2014. The boxers are scheduled to battle in WBO welterweight title match at The Venetian Macao on Nov. 23 in Macau. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

11. PACQUIAO TO HELP SET UP BOXING ACADEMY IN CHINA

Champion Boxer, Manny Pacquiao is setting up a boxing institute in China and believes the country of 1.4 billion people can produce professional world champions.

Pacquiao said Wednesday that he has partnered with a Chinese company and the Chinese government to set up an institute in his name, with the aim of imparting the experience that has seen him win eight world titles.

He was speaking from Shanghai where he is promoting his Nov. 22 fight against Chris Algieri for a WBO welterweight title in Macau. He will be defending the welterweight crown he won in a rematch earlier last year with Timothy Bradley, avenging his 2012 loss.

Pacquiao, 35, said the Manny Pacquiao Boxing Education Institute will "start in Beijing, and the plan is for the whole of China."

While China has produced accomplished fighters and Olympic champions at amateur level, there is potential to translate that to professional ranks, saying the local boxers "just need some knowledge about boxing and should be taught the basics."

"Of course, with 1.4 billion population for the whole China, they can produce good fighters like other champions," he said.

Pacquiao, who is also a congressman, told ABS-CBN television in Manila he intends his new venture to also foster warmer relationships between the Philippines and China, whose territorial dispute in the South China Sea has intensified in recent months.

"This will even help in strengthening our relationship ... especially since in this project, the Chinese government is involved," he said.

Pacquiao said he would visit the academy "once a month, once in three months, to supervise them."

On top of his duties in the academy and as congressman and boxer, Pacquiao has taken on the role of playing coach of a new Philippine professional basketball team which will see action for the first time in October.

He said the team trains every day, except on weekends. "I can handle it," he said.

The well-loved Bible-quoting boxer is regarded as a folk hero by Filipinos, and his win over Brandon Rios in Macau last November was a boost to a country recovering from Typhoon Haiyan which killed more than 6,300 in the central Philippines.

12. FEDERER TURNS ON THE STYLE

Roger Federer put on a show in front of Michael Jordan to reach the second round of the US Open.

Federer tweeted a picture with the former basketball great on Monday and Jordan was in the Swiss star's box as he opened his campaign at Flushing Meadows with a 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7/4) win over Marinko Matosevic.

Federer arrived in New York brimming with confidence after reaching the final at his last four tournaments and winning his first Masters title for two years in Cincinnati last weekend.

Australian Matosevic, who has acquired the nickname 'Mad Dog', is a feisty competitor but it was not long before he was being forced to admire Federer's shots.

Matosevic did a pretty good job of holding onto his serve under pressure but Federer finally broke through to lead 5-3 in the first set and then did so again in the seventh game of the second.

Federer was really turning on the style by this point, and a 'tweener' shot between his legs that hit Matosevic had Jordan in stitches.

When Federer broke serve again in the seventh game of the third set, it appeared the end was nigh, and Matosevic tried to lighten his darkening mood by engaging with Jordan, pointing at him and saying, 'I just want to be like Mike'.

Roger Federer continued his good form under the lights at Flushing Meadows (AP)