Graphitti News collates 12 national and
international highlights from late-breaking news, upcoming events and the
stories that will be talked about Thursday:
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President Goodluck Jonathan
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1. NIGERIA RECORDS NEW EBOLA DEATH
IN PORT HARCOURT, RIVERS STATE
A diplomat, who was part of the team who met with Patrick
Sawyer in Lagos, flew to Port Harcourt, Rivers State for treatment, evading
surveillance for the disease, according to Sahara Reporters. The doctor the diplomat invited to secretly treat him after he
had contact with the index case, Liberian-American Patrick Sawyer, has died of
Ebola.
The
doctor, who has yet to be named, died on Friday. His wife has also taken ill
and has been quarantined in Port Harcourt. Interestingly, the diplomat the
doctor treated is still alive.
As a result of this, 70 people have been quarantined. The
doctor's hospital, Good Heart Hospital in Rivers State, has been shut down. The
unnamed hotel, where the secret treatment took place, has also been shut down.
The Minister of Health and the Rivers State government are
expected to make a statement on the incident tomorrow.
2. NIGERIA HAS NOT ELIMINATED EBOLA — FG
The
Federal Government declared, yesterday, that in spite of the huge success it
recorded in curtailing the Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, in the country, it has not
yet completely eliminated the virus.
Minister
of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, disclosed this yesterday when he spoke
with state House Correspondents after the Federal Executive Council, FEC,
meeting where he briefed the president and members of the Council on the
containment of EVD.
The
minister spoke on a day President Goodluck Jonathan condemned the stigmatization
of Nigerians by some countries over recent cases of the Ebola Virus in the
country.
According
to the minister: “I don’t want Nigerians to panic, but I don’t want us to be
carried away with euphoria because if we still one case of Ebola Virus Disease,
it is an emergency.
3. JONATHAN MEETS OBASANJO, SECURITY CHIEFS OVER
INSURGENCY
President
Goodluck Jonathan and former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo on Wednesday
met in the Aso Rock Presidential Villa where the two discussed the nation’s
security challenge.
Obasanjo
confirmed the meeting to journalists in Abeokuta, Ogun State, when he returned
from Abuja.
“Yes,
I can confirm that I met with Mr. President on his invitation. In fact, he had
wanted to come down to Abeokuta, but as a sign of respect to the Office of the
President, I had to go. We had discussion on the country’s security issues and
that is all,” the ex-President said.
The
visit came few days after the former President commended efforts of the Federal
and Lagos State governments in checking the spread of the deadly Ebola Virus
Disease.
It
also followed on the heels of weekend’s slamming of the Jonathan administration
by Obasanjo, who likened the economy under the President’s watch to what
obtained during the reign of the late military dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha.
Obasanjo,
while briefing journalists in Abeokuta on his return from Abuja said the
Wednesday’s meeting with the President was purely on security matters.
He
said he would continue to make himself available on national issues in the
interest of peace and progress of the country.
After
the meeting between Jonathan and Obasanjo, the President met behind closed
doors with security chiefs.
4. FEARS OVER RELOCATION OF ABDUCTED CHIBOK GIRLS FROM
SAMBISA FOREST
There
were fears yesterday that Boko Haram terrorists may have relocated the over 200
abducted girls of Government Secondary School, Chibok and other abducted
victims from Sambisa forest to their new haven in Balmo Forest, which
borders Borno and Bauchi states.
Vanguard
gathered that communities contiguous to Sambisa forest raised the alarm through
phone messages when they saw a large number of Boko Haram militants leaving the
dense jungle early in the day on Wednesday and driving towards the border town
with Bauchi.
It
will be recalled that the Chibok girls were abducted in April this year.
5. DIVESTMENT: SHELL SELLS 4 OIL FIELDS IN NIGERIA
Oil
giant Shell has sold four oil fields which it operated in Nigeria, in line with
its global cost-saving initiative. Shell last year put up for sale its 30 per
cent shares in four oil blocks in the Niger Delta — Oil Mining Licence (OML)
18, 24, 25, 29 — as well as a key pipeline, the Nembe Creek Trunk Line.
“We
have signed sales and purchase agreements for some of the oil mining leases,
but not all that we are seeking to divest,” a Reuters report quoted an un-named
Shell spokesman as saying.
The
report however did not give details on the value of the deals signed or when
the full process would be completed. France’s Total and Italy’s Eni are also
set to raise revenue from the sale of their 10 per cent and 5 per cent equities
in the assets in which the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) holds
55 per cent on behalf of the Nigerian government.
Meanwhile,
Nigeria has lost about N15 billion to the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme
(ETLS) and Joint Committee on Commerce (JCC) with the Republic of Benin between
January and June this year, Customs area controller, Seme Border command,
Comptroller Willy Egbunin has disclosed.
The
Financial Times yesterday reported that Shell is close to selling the assets
for about US$5 billion (3 billion pounds) to domestic buyers.
In
March, Reuters reported that Nigerian firms Taleveras and Aiteo made the
highest bid of $2.85 billion for the biggest of the four oil fields, OML 29.
Shell,
along with many other oil majors, is undergoing a broad process of asset sales
across the world in an effort to cut costs and boost profits.
6. RUSSIA: WE DON’T WANT THE ARCTIC TO BECOME ARENA OF
CONFLICT
Russian
foreign minister Sergey Lavrov attempted to dampen the escalating rhetoric
around the Arctic, after his Canadian counterpart said his country was ready
“to protect its sovereignty” in the resource-rich region.
"The
Arctic shouldn’t be dragged into the rhetoric of militarization,”
the Russian official said during a Q & A at the Seliger youth forum in
central Russia.
“There
are accusations flying about that we are trying to make a land-grab during a
latter-day gold rush. This is nonsense. We don’t want the Arctic to become an
arena of conflict.”
Lavrov’s
answer was a response to comments attributed to Canada’s foreign minister John
Baird, who told Denmark’s Berlingske newspaper earlier this week that Ottawa
was “determined to promote and
defend the sovereignty of Canada in the Arctic” in the face of the
Russian threat, manifested in the reactivation of a Soviet-era base off its
north-eastern coast, and fly-bys by Russian aircraft.
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NS
50 Let Pobedy nuclear-powered icebreaker sailing toward the North Pole. (RIA
Novosti / Vladimir Astapkovich)
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7. UKRAINE SEPARATISTS LAUNCH BOLD OFFENSIVE
The attack along a new southeastern front raises the
prospect that the rebels are seeking to create a land link between Russia and
Crimea.
8. HOW WEAPONS LESSON WENT TRAGICALLY WRONG
A 9-year-old girl being taught how to fire an Uzi at
an Arizona range fatally shoots her instructor in the head when the weapon
recoils.
9. CASH KEEPS FLOWING FROM ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE
The viral fundraising campaign for Lou Gehrig's
Disease is approaching a stunning $100 million. And the money keeps pouring in.
10. REALITY SHOW BECOMES ALL TOO REAL
A crew member with the TV show "Cops" dies
when gunfire breaks out as police in Omaha, Neb., disrupt a robbery.
11. URUGUAYANS CAN NOW SIGN UP TO GROW POT AT HOME
People in Uruguay who want to grow their own marijuana
at home were able to register to do so Wednesday as the government launched the
latest phase in its first-of-its-kind legalization program.
Under a law that went into effect in May, citizens of
Uruguay or legal residents who are at least 18 can grow marijuana for personal
use if they register. There is a limit of six female plants, with an annual
harvest of up to 480 grams.
Few people appeared to be rushing to register with the
government on the first day. Juan Vaz, a well-known cannabis activist, said he
registered and found the process easy but can understand why some might be
reluctant.
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In this Dec. 18, 2013 file photo, Juan Palese, a
marijuana grower, shows his crop outside of Montevideo, Uruguay. People in
Uruguay who want to grow their own marijuana at home were able to register to do
so Wednesday Aug. 27, 2014, as the government launched the latest phase in its
first-of-its-kind legalization program. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico, File)
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"There are some people who might feel
persecuted," Vaz said. "For many years, they grew plants in secret
and it's hard to break from that way of thinking."
Uruguay is the first in the world to attempt to
regulate the cultivation and sale of marijuana on a nationwide scale.
The law, passed by Parliament in December 2013, also
allows for the formation of growers and users clubs and the sale by pharmacies
of 40 grams of pot a month to registered users.
So far, no club has yet completed all the requirements
to begin operations but at least four have started the process. President Jose
Mujica has said the sale through pharmacies will be postponed until next year.
Presidential and legislative elections are scheduled
for October and the major opposition candidates have signaled that they intend
to repeal all or part of the law if they gain the presidency or a majority in
the parliament.
The leading opposition candidate, Luis Lacalle Pou,
has said he would repeal the sale at pharmacies but allow the option to grow
marijuana for personal use.
12. SUB-GLACIAL
ERUPTION OF ICELAND’S VOLCANO FORMS ROW OF ‘CAULDRONS’
Icelandic
volcano activity increased on Wednesday, with scientists detecting 10-15 meters
deep cauldrons of melted ice at the Vatnajökull glacier, prompting fears of an
imminent eruption.
Icelandic scientists have detected a series of 10-15m deep cauldrons
at Bardarbunga volcano glacier. They apparently are a result of melting
following a sub-glacial eruption, the Icelandic Civil Protection Scientific
Advisory Board reported. A surveillance flight over the surface of Vatnajokull
has shown the cauldrons to be 1 km wide, located in a straight line some 4-6
kilometers south of the Bardarbunga caldera.
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A
warning sign blocks the road to Bardarbunga volcano, some 20 kilometres (12.5
miles) away, in the north-west region of
the Vatnajokull glacier August 19, 2014. (Reuters / Sigtryggur Johannsson)
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