GRAPHITTI
NEWS collates national and international highlights from late-breaking news,
upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Sunday:
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| Prof. Abdul-Ganiyu Ambali, Vice-Chancellor, University of Ilorin |
1. UNILORIN VC URGES FG TO RELAX PROCEDURE FOR ACCESSING TETFUND GRANT
Prof. Abdul-Ganiyu
Ambali, Vice-Chancellor, University of Ilorin (Unilorin), has appealed to the
Federal Government to relax the procedure for accessing the Tertiary Education
Trust Fund (TETFund).
Ambali made the appeal on
Sunday in Abuja, when he appeared at the Forum of the News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN).
NAN reports that tertiary
institutions were yet to access about N43 billion with TETFund due to
cumbersome procedure.
The VC noted that the
protocol involved in accessing the funds was cumbersome, adding that most
universities would have loved it to be made easier.
“I am sure the protocol
in TETFund is not Bible or Quran that cannot be changed to make things much
easier for all stakeholders.
“I am sure that sooner or
later, TETFund will meet to look at the protocol and review it with a view to
make it more accessible if possible.
2. ADAMAWA: PDP MAKES U-TURN, CLEARS ACTING GOV
BARELY Sixteen hours
after it disqualified the acting governor, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, from
contesting the October 11
gubernatorial bye election in Adamawa State, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,
Sunday, made a U-turn, clearing the Acting governor of Adamawa State, Ahmadu
Umaru Fintiri to contest the State’s election.
With this clean bill of
health, the Acting governor will now join the other thirteen aspirants who were
cleared on Saturday for the September 6 primaries where the party’s
candidate will emerge for the October
11 gubernatorial election in the state.
The PDP reviewed its
earlier disqualification by the five-member screening Committee headed by
former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ibrahim Mantu.
The PDP appeal panel led
by Senator James Manager which sat at the party’s national secretariat for two
and a half hours said section 191(2) of the 1999 constitution which the
screening panel relied on to disqualify Fintiri does not in any way
affect his right to contest the bye-election.
3. INEC DECLARES NIGER EAST SENATORIAL BY-ELECTION INCONCLUSIVE
The Independent National
Electoral Commission on Sunday declared the Saturday Niger East senatorial
by-election inconclusive due to irregularities in some polling units.
The INEC Resident
Electoral Commissioner in Niger State, Dr Emmanuel Onucheyo, made this known at
the end of the result collation in Minna.
He said another election
would be held in some polling units in Bosso, Chanchaga, Munya, Paikoro, Rafi
and Shiroro Local Government Areas on September 6.
Our correspondent reports
that the by-election was held in nine councils – Bosso, Chanchaga, Gurara,
Munya, Paikoro, Rafi, Shiroro, Suleja and Tafa.
He said the election
witnessed cases of ballot box snatching, arm twisting of electoral officials
and violence.
Onucheyo said the
standing results for the four parties that participated were given as: All
Progressive Congress, 84,689; All Progressive Grand Alliance, 2,099; Peoples
Democratic Party, 89,640 and the Social Democratic Party, 460.
He said the number of
registered voters was 937,443, number of accredited voters 199,790 and 176,888
was the number of valid votes cast.
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| Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (Reuters/Paul Hackett) |
4. UK JIHADISTS MAY BE BANNED FROM COMING HOME
UK Prime Minster David
Cameron is considering introducing a temporary ban on allowing UK born jihadists
back into the country who have been to Iraq and Syria. Cameron will set out the
plans in parliament on Monday, British media report.
UK nationals would be
allowed to keep their nationality but would be barred from reentering the UK
for a period of time. The Prime Minister is also expected to announce plans to
make it easier for the authorities to seize the passports of suspected
terrorists to stop them travelling abroad in the first place.
"The
government is considering a range of measures to keep the country safe in the
face of an increased threat level from Islamist extremism. The areas include
making it harder for potential foreign fighters to travel abroad by making it
easier to remove their passports through additional temporary seizure powers at
the border,” a government source told the BBC.
"We
are also looking at stopping British citizens from re-entering the country if
they are suspected of terrorist activity abroad,”
the source added.
But
Sir Menzies Campbell, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats, the junior
party in the current coalition government, said that the proposals by the Prime
Minister might be illegal under international law and any ban introduced by the
government would have to be tested in the courts.
"I
think it's rather difficult and it might well constitute illegality. To render
citizens stateless is regarded as illegal in international law. To render them
stateless temporarily, which seems to me the purpose of what's being proposed,
can also I think be described as illegal,” he said.
While
former Royal Marine and intelligence officer Paddy Ashdown who was also leader
of the Liberal Democrats told the Observer that the reaction of Conservative
ministers to the terrorist threat was “kneejerk”.
5. PHILIPPINES SAYS PEACEKEEPERS PULL 'GREATEST ESCAPE' FROM SYRIAN REBELS; 44 FIJIANS STILL HELD
Under cover of darkness, 40 Filipino peacekeepers made
a daring escape after being surrounded and under fire for seven hours by Syrian
rebels in the Golan Heights, Philippine officials said Sunday, leaving 44
Fijian troops still in the hands of the al-Qaida-linked insurgents.
"We may call it the greatest escape,"
Philippine military chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang said.
The peacekeepers became trapped after Syrian rebels
entered the U.N.-patrolled buffer zone between Syria and Israel this past week,
seizing 44 Fijian soldiers and demanding that their Filipino colleagues
surrender. The Filipinos, occupying two U.N. encampments, refused and clashed
with the rebels on Saturday. The first group of 35 peacekeepers was then
successfully escorted out of a U.N. encampment in Breiqa by Irish and Filipino
forces on board armored vehicles.
The remaining 40 peacekeepers were besieged at the
second encampment, called Rwihana, by more than 100 gunmen who rammed the
camp's gates with their trucks and fired mortar rounds. The Filipinos returned
fire in self-defense, Philippine military officials said.
At one point, Syrian government forces fired artillery
rounds from a distance to prevent the Filipino peacekeepers from being
overwhelmed, said Col. Roberto Ancan, a Philippine military official who helped
monitor the tense standoff from the Philippine capital, Manila, and mobilize
support for the besieged troops.
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6. FUKUSHIMA OKAYS NUKE WASTE STORAGES IN RETURN FOR ALMOST $3BN IN SUBSIDIES
Fukushima’s governor has
officially agreed to allow the country’s authorities to store radioactive waste
for 30 years in two municipalities in exchange for 300 billion yen ($2.89
billion) in subsidies.
“It’s a difficult
decision, but I want to accept the construction plan,” Governor Yuhei Sato told
journalists on Saturday.
Sato told The Japan Times
he accepted the plan because he sees it as “necessary
to advance decontamination and realize recovery of the environment.”
The mayor’s formal
acceptance should be also sent to Environment Minister Nobuteru Ishihara and
Reconstruction Minister Takumi Nemoto on Monday, and he is also set to meet
with the country’s premier Shinzo Abe in Tokyo.
7. BRITISH MUSLIM LEADERS ISSUE FATWA AGAINST ISIS
Several
UK Muslim clerics have condemned the Islamic State militant group in Syria and
Iraq (former ISIS) saying that British jihadis are “betraying their own
societies” by getting involved in the Middle East conflicts.
The
fatwa, an edict that concerns Islamic life, called the Islamic State (IS) “heretical” and “an oppressive and tyrannical group”,
in the strongest denunciation against the extremists yet. The edict was issued
by Sheik Usama Hasan, a former imam from east London, and got support from six
senior Islamic scholars.
The
fatwa states that although Muslims have a “moral
obligation” to help the Iraqi and Syrian people, they must do so “without betraying their own societies”.
So, it is “religiously
prohibited to support or join” the IS, the document cited by The
Sunday Times reads.
The
edict comes as Britain has raised its terror threat level from “substantial” to “severe” in response to the
risk of Jihadists returning to the UK from the conflicts in Iraq and Syria.
Theresa
May the Home Secretary said that although an attack on the UK was “highly likely” there was no
evidence that an attack was “imminent”.
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| Militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) (Reuters) |
8. BARDARBUNGA: ICELAND CUTS AVIATION ALERT LEVEL TO
ORANGE FROM RED
Icelandic
authorities have reduced ash alert level for aviation to orange from red, after
raising it to the maximum level earlier in the day due to a fissure eruption of
the Bardarbunga volcano – accompanied by a series of small earthquakes.
"No ash has been detected. The Aviation
Color Code for Bardarbunga/Holuhraun has therefore been reset to orange,"
the Meteorological Office said in a statement.
Code
Red was set after a small eruption of the volcano, which started at 06:00 (5:00
GMT) Sunday. The country’s aviation authorities closed the airspace around the
eruption in an area of up to 1,800 meters, which so far does not interfere with
long-range commercial flights performed on altitudes greater than 10,000
meters.
Of
the five levels of aviation alert, Code Red is the highest, indicating that a
volcanic eruption is either imminent or already under way, and that large
quantities of volcanic ash are in the air.
The
danger that volcanic ash poses for commercial carriers flying at high altitudes
is that the ash can get into the engines and clog them, potentially causing
crashes.
9. FAIRHEAD IN LINE TO CHAIR BBC TRUST
Rona Fairhead is in line to become the new chairwoman
of the BBC Trust.
The former Financial Times Group chief executive is
the front-runner to replace Lord Patten, who stood down in May for health
reasons after a turbulent three years in the job.
The
BBC reported on its website that Ms Fairhead had been appointed to the role,
and in doing so would become the first woman to chair the BBC Trust. |
| Rona Fairhead is to be the BBC Trust's first chairwoman (Newcast/PA) |
10. MILLIONAIRE COUPLE FOLLOW POPE'S CALL ON RESCUE BOAT TO HELP
DESPERATE MIGRANTS
A millionaire couple have launched their own private
rescue service ferrying migrants adrift in the Mediterranean to Europe.
Inspired by Pope Francis, Malta-based entrepreneurs
and philanthropists Cristofer and Regina Catrambone have spent millions of
dollars of their own money on a 140 foot ship, which made its first rescue this
weekend.
The
Phoenix 1 picked up 227 migrants, who were floundering on an overcrowded wooden
fishing vessel, before handing them over to the Italian Navy. |
The Phoenix 1 picked up 227 migrants, who were
floundering on an overcrowded wooden fishing vessel, before handing them over
to the Italian Navy. INSET Malta-based entrepreneurs and
philanthropists Cristofer and Regina Catrambone
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11. REMY JOINS CHELSEA
Striker Loic Remy has joined Chelsea from QPR on a
four-year deal, the two clubs have announced.
Remy becomes a Blues player after they activated a
release clause in the France international's contract.
He
arrives at Stamford Bridge as Fernando Torres departs, with the Spain frontman
having gone to Italy to join AC Milan on a two-year loan.
Remy said on
www.chelseafc.com: "I feel very happy and very proud.
"When I
heard Chelsea wanted to sign me I said 'let's go' straight away because they
are one of the best clubs in the world.
"I
remember the amazing atmosphere at Stamford Bridge when I played there for
Marseille and I can't wait to play for the first time in front of my new
fans."
It is
understood Chelsea, triggering the release clause, are paying £10.5million for
Remy, who had looked set to join Liverpool earlier this summer.
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| Loic Remy has arrived at Chelsea to bolster their attacking options |
12. ALGERIA SOCCER DEATH SEEN AS PART OF WIDER ILLS
The rocks came raining down after the final whistle of
the Algerian soccer match, an increasingly common ritual in stadiums across the
country. This time, the violence ended in tragedy: Hit in the head, Albert
Ebosse, the league's top goal scorer last season, crumbled to the ground and
died in a hospital.
Algerian youths are storming pitches, stoning players
and clashing outside stadiums in a wave of hooliganism seen as an outlet for
daily frustrations such as joblessness, weak institutions and sheer boredom.
Players say a death like that of Ebosse, killed by his own fans, was only a
matter of time.
Algeria
is one of the main suppliers of natural gas to Europe, but critics say it is
failing to translate energy wealth into brighter lives for young people —
turning them toward soccer violence.  |
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In this photo
dated May 2, 2014, JS Kabylie striker Albert Ebosse of Cameroon controls the
ball during the final of the Algerian soccer Cup in Blida near the Algerian
capital, Algiers. Ebosse died after being hit in the head by an object thrown
from the crowd at a top-flight league game in Algeria on August 23, 2014. Angry
fans in Algeria pelted their own soccer team with rocks after they lost a game,
killing the star player in the latest incident of fan violence in this North
African country. Like much of the rest of the continent, Algeria's restless
youth are passionate about soccer but with little other outlet for their daily
frustration, violence haunts the games. (AP Photo)
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