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Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko (Photo credit: Vanguard)
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1.
MIMIKO FINALIZES PLANS TO DECAMP TO PDP
AT
last, Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko has finalized plans to decamp
from the Labour Party (LP) to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
However,
Ondo State Information Commissioner, Mr. Kayode Akinmade said that due to
“serious pressure from the leadership of the PDP before and after the Osun
governorship election, the governor is still consulting with stakeholders
across the country on this.”
2.
EBOLA: STATES DEFY FG ON CORPSE MOVEMENT
There
are indications that most states of the federation are not complying with the
Federal Government’s ban on the inter-state movement of corpses thus risking
the spread of the deadly Ebola virus.
Investigation
revealed that most states had yet to put measures in place to control
indiscriminate movement of corpses.
The
Federal Government, through the National Council on Health, had banned
inter-state movement of corpses as part of the measures aimed at preventing the
spread of the deadly Ebola virus imported to Nigeria by a Liberian-American,
Patrick Sawyer.
Despite
the ban, families of deceased persons and undertakers have also continued to
defy the order.
3.
KENYA SLAMS SOUTH AFRICANS WITH STRICT VISA REQUIREMENTS
South
Africans will not be able to travel to Kenya without a valid visa, according to
Kenya’s High Commission in South Africa. “Further to our earlier communication
on the above matter, the Mission writes to reconfirm that visa requirements for
South African nationals will become effective on 1st September, 2014,” the High
Commission added.
East
Africa’s biggest economy notified South Africans travelling into and transiting
through Kenya that unlike in the past, visas will not be issued at the port of
entry anymore. The new visa regime comes with a hefty cost
Among
others, the changes calls on South Africans travelling into Kenya to be in
possession of a return ticket, invitation letter from the host in the Republic
of Kenya, bank statement with proof of funds.
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A Russian border guard opens a gate in front of
a truck from a convoy that delivered humanitarian aid for Ukraine on its return
to Russia at border crossing point "Donetsk" in Russia's Rostov
Region August 23, 2014. (Reuters / Alexander Demianchuk)
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4. MISSION
COMPLETED: MOSCOW CONFIRMS DELIVERY OF AID TO E. UKRAINE, TRUCKS RETURN TO
RUSSIA
Russia’s Foreign
Ministry has confirmed humanitarian aid has been delivered to the besieged city
of Lugansk in eastern Ukraine. Meanwhile all trucks that delivered aid had returned
to Russia.
“We express our
satisfaction that the Russian humanitarian aid for those in need in
southeastern Ukraine has been delivered as intended. We were motivated only by
the goal of helping civilian citizens in need,” the statement read.
Trucks marked as
being from a bitterly disputed Russian aid convoy to Ukraine began returning to
Russia on Saturday.
An Associated
Press reporter counted 67 trucks entering the border crossing in the Russian
city of Donetsk before noon Saturday. Another AP reporter on the Ukrainian side
of the border said a line of trucks about 3 kilometers (2 miles) long was
waiting to cross. The checkpoint on the Ukrainian side was being operated by
separatist rebels, who inspected the trucks.
Around 40 of the
tractor-trailer trucks seen by journalists on the Ukrainian were empty, but it
could not be determined if any others were carrying cargo.
One driver who
declined to give his name said the entire convoy of about 260 was expected to
return Saturday to Russia. The state news agency RIA Novosti cited the Russian
customs service as saying the trucks would move in six groups.
The convoy drove
Friday into Ukraine bound for Luhansk, a city in eastern Ukraine hard-hit by
weeks of fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels. The
Ukrainian government and Western countries denounced the move as a violation of
Ukraine's sovereignty and accused Russia of using the convoy to smuggle
supplies and reinforcements to rebel fighters.
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5. FERGUSON
STREETS PEACEFUL FOR ANOTHER NIGHT AS TENSIONS SUBSIDE AFTER NIGHTS OF VIOLENCE
Ferguson's
streets were peaceful for a third night as tensions between police and
protesters continued to subside after nights of violence and unrest erupted
when a white police officer fatally shot an unarmed black 18-year-old.
A small stream
of protesters marched in the St. Louis suburb as night fell Friday, but instead
of confrontations with police, several stopped to talk one-on-one with officers
about the Aug. 9 shooting death of Michael Brown and tactics used by
authorities during previous demonstrations.
While many
residents are hopeful that tensions were waning and eager to end the
disruptions to their lives caused by protests and police presence, some say
they fear the community's anger could explode anew if the grand jury now
considering the case doesn't return a charge against the officer, Darren
Wilson.
"This
officer has to be indicted. I'd hate to see what happens if he isn't. The rioting,
the looting, man ...," said resident Larry Loveless, 29, as he stopped
Friday at the memorial for Brown where he was killed.
St. Louis County
prosecutors this week convened a grand jury to begin hearing evidence in the
case, despite concerns among some in the community — including Brown's parents
— that the office would not be impartial because of District Attorney Bob
McCulloch's ties to law enforcement. McCulloch's father, mother and other
relatives worked for St. Louis police, and his father was killed while
responding to a call involving a black suspect. He has said he will not remove
himself from the case.
6. FEW DETAILS
MONTH AFTER IRAN DETAINED REPORTERS, THOUGH HARD-LINERS SUSPECTED HAVING OF A
ROLE
An Iranian-American
correspondent for the Washington Post and his journalist wife have been held in
custody for a month in Iran, suggesting a possible struggle between a new guard
of moderates pushing for greater freedom and the old hard-line establishment.
Jason Rezaian,
his wife Yeganeh Salehi and two unnamed Iranian-American photojournalists were
detained a month ago this past Friday. One of the photojournalists was released
shortly after being detained, and the other freed on bail Wednesday, the Post
reported. However, Rezaian and his wife remain held without formal charges and
have not been heard from since being detained.
The detentions
have thrust Iran's record of jailing journalists into the spotlight and
complicate efforts by the United States and five other world powers to reach a
lasting nuclear deal with Iran. They also underscore the opposition facing
moderate President Hassan Rouhani as he tries to advance election promises of
easing political restrictions and reconciliation with the West.
"These
detentions are a slap in the face of Rouhani and his stated policies of more
tolerance and freedoms inside the country," said Hadi Ghaemi, the
executive director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, a
New York-based group. He fears the journalists "have disappeared in the
black hole of the Iranian intelligence and security apparatus" and are
being detained outside the legal process.
Other
journalists in Iran have been locked up since Rouhani's election last summer,
according to Reporters Without Borders. The Committee to Protect Journalists
ranked Iran as one of the world's biggest jailers of journalists last year,
with at least 35 behind bars, some for years.
7. US POLICEMAN SUSPENDED
OVER FACEBOOK POST BRANDING FERGUSON PROTESTERS ‘RABID DOGS’
A
police officer in a St. Louis suburb has been suspended over a series of
Facebook posts, insulting Ferguson protesters, who have been rallying in
condemnation of the shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white police
officer.
The
police department in Glendale, Missouri, announced in a Friday statement that
it had suspended police officer, Matthew Pappert, due to “several very concerning and inappropriate
posts on his personal Facebook page.”
“I'm sick of these protesters,”
one of the posts says. “You are
a burden on society and a blight on the community." The
screenshots of an apparently deactivated account have been obtained by The
Daily Caller.
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People sit outside a closed McDonald's
restaurant in Moscow, August 20, 2014. (Reuters / Tatyana Makeyeva)
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8. NO PLANS TO SHUT DOWN MCDONALD’S IN RUSSIA – DEPUTY
PM
The
Russian authorities have no plans of banning McDonald’s fast food chain from
operating in the country, Arkady Dvorkovich, Russia’s deputy prime-minister,
assured.
Three
of the chain’s restaurants in Moscow, including the “iconic” first McDonald’s to
open in the country, were temporarily closed by Russia’s consumer watchdog,
Rospotrebnadzor, on Thursday.
“No,
this isn’t about [banning McDonald’s in Russia,]”
Dvorkovich is cited as saying by the Itar-Tass news agency.
The
deputy PM stressed that a series of checks on the US-based food chain in Russia
have nothing to do with the sanctions war between Russia and the West over
events in Ukraine.
“It
just happened at the time the inspections on [McDonald’s restaurants in the
country] were completed,” he explained.
Rospotrebnadzor
discovered “multiple violations of sanitary norms… in the sourcing of food and
waste disposal” during the inspections of McDonald’s restaurants in Moscow on
August 18-20.
9. UNDER CLOUD OF MYTH AND MYSTERY, MYANMAR DIVERS
RESUME SEARCH FOR THE WORLD'S LARGEST BELL
Divers stand on the edge of a small wooden fishing boat
gazing at the murky, choppy waters below. After receiving blessings from
Buddhist monks, they lower their masks and plunge one-by-one into the mighty
Yangon River, clinging to garden hoses that will act as primitive breathing
devices during their dizzying descent into darkness.
From the shoreline, thousands of spectators look on,
some peering through borrowed binoculars, praying the men will find what other
salvage crews have not: The world's largest copper bell, believed to have been
lying deep beneath the riverbed for more than four centuries.
Weighing an estimated 270 tons, the mysterious bell is
a symbol of pride for many in this country of 60 million that only recently
emerged from a half-century of military rule and self-imposed isolation. And
for the first time, search crews are largely relying on spirituality rather
than science to try and find it.
Myanmar's superstitious leaders have, in years past,
been part of a colorful cast of characters who believe reclaiming the treasure
is important if the nation is ever to regain its position of glory as the crown
jewel of Asia.
It's a story of myth and mystery: King Dhammazedi,
after whom the bell was named, was said to have ordered it cast in the late
15th century, donating it soon after to the Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar's most
sacred temple which sits on a hilltop in the old capital, Yangon.
10. INTERPOL SEEKS CLUES FROM 5 COUNTRIES TO HELP
SOLVE MYSTERY OF THAILAND'S 'BABY FACTORY' CASE
Interpol said it has launched a multinational
investigation into what Thailand has dubbed the "Baby Factory" case:
a 24-year-old Japanese businessman who has 16 surrogate babies and an alleged
desire to father hundreds more.
Police raided a Bangkok condominium earlier this month
and found nine babies and nine nannies living in a few unfurnished rooms filled
with baby bottles, bouncy chairs, play pens and diapers. They have since
identified Mitsutoki Shigeta as the father of those babies — and seven others.
"What I can tell you so far is that I've never
seen a case like this," Thailand's Interpol director, police Maj. Gen.
Apichart Suribunya, said Friday. "We are trying to understand what kind of
person makes this many babies."
Apichart said that regional Interpol offices in Japan,
Cambodia, Hong Kong and India have been asked to probe Shigeta's background,
beginning last week. Police say he appears to have registered businesses or
apartments in those countries and has frequently travelled there.
"We
are looking into two motives. One is human trafficking and the other is
exploitation of children," said police Lt. Gen. Kokiat Wongvorachart,
Thailand's lead investigator in the case. He said Shigeta made 41 trips to
Thailand since 2010. On many occasions he travelled to nearby Cambodia, where
he brought four of his babies.
11. SCIENTISTS: QUAKES SURGE AROUND ICELAND VOLCANO
A surge in seismic
activity hit Iceland's restless Bardarbunga volcano on Saturday, but the
country's Meteorological Office said it saw no evidence yet of any eruptions.
Thousands of small
earthquakes have rattled the volcano deep beneath the Vatnajokull glacier over
the past week. Activity increased Saturday following a lull.
Scientists planned to fly
over the glacier later Saturday to look for changes on the surface, Met Office
vulcanologist Melissa Pfeffer said.
Iceland is keeping its
aviation alert at orange, the second-highest level, amid what the Met Office
calls "heightened levels of unrest."
Earlier this week authorities
evacuated several hundred people from highlands north of the Vatnajokull
glacier as a precaution. The area is uninhabited but popular with hikers.
A 2010 eruption of the
Eyjafjallajokul volcano produced an ash cloud that caused a week of international
aviation chaos, with more than 100,000 flights cancelled. Aviation regulators
since have reformed policies about flying through ash, so a new eruption would
be unlikely to cause that much disruption.
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Panda cub Bao Bao hangs from a tree in her
habitat at the National Zoo in Washington, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2014. Today marks
her first birthday and the the zoo is marking the event with a traditional
'Zhuazhou' ceremony, a Chinese birthday tradition symbolizing long life to mark
the event. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
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12. NATIONAL ZOO
CELEBRATING PANDA'S FIRST BIRTHDAY
The National Zoo in
Washington is throwing a panda party.
Saturday marks the first
birthday of panda cub Bao Bao, and she'll get a cake made from frozen fruit
juice and other treats like pears and apples to celebrate. The cub is only the
second panda born at the zoo to survive to her first birthday.
Bao Bao's only sibling,
brother Tai Shan, was born in 2005 and returned to China in 2010. Panda keeper
Nicole MacCorkle says Bao Bao has been a different baby from her brother,
including a little more stand-offish with keepers.
In the past year she has
grown from a wriggling pink newborn a little bigger than a stick of butter to a
44-pound black-and-white bundle whose favorite activity is sleeping in a tree.
A hemlock tree in the front of her yard is one favorite, and she also likes
wrestling with a blue cylinder-shaped buoy filled with sand, MacCorkle said.
The cub, whose name means "precious" or "treasure," has
also started eating solid food like sweet potato and bamboo and recently got
her first taste of honey. 
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