GRAPHITTI
NEWS collates national and international highlights from late-breaking news and
the stories that will be talked about over the weekend:
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This undated combination photos released by the
Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD) shows GNRD employees, Ghimire
Gundev, a photographer from London, left, and his colleague Krishna Upadhyaya,
a researcher, both at unknown locations. (AP Photo/GNRD, File)
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1.
CHOLERA CLAIMS ANOTHER 16 IN SOKOTO STATE• 40 OTHERS HOSPITALISED
Sixteen
people have been killed in a fresh outbreak of cholera in Sokoto State, while
40 others are on admission in hospitals across the state, a health official has
said.
Dr
Bello Dahiru, who has been managing patients at the Primary Health Centre in
Kasarawa, a suburb of Sokoto, the state capital, told an online publication, PREMIUM
TIMES, that the deaths and admissions occurred within the last three days.
The
outbreak, officials said, had now lasted days, leaving residents of the state
in panic.
It
is not clear what the state government is doing to halt the epidemic, as calls
made to the state Commissioner for Health, Ahmed Aliyu, were neither answered
nor returned.
It
will be recalled that recently, Kano State recorded an outbreak of the dreaded
disease and many lives were lost in the wake of the outbreak.
Health
institutions across the country have been battling with the challenges of
containing the outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), a development that many
believe has shifted attention of officials from other challenges in the sector.
2.
QATAR CONFIRMS DETENTION OF RIGHTS GROUP WORKERS
Qatar
has confirmed it is holding two Britons who went missing while researching
migrant labour issues, saying the men are being questioned for alleged illegal
activity in the Gulf nation that is due to hold the 2022 World Cup.
A
little-known organization, the Norway-based Global Network for Rights and
Development, reported that its researcher Krishna Upadhyaya, 52, and photographer
Ghimire Gundev, 36, went missing on Aug. 31 as they were preparing to leave
Qatar. It suggested that Qatari security services were behind their
disappearance and has called for their release.
The
London-based rights group Amnesty International last week urged Qatari
authorities to reveal the men's whereabouts and ensure their safety.
Qatar's
Foreign Ministry said in its first comment on the case Saturday that the men
were arrested and "are being interrogated for having violated the
provisions of the laws of the state of Qatar," according to a statement
carried by the official Qatar News Agency.
The
statement said that all actions taken against the men are "consistent with
the principles of human rights" outlined in the laws of Qatar, and that
British Embassy officials have visited them to check on their situation.
An
official at the British Embassy in Doha confirmed Sunday that the mission is
providing consular assistance to the men but was unable to provide further
details.
The
Global Network for Rights and Development is based in Stavanger, Norway and
describes itself on its website as a neutral organization set up in 2008 to
promote human rights and development. Many of its recent statements have
focused on the conflict in Gaza and other issues related to the Middle East.
It
has singled out Qatar in the past over conditions faced by migrant workers.
Like its Gulf Arab neighbours, Qatar relies on vast numbers of mainly Asian
low-paid migrant workers. Its treatment of them has come under greater scrutiny
since it won the right to host the 2022 World Cup, with labour rights activists
raising concerns about dangerous working conditions, allegations of unpaid
salaries and other abuses.
Egypt's
official State Information Service in December noted that the Global Network
for Rights and Development supported listing the Muslim Brotherhood as a
terrorist organization, and the group has since described a constitutional
referendum and May elections that led to the presidency of former military
strongman Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi as a "democratic transition."
El-Sissi
led the military overthrow of the Brotherhood-backed government of President
Mohammed Morsi last year. Qatar is a strong supporter of the Brotherhood and
other Islamist groups — a position that has put it at odds with Gulf neighbours
such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
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This photo taken July 23, 2013, show the U.S.
Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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3.
CONGRESS COMING BACK, MUST ACT TO AVOID SHUTDOWN
Congress
returns to work this week with a relatively short and simple agenda, vote to
keep the government operating in the short term, then return home to campaign.
National security threats from Islamic State militants and Russian aggression
in Ukraine loom large, but September's session may be too short for lawmakers
to do anything but talk about them.
Last
fall, they sparked a partial government shutdown over the implementation of
President Barack Obama's health law. Now, Republicans are pressing for
drama-free passage of a temporary spending bill to prevent a shutdown at
month's end and fund government agencies into mid-December.
4.
AFGHAN COURT SENTENCES 7 MEN TO DEATH FOR GANG RAPE IN CASE THAT SHOOK CAPITAL
Afghanistan
handed the death penalty to seven men on Sunday for raping and robbing a group
of women returning from a wedding in a rare case of sexual assault that has
shaken the capital and raised concerns over public security at a time of
transition.
Police
said a large group of men, some dressed in police uniforms, and with assault
rifles, stopped a convoy of cars in which the women were travelling along with
their families in the district of Paghman, just outside Kabul, last month.
They
dragged four women out of the cars in the middle of the night and raped them in
the field near the main road. One of them was pregnant. The victims were also
beaten and their jewellery and mobile phones stolen.
Crimes
against women are common but mostly take place inside homes in Afghanistan's
conservative society. But a gang rape by armed men is rare in Kabul and has
tapped into a vein of anxiety as foreign troops leave the country and a badly
stretched Afghan army and police fight a deadly Taliban insurgency.
Judge
Safihullah Mujadidi in a summary trial, televised nationwide, convicted the men
of armed robbery and sexual assault.
"Based
on criminal law these individuals are sentenced to the severest punishment
which is death sentence," he said.
The
men stood before him in a heavily guarded courtroom. Outside dozens of
activists gathered demanding speedy justice to instil public confidence in law
and order.
"This
kind of gang rape is unprecedented in Kabul," Kabul police chief General
Zahir earlier said in his testimony seeking summary punishment for the men.
The
assault has led to such outpouring of rage that President Hamid Karzai told a
delegation of women last week that the perpetrators would face the death
penalty.
The
men can appeal Sunday's verdict in a higher court. Karzai has to ratify the
executions under Afghan law.
"If
this act goes unpunished, the women of Afghanistan will continue to be
victims," said Uma Saeed, a rights activist. "This is really very
significant moment, I would say, even maybe in the history of Karzai's
government."
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A Ukrainian serviceman sit ontop of an armoured
personnel carrier during a patrol on the border of the Donetsk and Luhansk
regions near town of Debaltseve, on September 5, 2014. (AFP Photo / Anatoliy
Stepanov)
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5.
BLASTS HEARD IN AREA NEAR AIRPORT OF UKRAINE'S LARGEST REBEL-HELD CITY
Strong
explosions were heard early Sunday on the outskirts of the main rebel-held city
in eastern Ukraine near the airport, raising new fears that a cease-fire signed
two days ago is on the verge of collapse.
Blasts
powerful enough to be heard in downtown Donetsk came from the area near the airport,
which has been under the control of government troops since May and has come
under unremitting attacks from pro-Russia separatist rebels since then.
The
cease-fire had appeared to be holding for much of the day on Saturday, but
shelling started late at night. A rebel statement said Ukrainian forces
violated the cease-fire by firing on their positions in six locations on
Saturday, including near the Donetsk airport. The statement said several rebels
were killed.
Witnesses
told The Associated Press that heavy explosions were also coming from the
eastern outskirts of the port city of Mariupol late Saturday, where Ukrainian
troops retain defensive lines against the rebels.
The
city council there said one serviceman was wounded when a checkpoint was hit and
the volunteer Azov Battalion said on Facebook that their positions were hit by
Grad rockets, but did not give details.
6.
BROKEN SALVADOR TRUCE LEAVES COUNTRY UNDER TIGHTER CONTROL BY GANGS
ILOPANGO,
El Salvador (AP) — Marvin Gonzalez waves to shopkeepers as he enjoys a morning
walk through the sunny, working-class resort of Ilopango. His cellphone rings
nonstop with residents seeking his support for anything from dealing with a
drunk who won't pay his bar bill to reporting an attempted rape.
Gonzalez
is not a police chief, nor a politician. The 31-year-old plug of a man is the
local leader of the Mara Salvatrucha, a gang formed by Central American
immigrants in California and now designated by the U.S. as a transnational
criminal organization.
But
in Ilopango and communities across El Salvador, the Mara Salvatrucha and their
arch rivals, the 18th Street Gang, are de facto rulers. A truce declared two
years ago briefly tapered their bloody gang war, but the cease-fire had an
unintended consequence: It gave the gangs breathing room to grow even stronger.
Now, violence is on the rise again.
The
murder rate has climbed since the truce unraveled in late 2013. Last month, the
average was up to 10 a day compared to six during the truce.
This
wasn't what was expected when gang leaders reached a truce in March 2012.
Observers hailed the agreement as the start of a new era of peace for El
Salvador, a model to be followed by other countries, and one that had taken
cues from the peace process that, two decades earlier, ended El Salvador's
12-year civil war.
7.
WATER SHORTAGES GIVE RISE TO 'TANKER MAFIA' IN NEW DELHI FOR INDIANS WHOSE TAPS
HAVE RUN DRY
Every
summer, when Minoo Phakey's water runs out, she does what most people do in her
middle-class neighborhood: She calls the mafia.
Within
an hour, a man in a tanker arrives, carrying a load of dubious water drawn
illegally from the city's groundwater. With India's capital gripped by its annual
hot season water shortage, the city's so-called tanker mafia is doing a roaring
trade. An estimated 2,000 illegal tankers ply New Delhi's roads every day,
lifelines to millions whose taps have run dry, and symptoms of a much bigger
problem — the city's desperately dysfunctional water system.
The
tankers don't come cheap. But some Delhi-ites have no choice.
"You
need water, you will pay anything, right?" says Phakey, a marketing
executive.
She
is hardly alone. In a city known for its vertiginous inequalities, the shortage
affects people from both upscale gated communities and dust-blown slums, as
every day, the city's supply falls more than 160 million gallons short.
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Chinese Grandma Spends All Her Life Savings
Taking Care of Stray Dogs and Cats (Photo credit: www.odditycentral.com)
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8.
CHINA KILLS NEARLY 5,000 DOGS TO CONTROL RABIES
Chinese
authorities killed almost 5,000 dogs in one city after blaming five human
deaths on rabies, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Sunday.
The
city of Baoshan in southwestern Yunnan province killed 4,900 dogs and
vaccinated another 100,000 in its anti-rabies campaign, Xinhua said. The city
issued an urgent order calling for authorities to tightly regulate dogs and
kill stray ones.
Chinese
governments often order such widespread dog culls or ban dog ownership to
control the spread of rabies. That has sparked outcry from some dog owners and
animal rights activists who call for sterilizing and vaccinating dogs rather
than killing them.
In
2009, authorities in the northern city of Hanzhong reportedly killed about
37,000 dogs after a rabies outbreak, including clubbing some of the animals to
death.
9.
iPHONE IS 'TOP TARGET FOR THIEVES'
Apple's
latest iPhone models are the smartphones most likely to be targeted by thieves,
according to a new Government list for consumers.
A
Mobile Phone Theft Ratio has been published by the Home Secretary, Theresa May,
to show which handsets are most likely to be stolen.
The
list, based on data for the period August 2012 to January 2014, is topped by
the Apple iPhone models 5, 5C, 5S and 4S, followed by the Blackberry 9790 in
fifth place. Samsung Galaxy and HTC phones also feature on the index.
Ms
May said: “Crime has fallen by more than 10% under this government. This is
good news for a safer England and Wales.
"However,
the level of mobile phone theft remains a concern and people are increasingly
carrying their lives in their pockets, with bank details, emails and other
sensitive personal information easily accessible through mobile phones.
"This
is why it is vital that government, police and industry work together to tackle
this crime.
"The
Mobile Phone Theft Ratio will inform consumers about which mobile phones are
most targeted by thieves. We are also working with industry to stop the
reactivation of phones overseas, thereby killing the export market on which
organised criminals rely.
"The
mobile phone industry is already taking vital action to introduce features that
enable phones to be tracked and wiped if they are stolen.
"It
is encouraging to see that these security improvements have contributed to
recorded theft from the person falling by 10% in the last year, according to
the most recent crime statistics."
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Apple iPhones have topped the Mobile Phone Theft
Ratio list
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A
paper published by the Home Secretary also sets out steps on how the public can
protect their mobile phones from being stolen.
There
were 742,000 victims of mobile phone theft in England and Wales according to
the 2012/13 Crime Survey for England and Wales.
In
London alone, almost 100,000 mobile phones were reported stolen to the
Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) during 2013.
The
paper shows that people are most likely to have their phones stolen directly
from their person, through pick-pocketing, or when the handset is briefly left
unattended, for example at a table in a bar.
The
data also show that certain groups are especially vulnerable - 14- to
24-year-olds, and particularly women, are more likely than any other group to
be victims of mobile phone theft.
10.
AMNESTY INTL: BOTH SIDES OF UKRAINIAN CONFLICT COMMITTED WAR CRIMES
Amnesty
International has in its most recent report said both the Kiev troops and the
anti-government forces could be responsible for war crimes in their “disregard
for civilian lives.”
“All
sides in this conflict have shown disregard for civilian lives and are
blatantly violating their international obligations,” said Salil Shetty,
Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
The
conclusion was drawn on the basis of multiple interviews conducted on the
ground in eastern Ukraine by Amnesty International researchers. They spoke to
both people fleeing the conflict zones and to refugees, who have already found
shelter in Russia’s Rostov region.
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AFP Photo / Dimitar Dilkoff
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11.
AFCON QUALIFIER: CONGO HUMBLES SUPER EAGLES IN CALABAR; KESHI BLAMES MONEY
TROUBLES FOR DEFEAT
Nigeria's
senior football team, Super Eagles were on Saturday defeated 3 goals to 2 by
visiting Congo in a thrilling Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Calabar.
Nigeria
went ahead in the 13th minute when Efe Ambrose nodded home from a cross but the
visitors responded immediately.
Three
minutes later, Prince Omague leveled scores after a defensive error by the
Nigerian backline.
The
visitors were not satisfied with a goal as they continued causing the Nigerian
defence trouble.
Their
efforts paid off when Thievy Bifouma slotted pass onrushing Austin Ejide after
benefiting again, from a clumsy defending by the hosts.
Nigeria
could not level up going into the interval as the players looked so tired and
were unable to put passes together.
The
Super Eagles were let down by uninspiring performances by the trio of Ramon
Azeez, Mikel Obi and Nnamdi Oduamadi.
Head
Coach of the team, Stephen Keshi quickly rang the changes after the break,
bringing in Emmanuel Emenike and Nosa Igiebor for Ramon Azeez and Uche Nnwafor.
The
Eagles substitution didn't make a difference. Rather than leveling up, it was
their visitors who got their third after Bifouma stepped up to convert from the
spot.
Though,
Emenike's introduction gave the Eagles more fire power upfront, the Congolese
keeper stood tall to deny him on two occasions.
In
the 71th minute, Keshi decided to throw Gbolahan Salami into the party and it
paid off.
Five
minutes after Igiebor failed to convert a begging chance, Salami slammed home
from a corner kick to reduce the deficit in the 88th minute.
All
efforts to salvage a point from the encounter proved abortive for the Eagles as
the visitors ran out with all three points.
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Japan's Kei Nishikori, pictured, celebrates his
US Open semi-final victory over Novak Djokovic (AP)
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12.
AT 14, JAPAN'S KEI NISHIKORI BEGAN A PATH TO THE US OPEN FINAL AND STARDOM
Kei
Nishikori's journey to the U.S. Open final began a decade ago, when he was
spotted as a teen at a tryout in Japan and invited to move to Florida to attend
a tennis academy.
Nishikori
was among the first beneficiaries of a project to improve Japanese tennis
funded by former Sony executive Masaaki Morita.
"Kei
was just 14, and he didn't speak a word of English," said Nick
Bollettieri, a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame who coached
players such as Andre Agassi, Boris Becker, Jim Courier and Monica Seles.
"He was gifted. Great speed. Great eyes."
As
Nishikori worked his way up the world rankings after turning professional in
2007, he became so well-known back home that it seemed less distracting to stay
in Florida. On the rare occasions he plays in Japan, tournaments sell out
within hours.
Now
that he's the first man from Asia to make it to the final of a Grand Slam
singles tournament, his profile — and that of his sport — figures to grow
exponentially in his home country. Even though he hasn't lived there for years,
the nation is watching as he heads into Monday's final against Marin Cilic.
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