12 National & International Highlights To Know For Saturday, October 4, 2014

GRAPHITTI NEWS collates national and international highlights from late-breaking news, up-coming events and the stories that will be talked about Saturday:

1. 2015: FACTORS THAT WILL GUIDE MY DECISION —JONATHAN

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday assured that his decision to run for second term will be guided by national harmony, cohesion, unity, security, political stability, progress, equity, justice and fairness, agency reports.

In an Eid-El-Kabir message to Nigerians he personally signed yesterday, the President said he would place national interest above any personal ambition or sectional agenda.

He challenged other politicians to do the same as they prepare for the 2015 general elections.

Felicitating with men and women of the Islamic faith as they celebrate this year’s Eid-El-Kabir, he also urged them to pray for peaceful and successful conduct of the 2015 general elections.

He said: “With this week’s issuance of a formal notice of the impending general elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), another national campaign season is now truly upon us and I urge all political leaders in the country to place the overriding interest of the well-being and progress of our fatherland above all other considerations in the coming campaigns and elections.

“I thank the many individuals, stakeholders, groups, associations, non-governmental organizations, unions and political leaders from across the country who have, in recognition and appreciation of our efforts and commitment to repositioning our dear nation for more rapid growth and development, urged me to seek a second term in office.

“In deciding on an appropriate response to such calls, I will place the greater inter ests of national harmony, cohesion, unity, security, political stability, progress, equity, justice and fairness above any personal ambition or sectional agenda.

“I urge all other political leaders in the country to do the same. Let us all rise above unedifying, unpatriotic and selfish personal interests and divisive sectional agenda in the coming national elections.

“Let us also commit ourselves more to the sustenance of democracy and political stability which are essential prerequisites for the advancement of good governance, inclusive economic growth and rapid development.”

On the 2014 Eid-El-Kabir celebration, he said: “I greet and felicitate with all our countrymen and women of the Islamic faith as we celebrate this year’s Eid-El-Kabir. I also congratulate all believers who have successfully undertaken the Hajj this year as enjoined by Prophet Mohammed (may peace be upon Him). As they conclude the rites of the Hajj and prepare to return home, let us all join them in offering special prayers for greater security, peace, unity and progress in our dear country”

2. BOKO HARAM BEHEADS PILOT OF MISSING PLANE

A new footage released by the dreaded Islamist sect, Boko Haram and obtained by AP, showed the beheading of a man believed to be one of the pilots of the Nigerian Air Force jet which went missing and later crashed earlier on September 11 after it left Yola, capital of Adamawa State, for a bombing campaign against the militants.

The video shows a man decked in a camouflage vest kneeling while an axe-wielding fighter stands menacingly next to him before eventually chopping off his head. Moments before the gruesome execution, the victim who spoke in English and identified himself as a wing commander in the Nigerian Air Force, revealed that they were undertaking a mission in the Kauri area of Borno State on September 11 when the plane suddenly crashed to the ground.

“We were shot down and our aircraft crashed. To this day I don’t know the whereabouts of my second pilot,” he said.

Abubakar Shekau, leader of the group who military forces claimed to have killed first in 2009, later 2013 and recently a few days ago, was also seen in the latest video, according to the AP, said the sect had downed about 10 military aircraft so far – a position the Nigerian soldiers openly disagreed with.

Hazardous material cleaners prepare to hang black plastic outside the apartment in Dallas, Friday, Oct. 3, 2014, where Thomas Eric Duncan, the Ebola patient stayed.

3. HOME WHERE EBOLA PATIENT STAYED DECONTAMINATED, FAMILY MOVED; NUMBER BEING MONITORED FALLS

After days of scrutiny about their treatment, a family that was living in the Texas apartment where an Ebola patient was staying when he got sick was moved to a private residence in a gated community.

Meanwhile, a hazardous-materials crew on Friday decontaminated the apartment, and public-health officials cut by half the number of people being monitored for any symptoms of the deadly disease.

Hours later, the family was moved to the private residence that was offered by a volunteer.

The decontamination team was to collect bed sheets, towels and a mattress used by the infected man before he was hospitalized, as well as a suitcase and other personal items belonging to Thomas Eric Duncan, officials said.

The materials were sealed in industrial barrels that were to be stored in trucks until they can be hauled away for permanent disposal.

Thomas Eric Duncan, identified by a former employer and seen in this undated Facebook photo, is the first Ebola patient to be diagnosed in the United States. Credit: Thomas Eric Duncan/Facebook

4. INTERNET VIDEO PURPORTS TO SHOW ISLAMIC STATE GROUP BEHEADING BRITISH HOSTAGE ALAN HENNING

An Internet video released Friday purports to show an Islamic State group fighter beheading British hostage Alan Henning, the fourth such killing carried out by the extremist group now targeted in U.S.-led airstrikes.

The video mirrored other beheading videos shot by the Islamic State group, which now holds territory along the border of Syria and Iraq, and ended with a militant threatening a man they identified as an American named Peter Kassig.

"Obama, you have started your aerial bombardment of Sham (Syria), which keeps on striking our people, so it is only right that we continue to strike the necks of your people," the masked militant in the video said.

National Security Council Spokesperson Caitlin Hayden confirmed that Kassig was held by Islamic State militants.

"At this point we have no reason to doubt the authenticity of the video released earlier today. We will continue to use every tool at our disposal -- military, diplomatic, law enforcement and intelligence - to try to bring Peter home to his family," Hayden said in a statement Friday night.

A pro-democracy student protester, left, is pressed by angry locals

5. HONG KONG TENSE AFTER POLICE ARREST 19, PROTESTERS SCRAP TALKS AS MOBS TRY TO DRIVE THEM AWAY

Friction between pro-democracy protesters and opponents of their weeklong occupation of major Hong Kong streets persisted Saturday as police denied they had any connection to criminal gangs suspected of inciting attacks on largely peaceful demonstrators.

Student protesters urged supporters to turn out again in the evening to show their solidarity.

"The more suppression by the government, the more resistance by the people," Joshua Wong, a 17-year-old student leader told protesters gathered under a steady drizzle.

Police arrested 19 people during a night of running brawls in which at least 12 people and six officers were injured. Eight men were believed to have backgrounds linked to triads, or organized crime, said Senior Superintendent Patrick Kwok Pak-chung.

Officials vehemently denied rumors they might have coordinated with the gangs to clear the streets.

Thousands of protesters jam the main street leading to the financial Central district outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong on Sept 28, 2014.

6. WITH VAST AREA OF INDIAN OCEAN FINALLY MAPPED, SHIPS PREPARE TO RESUME SEARCH FOR FLIGHT 370

After a four-month hiatus, the hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is about to resume in a desolate stretch of the Indian Ocean, with searchers lowering new equipment deep beneath the waves in a bid to finally solve one of the world's most perplexing aviation mysteries.

The GO Phoenix, the first of three ships that will spend up to a year hunting for the wreckage far off Australia's west coast, is expected to arrive in the search zone Sunday, though weather could delay its progress. Crews will use sonar, video cameras and jet fuel sensors to scour the water for any trace of the Boeing 777, which disappeared March 8 during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

The search has been on hold for months so crews could map the seabed in the search zone, about 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) west of Australia. The 60,000-square kilometer (23,000-square mile) search area lies along what is known as the "seventh arc" — a stretch of ocean where investigators believe the aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed, based largely on an analysis of transmissions between the plane and a satellite.

Given that the hunt has already been peppered with false alarms — from underwater signals wrongly thought to be from the plane's black boxes to possible debris fields that turned out to be trash — officials are keen to temper expectations.

"We're cautiously optimistic; cautious because of all the technical and other challenges we've got, but optimistic because we're confident in the analysis," said Martin Dolan, chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, the agency leading the search. "But it's just a very big area that we're looking at."

7. GERMAN HOSPITAL: SCIENTIST TREATED FOR EBOLA CURED

A scientist who was infected with Ebola while working for the World Health Organization in Sierra Leone has recovered and been discharged from a German hospital.

The University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf says the unidentified man, who was brought to Germany in late August, left the hospital on Friday.

In a statement Saturday it said he was doing well and had returned to his home country.

WHO said the man from Senegal had been infected while working for the agency as a consultant in West Africa, which is experiencing the biggest Ebola outbreak on record.

Another patient who contracted Ebola in West Africa is being treated in Frankfurt. The unidentified Ugandan man who worked for an Italian aid group was brought there on Friday from Sierra Leone.

8. NIGERIAN DOCTORS DISMISS ‘RIDICULOUS’ DEMANDS BY OTHER HEALTH WORKERS

The Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria has described as “ridiculous” fresh demands by the Joint Health Sector Union, JOHESU, on the federal government.

JOHESU, a union made up of all government hospitals’ personnel, except medical doctors, last week gave the federal government two weeks ultimatum to meet its demands or risk withdrawal of services by its members.

Among others, it demanded a government circular defining functions and powers of honourary consultants, residency training for other health professionals, issuance of guidelines on appointment of chairman, Medical Advisory Committee, CMAC, autonomy for teaching hospitals and the removal of university lecturers as heads in some clinical departments.

MDCAN, in a statement signed by its president, Steven Oluwole, described the demands as ridiculous and reactionary.

“From these demands, JOHESU has again presented itself as a conglomerate of rabble rousers. No ideological viewpoint designed to improve health care delivery or development is represented, but reactionary viewpoints that can only set the healthcare system back,” the statement said.

‘’Residency training is not designed for popularity contest between medical and non-medicals. The request is an absurdity when put into context of job description. I expect the response of government to be non-political and professional.

“On issuance of guidelines on appointment of chairman, Medical Advisory Committee, this matter also is before the court. On autonomy for teaching hospitals and the removal of university lecturers as heads in some clinical departments, the same,” Mr. Oluwole said.

According to him, the request bordered on the ridiculous. He said JOHESU wanted teaching hospitals that were established by law to serve the universities from which they derived their names to become autonomous of the universities.

He explained that JOHESU wanted university lecturers employed to teach in the teaching hospitals to be replaced by non-academic consultants.

On the definition of functions and powers of honourary consultants, he stated, “This matter is before the National Industrial Court. All parties, which include JOHESU, are expected to respect the judicial process.”

He urged the federal government to operate broad guidelines that would restore sanity to the health sector and break the cycle of strikes that were hinged primarily on what he described as the hideous claims, inimical drive, and self-serving demands of JOHESU and could only make mockery of the Nigerian healthcare system and ridicule the government.

Nobel season upon 2014. Credits: http://blindoggbooks.wordpress.com

9. 2014 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE: A WRITER OF LONG ACCLAIM OR UNKNOWN PLUCKED FROM OBSCURITY?

It's soon time for the highbrow culture event of the year: the Nobel Prize in literature. But don't worry if you are left scratching your head when the winner is announced.

While the Swedish Academy sometimes picks well-known authors long lauded by critics, just as frequently it surprises the world with unknowns plucked from obscurity. The secretive academy drops no hints on who they are considering but Permanent Secretary Peter Englund said this year's long-list started with 210 nominees, including 36 first-timers.

The academy is expected to announce the winner on Thursday, but has not yet confirmed the date.

10. IN NO. 1 COCAINE-PRODUCER, NARCO CANDIDATES ARE TAINTING NATIONWIDE ELECTIONS IN PERU

The two-term mayor of this poor farming district in a cocaine-producing region where the Andes meet the Amazon is one of hundreds of candidates in Sunday's local and state elections suspected of being bankrolled by drug traffickers.

Manuel Gambini, a 43-year-old former coca farmer, is among at least seven gubernatorial candidates — in a quarter of Peru's 24 states — under investigation for drug trafficking or related crimes.

Cocaine cash is threatening to hijack democracy in this nation that in 2012 became the world's top cocaine producer. The infiltration has become so brazen and widespread as to draw comparisons with conditions in Colombia and Mexico that preceded major political bloodletting.

"We are now a despicable reflection of what Colombia was — and what Mexico is today," said Sonia Medina, Peru's public prosecutor for drug enforcement. Peru is far less violent, but drug-related murders have been on the rise.

One of three Peruvian voters lives in a region with candidates under investigation, on trial or previously convicted of drug-related crimes. Medina said her office has identified 700 such candidates.

11. MUSLIM HOLIDAY OF EID AL-ADHA, JEWISH HOLIDAY OF YOM KIPPUR COINCIDE THIS WEEKEND

Major holidays for both Muslims and Jews are both being marked this Saturday across the Middle East, the first time this has happened since 1981.

The Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha and the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur coincide once every 33 years, as Judaism and Islam rely on lunar calendars.

Yom Kippur is Judaism's Day of Atonement, when devout Jews ask God to forgive them for their transgressions and refrain from eating and drinking, attending intense prayer services in synagogues. Businesses and airports in Israel shut down as television and radio stations go silent and highway stand empty. That holiday began at sunset Friday and ends Saturday night.

Muslims are marking Eid al-Adha, a three-day holiday that started Saturday across much of the Middle East. It commemorates the willingness of the prophet Ibrahim — or Abraham as he is known in the Bible — to sacrifice his son in accordance with God's will, though in the end God provides him a sheep to sacrifice instead. On the start of Eid al-Adha, Muslims slaughter sheep, cattle and other livestock, and give part of the meat to the poor. Parents often buy new clothes for their children for the holiday.

Ashoka Mukpo, 33, (L) became the fifth American diagnosed with Ebola, it was announced Thursday, after he begun working as a freelance cameraman for NBC News this week. The revelation has left his family and friends reeling — knowing how he was willing to be in the epicenter of an illness that has killed more than 3,000 people in West Africa.

12. NIGERIA TO BE CERTIFIED EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE FREE

WITH the last patient under surveillance for Ebola completing the mandatory 21-day monitoring period yesterday, the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that Nigeria should be declared Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) free.

A report on Nigeria's response to the outbreak, which appears in a September 30 early release issue of CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), noted that Nigeria's success story was due to her strong emergency operations centre and polio eradication experience.

The CDC report reads: "...There have been no new cases since August 31 and the last three patient contacts will exit their 21-day follow-up on October 2 - strongly suggesting the outbreak in Nigeria has been contained."

According to the MMWR, Nigeria's decision to use the emergency operations' centre to respond to the Ebola outbreak resulted in a rapid, effective and coordinated response.

The CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) described how Nigeria contained the virus. It reads: "The Ebola outbreak in Nigeria appears to be nearing a possible end due to a rapid response coordinated by Nigeria's Emergency Operations Centre with assistance from international partners, including the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. The official end to an Ebola outbreak comes when two of the 21-day incubation periods for Ebola virus have elapsed without any new cases.

"During the outbreak, there were 19 laboratory-confirmed and one probable Ebola cases in two Nigerian states. Nearly 900 patient contacts were identified and followed; all but three have completed 21 days of follow-up period without Ebola symptoms. There have been no new cases since August 31 and the last three patient contacts will exit their 21-day follow-up on October 2 - strongly suggesting the outbreak in Nigeria has been contained."

CDC Director, Dr. Tom Frieden, said: "Although Nigeria isn't completely out of the woods, their extensive response to a single case of Ebola shows that control is possible with rapid, focused interventions," adding that "Countries throughout the region as well as Nigeria need to take rapid steps to prepare for possible cases of Ebola in order to prevent outbreaks in their country."