12 National & International Highlights To Know For Sunday, October 12, 2014

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

Ibrahim Lawan claims he rented much of this crowd but TAN leaders refused to pay.

1. PRO-JONATHAN GROUP, TAN, HIT BY FRAUD ALLEGATIONS OVER RENTED CROWD PAY

The Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria, TAN, a group passionately campaigning for a second term for Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan, has been hit by allegation of fraud, with some members of the group accusing it of staging a crowd in support of the president and refusing to pay them as agreed.

TAN has conducted regional rallies in support of Mr. Jonathan since August, with the last of its six conventions held in Kano, for the northwest, which comprises Kano, Jigawa, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, and Kaduna States.

The Kano event held Saturday, September 27. As with the previous five regional rallies, the event was attended by senior officials of the federal government, and thousands of supporters.

Much of the crowd at the event was rented, some aggrieved members of the group have told PREMIUM TIMES.

The politicians, who are members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Kano State, and were drafted to be part of the TAN rally, have narrated how they were asked to rent a crowd for the president for an agreed fee, only to be left stranded without money to compensate hundreds of youth and women hired for the rally.

The matter is threatening to tear the support organization apart with the aggrieved members threatening to seek redress and to expose the sham they claim was on parade at the event.

Super Eagles Sudan Flop

2. 2015 AFCON - EAGLES SUFFER FIRST SUDAN LOSS IN 40 YEARS

The Super Eagles of Nigeria are rooted to the bottom of their group in the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers, following a one-nil loss to Sudan at the El-Merreikh Stadium on Saturday.

Striker Bakri Abdelgadir scored the only goal for Sudan via a powerful header in the 42nd minute, after two Nigerian defenders were caught ball-watching.

With one point from a possible nine and with South Africa (seven points), Congo (six points) and Sudan (three points) all ahead of Nigeria, bottom-place Super Eagles now face the real prospect of missing out on the 2015 Nations Cup to be hosted by Morocco.

South Africa moved top after defeating Congo-Brazzaville 2-0 in Pointe-Noire in the other game in Group A. Congo, leaders before the match, dropped down to second with six points.

Nigeria took the kick-off but it was Sudan who had the first shot, though it was off target, after an impressive footwork from Mohammed Tahir saw his opponent fall for his dummies before shooting wide of the goal.

Nosa Igiebor almost gave the Super Eagles the lead, but his effort off a low pass from Emmanuel Emenike hit the upright.

Nigeria drew out consecutive saves from Sudan keeper in the 14th and 18th minutes.

Mahgoub jumped to pick up Efe Ambrose’s unlikely shot, which was meant to be a cross but went straight to the goalkeeper who handled with ease.

He was on hand again to stop Emenike’s shot after the striker profited from poor defensive work on the Sudanese end.

Vincent Enyeama was called into action in the 26th minute, as he punched out a cross from the left wing.

In the 41st minute, Sudan took the lead from a powerful header from Abdelgadir after connecting a cross to nod past Enyeama, who managed to get a touch on the ball.

Nigeria conceded a free kick three minutes after the restart. Oboabona was adjudged to have used his hand to stop a shot on the edge of the box, but Tahir’s free kick was blocked by the wall.

It was Nigeria’s turn to win a free-kick after Salami was pulled down. Mikel then took a low ball to Emenike, whose shot was effectively dealt with by the Sudan keeper.

With less than 20 minutes to the end of the match, the Super Eagles upped their game in desperate search for an equalizer.

They resorted to long balls in order to break down the opponent, but the home team looked well-attuned to the artificial turf.

Mikel thought he had found the net for the visitors, but his effort was ruled out for offside despite his protestations.

The home team held on to a famous win.

Lineups

Nigeria: Vincent Enyeama (C), Efe Ambrose, Elderson Echiejile, Godfrey Oboabona, Kenneth Omeruo; Ogenyi Onazi, Mikel Obi, Nosa Igiebor; Gbolahan Salami, Ahmed Musa, Emmanuel Emenike

Sudan: 16 El Moiz Mahgoub (C), 18 Amir Kamal, 10 Mohamed Tahir, 3 Faris Abdallah, 14 El Tahir El Hag, 6 Ali Gafar, 2 Elrayah Ali, 17 Nasreldin Omer, 18 Omer Mahmoud, 9 Bakri Abd Elgadir, 12 Salah Ibrahim

3. PALESTINIAN LEADER ASSURES DONORS OF TRANSPARENCY IN RECONSTRUCTION OF WAR-DEVASTATED GAZA

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday promised a transparent and responsible use of funds pledged at a donor's conference to help Gaza rebuild after this summer's devastating war between Israel and Hamas.

Speaking at the one-day gathering in Cairo, Western-backed Abbas said $4 billion was needed to reconstruct the coastal strip after the 50-day war that ended on Aug. 27. Participants were expected to pledge hundreds of millions of dollars, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced immediate U.S. assistance of $212 million as the conference began.

Abbas said the latest Gaza war caused what he described as "tragedies that are difficult to be described by words ... Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble and 90 families are no longer listed in the civil register."

"The (Palestinian) government will carry out the reconstruction plan with full responsibility and transparency in coordination with the U.N., the donors, international financial institutions, civil society and the private sector," he said.

Abbas and the militant Hamas group, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, recently formed a reconciliation government which held its first Cabinet meeting in Gaza last week. But a blockade of Gaza enforced by both Egypt and Israel remains in force.

4. EXPLOITATION OF NOLLYWOOD STARS MUST STOP NOW — CLARION CHUKWURAH

Ageless beauty and veteran actress, Clarion Chukwura has seen just about everything there is to see in the movie industry. Because of her opinionated nature, she has weathered the storm of several controversies and more often than not, has come out on top. She is a ‘no holds barred’ personage who would rather speak her mind than give in to sentiments.

Last week she sent a write-up to Potpourri titled “A Wake up Call to Nollywood” to express her distaste at the way awards organizers are exploiting entertainers to their own selfish end.

Her words: The time has come for the Professional Guilds of Nollywood to take a unified and decisive action to stop the proliferation of award events that exploit the industry and do not add value to the practitioner/recipients” she wrote.

“From Nigeria to the United Kingdom, to the United States of America, Nollywood wannabes and smart-ass business men have jumped on the bandwagon train of exploiting inaction of the Guilds and the ignorant crave for publicity of practitioners to exploit Nollywood for the quick buck forming a different cabal of piracy.

Thirty years ago when I won the Best Actress Award at the All African Films Festival in Burkina Faso, it came with a certificate and US$500. Nomination for the Golden Globe or the Oscar comes with a certain amount of money that transforms you to an A-list actor and jerk up your fees, adding value to your career and your professional worth.

With Nollywood, the award organizers walk away with the money while the nominees and awardees return home with worthless plaques that make no difference to the executive producers.

The Edo State House of Assembly quarters and the vandalized cars after the attack on Saturday. Photos: Edo State Government House

5. ARMED THUGS INVADE EDO LAWMAKERS QUARTERS

Hoodlums on Saturday morning attacked the legislative quarters of the Edo State House of Assembly in Benin, vandalizing property worth millions of naira.

The action deepened the crisis in the state assembly. Our correspondent gathered that the armed hoodlums, numbering over 100, forced their way into the premises located at Iyama Road of the city at about 6:30am, after overpowering the security personnel at the entrance.

The attack caused the occupants to scamper to safety. When our correspondent got to the scene, some of the windows of the apartments were shattered while bullet holes were seen on some of the vehicles and doors.

The Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, who arrived at the scene of the incident at about 11am, was conducted round the quarters by the Speaker, Uyi Igbe, condemned the attack on the lawmakers and their family members.

The governor also accused the Peoples Democratic Party of masterminding the mayhem.

He also took a swipe at the police, alleging that they “granted permission” for the attack.

6. MOTOR RACING-HAMILTON WINS AS MERCEDES TAKE CONSTRUCTORS' TITLE

Lewis Hamilton won the inaugural Russian Formula One Grand Prix and extended his championship lead on Sunday in a Mercedes one-two that clinched the team's first constructors' title.

The Briton, who started on pole position, chalked up his fourth win in a row and ninth of the season to forge 17 points clear of German team mate Nico Rosberg with 100 still to be won.

Hamilton, the 2008 world champion, also became only the fourth driver in F1 history to win nine races in a single season.

Finland's Valtteri Bottas finished third for Williams in a race watched by Russian President Vladimir Putin at a circuit snaking around some of the landmark venues from this year's Winter Olympics.

7. IN HONG KONG, POLITICAL PROTESTS EXPOSE QUESTIONS OVER ECONOMIC DIVIDE AND THE CITY'S IDENTITY

By road, the little apartments are nearly an hour from central Hong Kong and the protests that have swept through it. Twice that long if you take the subway, which is how most people commute from places like Tuen Mun, a cluster of high-rise apartments built in a once-rural corner of Hong Kong's sprawling New Territories.

But the apartments are also affordable, at least in the way that any real estate can be affordable in one of the world's most expensive cities. The cheapest sell for HK$2.9 million (Hong Kong dollars), or about US$375,000. They are slightly larger than the average American kitchen. Young couples are desperate to buy them.

So when student-led pro-democracy protests began roiling Hong Kong two weeks ago, realtors saw a reflection of something else: the frustrations of a generation increasingly unable to afford the lives their parents had.

"They want to vent their anger. Their voice was not heard in the past," said Adam Pang, a real estate salesman in Tuen Mun, one of nearly a dozen New Towns built over the past few decades to try to relieve the immense housing pressure in this former British colony of 7 million people.

In this city built on commerce, the political protests have churned up deeper questions, exposing a series of economic divides and deep unease over whether the territory's unique identity can survive in China's ever-growing shadow.

8. HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS FLEE EASTERN INDIA AS CYCLONE HUDHUD HITS LAND; TYPHOON POUNDS JAPAN

Heavy rain and wind gusts ripped through a large swath of India's eastern seaboard, uprooting trees and snapping power cables as a powerful cyclone swept through the Bay of Bengal and slammed into the southern city of Visakhapatnam, one of two storms pounding Asia on Sunday.

In Japan, at least 35 people were reported injured as Typhoon Vongfong, packing winds of up to 180 kilometres (110 miles) per hour and heavy rain, hit the southern island of Okinawa and was aiming at the next island of Kyushu, where authorities told 150,000 people to evacuate.

Cyclone Hudhud, described as "very severe" by India's meteorological department, had winds of 195 kilometres (120 miles) per hour when the edge of the storm hit land, Chief Staff Officer of India's Eastern Naval Command Rear Admiral S.K. Grewal told reporters. The cyclone's wind speed dipped to about 160 kph (100 mph), but was expected to pick up again later Sunday, he said.

At least two people were reported dead in the cyclone — one from a wall collapse and the other when a tree toppled over.

Visakhapatnam, which was bearing the brunt of the cyclone's fury, is one of the largest cities in southern India and a major naval base.

The spread of Ebola could be under control in three months, a UK expert has said

9. EXPERT: WE CAN CONTROL EBOLA SPREAD

The British expert in charge of the United Nations response to Ebola has said he hopes the spread of the killer virus will be "under control" in three months.

Dr David Nabarro, the UN's special envoy on Ebola, said the number of cases in West African countries including Sierra Leone were increasing week-on-week.

But systems now put in place, along with international help from nations including Britain, could help turn the tide and reduce the number of cases from one week to the next, he told the BBC 5live Up All Night's Dotun Adebayo.

Dr Nabarro said: "As a result of the sensitization programme last month I think we have got a much better community involvement, which leads me to believe that getting it under control within the next three months is a reasonable target.

"When we have a disease outbreak like this there is a thing called the epidemic curve, which is numbers of cases over time, and at the moment that epidemic curve is increasing in an exponential fashion ... this means an upward-going curve and it's quite frightening because it means an acceleration.

"By under control I mean we bend the curve down, the numbers of cases each week diminishes compared with the previous week to the point where there is no new transmissions. For me under control means the epidemic curve is coming down and we are confident that the numbers of cases is reducing and will be eventually ended."

Dr Nabarro said people in the affected countries, which also include Liberia and Guinea, now had a better understanding of the need to stop the virus spreading by isolating themselves if they became infected.

He added: "The epidemiologists, the people who study disease, say that when 70% of those who have got the virus are enabled to avoid spreading it to others then the epidemic curve will come down and that's our target for the next 90 days."

His comments come after the UK's chief medical officer, Dame Sally Davies, said the country should expect a "handful" of Ebola cases in the coming months and a major exercise to test the country's readiness for such cases proved plans were "robust", according to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

Enhanced screening for the virus at major airports and terminals, have also formed part of David Cameron's contingency plan against Ebola, which has so far killed more than 4,000 people.

The Prime Minister has been forced to defend the decision after questions were raised about the checks, which are to take place at Heathrow, Gatwick and Eurostar rail terminals, with a spokesman for Gatwick saying that the airport had not been given any instructions about how the screening should be carried out.

Dr Nabarro told the BBC screening people arriving at ports and airports was "less necessary" than screening on departure and singling out people because of their nationality or where they are travelling from was "inappropriate".

Boris Johnson said airport screening was a "far from perfect solution" and there would be a case of the disease in London.

The Mayor of London told BBC 1's Andrew Marr Show: "It's one of those cases where we are at risk of seeming to promise stuff that doesn't really make any sense.

"You can't blood test everybody coming into the country."

He added: "The idea of screening it at airports is far from perfect as a solution."

Mr Johnson said there had been "fantastic preparations" to deal with the disease but he expected there to be a case in London.

He said: "I have no doubt, I have little doubt that eventually there will be a case of Ebola in this country and probably in this city."

New York's authorities say the city is "particularly well prepared"

10. STEPPED-UP EBOLA SCREENING USING NO-TOUCH THERMOMETERS STARTS AT NYC'S KENNEDY AIRPORT

Customs and health officials began taking the temperatures of passengers arriving at New York's Kennedy International Airport from three West African countries on Saturday in a stepped-up screening effort meant to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus.

Federal health officials said the entry screenings, which will expand to four additional U.S. airports in the next week, add another layer of protection to halt the spread of a disease that has killed more than 4,000 people.

"Already there are 100 percent of the travelers leaving the three infected countries are being screened on exit. Sometimes multiple times temperatures are checked along that process," Dr. Martin Cetron, director of the Division of Global Migration and Quarantine for the federal Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, said at a briefing at Kennedy.

Cetron added, "No matter how many procedures are put into place, we can't get the risk to zero."

The screening will be expanded over the next week to New Jersey's Newark Liberty, Washington Dulles, Chicago O'Hare and Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta.

The RHS said beetroot is a great vegetable to grow for people looking for nutrition and flavour

11. 'SUPERFOOD' FANS GET GARDEN ADVICE

Fans of "superfoods" are being given advice on how to grow "supergardens" filled with fruit and vegetables packed with nutrition and flavour.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) said any garden, whatever its size, can be used to grow foods ranging from tomatoes to kale and blueberries, which are good to eat and can even look good.

Gardeners who only have small plots or urban gardens can try growing blueberries in pots, training a kiwi vine over an arch or putting in alpine strawberries beneath trees.

Possibilities for bigger gardens include globe artichokes, which add height, colour and taste to ornamental beds, while wigwams for climbing varieties of beans can also be decorative, the RHS said.

And raised beds of carrots, beetroot, chard, kale and spinach could be fitted into a sunny spot in most gardens, the experts said.

Chief horticultural adviser Guy Barter said: "We're often sold the idea of superfoods, rich in vitamins and minerals.

"All veg are good of course, but we've looked through and identified some that are even better than others.

"For gardeners interested in health and good flavour there's a whole scope of things you can do."

He said that some things were hard to grow in the UK, for example citrus fruits, while bell peppers ideally needed a greenhouse to thrive in our climate.

If there were space constraints, vegetables that needed plenty of room, such as pumpkins, might be hard to fit in, and asparagus was "brilliant but you have to wait two years before you can get it".

But Mr Barter said his top three superfoods were beetroot, kale and blueberries.

"Beetroot is a bit of a marmite situation. You either love it or loathe it," he said, adding that if gardeners liked it, the leaves and the root was tasty and the seed was pretty cheap.

Kale was also a winner because the seed is cheap, the plants last a long time, grow all winter and are "incredibly flavoursome", Mr Barter said.

And blueberries can be grown in pots, close to the house to keep birds off, and so that it is easy to harvest the fruit to add to the breakfast bowl, Mr Barter said.

He advised would-be "supergardeners" to spend this time of year planning their garden, although keen superfood fans in southern England could try sowing beetroot and kale for leaves in sheltered spots or greenhouses.

Fans excitement at Super Falcon win over Cote d'Ivoire.

12. AWC: FANS LAUD FALCONS OVER VICTORY AGAINST COTE D’IVOIRE

Some football fans have lauded Nigeria’s Super Falcons over their 4-2 victory against Cote d’Ivoire in the 2015 African Women Championship in Namibia. The fans told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews on Sunday in Abuja that the team had represented the country well.

Akunne Ofuegbu, a footballer, appreciated the team for giving the Ivorians a good run for their money.

“Falcons have really proved themselves to be a good side and I am happy that they have saved our image in the world.

“This is their first game and I am sure that they will be better in their subsequent matches,” he said.

Austin Ofodile, a sports journalist, said he was happy that the team did well; adding that he had expected a win from them.

“I had expected them to win and I am happy that they were successful.

“I just want them to be more focused now and apply team work into their game. I am sure they will get to the finals of the competition,” Ofodile said.

Joy Moses, a hair stylist, said Falcons has made the country proud.

“I will say that what Super Eagles cannot do for us, Super Falcons has done even better.

“The girls did well and I will say that all the money the government is spending on Eagles should be withdrawn and transferred to Falcons,” Moses said.

Ahmed Mustapha, a civil servant, urged the Super Falcons to remain focused; adding that “they should keep the flag flying”.

The Super Falcons have been drawn in Group A with hosts Namibia, Zambia and Cote d’Ivoire.

Nigeria will face Zambia on Tuesday and lock horns with host Namibia on Oct. 17.

The AWC serves as the qualifier for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada with the top three teams at the competition qualifying to represent Africa.