Corruption Eating Away At India 'Like A Termite': Modi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivers his Independence Day speech from The Red Fort in New Delhi, on August 15, 2015 ©Prakash Singh (AFP)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned on Saturday that corruption was eating away at India "like a termite" as he used an Independence Day speech to pledge his commitment to eradicating graft and poverty. In an address from Delhi's Red Fort, Modi sought to silence growing doubts about his leadership after key reforms stalled in a rancorous parliament session dogged by allegations of corruption involving some of his top lieutenants. Modi, who has a reputation as a hardline Hindu nationalist, also warned against the "poison" of communalism in a wide-ranging speech that lasted for more than an hour.

But it was his comments on the dangers posed by corruption that drew most attention, including his admission that the problem went right to the top.

"I want to reaffirm that this nation will get rid of corruption. We can rid the country of corruption, we have to start from the top," said Modi. "Corruption is like a termite, it spreads slowly, reaches everywhere but it can be beaten with timely injections."

4,000 California Prisoners Are Fighting Wildfires For A Pittance

© Robert Galbraith / Reuters

A shocking number of firefighters battling California’s numerous wildfires are actually prisoners sometimes working for less than US$2 a day. They’re hoping to earn shorter sentences – and they’re saving taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. Somewhere between 30 to 40 percent of the state’s forest firefighters, or nearly 4,000 people, are low-level felons from state prisoners, Mother Jones reported. Working in “Conservation Camps” set up by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), the inmates are trained to clear brush that can potentially trigger a fire and also battle the flames when a blaze does occur.

25k Indian Farmers Seek President’s Permission To Hang Themselves On Independence Day

© Danish Ismail / Reuters

Over 25,000 farmers in India have sought permission from their president to commit suicide on Independence Day, report local media. The move was sparked by the government’s failure to pay the farmers for land lost to the construction of the Gokul Barrage.  The farmers wrote in a letter to President Pranab Mukherjee that they would either hang themselves or commit self-immolation on August 15 if the government fails to act.
“We have lost all and want to end our lives. We want the president’s permission,” said farmer Roop Singh, as quoted by NDTV. Another farmer, Kisan Sangh, accused the government of ignoring the farmers’ interests.

Islamic State Leader Baghdadi 'Raped' Kayla Mueller

Kayla Mueller's death was announced in February this year

An American aid worker who was killed in February while held hostage by Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria, was sexually abused by the group's top leader, US officials tell ABC news. Kayla Mueller, 26, was repeatedly raped by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, they said. Counterterrorism officials made her family aware of the abuse in June. Mueller was abducted while working in Aleppo, Syria, in 2013. IS said she was killed in a Jordanian air strike, but the US blames IS for her death.

Death Toll From China Blasts Rises To 85 - Xinhua

The death toll from two huge explosions that tore through an industrial area in the northeastern Chinese port of Tianjin has risen to 85, the official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.

Shockwaves from the blasts late on Wednesday were felt by residents in apartment blocks kilometres away in the city of 15 million people.

China on Friday defended fire fighters who initially hosed water on a blaze in a warehouse storing volatile chemicals, a response foreign experts said could have contributed to the explosions.

Crashed Bristow Helicopter Black Box , CVR Recovered

Crashed helicopter Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder

The Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder, CVR, were Friday recovered by the Accident Investigation Bureau, AIB, after two days of frantic search for the two items that will aid and quicken investigation of the crashed helicopter. This was made known, Friday, by Head, Public Affairs, AIB, Mr Tunji Oketunbi. He said that  “the Accident Investigation Bureau announced today(Friday)  that the flight recorders, popularly known as black boxes, to the Sikosky 76 helicopter that crashed into the lagoon in Oworonshoki area of Lagos on Wednesday 12 August, 2015 have been recovered.”

2015 Poll: RECs Under Probe, Says INEC Chairman

The Acting Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mrs. Amina Zakari, has admitted that some Resident Electoral Commissioners are under investigation, but the actual number was still unknown to the electoral body. She said the commission is only watching and waiting for the outcome of the ongoing investigations by security agencies. She, however, said the agency will give those affected the benefit of doubt in line with the legal framework that they are innocent until proven guilty. She also said the commission will soon begin a nationwide audit of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) because about 10million PVCs, out of the 68million produced, have not been collected.

But she said about 400,000 cards were yet to be delivered by the PVC vendors.

Zakari, who spoke exclusively with THE NATION in Abuja, said she is not desperate to become a substantive chairman of INEC.

Anambra PDP Sacks Metuh

Alleged fraud: “I’m not scared of DSS, EFCC” – PDP spokesman, Metuh

The Anambra State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has suspended the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisah Metuh. His suspension followed one allegedly handed to him by his Otolo Nnewi Ward I, ratified by his  local government – Nnewi North.

Ghanaian Named After Merkel

Ophelya Ade names new born “Merkel” after the German Chancellor. Photo: EPA

A Ghanaian refugee who has been granted asylum in Germany named her newborn daughter after Chancellor Angela Merkel in gratitude for being allowed to stay in the country. BBC reports Ophelya Ade, 26, who comes from a small town near the Ghanaian capital Accra, called the child Angela Merkel Ade, the registry office in Hanover said.

Migrants Trafficked By ‘English Mafia’ – French Mayor

© Juan Medina / Reuters

Violent English gangs are smuggling migrants into Britain from northern France in trucks, a French mayor has suggested. The ‘English mafia’ use guns and threats to force migrants into vehicles traveling to the UK, Mayor of Teteghem Franck Dhersin told the BBC.

He said traffickers are collecting migrants from camps and forcing them to stowaway on trucks. Dhersin said he had once tried to enter a camp, but was confronted by a man with a gun who threatened to rape a female reporter who was traveling with him.

Police officers at the camp told him not to return.

“[The] cars are English and the owners are English. The smugglers just want to make money from migrants. The smugglers are very violent,” Dhersin said.

EBOLA OUTBREAK: Sierra Leone To Mark Closure Of Last Major Ebola Quarantine Centre (PHOTOS)

Sierra Leonean journalist Umaru Fofana is at the celebrations to mark the  closure of the West Africa last major Ebola quarantine centre.

UPDATE: Religious Leaders At Oba Sijuade’s Funeral

The monarch's death was announced on Wednesday. (Photo: AFP)

Both Christian and Muslim leaders attended the funeral service, before the private burial of the Nigerian monarch, the Ooni of Ife. Nigeria's Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo was among the dignitaries who attended the service to pay tribute to Oba Okunade Sijuwade, the foremost traditional ruler of the Yoruba people of Nigeria, Benin and Togo, Abubakar Madagali added.

Mourning will continue until Wednesday, he said.

New Aston Villa Star, EPL Footballer Swaps Allegiances From Spain To Mali

Getty Images

New Aston Villa signing Adama Traore has indicated he wants to play football for Mali. He has previously played for Spain. The Mali Football Federation said Traore wants to swap national allegiances to his parents' homeland.

BBC reports his brother Mohamed, who plays for Spanish club Cordoba, has already played for Mali Under-23s this year.