Horror As Three Imbali Trucks Crash; 38 Girls, Young Women Killed In Swaziland Crash, Says Group

Horror crash along Swaziland expressway

Three trucks ferrying members of imbali from cutting the reed at Mpisi farm and Bham’sakhe were last night involved in a spine chilling accident. The accident scene was sombre as those who were first to reach the site were emotional wrecks who were at a loss for words after the horrific accident. The terrible accident happened along the Mbabane-Manzini highway, immediately after the overhead bridge at Matsapha (Mahhala). Badly injured maidens were rushed to various hospitals in the country with most in critical condition after they were flung out by one of the trucks and landed on the tarmac.

According to eyewitnesses, the accident was allegedly caused by a driver of car who was driving from the Matsapha Shopping Complex and was about to join the highway to Mbabane.

Nigeria Says Uncovers Boko Haram Spy Ring At Abuja Airport

Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja

Nigeria has uncovered a spy cell run by militant Islamist group Boko Haram at the international airport in the capital Abuja apparently aimed at selecting targets for attack, the country's national security agency said. In a statement late on Friday, the Department of State Services (DSS) said it discovered the ring on Monday and was working with aviation authorities to pre-empt any attack.

President Muhammadu Buhari has made halting Boko Haram's six-year-old insurgency a priority, but a Reuters tally shows the jihadist group has killed more than 700 people in Nigeria in bomb attacks and shootings since he came to office on May 29.

The DSS said it had arrested a 14-year-old boy who said he had been instructed to spy on the airport's security procedures, including passenger screening and boarding processes, and report what he had learned.

It said the man who directed the boy had not been located.

Ogun Governor’s Wife Denies Arrest In London For Money Laundering

Senator Remi Tinubu, Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun and his wife, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun

Olufunsho Amosun, the wife of the Ogun State Governor, has debunked speculations that she was recently arrested in the United Kingdom over money laundering allegations, saying the false tales were spread by those bent on destroying her image. Mrs. Amosun made the clarification at State Hospital, Abeokuta, on Friday during an interview with journalists shortly after she donated milk and other items to expectant mothers on behalf of Aisha Buhari, the wife of the Nigerian President.

Recall that there were unsubstantiated reports recently (not in GRAPHITTI NEWS) alleging that the governor’s wife was arrested in London for laundering money running into millions of dollars.

Nigeria MDGs Office Deletes Project Tracker From Website After PREMIUM TIMES Borehole Story

Water scarcity vs Nigeria MDGs Office’s inflated borehole costs

The Nigeria Millennium Development Goals, MDGs, Office has deleted an online tool, project tracker, from its website days after PREMIUM TIMES exposed how the office spent N154 million to construct a single borehole. The story, published Tuesday, showed how the office spent outrageous sums to build boreholes around Abuja. The online project tracker contained details of the spending. The tool, on http://www.fctmdgprojecttracker.org/, provided details of Abuja MDGs projects, contractors and contract sums.

A borehole in Abuja averages N1.5 million, but many contracts verified by PREMIUM TIMES were allocated for over N8 million, with the N154 million project being the most expensive.

'KANGAROO COURTS' WARPED JUSTICE? Indian Sisters Sentenced To Be Raped Then Paraded Naked Through The Streets As Punishment For Their Brother Running Away With A Married Woman

A pair of sisters aged 15 and 23 are to be raped and paraded through the streets naked with blackened faces as punishment for their brother running away with a married woman 

A pair of sisters, one of whom is only 15, are to be raped as punishment for their brother running away with a married woman in rural India.  The teenager and her elder sister Meenakshi Kumari, who is 23, will also be paraded through the streets naked with blackened faces, according to an unelected all-male village council. The barbaric punishment has been handed down in Baghpat district, Uttar Pradesh, around 30 miles north of New Delhi. 

According to Zee News, the pair's brother Ravi fell in love with a girl from the higher Jat caste and the couple eloped in March, even after they were forcibly separated and she was married off to another man in February.

MODAFINIL: Smart Pill’ Has Potential To Boost Brain Power In Healthy People — Study

© Srdjan Zivulovic / Reuters

A stimulant drug successfully used to help people with sleep disorders stay awake can boost cognitive functions in healthy people, according to a new study. The ‘smart pill’ has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Researchers reviewed 24 studies on the drug modafinil which were carried out between 1990 and 2015 and found that it appeared to improve cognitive function. Some of the studies also showed gains in flexible thinking, increasing ability to combine information or cope with novelty. The drug didn’t seem to influence creativity either way.

However, researchers found that improvement wasn’t seen every time, on every test, or for every person. They also found that the studies failed to show any enhancement in the areas of attention, learning, and memory.

The meta-analysis was recently published in European Neuropsychopharmacology.

Kogi Guber Election 2015: 3, 600 Delegates, 28 Aspirants For APC Gov Primary

Mallam Nasir El Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State serves as Chairman, APC Kogi governorship primary

The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary and Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El Rufai, yesterday said about 3, 600 delegates will vote in today’s election to decide who will be the party’s candidate in the November 21 governorship election. Addressing pressmen in Lokoja at the end of a closed door meeting with the 28 aspirants vying for the Kogi APC governorship ticket, the chairman, who heads a seven-man Kogi APC governorship primary said all the close to 4, 000 ballot papers to be used during the exercise will be personally signed by him.

He said that the exercise, which will take place at the new Confluence Stadium Lokoja, will be “security tight” as no unauthorized person will be allowed into the venue.

Each delegate, he said, will be expected to leave the venue immediately after casting their votes.

VERY STRONG WORDS! Obasanjo, A Liar, Economic Illiterate — Soyinka

Soyinka and Obasanjo

The Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has said that he has no respect for Obasanjo, who he described as an indescribable liar. Soyinka carpeted the former president on Friday night when he was responding to questions during a programme tagged: ‘An evening with Wole Soyinka’, organized by Globacom. Asked to respond to Obasanjo’s assessment of him in the former president’s book titled ‘My Watch’, where he notes that Soyinka is good at hunting and wines but a political illiterate, Soyinka said that he was hardly bothered because he believed that Obasanjo was a liar.

Soyinka said, “Obasanjo is entitled to his opinion. But the question is: ‘Who respects the opinion of a liar?’

Fayose Appoints 72-Yr-Old Illiterate Carpenter As Council Chair

Governor Ayo Fayose and Pa Olatunde Afolayan (Image source: supplied)

Ekiti State governor Mr Ayo Fayose, yesterday, sent tongues wagging with the swearing-in of a 72-year-old illiterate carpenter, Pa Olatunde Afolayan, as the caretaker chairman of Moba Local Government. The governor, immediately after the inauguration held at Abiodun Adetiloye Hall, Trade Fair Complex, Ado Ekiti, also appointed a graduate to serve as the Personal Assistant of the septuagenarian.

He also swore in two other caretaker chairmen during the ceremony. The appointees, Mrs. Omolara Bayode Ayeni (Ikole) and Owolabi Ajewole (Ijero) were appointed to replace their predecessors who recently resigned their appointments.

Fayose also swore in the new chairman of the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC), Justice Kayode Bamisile a former Chief Judge of the state and other members of the commission to set the stage for the conduct of the local government polls before the end of the year.

Buhari Defends Appointment Of SGF, Others

•President says positions will go round soon

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday defended the appointment of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal and five others. The appointments, announced on Thursday, had sparked reactions, with reports of complaints in some quarters that they tilted in favour of the North.

Appointed alongside Lawal were Alhaji Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to the President; Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (rtd), Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS); Mr. Kure Martins Abeshi, Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Immigration Service; Senator Ita Enang, Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate) and Hon. Suleiman Kawu, SSA to the President on National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives).

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, yesterday assured Nigerians that President Muhammadu Buhari’s political appointments will balance out soon.

Merkel Says EU Leaders Ready To Meet To Discuss Refugee Crisis

Up to 200 people may have been drowned in Thursday's accident. AP

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday that European Union leaders stand ready for an emergency meeting, if needed, to discuss the refugee crisis but she added that EU interior ministers were already working intensively to find solutions. "The heads of state and governments are standing ready to meet if the preliminary work is done and if it's necessary to hold an emergency summit," she said at a news conference in Berlin.

Mediterranean Refugee And Migrant Numbers Pass 300,000 In 2015; Libya Recovers 82 Bodies - Official; Call For A More Compassionate European Response

Libya has recovered 82 bodies washed ashore after a boat packed with migrants sank near the western town of Zuwara, a Red Crescent official said on Friday. "About 100 people are still missing," said Ibrahim al-Attoushi, the Red Crescent official, adding that about 198 migrants had been rescued. The boat sank on Thursday after leaving Zuwara, a major launchpad for smugglers shipping migrants to Italy by exploiting a security vacuum in Libya where rival governments and dozens of armed groups fight for control.

Many of the migrants on board, most from sub-Saharan Africa, had been trapped in the hold when the boat capsized, officials said.

Liberia Sacks Two Ministers

Boko Haram Attack Niger Village

At least three people were killed including a soldier after suspected Boko Haram militants raided a village in southern Niger, killing three, Reuters news agency reports. The overnight attack took place in the village of Abadam in the Diffa region near Niger's border with Nigeria.

"Boko Haram attacked Tuesday night," one military source said to Reuters. "They killed two civilians and looted shops of goods. We lost a sergeant on Wednesday during a pursuit of the terrorists. But we neutralised them."

Thousands of people have fled to Diffa which is under a state of emergency, to escape Boko Haram violence in the past two years.

Mozambican Newspaper Editor Murdered (GRAPHIC PHOTO)

Mozambican newspaper Diario de Noticias, Paulo Machava murdered

The editor of the Mozambican newspaper Diario de Noticias, Paulo Machava, has been shot dead in the capital, Maputo, while he was out jogging this morning, local media are reporting.

There is a suspicion that this was a targeted attack and his life has been threatened several times before, says the BBC's Mozambique analyst Zenaida Machado.

Usain Bolt Eyes Hat-Trick Of Gold Medals At World Championships

Usain Bolt clinched the sprint double with victory in the 200m on Thursday

Usain Bolt remains on course for another gold medal hat-trick after avoiding a World Championship-ending injury at the hands of a runaway segway. Fresh from riding to the rescue of his beleaguered sport in the 100 metres, the Jamaican attempted to make it four successive half-lap world crowns in Beijing. Two-time drugs cheat Justin Gatlin again stood in his way but once more failed to wrestle away gold as Bolt held strong down the home straight to win with a world-leading 19.55 seconds.

The 29-year-old finished the 200m final an impressive 0.19 secs ahead of Gatlin, whose comments in the build-up clearly irked the Jamaican sprint great.

"It was never a doubt to me," Bolt said after the standard exuberant celebrations. "Maybe I doubt a lot of people, but I never doubt that I will win my 200 metres.

Medical Charity MSF Takes Legal Action Against Makers Of Bollywood Film "Phantom"

Médecins Sans Frontières Logo

International charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is taking legal action against the producers of a new Bollywood film, saying its misrepresentation of the medical group could put its aid workers deployed in conflict zones at risk. Action-thriller "Phantom" was released on Friday and features British-Indian actress Katrina Kaif as an MSF aid worker who helps a disgraced Indian soldier, played by actor Saif Ali Khan, to assassinate Pakistani militants accused of being behind the 2008 Mumbai bombings.

In promotional interviews for the Hindi film this week, Kaif was quoted as saying, "NGO workers have ties with local fanatical groups" in war-torn regions, without mentioning that many aid groups maintain strict neutrality in order to do their work safely.

In the film's trailer, her character is seen firing a pistol and rifle in two different scenes.

MSF said it had not been consulted over the content of the film and was not associated with it in any way. The humanitarian agency had "a strict no guns policy" in all its clinics and did not employ armed guards, it added.

Ghana Government Speaks On IS 'Recruits' As Libya Rescues 100 Migrants

Ghana's national security boss has broken his silence on the alleged Ghanaian recruits to the so-called Islamic State group.

He told journalists, including from the Daily Graphic, that two young Ghanaians including the 25-year-old we reported on this week have joined the group. Dr Yaw Donkor says other attempts at recruitment are being closely monitored, but he warned journalists to be cautious in its reporting of the story so as not to "create panic".

Bad Governance, Impediments To Africa’s Devt — AfDB Chief

AfDB VP Steve Kayizzi-Mugerwa

African Development Bank (AfDB) has listed bad governance and corruption as the major impediments to Africa’s development.Vice President of AfDB, Steve Kayizzi-Mugerwa, said at a symposium in Kigali that the factors not only lead to diversion of resources, but also the energies of institutions and their staff. Kayizzi-Mugerwa said some of the African governments failed to translate their development agenda, into action because the public sector tended to become captive and serve individuals and not the population.

He said there was the need to honor the late Ethiopian Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, especially for leaving a great legacy for Africa and other developing countries.

“His conceptualization of a developmental state to describe the institutional and socioeconomic frameworks that would sustain development without stifling political participation is outstanding” he said.

2 French Journalists Arrested In Blackmail Of Moroccan King

King Mohammed VI of Morocco (Image source: Getty Images)

The Paris prosecutor's office and a lawyer for Morocco's King Mohammed VI say two French journalists have been arrested in France for allegedly trying to blackmail the monarch. The prosecutor's office said the two, Eric Laurent and Catherine Graciet, remained in detention Friday.

Eric Dupont-Moretti, a lawyer for the king, told RTL radio Thursday that Laurent claimed he and Graciet were writing a compromising book about the monarch and demanded 3 million euros ($3.4 million) to keep it unpublished.

Dupont-Moretti said the Moroccan leadership filed a lawsuit in Paris and the arrests came after a sting operation.

The king has built a reputation as a moderate, modern leader, though journalists in Morocco have been jailed for criticizing him.

Laurent and Graciet co-wrote a book in 2012 about the king.