GRAPHITTI NEWS : 2015-11-29

Saturday, December 05, 2015

18 Die In India Hospital As Floods Cut Off Power

Weeks of inundation by torrential rains has left several parts of southern India including the key city of Chennai flooded. Image credits: Press Trust of India

Officials say 18 patients have died in a hospital after rain waters knocked out generators of the building in southern India's Tamil Nadu state that has been hit by severe floods over the past week. State officials are investigating complaints of negligence by hospital authorities in the state capital Chennai, which is reeling from unprecedented floods.

In a Friday, Nov. 13, 2015 photo, Brian Shetler, a graduate student at Drew University, poses with a first edition of the King James Bible he discovered on campus in Madison, N.J. The 1611 Bible was discovered in late October in the school's United Methodist Archives. (Lynne DeLade/Drew University via AP)

A graduate student at a northern New Jersey university says he found a rare first edition of the King James Bible while looking through the library's rare-book shelves.

Image source: PREMIUM TIMES

The Bayelsa State governorship election holds today, December 5. The election will be conducted in the eight local government areas of the state. According to the independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, 20 political parties are fielding candidates in the election. However the candidates of two dominant parties, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), namely the incumbent governor, Seriake Dickson and a former governor of the state, Timpre Sylva respectively would be the main contestants.

The new governor, the 5th since 1999, will assume office in February 2016.

Alhaji Halilu Pai, Kogi State Resident Electoral Commissioner

The early morning fire that razed the Dekina office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Dekina, Kogi State yesterday will not hinder today’s governorship supplementary election in the state. This declaration was made yesterday by the state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Alhaji Halilu Pai.

Unknown persons suspected to be hoodlums had invaded Dekina, the headquarters of Dekina Local Government Area where about 29 of the 91 polling units where the supplementary election is scheduled to hold is located, and set the INEC area office in the town ablaze.

Soldiers stand guard near a farming village near Maiduguri, northeast Nigeria, on July 3, 2015

At least three people were killed and six others injured Friday in suicide attacks in Nigeria's northeast Borno state blamed on Boko Haram Islamists, vigilantes told AFP. Two bombers blew themselves up at a security checkpoint outside Sabon Gari village in Biu district, 180 kilometres (110 miles) south of state capital Maiduguri, killing two civilian vigilantes and injuring four people.

South America: A 'Breeding Ground' For Soccer Corruption

A man walks inside Chile's National Association of Professional Soccer, ANFP, while police investigators entered the building to look for documents and computers from the office of former president of the ANFP, Sergio Jadue, in Santiago, Chile, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015. (AP Photo/Luis Hidalgo)

The South American lands that are home to some of soccer's greatest players now are at the centre of the sport's biggest corruption scandal. The names don't resonate like those of Pele, Messi and Maradona, but they've been part of several generations of South Americans who have run the popular, profitable and murky business of soccer.

Two waves of arrests and sweeping indictments in the last six months by U.S. and Swiss authorities investigating widespread corruption in FIFA, the sport's multibillion-dollar world governing body, have snared 13 top soccer officials from the continent, more than any other region.

Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has declined jurisdiction in the suits filed in relation to the dispute on the inconclusive governorship election in Kogi State. The judge, in two judgment he delivered on Friday, dismissed the suits filed by the state governor, Idris Wada and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the running mate to the late Abubakar Audu, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), James Faleke, and three others on the ground that his court lacked the jurisdiction to determine the issues raised.

FIFA vice-presidents Alfredo Hawit and Juan Angel Napout were arrested at the request of US authorities in Switzerland

A high-ranking FIFA official has been identified by the FBI as a criminal suspect in a 10million US dollar bribe paid in return for votes 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa, it has emerged. A new indictment from the US department of justice refers to the high-ranking official as "co-conspirator #17" and states he caused three payments totalling 10million US dollars to be wired from a FIFA account in Switzerland to an account controlled by the now-disgraced FIFA vice-president Jack Warner.

It is not stated who co-conspirator #17 is but the development is likely to cause intense concern to those at FIFA who were involved in the payment.

Image source: Umaru Fofana on Twitter

Sierra Leonean journalist Umaru Fofana tweeted from a memorial service for 11 doctors who died during the Ebola epidemic:

The Head of Liberia's Incident Management System (IMS), Tolbert Nyenswah

Liberia has discharged its last two known Ebola patients from a treatment centre, beginning its third countdown to become free from transmission of the deadly virus, health authorities said Friday. Three cases were reported Nov. 20 in Liberia — one of the three West African countries hit hardest by the worst ever Ebola outbreak. One of them, a 15-year-old boy, died Nov. 23.

Senate president Bukola Saraki: Coming down hard on social media? (Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde)

Nigeria’s senators and house representatives are not exactly a popular bunch. Widely criticized for their high salaries and luxurious lifestyles, Nigerians have a frosty relationship with their senators. That relationship could get even worse with the introduction of a bill which is seen as aiming to gag free speech on social media.

According to lawmakers, the bill is aimed at prohibiting ‘frivolous petitions’ and preventing the spread of falsehood. The bill, if successfully passed, will compel critics to accompany petitions with court affidavits. If petitions are proven false, the bill says an offender could face jail time and fines as high as US$20,000.

Nicaragua's Private Secretary Minister for National Policies Dr. Paul Oquist Kelley speaks during an interview as part of the COP21, United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Paris, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Some are at war, others recovering from natural disasters and some are simply ideologically opposed to the climate deal taking shape in U.N. talks outside Paris. Only 11 countries haven't submitted pledges for the envisioned agreement, including conflict-ridden Syria, reclusive North Korea and socialist Latin American countries who say it's up to the West to clean up the world's carbon pollution.

"Those who caused the problem need to solve the problem," said Paul Oquist, Nicaragua's U.S.-born climate envoy.

Dr Patrick Ziakede Akpobolokemi

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday arraigned a former Director-General of the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Patrick Akpobolokemi.

He was arraigned with nine others, including two companies, before Justice Saliu Saidu of the Federal High Court in Lagos.

Prof. Isaac Adewole

Fifty million Nigerians are affected by insurgency, the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, said yesterday. He noted that the proportion of the citizens directly or indirectly affected were all over the country and not just the over two million Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in the Northeast.

Adewole added that more people were affected from fears generated by Boko Haram.

The minister spoke yesterday in Abuja at a special meeting on humanitarian programmes in the Northeast organized by the United Nations Funds for Population Activities (UNFPA) in collaboration with his ministry.

He described his ministry’s new slogan as “every life and death counts in the country”.

Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Yari

Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Yari yesterday said governors, the Presidency and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) should re-negotiate the ₦18,000 minimum wage. He spoke with State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

According to him, dwindling oil prices had drastically affected the revenue generation of most states, which is adversely affecting their ability to pay workers.

Ethiopia inaugurated the country's — and sub-Saharan Africa's — first light rail system September 20, constructed by the China Railway Group (CREC). (Associated Press). Photo by: Marthe van der Wolf

Taxis and buses were once the only way to get across this teeming, ancient city of 4 million residents. But recently a light rail system provided by a new financial angel — China — is transforming how Ethiopians commute. “This is a new Ethiopia,” said Mahlet Adem, who owns a jewelry shop at the Shiro Meda textile market in Addis Ababa. “The economy of this country has grown following the completion of two rail lines. Moving goods from one place to another is nowadays very easy.”

James Faleke's and Yayaha Bello's supporters clashed at APC HQ, Abuja

Judgment will be delivered in five suits arising from the disagreement over the poll declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The court will among others, decide whether or not INEC could proceed with its planned supplementary election scheduled for tomorrow.

Nigerians uprooted by violence and living in camps (Image source: Thomson Reuters)

More than 100,000 people uprooted by violence and living in camps in northeast Nigeria are set to return home soon, but many fear for their safety and ability to rebuild their lives, aid agency staff said on Thursday. The Nigerian government plans to close in the coming months camps housing 150,000 displaced people in Borno and Adamawa states as security improves in the north, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

One third of the world’s arable land has been lost to erosion or pollution over the last 40 years, according to a new report. The study’s authors call for vital action, warning that the global disaster could have severe effects on world food production.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Sheffield’s Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures, involved analyzing numerous pieces of research published over the past decade. The scientists concluded that nearly 33 percent of the world’s adequate or high-quality food-producing land has been lost at a speed surpassing nature’s ability to replace diminished soil.

FIFA Considering World Cup Expansion To 40 Teams

The World Cup could be expanded to 40 teams

FIFA is considering expanding the World Cup to 40 teams following a dramatic day of developments in Zurich. FIFA's executive committee approved a whole package of reforms for the world governing body including 12-year term limits for the president and senior officials and stronger integrity checks. A decision to increase the size of the tournament from 32 to 40 countries was deferred pending a study of the likely implications.

Getty Images

Rwanda's President Paul Kagame has warned the United States not to interfere in his country's politics, amid a row over whether he should stay on in power. In a message on his twitter feed, Mr Kagame said it was up to Rwandans to decide their political future.

On Tuesday, the American ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, said Mr Kagame should step down at the end of his term in 2017, to allow the next generation of leaders to come forward.

Prince Harry Windsor shakes hand with President Jacob Zuma of South Africa (Image credits: BBC)

Prince Harry will end his tour of South Africa today by calling on the country's controversial President Jacob Zuma and later honouring the memory of one of the nation's greatest sons, Nelson Mandela. Harry and President Zuma will sit down to tea at his residence in Pretoria and one of the topics to be discussed will be the prince's passion for wildlife conservation.

Later Harry will visit the Nelson Mandela Centre for Memory in Johannesburg and have a private meeting with his widow Graca Machel, before touring the private archives of the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

He wasted TWO lives: Oscar Pistorius was not in court for this hearing (Image source: BBC Africa Live)

The full text of this morning's judgement, which converted Oscar Pistorius' conviction from manslaughter to murder has now been made available online. It's quite long and technical, but here's a snippet from close to the end, explaining one of the legal arguments for the decision taken by the panel of judges in the appeal court:

"In the result, on count 1 in the indictment the accused ought to have been found guilty of murder on the basis that he had fired the fatal shots with criminal intent in the form of dolus eventualis.

MTN has the highest number of subscribers in Nigeria

MTN says Nigeria is slashing its massive fine by more than a third to $3.4 billion, and the CEO of the embattled Nigerian subsidiary of Africa's largest telecommunications giant is resigning. A statement Thursday from the South African-based group announced major management changes to strengthen oversight and regulatory compliance across all 22 countries of its operations in Africa and the Middle East.

The quartet was made up of mediators from four Tunisian organizations (AFP)

To avoid any possible envy between the winners of this year's Nobel Peace Prize, the Nobel institute has decided to award a gold medal to each member of the prizewinning Tunisian quartet - but at their own expense, the AFP news agency reports.

The prize was awarded to Tunisia's National Dialogue Quartet on 9 October for its work in building the only democracy that emerged from the Arab Spring.

Oscar Pistorius

A South African appeals court on Thursday convicted Oscar Pistorius of murder, overturning a lower court's conviction of the double-amputee Olympian on the lesser charge of manslaughter for shooting girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp to death in 2013. Justice Lorimer Eric Leach of the Supreme Court of Appeal delivered the ruling by the five-judge appeals court in Bloemfontein and directed the trial court, the North Gauteng High Court, to impose sentence.

"The accused ought to have been found guilty of murder," Leach said to the courtroom, in which Steenkamp's mother sat.

Yaya Toure is expected to give evidence

Manchester City star Yaya Toure is set to go on trial accused of speeding at more than 120mph on a motorway in a turbo-charged Porsche. The 32-year-old Côte d'Ivoire international is expected to give evidence during a trial at Burton Magistrates' Court in Staffordshire.

The youngest face on the photograph of 100-wanted Boko Haram suspect, Master Usman Modu Tella, 11 years old, was yesterday arrested by soldiers in one of the camps for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in Maiduguri, Borno State, army authority has said. The young boy, who said he was in the camp to carry out suicide at attack at a future date, told those who apprehended him that some Boko Haram bomb experts had trained him and three other kids.

Sambo Dasuki, former National Security Adviser

Former National Security Adviser (NSA) Sambo Dasuki has made some “mind-boggling” revelations on the US$2billion “phony” arms contracts, a source said yesterday. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and a Federal Government committee are probing how huge sums of money meant for procurement of arms went down the drain during the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan administration.

FIFA Headquarters raid in May 28, 2015 (Image source: thenation.com)

The New York Times says Swiss authorities have conducted another series of pre-dawn raids and arrests as part of investigations into corruption in international soccer.

Yem Chroeum, 55, is escorted by Cambodian police officials at a court in Battambang province, on October 20, 2015 ©- (AFP)

An unlicensed Cambodian doctor was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Thursday after he was found guilty of infecting more than 200 people with HIV, including some who later died. The case has shone a spotlight on the chronically underfunded healthcare system in the impoverished nation where many have to rely on self-taught or unlicensed medics to receive treatment.

Armed police and armored vehicles were captured on live TV surrounding a black SUV near the Cornerstone Assembly of God church on San Bernardino Avenue - a mile and a half from the Inland Regional Center where the mass shooting occurred this morning. The dark vehicle was captured on broadcast helicopters with its windows apparently completely shot out and a smashed windscreen. (Image source: mailonline.com)

At least two heavily armed attackers opened fire on a holiday banquet at a social services centre for the disabled Wednesday, killing 14 people and seriously wounding more than a dozen others in a precision assault that looked "as if they were on a mission," authorities said.

Mark Zuckerberg, chairman and chief executive of Facebook, and his wife Priscilla Chan The couple have said they plan to give away 99 percent of their fortune in Facebook stock to a new charity the couple were creating, while announcing the birth of their first child Max

Established donors line up to praise Facebook founder as he promises to give away his fortune

Mark Zuckerberg’s pledge to devote 99 per cent of his Facebook shares to philanthropic causes was immediately notable for its size - US$45billion at the current stock price - but the way he has crafted the promise may ultimately be as significant as the amount. By creating a limited liability company to use the money for political activism and for-profit investing, as well as traditional giving, Mr Zuckerberg revealed how a new generation of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs may approach the philanthropic world.

FOR THE RECORD: Adeosun To Establish Expenditure Benchmarks For MDAs

The Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, has inaugurated a government spending control team called 'The Efficiency Unit' (E-Unit).

The Federal Government is to come up with new price benchmarks to drive its expenditure guidelines in the pursuit of cut in cost of governance. The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, disclosed this while inaugurating the Efficiency Unit, E-UNIT, in Abuja, on Monday.

Her words: “We are going to issue a circular to all MDAs, saying, this is the cost of (a realm) paper and if you go above it, the Permanent Secretary or whoever is approving it must have a reason to say, for instance, in this area, this is the price.

“We are just trying to establish benchmarks and we believe in so doing, we are going to make everybody much more cost conscious on how they spend public funds. At the moment, there is no guideline and where there is no law, there is no sin. So we need to establish such guidelines to guide how people spend (government) money.”

About 14,000 illegal migrants, who were awaiting deportation, simply disappeared off the radar, Swedish police told local media, adding they “don’t know where these asylum seekers are.” At the end of October, Swedish police asked to enforce deportation of at least 21,748 people. Of these, 14 140 people registered by police as 'wanted' have vanished, police told Swedish Aftonbladet tabloid newspaper.

"We simply don't know where they are," Patrik Engström, head of the national border police, said.

The king (c) told foreigners to leave South Africa AFP

A preliminary investigation in South Africa has cleared the powerful Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini of inciting the anti-foreigner violence that swept through the country earlier this year. The king had not made a call to arms, but was guilty of making “hurtful and harmful” comments against foreigners, the Human Rights Commission (HRC) said in a preliminary report.

President Thein Sein meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyidaw on December 2, 2015 ©Myanmar News Agency (Myanmar News Agency/AFP)

Myanmar's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi held talks Wednesday with the president and military chief about the handover of power, the first such discussions since her opposition party's election triumph. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party won nearly 80 percent of contested seats in a November 8 election that appears set to end the military's decades-long chokehold on the country.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing (L), Myanmar Commander In-Chief shakes hands with National League for Democracy (NLD) party leader Aung San Suu Kyi before their meeting in Naypyidaw on December 2, 2015 ©Soe Zeya Tun (Pool/AFP)

Immediately after the poll she had appealed for "national reconciliation" talks with President Thein Sein and the powerful army chief.

A Minnesota, US couple who used to scrape by on thrown-away food from grocery stores put a check for US$500,000 in a Salvation Army collection pot. It may be the largest donation the charity has received anywhere in the US. The couple, who have chosen to remain unnamed, dropped the check in a distinctive red Salvation Army pot in front of a grocery store in Rosemount, Minnesota, about 20 miles south of Minneapolis.

“The check did clear and was deposited in the bank,” said spokeswoman Julie Borgen, declining to identify the mystery benefactors. “They feel very strongly about the gift being anonymous.”

Cameroonian soldiers patrolling in city of Waza, northern Cameroon. Cameroon's army says it has killed Boko Haram militants and detained 1,000 people suspected of links to the Islamist group. Getty Images

Suspected Boko Haram militants detonated two suicide bombs in north Cameroon overnight, killing at least three people, an official and security sources said on Wednesday. Suicide bombings, often carried out by young women recruited by the Islamist militant group in neighbouring Nigeria, are becoming almost daily occurrences in Cameroon's Far North region.

"There was a double suicide attack last night in Waza in the far north of Cameroon with a toll of six dead, including the three kamikazes (attackers)," said Michel Oumarou, deputy prefect for the town of Waza.

BBC

The police have warned members of a secessionist movement calling for the creation of the breakaway state of Biafra to stop "threatening public order". It follows a protest yesterday by activists of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) group in the south-east of the country.

On Tuesday, police said protesters attempted to block the strategic bridge across the Niger river, which links the south-east with the rest of Nigeria and was the de facto border during the 1967-1970 civil war, Reuters news agency reports.

Gift Amadi is a political science student at the University of Manitoba who says the Nigerian scholarship agency that sent him to Canada is failing to keep its promises. (Facebook)

Nigerian students say they are struggling to pay rent, eat without allowances from Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA). About $250,000 is owed to the University of Manitoba in tuition fees for students sponsored by a Nigerian government-funded scholarship program, according to the school administration.

L-R: Sambo Dasuki, Attahiru Bafarawa, Raymond Dokpesi (Image source: Daily Trust)

Former Sokoto state governor Attahiru Bafarawa and Chairman Africa Independent Television (AIT) Raymond Dokpesi, were also arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday in connection with the alleged ₦2 billion arms deal. Agents of Department of State Service (DSS) yesterday arrested former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki, ending a three-week siege to his house in Abuja.

Juneau mayor Stephen ‘Greg’ Fisk was found dead one month into his three-year term. The police are investigating rumors of a possible assault. Fisk’s body was found at home by his adult son on Monday afternoon. Emergency services pronounced the 70-year-old dead at the scene.

Juneau Police Department acknowledged rumors of a possible assault.

Indians help a man carry his two-wheeler on a cycle cart as they wade through a waterlogged subway in Chennai, India, Monday, Nov. 9, 2015. (Image source: www.accuweather.com)

Weeks of torrential rains have forced an airport in southern India to close and have cut off several roads and highways, leaving tens of thousands of people stranded in their homes, government officials said Wednesday. Junior Home Minister Kiren Rijiju told reporters that the annual winter monsoon rains in Tamil Nadu state have been the heaviest the region has seen in decades. Army and naval rescue teams have joined several teams of National Disaster Response Force to help evacuate residents stranded in low-lying areas.

In this Sept. 21, 2010, photo, Guinea's acting President General Sekouba Konate salutes after addressing presidential candidates and elections officials at the People's Hall in Conakry, Guinea. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Sekouba Konate, ex-Guinea general who briefly served as the president of Guinea pleaded guilty Tuesday to smuggling tens of thousands of dollars in cash into the U.S. Sekouba Konate, 51, had been scheduled to go on trial Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria on charges of bulk cash smuggling and making false statements. Instead, he entered a guilty plea that could result in a prison sentence of up to five years when he is sentenced in February.

Saturday, December 05, 2015

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Thursday, December 03, 2015

Wednesday, December 02, 2015