RELIABLE CLICK

Sallah: Nigerian govt declares Wednesday, Thursday public holidays

noreply@blogger.com (Reliable Click) — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 13:33:00 +0000

The federal government has declared Wednesday and Thursday, 28 and 29 June, public holidays to mark this year’s Eid-el-Kabir.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Interior, Oluwatoyin Akinlade, made the announcement in a statement on Monday.

“The Federal Government has declared Wednesday June 28th and Thursday June 29th 2023 Public Holidays in commemoration of this year’s Eid-el-Kabir celebration and heartily felicitates with the Muslim Ummah at home and in the diaspora,” the official noted.

The government urged Muslims and all Nigerians “to make sacrifices for the growth and development of our communities and our great country, Nigeria.

“We are hopeful that the prayers and sacrifices that come with this great celebration as well as the message of Eid-ei-Kabir will bring about peace, unity and progress in Nigeria,” the official wrote.

Tinubu’s Govt to Create One Million Tech Jobs for Youths – Shettima

noreply@blogger.com (Reliable Click) — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 13:28:00 +0000

Vice President Kashim Shettima says the Bola Tinubu-led federal government would be creating at least one million technology-related for young Nigerians.

Shettima disclosed this on Monday when he received a delegation from the Republic of Korea led by the Special Envoy to the President, Jang Sungmin, at the Presidential Villa.

The vice president re-emphasised Nigeria’s commitment to strengthening relations with the Republic of Korea, especially in promoting trade, technology transfer and maintaining global peace.

“We are willing to partner with you in the area of technology because, by 2030, there will be a 65% global talent deficit, with the US, Russia and Brazil suffering 6 million talent deficits. I believe Nigeria is in a unique position to fill in those talent deficits because ours is a young nation,” Shettima said.

The vice president noted that 75 percent of Nigerians are below the age of 35years as he solicited partnership and support in digital skills from the Republic of Korea to aid young people in Nigeria.

“India earned $120B last year from global outsourcing and we are in a unique position to take advantage of the opportunities in the sector. We need the skills set, we need the technology to drive the process and yours is a technology that we can embrace,” he said.

Shettima, in a statement by Olusola Abiola by his director of information, assured the Korean government of the Tinubu administration’s commitment to partner with Korea to strengthen relations with both countries, especially balancing the trade deficit between the two countries.

He assured the delegation that President Tinubu would honour the invitation of the Korean leader to the Africa-Korea summit in 2024.

In his remarks, the Special Envoy congratulated Nigeria for the successful inauguration of the new government and wished the administration a successful tenure in office.

Suicide attack foiled at University of Maiduguri

noreply@blogger.com (Reliable Click) — Mon, 09 Apr 2018 08:36:00 +0000

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) says its Special Forces and some Nigerian Army troops, successfully foiled a suicide bombing attack by Boko Haram Terrorists at the University of Maiduguri, Borno on Sunday night.

AVM Olatokunbo Adesanya, NAF’s Director of Public Relations and Information, confirmed this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.

“The BHT suicide bombers tried to gain access into the University but were quickly detected by the NAF Special Forces.

“Meanwhile, the vest on one of the suicide bombers detonated before they could gain access to the hostel, leading to a commotion.

“However, there was no reported fatality except for the suicide bomber, whose counterparts immediately fled, when the NAF Special Forces and the NA troops opened fire on them.

“The NAF Agusta Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) then went in pursuit of the fleeing BHTs, following which an additional suicide bomber was identified and neutralized,” he said.

Adesanya said the NAF Agusta LUH was still searching for the other fleeing terrorists at the time of filing this report.

“Members of the populace, especially around the University premises are, therefore, requested to be very vigilant,” the NAF spokesman said.

Zuckerberg to face angry lawmakers as Facebook firestorm rages

noreply@blogger.com (Reliable Click) — Mon, 09 Apr 2018 08:35:00 +0000

Mark Zuckerberg will appear before US lawmakers this week as a firestorm rocks Facebook over its data privacy scandal, with pressure mounting for new regulations on social media platforms.

The 33-year-old chief executive is expected to face a grilling before a Senate panel Tuesday, and follow up with an appearance in the House of Representatives the following day.

It comes amid a raft of inquiries on both sides of the Atlantic following disclosures that data on 87 million users was hijacked and improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica, a British political consultancy working for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

On Sunday, Facebook said it had suspended another data analysis firm, US-based Cubeyou, after CNBC reported it used Facebook user information — harvested from psychological testing apps, as in the case of Cambridge Analytica — for commercial purposes.

“These are serious claims and we have suspended CubeYou from Facebook while we investigate them,” a Facebook spokesperson told AFP in an email.

“If they refuse or fail our audit, their apps will be banned from Facebook.”

Lawmakers, meanwhile, have signaled they intend to get tough on Facebook and other online services over privacy.

“A day of reckoning is coming for websites like @facebook,” Democratic Senator Ed Markey wrote on Twitter Friday.

“We need a privacy bill of rights that all Americans can rely upon.”

Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, agreed that legislation is needed “to protect Americans’ dignity and privacy from bad faith actors like Cambridge Analytica, who use social media data to manipulate people.”

Khanna tweeted that “self-regulation will not work. Congress must act in the public interest to protect consumers and citizens.”

Several lawmakers and activists believe the United States should follow the lead of Europe’s data protection law set to be implemented in May, which has strict terms for notification and sharing of personal data online.

Zuckerberg told reporters Facebook would follow the European rules worldwide, although cautioned that its implementation may not be “exactly the same format” for various countries and regions.

– Shift on political ads –

Facebook meanwhile announced Friday it will require political ads on its platform to state who is paying for the message and would verify the identity of the payer, in a bid to curb outside election interference.

The change is meant to avoid a repeat of the manipulation efforts by Russian-sponsored entities which sought to foment discord in 2016, and also responds to criticism about anonymous messages based on Facebook profile data.

Zuckerberg said the change will mean “we will hire thousands of more people” to get the new system in place ahead of US midterm elections in November.

“We’re starting this in the US and expanding to the rest of the world in the coming months,” Zuckerberg said on his Facebook page.

“These steps by themselves won’t stop all people trying to game the system. But they will make it a lot harder for anyone to do what the Russians did during the 2016 election and use fake accounts and pages to run ads.”

Zuckerberg said Facebook is now endorsing the “Honest Ads Act,” a bill that would require disclosure of the sources of online political ads.

“Election interference is a problem that’s bigger than any one platform, and that’s why we support the Honest Ads Act,” he said. “This will help raise the bar for all political advertising online.”

Some activists say Facebook needs to do more to guard against manipulation and deception on the platform.

Facebook “should really be turning their attention not only to election ads but to all ads,” said Harlan Yu of the technology and social justice nonprofit group Upturn.

“They should disclose to the public a detailed accounting of all the bad ads they’re taking down,” Yu told a forum Thursday at the New America Foundation.

Facebook is also likely to face questions on whether it violated a 2011 agreement with the US Federal Trade Commission. Activists have alleged the social network failed to live up to promises to protect privacy.

– ‘Serial offender’ –

David Vladeck, a Georgetown University law professor who headed the FTC’s enforcement division when the Facebook deal was negotiated, called the latest incident a “major breach” of the court-supervised settlement.

“Facebook is now a serial offender,” Vladeck said in a Harvard Law Review blog post.

But Vladeck noted that a major problem with Facebook’s privacy woes comes from its failure to get written contracts and guarantees with third parties such as app developers.

“It seems that Facebook made no effort to establish the (credential) of developers, much less verify or audit what user data app developers actually harvested and shared,” Vladeck said.

Some analysts fear that Zuckerberg’s appearance on Capitol Hill will be little more than a public relations exercise.

“Zuckerberg’s dance before Congress will be delicate, and I’ll bet that even a brainiac like him will have a damp shirt under his very nice suit coat not long into it,” said Roger Kay, an analyst and consultant with Endpoint Technologies Associates.

“But in the end, he’ll agree to some meaningless adjustments to how Facebook operates just to get out of there in one piece.”

We counted 50 dead bodies after banks’ raid – Offa vigilance group

noreply@blogger.com (Reliable Click) — Mon, 09 Apr 2018 08:31:00 +0000

The Operations Commander, Vigilance Group of Nigeria, Offa, Kwara State chapter, Wasiu Adepoju, on Saturday, said vigilantes in the state counted about 50 dead bodies after armed robbers attacked and robbed five banks in Offa on Thursday.

The state Commissioner of police, Mr. Lawan Ado, however, said 17 people, comprising nine police officers and eight civilians, died in the attacks.

Armed robbers had, on Thursday, robbed five banks. The banks included Union Bank, Ecobank, Guaranty Trust Bank, First Bank, Zenith Bank and Ibolo Micro Finance Bank.

Adepoju in an interview with our correspondent said the robbers took the local security personnel by surprise. He stated that there was little they could do when they learnt of the robbery because of the sophisticated weapons the robbers came with.

He said, “After the robbery, we counted about 50 dead policemen and civilians. They shattered the bodies with bullets. They targeted mainly the heads of their victims.”

He stated that the bandits stormed the area and started shooting indiscriminately with heavy guns, adding that they ran to inform the police as they did not have any ammunition to defend themselves or to confront the robbers.

Adepoju stated that before they could reach the police station, the bandits had already killed some victims, including policemen.

He also appealed to the federal and state governments to provide them with weapons and to motivate them.

The vigilance group boss said it would be impossible for the robbers to operate and go unchallenged if the vigilantes were armed.

He further appealed to wealthy indigenes of Offa to help them, saying they were only rendering voluntary work to the community.

Adepoju said, “This is new to us. Bandits came to Offa some years ago. After that, all security operatives, including vigilantes, started to monitor the town from morning till night. They came twice at a time but it was not possible for them to operate.

‘I lost my inspector daughter to the robbery’

A retired police inspector, Mr. James Oyeyemi, who lost his daughter, Grace Makinde, an inspector, to the robbery, said the bandits were able to operate unhindered because of the sophisticated weapons they used.

He stated that it was important to adequately equip and motivate the police, noting that with adequate equipment and manpower, the police would combat security challenges.

Oyeyemi said, “The police said they do not have the kind of weapons the robbers came with. The police have AK-47, while the robbers came with machine guns as I gathered. How could someone with AK-47 face somebody with machine gun? The police do not have sufficient weapons.

“In the past, the IG used to equip the police with armoured car and bulletproof vests. So where are they now? They do not maintain the vehicles for operations, they do not buy arms and they do not pay them well? How do they want the police to perform? They cannot perform.’’

The 72-year-old, who said he retired in 1998 after 35 years of service, accused the police of not officially informing families of the slain police officers of what happened to their relations.

He stated that when he got information about the robbery, he sent someone to verify the situation.

“It is not good to talk about the security situation in Nigeria because it is too bad. If there was enough security, how would armed robbers come to police station and attack policemen? Also, “I learnt that some deceased policemen were dumped in a mortuary in Ilorin and nobody cared for them. Families of the deceased were not informed on time about the incident. It is wrong. I am a retired police officer.

“In the past, they would have contacted families of the deceased police officers who would arranhge how to bury their dead. They would then talk of how to get their entitlements. But nowadays, it is not the same,” he added.

Seven suspects arrested — Police

Meanwhile, Ado said seven suspects had been arrested in connection with the robbery operations.

The CP, during a media briefing in Ilorin, the state capital, said the number of injured victims had yet to be ascertained as they were receiving treatment at different hospitals.

He stated that the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, had ordered a full-scale investigation into the incident.

Ado said, “Seven suspects were arrested; one at Igosun Road and six others at different locations in Offa. They are helping us in our investigation.

“Seven vehicles abandoned by the robbers were recovered. Some rifles were carted away by the robbers. The command wishes to express its heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the victims while also wishing the injured quick recovery.”

Ahmed offers N5m to credible informants

Also, the state Governor, Mr. Abdulfatah Ahmed, has offered N5m to anyone with useful information that could lead to the arrest of the robbers.

Ahmed, in a statement by his spokesperson, Dr. Muyideen Akorede, called on anyone with useful information on the incident to contact the state police command on the following mobiles — 08037391280 and 08032365122.

He said, “While we mourn our dead with a heart full of sadness, and care for the injured by paying all their medical bills, we will do everything in our power to bring the attackers to justice and ensure that never again does any community or people in our state experience such tragedy.”

The governor said there was an urgent need to ensure that justice was done on the matter, assuring informants of anonymity, confidentiality and safety.

Ahmed said the police and other security agencies in the country had begun a manhunt for the perpetrators of the attack on Offa community.

He pledged to spare no effort in supporting the law enforcement agencies to apprehend and prosecute the perpetrators.

N’Assembly will address police challenges — Saraki

Similarly, Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, said the National Assembly was committed to initiating template that would address insecurity, insufficient funding and inadequate personnel, including structure of the police.

Speaking during a condolence visit to the Olofa of Offa, Oba Muftau Esuwoye, on the incident, Saraki said it was not advisable inviting the military for assistance.

He said, “There is no society that delegates the responsibilities of the police to the military. Because it also has its own fallbacks; the number of the military is very thin. They are in most of the states of the federation. This makes it difficult for them to protect the territorial integrity of the country.

“This calls for the general improvement on the security infrastructure in the country.’’

The Senate President stated that Nigeria’s security challenges were as a result of the country’s inadequate response to security.

He said, “All the issue had to do with how we will improve on our security infrastructure. It is clear that we are not responding adequately to this. That is why we organised a security summit sometime ago to address the issue and to work closely with the executive and see how we can find solutions to the security problems in the country.

“We, in the legislative arm, are ready to come up with the real design to improve on the security challenges, whether it is the human resources, equipment, funding or legislation. There is also the issue of the actual structure of the police.

“This issue requires a very radical and serious-minded approach. Unless we address this, we will continue to have this kind of scenario where a bunch of criminals will hold a town for two hours and carry out this mayhem. There is no society that will really allow this kind of thing to happen.”

Saraki added that in a place like Offa, known for its vibrancy in commerce, the issue of insecurity must be tackled so people could continue to go about their daily activities.

“The police must see this as an institutional issue. It is not personal. On our part as legislators, we are ready to do anything that will empower them,” he said.

It’s the fourth robbery in 10 years — Olofa

Also, the Olofa called for the establishment of state police.

The monarch said, “It will be better for the Federal Government to establish state police. With that, they will be closer to the people and the state government. This is the fourth time that we will experience this kind of robbery attacks in the last 10 years. One of the major problems of the Force is inadequate manpower.

“We discovered that in the Offa Local Government Area, the number of policemen is not up to 50. Anytime there is a robbery, there will be no reinforcement. What we need is manpower. The state government can afford to buy armoured personnel carriers and it can build more police stations. But if the manpower is not there, it is not enough.

“What the Federal Government needs to do is to employ as many graduates looking for jobs into the Force, Army, Air Force and the Navy. There are lots of unemployed graduates ready to join these military and para-military forces. There is no security at all in the country.’’

The monarch, who noted that the community was involved in local policing, said robbers always caught the town unawares.

He said, “There is a risk attached to the use of local hunters. By the time we involve them in security because of a day like we just witnessed, the police will arrest them and say they are carrying dane guns.”

Best Of Olawoyin

noreply@blogger.com (Reliable Click) — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 15:55:00 +0000

Sayfullo Saipov named as suspect in New York truck attack killings

noreply@blogger.com (Reliable Click) — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 08:33:00 +0000

The man accused of driving a Home Depot rental truck into a group of pedestrians and cyclists in New York is an Uzbekistan national who lived in New Jersey and drove for Uber.

Details about the 29-year-old suspected of killing eight people and injuring about a dozen more in a terror attack on Manhattan’s lower west side on Tuesday are still emerging. Police shot the truck driver in the abdomen after he emerged from the truck brandishing what officials later said was a pellet gun and paintball gun. He has undergone surgery and is in a critical condition in hospital.

As authorities work to piece together the events that led to the deadly attack, some details about Sayfullo Saipov’s life are beginning to surface.

Saipov is reported to have entered the US in 2010 and lived in Ohio, Florida and latterly in Paterson, New Jersey.

Dilfuza Iskhakova, who lived in Cincinnati, Ohio, told the Guardian that Saipov had stayed with her for several months about six years ago after arriving from Uzbekistan.

“He seemed like a nice guy, but he didn’t talk much,” Iskhakova told the Guardian.

“He only went to work and came back. He used to work at a warehouse.”

Iskhakova said Saipov had been applying for a green card when she knew him. Ohio state records show he registered two businesses while living in the state. The first, Sayf Motors Inc, used Iskhakova’s address while the second, Bright Auto LLC, used an address near Cleveland.

Iskhakova said her family had lost contact with Saipov in recent years and she thought he had moved from Ohio to Florida, then to the New York region, and that he now had a wife and two young children.

A marriage licence registered in Summit County, Ohio, lists a Sayfulloh Saipov marrying 19-year-old Nozima Odilova in 2013. Both gave Tashkent, Uzbekistan as their birthplace.

The couple gave the same address as the Cleveland headquarters Bright Auto LLC, and Saipov’s occupation is listed as truck driver.

Eyewitnesses have described hearing Saipov shouting “Allahu Akbar” – or “God is great” in Arabic – as he carried out the attack, and numerous outlets have reported that authorities found handwritten notes in Arabic in the truck after the attack. This has not been confirmed by officials.

But Iskhakova said she did not know if Saipov was religious.

“He’s from my country,” she said. “His father knows my husband, and sent Sayfullo here because he didn’t know anyone.”

Later he moved to Florida and worked as a truck driver, before driving for Uber while living in New Jersey.

Kobiljon Matkarov, 37, an Uzbek immigrant told the New York Times he met Saipov in Fort Myers, Florida, several years ago when Saipov was working as a truck driver.

“He was a very good person when I knew him,” he told the Times.

“He liked the US. He seemed very lucky and all the time he was happy and talking like everything is OK. He did not seem like a terrorist, but I did not know him from the inside.”

Saipov had lived in an apartment complex at Tampa, near the Hillsborough River, and the Washington Post reported that on Tuesday evening plainclothes investigators were seen departing the complex.

It is unclear when Saipov moved to New Jersey and began driving for Uber, but it is understood he passed the company’s background check.

The company is in contact with law enforcement and the FBI, and while it is quickly reviewing Saipov’s work history, it said no “related” concerning safety reports had been uncovered.

In a statement a spokesman for Uber said the company was “horrified by this senseless act of violence”.

“Our hearts are with the victims and their families. We have reached out to law enforcement to provide our full assistance,” the statement read.

Authorities are yet to comment on Saipov’s motivation for the attack. However, the New York Times reported that he was on the radar of federal authorities.

Other media reported that Saipov had been arrested in St Louis, Missouri, last year after he failed to appear in court on a traffic ticket issued in 2015.

A Missouri court record states Saipov appeared in May and entered a guilty plea.

Japanese man killed nine victims over two months, say reports

noreply@blogger.com (Reliable Click) — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 08:28:00 +0000

A Japanese man arrested after police found nine dismembered corpses in his house has confessed to killing all of his young victims over a period of two months after contacting them via Twitter, according to media reports.

Takahiro Shiraishi, 27, has also confessed he “assaulted” all of his eight female victims, the Fuji TV network said, using a Japanese media euphemism for sexual attacks.

Prosecutors were questioning Shiraishi, who has reportedly admitted cutting up the bodies and throwing parts out with the rubbish, then sprinkling cat litter over the remains in an effort to cover up the evidence.

In all, 240 pieces of bone belonging to nine people, including heads and limbs, were discovered inside coolers and toolboxes at his apartment, the Tokyo Shimbun said.

The grisly case has shocked Japan, and pictures of the nondescript apartment building in a quiet residential area were splashed across the country’s front pages.

“Killing room” was the headline in the Nikkan Sports tabloid. “One murder a week” wrote the Sports Nippon.

Details also began to emerge of how investigators tracked down the suspected killer and trapped him using the same medium he used to lure his victims – Twitter.

Police were led to Shiraishi while investigating the disappearance of a 23-year-old woman, who had reportedly tweeted she wanted to take her own life.

Her brother managed to hack into her Twitter account, noticed a suspicious handle, then tweeted about his sister’s disappearance, media reports said.

One female follower told him that she recognised the Twitter handle. The brother asked her to contact the person, while he also reported the case to police, the Yomiuri daily said.

“When investigators asked the whereabouts of the sister, Shiraishi said ‘inside the cooler’, pointing at it,” the Yomiuri said.The woman managed to convince Shiraishi to come to a train station, where investigators waited and followed him to his house, media say. Immediately after he returned to his apartment, police knocked on the door and found a white bag belonging to the missing sister, the Yomiuri said.

Shiraishi has reportedly told police that four of his victims were teenagers, four others were about 20 years old and the other was in his or her late 20s. There were eight female victims and one male.

He contacted his victims via Twitter and killed most of them on the day he met them, he is reported to have told authorities.

He moved to the flat in Zama, a south-western suburb of Tokyo, on 22 August and contacted victims by tweeting that he would help their plans to kill themselves, the Mainichi Shimbun daily reported.

Shiraishi told police he killed his first victim, a female acquaintance, shortly after moving there, and spent three days dismembering her body, the Yomiuri Shimbun said. He then killed her boyfriend who asked about his missing girlfriend, the Yomiuri said, citing unnamed police sources.

Police believe that Shiraishi acted alone, the Tokyo Shimbun said. However, his motives remain unclear, and investigators are questioning whether it is possible to kill a person almost every week without neighbours noticing sounds of altercations or screams.

Neighbours have since reported noticing a foul smell emanating from the flat.

Shiraishi told investigators he kept the body parts because he was afraid he might get caught if he discarded them. He has been charged with improper disposal of one body but police are searching for evidence he killed all nine.

While Japan prides itself on its low crime rate, it is no stranger to high-profile violent crimes. In Japan’s bloodiest case for decades, Satoshi Uematsu is accused of killing 19 people and attempting to kill or injure 24 others at a disability centre near Tokyo in July 2016. In 1997, a 14-year-old schoolboy decapitated an 11-year-old and placed the head at the gates of his school.

EU silence over Catalan leader's call for action speaks volumes

noreply@blogger.com (Reliable Click) — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 08:27:00 +0000

It was no accident that the sacked Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont turned up in Brussels, after vanishing from Spain. “I am here in Brussels as the capital of Europe,” he told reporters, dismissing suggestions he wanted political asylum. “I am asking for Europe to react.”

This vague call for European action was greeted with resounding silence in the corridors of Brussels and other EU capitals. Only the Belgian government offered any response, forced by the media furore his arrival created. “Mr Puigdemont is in Belgium, neither at the invitation or the initiative of the Belgian government,” said a statement from the prime minister’s office, calling for political dialogue in Spain.

The silence was revealing. Soon after the Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, announced on Friday he was calling fresh elections in Catalonia, Donald Tusk spelled out the EU view. “Spain remains our only interlocutor,” the European council president tweeted, adding a barely concealed warning against a repeat of the scenes of police violence. “I hope the Spanish government favours force of argument, not argument of force.”

The EU lacks any legal mechanism to get involved, say senior officials. While the European commission is tussling with rightwing populist governments in Poland and Hungary over the rule of law, Spain is a very different case.

Poland’s proposed changes to the constitutional court and Hungary’s restrictions on NGOs and a university strike at the heart of the rule of law and democratic values, but Spain is seen as capable of fixing its own political conflicts. “Spain is a democratic country; they respect the judiciary,” said one EU source, adding that the situation was “awful” because Rajoy had made so many mistakes.

Colouring the Brussels view is the fact the EU is a club of nation states that fears splintering into tiny statelets. “I do not want a situation where, tomorrow, the European Union is made up of 95 different states,” said Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the European commission. “We already have enough splits and fractures.” Under the Lisbon treaty, the EU will respect “essential state functions, including ensuring the territorial integrity of the state”. Allowing Catalonia to enter the EU on the back of a hasty, illegal referendum would set a precedent for other regions, such as Flanders, Corsica or South Tyrol.

Youngs also thinks, however, the EU should have been doing more behind the scenes to cajole both sides to an agreement, in the years building up to the current crisis.Richard Youngs, senior fellow at Carnegie Europe, thinks the EU has made the correct call in supporting Spain’s legal argument. “The way the Catalan government is going is clearly not the way to succeed and there is no realistic chance of creating an independent state in this way,” he said.

“Now [Madrid] should accept that as this crisis becomes more serious it has an effect on the EU politically, economically, socially. And therefore the EU does have a stake in this crisis.” But he sees this role as informal and only with the agreement of the Spanish government.

In the days leading up to the suspension of direct rule in Catalonia, one senior diplomat repeated there was no role for the EU, but speculated how it might happen. “My advice would be to do it in silence.”

The EU’s muted response to the Catalan crisis, especially the police brutality on referendum day, has opened the bloc to criticism from across the political spectrum.

However, Francisco de Borja Lasheras, the head of the Madrid office of the European council on foreign relations in Madrid, describes the EU’s role as positive. He said the EU has helped to uphold the rule of law in Catalonia, after “a wafer-thin majority” in the Catalan parliament “rode roughshod” over parliamentary rules to introduce the referendum.

“You have two competing visions of democracy that we see replicated across the west. One is a so-called plebiscite, people’s will democracy against a pluralistic, institutional and rule of law democracy. The current leaders of the secessionist camp have been arguing that they represent the people of Catalonia but they only represent a part of it.”

De Borja Lasheras supported calls for investigation into excessive police force to be carried out by the Council of Europe (a non-EU body). While he thinks statements by EU leaders have been helpful, he hopes Brussels will maintain some distance. Deeper EU involvement would be very bad for Spanish democracy, he said. “I think we need to find our own way.”

Based on the icy silence Puigdemont has encountered in Brussels, it appears the EU will continue to rely on the Spanish to resolve this crisis.

Truck driver kills eight in New York ‘act of terror’

noreply@blogger.com (Reliable Click) — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 08:13:00 +0000

A pickup driver killed eight people in New York on Tuesday, mowing down cyclists and pedestrians, before striking a school bus in the city's first deadly attack blamed on terror since September 11, 2001.

Eleven others were seriously hurt when the truck driver struck in broad daylight just blocks from the 9/11 Memorial, on the West Side of Lower Manhattan, close to schools as children and their parents geared up to celebrate Halloween.

"This was an act of terror and a particularly cowardly act of terror aimed at innocent civilians, aimed at people going about their lives who had no idea what was about to hit them," said Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Television networks identified the 29-year-old as an Uzbek citizen living in Florida who had recently been staying in New Jersey, where the truck was rented. President Donald Trump denounced him as "very sick" and a "deranged person."

Confronting what could be the most serious terror-related incident since taking power less than a year ago, the Republican commander-in-chief announced that he had ordered the Department of Homeland Security to step up his "extreme vetting program" on foreign travelers to the country.

The United States "must not" allow Islamic State jihadists to "return, or enter" the country after being defeated overseas, Trump said, albeit as New York officials declined to link the assailant to a specific group.

Police said he drove a rented Home Depot pickup down a bike and pedestrian lane, where tourists and New Yorkers were out enjoying brilliant fall sunshine, at 3:05 pm (1905 GMT), before colliding with a school bus, wounding two adults and two children.

The suspect then exited the vehicle brandishing weapons that were subsequently identified as a paintball gun and pellet gun, before being shot in the abdomen by a police officer and taken into custody, police said.

Television footage showed the mangled wreckage of the pickup truck, bicycles crushed to smithereens and bodies wrapped in sheets and lying on the ground.

'Defeat evil of terrorism'

Eight people were killed, six of them men who died on the spot and two others pronounced dead in hospital. Eleven other people were taken to hospital with serious, but not life-threatening injuries, officials said.

Argentine citizens were among the dead, but Buenos Aires did not immediately confirm how many. La Nacion newspaper said there were five Argentine victims. Belgium said one of its citizens was killed and that three others were wounded.

European allies and Mexico's president condemned the attack. "Together we will defeat the evil of terrorism," said British Prime Minister Theresa May. French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: "Our fight for freedom unites us more than ever."

Television networks named the perpetrator as Sayfullo Saipov, of Tampa, Florida. According to registry site WhitePages, a 29-year-old of the same name has been living in Tampa since June 2011, and had other addresses registered in Ohio.

US media said the suspect shouted "Allahu akbar" and police chief James O'Neill confirmed that he made a statement when he exited the vehicle.

"If you just look at the M.O. of the attack, that's consistent with what's been going on. So that along with the statement has enabled us to label this a terrorist event," O'Neill said.

He was later operated on and was expected to survive, US networks reported.

The FBI and New York police urged members of the public to come forward with any information that could assist the investigation, which the mayor said preliminary information suggested was a lone wolf assault.

The attacker struck in TriBeCa, one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the city home to celebrities and wealthy families. In the aftermath of the attack, worried parents and children were seen evacuated from a nearby public shool.

'Little bit crazy'

"There was a smell of gunshots," said John Williams, 22, who arrived at the scene 30 seconds afterward en route to the park. "There was a man lying on the ground. It looked as if he'd been shot."

"When the cops shot him, everybody started running away and it got a little bit crazy right there. So when I tried to look again, the guy was already down," a witness who gave his name only as Frank told local television network NY1.

Heavily armed police fanned across the city of 8.5 million, home to Wall Street, Broadway and one of the biggest tourist draws in the United States.

Security was stringent at airports, bridges, tunnels and mass transit systems, with bag searches at Manhattan's Grand Central transit hub and police stationed along a subway platform in Brooklyn.

A planned Halloween parade went ahead as planned, albeit under tight security and a large police presence, as State Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered the new World Trade Center to be lit red, white and blue "in honor of freedom and democracy."

Tuesday's attack was the first deadly terror-related incident in the US financial and entertainment capital since the Al-Qaeda hijackings brought down the Twin Towers, killing more than 2,700 people on 9/11.

It came 12 months after a pipe bomb exploded in September 2016 in Chelsea, lightly wounding 31 people. An American of Afghan descent, Ahmad Khan Rahimi, was convicted of terrorism on October 16 in relation with that attack.

In May, a US Navy veteran plowed a car into pedestrians in Times Square, killing an 18-year-old woman and injuring 22 other people in what de Blasio said was not terror-related.

On May 1, 2010 Pakistani immigrant Faisal Shahzad planted a car bomb in Times Square that failed to explode. He was arrested after boarding a flight to the Middle East and sentenced to life behind bars.

Madjer lists Mahrez, Bentaleb, Slimani for Algeria, Nigeria clash

noreply@blogger.com (Reliable Click) — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 08:11:00 +0000

Super Eagles’ Kelechi Iheanacho (left) challenges Algeria’s Mehdi Abeid during the first leg of their 2018 FIFA World Cup B qualifying match in Uyo last year. Algeria will host Nigeria…on November 10. PHOTO: AFP.

Despite the fact that Algeria has nothing to gain from their last Russia 2018 World Cup qualifier against Nigeria, Coach Rabah Madjer is still bent on assembling the best of the country’s players for the last qualifying game against the Super Eagles.

Nigeria has already picked the only ticket from Group B of the African qualifying series, which means that the November 10 game is inconsequential as far as qualifying for the competition is concerned.

Yesterday, Madjer, who assumed leadership of the team following Milovan Rajevac’s resignation as manager of the Fennecs, announced a 23-man roster for the match scheduled for the Mohamed-Hamlaoui Stadium in Constantine next week.

Algeria have lost four of their five qualifying matches in Group B, which also houses Cameroun and Zambia.

In the team listed by Madjer are three goalkeepers, nine defenders, five midfielders and six strikers.

Notable among the players are former English Player of the Year, Riyad Mahrez of Leicester City and his teammate, Islam Slimani.

Nabil Bentaleb, who scored in the Algerians’ 1-3 loss to the Eagles in Uyo, is also in the squad alongside Porto midfielder, Yacine Brahimi, RSC Anderlecht’s Sofiane Hanni and Napoli defender, Faouzi Ghoulam.

Algeria Squad
The goalkeepers in the team are Faouzi CHAOUCHI (MC Algiers, Algeria), Chamseddine RAHMANI (CS Constantine, Algeria) and Abdelkadir SALHI (CR Belouizdad, Algeria).

To vie for positions in the defence are Mohamed Khouthir Ziti (ES Setif, Algeria), Youcef Attal (KV Kortrijk, Belgium), Faouzi Ghoulam (SSC Napoli, Italy), Houari Ferhani (JS Kabylie, Algeria), Aissa Mandi (Betis Sevilla, Spain), Liassine Cadamuro -Bentaïba (Nîmes Olympique, France), Rami Bensebaïni (Stade Rennais, France), Ayoub Abdellaoui (USM Alger, Algeria) and Carl Medjani (Sivasspor, Turkey).

The midfielders are Abderraouf Benguit (USM Alger, Algeria), Nabil Bentaleb (FC Schalke 04, Germany), Ismael Bennacer (Empoli FC, Italy), Yacine Brahimi (Porto FC, Portugal) and Abdelmoumen Djabou (ES Setif, Algeria).

Joining MAHREZ and Slimani in the attack are Zinedine Ferhat (Le Havre AC, France), Baghdad Bounedjah (Al Sadd Sport, Qatar), Hilal El Arabi Soudani (Gnk Dinamo Zagreb, Croatia) and Sofiane Hanni (RSC Anderlecht, Belgium).

Immediately after the dead rubber game against Nigeria on November 10, Algeria will meet Central African Republic in a friendly four days later.

UN special advocate, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands visits Ambode

noreply@blogger.com (Reliable Click) — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 08:10:00 +0000

Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode (right); Queen Maxima of The Netherlands and Chief Executive Officer, PharmAccess Group, Onno Schellekens, during her courtesy visit to Lagos House, Ikeja… yesterday.

• Lauds Lagos State’s health policy
• Seeks better healthcare, private sector participation in Nigeria
• Visit strategic to country’s financial inclusion, says UN chief

The Queen of the Netherlands, Her Majesty, Maxima Zorreguieta Cerruti, yesterday visited the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode.

The visit was part of efforts to advance the United Nation’s (UN) financial inclusion advocacy to alleviate poverty and foster equitable economic growth in Nigeria.

Maxima’s visit was the first in the country as the Special Advocate to the UN’s Secretary General, after her earlier visit in 2012 to lay the foundation for the scheme.

She commended the state government’s initiatives to improve service-delivery, especially towards expanding access to affordable healthcare.

“Nigeria differs from the Netherlands in the sense that here, just 2-5per cent of people have health insurance whereas in the Netherlands, it is compulsory and universal. Nigeria is in the early stages of development and needs to give a lot of attention to this,” she said.

Lamenting the gender disparity in the country, Maxima said there is a big gender gap presently as women have just 42.6 percent of bank accounts, compared to 54.6 per cent for men.

According to her, women also have limited access to other financial possibilities, just as a mere two per cent of adults use mobile money, even though there are 88 million mobile telephone subscribers in the country.

She explained: “Currently, just 48.6 per cent of Nigerian adults have access to financial services such as savings, loans, insurance or payments and this number drops even more to 24 per cent in the remote northwest.”

Ambode, who received Queen Maxima alongside his wife, Bolanle and other top officials of the state, commended her efforts at advancing issues relating to healthcare and financial inclusion.

The governor explained that the informal sector accounted for about 80 per cent of Lagos population, a development he said, prompted his administration to set up N25billion Employment Trust Fund (ETF).

Meanwhile, the United Nations Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative, Edward Kallon, has described her visit as strategic to the country.

He said it would deepen financial inclusion, which is targeted at 80 per cent by 2020.

Kallon prescribed a “centre-stage” role in policy and implementation processes and participation of private sector operators in surmounting the assessed enormous challenges.

He said: “The UN system in Nigeria supports the national development initiatives of the government, including the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan and the Sustainable Development Goals using our Partnership Development Framework.”

The special advocate last visited Nigeria in 2012 when the country launched its national financial inclusion strategy. Nigeria is now beginning the process of revising that strategy in order to expand its impact.

During her visit, Queen Maxima would be at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, where she would speak with development partners, such as the World Bank and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

She will also meet with the Nigerian Development Bank and the Nigerian Communications Commission, as well as a driving school that also functions as a bank agent, where customers could open an account, deposit and collect money and also make transfers.

The UN representative would also meet with the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele and Deputy Prime Minister Yemi Osinbajo, Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun and Governor Ibrahim Shettima of Borno State.

She is expected to deliver a speech on the role of government in driving financial inclusion.

Four die, six wounded as troops, terrorists clash

noreply@blogger.com (Reliable Click) — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 08:09:00 +0000

Nigerian Soldiers

Malaria kills more in state than all diseases combined, says WHO
Four persons, suspected to be soldiers, were reportedly feared dead while six others seriously injured when troops of the 152 Battalion, 21 Brigade of the Nigerian Army on Operation Lafiya Dole engaged some suspected Boko Haram terrorists in Borno State.

The terrorists also suffered heavy casualties as they lost some of their members during exchange of gunfire that ensued.

A source told The Guardian that the troops suffered the unexpected loss when they went on a clearance operation at Banki-Bula-Yobe Road in Bama Local Council of Borno State.

The soldiers, it was gathered, died when their vehicle stepped on an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) buried by the terrorists on the road.

The Army spokesman, Brig.-Gen. Sani Usman, who confirmed the development in a statement yesterday in Abuja, did not link the dead casualties to soldiers.

He said the troops were on escort duties of some civilians from Banki to Maiduguri when they encountered suspected Boko Haram terrorists who were laying ambush on the route.

“Although the troops successfully cleared the ambush after a heavy fire fight, regrettably, four persons lost their lives when their vehicle stepped on a buried Improvised Explosive Device on the road,” Usman said.

The statement said 12 persons, comprising six soldiers, two civilian JTF and six Internally-Displaced Persons IDPs), sustained various degrees of injuries.

In another development, the most recent report from the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicates that malaria currently claims more lives than all other diseases combined in Borno State, and children under the age of five are particularly vulnerable.

WHO yesterday noted that following an eight-year conflict in northeastern Nigeria, two-thirds of health facilities had been completely or partially destroyed, leaving some 3.7 million internally-displaced persons (IDPs) at risk of life-threatening diseases.

Consequently, the organisation said it launched a special campaign in the state recently aimed at rapidly reducing the malaria burden among young children, while at the same time protecting them against polio.

Director of WHO’s Global Malaria Programme, Dr. Pedro Alonso, told journalists: “The campaign was launched in July at the onset of the rainy season. By the end of the second monthly round, WHO and partners had delivered both anti-malarial medicines and polio vaccine to about 1.2 million children in five local councils of Borno State (about 60 per cent of the total under-five population). A third campaign cycle kicked off in mid-October and is expected to again reach all children under five in the targeted areas. A fourth and final monthly round is planned in mid-November.”

Alonso said based on confirmed data and on-the-ground intelligence, the WHO took swift action. He said in collaboration with the Borno State Ministry of Health, WHO developed a framework that aimed to dramatically reduce malaria mortality in the region, particularly among children under five.

Recommended actions, Alonso said, include: preventing malaria through the use of bed nets and by spraying insecticides on the inside walls of shelters; treating malaria by expanding access to health facilities for at-risk populations; and improving data collection through strengthened surveillance systems.

Alonso said as part of the initial response, the framework also recommends the use of monthly rounds of age-targeted mass drug administration (MDA), a WHO-recommended approach for rapidly reducing malaria mortality and morbidity in complex emergency settings. Through MDA, all individuals in a targeted population are given antimalarial medicines (often at repeated intervals) regardless of whether or not they show symptoms of the disease.

President assures of cabinet rejig soon, lauds NWC members

noreply@blogger.com (Reliable Click) — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 08:09:00 +0000

President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo

• APC govs, NEC back Buhari’s second term
• SGF urges appointees to key into govt’s vision

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the long-awaited rejig of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) will be in no distant time from now.

Buhari, who spoke during the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said the measure was aimed at injecting “news ideas” into the governance of the country.

He further stated that the measure was aimed at calming frayed nerves among supporters of the party who felt excluded from the scheme of things in the country.

The President, who lamented the delay in reconstituting boards of federal parastatals, said he was aware of the eagerness by the supporters of the party to get the appointments as soon as possible.

According to him: “I am keenly aware that our supporters are very eager for these appointments to be announced. By the grace of God, these appointments will be announced soon especially now that the economy is improving. We will have the resources to cater for the appointees.”

Buhari, who applauded the Chief John Odigie-Oyegun-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, also expressed gratitude to the chieftains of the party who prayed fervently for his recovery while he was on health vacation in the United Kingdom (UK).

Meanwhile, a section of the APC governors maintained that President Buhari was in good stead to run on the platform of the party in the 2019 poll.

Some of the governors, who spoke separately with newsmen in an interview yesterday at the APC national secretariat before the party’s NEC meeting, made reference to President Buhari’s integrity, couple with his performance since 2015 to justify their position.

Also, members of NEC of the APC yesterday at the parley, which lasted for over two and half hours, passed a vote of confidence on President Buhari.

Spokesperson of the party, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, who briefed reporters on the outcome of the parley held behind closed-doors, further said that a vote of confidence was also passed on the National Chairman of the party, Odigie-Oyegun.

Abdullahi said that the motion to pass a vote of confidence on President Buhari was unanimously endorsed after the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, briefed the NEC on the achievements of his ministry.

In another development, the newly-appointed Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Gida Mustapha, has said that all appointees of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration must key into the government’s vision to deliver the dividend of democracy to Nigerians.

Mustapha, who is expected to be officially sworn in as the new SGF before the commencement of the Federal Executive meeting today, told State House Correspondents yesterday after a closed-door meeting with Buhari in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, that the administration which came under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) sought the mandate of Nigerians during the campaigns in 2015 and it therefore behoves the appointees not to disappoint the people.

He said: “The President has cast the vision, all of us that are appointees of government have the singular responsibility to ensure that we run with that vision. We are supposed to run with that vision to ensure that at the end of the day, the dividends of democracy are delivered to the people of Nigeria.”

Father of three commits suicide

noreply@blogger.com (Reliable Click) — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 08:08:00 +0000

A commercial motorcyclist, Adebisi Adesina, aged 43, committed suicide yesterday morning in Oke Seni area of Ibadan, Oyo State capital.

The father of three, who hailed from Obaagun, Ikirun in Osun State and whose body was found hanging with a rope tied around his neck, was believed to have hanged himself. But the distance of his dangling body, which eyewitnesses said was less than three feet beside the window, raises suspicion that he might have been killed.

Many people, including the early callers to the area, could not hide their feeling as they were shocked to see the body of Adesina hanging with rope on his neck, when the door to his room was forced opened around 10a.m.

The Oyo State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Ajisebutu Adekunle, who confirmed the incident, said the body had been deposited at General hospital, Adeoyo, for autopsy. He said though the deceased did not leave a suicide note, however the case is being investigated.

When newsmen visited the scene of the incident, sympathisers were seen in groups speaking in hush tones. They were surprised on why the man, who they described as very gentle, could suddenly take his life.

Younger sister of the deceased, Mrs. Abiodun Afolabi, said: “I can’t explain why this would happen to him because he was not indebted to anybody. I saw him on Monday when he was working. He was a motorcyclist, and he plied routes close to where I live. I just received phone calls from his neighbours that they found him hanging.

“He married two wives, but they don’t stay with him. He stayed alone. He would not fight with anyone. He would wake up early and go to work. He had three children and they are grown up, the first, a girl, should be around 18 years.”

It was gathered that Adesina before his death was said to be suffering from swollen scrotal, an abnormal enlargement of the scrotum. It was also gathered that he had two wives but none of them was staying with him as at the time of his death due to his condition.

Some colleagues of the deceased, who asked not to be named, informed journalists that Adesina had two different failed marriages as a result of the ailment. They added that after the second wife left him, he suddenly developed the habits of excessive alcohol consumption, and was always keeping to himself.

According to the branch chairman, NURTW, Okada Joint “When Adesina was not seen at the park by 10:00a.m. some union members decided to visit his house to collect the tickets from him. On getting to the deceased’s house, they met the door to his room locked while there are traces that someone was inside. With the help of Adesina’s neighbours, the door was forced opened.

PSG hat-trick hero Kurzawa toasts moment in limelight

noreply@blogger.com (Reliable Click) — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 08:07:00 +0000

Paris Saint-Germain’s French defender Layvin Kurzawa celebrates after scoring a third goal during the UEFA Champions League Group B football match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Anderlecht (RSCA) on October 31, 2017, at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris. FRANCK FIFE / AFP

Layvin Kurzawa enjoyed stealing the headlines from Neymar and co as he walked away with the match ball after scoring a second-half hat-trick in Paris Saint-Germain’s 5-0 Champions League demolition of Anderlecht on Tuesday.

Kurzawa, a left-back, scored three times in the space of 26 minutes after the break at the Parc des Princes as PSG ran away with the game following first-half strikes from Marco Verratti and Neymar.

A fourth big victory in as many games in the competition, coupled with Bayern Munich’s 2-1 win away to Celtic, allowed the big-spending French giants to secure qualification from Group B with two games still to play.

“This hat-trick gives me a huge amount of pleasure. It’s the first hat-trick of my professional career. We’re all enjoying ourselves on the pitch and we’re giving our supporters lots of joy as well,” said Kurzawa after the game.

The 25-year-old French international full-back had scored just once this season coming into the match and had never found the net in the Champions League proper prior to Tuesday’s match.

And the former Monaco player is just the second PSG player to score a hat-trick in the competition, following Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who netted four times in a game against Anderlecht in 2013.

“Everyone can be happy tonight — we’ve won 5-0 and played really well in front of our fans. We need to continue like this,” Kurzawa told beIN Sports.

“The hat-trick is thanks to my teammates. I am delighted and the goals will give me confidence.”

Apart from the rarity of a defender scoring three times in a game, PSG fans packed into the Parc des Princes could also enjoy a rare goal from Verratti and a less rare effort from Neymar.

The world’s most expensive player scored in stunning fashion just before half-time and now has 11 goals in 12 appearances for the French club since arriving from Barcelona.

‘Simply the best’

PSG have scored 17 goals and conceded none in the competition so far and are through to the knockout rounds for the sixth season running as they aim to erase the memory of their humiliating defeat to Barcelona in the last 16 last season.

But they are just three points clear of Bayern so are yet to secure first place with a home game against Celtic and a trip to Munich still to come.

“We are happy. The team kept going for 90 minutes and the supporters also enjoyed themselves, but we know we still have a long way to go,” said coach Unai Emery.

“Our objective in this group is to finish first and we still have work to do against Celtic here and Bayern to get there.”

In stark contrast to PSG, Anderlecht have lost all four group games and have failed to score a goal, with this defeat following a 4-0 loss at home to the French side two weeks ago.

They will go no further in the Champions League and will need an enormous turnaround just to pip Celtic to third place and the Europa League spot.

“If the final were tomorrow I think they would win it,” the Belgian club’s coach Hein Vanhaezebrouck said of PSG.

“Right now they are quite simply the best team in Europe.”

Mourinho defends lack of Lukaku charity

noreply@blogger.com (Reliable Click) — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 08:06:00 +0000

Manchester United’s Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku waits for the ball during the UEFA Champions League Group A football match between Manchester United and Benfica at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England on October 31, 2017. Oli SCARFF / AFP

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho defended his decision not to allow misfiring striker Romelu Lukaku to take a penalty during his side’s 2-0 Champions League win over Benfica.

Lukaku made a blistering start to his United career after joining from Everton, scoring 11 goals in his first 10 games, but has now gone six matches without finding the net.

Mourinho made a point of defending Lukaku after Saturday’s 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur, but when United won a second-half penalty against Benfica on Tuesday, he instructed Daley Blind to take it.

“I don’t understand why everyone asks me the same (question),” Mourinho said when asked about his decision in his post-match press conference at Old Trafford.

“I’m paid to take decisions, good or bad. In the first half, the decision was bad because the player I chose to take the penalty (Anthony Martial) missed.

“In the second half I made another decision and I don’t see the drama. The penalty taker for this match was Martial. He took in the first half and missed.

“He was not even on the pitch when the second one was (awarded). And then I have to make a decision. Romelu wants to take and had the personality to take the responsibility. (Ander) Herrera the same.

“But my decision, based on what we did in training in the past couple of days, was Blind. The players respected my decision. That’s it, end of story.”

Martial’s 15th-minute penalty was turned behind by Benfica goalkeeper Mile Svilar after Douglas had been penalised for handball.

But Svilar, who had carried Marcus Rashford’s free-kick into his own net to gift United victory in the reverse fixture, proved Benfica’s fall guy again when Nemanja Matic’s strike hit the post and bounced into the net off his arm.

Blind settled matters in the 78th minute by drilling a penalty down the middle of the goal following a foul on Rashford by Andreas Samaris.

Mourinho had reacted to Saturday’s win over Tottenham by performing a shushing gesture and after Blind scored he clacked his fingers together to apparently signify chatter.

Asked to explain the gesture, he replied: “I don’t remember.”

Hapless Svilar

United’s fourth successive Group A victory left them six points clear, but CSKA Moscow’s 2-1 win at Basel means Mourinho’s men require one point from their last two fixtures to rubberstamp a last 16 berth.

Mourinho played down the importance of finishing top of the group, which theoretically guarantees a kinder draw in the next round.

Yet with United having graced the tournament only once in the previous three seasons, he would like to see his team win all six of their group matches.

“Sometimes a team finishes first and gets an extremely difficult draw,” he said.

“Other times you finish second and you are so lucky to get some team that nobody expected to finish first.

“We want to win the maximum possible points. I also know we haven’t qualified yet. We are going to try to win the next two matches and finish with 18 points.

“The last time Manchester United was in the Champions League (in 2015-16), they finished third and went out. So the year we return, it would be nice to do 18 points.”

Benfica head coach Rui Vitoria defended 18-year-old Svilar after his second hapless moment against United in as many weeks.

“Svilar is still a junior. He’s still 18 years old,” said Vitoria.

“He did a lot. In today’s match he showed what he’s capable of. We know what Svilar is capable of and he played well.”

Vitoria was phlegmatic about his team’s chances of keeping their European season alive after a result that left the Portuguese champions six points adrift at the foot of the group.

“There are still two games to play,” he said. “With six points, you can go to the Europa League, stay in the Champions League or get nothing.”

Oil prices surpass World Bank’s forecast at over $60 a barrel

noreply@blogger.com (Reliable Click) — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 08:06:00 +0000

Bonga oil field. PHOTO: SHELL

Global crude oil benchmark -Brent has increased from $58.15 a barrel to $60.75 a barrel while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) from $51.61 to $54.19 a barrel as at yesterday.

Specifically, Nigeria’s Bonny Light rose from $57.22 in the previous week to $60.19 a barrel on Sunday.

This is far from World Bank’s forecast of $56 a barrel for the coming year.

The bank said in its recent Commodity Market Outlook released at that weekend, that oil prices are expected to rise to an average of $56 per barrel in 2018 from an average of $53 barrels in 2017 as a result of steadily growing demand, production cuts among oil exporters, and stabilizing United State (U.S.) shale oil production.

But oil prices surpassed the bank’s prediction on Sunday by going as high as above $60 a barrel.

According to the World Bank, the oil price forecast is a small downward revision from the April outlook and is subject to risks.

It noted that supplies from producers such as Libya, Nigeria, and Venezuela could be volatile. “Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers could follow up their production limiting agreement of last year by deciding to cut production further, maintaining upward pressure on prices. At the same time, failure to renew the existing agreement could drive prices down, as could higher production from the U.S. shale oil industry, which has reduced its operating costs substantially.

“More broadly, prices for energy commodities—which also include natural gas and coal—are forecast to climb four per cent in 2018 after a 28 percent leap this year. Natural gas prices are expected to rise three percent in 2018, while coal prices are seen retreating following a spike of nearly 30 percent in 2017. China’s environmental policies are anticipated to be a key factor determining future trends in coal markets”, it added.

The World Bank said that China will similarly play an important role in the evolution of metals prices, which should stabilize as a group in 2018 as a correction in iron ore prices is offset by gains in other base metals.

It stated that Iron ore prices are forecast to tumble 10 percent in the coming year while tight supply should push up prices for base metals including lead, nickel and zinc.

Downside risks to the forecast include slower-than-anticipated demand from China, or an easing of production restrictions on China’s heavy industries.

“Gold prices are anticipated to ease next year on expectations of higher U.S. interest rates.

“Agriculture prices are seen edging up in 2018 due to lower planted area, with grain and oils and meals prices rising marginally. Agricultural commodity markets are well-supplied. Indeed, stocks-to-use ratios, a measure of how well supplied markets are, have reached multi-year highs for some grains”, it added.

It noted that favorable weather patterns, well-supplied global food markets, and relatively low world prices do not necessarily imply ample food availability everywhere.

World Bank said that drought conditions that are by some accounts the worst in 60 years have caused crops failures in parts of Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya and led to severe food shortages. “Conflicts in South Sudan, Yemen and Nigeria have driven millions of people from their homes and left millions more in need of emergency food”, it added.

Speaking on crude oil prices recently, Nigeria Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu said that it will not be possible for oil price to reach $100 per barrel in 2018.

He explained that already, more countries were beginning to cut down their dependence on fossil fuels as the amin fuel source to power their economies.

He noted that the industry could experience better market conditions towards the last quarter of 2018.

Kachikwu said: “Everything all added up together is showing us that towards the last quarter of 2018, we expect a better market. Does that better market translate to your $100 a barrel price? Never. I don’t see it. Frankly see it.”

INEC and voters’ registration

noreply@blogger.com (Reliable Click) — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 08:05:00 +0000

PHOTO: NTA

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has registered over 73 million voters in preparation for the 2019 general elections. This is a positive development and the electoral body deserves commendation. INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu presented this information while addressing a delegation of European Union Electoral Follow-up Mission to Nigeria and other civil organisations the other day. Of this figure, three million and two hundred are fresh potential voters while the rest are those already registered for the last elections. The implication is that the old register would have to be re-visited as well. Some citizens who registered previously may have died and others have moved on from where they registered. INEC should therefore not rest on its laurels but intensify the registration drive.

Voter registration is a fundamental step to ensuring a free, fair and participatory election. The INEC chairman also said that about eight million Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) have not been collected by their owners. This could mean that the owners of the cards are not aware that the cards are ready or that they cannot be bothered at this time. Whatever the reason, enough information should be put in the public domain to ensure that people are not disenfranchised. The registration exercise so far is commendable. It, however, ought to be a continuous process as the names of different citizens are expected to enter the register for different reasons in the course of time.

Voter registration is also the first step in the electioneering process and any wrong step on it could jeopardize the entire process. Often, political partisans in Nigeria see the process as an opportunity to search for loopholes which they can exploit to compromise the system. This is usually in form of multiple registrations and using all sorts of subterfuge. Sometimes this happens with the collusion of electoral body’s officials. It is true that with a computerised process it has become more difficult to inflate the figures. But the possibilities of compromise have not been ruled out as experience has shown. For example, in the last exercise in 2015, there was still over voting and under-aged voting. In some states, for example, the record showed that all registered voters showed up for the exercise. This certainly was not and could not have been possible. Voter fraud therefore has not gone away.

To have registered nearly 60-per cent of the population for the polls is commendable. But INEC needs to increase its public awareness campaigns and ensure that all eligible voters are registered. There should be no disenfranchisement for whatever reason. In the cities, where sometimes there is voter apathy, INEC should go the extra mile, if necessary with a door-to-door campaign. The registered political parties should also mobilise their supporters to register. In the churches, the mosques and other places of worship, leaders should take it as a civic duty to mount vigorous campaigns with a view to creating total awareness. Mass registration of voters is one of the most potent ways of entrenching and strengthening democracy.

INEC should also begin the processes of ensuring a hitch-free election in 2019. The credibility of the elections depends on the integrity of the official umpire. Its officials should be above board, by rejecting mouth-watering inducements often offered by politicians to compromise the process.

The computerised voting system must be improved during the subsequent outings. A test case is coming up in the Anambra State governorship election scheduled to hold this month. The nation and indeed the international community would be watching out for how effectively and efficiently the INEC will perform. All the lapses which were experienced in 2015 would be expected to be a thing of the past and it is hoped that the men and women currently charged with conducting elections would perform creditably.

The will of the people must always prevail. In line with the nation’s desire for a proper federation to be emplaced in Nigeria, states should continue to supervise their local elections but the people are expected to be on guard and ensure that their votes count. Also, the Judiciary and the Legislature should be alive to their responsibilities as potent arms of government to avoid what one-time Supreme Court Justice Kayode Eso once referred to as ‘executive rascality’ over elections as has been seen in this country in the past.

All hands should be on deck to register all eligible voters. Publicity should be increased to heighten awareness. Registration should be conducted all year round in a routine manner. INEC must continue to be independent and be seen to be independent. The cases where its officials were compromised by politicians or state officials should not go unpunished in order for such to serve as a deterrent. The Mahmud Yakubu-led INEC has so far shown great potentials for outstanding performance and deserves the support of all citizens.

The survival of Nigeria’s democracy depends on how well the elections are conducted with voter registration being a crucial part of the process. The score card so far is impressive but much more still needs to be done.

Maina fights back, alleges £6m pension loot in London accounts

noreply@blogger.com (Reliable Click) — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 08:04:00 +0000

Abdulrasheed Maina

• Says N5.32b stolen in HoS, police pension offices monthly
• Afenifere, Onaiyekan want govt to go beyond sacking

The embattled former Chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), Abdulrasheed Maina, said yesterday that he was being hunted for stopping N5.32 billion allegedly being stolen monthly in the office of the Head of Service (HoS) and Police Pension office.

Maina said his media trial and allegations against him were part of efforts by ‘pension thieves’ to stop him from exposing them. He said it was the reason he urged President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate pending pension petitions, especially as Senator Kabiru Gaya said in an interview that the N195 billion he (Maina) was accused of stealing was in the Treasury Single Account (TSA).

Speaking through his aide, Olajide Fashikun in Kaduna yesterday, Maina who has been on the run, said the presidential investigation was imperative to expose the real pension thieves, some of whom he alleged, were highly placed public office holders.

Maina, who said his task team saved the country about N282 billion from June 2010 when it was constituted, added that the presidential investigation would also expose the £6 million (about N3.3 billion) stashed in accounts in London and the top government functionaries in different offices who were drawing the interest on the accounts.

According to him, “between the Head of Service and the Police Pension office, the two places PRTT worked, a leakage of N5.32 billion was stopped per month. This is what civil servants steal monthly in the two offices out of the 99 pension offices in the country. About 43 persons were arrested and handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to prosecute while 222 houses were seized from them.”

The aide said: “In the current media trial where all manner of stories have been published, there has been a lot of distortion of facts and sometimes outright blackmail, all in an attempt to paint the PRTT boss black.

“As soon as Maina was driven to exile before the coming of the PTAD, N35 billion was stolen in the Head of Service office. The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) did not come out with the report. How come nobody is talking about these monies?” Fashikun asked.

He further said: “After the biometric exercise, there were 71,000 genuine workers in the police pension office who needed N826 million to pay them unlike N5.3 billion appropriated for them annually. They were pocketing N4.2billion yearly. They devised several ingenious ways to pull this cash out, they pull out an average of N300 million daily, Monday to Friday. There are bank alerts to substantiate these assertions.

“There is a particular person who has 69 cloned versions of his name on the payroll. Bank officials were in cohort. Names of dead pensioners were ‘exhumed’ from the dead and paid pension. Accounts were created with fictitious names. The agents who do the multiple collection of these monies from banks get 5 per cent of the volume collected. One of the folks caught then, by name Haruna Maigida, was paid via three accounts in June 2011 the sums of N7,783,891.68, N17,452,910.87 and N17,293,888.44. He confessed when the EFCC officials arrested him that he got 5 per cent for pulling the cash.”

According to Maina, “there has been a lot of deliberate cover in a well written script to give him a bad name. Some of those who worked in the PRTT committee do kabu-kabu to augment their survival. They were severely starved of funds, the PRTT was a cog in the wheel of so many who were looting the pensioner’s funds.”

He said his PRTT was brought in to sanitise a very corrupt pension system and it was the success of his pension system in the Ministry of Interior that brought him to the PRTT.

Maina said he had “verifiable” evidence the federal pension scheme was returning to “the looting era” which his team set out to end, noting that an alleged 98 per cent of pensioners had been denied their benefits since November 2012.

But in a swift reaction, the Nigeria police denied allegation that N5.32 billion was stolen from the police pension office, saying the allegation was unfounded.

The Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Jimoh Moshood who spoke with The Guardian in Abuja, yesterday said: “To the best of my knowledge, there’s no pensioner that said his or her money has been stolen and no money is being stolen from police pension. The allegation is baseless and it is unfounded.”

On Monday, there were reports of a leaked memo of the Head of Service of the Federation (HoS), Mrs. Winifred Oyo- Ita, which revealed that the recall and reinstatement of Maina was not done without President Muhammadu Buhari’s consent. She said she warned the president against it.

The HoS made this known in a memo addressed to the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari. The memo entitled, “Re: Abdulrasheed Abdullahi Maina” was received in the office of the Chief of Staff to the President on October 23.

Buhari had directed the HoS to investigate the circumstances of Maina’s return to the civil service.

The HoS said she met Buhari after the Federal Executive Council meeting of Wednesday, October 11, and verbally warned him against recalling Maina. She, however, did not say what the response of the president was after briefing him.

Meanwhile, the apex Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere has challenged the Federal Government to prove its anti-corruption crusade by prosecuting Maina and his accomplices.

The Publicity Secretary of the group, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, spoke yesterday in their resolutions after a meeting held in Akure, alleging that the Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade was partial.

Afenifere expressed shock at the recall, reinstatement and promotion of Maina and the involvement of top government officials in the conspiracy that brought him back to office.

Odumakin, who also condemned the military occupation of the South West, insisted that the anti-corruption crusade should not be reduced to a means of fighting the opposition.

Also, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, urged President Buhari to go beyond the sacking of the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Babachir David Lawal and the former Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Ambassador Ayodele Oke.

Onaiyekan spoke yesterday in Abuja at the Bicentenary (200th) anniversary of the birth of Baha’u’llah, the prophet and founder of the Baha’i Faith organised by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Nigeria.

According to Onaiyekan, not going beyond their sacking would make other people susceptible to corruption knowing they can only be sacked from their positions after stealing.

Texans players kneel during anthem after team owner calls them 'inmates'

noreply@blogger.com (Reliable Click) — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 08:23:00 +0000

Houston Texans players have staged a protest against their team’s owner, Bob McNair, after he said “we can’t have the inmates running the prison” when speaking about the NFL protest movement.

Players have been kneeling before and during the national anthem this season as a protest against racial injustice in the United States. About 40 of the Texans, a majority of the team, did so on Sunday before their game against the Seattle Seahawks, apparently in response to McNair. Some of their team-mates chose to stand. A number of Seahawks players also knelt, as they have done throughout the season.

“I’m never going to force anybody to do anything that they don’t feel comfortable with. I think we all felt the same way on Friday [after McNair’s comments],” Texans guard Duane Brown said after the game. “And as far as the demonstration went, some people didn’t feel quite comfortable doing it, some people did. But we all supported each other, and that was what was important. I don’t think anyone looks at anyone differently for what they stood for or didn’t stand for.”

ESPN reported that McNair’s comments at a meeting last week between owners, team executives and the NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, “stunned some in the room”.

“After the owners finished, Troy Vincent [NFL executive vice-president of football operations] stood up,” the article said. “He was offended by McNair’s characterization of the players as ‘inmates’. Vincent said that in all his years of playing in the NFL – during which, he said, he had been called every name in the book, including the N-word – he never felt like an ‘inmate’.”

McNair reportedly apologized to Vincent later, “saying that he felt horrible and that his words weren’t meant to be taken literally”.

Sports Illustrated(@SInow)
Most of the Houston Texans keeled during the national anthem today pic.twitter.com/Lkw60VWirn
October 29, 2017

In an official statement, McNair said: “I regret that I used that expression. I never meant to offend anyone and I was not referring to our players. I used a figure of speech that was never intended to be taken literally. I would never characterize our players or our league that way and I apologize to anyone who was offended by it.”

McNair, an energy and real estate magnate who is estimated to be worth $3.5bn, backed Donald Trump for president – giving a Super Pac $2m in 2016 – and then donated $1m to Trump’s inauguration committee. The US president is a vocal critic of the NFL protest movement.On Friday, the Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins was an unexpected no-show at practice. The head coach, Bill O’Brien, declined to address whether it was related to McNair’s controversial comments.

“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’” Trump said in September.

The protest movement is becoming an increasing worry for NFL owners, some of whom believe it is hitting the league’s bottom line. The league’s television ratings are down this season, although it is not clear whether this is directly linked to the protests, as TV sports audiences have fallen across America. The Dallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, has said he would bench any player who knelt during the anthem and has said sponsors have told him they are worried about the protests putting off customers. “There is no question the league is suffering negative effects from these protests,” Jones said last week.

Lewis Hamilton admits ‘it doesn’t feel real’ after sealing fourth world title

noreply@blogger.com (Reliable Click) — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 08:21:00 +0000

Lewis Hamilton won his fourth Formula One world championship at the Mexican Grand Prix to become the most successful British racing driver. He now has one more title than Sir Jackie Stewart and achieved the remarkable feat after a tense and dramatic race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in which his lowest finish of the season – ninth place – was enough to seal the title.

Hamilton clashed with his championship rival, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, on lap one, with the damage and consequent pit stops demoting both drivers to the back of the grid. They both came back out and, with Hamilton’s 66-point advantage in the title race, Vettel’s fourth was not sufficient to take the fight into the last two rounds.

Hamilton is now level with Vettel and Alain Prost in the all-time list of world champions and behind only Juan Manuel Fangio on five and Michael Schumacher on seven. The 32-year-old admitted after the race that “it doesn’t feel real”.

He was, however, revelling in his success, how far his career had taken him and what he had done to come so far. “I’ve been reminiscing a lot about where I came from,” he said.

“Growing up in Stevenage, dreaming of being in F1. Being a four-time world champion, it’s so hard to describe. I was going back to when my dad put me in a boxing ring when I was young. I was bleeding but I kept going.

“I remembered that moment today, decided that I was going to keep pushing.”

His father Anthony oversaw and supported his career into F1 and Hamilton acknowledged the sacrifices his parents had made. “No matter how much I try, I can never fully pay that back. I just try to grab the opportunity with both hands,” he said. But he was less complimentary about other more negative influences early in his life. “They were a couple of teachers who said that I would never amount to anything,” he added. “I wonder what they’re thinking now?”

Hamilton won his first title with McLaren in 2008 and many questioned his decision to leave them for Mercedes in 2013. He now has three titles with the team and felt fully vindicated.

“People had doubted whether it was the right move,” he said. “But I knew 100% in my heart that it was the right thing to do. It is so cool to take a risk and see it pay off like this.”

Hamilton, who races with the number 44 on his car, is expected to sign a new contract with Mercedes in the near future and was adamant that further titles were the target. “Four’s my magic number,” Hamilton said. “Four’s a great number, but I want No5 now.”

The team’s executive director, Toto Wolff, admitted the tension in Mexico had been difficult to manage. “I hated every bit of the race,” he said, while praising Hamilton and his team for coming through what had been a challenging season after three years dominating the sport.

“Ferrari put the level up a lot and then Red Bull came into the game as well. As a team you are always in a more comfortable situation when you know that it’s one of your two drivers that’s going to win the championship and trying to manage the inter-team rivalry was not easy at times, but far away from the struggles of this year.”

Vettel too, acknowledged that Hamilton had proved the better driver. “I’m down, obviously. It’s tough to cross the line and realise that you’re not in the fight anymore,” he said. “The rest isn’t that important, whatever happened today, the most important thing is it’s Lewis’s day - he was crowned world champion and he deserves that. I would have loved to go one up on him, but it’s his day, it’s his year.”

Stewart took his third championship in 1973 at Monza and paid tribute to the man who had succeeded him, with his third title in four seasons. “He’s beaten my record but I held it for 44 years and records are meant to be broken,” he said.

The science of Sad: understanding the causes of ‘winter depression’

noreply@blogger.com (Reliable Click) — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 08:18:00 +0000

For many of us in the UK, the annual ritual of putting the clocks back for daylight saving time can be accompanied by a distinct feeling of winter blues as autumn well and truly beds in. This might be felt as a lack of energy, reduced enjoyment in activities and a need for more sleep than normal. But for around 6% of the UK population and between 2-8% of people in other higher latitude countries such as Canada, Denmark and Sweden, these symptoms are so severe that these people are unable to work or function normally. They suffer from a particular form of major depression, triggered by changes in the seasons, called seasonal affective disorder or Sad.

In addition to depressive episodes, Sad is characterised by various symptoms including chronic oversleeping and extreme carbohydrate cravings that lead to weight gain. As this is the opposite to major depressive disorder where patients suffer from disrupted sleep and loss of appetite, Sad has sometimes been mistakenly thought of as a “lighter” version of depression, but in reality it is simply a different version of the same illness. “People who truly have Sad are just as ill as people with major depressive disorder,” says Brenda McMahon, a psychiatry researcher at the University of Copenhagen. “They will have non-seasonal depressive episodes, but the seasonal trigger is the most common. However it’s important to remember that this condition is a spectrum and there are a lot more people who have what we call sub-syndromal Sad.”

Around 10-15% of the population has sub-syndromal Sad. These individuals struggle through autumn and winter and suffer from many of the same symptoms but they do not have clinical depression. And in the northern hemisphere, as many as one in three of us may suffer from “winter blues” where we feel flat or disinterested in things and regularly fatigued.

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Putting the clocks back for daylight saving time can be accompanied by a distinct feeling of winter blues. Photograph: Alamy

One theory for why this condition exists is related to evolution. Around 80% of Sad sufferers are women, particularly those in early adulthood. In older women, the prevalence of Sad goes down and some researchers believe that this pattern is linked to the behavioural cycles of our ancient ancestors. “Because it affects such a large proportion of the population in a mild to moderate form, a lot of people in the field do feel that Sad is a remnant from our past, relating to energy conservation,” says Robert Levitan, a professor at the University of Toronto. “Ten thousand years ago, during the ice age, this biological tendency to slow down during the wintertime was useful, especially for women of reproductive age because pregnancy is very energy-intensive. But now we have a 24-hour society, we’re expected to be active all the time and it’s a nuisance. However, as to why a small proportion of people experience it so severely that it’s completely disabling, we don’t know.”

There are a variety of biological systems thought to be involved, including some of the major neurotransmitter systems in the brain that are associated with motivation, energy and the organisation of our 24-hour circadian rhythms. “We know that dopamine and norepinephrine play critical roles in terms of how we wake up in the morning and how we energise the brain,” Levitan says. One particular hormone, melatonin, which controls our sleep and wake cycles, is thought to be “phase delayed” in people with severe Sad, meaning it is secreted at the wrong times of the day.

Another system of particular interest relates to serotonin, a neurotransmitter that regulates anxiety, happiness and mood. Increasing evidence from various imaging and rodent studies suggests that the serotonin system may be directly modulated by light. Natural sunlight comes in a variety of wavelengths, and it is particularly rich in light at the blue end of the spectrum. When cells in the retina, at the back of our eye, are hit by this blue light, they transmit a signal to a little hub in the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus that integrates different sensory inputs, controls our circadian rhythms, and is connected to another hub called the raphe nuclei in the brain stem, which is the origin of all serotonin neurons throughout the brain. When there is less light in the wintertime, this network is not activated enough. In especially susceptible individuals, levels of serotonin in the brain are reduced to such an extent that it increases the likelihood of a depressive episode.

The most popular treatments for Sad is bright-light therapy. Photograph: PR Company Handout

Serotonin may also explain why women are so much more vulnerable to Sad than men. “There’s a close connection between estradiol, the main female sex hormone, and the serotonin transporter,” McMahon says. “We have a good idea that the fluctuating levels of estradiol during certain phases such as puberty or postpartum, can affect the way serotonin is produced.”

Some populations appear to be particularly resilient to Sad, mostly notable in Iceland. “Icelanders seem to be genetically protected from Sad,” Levitan says. “When they move to locations which have high rates of Sad such as Canada, their rates are much lower than their peers.” One possible reason for this could again be linked to serotonin. There are different variants of a gene that controls how the serotonin transporter behaves, and one particular variant found in resilient individuals actually causes our bodies to increase the production of serotonin during the wintertime.

For those on the Sad spectrum, there are a variety of treatments available, the most popular being bright-light therapy, an artificial means of stimulating the brain’s neurotransmitters. “It’s very important to use a Sad-specific ultraviolet filtered light otherwise it can be dangerous,” says Levitan. “But it can really enable people with Sad to get their day started earlier and avoid oversleeping, which can be very depressogenic. It’s probably effective in providing symptom relief in around 80% of patients, particularly those with the carbohydrate craving, oversleeping symptoms. For the most severe patients, though, it may have to be combined with antidepressant therapy.”

However, psychiatrists urge patients to steer clear of some of the many alternative therapies on the market. “There’s a range of new technologies people are developing, such as an earplug that is supposed to radiate light into your brain, but there’s no science to prove that this actually works,” McMahon says. “However, there are some good additions to conventional light therapy and antidepressants, such as tryptophan, an amino acid that gets converted to serotonin in our bodies, which can be given as an add-on treatment.”

Kenyan police hunt opposition politicians they blame for violence

noreply@blogger.com (Reliable Click) — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 08:14:00 +0000

Police in Kenya are searching for opposition politicians they blame for an outbreak of violence in a slum neighbourhood of Nairobi, senior officials have said

At least three people were killed in violence on Friday and Saturday in Kawangare, in the west of the city.

“In Kawangare people were targeting those who voted … We are looking for suspects who are politicians and you will see arrests soon,” said Martin Kimani, President Uhuru Kenyatta’s special envoy for countering violent extremism.

Fears of bloodshed in Kenya are growing after violent clashes between ethnic groups and a hardening of divisive rhetoric after the contentious rerun of presidential elections last week.

With a series of flashpoints looming in coming days, civil society groups, diplomats and some leading politicians are making increasingly desperate efforts to reduce tensions.

Although votes are still being counted in the poll, local media say Kenyatta, the incumbent, has won 98% of ballots cast in the election boycotted by the opposition led by veteran politician Raila Odinga.

The rerun was marred by violent protests in the country’s western region, an opposition stronghold, and in Nairobi’s volatile slum neighbourhoods.

Western diplomats called on Kenyatta and Odinga to end the political crisis and avert further loss of life.

Kimani defended the actions of Kenyan police and paramilitaries who have been accused of heavy-handed tactics and human rights abuse.

“The security services have not undertaken any systematic use of violence to intimidate or confront any peaceful demonstrators,” he said.

The increasingly chaotic political drama in Kenya began when the supreme court overturned Kenyatta’s victory in the 8 August election. It cited irregularities and mismanagement by the electoral commission. The turnout for that poll was 80%.“There is a limit to the politics of vigilantism, interference and sabotage and we have to hold that line … We have had some calls for peace but immediately succeeded by more incitement.”

Odinga then withdrew from the rerun election, saying he believed it would be marred by the same flaws as the August vote. The low proportion of voters who turned out for the rerun – possibly only 35% – will undermine the credibility of any mandate Kenyatta may claim and will be seen as a victory by the opposition.

Kenyatta is expected to be declared winner on Monday, though a flood of legal challenges are expected.

“The only way the little guy gets justice in Kenya is through the operation of institutions that treat every one fairly … Both sides have been up to things they should not do,” said one western diplomat on Sunday.

So far this year, between 55 and 75 people have died in election-related violence.

Rescued sailors make it ashore after five-month ordeal

noreply@blogger.com (Reliable Click) — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 08:13:00 +0000

Two women from Hawaii who were adrift on a storm-battered sailboat in the Pacific for months set foot on solid ground Monday at a US Naval base in southern Japan.

The USS Ashland rescued Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiava and their two dogs about 1,450km (900 miles) south-east of Japan, and brought them to America’s White Beach naval facility after waiting for a typhoon to pass.

The two women, sporting USS Ashland knit shirts, were standing with the commanding officer and others high on the bridgeway as the ship docked. They later spoke to reporters on the flight deck before clearing customs and walking down metal stairs to the dock.

They had left Honolulu on 3 May aboard Appel’s 15-metre (50-foot) vessel, the Sea Nymph, for what was supposed to be an 18-day trip to Tahiti. Storms flooded the engine and damaged the mast and sails so badly, they couldn’t generate enough wind power to stay on course.

They tried to return and at one point in June were within 1,345km (726 nautical miles) of Oahu, but couldn’t make it.

“We knew we weren’t going to make it,” Appel said. “So that’s when we started making distress calls. We were hoping that one of our friends who likes to go deep-sea fishing and taking people out might have gone past the 400-mile mark and might have cruised near where we would be.”

The women said they drifted aimlessly and sent unanswered distress calls for 98 consecutive days.

They were thousands of miles in the wrong direction when a Taiwanese fishing vessel found them. Towing the sailboat damaged it further, but Appel swam to the Taiwanese vessel to make a mayday call.

They said they ran out of food for the dogs and began sharing their own, leaving their food supply 90% depleted by the time they were rescued.

On Wednesday, the USS Ashland picked up the women and the dogs, Zeus and Valentine, all four looking remarkably fit for having been lost at sea for nearly six months.

Appel told reporters on Friday they were beginning to believe they were completely out of luck when they saw the US Navy ship chugging towards them.

“When I saw the grey ship on the horizon, I was just shaking,” she said then. “I was ready to cry, I was so happy. I knew we were going to live.”

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Tasha Fuiava (left) and Jennifer Appel speak on the deck of the USS Ashland at White Beach naval facility in Okinawa on Monday. Photograph: Koji Ueda/AP

The sailboat was abandoned at sea, but the two women are hoping it will be found and they can repair it. If not, Appel said they want to build an “unsinkable and unbreakable boat” and set out for Tahiti again.

Although Appel has been sailing the Hawaiian islands for 10 years and spent two years preparing for this voyage, she acknowledged that she and Fuiava, a novice sailor, may not have prepared as well as they could have.“We still never got to see the 20,000 islands, so I think that would be the most fantastic trip for May of next spring,” she said.

Appel credited their survival in part to the veteran sailors in Hawaii who had warned them to prepare well for their journey.

“They said pack every square inch of your boat with food, and if you think you need a month, pack six months, because you have no idea what could possibly happen out there,” Appel said. “And the sailors in Honolulu really gave us good advice. We’re here.”