₦airaland Forum

5. Putin bans genetically engineered food
Despite whatever Monsanto lobbyists may tell our representatives in Congress, Americans are overwhelmingly opposed - on moral, ethical and health grounds - to genetically modified foods.
In a survey of US residents representative of the population on gender, age, and income, 64 percent opposed GMO, and 71 percent of GMO opponents said they were “absolutely” opposed—that is, they agreed that GM should be prohibited no matter the risks and benefits. Yet this clear demonstration of public opinion has not translated into any sort of democratic ability to pull GMO ‘Frankenstein foods’ from the shelves.
What is all the more incredible about America’s willingness to begrudgingly accept genetically modified foods is that the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) performs no tests on such products. As Jason Dietz, a policy analyst at FDA, explained:
“It’s the manufacturer’s responsibility to insure that the product is safe.”
However, companies like Monsanto are under no obligation to test their products for safety considerations; the process is completely voluntary.
“Well, the companies are supposed to do a voluntary consultation,” Michael Hansen, a critic of GM foods at the Consumers Union, told Grist. “[B]ut it’s voluntary. Look at what the FDA says when they approve a food: ‘It is our understanding that Monsanto has concluded this is safe.’ They just rubber-stamp it.”
While Americans are being essentially used as laboratory test bunnies, paying good money to consume products that may or may not kill them, Putin refuses to play Russian roulette with his peoples’ health.
In June, Putin approved a bill that bans all genetically engineered foods from entering Russia. The legislation includes stiff fines for producing GMO products in Russia or importing them from abroad, with the exception of genetically altered organisms and materials used for expertise and research.
Meanwhile, Americans will be happy to know that Russia is offering a healthy alternative to what the global food corporations are delivering.
In his state of the nation speech on December 3 in the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin said, “We can not only feed ourselves, Russia can become an important global supplier of healthy, organic and high-quality food, especially since the global demand for such products is showing a steady growth.”

4. Putin delivers setback to Islamic State in Syria
In September 2015, following an official request by the Syrian government, Russia launched a formidable aerial attack on Islamic State positions in Syria. Russia went on to provide ample video evidence of its success against ISIS, not only hitting its command and control centers, but destroying its makeshift oil exporting business.
Oddly, Moscow’s request for assistance in providing logistics on terrorist positions was rebuked by Western governments. In fact, the only thing Putin got from the United States for his labors in Syria was a lamentable lecture by US Defense Secretary, Ashton Carter: “This will have consequences for Russia itself, which is rightly fearful of attacks,” Carter said before uttering a regrettable prediction. “In coming days, the Russians will begin to suffer from casualties.”
Coincidentally, throughout the course of Russia’s military offensive in Syria, it has only lost a single fighter jet and a number of servicemen. But not to Islamic State or some other nefarious group. The jet was shot down by Turkey, the first time a NATO member engaged a Russian aircraft in over 50 years.

3. Putin offers cooperation on US missile defense system in Eastern Europe
In May, the US put the finishing touches on its Aegis Ashore Missile Defense System in Romania , the culmination of a decades-worth of disingenuous negotiations with Moscow.
Washington’s determination to build this system, which Moscow naturally views as a major security threat smoking on its doorstep, has completely upset the strategic balance in the region. Russia is now forced to respond to this system with more powerful and elusive ballistic missiles. In other words, our tiny, fragile planet, thanks to the surrogate mother of global upheaval and chaos, Lady Liberty, is experiencing the birth pains of another arms race between the world’s two nuclear superpowers. This did not have to be.
Early in his presidency, Obama announced he would “scrap” the Bush administration's defense system, slated for Poland and the Czech Republic, after it was determined that Iran was not the existential threat to Eastern Europe that his predecessor had touted it as.
This seemed to indicate an open window of opportunity for Russia-US cooperation (in fact, the fate of the New START nuclear disarmament treaty, signed into force between Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama on April 8, 2010, hinged on bilateral cooperation). Russia even proposed the two countries share the Qabala Radar in Azerbaijan, which Russia leased at the time, but the US rejected the proposal even though it made more tactical sense.
Eventually, it became maddeningly apparent that the US was bluffing, dangling the carrot of mutual cooperation with Russia at the same time a new missile defense system was moving forward.
In November, Putin rightly accused the US of attempting to
“neutralize Russia’s nuclear potential” by camouflaging their real designs behind Iran and North Korea.
“The US is attempting to achieve strategic military superiority, with all the consequences that entails,” he said.
Obama’s failure to cooperate with Putin on this game-changing system has been the real source of bad blood between the two nuclear superpowers.

2. Putin gives Washington a chance to pass on war (for a change)
After spending prodigious amounts of money, material and manpower fighting fundamentalists in the desert, some might be tempted to think the US would relish any opportunity to avoid another military misadventure. If you believed that, you haven’t been paying attention to what’s been occurring in the Middle East since 2002 with the US invasion of Afghanistan.
Future historians (that is, assuming there is a future where historians may ponder the past) may one day mark August 29, 2013 as the day when the American Empire first started showing signs of wear and tear. That was when UK Prime Minister David Cameron failed to secure approval in the House of Commons to join yet another US-led serial killing, this time in Syria, after President Bashar Assad purportedly crossed Obama’s whimsical “red line” and used chemical weapons against the Syrian opposition (an assertion that was never proven).
This placed the Obama administration in a bind, eventually leading to a ‘slip of the tongue’ by US Secretary of State John Kerry, who remarked that Syria could avoid an American blitzkrieg if it agreed to surrender its chemical weapons “within one week”. Infuriatingly for the US neocons, Putin successfully convinced Damascus to remove its chemical weapons with all due haste.
Predictably, however, US media and thinktankdom portrayed Putin’s eleventh-hour diplomacy, which delayed the obliteration of yet another Middle East state, as some sort of geopolitical ploy.
"It absolutely is a diplomatic win by Putin right now," Fiona Hill, director of the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution, told CNN.
I was almost expecting Fiona to employ some sort of judo analogy next. Oh wait, she did.
"If we think about this as judo, which is of course Mr. Putin's favorite sport, this is just one set of moves," she said. "And right now, he's managed to get Obama off the mat, at least, and get the terms set down that play to his advantage."
Think about that. If that was the best press Putin could get when he helped America to avoid yet another military smash-up, chances are negligible that he would ever get positive reviews under normal circumstances. And therein, dear reader, lies the rub: America has come to the psychotic point in its foreign policy when avoiding military conflict is actually viewed as a setback.

Western media and thinktankdom have gone wildly off the rails regarding the Russian leader, blaming anything and everything on Vladimir Putin. The public has largely bought the raw propaganda wholesale and this is a tragedy for US-Russian relations.
A cursory glance at Putin’s track record should convince even the most jaded Russian observer that he has done everything possible to build solid relations with the United States. Yet not only has the Obama administration refused to meet Putin halfway, it characterizes the Russian leader as the global arch villain bar none.
So here’s a refresher course for anybody who’s ever dragged Putin’s name through the mud, serving up piping hot propa-garbage while helping to exasperate tensions between Russia and the US.
As Vladimir Nabokov once proclaimed before considering an entirely different subject, “Look at this tangle of thorns” .
1. Putin provides ‘extraordinary assistance’ to ‘War on Terror’
It is no secret that following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 against the US, Putin was the first global leader to telephone US President George W. Bush. And he didn't call collect. Moreover, the Russian leader offered more than just words of condolence. He pushed through a raft of legislation to assist the US in the fight against terrorism.
In his 2011 book, “Vladimir Putin and Russian Statecraft,” Allen C. Lynch documented Putin’s contributions to America’s endless ‘War on Terror’.
“In a bold decision… Putin made Russia the most important U.S. ally in the war against the Taliban,” Lynch wrote. “Among other things, he accelerated deliveries of weapons to the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan so that when the Alliance marched into Kabul it did so with Russian, not American, weapons and vehicles. He encouraged the governments of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to allow American military bases on their territory.”
And here is my personal favorite: “He opened Russian airspace for American overflights to bases in Central Asia so that the US could conduct search and rescue operations for U.S. airmen (Please imagine the howl of pain that would echo across Washington if any US president allowed Russian military overflights across US territory into South America!).
Despite Putin’s extreme generosity bestowed upon the US military and intelligence apparatus, Washington proved Graham Greene’s adage “there is no such thing as gratitude in politics” by ratcheting up pressure against Russia for no good reason whatsoever.
According to Stephen Cohen, the US repaid Putin for his
“extraordinary assistance” by “further expanding NATO to Russia’s borders and by unilaterally withdrawing from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty, which Moscow regarded as the linchpin of its nuclear security.”
With friends like this who needs enemies?

The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, on Wednesday declared that the Nigerian economy is not in confusion.
Noting that the Nigeria economy has been heading to recession in the past six years, she however said that the economy is presently in the right hands.
She spoke with State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Adeosun was accompanied to the briefing by the Ministers of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh; Mines and Steel Development, Kayode Fayemi; Information, Lai Mohammed and Education, Adamu Adamu.
Responding to questions on the new economic statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), she said: “It’s the worst possible time for us. Are we confused? Absolutely not. How are we going to get ourselves out of this recession. One, we must make sure that we diversify our economy. There are too many of us to keep on relying on oil.
“We can see what happened at the output data of the oil and gas sector. What’s happening in the Niger delta has dragged down the GDP of the entire economy. We’re too dependent on oil whereas 87 percent of our GDP is oil. So let us drive those other areas
“We have to invest in capital projects. No, we are not confused, the time is confusing but we are not confused. We are extremely focused. We know that if we can just bare and get through this difficult period, Nigeria is going to be better for it.
“If we rely on oil and the price of oil remains low and the quantity of oil remains low, we can’t grow. We have to grow our non-oil economy. I think we that we have a long way to go.
“We’re not confused and we’re not deceiving ourselves that everything is rosy. It’s not. It’s a difficult time for Nigeria but I think Nigeria is in the right hands and if we can stick with our strategy. We still have some adjustments to make. I think we need to make some adjustments in monetary policy. It’s quite clear we do and we will do that. We’re working on that. We need to try and find a way to support the manufacturing sector better and we will do that.” She added
She pointed out that the high inflation rate in the country is cost-pushed.
“And when you have cost-push inflation, it is structural inflation. It is not going to respond to monetary policy tools such as increasing the rate of interest. We have to address the structural causes of the inflation,” she said
But, she however said that the high rate of inflation has slowed down, which is a good sign for the economy.
According to her, the FEC on Wednesday approved external three-year rolling borrowing plan.
The plan, she said, will be transmitted to the National Assembly for the approval.
She said: “Recall when we came in we said our external borrowings strategy will be focused on confessional debts, low cost loans particularly from the multi-lateral agencies.”
The conditions of the borrowing, she said, included concessional loans average interest rates 1.25 per cent, four to seven year moratorium, and 20 years to pay.
According to her, the loans will come from agencies like the World Bank, African Development Bank, China Exim Bank, and other development agencies like Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
She added: “The sectors in particular that these concessional loans will go to are the strategic sectors of the economy that will help to revive the economy. There is Power. Significant amount of money are located to power projects particularly transmission. This is long term money that will enable us solve some of the problems in that sector.
“There are projects around polio. There are some money that have been allocated to us to help us do some massive immunization, in order to control this recent outbreak. This is being provided by the World Bank.
“There is provision for solid minerals and of course I’m very excited about the discovery of nickel. World Bank is supporting the project by the Ministry of Mines and Steel with $150 million to enable them strengthen their capacity in that area.
“The largest beneficiary of our borrowing is agriculture because its equally strategic and we have programmes by the minister some of which he inherited and is going to restructure and reform and some are new to the ministry.
“The balance will come from the Eurobond we had indicated.” She said.
According to her, the FEC sent a strong signal on the need to reach out to the National Assembly to get the borrowing plan approved as soon as possible.
“Because a lot of this money is for developmental projects. We need this money to be made available for us. Remember these are foreign exchange coming to our country that will help our economy.” She added
Fayemi disclosed that the Council approved a new roadmap for mining to boost the growth and development of the industry.
He said: “What the roadmap seeks to do is to grow the contribution of mining to the GDP on the back of the President’s vision to diversify the economy. It is to build on the old roadmap of 2012.
“What distinguishes this roadmap is its determination to build a regulatory agency – an independent regulatory agency in the mining sector. Stakeholders have been insisting that the ministry should not also be the regulator of the industry.
“We will now have Mining cadastral zonal offices which issue the licenses together with the mining inspecting directorate, mining environment compliance unit as well as the nautical mining units. These are directorate within the ministry but will form part of the independent regulatory agency.
“The second point that is very critical is the partnership with states. One of the challenges in mining is the tension between the federal government and the states. The Federal Government owns the minerals in the sole but the states government owns the land.
He stressed that there won’t be any headway without a robust partnership between the two critical components of mining, adding that mining has not been thriving because of the tension between the Federal Government and states.
“In this regard, minning cadastrail and zonal offices will also be created in the states to work on this.” He added
He said that the roadmap is to also change the name of the Ministry from Ministry of Solid Minerals Development to Ministry of Mines and Steel Development in line with global standard.
The roadmap, he said, will also
make it easier for foreign direct investment to come into the country by improving on Nigeria’s geo-sciences data.
“Mining is about science and if you don’t search you won’t find. Council recognizes that and agreed that a lot of money be put into exploration.
“The roadmap also focuses on financing the industry, the financial institutions don’t know much about mining and have not invested a lot in it.
“One of the ways the President wants to re-energise the sector is to ensure it gives access to the Natural Resource Fund of the Federation Account which is really meant for agriculture, mining and water resources. But mining has never benefited from the fund. This is similar to ecological fund 1.8 per cent of federation.
“Another focus is to ensure that value addition is gradually being invested to and reduce the manner in which raw minerals are exported from Nigeria. It is to emphasize beneficiation and processing, so that what we produce is also improved upon before we embark on exportation.
“We also want to ensure it is utilize here, we have granite, Marbel, bitumen yet we import the bulk of those products into Nigeria because processing does not take place here
Above all, it focuses to increase the contribution of mining to the GDP of the country. Mining has gradually declined from 4.5 per cent of the GDP at independence to 0.33 per cent of the GDP as at today.
“Given the new focus we can begin to scale that up again. Within the next decade, it’s readily expected that it will begin to climb up to about five per cent of the nation’s GDP.
”The roadmap gives a sense to how the country is paying attention to mining development which is more of an employment generator and wealth creator unlike oil, which recruits fewer people.
“We want to upscale it and improve the skills of the people, making access to finance available and making technology available to them,” he stated



Source: http://thenationonlineng.net/nigerian-economy-not-confusion-finance-minister/

The Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) Wednesday threatened to shut down the nation’s universities through a nationwide strike if the Federal Government fails to implement the 2009 agreement it reached with the union.
Zonal Coordinator, Abuja Zone of the union, Dr Theophilus Lagi, stated this at a briefing in Abuja on Wednesday.
Dr. Lagi stated that government had only implemented 30 per cent of the provisions on the NEEDS Assessment budget in 2013.
The funds, he said, was disbursed indiscriminately to university councils, as a fall out of the six months industrial action it had embarked upon in 2009.
He therefore called on the federal government to fully implement the 2009 agreement it reached with the union in order to prevent the nation’s universities from going on strike.
Lagi said: “The struggle to implement the 2009 ASUU/FGN agreement is not about the union. It is not about the personal benefits of the members only.
“It is about saving the university system from total collapse.
‘The current issues in contention includes funding of universities for revitalization in line with the MOU,FGN entered into with ASUU in 2013, re negotiation of the FGN/ASUU 2009 agreement which ASUU believes will reposition the entire education sector, facilitation of the registration of the Nigerian Universities Pension Management company, NUPEMCO, among others in the list.”
Dr Lagi who also regretted the failure by government to reply series of letters written to it and not taking any concrete steps towards implementing the core provisions of the agreement, described the present step by the union as designed to appeal and conscientiously inform Nigerians on the state of neglect of lectures by government and to serve as a prelude to full blown strike.
Earlier, the University of Abuja (UNIABUJA) Chairman of the union, Dr Ben Ugheoke, who was also at the briefing, frowned at government’s attitude towards the establishment of the Pension Company despite the fact that the union had fulfilled its side of the bargain including the payment of its counterpart funding.
Ugheoke stated that the union was ready to go ahead and incorporate the company should the government give the directive.
He said: “We have not joined other PFAs because of the irregularities in the operation of the scheme. The system lacks integrity. That is why we asked our members to wait for our own company.
“Initially, ASUU was told to commit N600 million to the registration; from that N600 million, it was increased to N740m but late last year, it was raised to N1 billion and I want to say that ASUU has already paid the N1 billion. It has been with the government since 2013 and yet government is frustrating the registration of the company.”





http://thenationonlineng.net/ASUU-threatens-nationwide-strike-2009-agreement/

A French politician has come up with an unconventional way to combat the “culture of fear” brought on by recent terrorist attacks, stating that the country's schools should be required to offer martial arts classes to students.
Speaking to Le Figaro newspaper, centrist politician Jean Lassalle – who hopes to run for president next year – said that martial arts classes would allow students to respond to the fear of attacks in a safe, productive way.
"We must compel learning martial arts school. There is fear everywhere and it leads some people to go around with a knife," Lassalle said. "But with martial arts, you develop self-control and learn to defend yourself peacefully."
His statements come less than one month after two Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) jihadists slit an 86-year-old priest's throat in the city of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray. Just two weeks prior, 86 people were killed and over 300 injured when a box truck plowed into spectators watching a Bastille Day fireworks show in the city of Nice. That attack was also claimed by IS.
In November 2015, Paris was hit by a series of coordinated IS terror attacks which killed 130 people and injured more than 300 others.
Lassalle has so far collected about 300 of the 500 mayors' signatures needed to run in the May 2017 presidential election. The politician has represented the fourth constituency of Pyrénées-Atlantiques in France's National Assembly as a deputy since 2013.






https://www.rt.com/news/356762-france-martial-arts-terrorism/

Ever since the return of the Syrian war in 2015, which has seen both US alliance forces and as - of last - September, Russian forces too, jousting for political influence in the region under the guise of fighting ISIS while in reality either seeking to oust or preserve the Assad regime, one major player was missing: China.
That is about to change as the last major superpower enters the world's most volatile - and dangerous - region.
Beijing and Damascus have agreed that the Chinese military will have closer ties with Syria, and provide humanitarian aid to the civil war torn nation, a high-ranking People's Liberation Army officer said, adding that the training of Syrian personnel by Chinese instructors has also been discussed, according to Xinhua .
As has been historically the case, China tends to leave Middle Eastern diplomacy to the other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, namely the United States, Britain, France and Russia, while relying on the region for oil supplies. But lately, for unknown reasons, China has been trying to get more involved, including sending envoys to help push for a diplomatic resolution to the violence there and hosting Syrian government and opposition figures according to Reuters .
The Director of the Office for International Military Cooperation of China's Central Military Commission, Guan Youfei, arrived in Damascus on Tuesday for talks with Syrian Defense Minister Fahad Jassim al-Freij, Xinhua added.
Guan said China had consistently played a positive role in pushing for a political resolution in Syria.
"China and Syria's militaries have a traditionally friendly relationship, and China's military is willing to keep strengthening exchanges and cooperation with Syria's military," the news agency paraphrased Guan as saying.
Guan and al-Freij discussed the enhancement of training and "reached a consensus" on the Chinese military providing humanitarian aid to Syria, Xinhua reported, without providing further details.
As to who China will side with, it should come as little surprise that the answer is "not the US."
Last year, there were media reports that China had sent dozens of military advisers to Syria to help the country fight terrorists, however these were never confirmed.
This time, however, we have confirmation. Guan met a Russian general in Damascus, Xinhua reported without giving details.
While China has shown no interest in getting involved militarily in Syria, China's special envoy for the crisis there in April praised Russia's military role in the war as the Kremlin staged a bombing campaign there in September 2015 to March 2016. Russia still has some of its forces in the country to provide humanitarian and military assistance to Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government.
Which means that as of this moment, every major world superpower is officially involved in the Syrian war, which has on various occasions been aptly called a powderkeg for what may be the next global military conflict - to be sure, all required players are now officially involved.




http://russia-insider.com/en/military/china-sides-russia-syrian-war-will-provide-aid-and-military-training-assad/ri16058

IDnoble1:
REDE REDE

RUDU RUDU

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday said the Federal Government will deepen its partnership with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to fund critical projects in health, water and the infrastructure sector.
He made the remark while receiving, Dr. Ali Madani, the President of the IDB Group at the State House, Abuja.
In a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, President Buhari also commended the bank for supporting several developmental projects across the country.
He acknowledged that the bank has funded several people-oriented projects in Osun, Kaduna, Jigawa, Niger, Katsina, Kano and Ebonyi states, demonstrating its “soft spot and robust support’’ for Nigeria.
‘‘We can’t thank you enough for the height you have achieved for the bank in 41 years. Now that you are about to retire, we thank you for the quality leadership which the world has recognized,’’ the President said.
Buhari also expressed appreciation to the IDB Group and other countries for extending their assistance to Internally Displaced Persons in the North-East.
The President assured the visiting IDB chief that Nigeria, a major financier of the bank, will meet all its obligations to the development institution within the shortest time possible.
The President highlighted efforts of the current administration at diversifying the economy with emphasis on agriculture and expressed strong optimism that Nigeria will achieve self-sufficiency in rice and sugar; and export both commodities in the next three years.
In his remarks, Dr Madani congratulated President Buhari on the positive outcomes of the war against corruption and terrorism.
He said the bank is ready to mobilize resources from Arab fund for developmental initiatives of the Nigerian government and the private sector, particularly on agriculture.

Mr Wariebi, son of the Chief Justice of Bayelsa State, Justice Kate Abiri, has been reported dead in mysterious circumstances.
Wariebi was said to have died in an undisclosed swimming pool at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
The Governor of the state, Mr. Seriake Dickson, in a statement signed on Sunday by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson expressed deep shock over the untimely death of Wariebi.
Dickson was said to have spoken after after paying a condolence visit to Abiri at her residence in Yenagoa.
The statement confirmed that Wariebi, a graduate of law and a student of the Nigerian Law School, Abuja, reportedly died in a swimming pool last Friday night.
The governor noted with regret, the circumstances under in which, the life of the young Wariebi was cut short.
He said the state government would collaborate with the police and other relevant agencies, to unravel the real cause of his death.
He described the deceased as a focused and promising young man, who was preparing to make a wonderful career in the law profession.
He said that his demise remained a painful loss to the Abiri family and the state in general.
The governor urged the family to view the incident as divine and prayed God to strengthen and grant them the fortitude to bear the loss.
“As a Government, be rest assured that, we will stand with you shoulder to shoulder in this very very challenging period, especially in working with the Police and other relevant agencies of the Government to unearth the real cause of his death”, he said.


http://thenationonlineng.net/bayelsa-cjs-son-dies-swimming-pool/

Sasha Obama, daughter of US President Barack Obama, has swapped the comforts of the White House for the counter of a seafood restaurant, US media report.
The 15-year-old has taken a summer job serving food at the business in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.
Sasha, using her full name, Natasha, has been accompanied to the restaurant by a contingent of six secret service agents, the Boston Herald reports .
The town has been a favourite location for the Obamas on their summer breaks.
Photographs show the president's youngest daughter wearing the restaurant's uniform of blue T-shirt and cap and working at a till.
A co-worker told the Herald: "She's been working downstairs at takeout. We were wondering why there were six people helping this girl, but then we found out who it was."
The White House has not commented on the report but First Lady Michelle Obama has spoken about trying to bring her two daughters up as normally as possible.
As well as working on the takeaway counter, Sasha Obama's other duties reportedly include waiting on tables and helping to prepare the restaurant for its lunchtime opening.
Her security team has been seen waiting nearby in a large car or sitting on benches while the First Daughter deals with tourists' meals.
Other famous children who have found work placements
;
1. Sasha Obama's older sister Malia has had two internships working on film sets
2. Brooklyn Beckham, teenage son of David and Victoria Beckham, has worked at the offices of filmmaker Guy Ritchie in London
3. As a teenager, Donald Trump Jr worked as a dock attendant at his father's marina at Trump Castle in Atlantic City


http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36985479

I don tire for this kemi matter sef.

Lionel Messi’s year could get worse, thanks to Xoana Gonzalez’s confession on TV.Argentine model Xoana Gonzalez has lifted the lid on Lionel Messi’s bedroom life.
In an interview with a Peruvian TV show called ‘the value of truth’ Gonzalez (below) described the bedroom experience with the 29-year-old as ‘having sex with a dead body.’
Xoana GonzalezMessi, who is currently with the Barcelona squad in their pre-season tour, reportedly got intimate with the model some years ago. She revealed:
“It was many years ago. In truth he was very young. But he knew what he was doing, was not minor, that was the important thing.
“His security told me ‘got someone you want to know’. I was curious to see who it was, and froze when I saw it was my idol Messi I froze. I said that he is the wimp, though because he sent his security to get me. There I noticed that he is very shy. We talked about music and cannot remember if he told me he had a girlfriend or not. After a while we went to his apartment in Puerto Madero.
“When one plays across the whole pitch, you expect someone to return the favour. I wanted him to show me more than that. At one point I felt like I was with a dead body.”
Her comments on TV could hurt Leo’s image further after a torrid year. From court cases to losing in the finals of the Copa America Centenario, Messi’s only solace in his football career this year derives from winning La Liga and Copa del Rey with Barcelona.
The legendary footballer is currently married to his childhood sweetheart Antonella Roccuzzo. They have been married since 2008, and blessed with two kids so far; Thiago and Mateo Messi

A public inquiry on Monday accused the Nigerian army of killing 347 Shia Muslims and dumping them in a mass grave in the northern city of Kaduna late last year.
Two days of violence began on December 12 when Shia worshippers attending a religious ceremony obstructed the convoy of Nigeria's chief of army staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai.
"The Nigerian Army used excessive force," said the 193-page report, which is available online .
In total 349 people were killed including one soldier and one Shia worshipper who died later in custody.
The commission, setup by the Kaduna state government, said those responsible for the killings should be prosecuted, confirming the conclusions of an earlier Amnesty International report.
"The Commission therefore recommends that steps should immediately be taken to identify the members of the NA (Nigerian Army) who participated in the killings ... with a view to prosecuting them," it said.
'Nigeria should release Zakzaky'
Amnesty International accused the army of deliberately shooting dead the Shia followers of pro-Iranian cleric Ibrahim Zakzaky, burying them in mass graves and destroying evidence of the crime.
The military maintains that its soldiers acted according to the rules of engagement after the crowd attempted to assassinate Buratai.
Zakzaky, who lost an eye and was left partly paralysed in the violence, has been held since December.
He has previously run up against Nigeria's secular authorities and has been imprisoned for calling for an Iranian-style revolution to create an Islamic state in the country's north.
"Political and military authorities in Nigeria should heed the Commission's recommendations and take immediate steps to hold those responsible for the illegal use of lethal force to account and to pay compensation to the victims," said Mausi Segun, Nigeria researcher at Human Rights Watch.
"The authorities should release El Zakzaky and [his wife] Zeenat from detention, or bring credible charges against the couple in a properly constituted court."

A helicopter dropped containers of toxic gas overnight on a town in Syria's Idlib province, a rescue service operating in rebel-held territory said on Tuesday.
Raed Saleh, head of the Syrian Civil Defense group, told Al Jazeera that 33 civilians, including 18 women and 10 children, were brought to a local hospital after the attack.
"Just before midnight helicopters dropped five explosive barrels containing cylinders of chlorine and shards of metal on neighborhoods in Saraqeb," he said.
"We suspect it was chlorine because of the smell and the nature of the injuries - suffocation and burning, red eyes. Members of the civil defense brought them all to the nearby hospital."
The group, a network of volunteer search and rescue workers also known as the White Helmets that operates exclusively in rebel-held areas, posted a video on YouTube purportedly showing a number of men struggling to breathe and being given oxygen masks by rescue workers.
Two of the injured were in critical condition, Saleh said.
The Syrian government and its Russian allies were not immediately available for comment.
'Not the first time'
"In Saraqeb… this is not the first time that activists have reported barrels bombs being dropped that contain chlorine gas. We were told of an attack that happened last May, also in Saraqeb. And then, also, there was an attack … that happened just a month prior… close to Saraqeb," Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from Gaziantep along the Turkey-Syria border, said.
"This area is very close to the part of Idlib in which the Russian helicopter was downed yesterday. We’re told it’s about 15km from where the helicopter went down in rebel-held territory."
Russia's defence ministry said a Russian helicopter was shot down near Saraqeb on Monday, killing all five soldiers on board, in the biggest officially acknowledged loss of life for Russian forces since they started operations in Syria in October 2015.
The helicopter came down in Idlib province, roughly mid-way between Aleppo and the Russian air force base at Khmeimim, near the Mediterranean coast.
“Several activists are wondering if this is a retaliatory attack for the downing of the helicopter," said Jamjoom.
No group has claimed responsibility for shooting down the helicopter.
Syria's government has repeatedly been accused of dropping barrel bombs loaded with chemicals, on rebel-held areas.
Since the conflict began in 2011, there have more than 160 chemical attacks in Syria, according to the Syrian American Medical Society.
"The 161 documented chemical attacks have led to at least 1,491 deaths and 14,581 injuries from chemical exposure," SAMS said in a report published in March.
Another 133 chemical attacks were reported in addition to the 161 documented in the reported, but SAMS said the claims "could not be fully substantiated”.

US warplanes have carried out air strikes on positions of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the Libyan city of Sirte for the first time, the country's unity government head announced.
"The first American air strikes on precise positions of the Daesh (ISIL) organisation were carried out today, causing heavy losses ... in Sirte," Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj said in a televised speech on Monday.
The Pentagon said the raids were launched in response to a request from the unity government, the Government of National Authority (GNA).
Al Jazeera's Rosiland Jordan, reporting from Washington DC, said that the Libyan army made the request after facing many booby traps, mines, and roadside bombs in and around Sirte.
"ISIL made it physically very difficult to follow them as ISIL strengthens their grip on the heart of the city," she said.
"These airstrikes are a way of clearing the terrain and making it safer for Libyan troops to advance."
But the fighting will become more complicated as it moves towards the heart of the city because there are many civilians there who could become caught in the crossfire, she noted.
Speaking to reporters, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said.Cook said the US will continue to carry out air operations in coordination with the GNA.
"The specific targets will be precision targets," Cook said. "One of the targets struck today was a tank... the United States military will be rigorously involved in every step of the process.
"We don't have an end point [for the bombing campaign] at this particularly moment of time... we certainly hope that this something that does not require a lengthy amount of time."
The Tripoli-based GNA launched an operation in May to retake the ISIL bastion of Sirte, the hometown of slain ruler Muammar Gaddafi, which the fighters have controlled since June 2015
The fall of Sirte, 450 kilometres east of Tripoli, would be a major blow to ISIL, which has also faced a series of setbacks in Syria and Iraq.
The battle for Sirte has killed around 280 pro-government fighters and wounded more than 1,500, according to medical sources at the unity forces' command centre.
The pro-GNA forces are mostly made up of militias from western Libya established during the 2011 revolt that overthrew Qaddafi.
A militia set up to guard the country's main oil facilities has also been advancing on ISIL.
The GNA was the result of a UN-brokered power-sharing agreement struck in December, but it has yet to be endorsed by Libya's elected parliament based in the country's far east.

Syrian rebels have launched an offensive aimed at breaking a government siege of eastern Aleppo, where the UN estimates some 300,000 people are trapped with dwindling food and medical supplies.
A rebel alliance that includes the Jabhat Fatah al Sham group - which was formerly the al-Qaeda linked Nusra Front - and the Ahrar al Sham group said it had taken army positions in the southwestern government-held parts of the city within the first few hours of launching a battle to break the siege imposed on rebel-held areas.
Al Jazeera's Milad Fadel, who is embedded with Syrian rebels on the edge of western Aleppo, said government forces have been preparing for an extended assault.
"Regime forces have several lines of defense protecting Aleppo’s western neighborhoods. This battle could last several days, or maybe even weeks," he said.
"They will first try to capture the nearby al-Hikmeh school, which is used by regime forces as a military unity. They will also try to capture nearby security points, advancing towards Aleppo’s western neighborhoods."
The Syrian army confirmed the offensive on state media but said its troops had pushed back rebel fighters from an airforce artillery base and denied the rebel alliance had captured the Hikma school.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which gathers information from a network of local informants, said rebels and pro-government forces were clashing along several fronts on the outskirts of the divided city.
Government forces closed off the last route to the opposition holdout in early July, replicating siege tactics that it has employed with mixed results throughout the war.
Seizing control of Aleppo would be the biggest victory for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in five years of fighting, and would demonstrate a dramatic shift of fortunes in his favour since Russia joined the war on his side last year, offering crucial air support.
The UN's special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, warned on Friday that basic supplies in eastern Aleppo could run out in three weeks.
The Syrian and Russian militaries announced safe corridors for residents who wanted to leave the besieged area on Thursday, but according to the Russian government, only 169 civilians had left by Saturday.
Rights groups have warned it is illegal to deprive civilians of basic necessities, and that residents should not have to choose between leaving their homes or starving.
Hospitals targeted
In southern Syria, an air strike on a hospital in an opposition-controlled town put the facility out of service opn Sunday.
The hospital in Jasem was targeted in one of several air strikes to hit the town in Deraa province, located some 50km south of Damascus, according to the Local Coordination Committees activist network.
The group said six people were killed in the strikes, blaming the government.
SOHR said the hospital strike killed a pharmacist and put the facility out of service.
Hospitals are regularly targeted in Syria's war, drawing condemnation from the UN and rights groups.
The New York-based Physicians for Human Rights says over 90 percent of attacks on medical facilities in Syria have been carried out by pro-government forces.
"This is just one of many instances where hospitals have been targeted in Syria. And at some point we have to say this is enough and people have to be held to account," Sanjayan Srikanthan, Deputy Executive Director of the International Rescue Committee, told Al Jazeera.
"Red lines have been declared by the international community and red lines have been ignored."
Push for peace talks
In the capital, Damascus, Ramzy Ramzy, the UN's deputy special envoy for Syria, reiterated the UN's intent to resume talks between the government and the opposition in late August, saying he discussed a political transition process with Foreign Minister Walid Moallem.
The opposition has demanded that Assad step down and whether it will agree to have him stay in power during a transition period or beyond is a key sticking point in negotiations.
"The minister confirmed the intention of the Syrian government to participate in these talks once they are held," said Ramzy.
De Mistura was simultaneously meeting with the Iranian deputy foreign minister in Tehran, a close ally of the Damascus government.
In Syria's north, a US-backed, Kurdish-led fighting force managed to secure control of 40 percent of Manbij, a vital satellite for the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group's de facto capital in Raqqa, according to the SOHR.
The latest advance by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) opened the way for some 2,300 additional civilians to evacuate the town, the monitor said.
A spokesman for the SDF, Sherfan Darwish, said between 40,000 and 50,000 civilians have been released from ISIL controlled areas over the course of the battle for the town, now entering its third month. He said the SDF controlled nearly three-quarters of Manbij.
De Mistura estimated in April that
400,000 people have been killed in the five years of bloody civil war.

Can u imagine?

#confused

























#space booked

#confused

•Demand restructuring •Clark says Ijaw not keen on secession
Ijaw leaders yesterday converged on Warri, Delta State, to review the state of the nation, and deplored the recent surge in sabotage of oil and gas installations by Niger Delta militants.
They said the activities of the militants have not in any way helped the people, and warned the brains behind the attacks to cease hostilities forthwith.
But they also asked the federal government to give serious attention to the various calls for the restructuring of the federation as it remains the only sustainable answer for all the crises facing the nation.
In a communiqué at the end of the meeting hosted by former Federal Commissioner for Information, Chief Edwin Clark, the Ijaw leaders expressed concern over the negative effect the bombing of the oil/gas installations has had on the nation’s economy.
The meeting, which had in attendance Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, the Delta State deputy governor, Mr. Kingsley Otuaro, and others from various parts of the region, also charged the federal government to show faith and disengage all ongoing military operations in Ijaw communities, especially Gbaramatu, forthwith.
They called for “the immediate restructuring of the Nigerian nation along the lines of peaceful federalism, noticed that thus is the panacea for the sustainable development of Nigeria.”
They said that the prevailing trend of executive/legislature faceoff in the country “is effecting negatively on governance” and advised both arms to work in harmony in the interest of the nation.
“The meeting also noted the non-inclusive policies of the present administration which has led to the alienation of some components of the federation particularly the Ijaw nation from the main stream of national development and call on Mr. President to redress this ugly state of affairs.
“The meeting also called on the federal government for the immediate release of the 10 innocent students of Gbaramatu kingdom.
“The meeting condemns the move to scrap the Nigerian Maritime University approved by the preceding federal government with temporary site at Kurutie and calls for the immediate takeoff of the university.
“The meeting passed a vote of confidence on the Chief Boma Oyofuri led leadership of the Ijaw National Congress.”
Declaring the meeting open earlier on, Chief Clark said that the generality of Ijaw people were more interested in a unified but restructured Nigeria than secession.
The meeting, according to him, was aimed at telling the world and the federal government that Ijaw leadership could not be sidetracked in the process of restoring peace and security in the Niger Delta.
He appealed to those threatening secession in the region tomorrow to rescind their threat.
On the reported peace talks between the federal government and some Niger Delta leaders, Clark said government had not consulted with Ijaw leaders on the matter, saying the success of any peace negotiation needed the input of Ijaw leaders.
Also speaking, Gov. Dickson commended Ijaw leaders for taking the initiative to find a solution to the escalating security situation in the Niger Delta region.
“I have said that there’s no need for more wars in the Niger Delta, certainly not in Ijaw land. The matter is not for war-war, it’s for jaw-jaw”, he said.
Also at the meeting were former Rivers State deputy governor, Sir Gabriel Toby; former Minister of Culture, Alabo Tonye Graham-Douglas ; former Minister of Police Affairs, Chief Broderick Bozimo; retired Justice Francis Tabai (JSC); Ijaw National Congress (INC) National President Chief Boma Obuoforibo; former chairman, Rivers State Civil Service Commission , Sir Ngo Martins Martyns-Yellowe, Pere Charles Ayimibotu, Pere of Seimbiri Kingdom; Mbene III, Ama-Okosu of Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom; and former Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Pastor Power Aginighan.

For millions of people around the world, physical and social isolation are fuelling chronic loneliness.
As a result, many researchers today fear solitude could be the next big public health issue, cutting years off people's lives.
Perhaps people like Silvia Pablo have something to share with the world - and teach it.
The 21-year-old Guatemalan in no stranger to loneliness. She was born with spina bifida and was shut inside her mother's house for 10 years after her father left them.
But Pablo says her faith kept her going and helped her overcome her daily struggles. Today she has own wheelchair and works at a factory.
"I think my happiness comes from God," she says. "Yes there are difficult times. But with God's help, we can overcome any obstacle or sad situation. We need to live the lives we're born into … and try to be happy through our faith."
And Pablo is not alone.
Despite high rates of violent crime, poverty and corruption, Guatemala is consistently in the top 10 of happiest countries in the world.
"Guatemala is often found near the top of the global list for inequality and violence; more than 50 per cent of the population lives in poverty and around 13 people are murdered every day," Al Jazeera's David Mercer said from Antigua.
"Yet some international polls report that people here are some of the happiest in the world."
'Resilience is key'
Psychologist Andres Pinto says that in addition to faith and family, resilience is key to helping people in the country fight off loneliness, anxiety and depression.
"Many Guatemalans have suffered a lot, and don't have much to lose," he says. "When they encounter problems they know they have to work hard to overcome them. Of course we're not all like this, but resilient people can teach us a lot."
But Pablo likes to put it a different way.
Happy people are not those who have the most, she says, but those who are most grateful for what they have.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/07/guatemala-world-happiest-countries-160730204910287.html

hungryboy:
The partition of Syria and the removal of Assad was and is still is America's primary aim there, so am not surprised by this man's pronouncement.
Funny thing is, the more they Americans and their allies try to destroy Syria by arming every Jihadist and labelling 'em freedom fighters and rebels,
The more the Russians and Assad's forces win back more territories by killing those so called rebels.
Am still glued to my TV set, trying to see how the
Humanitarian corridor and a call for surrender

Assad gave to the rebels will work out in Aleppo.
Long live Assad,
Long live Putin,
And long live every soldier fighting to rid Syria and Iraq of American sponsored Jihadists

That's how US behaves always. They equip rebels against any government not favouring them or not acknowledging them as world power.
If such government go against such rebels with arms US will say they are committing war crimes.

John Brennan fears it may be impossible to save Syria from partition, amid conflict in which nearly 400,000 have died.
Brennan: "I don't know whether or not Syria can be put back together again." [Reuters]
The head of the US Central Intelligence Agency has said he is not optimistic about the future of Syria remaining one country.
John Brennan's comments are a rare public acknowledgement by a senior US official that Syria may not survive a five-year civil war in its current state.
"I don't know whether or not Syria can be put back together again," he said on Friday at the annual Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.
"There’s been so much blood spilled, I don’t know if we’re going to be able to get back to [a unified Syria] in my life time."
John Kerry, US secretary of state, expressed similar fears in February, saying he would move towards a "Plan B" that could involve a partition of Syria if a ceasefire did not materialise in advance of peace talks in March.
"It may be too late ot keep it as a whole Syria if we wait much longer," Kerry told the US Senate foreign relations committee.
Air strike hits maternity hospital in Syria's Idlib
However, he did not directly advocate for partition as a solution.
Several weeks later, Staffan de Mistura, UN envoy to Syria, said the possiblity of a federal division of the country had not been taken off the table.
At the time, major powers close to the UN-brokered talks discussed a potential federal break-up of the country , which would grant broad autonomy to regional authorities, while maintaining the country's unity as a single state.
"All Syrians have rejected the division [of Syria] and federalism can be discussed at the negotiations," De Mistura told Al Jazeera in March.
President Bashar al-Assad pledged in June to "liberate every inch" of the country lost to rebel forces.
After five years of war that have left nearly 400,000 people dead, according to UN estimates, and driven about 11 million people from their homes, Syrian territory has been carved up and divided between the government and its allies, Kurdish fighters, various opposition groups and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group.
The Syrian opposition has categorically rejected the idea of federalism.
"Any mention of federalism or something which might present a direction for dividing Syria is not acceptable at all," Riad Hijab, coordinator for the opposition's High Negotiations Committee (HNC), said when the idea was proposed in March.
In contrast, the Syrian Kurdish PYD party, which has wide influence over the country's Kurdish areas, and several allied groups announced in March plans to create an autonomous federation in the northeast.
The autonomous region, known as Rojava, includes Jazira, Kobani and Afrin - three distinct enclaves, or cantons, under Kurdish control.

And this story made front page........

•50 years after, Nigeria is yet to learn useful lessons from their assassination
It is exactly 50 years today that the counter-coup of 1966 was executed by soldiers, largely of northern extraction. One event that stood out in the process was the execution of the Head of State, Major-Gen. Johnson Thomas Umunakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi and Col. Adekunle Fajuyi, in Ibadan. Aguiyi-Ironsi who had emerged the major beneficiary of the January coup d’état was on an official visit to the Western Region where Col. Fajuyi was governor when incensed officers led by Captain Theophilus Danjuma decided to avenge what they considered the iniquitous Igbo coup of January.
A gallant officer, Col. Fajuyi would not allow them lay hands on his guests since it would amount to a betrayal and would send out a wrong signal. Rather, he offered to suffer the same fate.
We remember today, the events of those turbulent days from which the country is yet to recover. Inter-ethnic relations have been marked by mutual suspicion, nepotism that breeds poor governance and underdevelopment. It was in response to this that the federal character principle was first enshrined in the constitution in 1979, to promote equity, balance and allay fears and mistrust.
However, the principle has, since then, been observed more in the breach. Successive administrations are largely populated by members of the ethnic group to which the leader belongs. This is the case even with the current administration. Many Nigerians from the south have been complaining about its composition. Appointments are hardly made on merit or on well spelt out criteria. Only recently, a new Inspector-General of Police was appointed and the career of dozens of Deputy Inspectors- General of Police and senior Assistant Inspectors-General of Police had to be sacrificed in order to get the preferred candidate.
The quota system of admission into schools that allows some students who score below 20% gain admission into federal institutions while preventing more brilliant students’ access to the same colleges and universities has not only promoted mediocrity but engendered bitterness in younger Nigerians.
Unless the trend is checked, Nigeria’s bid to catch up with the developed countries and become a true giant of Africa will remain a mirage. The challenge before leaders at all levels is to promote integration, justice and fair play. To achieve this, we need to break down the partition walls between the earthly groups and religions, thus promoting the concept of one Nigeria. Pernicious mal-administration has been the result of the post-1966 political system. It would take a fundamental, deliberate and sustained campaign for nationalism and patriotism to effect the necessary changes and build a new Nigeria.
The qualities of Col. Fajuyi – courage, selflessness, patriotism and nationalism are missing in today’s Nigeria. They are values that must be restored and replicated in the current crop of leaders. We are in the same canoe and must paddle together to get to the shore safely. The decay in national institutions, deepening economic crisis and rise in sectarianism could be traced directly to the absence of such virtues and values. Scholars and patriots owe the country a duty of coming up with a viable formula of recruiting leaders.
Ironically, Gen. Aguiyi-Ironsi had to be killed because he introduced the Unification Decree No. (34) of 1966 which sought to weld together the ethnic groups as one unit run from the centre. Coming immediately after the January 1966 coup, it aroused anger from the north that had lost a generation of leaders. It also compounded the fears that the Igbo were out for domination.
General Aguiyi-Ironsi and Colonel Fajuyi were killed, but Nigeria is yet to learn the needed lessons. Half a century after, there is now a need to reappraise the national, institutional, cultural and socio-political milieu that has continued to promote mediocrity and underdevelopment.

Imagine, 6 laptops for the whole country.!



What are they insinuating

EpicMaurice:
Make una check am well oh.
Its probably made of plastic, rubber or tomatoe tin

I bet you, if they give you plastic,rubber and tomato tin you can't make anything from it!


#dummy