₦airaland Forum

I no talk am? Hear wetin the guy de yan?

If this had been a private building, the guy would have been boasting about how they managed to alert the occupants before the building came down! This is a building right there in Alausa, how come they did not get these people out before the building came down?


Friday, 16 December 2011 00:05
Five trapped as LASG building collapses
Written by  Sesan Olufowobi

A building near the Lagos State Government Secretariat in Alausa, Ikeja collapsed, on Thursday, trapping five persons and throwing the area into confusion.

Eyewitnesses, including civil servants, told our correspondent that the collapsed one storey building belonged to the state Lands Bureau, under the Governor’s Office. They also added that the building, which was under construction, collapsed around 2.30pm while some carpenters were working on its ceiling.

One of the workers, who pleaded anonymity, said the building had been marked for demolition by the Ministry of Physical Planning. He claimed the warning was ignored by the builders. He added that the building went down without giving any sign that it would collapse.


The worker said, “I was eating with one of my colleagues in the office when Engineer Oki arrived. He immediately went into the building to check the carpenters who were working there. My colleague  went to meet him. About two persons were also in the building.

“Suddenly we just heard strange noise and we saw that the building was no longer there. We rushed out because we knew people were in the building. We have been communicating with some of them. They are still alive.”

Our correspondent learnt that apart from the civil servants that were trapped in the building, the carpenter that was working on the ceiling, was also trapped. A man suspected to be his boss was observed running wildly from one section of the building to the other.

Other workers at the Alausa secretariat also stood near the scene waiting for news about their colleagues that were trapped in the collapsed building.

The efforts of the state Emergency Management Agency, which had arrived the scene promptly, later paid off as one of the trapped victims, Oki, was rescued. Our correspodent reports that efforts were on to rescue more victims as at press time, but no success had been recorded.

“At any rate, I am not in a position to tell you what actually went wrong. My job here is to rescue people and I know we are doing that to the best of our abilities.”

But a statement from the state Ministry of Environment, on Thursday, said the collapse occured during a demolition ordered by Governor Babatunde Fashola. The spokesman for the ministry, Mr. Fola Adeyemi, who signed the statement, also claimed that only a section of the building caved in.

Adeyemi said, “In the process of the pulling down, a section of the structure caved in and trapped some of the demolition squad members who were eventually rescued by Lagos State rescue team comprising LASEMA, Fire Service and LASAMBUS.

“The head of the squad, Mr. Kunle Adeniyi, confirmed that the caving in of the structure was a confirmation of the earlier suspected defect.

“It is heartwarming to report that no loss of lives was recorded.”

However, the statement did not explain why the building was pulled down while workers were still preparing it for demolition as Adeyemi claimed.

http://www.punchng.com/index.php/news/item/7902-five-trapped-as-lasg-building-collapses?tmpl=component&print=1

Any soja man [/i]in the the house to interprete the picture for us [i]bloody civilians?

You have misintepreted the picture.

That military officer's (the chief of army staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika) hand is on its way down, after saluting the president!

Where is the GM of LASEMA, who is always quick to speak in the media when similar incidents happen?

I want to hear what he has said about this!

^^^

Good question!

You have misintepreted the picture.

That military officer's (the chief of army staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika) hand is on its way down, after saluting the president!

Tension as Lagos govt insists on toll collection
On December 16, 2011 · In Special Report

BY INNOCENT ANABA, DAPO AKINREFON & GBENGA OKE

With just two days to the planned commencement of tolls collection at Admiralty Circle plaza on the ever-busy Lekki –Eti-Osa Expressway, palpable anxiety is already being generated in the area as residents of Eti-Osa, Epe and Ibeju-Lekki have vowed to resist the move.

Messrs Lekki Concession Company Limited LCC, the concessionaire handling the expansion of the 49 kilometre road, had early this month, announced December 18, as the new date for the commencement of tolls collection on the road. The company hinged its decision to begin tolls collection on the first toll plaza on its provision of alternative routes to motorists who may not be favourably disposed to the payment of toll.

The decision which is coming barely one year after the Babatunde Fashola led government suspended the initial move to toll the road, was immediately resisted by the residents and other stakeholders.

The Lekki-Epe axis houses both the highbrow and poor segments of the Lagos population.  The reality on ground is that majority of the residents of Lekki-Epe corridor are the struggling masses – farmers,  fishermen and labourers.

The decision to single out that area of Lagos for a Public Private Partnership PPP, and the length of time granted to the concessionaire (Lekki Concession Company Limited, LCC) to recoup their money, have been faulted by many concerned Lagosians. They are not comfortable with the contents of the agreement between the Government and LCC, the rate of construction of the road and the haste with the  company wants to commence collecting tolls.

Residents kick, plan 10,000 man march
Already, community leaders from Lekki are threatening to mobilise over 10,000 aggrieved protesters in 73 estates in Lekki, Etiosa and Ibeju lekki to block the road should the LCC go ahead with the plan.

The Lekki-Epe Toll gate

At a press briefing at the Ikota Shopping Complex, representatives of the Residents’ Association called on the LCC and the Lagos State Governor not to create what they called “uncontrollable chaos” in Lagos with the planned tolling against the wishes of the people.

Speaking at the event, the Acting Chairman of the Lekki-Eti-osa-Epe Residents Association, Mr. Abioye Akerele, said: “We are peace loving people and the government should not take our posture for granted.  This road that they want to toll, has been existing for over twenty years and if LCC came to add an additional lane, they cannot insist on tolling the already existing lanes.

It is unacceptable that those of us who are from here will have to pay money to enter our ancestral homes.   It is totally unacceptable. There are over 73 villages along this axis made up of peasant people; how does government expect them to cope with the attendant rise in cost of living that will arise from the tolling?”

Mr. Akerele warned the government of the possible consequences of going ahead with the plan. His words: “We will have no choice than to call out our people to protest this move and we don’t know what that might lead to.”

[b]A lawyer, Mr. Ebun Olu Adegboruwa, said the government was toying with the lives of Lagosians and deliberately discriminating against the people of Eti-osa by putting three toll gates in one local government when none exists in other parts of the state where the state government is undertaking development projects.  He also accused the government of not being sincere with Lagosians over the construction and tolling of the [/b]road and the concession agreement with LCC.

“The Lagos State Government in 2005 borrowed $43million from a bank in South Africa for LCC to begin construction of the Lekki-Epe road using lands in that axis as collateral.  Why are they now talking about tolling the road as though LCC is using their own money to construct the road?”

Continuing, he said:”What have the people of Ibeju Lekki done that the governor is talking about tolling the only developmental project that this administration is undertaking here when it is not doing the same thing in other parts of Lagos?  I recommend that the tolling should begin from other parts of Lagos like Surulere, Bode Thomas, Adeniran Ogunsanya, and so on.”


Adegboruwa also disclosed that he has already instituted a legal action against the LCC, the Lagos State Government and three others.  Unable to get the matter heard at the Lagos State High Court, he took it to the Federal High Court which later referred it back to the Lagos State High Court for hearing.  He said that following the announcement of the commencement of tolling, he filed a restraining order on the LCC, the Lagos State Government and three others from commencing tolling pending the determination of the matters in suit no. CA/L/1170M/2011.



Adegboruwa urged the parties, particularly the Lagos State Governor, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, respect due process by maintaining the status quo pending the determination of the matters.

LCC reacts
[b]In its reaction, the LCC faulted claims made by Adegboruwa alleging misrepresentations and misinformation on issues relating to the toll gate fee.

In a press statement made available to Vanguard, the company said: “The attention of Lekki Concession Company Limited LCC, has been drawn to various news media reports, including on radio and in the print media, extensively quoting one Mr. Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, a legal practitioner, who has persistently misrepresented and misinformed the public about his various claims to have a pending suit or suits in court to restrain the Lagos State Government and LCC from proceeding with the collection of tolls along the Eti-Osa Lekki-Epe Expressway, including  a purported application for injunction filed on the December 2011 before the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, also by the same Mr. Adegboruwa.”



Although we have patiently observed while Mr.Adegboruwa’s misrepresentations and misinformation have continued, including his attempts to incite the public to civil disobedience and disorder, which we believe is conduct unbecoming of the noble legal profession to which Mr. Adegboruwa belongs, LCC now feels compelled, in view of his persistent misinformation and misrepresentation, to advise the general public of the true facts.”

Setting the records straight, they company said: “On 23rd August 2010, Mr. Adegboruwa filed a suit in the Lagos High Court seeking to restrain the Lagos State Government and LCC from commencing the collection of tolls or proceeding with the concessioning of the Eti-Osa Lekki-Epe Expressway.

Hearing commenced on 28th September 2010, and arising from Mr. Adegboruwa’s denial of the existence of an alternative route for motorists who do not wish to pay the tolls, the court conducted a physical visit to the locus in quo on 11th November 2010, and recorded its findings, which demonstrated that Mr. Adegboruwa’s allegations were false for the most part, and were misleading in others. After continuing tactical delays by Mr. Adegboruwa, the Court on 21st February 2011 that is six months after filing his suit, firmly called upon Mr. Adegboruwa to present his arguments on his substantive suit. Mr. Adegboruwa was again unable, or unprepared, to present any arguments.”

“The case was therefore struck out on the said 21st February 2011, with a verdict that Mr. Adegboruwa shall pay costs to both the Lagos State Government and LCC. Assessment of the quantum of costs to be paid by Mr. Adegboruwa, which was to be carried out by the Chief Registrar, remains pending at the Lagos High Court, as Mr. Adegboruwa has resorted to all manner of tactics to frustrate such assessment, and LCC has since petitioned the Chief Judge against such unfair tactics,” LCC said.

It pointed out that “immediately after his loss at the Lagos High Court, Mr. Adegboruwa on 22 February 2011 filed a fresh suit on the same facts, at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, seeking exactly the same remedies which he had failed to substantiate at the Lagos High Court. This case was also struck out of court on 11th July 2011 by the Federal High Court, which gave an order that the matter be transferred to the Lagos High Court as the appropriate court for such a matter.”

Faulting Adegboruwa’s claims, it stressed that “unable or unwilling to comply with the Federal High Court directive, Mr. Adegboruwa then filed a Notice of Appeal to the Court of Appeal on 13th July 2011. However, till date, Mr. Adegboruwa failed to compile the record or to take the proper steps required for the appeal to be properly constituted before the Court of Appeal. Not having taken any such steps, but following the recent announcement by the Lagos State Government lifting its suspension of commencement of tolling, Mr. Adegboruwa then purported to file an application for Injunction before the Court of Appeal on December 7, 2011, and has continued to misrepresent to the media, and to the general public, that he has a proper case before the courts, when, in fact, he has failed to substantiate any of his cases so far, and has also not succeeded in obtaining any injunction restraining commencement of tolling so far.

Rather than properly pursue the natural course of justice, Mr. Adegboruwa has brazenly continued to resort to trial by media, and to attempting to incite civil disorder and disobedience, which behavior he was cautioned against by the High Court on January 11, 2011.”
[/b]

While urging Lagosians not to be perturbed with the claims made by the lawyer, LCC said “the general public is encouraged to take note of the true facts of this matter and to discountenance the misinformation and misrepresentations by the aforesaid Mr. Adegboruwa. The status quo regarding the Eti-Osa Lekki-Epe Expressway remains as announced by the Lagos State Government, since no injunction restraining the collection of tolls has been issued by any court of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Obanikoro faults govt
Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Ghana, Senator Musiliu Olatunde Obanikoro described as insensitive, the announcement by the state government to collect fees at the toll gate mounted on Lekki axis of the state.

Obanikoro, in a press release personally signed, said he has followed the development since it came into the public domain and was surprised at the level of insensitivity exhibited by the state government against the tide of public outcry.

The High Commissioner who was Senator between 2003 and 2007 cited the toll gate controversy as a related development.

According to him, “despite the absence of alternative access to road users along Lekki axis of the state, the ACN-led government has decided to inflict more pains on the people of this state. There is no reasonable and sensitive government anywhere in the world where people are not given the option to choose between toll and non-toll roads. It is obvious the ACN government has outlived its usefulness.”

Continuing, Obanikoro said the state government will not get away with this “because it is unacceptable, insensitive, insensate and completely anti-people”.

Residents and motorist berate plan
Aside Obanikoro, motorists and residents have been airing their grievances on the state government’s resolve to commence collection of toll fees at Lekki.

On his part, Mr. Yinka Odumakin called on the “government  to make an alternative route for people who do not want to pay tolls.

According to him, “it is not everybody that could afford to pay toll fee at  three points before going to his office or house and does it mean that if you do not have money to pay, you won’t go out to find your daily bread or you have to stay indoors for the day if you could not afford toll fee”.

“It is not responsible for government to resurface an existing road and ask people to come and pay toll fee. So government needs to open a route for those who may not be able to pay the toll fee”, he added.

A Red Cab driver, Mr Olajide wondered why government would bring back the toll gates after demolishing them.

Also, a Lagos-based businessman, Mr.  John Akhiemen said “I am not really surprised with the development. People were commending the government for the suspension but deep down inside me, I knew it was just a gimmick because of the election which was  coming up. Is it not suspicious that the Governor waited until the local government elections last month to rescind his decision? Well, we would see how far they can go with this one, but as for me,  it is highly disappointing of the governor”.


Leader of the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), Comrade Debo Adeniran, also criticized the planned tolling of the road.  He described it as “a manifestation of the capitalist mentality of the ACN that will deepen the rift between the rich and the poor.”


Mr. Adeniran wondered why any government will want to turn the freedom of movement to an exclusive preserve of the rich by forcing indigenes of those communities to pay whenever they are returning to their ancestral homes.

Lagos ACN calls for understanding
[b]Similarly, the  Publicity Secretary of the ACN, Joe Igbokwe, explained that the Lekki-Epe Expressway was concessioned to a company, adding that the toll was natural since the company must recover what it spent on the road.

He called on Lagosians to demonstrate understanding on the issue. “We want to point out that alternative roads have been provided for those that do not want to pay. We believe this is fair enough to encourage competent companies to invest in our decaying infrastructure.”

The party’s spokesperson noted that concessioning was a way of saving funds for other sectors. “If we acknowledge that Lagos requires over $50 billion to build and upgrade its infrastructural needs, we will see the wisdom in getting companies to build, manage and transfer some critical infrastructure in Lagos.”

Igbokwe explained that Lagos was experiencing massive population pressure everyday, which put great challenge on the resources of the state. He said the government alone could not meet the demand.

While calling for understanding, he urged “Lagosians to understand that the little toll paid on the Lekki-Epe Expressway is only a little price we all must pay to get standard infrastructure and encourage others to come here and deliver better infrastructures in our state.”
[/b]

Lagos PDP wants plan aborted
On its part, the Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, cautioned Governor Fashola to shelve the planned commencement of tolling on the Lekki-Epe axis.
It however, said the move was aimed avoid overheating the already tensed polity.

According to the party, this is the period in the life of the State that Lagosians should enjoy true social services commensurate to the huge taxes they have paid to the state.

In a statement by its publicity secretary, Mr Taofik Gani, the party lampooned the state governor for attempting to defend what it described as “the outrageous commissions paid to the state tax consultant Alpha Beta, confirmed that the state’s Internally Generated Revenue, (IGR) is now at the highest.”

The party also faulted the planned tolling of the said Lekki –Epe Express road concessionaire agreement noting that the plan is “tainted with fraud and we challenge the governor to make public the full contents of the agreement for Lagosians to know if indeed it is in their interest to pay tolls.”


Reiterating its stand, it said “for the umpteenth time, we state emphatically that Lagos State and its Local Governments collect the highest federal allocations and IGR in the whole 36 states, yet at least 65 per cent of the assumed developments were done by Concessionaires, NGOs, FG; and individual philanthropists.”

Continuing, it stated that “it should be noted that any tolled road must have alternative road. This is not the case in this Lekki-Epe Express road. The purported alternative Oniru road is through a Private Estate that can be shut at anytime as the owners so wish.”

While warning of dire consequences if the state government goes ahead with the toll gate collection, it maintained that the governor has “indeed betrayed the public trust and thus no longer fit to enjoy the people’s vote of confidence.”

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/12/tension-as-lagos-govt-insists-on-toll-collection/

Thursday, 15 December 2011 00:02

Hoodlums regroup in Oshodi, dispossess motorists of valuables

Written by Eniola Akinkuotu



When on January 4, 2009, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, began demolition of the popular Oshodi Market for security reasons and to ensure free flow of traffic, the move was welcomed by many residents who dreaded the hitherto hotbed of crimes.



Similarly, the then Chairman of the Task Force, Mr. Bayo Suleiman, a Superintendent of Police, said the exercise was meant to curb the crime rate in the area, particularly at night and to ensure law and order in the state and in furtherance of the ongoing beautification of the state.

However, less than three years after the transformation of Oshodi and its environs, hoodlums have now regrouped terrorising motorists and passersby both day and night.

PUNCH METRO learnt that the hoodlums, who usually move around in large numbers, capitalise on the perennial traffic congestion along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, to dispossess motorists of their valuables especially in daytime.

A victim, who identified himself simply as Emmanuel, said, "About two weeks ago, I was driving on the expressway and and on reaching Charity Bus Stop, I was caught up in a traffic jam when some hoodlums numbering about six, gathered around my car and started hitting the windscreen.

"They demanded N10, 000 from me and threatened to vandalise my car and kill me if I did not cooperate with them.

"One of them had already started removing my side mirrors when I saw this , I decided to give them all the money I had but they were not satisfied. Consequently, they took my mobile phone and wristwatch before running away."

Emmanuel added that while he was being robbed, he was surprised that no one in the vicinity raised the alarm.

"The robbery took place at about 4pm. Usually, one would think such a robbery could not happen in the daytime because Oshodi is such a busy area but it did.

"I reported the incident at the Ilupeju Police Division but the police said it was not within their jurisdiction but promised to report the incident to the necessary police authorities."

Another victim who identified herself simply as Aishat, a student of Olabisi Onabanjo University, said the hoodlums usually laid siege to the expressway, pretending to be hawkers soliciting for customers.

She said, "Two weeks ago, I was in a car with my aunt’s driver and as we were ascending the bridge popularly called ‘Oshodi Oke,’ about six thugs from nowhere, gathered around the car and started hitting the windscreen.

"They were already attempting to remove the side mirror when I asked them what they wanted. They demanded N5,000 and threatened to vandalise the vehicle if we did not cooperate with them."

Aishat added that although the hoodlums were not armed, the manner with which they operated was enough to evoke fear in anyone.

When our correspondent visited the area on Tuesday, many residents in the area however claimed to be unaware of such phenomenon.

A member of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, who identified himself simply as Taofeeq, said daylight robbery was almost impossible in Oshodi due to the busy nature of the area.

He said, "NURTW members are always on the lookout to ensure that hoodlums do not take over the expressway because we make our money along the expressway and we do not want the government to point fingers at us as culprits.

"I think only a foolhardy person would carry out daylight robberies in Oshodi. Even petty thieves are not as common as before because whenever they get caught, they get lynched or beaten to a pulp before being handed over to the police."

Taofeeq however admitted that there were hoodlums who usually "obtained" money from motorists who were driving around in unregistered vehicles.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the state police command, Mr. Samuel Jinadu, said the police were aware of the phenomenon and added that measures were being taken to restore sanity in the area.

http://www.punchng.com/index.php/news/punch-metro/item/7780-hoodlums-regroup-in-oshodi-dispossess-motorists-of-valuables

, Census shows 1 in 2 people are poor or low-income
Nearly half of Americans are low-income as rising expenses, unemployment shrink middle class

By Hope Yen, Associated Press | AP – 2 hours 59 minutes ago
,
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Squeezed by rising living costs, a record number of Americans — nearly 1 in 2 — have fallen into poverty or are scraping by on earnings that classify them as low income.

The latest census data depict a middle class that's shrinking as unemployment stays high and the government's safety net frays. The new numbers follow years of stagnating wages for the middle class that have hurt millions of workers and families.

"Safety net programs such as food stamps and tax credits kept poverty from rising even higher in 2010, but for many low-income families with work-related and medical expenses, they are considered too 'rich' to qualify," said Sheldon Danziger, a University of Michigan public policy professor who specializes in poverty.

"The reality is that prospects for the poor and the near poor are dismal," he said. "If Congress and the states make further cuts, we can expect the number of poor and low-income families to rise for the next several years."

Congressional Republicans and Democrats are sparring over legislation that would renew a Social Security payroll tax cut, part of a year-end political showdown over economic priorities that could also trim unemployment benefits, freeze federal pay and reduce entitlement spending.

Robert Rector, a senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, questioned whether some people classified as poor or low-income actually suffer material hardship. He said that while safety-net programs have helped many Americans, they have gone too far, citing poor people who live in decent-size homes, drive cars and own wide-screen TVs.

"There's no doubt the recession has thrown a lot of people out of work and incomes have fallen," Rector said. "As we come out of recession, it will be important that these programs promote self-sufficiency rather than dependence and encourage people to look for work."

Mayors in 29 cities say more than 1 in 4 people needing emergency food assistance did not receive it. Many middle-class Americans are dropping below the low-income threshold — roughly $45,000 for a family of four — because of pay cuts, a forced reduction of work hours or a spouse losing a job. Housing and child-care costs are consuming up to half of a family's income.

States in the South and West had the highest shares of low-income families, including Arizona, New Mexico and South Carolina, which have scaled back or eliminated aid programs for the needy. By raw numbers, such families were most numerous in California and Texas, each with more than 1 million.

The struggling Americans include Zenobia Bechtol, 18, in Austin, Texas, who earns minimum wage as a part-time pizza delivery driver. Bechtol and her 7-month-old baby were recently evicted from their bedbug-infested apartment after her boyfriend, an electrician, lost his job in the sluggish economy.

After an 18-month job search, Bechtol's boyfriend now works as a waiter and the family of three is temporarily living with her mother.

"We're paying my mom $200 a month for rent, and after diapers and formula and gas for work, we barely have enough money to spend," said Bechtol, a high school graduate who wants to go to college. "If it weren't for food stamps and other government money for families who need help, we wouldn't have been able to survive."

About 97.3 million Americans fall into a low-income category, commonly defined as those earning between 100 and 199 percent of the poverty level, based on a new supplemental measure by the Census Bureau that is designed to provide a fuller picture of poverty. Together with the 49.1 million who fall below the poverty line and are counted as poor, they number 146.4 million, or 48 percent of the U.S. population. That's up by 4 million from 2009, the earliest numbers for the newly developed poverty measure.

The new measure of poverty takes into account medical, commuting and other living costs. Doing that helped push the number of people below 200 percent of the poverty level up from 104 million, or 1 in 3 Americans, that was officially reported in September.

Broken down by age, children were most likely to be poor or low-income — about 57 percent — followed by seniors over 65. By race and ethnicity, Hispanics topped the list at 73 percent, followed by blacks, Asians and non-Hispanic whites.

Even by traditional measures, many working families are hurting.

Following the recession that began in late 2007, the share of working families who are low income has risen for three straight years to 31.2 percent, or 10.2 million. That proportion is the highest in at least a decade, up from 27 percent in 2002, according to a new analysis by the Working Poor Families Project and the Population Reference Bureau, a nonprofit research group based in Washington.

Among low-income families, about one-third were considered poor while the remainder — 6.9 million — earned income just above the poverty line. Many states phase out eligibility for food stamps, Medicaid, tax credit and other government aid programs for low-income Americans as they approach 200 percent of the poverty level.

The majority of low-income families — 62 percent — spent more than one-third of their earnings on housing, surpassing a common guideline for what is considered affordable. By some census surveys, child-care costs consume close to another one-fifth.

Paychecks for low-income families are shrinking. The inflation-adjusted average earnings for the bottom 20 percent of families have fallen from $16,788 in 1979 to just under $15,000, and earnings for the next 20 percent have remained flat at $37,000. In contrast, higher-income brackets had significant wage growth since 1979, with earnings for the top 5 percent of families climbing 64 percent to more than $313,000.

A survey of 29 cities conducted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors being released Thursday points to a gloomy outlook for those on the lower end of the income scale.

Many mayors cited the challenges of meeting increased demands for food assistance, expressing particular concern about possible cuts to federal programs such as food stamps and WIC, which assists low-income pregnant women and mothers. Unemployment led the list of causes of hunger in cities, followed by poverty, low wages and high housing costs.

Across the 29 cities, about 27 percent of people needing emergency food aid did not receive it. Kansas City, Mo., Nashville, Tenn., Sacramento, Calif., and Trenton, N.J., were among the cities that pointed to increases in the cost of food and declining food donations, while Mayor Michael McGinn in Seattle cited an unexpected spike in food requests from immigrants and refugees, particularly from Somalia, Burma and Bhutan.

Among those requesting emergency food assistance, 51 percent were in families, 26 percent were employed, 19 percent were elderly and 11 percent were homeless.

"People who never thought they would need food are in need of help," said Mayor Sly James of Kansas City, Mo., who co-chairs a mayors' task force on hunger and homelessness.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/census-shows-1-2-people-103940568.html

johnie:
The city of Paris dropped its complaint against Mr. Chirac in return for a payment of more than $3 million, which was provided by Mr. Chirac and the governing Union for a Popular Movement party, the successor to Mr. Chirac’s party.

Mr. Chirac had been protected by immunity from all prosecutions while he was president of France, and after he left office in 2007, his lawyers have fought to avoid a trial.

Paddy Paddy (PDP) Arrangement

johnie:
The current foreign minister, Alain Juppé, was a deputy financial adviser to Mr. Chirac at city hall and was general secretary of his party. Mr. Juppé was convicted in 2004 on similar charges; he received an 18-month suspended jail sentence and lost the right to run for political office for 10 years. He appealed and had his sentence reduced.

Alain Juppé:  I dey Kampe

Abuja: From jungle to world centre in 20 years


Written by Sulaimon Olanrewaju Wednesday, 14 December 2011

On Monday, Abuja, the federal capital, turned 20 years as the seat of government. Sulaimon Olanrewaju writes on events that have shaped the burgeoning African capital.

NONE of the minds that conceived the idea of relocating the federal capital from Lagos to Abuja would believe the transformation that has come upon the new federal capital city since the seat of government moved there on 12 December, 1991. The place once described as a jungle has become a lovely city that houses some of the best  architectural designs the world can boast of, from government buildings to company headquarters to foreign missions and world-class hotels. Abuja has moved from being a deserted terrain to a besieged land as the crème de la crème always find their way to the city for one thing or the other.

The journey of making Abuja the nation's new capital city started without Abuja being in the picture. The Murtala Muhammed administration in 1975 set up a seven-man panel (Justice Akinola Aguda, chairman; Dr Tai Solarin, Colonel Monsignor Pedro Martins, Alhaji Musa Isma, Chief Owen Fiebai, Dr Ajato Gondonu and Prof O. Ogan) to examine the suitability of Lagos as the nation's capital city. The panel, known as Aguda Panel, was also empowered to advise the government on alternative locations should it find Lagos unfit to continue as the federal capital.

Aguda Panel returned a verdict of Lagos' inappropriateness as federal capital. This was hinged primarily on the population explosion of the city coupled with the limited opportunity for expansion. Thus, going by its terms of reference, the panel considered about 30 other locations using a set of 13 criteria. The panel eventually picked Abuja, a virgin land, principally because of its location in the centre of the nation and its ethnic neutrality.

The panel, in its report, observed that, “It is needless for us to state the obvious that we are just in the process of building a nation of the many nations which occupy the geographic area known as Nigeria. It is our belief that one way of forging the idea of unity of this nation is by building a capital city which will belong to every Nigerian, where every Nigerian will rest assured that he has opportunity to live in parity with every other Nigerian, and where no Nigerian will be regarded either in law or on the facts as a native foreigner.”

The Federal Government accepted the panel's recommendation that “a centrally located federal capital in a spacious area with easy access to all parts of the federation would be an asset to the nation and would help in generating a new sense of national unity.”

The government also stressed that Abuja was to be “a symbol of Nigeria's aspiration for unity and greatness and to be the seat of government, a place of and a symbol of unity, a melting pot of Nigeria's diverse cultures, a magnet of diverse peoples and nations and a place of physical beauty and an exemplary physical environment.”

With that, the end of the reign of Lagos as the federal capital began as the stage was set for the relocation of the nation's capital to Abuja.

With the report of the panel submitted and approved by the government, the military administration in power then promulgated a decree to establish the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and also the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), which was charged with the responsibility of planning, designing and developing the FCT.

By February of 1979, the Abuja Master Plan was ready but the building of the city did not really commence until 1980, after the assumption of office of Alhaji Sheu Shagari as the nation's president. He devoted much time and attention to the building of the new capital city. The construction work going on in the budding city during the Shagari presidency was so much that Abuja was referred to as the largest construction site on earth. While the city was still under construction, the Shagari administration on October 1, 1982 held the 22nd independence anniversary in Abuja.

However, construction work in Abuja was halted following the ousting of Shagari from power by the duo of Mohammed Buhari and Tunde Idiagbon in a coup d'état on December 31, 1983. No additional block was added to Abuja while Buhari held sway as the head of state because the military government he headed viewed the civilian government it kicked out of power as profligate. It was not until General Ibrahim Babangida took over power that work resumed in Abuja.

The Babangida administration also took the development of the new federal capital seriously and brought development in Abuja to an appreciable state, which necessitated the movement of the presidency from Lagos to Abuja on 12 December, 1991. With the presidency moving to Abuja, a number of ministries were also moved to the new capital city but the bulk of ministries as well as foreign missions remained in Lagos.

The ascension to power of General Sani Abacha, in 1993, saw an improvement in the status of Abuja as the capital city, especially following his directive to all ministries, agencies and foreign missions to move to the federal capital territory.

Although there is no argument about the beauty of the federal capital, some people are of the opinion that the exquisiteness would have been more pronounced had the government not allowed a deviation from the city's original master plan.

In a paper titled The City as Public Space: Abuja - the Capital City of Nigeria, Goomsu Ikoku posits that,[b] “As built, the National Assembly Complex is situated in its proposed location on a knoll overlooking the rest of the Central Area. It is the terminus of the axis centring on Aso Hill, symbolising the Legislature as the place where the nation's laws are made, by focusing all other functions in the Central Area, and implicitly the nation, on it.

“The rest of the composition of the Central Area has changed considerably. The Executive (Presidential Villa Complex) and the Judiciary (Supreme Court Complex) have been relocated to two knolls next to the Legislature (National Assembly Complex). The road network has been altered encircling all three arms of government in one location, hence the name The Three Arms Zone. This arrangement is propitious in that it consolidates the Aso Hill terminus of the axis and amplifies the symbolism of The Three Arms Zone as the focus and centre of the nation.”

He also observes that, “The other changes however are not as auspicious. The mall and the four minor squares are no more. The site of the Central Square remains, though it is yet to be built. However, another national square, variously called Eagle Square or Festival Ground, has been built. It is located where the Central Park was proposed and has an adjoining Memorial Arcade jutting into The Three Arms Zone.”[/b]

But the alteration is not restricted to government buildings alone. T[b]he government, probably in its bid to fast track development in the capital city, allocated wrong spots to people and organisations. This precipitated a wave of slapdash constructions not in tandem with the master plan. [/b]Consequently, a number of slums sprang up and uncoordinated constructions emerged even close to the sewers and in green areas.

It was the alteration of the master plan, with buildings springing up in wrong places, that forced Mallam Nasir el Rufai, former Federal Capital Territory minister, to insist on the demolition exercise that he embarked upon. According to the former minister, it was imperative for the nation to preserve the beauty of the capital city. But the exit of el Rufai from government has not led to the end of the demolition exercise as efforts are still on to rid the federal capital of anything that would detract from making it a city that would elicit pride from Nigerians and foreigners alike.

Speaking recently on the effort of the government to improve the state of Abuja, the current FCT Minister, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, said the FCT Administration was doing its best to upgrade infrastructure and facilities in the city to meet best international standards.

He added that the FCT Administration was committed to the development of not just the Abuja city but also the satellite towns as a deliberate way of decongesting the city centre. He also disclosed that the administration was improving the transportation links between the Federal Capital City (FCC) and the area councils through the construction of light railway networks and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lanes for mass transit buses.

However, despite the splendour of Abuja, the major concern of the common man is that the initial plan of making the Federal Capital Territory a home for every Nigerian is fast becoming a mirage. The ongoing urban renewal exercise in the city has driven away many low-income and middle-income earners from the city because the cost of living in the capital city is way above the means of the average Nigerian. So, to the average Nigerian, Abuja, the federal capital, is for the very wealthy and the political class and not a home for all.

http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/features/32734-abuja-from-jungle-to-world-centre-in-20-years

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-825102.0.html

johnie:
The journey of making Abuja the nation's new capital city started without Abuja being in the picture. The Murtala Muhammed administration in 1975 set up a seven-man panel (Justice Akinola Aguda, chairman; Dr Tai Solarin, Colonel Monsignor Pedro Martins, Alhaji Musa Isma, Chief Owen Fiebai, Dr Ajato Gondonu and Prof O. Ogan) to examine the suitability of Lagos as the nation's capital city. The panel, known as Aguda Panel, was also empowered to advise the government on alternative locations should it find Lagos unfit to continue as the federal capital.

Aguda Panel returned a verdict of Lagos' inappropriateness as federal capital. This was hinged primarily on the population explosion of the city coupled with the limited opportunity for expansion. Thus, going by its terms of reference, the panel considered about 30 other locations using a set of 13 criteria. The panel eventually picked Abuja, a virgin land, principally because of its location in the centre of the nation and its ethnic neutrality.

Isn't it interesting that contrary to the widely held belief that the northerners deliberately moved the capital to the "north", only one northerner was on the seven-man panel?

On the other hand, some may argue that it is a case of the hand of Esau but the voice of Jacob!

Chirac Found Guilty in Political Funding Case
By STEVEN ERLANGER
Published: December 15, 2011

PARIS — Former French President Jacques Chirac, 79, was convicted on Thursday of embezzlement and misuse of public funds to illegally finance his political party using fake jobs when he was mayor of Paris.

Mr. Chirac, who was not present at the trial because of reported health and memory problems, received a two-year suspended sentence from the judges.

While beloved by many as a grandfather figure, Mr. Chirac’s reputation will inevitably be stained. He is the first former French head of state to be prosecuted, let alone convicted, since Marshal Philippe Pétain, who collaborated with the Nazis, was convicted of treason in 1945.

“Your moral and political responsibility is immense,” said a lawyer for Mr. Chirac, Georges Kiejman, to the judges, while pleading for acquittal. “Your judgment will be the last image given of Jacques Chirac.”

The trial went forward despite the prosecution’s call for an acquittal. Mr. Chirac had denied all the charges, which stem from his period as mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995, when he was elected president. The city of Paris dropped its complaint against Mr. Chirac in return for a payment of more than $3 million, which was provided by Mr. Chirac and the governing Union for a Popular Movement party, the successor to Mr. Chirac’s party.

The anticorruption group Anticor became the prime plaintiff in the case.

Ten people were on trial in this case. Two were acquitted. The others were sentenced to a few months of suspended prison sentences.

Mr. Chirac had been protected by immunity from all prosecutions while he was president of France, and after he left office in 2007, his lawyers have fought to avoid a trial.

The current foreign minister, Alain Juppé, was a deputy financial adviser to Mr. Chirac at city hall and was general secretary of his party. Mr. Juppé was convicted in 2004 on similar charges; he received an 18-month suspended jail sentence and lost the right to run for political office for 10 years. He appealed and had his sentence reduced.

Mr. Chirac faced maximum penalties of 10 years in prison and fines totaling 150,000 euros.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/16/world/europe/chirac-found-guilty-in-political-funding-case.html

johnie:
The journey of making Abuja the nation's new capital city started without Abuja being in the picture. The Murtala Muhammed administration in 1975 set up a seven-man panel (Justice Akinola Aguda, chairman; Dr Tai Solarin, Colonel Monsignor Pedro Martins, Alhaji Musa Isma, Chief Owen Fiebai, Dr Ajato Gondonu and Prof O. Ogan) to examine the suitability of Lagos as the nation's capital city. The panel, known as Aguda Panel, was also empowered to advise the government on alternative locations should it find Lagos unfit to continue as the federal capital.

Aguda Panel returned a verdict of Lagos' inappropriateness as federal capital. This was hinged primarily on the population explosion of the city coupled with the limited opportunity for expansion. Thus, going by its terms of reference, the panel considered about 30 other locations using a set of 13 criteria. The panel eventually picked Abuja, a virgin land, principally because of its location in the centre of the nation and its ethnic neutrality.

Isn't it interesting that contrary to the widely held belief that the northerners deliberately moved the capital to the "north", only one northerner was on the seven-man panel?

On the other hand, some may argue that it is a case of the hand of Esau but the voice of Jacob!

Lekki Residents Mobilise Against Toll

Come Saturday, 17 December, residents of Lekki-Eti-Osa-Epe have vowed to make their feelings known to the Lagos State government on its decision to begin collection of toll on the expressway as from 18 December.

In a statement made available to P.M.NEWS, the residents have slated the day for a protest march against government decision.

According to the organisers, there will be a protest march to the Admiralty Circle Toll Plaza and Chevron Toll Plaza. “We will occupy it and remain there until the government agrees to cancel tolling and fencing,” they added.

The organisers described the Lekki/Eti-Osa Epe Expressway as an existing road. “The original plan was for LCC to build the Coastal Road and toll it. It was abandoned because LCC discovered that it would not be profitable and thus it diverted to the existing expressway. This road was built by the administration of Alhaji Lateef Jakande around 1983 for the free movement of people and goods. LCC should go and build its own road for tolling.

“With the developments that have taken place in the Lekki axis, this road is now a metropolitan road, and cannot qualify for tolling,” the organisers added.

In a letter written to Governor Babatunde Fashola on the issue, Mr. Ebun Adegboruwa listed various legal measures taken by the residents to prevent the government from tolling the expressway. He appealed to the governor to suspend the proposed collection of toll on the expressway.

“Your Excellency, I do humbly urge you to use your good offices to direct a suspension of the proposed collection of toll fee, to await the determination of the pending application for an order of injunction by the Court of Appeal and indeed the appeal already filed,” Adegboruwa stated in his letter to Fashola.

http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2011/12/14/lekki-residents-mobilise-against-toll/

Well written!

Abuja: From jungle to world centre in 20 years


Written by Sulaimon Olanrewaju Wednesday, 14 December 2011

On Monday, Abuja, the federal capital, turned 20 years as the seat of government. Sulaimon Olanrewaju writes on events that have shaped the burgeoning African capital.

NONE of the minds that conceived the idea of relocating the federal capital from Lagos to Abuja would believe the transformation that has come upon the new federal capital city since the seat of government moved there on 12 December, 1991. The place once described as a jungle has become a lovely city that houses some of the best  architectural designs the world can boast of, from government buildings to company headquarters to foreign missions and world-class hotels. Abuja has moved from being a deserted terrain to a besieged land as the crème de la crème always find their way to the city for one thing or the other.

The journey of making Abuja the nation's new capital city started without Abuja being in the picture. The Murtala Muhammed administration in 1975 set up a seven-man panel (Justice Akinola Aguda, chairman; Dr Tai Solarin, Colonel Monsignor Pedro Martins, Alhaji Musa Isma, Chief Owen Fiebai, Dr Ajato Gondonu and Prof O. Ogan) to examine the suitability of Lagos as the nation's capital city. The panel, known as Aguda Panel, was also empowered to advise the government on alternative locations should it find Lagos unfit to continue as the federal capital.

Aguda Panel returned a verdict of Lagos' inappropriateness as federal capital. This was hinged primarily on the population explosion of the city coupled with the limited opportunity for expansion. Thus, going by its terms of reference, the panel considered about 30 other locations using a set of 13 criteria. The panel eventually picked Abuja, a virgin land, principally because of its location in the centre of the nation and its ethnic neutrality.

The panel, in its report, observed that, “It is needless for us to state the obvious that we are just in the process of building a nation of the many nations which occupy the geographic area known as Nigeria. It is our belief that one way of forging the idea of unity of this nation is by building a capital city which will belong to every Nigerian, where every Nigerian will rest assured that he has opportunity to live in parity with every other Nigerian, and where no Nigerian will be regarded either in law or on the facts as a native foreigner.”

The Federal Government accepted the panel's recommendation that “a centrally located federal capital in a spacious area with easy access to all parts of the federation would be an asset to the nation and would help in generating a new sense of national unity.”

The government also stressed that Abuja was to be “a symbol of Nigeria's aspiration for unity and greatness and to be the seat of government, a place of and a symbol of unity, a melting pot of Nigeria's diverse cultures, a magnet of diverse peoples and nations and a place of physical beauty and an exemplary physical environment.”

With that, the end of the reign of Lagos as the federal capital began as the stage was set for the relocation of the nation's capital to Abuja.

With the report of the panel submitted and approved by the government, the military administration in power then promulgated a decree to establish the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and also the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), which was charged with the responsibility of planning, designing and developing the FCT.

By February of 1979, the Abuja Master Plan was ready but the building of the city did not really commence until 1980, after the assumption of office of Alhaji Sheu Shagari as the nation's president. He devoted much time and attention to the building of the new capital city. The construction work going on in the budding city during the Shagari presidency was so much that Abuja was referred to as the largest construction site on earth. While the city was still under construction, the Shagari administration on October 1, 1982 held the 22nd independence anniversary in Abuja.

However, construction work in Abuja was halted following the ousting of Shagari from power by the duo of Mohammed Buhari and Tunde Idiagbon in a coup d'état on December 31, 1983. No additional block was added to Abuja while Buhari held sway as the head of state because the military government he headed viewed the civilian government it kicked out of power as profligate. It was not until General Ibrahim Babangida took over power that work resumed in Abuja.

The Babangida administration also took the development of the new federal capital seriously and brought development in Abuja to an appreciable state, which necessitated the movement of the presidency from Lagos to Abuja on 12 December, 1991. With the presidency moving to Abuja, a number of ministries were also moved to the new capital city but the bulk of ministries as well as foreign missions remained in Lagos.

The ascension to power of General Sani Abacha, in 1993, saw an improvement in the status of Abuja as the capital city, especially following his directive to all ministries, agencies and foreign missions to move to the federal capital territory.

Although there is no argument about the beauty of the federal capital, some people are of the opinion that the exquisiteness would have been more pronounced had the government not allowed a deviation from the city's original master plan.

In a paper titled The City as Public Space: Abuja - the Capital City of Nigeria, Goomsu Ikoku posits that,[b] “As built, the National Assembly Complex is situated in its proposed location on a knoll overlooking the rest of the Central Area. It is the terminus of the axis centring on Aso Hill, symbolising the Legislature as the place where the nation's laws are made, by focusing all other functions in the Central Area, and implicitly the nation, on it.

“The rest of the composition of the Central Area has changed considerably. The Executive (Presidential Villa Complex) and the Judiciary (Supreme Court Complex) have been relocated to two knolls next to the Legislature (National Assembly Complex). The road network has been altered encircling all three arms of government in one location, hence the name The Three Arms Zone. This arrangement is propitious in that it consolidates the Aso Hill terminus of the axis and amplifies the symbolism of The Three Arms Zone as the focus and centre of the nation.”

He also observes that, “The other changes however are not as auspicious. The mall and the four minor squares are no more. The site of the Central Square remains, though it is yet to be built. However, another national square, variously called Eagle Square or Festival Ground, has been built. It is located where the Central Park was proposed and has an adjoining Memorial Arcade jutting into The Three Arms Zone.”[/b]

But the alteration is not restricted to government buildings alone. T[b]he government, probably in its bid to fast track development in the capital city, allocated wrong spots to people and organisations. This precipitated a wave of slapdash constructions not in tandem with the master plan. [/b]Consequently, a number of slums sprang up and uncoordinated constructions emerged even close to the sewers and in green areas.

It was the alteration of the master plan, with buildings springing up in wrong places, that forced Mallam Nasir el Rufai, former Federal Capital Territory minister, to insist on the demolition exercise that he embarked upon. According to the former minister, it was imperative for the nation to preserve the beauty of the capital city. But the exit of el Rufai from government has not led to the end of the demolition exercise as efforts are still on to rid the federal capital of anything that would detract from making it a city that would elicit pride from Nigerians and foreigners alike.

Speaking recently on the effort of the government to improve the state of Abuja, the current FCT Minister, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, said the FCT Administration was doing its best to upgrade infrastructure and facilities in the city to meet best international standards.

He added that the FCT Administration was committed to the development of not just the Abuja city but also the satellite towns as a deliberate way of decongesting the city centre. He also disclosed that the administration was improving the transportation links between the Federal Capital City (FCC) and the area councils through the construction of light railway networks and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lanes for mass transit buses.

However, despite the splendour of Abuja, the major concern of the common man is that the initial plan of making the Federal Capital Territory a home for every Nigerian is fast becoming a mirage. The ongoing urban renewal exercise in the city has driven away many low-income and middle-income earners from the city because the cost of living in the capital city is way above the means of the average Nigerian. So, to the average Nigerian, Abuja, the federal capital, is for the very wealthy and the political class and not a home for all.

http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/features/32734-abuja-from-jungle-to-world-centre-in-20-years

I don't understand why that waiver should be included among those for the road.

Beats me hollow!

djustice:
9. Permit of the National Inland Waterways Authority for the use of land within the right-of-way of declared waterway pursuant to the National Inland Waterways Authority Act Chapter N47, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

Can someone explain this part to me?

Papua New Guinea in crisis as two claim to be prime minister

Supreme court rules ousting of absent Michael Somare was illegal but Peter O'Neill and his MPs refuse to hand back power


Papua New Guinea's government is in crisis, with two men claiming to the be the legitimate prime minister in a row that has embroiled the country's supreme court and governor general.

Veteran leader Sir Michael Somare was reinstated as prime minister by the country's highest court on Monday after he had been removed and replaced by rival Peter O'Neill while out of the country having medical treatment.

O'Neill has refused to give up power despite the court order and the recognition of Somare's cabinet by the governor general, Sir Michael Ogio. O'Neill's MPs have continued to pass legislation recognising him as leader.


The battle escalated when MPs backing O'Neill stormed the governor general's gates a day after the supreme court ruling that Somare's removal and O'Neill's election by parliament in August was unconstitutional. "We are unarmed and we're the legitimate government," the Australian Broadcasting Corporation quoted the MPs as telling police.

Somare said on Wednesday that his cabinet had been sworn in by Ogio, who represents PNG's head of state, Queen Elizabeth II.

Somare insisted he did not need to be sworn in himself because the supreme court had already reinstated him as prime minister. "It is regretful that all of government was put on hold but this situation has been diffused by the swearing-in today of my cabinet," Somare said.

The crisis continued on Wednesday, with MPs loyal to O'Neill passing a motion ordering Ogio to swear in O'Neill as prime minister. O'Neill could not be reached for comment but on Tuesday he said he had met with Ogio briefly after the march to the official residence in the capital, Port Moresby.

The supreme court's 3-2 decision on Monday that ruled O'Neill's election unconstitutional came after O'Neill's government passed a series of retroactive laws legalising its decision to dump Somare from office while he was in Singapore recovering from a heart condition.

One of Somare's first acts when the supreme court ordered his return to power was to reinstate the former police commissioner Fred Yakasa and oust O'Neill's appointee, Tom Kulunga. Both police chiefs were present at the governor general's home and held discussions with MPs loyal to O'Neill.

Somare has based himself at the Ela Beach Hotel, where he has set up a cabinet made up mostly of ministers from his previous government.

Somare had been in Singapore for five months between late March and 6 September, when he returned to parliament after three heart operations.

Kevin Rudd, the foreign minister in neighbouring Australia, said the former Australian territory had entered uncharted waters.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/14/papua-new-guinea-prime-ministership?newsfeed=true

.

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Out of this world: The brilliant blood red 'impossible' lunar eclipse witnessed by millions of Americans this morning

By Daily Mail Reporter

Romantic doesn't cover it .


The Earth passed between the moon and the sun this morning, treating early risers to a cosmic, rusty-red lunar light spectacular.

This was the last chance to see the natural wonder of a total lunar eclipse in 2011.

And additionally it was a rare chance to see an 'impossible' eclipse, with the moon red and the rising sun in the sky simultaneously.

Unlike total solar eclipses total lunar eclipses are relatively common and happen on average every two years. This is because the moon is one-third smaller than Earth and so fits more easily into Earth’s umbral shadow.

Ringside seats were found in most parts of western America, Hawaii, northwestern Canada, Australia, New Zealand and central and eastern Asia.

Those in western North America had the best views well before dawn, and viewers could still catch the eclipse until as late as 6.05am PST.

Unfortunately, sunrise and moonset stopped those in the eastern U.S. from watching the eclipse.

The eclipse began at 4.45am PST when a red shadow started to cover the moon.

Then as the sun and moon aligned with the Earth slipped in between them, our planet cast a temporary shadow on the moon darkening it and making it appear a deep coppery red, as it blocked the suns rays.

The sunlight was still able to pass through Earth's atmosphere casting a mystical red glow on the moon.


The atmosphere filters out most of the blue light, leaving the red and orange hues that we see during a lunar eclipse.

This light is a projection of all the sunrises and sunsets happening on our planet at this time, combined into a halo around the planet.

The colour of the lunar eclipse gives us a report card on the health of the earth's atmosphere.When it is coppery red it means everything is normal. A black coloured eclipse happens when there is a lot of volcanic dust in the atmosphere.

As opposed to a partial eclipse, total eclipses entail a perfect alignment of the three bodies- moon, earth and sun.

Most places in the United States and Canada were able to observe an unusual effect.

This occurs when both the rising sun and the eclipsed moon can be seen at the same time.

This was the second total lunar eclipse this year, the first was in June. The next total lunar eclipse will not be until 2014.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2072358/Lunar-eclipse-December-2011-witnessed-millions-Americans-morning.html#ixzz1gJrEltGa

A total lunar eclipse took place on December 10, 2011. It was the second of two total lunar eclipses in 2011, the first having occurred on June 15. A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon is positioned just right in its orbit to pass through Earth's shadow.

Asia, Australia, and other areas of the Pacific had the best visibility. European countries only saw a partial eclipse of a rising moon, while northwestern North America saw a partial eclipse of a setting moon.

The eclipse is seen over the Philippines despite of a cloudy and rainy weather over parts of Luzon and other areas. Photos are taken by groups of amateur astronomers from the Astronomical League of the Philippines (ALP).

South America and portions of West Africa missed the eclipse completely as it happens at morning.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2011_lunar_eclipse

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Le snub! Moment Sarkozy dodges Cameron's handshake with a swift body swerve after PM says Non to treaty changes
By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 1:51 PM on 9th December 2011

[b]This is the moment that Nicolas Sarkozy demonstrates exactly what he really thinks of David Cameron's veto of the EU Treaty change.

After a gruelling all-night sitting in Brussels, Mr Cameron approaches the French president with his hand outstretched, as if ready to shake and show there are no hard feelings.

But not only does Mr Sarkozy refuse to acknowledge the PM, he actually does a swift swerve aside, waving pointedly to someone - anyone - on his right.

Mr Cameron, roundly snubbed, uses the rejected hand to give Mr Sarkozy a seemingly affectionate - if awkward - pat on the shoulder, and moves on, head held high, with a pained smile fixed to his face.


Mr Sarkozy's snub came after all-night talks in which the leaders of the 17 countries that use the euro, plus six others, agreed to a new treaty enforcing stricter budget rules seen as crucial to solving Europe's debt crisis.

Efforts by Germany and France to persuade all 27 EU countries to agree to treaty changes failed, in large part because of Mr Cameron's refusal to give up some of Britain's powers.

Mr Sarkozy laid the blame for the failure squarely at Mr Cameron's feet.[/b]

Speaking shortly before dawn, after what he called a 'difficult' night, he said: 'David Cameron made a proposal that seemed to us unacceptable, a protocol to the treaty that would have exonerated the United Kingdom from a great number of financial service regulations.'

Mr Cameron defended his stance.

'What was on offer is not in Britain's interest so I didn't agree to it,' he told reporters in Brussels.
'We're not in the euro and I'm glad we're not in the euro.'
'We're never going to join the euro and we're never going to give up this kind of sovereignty that these countries are having to give up.'

What was that all about? Cameron appears to be quizzing a sheepish President Sarkozy as they finally shake hands at a photocall to mark Croatia's signing of an EU accession treaty

An agreement on fiscal discpline is considered a critical first step before the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and others would commit more financial aid to help countries like Italy and Spain.

Even after the long-awaited deal, watched by governments and markets worldwide, the European leaders have huge hurdles still ahead.

They are meeting again later today to work out what exactly their new treaty will contain and how violators of its strict budget rules will be policed. They want it written by March.

Britain led the push against the revised treaty tying all 27 EU countries to tighter fiscal union. The others that didn't sign on were Hungary, the Czech Republic and Sweden.

Mr Cameron argued that the revised treaty would threaten Britain's national sovereignty and London's financial services industry.
Most EU countries had pushed for an EU-wide accord to avoid a split, but Germany and France made clear that a deal among the 17 euro countries and whoever else wanted to join was better than nothing.

The governments signing onto the new treaty will have to agree to allow unprecedented intervention in national budgets by EU-wide bodies.



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2072061/EU-treaty-change-Nicolas-Sarkozy-snubs-David-Cameron-swife-body-swerve.html#ixzz1g3Ylrnr2

Ex-Occupier now holds Wall Street job
By Chris Knowles and Raelyn Johnson, CNN
December 8, 2011 -- Updated 1038 GMT (1838 HKT)


STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Tracy Postert was fully committed to the Occupy Wall Street protests, she tells CNN

The biochemist says she had been looking for work, but couldn't prove it to naysayers

She showed up at Zuccotti Park with her résumé, and soon had a job offer

She now researches biotech companies for John Thomas Financial -- on Wall Street

New York (CNN) -- The occupiers of Wall Street have been portrayed by some as radicals, young kids without focus, ne'er-do-wells who'd do anything but get a job. But one woman used her time in at Zuccotti Park differently, and as a result she has gone from Occupy Wall Street to occupying an actual office on Wall Street.

In the gathering of the so-called 99%, Tracy Postert had no idea she would be the one who would be working for the 1%.

"There were some days it was a carnival, or lots of music, drumming, costumes, marching, protesting," said Postert, describing the weeks she spent demonstrating at the park in downtown Manhattan.

Frustrated with the economy, Postert says she jumped right into the Occupy Wall Street movement -- all in -- banging drums and washing paint- and dirt-covered sidewalks.

She sounds like the protester stereotype, but she isn't; she has a doctorate in biochemistry.

In the past few years, the biochemist said, she had found herself at times unemployed or underemployed. Until a few weeks ago she decided to change her protest sign to a "Job Wanted" sign and hunkered down in Zuccotti Park with a handful of résumés.

"Passers-by would say, 'Get a job,' and I didn't have a really good response to that," Postert told CNN.

"I wanted to say, 'Well, I'm trying to get a job,' but you know you can't really prove it." Postert said. "So I said, why don't I make a sign (and prove) that I am actively looking for a job?"

Within two days, she said, someone spotted her. They exchanged e-mails, and an offer followed.

That someone was a top executive at a Wall Street financial firm -- in other words, the enemy.

"It might sound like it's a fish-out-of-water story -- (round) peg in a square hole -- but it's really not," said Wayne Kaufman, a market analyst at John Thomas Financial.

"She was standing there. She had her sign, she had her résumé, and I just passed by her and I chatted with her just for a brief few seconds. And she was obviously an intelligent person," Kaufman said.

"The résumé spoke for itself, it was very impressive," he said. "So, I sent her an e-mail the next day and , she responded almost immediately.

"I asked her if she wanted to come in for an interview; she said yes. I told her what I had in mind for her according to her skill set, and the rest is just history."

For now, Tracy is researching early stage biotech companies for John Thomas Financial. She says she plans to take a test that would allow her to become a broker, and thus a full-fledged member of the 1%. So what are her former Occupy Wall Street compatriots saying?

"I have been accused of being a traitor to both sides. Some people are saying that the whole time I was at Occupy Wall Street I was really a Wall Street insider," says Postert.

She said she plans on keeping her sign. She pledged to protest again when she finds something she feels is worth protesting.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/07/us/occupy-wall-street-job/index.html?hpt=hp_bn2

Aging in office: U.S. presidents often outlive peers

By Julie Steenhuysen | Reuters – 4 hrs ago, Email

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Judging by their "before" and "after" photographs, U.S. presidents appear to age before our eyes, adding wrinkles and gray hair with each year in office.

But contrary to conventional wisdom, a few years in the White House do not appear to cut short the lives of U.S. presidents, and most live longer than their peers, according to a new study released on Tuesday.

"Just because they experience what would appear to be accelerated aging outwardly, doesn't mean they will die any sooner," said S. Jay Olshansky, a demographer at the University of Illinois at Chicago, whose study appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Olshansky became interested in the subject earlier this summer when President Barack Obama celebrated his 50th birthday in Chicago, their shared hometown.

Media coverage highlighted "before" and "after" pictures focused on the 44th U.S. president's graying hair and deepening wrinkles, and repeated the common refrain that the commander in chief tends to age at twice the rate as the rest of us.

"That would imply that they died sooner than the rest of us," Olshansky said in a telephone interview.

He decided to test that theory.

Olshansky calculated how long U.S. presidents would have been expected to live based on their age and the year in which they were inaugurated and compared it to how long they actually lived. The four presidents who were assassinated were excluded from the study.

To estimate the toll serving as U.S. president took, he subtracted two days for every one day in office, approximating the effects of aging at twice the normal rate. At that rate, a four-year term would cut a president's estimated remaining lifespan by eight years.

NOT THE STRESS THAT KILLS

Olshansky found that 23 of the 34 U.S. presidents who died from natural causes did not appear to have their lives cut short by the stress of leading the nation. They lived longer than men of their same age and era - and in many instances far longer.

For example, the average age of the first eight presidents at their time of death was 79.8 years - during a time when life expectancy at birth for men was less than 40.

The reason is likely the effects of advanced education and better access to healthcare, Olshansky said.

"All of these presidents benefited from the trifecta of exceptional wealth, almost all were highly educated and all of them had access to medical care," said Olshansky, who noted that there was no scientific way to directly measure the rate of biological aging.

At the time of inauguration, the average age of presidents in the study was 55.1, which means they managed to avoid illness and infectious disease long enough to reach that age and run for office.

"They have survived the early perilous decades of life," Olshansky said. "That is not trivial."

He said the most recent eight presidents who died of natural causes lived an average of 1.8 years longer than the first eight. Olshansky attributed that finding to advances in medical care.

As for the before and after photographs, Olshansky said stress may increase the visible signs of aging, but it does not shorten a president's lifespan.

"It is a very clever way of expressing an important principle of what we call successful aging," Dr. William Hall, an aging expert at the University of Rochester Medical Center, said in a telephone interview. Hall was not involved in Olshansky's research.

But not all the presidents included in the study fared so well, according to Olshansky, who said 11 died earlier than expected at an average age of 62.1 years, compared to an estimated lifespan of 67.8 years. Many of these presidents held office between the years of 1841 and 1923, he noted.

"For some reason, in that window of time those presidents didn't do that well," Olshansky said.

http://news.yahoo.com/aging-office-u-presidents-often-outlive-peers-124048923.html

7 December 2011 Last updated at 15:59 GMT

Russia protests: Gorbachev calls for election re-run

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has said Sunday's Russian parliamentary election was marred by fraud and has called for a re-run.

"The country's leaders must admit there were numerous falsifications and rigging and the results do not reflect the people's will," he said.

Protesters were planning new rallies for Saturday as arrests in Tuesday's crackdown in reached 800 across Russia.

Key figures in the protest movement are starting 15-day jail sentences.

State TV channels have ignored the protests, giving coverage only to rallies in support of the government.

The centre of Moscow saw its biggest protest against the rule of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his allies in years on Monday, when several thousand people came out to condemn widely reported fraud at Sunday's parliamentary elections.

An attempt to hold a smaller rally on Tuesday was quickly broken up by riot police, while rival rallies by Putin supporters were allowed to proceed.

The big question now is whether the fledgling protest movement can maintain its momentum, the BBC's Daniel Sandford reports from Moscow.

While the movement began as a protest against the election results, most of the slogans have been against Mr Putin, our correspondent adds.

The Russian prime minister, who formally registered on Wednesday to stand in the March presidential election, has played down losses by his party, United Russia, which saw its support drop sharply to just under 50% of the vote.

Destination Revolution

OSCE monitors have said the polls were slanted in favour of United Russia, noting apparent manipulations such as the stuffing of ballot boxes.


A Facebook page is organising Saturday's Revolution Square rally Mr Gorbachev told Russian news agency Interfax in Moscow: "I think they [Russia's leaders] can only take one decision - annul the results of the election and hold a new one."

The former leader, 80, initiated democratic reforms in the final years of the USSR but rapidly lost popularity and influence after the emergence of the new Russian state under the late Boris Yeltsin.

"Literally by the day, the number of Russians who do not believe that the declared election results were honest is increasing," he said.

"In my opinion, disregard for public opinion is discrediting the authorities and destabilising the situation."

Messages on Twitter and other social media, used to co-ordinate the earlier protests, are fixing Saturday as the date for the next demonstrations.

Revolution Square, just 200m from the Kremlin, was named as the venue in Moscow.

Unconfirmed reports in the Russian media on Wednesday said the city authorities were planning to shut down the square's metro station of the same name "for repairs".

According to the Russian news website lenta.ru, the Solidarity opposition party has received permission from the city authorities to hold a rally on the square limited to 300 people.

However, the party's Facebook page "Rally For Honest Elections" had received nearly 16,000 requests to attend the rally as of Wednesday afternoon.


Police also broke up a rally in St Petersburg on Tuesday
Plans are being discussed for rallies in 69 Russian towns and cities, from Saratov on the Volga to Krasnoyarsk in Siberia.

Nikita Batalov, a journalist for Russian commercial radio station Kommersant FM, has been blogging on his Twitter account about a pro-government rally on Wednesday on Moscow's Pushkin Square.

Quoting a mother, he said schoolchildren had been taken out of class and brought in for the event without parental consent.

In custody

Moscow police sources have told Russian media the number of arrests at Tuesday's opposition rally on Triumphal Square was 569, suggesting the gathering was much bigger than originally thought.


Hundreds turned out for Tuesday's Moscow rally Many remained in custody on Wednesday morning, Russian media said.

Some 230 arrests were also reported in the second city, St Petersburg, and 25 in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don.

Veteran liberal politician Boris Nemtsov, who was detained at Tuesday's rally in Moscow, was freed after three hours in custody, he confirmed on his Twitter account.

Two key figures at Monday's rally, anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny and Solidarity activist Ilya Yashin, were both jailed for 15 days on charges of obstructing police.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16066061

Moshe Katsav, Former Israeli President, Enters Prison

JERUSALEM -- Former Israeli President Moshe Katsav entered a minimum security prison on Wednesday to start serving a seven-year sentence for violation, but not before defiantly accusing the state of Israel of "executing" an innocent man.

The day was a bittersweet one for Israel, both shameful because the former holder of a lofty office was going behind bars for such a heinous crime and at the same time, a point of honor because it showed that even a president is equal before the law in Israel.

Katsav, 66, was convicted last December of Desecrating a former female employee when he was a Cabinet minister and of sexually harassing two other women when he was president from 2000 to 2007. The former president, who repeatedly has professed his innocence, remained free while he appealed his case, but the Supreme Court upheld the conviction last month and ordered him to prison.

"They are sending an innocent man to jail, period," Katsav told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Tuesday night.

"In my case there is no proof – just version against version," he said. "You can't judge a person based on impressions ,  Some evidence, some proof, must be presented ,  In these cases you need to bring more evidence, more proof, witnesses from real time, someone who saw something, bring DNA,  there is nothing."

TV footage on Wednesday showed Katsav entering the Maasiyahu prison in central Israel, where he became the highest-ranking Israeli official ever to spend time behind bars.

Earlier in the day, Katsav looked agitated and overwhelmed as he ventured from his house in the southern town of Kiryat Malachi to address the hordes of journalists who had gathered there before he set off on the hourlong drive to Maasiyahu prison. In a brief statement, Katsav accused authorities of ignoring evidence that he said could clear him but predicted that one day, "the truth will come to light."

"The state of Israel is executing a man today on the basis of impressions, without real time testimony, without evidence," Katsav railed. "One day, consciences will prick and you will see that you buried a man alive."

In the absence of forensic evidence, prosecutors built their case almost entirely on witness testimony. Legal experts say the similarities in the accounts of victims who did not know each other likely led to the conviction, in which the judges accused Katsav of lying.

Immediately after reaching the prison, Katsav was put through the same paces other new inmates go through: registration, meetings with a social worker, intelligence officer and section warden, and a medical checkup, according to prisons service spokeswoman Sivan Weizman. Most of the time he will be able to wear civilian clothes like many other inmates do, she said.

Katsav has been assigned to a special section of Maasiyahu reserved for observant Jews and likely will share a cell with Shlomo Benizri, a former Cabinet minister convicted of accepting bribes, she added.

Inmates in the religious section are woken at 4:30 a.m., attend morning prayers and spend five to six hours in religious study. They have no access to television but can use a public pay phone. They can receive family visits every two weeks, beginning early next week, she added.

After serving a quarter of his sentence, Katsav could become eligible for short furloughs and even apply to have his term shortened.

Officials said security would be beefed up around the former president – both as part of a suicide watch placed on all new prisoners and to prevent other prisoners from harming him. Katsav's lawyers have expressed concerns that the distraught politician might try to harm himself.

Israel's presidency is a largely ceremonial office, typically filled by a respected elder statesman expected to rise above politics and serve as a moral beacon. That made the allegations against Katsav all the more shocking.

The case broke in 2006 after Katsav, still the sitting president, told police one of his accusers was trying to extort money from him. The lurid details stunned Israelis who had tended to see him more as a bland functionary than a predatory boss who repeatedly used his authority to force intimate favors.

The twists and turns of the case both riveted and appalled the country. In one memorable moment, the Iranian-born Katsav held a news conference to accuse prosecutors and the media of plotting his demise because he didn't belong to the country's European-descended elite.

Katsav reluctantly resigned two weeks before his seven-year term was to expire in 2007 under a plea bargain that would have allowed him to escape jail time. He then stunned the nation again by rejecting the plea bargain and vowing to prove his innocence in court.

He has said he did not regret that decision because it would have meant he confessed to a crime he says he did not commit.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/07/moshe-katsav-prison_n_1133417.html

Putin's phoney election

What lies behind this weekend's sham parliamentary election
Nov 29th 2007 | moscow and tver

“MARIA”, a teacher in Tver, near Moscow, felt ashamed when she told her 15-year-old pupils to join a rally in support of President Vladimir Putin before this weekend's parliamentary election. The order came from the local administration, staffed by members of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party. “I would not have lost my life or even my job if I had not followed the order. But I felt I could not refuse it, perhaps because I am not a free person. Ten years ago I would have told you my real name,” she sighs. Her pupils were given Russian flags to wave, but the sound system was so bad they could not hear the speeches. It was not until later that they learnt from television that they had joined in an “outburst of patriotic feeling”.

Tver was chosen because it is the land of Mr Putin's forebears, but similar “voluntary” demonstrations have been staged all over Russia. A local theatre in Tver hosted a council of pro-Putin groups. Anyone who is for Mr Putin is for United Russia, they decreed. Or, to put it the other way round, anyone who is against United Russia is against Mr Putin. When the president decided to head United Russia's party list, its poll rating jumped from 50% to 63%.

Yet Mr Putin is not even a member of United Russia. The party is no more than a vehicle. If the advertising banners hung across streets in every Russian town are a guide, most of the country will vote for their president on December 2nd, even though he is not up for election. Indeed, the exercise is not really an election at all. It is not about political competition and does not have fair rules. It is about confirming that power in Russia lies with Mr Putin, who has presided over an oil-driven bonanza for his country.

Only candidates approved by the Kremlin are allowed to take part. Besides United Russia, which could secure 70% of the vote, these include the toothless Communist Party (which may get 12%) and the Liberal Democratic Party, a clownish far-right party set up in the late 1980s with the help of the KGB. (Its party list includes Andrei Lugovoi, the ex-KGB officer accused of poisoning his former colleague, Alexander Litvinenko, in London last year.)

The results were fixed months ago, when the Kremlin changed the rules. To keep the opposition out of parliament, the Kremlin raised the threshold for seats to 7%, and banned small parties from forming coalitions to meet this requirement. The minimum turnout rule was abolished, as was the option to vote against all candidates. Regional parties and single-mandate seats that let in independent deputies were scrapped. Opposition leaders have been harassed or arrested and their financing blocked. Television has given blanket coverage to United Russia and dished dirt on all opposition. This propaganda has been so effective that, despite United Russia's refusal to participate in TV debates, 8% of viewers believe they have seen it win them. The opposition Union of Right Forces (SPS) has not been allowed to air an advertisement warning the country against a return to the Soviet past.


Why have a people used to Soviet elections, when they had only one candidate, found the Kremlin's machinations so palatable? One reason is that Russian economic growth, sparked by the privatisations of the 1990s and kept going by the oil-price boom, has brought rising living standards and a new sense of stability. This, as well as his control of television, has made Mr Putin genuinely popular. Even the teacher from Tver says her life has improved.

The sense of stability is based largely on hopes that the crises of the 1990s will not return. Opinion polls suggest that half the people do not expect anything from this election; most believe that elections serve only those in power. Most voters say the results will be rigged anyway. Only 5% of Russians are ready to protest. “Nothing depends on us,” says one woman. Yet she will vote for Mr Putin—who else? Even those who once backed the SPS will stay at home: what is the point if they are bound to lose? Worse, some 35% of Russians prefer the Soviet political system. Two-thirds of Russians consider the concentration of power in Mr Putin's hands to be a good thing. Most would like him to stay for a third term. The strength of the Kremlin lies in the lack of any resistance to it, says Lev Gudkov, head of the Levada Centre, an independent pollster. Indeed, the only danger for the Kremlin is the possibility of an embarrassingly low voter turnout.

To guard against that, Mr Putin recently gave a rousing speech at a stadium in Moscow, broadcast on every television channel. Standing on a neon-lit catwalk in a black turtle-neck jumper, surrounded by thousands of flag-waving Putin youths, the president said Russia was in danger from ill-wishing foreigners and thieving liberals. “Those who oppose us need a weak, sick state, a disorientated, divided society, so that behind its back they can get up to their dirty deeds and profit at your and my expense,” he said. “Unfortunately there are jackals inside the country who sponge off foreign embassies.”

The message is clear. Russia's enemies are the liberals who in the 1990s squandered its wealth, cut defence spending and led people into poverty. They are now the candidates and sponsors of the opposition. The security services and police took Mr Putin's words as an instruction. When the opposition gathered in Moscow and St Petersburg as part of the Other Russia movement, which has not been allowed to register for this election, many people, including journalists, were beaten up and arrested. These scenes, broadcast around the world, were not shown on Russian television. Russians did not hear opposition speeches; they were not told that candidates had been unlawfully detained by the police; nor that Garry Kasparov, leader of Other Russia, was forbidden to meet his lawyer and jailed on bogus charges.

Equally, Russian television has largely ignored angry anti-government demonstrations in Ingushetia, a republic next to Chechnya where a six-year-old boy was killed recently in a skirmish between Russian commandos and local militants. Three journalists and a human-rights campaigner who came to cover the protest were abducted from their hotel and beaten up. What viewers have seen instead were pictures of fountains in Chechnya and of polite policemen in Moscow helping old ladies and children.

The paradox is that the Kremlin would surely have won even had this weekend's election been free and fair. Its heavy-handed tactics betray the nervousness linked to the transition of power in any authoritarian system. A power struggle is clearly taking place within the Kremlin, as shown by the arrests of senior officials in different camps. Mr Putin needs to retain power after his second term expires next March, but at the same time to preserve legitimacy. It is not an easy task.

This is why the parliamentary election has been turned into a ceremony of approval for him. A score of 70-75% of the vote, on a turnout of 60%, as planned by the Kremlin, would strengthen his claims to continue to lead the country. If Mr Putin cannot stay as president because the constitution bars him from a third consecutive term, he should take power with him wherever he goes. Dmitry Peskov, his spokesman, is adamant: Mr Putin will not be president after next March. But his every word will still be awaited, his every written statement demanded by newspapers. A servile president handpicked by Mr Putin and elected with a majority of, say, 51% will be unable to compete with Mr Putin's “legitimacy”, says Mr Peskov.

Some Kremlin insiders think Mr Putin could make himself head of the powerful Security Council, whose functions may then be pumped up. Others suggest he could become prime minister, with extra powers, before returning to the Kremlin to replace the president, who could conveniently fall ill. The only problem of Mr Putin's system is that stepping aside even for a short time could be lethal for him and his cronies. And that is why Russia, despite the predictability of this election, feels like a country heading towards crisis.

http://www.economist.com/node/10217312