LATEST NEWS: Why I faulted FG’s centenary celebration – Fashola

GOVERNOR Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, in Benin City, Edo State, weekend, gave reasons why he disagreed with the planned country’s centenary celebration by the Federal Government, just as the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Mr. Samson Osagie, alleged plans by the Federal Government to present a bogus budget in the name of centenary celebration with a view to squandering the money. Governor Fashola and Osagie bared their minds on the proposed centenary celebration in Benin City, during a youth summit organised by the Edo State Government. Osagie said: “We have heard all the talk about Nigeria’s centenary. I do not understand except on the fact that those who are putting it together have an agenda to put bogus budget in order to squander it in the name of celebration.” On his part, Fashola expressed confusion over the planned centenary, insisting that the country was supposed to be celebrating 54 years of independence and not a hundred years as planned by the Federal Government. He said: “I have more questions to ask because all our teachers taught us is that Nigeria became a sovereign nation on October 1, 1960. And on Independence day, I participated in many national parade and I believe that about a few years ago, in 2010, we rolled out the drums celebrating our 50th Independence anniversary. “Then speeches were made, we all made promises including at the national level, that in 50 years time, Nigeria will be 100 and that was documented. And then three or four years after, suddenly we said there is a centenary. I don’t understand it, centenary of what? I want answers because I don’t know how we got to the 100, because we can then ask Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Enahoro and others that we are confused. “Our people said they wanted independence because of that some of them went to jail, but today they have changed the counter.”

LATEST NEWS:China doctor jailed for selling babies to traffickers

A Chinese obstetrician has been given a suspended death sentence for stealing newborn babies and selling them to child traffickers. Zhang Shuxia was found guilty of abducting and selling seven babies in Fuping, Shaanxi province, the sentencing court said. She told parents their infants had serious diseases and convinced them to give up the babies, the court said. Zhang has been sentenced to death, with a two year reprieve. Suspended death sentences are normally commuted to life imprisonment in China. Zhang sold seven babies to child traffickers between November 2011 and July 2013, including a pair of twins, a judgement posted on the Weinan Intermediate People's Court's verified microblog on Tuesday said. Six of the babies were rescued, but one baby girl died. 'Fabricated reports' Zhang worked in Shaanxi's Fuping Maternal and Child Healthcare Hospital. "Zhang used her position as medical personnel to fabricate reports about the infants, saying they suffered from birth defects or diseases that were hard to cure," the court said in its judgement. "She abducted and sold several new-born infants, violating professional and social ethics," the judgement added. It is not yet clear whether Zhang will appeal, the court said. Zhang and several other suspects were arrested after the most recent abduction case in July. The parents reported the case to police after they suspected their baby had been trafficked. The baby was found and returned to his parents in early August. Police said they were still investigating 50 related cases, including 26 cases linked to Zhang, and several other suspects were in criminal detention, Xinhua news agency reported. Four other officials from the hospital are on trial for suspected dereliction of duty and are awaiting sentencing, Xinhua added. 'Unspeakable acts' Under China's strict population control policies, most couples can only have one child, and there is a strong preference for healthy baby boys. Earlier this month, China's top legislature formally adopted a resolution easing the country's one-child policy, allowing couples to have two children if either parent is an only child. On Chinese social media, netizens condemned Zhang's actions, with many calling for the death penalty. "She obliterated her humanity, and conducted unspeakable acts under a cloak of legality - only executing her will level the people's anger!" microblog user China Luo Jian wrote. However, user Wen Jin Rang wrote: "For such a criminal, sparing her life will serve a greater educational purpose than killing her." Meanwhile, Sina Weibo user Doctor Fei Ge described Zhang as the "scum of the medical profession, who damaged the reputation of doctors". (source: BBC)

LATEST NEWS:China doctor jailed for selling babies to traffickers

A Chinese obstetrician has been given a suspended death sentence for stealing newborn babies and selling them to child traffickers. Zhang Shuxia was found guilty of abducting and selling seven babies in Fuping, Shaanxi province, the sentencing court said. She told parents their infants had serious diseases and convinced them to give up the babies, the court said. Zhang has been sentenced to death, with a two year reprieve. Suspended death sentences are normally commuted to life imprisonment in China. Zhang sold seven babies to child traffickers between November 2011 and July 2013, including a pair of twins, a judgement posted on the Weinan Intermediate People's Court's verified microblog on Tuesday said. Six of the babies were rescued, but one baby girl died. 'Fabricated reports' Zhang worked in Shaanxi's Fuping Maternal and Child Healthcare Hospital. "Zhang used her position as medical personnel to fabricate reports about the infants, saying they suffered from birth defects or diseases that were hard to cure," the court said in its judgement. "She abducted and sold several new-born infants, violating professional and social ethics," the judgement added. It is not yet clear whether Zhang will appeal, the court said. Zhang and several other suspects were arrested after the most recent abduction case in July. The parents reported the case to police after they suspected their baby had been trafficked. The baby was found and returned to his parents in early August. Police said they were still investigating 50 related cases, including 26 cases linked to Zhang, and several other suspects were in criminal detention, Xinhua news agency reported. Four other officials from the hospital are on trial for suspected dereliction of duty and are awaiting sentencing, Xinhua added. 'Unspeakable acts' Under China's strict population control policies, most couples can only have one child, and there is a strong preference for healthy baby boys. Earlier this month, China's top legislature formally adopted a resolution easing the country's one-child policy, allowing couples to have two children if either parent is an only child. On Chinese social media, netizens condemned Zhang's actions, with many calling for the death penalty. "She obliterated her humanity, and conducted unspeakable acts under a cloak of legality - only executing her will level the people's anger!" microblog user China Luo Jian wrote. However, user Wen Jin Rang wrote: "For such a criminal, sparing her life will serve a greater educational purpose than killing her." Meanwhile, Sina Weibo user Doctor Fei Ge described Zhang as the "scum of the medical profession, who damaged the reputation of doctors". (source: BBC)

LATEST NEWS: Mexico to deploy federal forces in Michoacan conflict zone

The Mexican government has announced that federal troops will take over security in an area where vigilante groups and a drugs cartel are clashing. The "self-defence groups" seized several small towns in the western state of Michoacan over the past week. They say they are fighting for the freedom of their communities from the notorious Knights Templar cartel. Mexican Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong urged the vigilantes to lay down their weapons. But he warned that there would be no tolerance for those who continued fighting. "Be certain we will contain the violence in Michoacan," he said after a meeting with state governor Fausto Vallejo in the regional capital, Morelia. The vigilantes have vowed to rid Michoacan of the Knights Templar cartel Mr Osorio Chong also encouraged the vigilantes to join the police forces. But the leader of one of the "self-defence groups," Estanislao Beltran, rejected that offer. "If we give up our weapons without any of the drug cartel leaders having been detained, we are putting our families in danger because they will come and kill everyone, including the dogs," said Mr Beltran. On Sunday, more than 100 vigilantes seized the small town of Nueva Italia. There were brief exchanges of fire with members of the Knights Templar cartel. Local police were searched and disarmed, and federal forces were nowhere to be seen. Knights Templar drug cartel *.First emerged in 2011 as an offshoot of La Familia Michoacana drug cartel *.Takes its name from a Christian military order from the Middle Ages *.Claims to protect Michoacan residents from kidnappings, extortion and robberies committed by rival gangs *.Controls much of the methamphetamine and marijuana trade in western Mexico Some months ago, a small number of federal police were deployed in Michoacan state. The fertile farming area in western Mexico known as Tierra Caliente has been engulfed in a turf war between the Knights Templar and the New Generation cartel, from neighbouring Jalisco state. The vigilantes say the army and federal troops have failed to guarantee the security of their families. They say they are preparing an offensive against the Knights Templar centre of command, in the nearby city of Apatzingan. The criminal gang has accused the vigilantes of having sided with the New Generation cartel, something they fiercely deny. "What we are doing is fighting for the freedom of our families," Mr Beltran said. (source: BBC NEWS)

LATEST NEWS: Arctic cold blasts across US, forcing widespread closures

Dangerously cold arctic winds and snow blew across the United States on Monday, forcing schools and public transport to close and prompting officials to ask residents to stay indoors to avoid the deep freeze.

A shift in a weather pattern known as the "polar vortex" triggered a drastic drop in temperatures to lows not seen in two decades.

Comertown, Montana, recorded the lowest wind chill temperature at -63 Fahrenheit (-53 Celsius) – colder than the South Pole, which recorded a wind chill reading of -29 Fahrenheit.

Even the typically temperate Deep South was feeling the

LATEST NEWS: North America cold snap creeps east

US forecasters are warning that the freezing weather is heading east

North America's brutal cold snap is heading east, ushering in dangerous temperatures not seen in two decades, warn forecasters.
  From Montana to Maryland, about half of the US population has been placed under a wind chill warning or advisory.

In Canada, the province of Ontario is facing temperatures of -40C (-40F) with wind chill.

Thousands of flights have been grounded, and residents told their skin could freeze if they go outside.

People on the US north-east coast were warned to

LATEST NEWS: Hundreds of Turkish police officers Dismissed

                                                The Ankara police shake-up is the largest so far

Turkey has sacked 350 police officers in the capital Ankara, following a corruption probe targeting people close to the government, reports say.

 Officials, mostly from outside the city, have been named to replace them.

Hundreds of police have been dismissed or reassigned across the country since last month's corruption investigation. Three cabinet ministers resigned after their sons were detained in the raids.

The prime minister has accused the police and judiciary of

LATEST NEWS: Court remands pastor, 4 others over N6.5m theft, burglary

        An Osogbo Chief Magistrates’ court, yesterday, remanded a man believed to be pastor and four others for allegedly breaking into a shop in the city and carting away goods worth N6.5 million.

The accused are Peter Olawale, 34; Sunday Job, 27; Ajagbe Babatunde, 25; Olaiya Saidi, 23; and Adedeji Musibau, 24.

The Chief Magistrate, Adebayo Lasisi, said the men should be remanded in Ilesha prisons until their bail application is considered.

The prosecutor, Inspector Isiaka Ajadi, had told the court that the accused committed the offences on December 22, 2013 at 10.30 p.m. at Igbona area of Osogbo.

He said the men broke into a shop and a warehouse belonging to

LATEST NEWS: Health workers declare 5-day warning strike from Jan 15

The Joint Health Sector Unions, in league with the Assembly of Health Sector Professionals, yesterday, directed its members to proceed on a 5-day warning strike from Wednesday January 15, to Tuesday January 21, 2014, except  government  addresses their  grievances through constructive dialogue.
Stating their grievances/prayers in a jointly signed position paper presented on contemporary developments in the health sector, the workers, comprising pharmacists, nurses, physiotherapists, radiographers and laboratory scientists among others, insisted that  the dialogue

LATEST NEWS; Kidnappers demand N50m ransom to free 6-yr-old boy in Bayelsa

              The kidnappers of Olali, six-year-old son of the former chairman of Yenagoa Local Government Area and ex-Commissioner for Local Government and Community Development in Bayelsa State, Mr. Godknows Powell, have demanded N50 million to set him free.
The boy was abducted on new year day at the Etegwe suburb of