2017

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Responding to reports that he was bribed to approve of the controversial Malabu oil deal, former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan released a statement on Tuesday denying any illegal involvement in the scheme.


Mr. Jonathan's spokesperson, Ikechukwu Eze, published the statement on Tuesday. It is reproduced below, courtesy of Premium Times:

Our attention has been drawn to news reports published mostly by online media which suggested through innuendo, rather than factual evidence, that former President Goodluck Jonathan received kickbacks in the $1.3bn OPL 245 oil block deal involving oil giants ENI and Royal Dutch Shell.

With regards to the publication, we wish to make it clear that former President Jonathan was not accused, indicted or charged for corruptly collecting any monies as kickbacks or bribes from ENI by the Italian authorities or any other law enforcement body the world over.

In the first place, we have to categorically state that the negotiations and transactions for the oil block deal predate the Presidency of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan which began on 6th May 2010 and ended on 29th May 2015.

It may interest those promoting this false narrative to know that all the documents relating to the transactions, issues and decisions of the Federal Government on the Malabo issue, during the Jonathan administration, are in the office of the Attorney General of the Federation/Minister of Justice.

As President of Nigeria, there is no doubt that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan met with executives of all the oil majors operating in Nigeria and urged them to, amongst other things, support the growth of the Nigerian oil industry by ramping up their investments and comply with the Local Content Act that he promoted and signed into law.

We however wish to state, for emphasis, that at no time did the former President hold private meetings with representatives of ENI to discuss pecuniary issues. All the meetings and discussions former President
Jonathan had with ENI, other IOCs and some indigenous operators were conducted officially, and in the presence of relevant Nigerian Government officials and were done in the best interest of the country.

We make bold to point out that the former President never sent any Abubakar Aliyu, as the innuendoes in the false report suggest, to ENI, the IOCs or any indigenous operator to seek favour or collect any gratification on his behalf.

We will like to point out for the umpteenth time that whether in office or out of office, former President Jonathan does not own any bank account, aircraft or real estate outside Nigeria. Anyone with contrary information is challenged to publicly publish same.

As the President who signed the Freedom of Information Act into law, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan lifted the veil on governance and encouraged transparency knowing that evil breeds in secrecy. It is the opinion of the former President that journalists and media houses should take advantage of this law in their investigative journalism, rather than rely on hearsay.

We hope that these clarifications will help guide future reports which should be factual.
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Kim Kardashian has a new crime to deal with -- this time it's her family's DASH store that was hit, and it went down shortly after the Paris suspects got busted.


Law enforcement sources tell us a woman strolled into the Melrose Ave boutique Monday, grabbed a bunch of clothing and perfume and fled in a silver sedan. We're told the woman made off with around $1,600 in DASH gear ... and so far, cops haven't been able to locate her.

Odd coincidence -- since Paris cops announced Monday they'd arrested 17 people in connection with Kim's robbery in October.
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Fetty Wap is serious about getting a sex tape off the Internet ... purportedly featuring him and Alexis Skyy -- and he's targeted the person he thinks leaked it ... Dear Alexis, STOP!

TMZ has obtained the cease and desist letters Fetty's legal hounds fired off to Alexis and a bunch of media outlets allegedly posting the video.

Fetty's lawyers threatened Alexis this way ... "[Y]ou must IMMEDIATELY STOP the distribution and/or attempted distribution of this alleged video to any and all media outlets."

BTW ... he vows to sue her if the video doesn't disappear.

We'll see if he ruffled enough feathers to keep it from spreading any further.
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Uganda's leader Yoweri Museveni has promoted his eldest son to become a special presidential adviser in a reshuffle of army commanders.

Maj Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba has risen rapidly within the military, fuelling speculation that he is being groomed to become president one day.

Analysts say his new role, working more closely with state house, will broaden his remit and experience.
Mr Museveni, 72, is one of Africa's longest-serving leaders.

He came to power in 1986 after winning a five-year guerrilla war - and last year won his fifth term in office with more than 60% of the vote.


Gen Kainerugaba, 42, had been in charge of the Special Forces in charge of his father's security since 2008.
He graduated from the UK's Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2000 and last year was promoted from brigadier to major general.


Muhoozi... is going to play a significant role in a post-Museveni Uganda, there's no doubt about it," political commentator and rights activist Nicholas Opiyo told the Reuters news agency.

"He is just giving the boy a hand in experiencing how government works on the side of politics."
In the reshuffle Brigadier Peter Elwelu, who oversaw a deadly raid in November on the palace of a regional king accused of launching a secessionist movement, was promoted to army chief.

The BBC's Patience Atuhaire in Kampala says the promotion is being seen as a reward for the operation, in which more than 60 people were killed.

Meanwhile the previous army chief General Katumba Wamala has been made a junior Minister for Works in the government after serving as the top army official since 2013, a departure seen as a demotion, our correspondent says.
Military spokesman Paddy Ankunda said the moves were part of normal changes within the institution.




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A notorious Russian serial killer known “The Werewolf” – who is already serving a life sentence for 22 murders – may be behind up to 37 more deaths, according to investigators digging into his crimes.

Mikhail Popkov, a 52-year-old former policeman from the city of Angarsk, north of Russia's border with Mongolia, reportedly told investigators that his kill total was 59.
He was already sentenced and convicted for 22 deaths and is awaiting trial for an additional 25 – while authorities told The Siberian Times Tuesday that they are looking into an additional 12 cases in which he may have been involved.


“The investigation will be very long because there are a lot of cases,” senior investigator Andrei Bunayev told the news website last year. “He names the places where bodies are hidden. We find these bodies, and check his involvement.”

Bunayev said investigators were re-examining biological traces that were previously overlooked in some cases.


Law enforcement sources told The Times it was likely Popkov’s total would pass those of other notorious Russian serial killers such as “The Butcher of Rostov” Andrei Chikatilo, who killed 52, and Alexander Pichushkin, the “Chessboard Killer”, who murdered 48.

In Popkov’s murders, he would sexually attack young female victims before killing them with axes, knives or screwdrivers, the website reported. Popkov would often offer victims rides in his police car before taking them to remote areas and raping and killing them.


“I admit my guilt in full... committing the murders, I was guided by my inner convictions,” Popkov previously told a court.

After being detained in 2012, he told authorities that he wanted to cleanse Angarsk’s streets of prostitutes.

The killer said he started the string of murders after suspecting that his wife was cheating on him when he found two used condoms in their home’s trash can.

But the condoms actually belonged to house guests, The Siberian Times reported.

“I just had some reasons to suspect her,” Popkov said. “I'm not looking for excuses, but this was the impetus for my future.”

Two of his victims were Tatiana Martynova, 20, and Yulia Kuprikova, 19, who were found dead in Angarsk after a night out in 1998.

“The pain does not go away - it was me who gave Tanya a ticket to go to a concert, and she was killed after attending it,” her sister Viktoria Chagaeva, told The Siberian Times.



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A federal jury Tuesday sentenced Dylann Roof to death for killing nine black church members in Charleston, S.C. in a racially motivated attack in 2015.

Roof, who is white, faced either life in prison or execution for the slayings on June 17, 2015. The Justice Department said he is the first person to get the death penalty for federal hate crimes.

The jury reached the unanimous decision after about three hours of deliberations.

In his closing argument on Tuesday, Roof denied that he was filled with hatred.

“Wouldn’t it be fair to say that the prosecution hates me because they’re trying to give me the death penalty?” Roof asked rhetorically. “Anyone who hates anything, in their mind has a good reason for it. And sometimes that’s because they’ve been misled and sometimes it isn’t. But I would say that in this case the prosecution, along with anyone else who hates me, are the ones who have been misled.”

Acting as his own attorney, Roof concluded his closing argument after only five minutes.

“That’s all,” he said.

The brevity of Roof’s statement stood in stark contrast to the prosecution’s closing argument, which lasted for two hours.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Richardson reminded jurors how the nine victims of the 2015 massacre at Emanuel AME Church had welcomed Roof, a stranger who had shown up at their Wednesday evening Bible study.

“The defendant had come not to learn, not to receive the Word, but he came with a hateful heart and a Glock 45,” Richardson said.

Richardson mentioned all of the victims by name, describing their importance to the community and their families, and the terrible loss caused by their untimely deaths. He contrasted these “particularly good people” with the horrific nature of Roof’s crimes, his racist views and “his belief in Hitler as a saint, as an icon, as someone to be emulated.”

The prosecution showed the jury photos of Roof with his now familiar blank stare, pointing a pistol at the camera during target practice.

“He also chose to videotape himself doing it so that he could see the very last images that these victims would see,” Richardson said. “He wanted to see what he would look like as he stood over them.”

Inside the courtroom, Roof looked straight forward, displaying no obvious emotion as the prosecution showed the jury graphic photos of the deceased victims’ bodies lying on the bloodstained floor of their church meeting room.

Richardson then went on to cite Roof’s apparent lack of remorse for the crimes.

He quoted from a journal removed from the defendant’s jail cell back in August of 2015 in which Roof writes, “I do not regret what I did. I am not sorry. I have not shed a tear for the innocent people I killed.”

The prosecutor reminded jurors that even during this trial, Roof had entered the courtroom wearing hand drawn racist symbols on his shoes.

“Unrepentant, no remorse,” Richardson added.

At the conclusion of his closing argument, Richardson urged jurors, “Sentence this defendant to death for killing Clementa Pinckney.”

He repeated the phrase eight more times to add the names of each victim.

The same panel of three black and nine white jurors who convicted Roof back in December must now decide whether the white supremacist should face execution for his crimes. If the jury fails to reach a unanimous decision, the judge will sentence Roof to life in prison without the possibility of release.

Jurors entered their deliberations after hearing days of witness testimony and evidence from the prosecution, but very little from the defense. Acting as his own attorney, Roof rested his case yesterday without calling any witnesses or testifying on his own behalf.

At the beginning of the sentencing hearing, his brief opening statement made no mention of his crimes or white supremacist views. Instead, Roof used his opening statement to explain that he was serving as his own attorney to prevent his defense team from presenting evidence about his mental health.

“There is nothing wrong with me psychologically,” Roof told the jury in his January 4 opening statement.

Roof expressed similar concerns outside the jury’s presence during a Monday afternoon charge conference, where the judge and attorneys were discussing the specific instructions to be given to jurors before they began deliberations. Roof expressed concern about what details would be released from a pre-trial competency hearing after the verdict.

Judge Gergel said he had sealed much of the information from the competency hearing to protect the defendant’s right to a fair trial. But Gergel said that after the trial, he would have to weigh Roof’s concerns against a strong First Amendment right for public access to information.


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Workers of the erstwhile ruling party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday, January 9 disgraced the factional chairman of the party, Ali Modu Sheriff by refusing to attend a meeting with him.

According to a report by Punch, was to hold at Sheriff’s office at Maitama, Abuja for 10am but the workers were angry that the Sheriff faction invited journalists to the planned meeting.

It is believed that the planned meeting was supposed to be a follow-up to the meeting the workers had with members of the National Caretaker Committee under the leadership of Senator Ahmed Makarfi in Abuja on Friday.

It was gathered that all the 54 workers, who attended the meeting with Makarfi voted against having audience with the Sheriff faction.

Also reported was that the workers had given the Sheriff faction other conditions which were not met, hence their decision to stay away from the proposed meeting.

One of the conditions, it was learnt, was that Sheriff must start speaking against the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government, since he claimed to be leading a major opposition party.

The workers also demanded that the faction should support the unconditional reopening of the party’s national secretariat located at Wuse, Zone 2, Abuja.

One of the leaders of the Workers Welfare Association, Mr. Imafidon Samson said; “They invited us to a meeting, which would have been the first since the crisis started.

“But why would we go to such a meeting without issues to be discussed? We wanted a private meeting; he went on to call all the media houses in the country.
“We also said he should be speaking against the APC-led Federal Government and should also ask the police to vacate the national secretariat. But, there was no commitment from them.

“All of us, 54 of us who were at the meeting today, voted against going to the meeting. That was why we didn’t go.”
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President Barack Obama advised US president-elect, Donald Trump to avoid managing the country’s affair like a family business. Obama also said Trump needs to know there is a big difference between campaigning and ruling.

The outgoing president of America, Barack Obama has called on the president-elect, Donald Trump to warn him against running the country like he runs his family business. Note that the president-elect, Donald Trump has no political experience but he is an experienced businessman.

President Barack Obama advised US president-elect, Donald Trump to avoid managing the country’s affair like a family business. Obama also said Trump needs to know there is a big difference between campaigning and ruling.

The outgoing president of America, Barack Obama has called on the president-elect, Donald Trump to warn him against running the country like he runs his family business. Note that the president-elect, Donald Trump has no political experience but he is an experienced businessman.
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U.S. President Barack Obama will deliver his farewell address to Americans today, in Chicago, ten days ahead of the handover to Donald Trump, a man he has described as polar opposite.

Obama’s speech will be a parting shot “to say thank you” to Americans “and to offer some thoughts on where we all go from here”.

Chicago is Obama’s adopted hometown, where he met his wife, Michele and was elected an Illinois senator.

In his invitation on January 2 to Americans to attend the ceremony, Obama had written:
“In 1796, as George Washington set the precedent for a peaceful, democratic transfer of power he also set a precedent by penning a farewell address to the American people. And over the 220 years since, many American presidents have followed his lead.

“On Tuesday, January 10, I’ll go home to Chicago to say my grateful farewell to you, even if you can’t be there in person.

“I’m just beginning to write my remarks. But I’m thinking about them as a chance to say thank you for this amazing journey, to celebrate the ways you’ve changed this country for the better these past eight years and to offer some thoughts on where we all go from here.

“Since 2009, we’ve faced our fair share of challenges, and come through them stronger.

“That’s because we have never let go of a belief that has guided us ever since our founding — our conviction that, together, we can change this country for the better.

“So I hope you’ll join me one last time. Because, for me, it’s always been about you,” the outgoing two-term president said in his invitation.

 The White House said the outgoing president took the country out of one of the worst economic recessions.

“President Obama inherited an economy careening toward a second Great Depression, and he acted aggressively to arrest the crisis, restart growth and job creation, rebuild our economy on a stronger long-term foundation, and expand opportunity for all Americans.

“Since 2009, the unemployment rate has been cut by more than half from its peak.

“‘Yes, we can’. President Obama spoke these three words for the first time as a candidate in January 2008 in New Hampshire.

“After eight years, this remains a guiding principal that continues to inspire Americans across the country to come together and find their own ways to move our country forward.
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Police have detained two Moroccans who tried to smuggle migrants into Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta - two hidden in a car and one in a suitcase.
When police checked a car on Monday one person was found hidden in the dashboard and another in the hollowed-out back seat.
The man and woman, thought to be Guineans, received first aid as they had had little air to breathe.
Separately, a young African man was found hidden in a woman's suitcase.
That incident happened on 30 December and again the man - believed to be from Gabon - required urgent medical attention.
A 22-year-old Moroccan woman had tried to smuggle him into Ceuta, but customs officers ordered her to open the case, which was tied to a trolley.

The incidents coincided with a mass attempt by sub-Saharan Africans to storm the 6m (20ft) border fence separating Ceuta from Morocco.
Fifty Moroccan and five Spanish border guards were injured when 1,100 migrants tried to get over the fence on Sunday.
None managed to get through, but two people were injured scaling the fence and were taken to hospital in Ceuta. One guard lost an eye, officials said.


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At least 600 people were celebrating New Year - barely 75 minutes old - when a gunman struck at Istanbul's Reina nightclub, spraying some 180 bullets indiscriminately.
The club is a glitzy venue, known for attracting famous singers, actors and sports stars.
It also attracts a wide range of nationalities.
Among the 39 people killed, the biggest single nationality was Turkish, but some two-thirds of the dead were from abroad.

Lebanon
One of the three Lebanese who lost their lives in the attack, Elias Wardini was a personal trainer. He travelled to Istanbul to celebrate the New Year with his friends.
His last post on Instagram shows him in Istanbul with Rita Chami, 25, who also died in the attack.

India
Abis Rizvi was a 49-year-old Bollywood producer who co-wrote Roar: The Tigers of Sunderbans in 2014. He was working on a second film.


Abis Rizvi
He was one of two Indian fatalities. The other was Khushi Shah, a Mumbai fashion designer in her 20s.
Turkey
Among the Turkish victims was Hatice Koc, who was working as a private security guard deployed specially for the New Year celebrations.
After December's bomb attack on a stadium in Istanbul, which killed 44, she wrote on Facebook: "You were the place I had the pleasure of coming to, the place I looked forward to being deployed to. Now it'll always hurt when I see you."


Hatice Koc
Twenty-two-year-old police officer Burak Yildiz, was shot dead outside the club.
Anadolu news agency reported that his body was being transported for burial in the southern city of Mersin.


Burak Yildiz
Mustafa Sezgin Seymen, 32, travelled to Istanbul to take part in New Year festivities with his fiancee, Sezan Arseven.
She posted a picture of them together on Facebook and wrote: "I lost my other half. I lost my partner, my love."
A friend described him as "generous, lively, a person [that] cannot be described with words".

Local media report that Ayhan Arik, a Turkish travel agent, 47 with two children, was shot dead outside the club.

A relative said: "He was talking to the police officer in front - turns out they were born in the same city. He used to work at a tourism agency, taking tourists on tour."
Image copyrightDHA
Image caption
Ayhan Arık

Flags in the Belgian town of Houthalen-Helchteren were lowered to half-mast to remember Kerim Akyil, 23.
Originally from Kayseri in Turkey, he managed a restaurant with his dad and had gone to Istanbul for New Year with his girlfriend.
Houthalen-Helchteren mayor Alain Yzermans said he was well known in the town for being a sociable and open person.


Kerim Akyil
Yunus Gormek, also 23, was working at the Reina nightclub at the time of the attack.
A relative wrote on Twitter: "We lost Yunus Gormek, who worked for Reina, in the horrible attack... he was working to pay for his education."

Israel
Leanne Nasser, 18, an Arab-Israeli from the northern town of Tira, is thought to be the youngest victim. She went to Istanbul with several friends.
Israeli officials said her family had tried to persuade her not to go due to recent attacks. One of her friends was wounded in the nightclub attack.


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