Month: July 2017

Qatar says new Saudi bloc blacklist ‘disappointing’

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Qatar said on Wednesday that a new blacklist released by Saudi Arabia and its allies came as a “disappointing surprise” in a diplomatic crisis that has split the Gulf. The four Arab governments named 18 organisations and individuals on Tuesday that they accused of links with Islamist extremism and Qatar. The move by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain came despite mounting international pressure to compromise in their weeks-old boycott of their fellow US ally. Qatari government communications director Sheikh Saif bin Ahmed Al-Thani official said the…

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Photos: Smiling Buhari receives Yari, 6 other governors

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President Muhammadu Buhari, beaming with smiles and life,  has received in audience seven Nigerian governors who left Nigeria Tuesday night to visit him in London, where he has been recuperating since 8 May. The governors were led by Governor Abdulaziz Yari, chairman of the Governors Forum. The six other governors are: Dave Umahi of Ebonyi state, Udom Emmanuel, (Akwa Ibom), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Abdullahi Ganduja(Kano) and Samuel Ortom, Benue State and Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno state. Buhari welcomes Ajimobi It was the second goodwill visit by Nigerian political leaders. President…

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Army loses 9 soldiers to rescue kidnapped NNPC staff

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The Army said it had rescued all the 10 NNPC staff kidnapped by suspected Boko Haram terrorists in Borno on Tuesday. But the effort came with a huge price for the Nigerian military. Nine soldiers  and a civilian died in the confrontation with the abductors. The Director Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Sani Usman, who made this known in a statement on Wednesday, also said that the bodies of an officer, eight soldiers and a civilian, who died in the incident had been recovered. Usman said the bodies had been evacuated to 7 Division…

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Angelina Jolie: My hardest time was divorcing Pitt

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Angelina Jolie has made a confession about her divorce from Brad Pitt. The beautiful actress told Vogue she’s had “the hardest time” since filing for divorce. The 42-year- actress said she and her children are doing their best to heal following her highly-publicized split from the 53-year-old actor in the fall. “It’s just been the hardest time, and we’re just kind of coming up for air,” she told the magazine from her new home in Los Feliz. “[This house] is a big jump forward for us, and we’re all trying…

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Swedish opposition urges three ministers to resign over scandal

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Sweden’s minority government faced a crisis on Wednesday as the opposition urged three ministers to resign over a scandal involving a state agency that outsourced IT services to foreign employees with no security clearance. “Several ministers have neglected their duties. This must have repercussions,’’ Annie Loof, Centre Party leader, told newsmen. The controversial centres on the National Transport Agency, which in 2015 outsourced its IT services to information giant IBMm used employees in several countries, including the Czech Republic without Swedish security clearances. The foreign IT specialists had access to…

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Facebook shares soar, advert income rises

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Facebook Inc surpassed quarterly profit and revenue estimates on Wednesday as  it recorded an upswing in its advertising income. According to Reuters, the social media giant has found more ways to attract advertisers to its mobile app including its centerpiece product, the Facebook News Feed, sending its shares to an all-time high. The company’s stock was up 1.6 percent at $168.25 after the bell. Through Wednesday’s close, the share price had climbed nearly 44 percent this year. Total revenue rose 44.8 percent to $9.32 billion, beating the average forecast of $9.20…

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I am far from finished – Emenike

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Emmanuel Emenike has said he is far from finished after he marked his official debut for Olympiacos with a goal in the UEFA Champions League. Emenike came off the bench in the 88th minute and hit target three minutes later for Greek champions Olympiacos to beat home team Partizan Belgrade of Serbia in a third qualifying round of the Champions League. The big striker has signed a two-year contract with Olympiacos after a trying time at Turkish giants Fenerbache. “I just wish to say that I am not a finished…

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Nigerian scientists exploring oil in Lake Chad kidnapped

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Some Nigerian scientists ‎searching for crude in Lake Chad have been kidnapped. Although the exact number of victims has not been confirmed, a spokesper‎son of the state oil firm, NNPC, confirmed the kidnap to PREMIUM TIMES. Sources in Borno had earlier told PREMIUM TIMES that the victims were abducted on Tuesday by suspected members of Boko Haram. Though security agencies have not spoken officially on the incident, sources in Borno said the scientists and engineers who were moving alongside some personnel of the Civilian-JTF, were ambushed near a village called…

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UK to ban sale of petrol, diesel cars

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Britain will outlaw the sale of new diesel and petrol cars and vans from 2040 in a bid to cut air pollution, the government was set to announce later Wednesday. Enviroment minister Michael Gove is due to present the government’s keenly-awaited £3 billion ($3.9 billion, 3.4 billion euro) air pollution plan, which is expected to demand that councils propose measures by March next year to reduce nitrogen dioxide levels, according to British media reports. The ban on petrol and diesel cars as well as vans follows a similar proposal by…

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Libyan rivals agree in France to cease-fire, elections

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Two rival Libyan leaders committed themselves on Tuesday to a cease-fire, working toward presidential and parliamentary elections and finding a roadmap to secure lawless Libya against terrorism and trafficking of all kinds, according to a document released by the French presidency. The meetings at a chateau in La Celle Saint-Cloud, west of Paris, brought together Fayez Serraj, prime minister of the UN-backed unity government, and Gen. Khalifa Hifter, the Egyptian-backed commander of Libya’s self-styled national army. Macron met separately with each ahead of an encounter between the two Libyans in…

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