Mile 12 Market Shutdown - Lagos Govt.

According a report, the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode has wielded a big stick as he orders the immediate closure of Mile 12 market and restriction of movement in the area.

The Governor, who addressed the media on Thursday afternoon, said that he had directed security operatives to deal with anyone seen to be going against the directive of the state government by obstructing law and order.

He vowed to deal with any criminal while maintaining that Lagos is home to all, irrespective of tribe or ethnic leanings, the Channel Television reported.

So far, about 50 suspects have been arrested from the scene of the incident.

Violence had erupted in Agiliti Area of Mile 12 in Lagos State, Nigeria’s south west region.

Eyewitness accounts said that at least four people had died, while security operatives battled to get the violence under control.

Huge plumes of smoke were seen bellowing from a distance as houses were set ablaze.

Residents of the area have remained indoors for fear of being attacked.

Do you think he'll wear that awful red hat if elected President? Let's just hope it never gets that far.

                                                                                             MARVIN GENTRY/REUTERS

Do you think he'll wear that awful red hat if elected President? Let's just hope it never gets that far. 

For folks across the nation, the election of Donald Trump would make America grate — again.

The mere thought of President Trump taking the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2017, has already led to threats from U.S. citizens that they would leave our red, white and blue borders behind if The Donald reaches The White House.

The tycoon-turned-politician won at least six states on Super Tuesday, putting him one step closer to the White House, and his critics — and they’re plentiful — are one step closer to the border.

Since declaring his candidacy last June, Trump has insulted everybody from John McCain to Pope Francis, from Mexicans to Muslims to Megyn Kelly.

Left-leaning Americans have been threatening to leave the country since Trump announced his candidacy last summer with a hate-filled, derogatory speech in which he called Mexicans rapists and drug dealers

The warnings of emigration have continued through his campaign — so much so that a tiny Canadian island created a website to welcome Trump haters.

Of course, such threats are nothing new. The late director Robert Altman started the trend during the 2000 election, becoming the first celebrity to say he'd leave the U.S. if George W. Bush was elected. But the threated escape never happened: He died in Hollywood six years into Bush's presidency.

Minnesota-born "Monty Python" member Terry Gilliam renounced his American citizenship in 2006 in protest of Bush's reelection, although the actor moved to London in 1968.

So how does a Trump foe make the big move to more progressive pastures in 2016? And of all the Trump-free countries, which is best for a soon-to-be-expat?

Here’s a Daily News cheat sheet on moving your feet before First Lady Melania puts on her dancing shoes for the inaugural ball.

The first step of any great escape plan? Picking a destination.

Trust expats who have already fled their countries: Singapore might be your best bet. The island nation boasts the top quality of life for expats, according to a 2015 survey of expats by InterNations, a 2 million-person strong network of migrants.

The Asian county earned the title for its slew of high-paying jobs, welcoming atmosphere, stellar health care facilities and top-notch public transit. English, one of Singapore's four official languages, is used frequently, especially in urban areas, so communication barriers are limited for Americans.

"I love the cosmopolitan nature of the city; its international population is well-traveled & open-minded," one expat said.

As a bonus, Singapore boasts the No. 1 most efficient health care system in the world, as rated by Bloomberg. The U.S. ranks at No. 44, and could dip even lower with Trump at the helm. The billionaire has long blasted Obamacare and scoffed at government-run health care — even though the system seems to be working out really well for Singapore.

When it comes to personal finances, Ecuador might be the answer. It ranks No. 1 for cost of living and is high on the list for just plain happiness.

The South American country goes easy on expats' wallets, ranking No. 1 for cost of living. In Ecuador, only 9% of expats said their disposable income isn't enough, compared to a global average of 23%.

And when the massive shavings coax expats southward, you'll be greeted by tons of friendly faces. Ecuador is the easiest country for expats to make new friends, according to the InterNations report.

"Expats living in Ecuador find it the easiest out of all 64 destinations worldwide to settle down in this country," the survey says.

Plus, there are far more women in Ecuador's government than in the U.S. Here, 20 women served in the Senate this term, while 84 women were in the House of Representatives in 2015 — both houses were comprised of roughly 80% men. Ecuador's one-chamber National Assembly has 59 women, compared to 78 men. That should be good news to all those women Donald Trump has verbally attacked over the years.

Minister of Education mandate all universities to hook up to the network.

NgREN Monitoring Center (Photo: NgREN)

The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, has directed all universities in the country to hook up with the Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN).

Adamu gave the directive shortly after watching a video demonstration of NgREN operations at the National Universities Commission (NUC) on Tuesday in Abuja.

NgREN is the national research network for Nigeria, established to provide connectivity infrastructure and service layers for innovation in teaching and research in the country.

It is aimed at harmonising knowledge within the tertiary sector, to drive productive research, collaboration and knowledge dissemination for the development of the country and mankind.

NgREN has a conference room equipped with video conferencing facilities to communicate with other video conference centres in all member institutions.

The minister directed NUC to send a MEMO to him for him to mandate all universities to hook up to the network.

The NUC Executive Secretary, Prof. Julius Okojie, in his earlier comments, said NgREN was solving the problem of Internet connectivity in Nigerian universities, adding that it would improve global presence of Nigerian universities.

The first phase of NgREN was inaugurated on July 8, 2014, , with 27 older federal universities connected to the Network. Recently, among the new universities, The Federal University, Lafia (FULafia) recently got connected to the network also.

Two communities in Nigeria takes Shell to court for the second time in five years over spills in the Niger Delta.

Oil giant Shell is being sued in London for the second time in five years over spills in the Niger Delta.

Two communities are claiming compensation and want Shell to clean up their land.

Shell said it is at an "early stage" in reviewing the claims and that the case should be heard in Nigeria.

The Ogale community of about 40,000 people in Rivers State, on the coast of Nigeria, who are mainly farmers or fishermen, are some of the claimants.

Their case is being handled by law firm Leigh Day.

Spills since 1989 have meant they don't have clean drinking water, farmland or rivers, their claim says.

It points to a November 2015 report by Amnesty International which says four spill sites Shell says it planned to clean up are still contaminated.

The first court hearing is due on Wednesday at the Technology and Construction Court, which will determine if the claimants can can lodge a case against Shell's Nigerian business, known as Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC).

Amnesty's findings followed a 2011 report by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) which found water contaminated with oil by-products including benzene, thought to be a carcinogen. It suggested a clean up, but said a "sustainable recovery" of the area could take up to 30 years.

Shell says it has agreed a clean-up plan.

"In mid-2015 SPDC JV, along with the government, UNEP and representatives of the Ogoni community, agreed to an 18-month roadmap to fast-track the environmental clean-up and remediation of Ogoniland which includes a governance framework," it said in a statement.

The Bille community, who are mainly fishermen and are the other party to sue, claims Shell should be liable for "failing to protect their pipelines from damage caused by third parties", according to Leigh Day.

Pipelines in the area have been targets for thieves who steal crude oil and try to refine it locally. This has lead to more spills and damage though explosions.

"Both Bille and Ogale are areas heavily impacted by crude oil theft, pipeline sabotage and illegal refining which remain the main sources of pollution across the Niger Delta.

"Ogale is in Ogoniland and it is important to note that SPDC has produced no oil or gas in Ogoniland since 1993. Access to the area has been limited following a rise in violence, threats to staff and attacks on facilities," Shell said.

But the communities say Shell pipelines lack the technology to detect and shut off leaks, whatever the cause.

Daniel Leader, partner at Leigh Day said: "It is scandalous that four years after the UNEP Report Shell is yet to clean up its oil in either Ogale or Bille. Our client's patience has now run out and we intend to force Shell to act since it is clear they have no intention of doing so on their own."

In January last year, Shell agreed to an $84m (£55m) settlement with residents of the Bodo community in the Niger Delta for two oil spills.

The same law firm, Leigh Day, said their 15,600 clients would receive $3,300 each for losses caused by the spills.

The remaining $30m would be left for the community, which Leigh Day said was "devastated by the two massive oil spills in 2008 and 2009".

That dispute began in 2011.

During the trial emails, letters and internal reports submitted to a court in London, and seen by the BBC, showed that senior Shell employees were concerned before the spill that Shell's pipelines in the area had reached the end of their lives and needed replacing to avoid danger to lives, the environment and the economy.

Two spills in 2008 affected about 35 sq miles (90 sq km) in southern Nigeria, according to the Bodo community which sued Shell.

Shell said at the time it "dismisses the suggestion that it has knowingly continued to use a pipeline that is not safe to operate".

With BBC

Bin Laden was working for US government - Dr. Barrett

The CIA wasted numerous opportunities to kill Osama bin Laden before September 11, 2001, because the former al-Qaeda chief was essentially working for the US government, says Dr. Kevin Barrett, an American academic who has been studying the events of 9/11 since late 2003. 

Dr. Barrett, a founding member of the Scientific Panel for the Investigation of 9/11, made the remarks in a phone interview with Press TV on Tuesday, after the US intelligence agencies declassified tens of documents seized in the 2011 raid on bin Laden's alleged hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

The documents – the second tranche from the raid to have been declassified since May 2015 – show bin Laden was a "hands on" boss of al-Qaeda until the end.

"Bin Laden was very hands on with al-Qaeda's day-to-day operations," a senior intelligence official familiar with the documents said on Monday, "but he seemed somewhat out of touch."

Dr. Barrett said “the problem with this particular story is that ... well there are so many possible problems that it’s hard to know from where to begin, but we could begin with the Seymour Hersh revelations of last year that the story of the assassination of Osama bin Laden was a fairytale, that nothing happened remotely close to what we were told happened on the day he was supposedly killed.”

“The upshot of the Seymour Hersh story is that it was absolutely clear according to what Hersh explicitly said that the Pakistani government was fully aware of everything  bin Laden was doing for many many years, and that essentially  bin Laden was under house arrest by the Pakistani government,” he added.

“Hersh implied that – of course was not allowed to say, even if he was published over in London – was that this was all obviously done – assuming this is true, which is a big assumption – with the connivance of the United States government, that is… bin Laden was a prisoner of the Pakistani and US government for at least four or six years before he was killed. Now this is the same period that these new supposed documents had bin Laden completely running so-called al-Qaeda.”

In an article published on the London Review of Books in May 2015, investigative US journalist Seymour Hersh wrote that high-level lying “remains the modus operandi of US policy, along with secret prisons, drone attacks, Special Forces night raids, bypassing the chain of command, and cutting out those who might say no.”

Hersh wrote that Pakistani intelligence officials played an important role in the bin Laden operation, despite the Obama administration’s assertion that the assassination was done without their knowledge.

The report claims that Pakistani military officers helped US helicopters enter the country and that a Pakistani security official led the American troops directly to Bin Laden without any resistance from guards.

Bin Laden, a CIA asset 

“Now assuming that Hersh’s information is correct, and it certainly is far more plausible than anything remotely close to the US government version and the US mainstream media version of events, that means that we have to really readjust our perception of who bin Laden was, and what he was really doing?” Dr. Barrett said.  

“And we already know that bin Laden was working for the US government ... He was created by essentially by the US government and its intelligence agencies to fight the Russians in Afghanistan. That was al-Qaeda meant – the CIA database,” the researcher noted.  

“We know that right before 9/11 – in July 2001, bin Laden was being treated by a CIA-linked American physician in Dubai, Dr. Terry Calloway, and he was visited by the head of the Dubai CIA station, a certain Mr. Larry Mitchell. This was repeatedly confirmed by many European news outlets which all stand by that story,” he stated.

“We know that on the eve of 9/11, actually on September 11th, 2001, bin Laden was in a hospital being treated for a terminal kidney disease. And he could have easily been captured at that time had they wanted to, and of course there were numerous, numerous opportunities before that as well,” he pointed out.

“So essentially the picture we have gotten is that bin Laden was an American agent. And this has been confirmed by many, many sources, like Veterans Today where I work, people with an intelligence community background,” he said.

“So what we’ve learned from these most recent documents, assuming that they are authentic, is that bin Laden would have been running so-called al-Qaeda on behalf of Western intelligence.  And they were keeping him under virtual house arrest, allowing him to do his work, right next door to the Pakistani military headquarters, all those years,” the analyst observed.

The September, 11, 2001 attacks, also known as the 9/11 attacks, were a series of strikes in the US which killed nearly 3,000 people and caused about $10 billion worth of property and infrastructure damage.

US officials assert that the attacks were carried out by al-Qaeda terrorists but many experts have raised questions about the official account, saying it was a false-flag operation and that bin Laden was just a bogeyman for the US military-industrial complex.

They believe that rogue elements within the US government orchestrated or at least encouraged the 9/11 attacks in order to accelerate the US war machine and advance the Zionist agenda.

With PressTv