World News Delight

President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, said  “a country produces the kind of leadership it gets’’. He said former President Goodluck Jonathan was not  prepared  to be president, but got there by  “misfortune or fortune". He stated this on Thursday in Abuja at the unveiling of a book titled “On a Platter of Gold“ written by Mallam  Bolaji Abudullahi, National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Saraki, who was the chief host of the occasion, said “a country produces the kind of leadership it gets’’. “I think it is us Nigerians, that produce the kind of leaders we get; no matter what you say about Jonathan, I don’t think he was someone who was desperate for power,“ he said. He added that Jonathan was not someone that was prepared for leadership but became the president of the country either by “misfortune or fortune". The president of the senate added that it was unfortunate that Nigerians knew the right things to do, but

The head of the African Union's executive commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, on Thursday said around 3,800 migrants needed to be repatriated urgently from Libya. "They want to get out of this mess as swiftly as possible," he said at a summit of the AU and the European Union in Abidjan dominated by the issue of migrant abuse in Libya. He said there were between "400,000 and 700,000" migrants in Libya, and at least 42 migrant camps there. Faki said that the AU's commissioner for social affairs had been to Tripoli, where she visited a camp that had around 3,800 people, mostly from West Africa. "There are women and children, living in inhumane conditions," he said. "We have agreed, along with the EU and the UN, to set up a task force for repatriating at least 3,800 people," he said. "But it's just one camp... the Libyan government tells us that there are 42 in all. There are definitely more than that. There

Russia on Thursday rejected a US call to cut ties with North Korea in response to Pyongyang's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. "We see this negatively," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists in the Belarusian capital Minsk, Russian news agencies reported. "We have repeatedly stated that the pressure of sanctions has been exhausted." He accused the United States of seeking to provoke Kim Jong-Un's regime and demanded to know whether Washington was plotting to destroy the isolated country. "It's as if the recent actions of the United States are consciously directed to provoke Pyongyang towards other radical actions," Russia's top diplomat said. "The Americans need to explain what they are aiming for. If they are looking for a reason to destroy North Korea, then they should say it straight and the American leadership should confirm it," Lavrov was quoted as saying. On Wednesday,

A video has shown herdsmen grazing their cattle around the Aso Rock presidential villa in Abuja. The video, exclusively obtained by PREMIUM TIMES Thursday, shows a column of cattle led along a road near the entrance to the vice president’s office, obstructing vehicular movements. It was not clear how the animals and their herders accessed the restricted area of upmarket Asokoro district. Visitors to the presidential villa must go through security checks at the entrances of the villa before proceeding to either the Supreme Court or any part of the villa. A PREMIUM TIMES journalist who stopped by to get a better view of the animals, was compelled by security agents to delete suspicious pictures and videos from his phone. Indiscriminate movement of cattle in Abuja and other major Nigerian cities has been a subject of concern amid rising cases of clashes between herdsmen and farmers. In several parts of Abuja, cattle are freely led across main roads, stalling h

Protesters in Togo showed no signs of relenting in their bid to oust President Faure Gnassingbe on Thursday, taking to the streets for a second day as the opposition outlined conditions for talks with the government. In Lome, the rallies -- which have become a common sight over the past three months -- took place in a calm atmosphere although earlier protests have resulted in deadly clashes with the security forces which have claimed at least 16 lives. Gnassingbe has ruled Togo for more than 15 years, and demonstrators want him to go -- seeking an end to his family's more than 50-year grip on power. They also want to impose a two-term limit on the presidential mandate. Although largely silent on the wave of protests, Gnassingbe finally spoke out on November 20, saying the government was in talks about holding negotiations with the opposition which could take place "within several weeks". The almost-daily protests which have gripped Togo since late Au

Blessing wanted to believe the advert on Facebook that promised “a cure for AIDS”. Infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), she felt the ad was her only hope — so against her better judgement, she clicked on the link. The 30-year-old Nigerian had created a fake profile on the social networking site in the hope of contacting a traditional healer who would be familiar with modern technology. For 100,000 naira — about $280 (230 euros) and more than five times the monthly minimum wage — she was promised a plant-based potion that would completely eradicate the disease. Sceptical, Blessing asked for more time and a face-to-face meeting. Instead, her would-be benefactor asked for her bank account details. That was several months ago. “He talked only about money, so I gave up,” said Blessing, whose name has been changed at her request. “But I was ready to try.” “There are so many people giving positive testimonies about the drug,” she told AFP in

President Muhammadu Buhari and his Ivorian counterpart, Alassane Ouattara on Wednesday expressed concern that political instability in Togo, if not averted, could have regional consequences. Both leaders expressed the view during a bilateral meeting in Abidjan on the margins of the 5th AU-EU Summit. “We must have a solution in Togo. The friends of the opposition and authorities must talk to them on the steps to jointly take to achieve stability. They must work towards gaining the trust of each other. ‘‘There will be regional consequences for instability in Togo and this will surely come at a cost to development,’’ President Buhari said. The Nigerian leader also had a separate bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel where the issue of stemming the tide of illegal migration of Nigerians to Europe took the front burner. The two leaders agreed to strengthen legal migration and made a commitment to expand discussions on how to stem the tide of illegal

US Secretary of Defense James Mattis makes a statement at the White House in Washington, DC, on November 28, 2017. JIM WATSON / AFP The US military remains confident it can — at least for the moment — protect against any North Korean missile threat, a US official said Wednesday after Pyongyang tested a new rocket type. North Korea earlier launched a previously unseen intercontinental ballistic missile, which it called a Hwasong 15, that was capable of carrying a “super-large heavy warhead” to any target in the continental United States. US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has said the missile flew higher than any other from North Korea, and warned that Pyongyang could soon threaten “everywhere in the world.” The US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that America has not changed its assessment that its various missile defense systems can stop a North Korean missile attack, though the guarantee cannot be ensured indefinitely. “I don’t think they could successful

France will hold emergency talks with African countries and UN officials on Wednesday evening on how to combat slave trading of migrants in Libya, the French president’s office said. The meeting, held during the Europe-Africa summit which opened Wednesday, will discuss in particular proposals by French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel is “associated” with the talks, Macron’s aides said. AFP

UK Parliament . Photo; HO / AFP The European Parliament warned Wednesday that Britain must do more on citizens and Ireland for a Brexit deal this month, despite reports that an agreement on a the divorce bill was close. “Considerable problems remain, which pose a fundamental question as to whether sufficient progress has been achieved,” European Parliament Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt wrote to EU negotiator Michel Barnier. The EU insists there must be “sufficient progress” on the divorce issues of the bill, the rights of three million European nationals in Britain, and the Irish border, in order to unlock talks on a future trade deal at a summit on December 14-15. The parliament said in a press release that “more progress is needed on citizens rights and even more on the situation on the island of Ireland.” Former Belgian prime minister Verhofstadt highlighted the issue of whether the EU’s top court would remain responsible for upholding the rights of European expats af

Picture of the solar energy power plant in Zaktubi, near Ouagadougou. Photo: LUDOVIC MARIN / POOL / AFP Burkina Faso and France on Wednesday launched West Africa’s biggest solar farm, a 33-megawatt facility designed to power tens of thousands of households and ease dependence on imported energy. The 55-hectare (135-acre) outside the Burkinabe capital Ouagadougou, has an annual capacity equivalent to five percent of national production, according to the national power firm SONABEL. Its 47.5-million-euro ($56.7 million) cost is being met by 25 million euros in donations from the European Union and a loan of 22.5 million from France’s development agency. The plant will avoid 26,000 tonnes of carbon emissions, according to its designers. Cegelec, part of the French firm Vinci Energies, built the facility, designed to be a pilot scheme. French President Emmanuel Macron joined Burkinabe President Roch Marc Christian Kabore for the inauguration. Located in the heart of the Sahel r

US President Donald Trump. Photo: Nicholas Kamm / AFP United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday spoke to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and called for Beijing to use “all available levers” to press North Korea. The White House said that Trump and Xi discussed North Korea’s latest ballistic missile test, with Trump again pressing China to take a tougher line against its neighbor. AFP

(FILES) This file photo taken on November 9, 2017 shows US President Donald Trump (L) shaking hands with China’s President Xi Jinping at the end of a press conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. FRED DUFOUR / AFP China on Wednesday warned it would take the “necessary measures” to protect its businesses after the United States launched a new trade probe into China’s possible aluminium dumping. The investigation into imports of aluminium sheet worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year was an unusually aggressive move by the United States. For the first time since 1991, the US Commerce Department said it launched the investigation on its own initiative, rather than responding to a request from a US company. “This practice by the US side is very rare in the history of international trade,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement. “China expresses strong dissatisfaction towards the tendency of trade protectionism displayed by the United States.” The U