World News Delight

President Muhammadu Buhari has asked his children to study hard, saying he will not steal Nigeria's money. The president said this in a documentary entitled "Buhari: Beyond the Iron and Steel" aired on Nigerian Television Authority last night by the Presidency. Buhari also said the goodwill he enjoyed from the masses kept him in politics. He added that his central objective was to provide transparency and accountable government. "I pray five times a day thanking God that allowed people to understand and believe me. This goodwill that I enjoy from the masses is what is keeping me in politics and of course, my central objective is to provide transparency and accountable government," he said. Earlier in a Facebook post, presidential spokesman Mr Femi Adesina quoted some government officials as commenting on Buhari thus: "He gives you things to do, and leaves you strictly to do those things. No interference at all, once he has confi...

Israel is in touch with "at least ten countries" over the possible transfer of their embassies to Jerusalem after the United States recognised the city as Israel's capital, a deputy minister said Monday. "We are in contact with at least ten countries, some of them in Europe" to discuss the move, deputy foreign minister Tzipi Hotovely told public radio. She spoke a day after Guatemala said it would move its embassy to the city, a move slammed by Palestinian officials as "shameful". Hotovely said US President Donald Trump's statement would "trigger a wave" of such moves. "So far we have only seen the beginning," she said. Hotovely did not name the countries in question, but public radio cited Israeli diplomatic sources as saying Honduras, the Philippines, Romania and South Sudan are among states considering such a move. Two-thirds of United Nations member states on Thursday voted for a resolution reje...

A Japanese researcher has developed -- by accident-- a new type of glass that can be repaired simply by pressing it back together after it cracks. The discovery opens the way for super-durable glass that could triple the lifespan of everyday products like car windows, construction materials, fish tanks and even toilet seats. Yu Yanagisawa, a chemistry researcher at the University of Tokyo, made the breakthrough by chance while investigating adhesives that can be used on wet surfaces. Does this mean you will soon be able to repair those cracks in your smartphone with a quick press of the fingers? Or surreptitiously piece together a shattered beer glass dropped after one pint too many? Well, not quite. Not now and in fact, not in the near future. But it does open a window of opportunity for researchers to explore ways to make more durable, lightweight, glass-like items, like car windows. In a lab demonstration for AFP, Yanagisawa broke a glass sample into two...

Former soccer star George Weah has defeated Vice President Joseph Boakai to win Liberia's presidential election run-off with 61.5 percent of the vote, based on 98.1 percent of ballots cast, the election commission said on Thursday. The announcement by commission chairman Jerome Korkoyah means Weah will succeed Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as Liberia's president next month, in what will be the country's first democratic transition since 1944. Reuters

The United Nations' budget is set to shrink by over $285 million next year - a 5 percent cut that the U.S. government says it negotiated. The U.N. General Assembly voted Sunday to approve the nearly $5.4 billion regular operating budget for 2018-2019. The Secretary-General's office says the new budget include cuts to most departments and offices. The regular budget pays for many U.N. activities, but not peacekeeping or some humanitarian appeals, for example. The U.S. is the largest contributor, paying about 25 percent of the regular budget. President Donald Trump has pressed to cut U.S. contributions to the world body. In a statement Sunday, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley faulted the U.N. for "inefficiency and overspending" and said Washington won't let "the generosity of the American people be taken advantage of." She also said that while the mission was pleased with the results of budget negotiations, it would continue to 'loo...

Apple's board has instructed chief executive Tim Cook to use only private aircraft "in the interests of security and efficiency" at the world's most valuable company, regulatory documents show. Cook was paid $102m (£76m) this year after collecting a huge share bonus linked to the company's stock market performance. A filing with securities regulators this week said the board determined that its CEO must use private aircraft for "all business and personal travel." The policy was implemented in 2017 "in the interests of security and efficiency based on our global profile and the highly visible nature of Mr. Cook´s role as CEO." The filing noted that the value of the private flights is calculated as "imputed taxable income" which is not reimbursed by Apple. The filing showed Cook received some $12.8 million in compensation for 2017, including a salary of $3 million and incentive awards. Cook took home far less...

Zimbabwe's ousted president Robert Mugabe will get a residence, a car fleet and private air travel as part of a new government-funded retirement package for former leaders, state media reported Thursday. Mugabe will also be entitled to at least 20 staffers including six personal security guards, all paid for from state coffers, according to details of the benefits published in The Herald newspaper. The 93-year-old, who quit last month under popular pressure following a military takeover, is the first beneficiary of the generous measures unveiled Wednesday by new President Emmerson Mnangagwa. No monetary details were spelt out, but the country's constitution stipulates that an ex-president is entitled to a pension equivalent to the salary of a sitting president. Local independent media reported last month that Mugabe was granted a $10-million (8.3-million euro) retirement bonus as part of a deal to persuade him to eventually resign. The government denied th...

Authorities say a Southern California couple used a drone to deliver illegal drugs to their customers. Benjamin Baldassarre and Ashley Carroll, of Riverside, were charged on Tuesday with possessing controlled substances for sale and child endangerment. It's unclear if they have attorneys who can comment on the charges. Police arrested the couple last Thursday after neighbours suspected they were selling drugs. Authorities say a drone delivered drugs to customers at a nearby parking lot. The customers would then drive by the couple's home and throw their payments on the lawn. The child endangerment charges were filed because Baldassarre's 9-year-old daughter lived in the home, where police say they found syringes and drugs believed to include methamphetamine, LSD-laced candy and powdered fentanyl. The girl was turned over to her mother. AP

Singer Tiwa Savage has lamented after her luggage was stolen last night while her plane was taxiing on Lagos airport’s runway. According to reports, the pilot, Captain Cloud Cote noticed the cargo door had been opened by burglars and promptly notified Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) security, but the burglars had disappeared before FAAN officials could make it to the point where the attack took place.  Below is the singers’s reaction:

It's getting colder, the clock is ticking and regional authorities are scrambling to meet President Emmanuel Macron's deadline: get migrants off France's streets and out of forest hideouts by year's end. That won't likely happen, and Macron's government is now tightening the screws: ramping up expulsions, raising pressure on economic migrants and allowing divisive ID checks in emergency shelters. Critics contend that Macron's increasingly tough policy on migrants — though wrapped in a cloak of goodwill — contradicts his image as a humanist who defeated an anti-immigrant populist for the presidency, and has crossed a line passed by no other president in the land that prides itself as the cradle of human rights. System needs fixing From snowy Alpine passes to the borders with Spain or Germany, migrants keep making their way to France. In Paris alone, police have evacuated around 30 000 people camping on sidewalks in the last two years. ...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that a political solution to the Syrian conflict was impossible without the departure of President Bashar al-Assad, branding him a "terrorist". "It is absolutely impossible to advance with Assad in Syria," Erdogan told a news conference after meeting Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi. "Bashar al-Assad is a terrorist... We cannot just say this person goes on doing this job. If we do then it's unfair" to the Syrians who have been killed, he added. Turkey has opposed Assad throughout the conflict, now in its seventh year, backing the opposition seeking to oust him and accusing the Syrian leader of war crimes. Ankara is now a key player in efforts to end the war along with Russia and Iran, Assad's main allies. Erdogan's comments came just days after the powerbrokers agreed to hold a peace congress for Syria in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi in late January....

Zimbabwe's former army commander who led a military takeover that helped end Robert Mugabe's 37-year rule was Thursday sworn in as one of the country's two vice presidents. General Constantino Chiwenga, 61, took the oath of office in Harare, pledging to be "faithful" to Zimbabwe and to "obey, uphold and defend the constitution", said an AFP journalist who witnessed the ceremony. "I will discharge my duties with all my strength and to the best of my knowledge and ability," said Chiwenga dressed in a black suit. Chiwenga retired from the military last week, slightly over a month after the military temporarily took control of the country on November 15, culminating in Mugabe's resignation six days later. Emmerson Mnangagwa, who had a few weeks earlier been sacked from his job as vice president by Mugabe, then took over as the head of state. Kembo Mohadi, a veteran politician and long-serving state security minister, wa...

The Nigeria Police Force has inaugurated a radio broadcasting service to ‘assist in addressing many of the current security and welfare challenges’ facing the country. The chairman and chief executive officer of the Nigeria Police Broadcasting Service (NPBS), Edirin Jerry Wesley, revealed that the NPBS would be policing the nation through effective communication starting 2018. In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday, Wesley also said the NPBS would address ugly incidences of crimes across the country. According to him, the NPBS will cut across general security information on air, land and sea, adding that homeland security policing, border policing, and airport policing would be its primary focus. Wesley further said the NPBS will help Nigerians conduct free and fair elections in the country with the assistance of Nigerians. He appreciated President Muhammadu Buhari and the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, for the invaluable contributions made in e...