360post: 2017 at 02:13PM

Showing posts with label 2017 at 02:13PM. Show all posts

Tuesday, 28 February 2017

Sisi defends anti-IS fight after Copts flee Sinai

Egypt President, Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has defended his country’s fight against the Islamic State group, after dozens of Christian families fled the Sinai Peninsula following a string of jihadist attacks.

An IS affiliate waging an insurgency in the Sinai last week released a video calling for attacks on Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority.

Dozens of families have left the peninsula after seven Christians were killed in suspected jihadist attacks, including a Copt murdered in the north Sinai city of El-Arish whose house was also burned.

“(The attacks aim to) destabilise the fabric of Egypt… to give the impression that one group isn’t protected as it should be,” Sisi said in remarks broadcast on television late Tuesday.

“(The attacks make) people say that Egyptians are targeted in El-Arish and we are beginning to disunite. Some accuse the state of not helping them.”

Copts, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s 90-million population, say they are sidelined in both the education system and state institutions.

Jihadists and Islamists accuse them of supporting the military overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, which ushered in a deadly crackdown on his supporters.

The IS video last week included an anti-Christian speech by a militant who later detonated an explosive vest in a Coptic church in Cairo last December 11, killing 29 people.

“You say ‘don’t abandon the Sinai’. At a state level, that means the mobilisation of army and police forces,” Sisi said.

He said Egypt was bearing a “huge cost” in battling IS, and paid tribute to army and police “martyrs” killed in north Sinai.

The former army chief said security services were doing their utmost to protect civilians in the region.

“We are like a surgeon who wants to remove the danger without damaging the rest of the patient,” Sisi said.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lvZIkb

Hulk, Oscar on target as Aussies take a hammering

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Shanghai SIPG' Brazilian forward Hulk (C) celebrates his goal with Shanghai SIPG' Brazilian midfielder Oscar (R) during the AFC Asian Champions League group football match between the China's Shanghai SIPG and Australia's Western Sydney Wanderers in Shanghai on February 28, 2017.<br />Johannes EISELE / AFP

Big-money Brazilians Hulk and Oscar were among the scorers as Australian sides were brutally put to the sword in the Asian Champions League on a night of goals on Tuesday.

Heavy-spending Shanghai SIPG hammered 2014 champions Western Sydney Wanderers 5-1, while the Brisbane Roar fared even worse, crashing 6-0 to Ulsan Hyundai of South Korea.

Striker Hulk, who blasted a stunning goal to help his team edge out FC Seoul 1-0 last week, found the net again with a third-minute header off a Zhang Wei cross to give the hosts an early advantage in their Group F clash.

Shanghai stretched their lead in the 17th minute through former Chelsea star Oscar, whose right-footed shot from the centre of the box off a Hulk pass gave Sydney goalkeeper Jerrad Tyson no chance.

Sydney briefly put up a fight through Mitch Nichols in the 20th minute, but faded after that as Shanghai and their Brazilian superstars ran riot.

Defender Shi Ke gave Shanghai a 3-1 lead and the bustling Hulk was in the thick of the action again on 27 minutes with a pass to set up yet another Brazilian, Elkeson, for 4-1.

Wu Lei sealed the rout for Shanghai, who despite going goal-crazy trail Urawa Red Diamonds on goal difference after the Japanese similarly ran amok in a 5-2 mauling of FC Seoul in Group F.

Following their 4-0 thrashing of Western Sydney Wanderers last week, the Japanese were quick to take control with Yuki Muto and Tadanari Lee netting within 11 minutes of the start.

However, the goal of the match came from Park Chu-Young, who scored with a stunning free-kick for the visitors.

But Takahiro Sekine, Tomoya Ugajin and Yoshiaki Komai added to Urawa’s tally as an action-packed first half ended 5-1.

Substitute Dejan Damjanovic pulled a consolation back in the 92nd minute for the demoralised Seoul side.

There were goals galore too in Group E, where Kim In-Sung and Mislav Orsic both bagged doubles for Ulsan Hyundai as the Roar barely put up a fight in a 6-0 destruction.

Saudi giants Al Ahli took top spot in Group C after squeezing past Iran’s Zobahan 2-1 for their second straight win despite playing half the game with 10 men.

The two-time runners-up opened the scoring through Abdulfattah Asiri in the 29th minute but Mehdi Rajabzadeh equalised for the Iranians from the spot in first-half stoppage time after Motaz Hawsawi fouled Jerry Bengtson and was sent off.

Omar al-Somah hit the winner with a well-struck free-kick in the 86th minute as Zobahan remained winless in the tournament.

Also in Group C UAE’s Al Ain survived a scare from Uzbekistan’s Bunyodkor before winning 3-2 away, but in Group D fellow Emiratis Al Wahda fell to Iran’s Persepolis also 3-2 with Mehdi Taremi scoring twice for the winners in the last 10 minutes.

The late Group D match saw Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal beat Qatar’s Al Rayyan 2-1, the winner a penalty deep into second-half stoppage time by Mohammed al-Shalloub.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lQQvp5

Two hurt in French police gun accident at Hollande event

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French President Francois Hollande (3rd L) attends the inauguration of the new "Sud Europe Atlantique" (South Europe Atlantic) high-speed rail line, linking Tours and Bordeaux, on February 28, 2017, in Villognon, central France. The new rail link, which will be put into service in July, will allow passengers to travel between Paris and Bordeaux in two hours.<br />Yohan BONNET / AFP

A French policeman accidentally fired his weapon Tuesday, slightly injuring two people at an event where President Francois Hollande was speaking in southwestern France, an informed source said.

Hollande was inaugurating part of a high-speed rail line in Villognon, in the Charente region, when the accident occurred, the source said.

He said the policeman, a gendarme helping to provide security for the president, had inadvertently set off the gun.

“The bullet grazed one person’s calf and then lodged in another person’s leg,” he said, adding that the victims were in a VIP area at the time.

Firefighters evacuated them but said their injuries were “light”.

Hollande continued his speech after the incident, witnesses said.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lvQsMA

Three killed in California plane crash

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Three people died and two were injured after a small plane crashed in a southern California residential neighborhood, a fire official said Tuesday.

Authorities had initially reported four dead in the confusion after the small plane went down Monday afternoon and hit two homes about a half-mile (800 meters) northeast of Riverside Municipal Airport.

The FAA identified the aircraft as a Cessna 310 and said the crash occurred “under unknown circumstances.”

Michael Moore, the fire chief in Riverside — a city about 60 miles east of Los Angeles — told NBC that all of the victims had been aboard the plane.

The husband, wife and three teenagers had been headed back to San Jose after attending a cheerleading competition at Disneyland, Moore told The Press-Enterprise newspaper. The wife had been piloting the plane.

One of the injured was in “very critical” condition, Moore said. The other survivor, a teenage girl, was ejected from the plane and sustained “very minor injuries.”

The two homes that were hit were destroyed, while others nearby sustained moderate damage.

While no one on the ground was hurt, it was nonetheless a harrowing experience.

The plane crashed into David Swinfard’s house, not far from the couch where he was sitting doing a crossword puzzle. He escaped with only a minor burn.

“I thought, I’m going to have to get out of here or I’m going to die,” he told NBC.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lQwlvz

Murray dominant on return but Wawrinka dumped out

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Britain's Andy Murray returns the ball to Malek Jaziri of Tunisia during their ATP Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship on February 28, 2017 in Dubai.<br />KARIM SAHIB / AFP

World number one Andy Murray eased into the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Tuesday on his return five weeks after suffering a shock Australian Open exit.

The top seed, now fully fit after a bout of shingles, beat Malek Jaziri 6-4, 6-1, avoiding the fate of second seed and title holder Stan Wawrinka, dumped out as his form collapsed following an early 4-1 lead.

“I was a little bit uneasy, I’ve never hit with him or played against him before,” Murray said. “It took a little bit of time to get used to his game.

“But I played better as the match went on. I don’t feel sore anywhere, really. I felt like I moved good and the body felt good.”

Murray, who was knocked out in the fourth round in Melbourne, had to work for 45 minutes to win the opening set but the Scot ran away with the second against the outclassed Jaziri.

Murray will now face Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez on Wednesday.

In contrast, the Swiss three-time Grand Slam winner Wawrinka was beaten 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 in the first round by outsider Damir Dzumhur.

Wawrinka was playing for the first time since suffering a right knee injury in Melbourne, where he reached his eighth major semi-final before falling to compatriot Roger Federer.

Following defeat by the 77th-ranked journeyman from Bosnia-Herzegovina, he admitted that his fitness was lacking after only a week of practice.

“I started well but it was tough because I was missing a little bit of something. In practice it was starting to be OK the last few days, but today I was missing something.”

Dzumhur will now face Marcel Granollers of Spain.

“This is a big win for me, coming on hard court against a player who likes this surface and who won the tournament last year,” the surprise winner said.

After taking an early lead, Wawrinka found his game slipping. By the time he got the first-set tiebreak, he was playing catch-up.

The Swiss was broken twice for 5-1 in the second set before a brief rally in which he broke back once.

Despite his exit Wawrinka said that his knee was giving him no pain, a positive sign heading into back-to-back Masters 1000 events starting next week in Indian Wells and Miami.

“I need to focus on myself. I need to practise more, to get in a better level to expect to do some good results,” Wawrinka said.

“I’m quite unhappy to lose the first round. It’s tough because I played well last year here. I was happy to be back. I was happy to be back on the ATP Tour after a month.”

Fifth seed Tomas Berdych needed just half an hour to win after fellow Czech Lukas Rosol quit with a knee injury trailing 6-3, 2-1.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lvQrbu

Lincoln Center heads urge Trump to keep funding arts

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Donald Trump

Executives at New York’s Lincoln Center made a joint appeal Tuesday for the United States to preserve arts funding, warning that steep cuts mulled by President Donald Trump would have devastating effects.

Leaders of the prestigious complex’s institutions — including the Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic and New York City Ballet — said arts funding benefited people from children to veterans and also “anchors communities.”

“In American cities and towns, arts institutions and districts are breathing life into neighborhoods — attracting investment, spurring development, fueling innovation and creating jobs,” they wrote in a statement.

Unlike in Europe, cultural funding in the United States is largely private. But the Lincoln Center executives said it was vital to preserve the underlying leadership from the National Endowment for the Arts which last year received $148 million in government appropriations.

The Lincoln Center executives pointed to the endowment’s statistics that the arts — which covers everything from concert tickets to the movie industry — generated $704.2 billion in economic benefits each year across the United States.

“A great America needs that kind of return,” they wrote without explicitly naming Trump.

The Trump administration has proposed major cuts in federal funding, especially foreign aid — except for a $54 billion boost in military spending.

Arts funding has been a perennial target for some US conservatives, who highlight controversial works and question the need for government support.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lQB1RP

Monday, 20 February 2017

Liquor vendors in Niger given up to Feb. 28 to obtain licences

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Minna – The Niger State Liquor Licensing Board has given liquor vendors up to Feb. 28 to obtain their licences or risk arrest.

Mr Yahaya Halidu, its chairman, gave the deadline on Monday in Minna, after visiting demolished structures hitherto used for the sale of liquor.

“Those selling alcohol without licences or with expired licences will be made to face the law because we believe that such places serve as meeting points for hoodlums.

“The board will no longer tolerate the arbitrary sales of alcohol at just every corners since there is a law in place to regulate the sales of the product,” he said.

He said that liquor selling points must also be located eight kilometres away from residential areas.

The board chairman said that hideouts, used by liquor vendors, had been discovered, and hinted that a joint enforcement team of security agencies were being mobilized to arrest and prosecute unlicensed operators after the deadline.

The post Liquor vendors in Niger given up to Feb. 28 to obtain licences appeared first on Vanguard News.

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Abducted woman not aide to Delta Speaker’s wife

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By Emma Amaize

MRS Ese Ogi, the woman abducted, Sunday, at her home in Sapele, Delta State, by a gang of hoodlums, following a botched attempt to kidnap her husband, is not a personal assistant to the wife of the Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly.

It was gathered that Mrs. Ogi had nothing to do with the wife of the Speaker.

Meanwhile, at press time, she was still in the custody of the kidnappers.

The post Abducted woman not aide to Delta Speaker’s wife appeared first on Vanguard News.

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