NDLEA arrests woman with suspected narcotic substance

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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Saturday said it had arrested a 57-year-old woman with substance suspected to be cocaine.

A statement in Lagos by the agency’s spokesman, Mr Mitchell Ofoyeju, said the woman was apprehended at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.

It said that the suspect was Saudi Arabia-bound, and that the substance was concealed in her luggage.

“The suspect, who claimed to be going on a pilgrimage to Jedda, Saudi Arabia, had all the paraphernalia of a pilgrim, save for the narcotic content of her luggage.

“The two parcels of white powdery substance that tested positive for cocaine were carefully concealed inside her luggage.

“The suspect with a valid Egypt Air ticket from Lagos to Saudi Arabia was arrested with 1.595kg of cocaine.

“The cocaine which was concealed in a false bottom of her bag was discovered during routine check on passengers at the departure hall.

“We had to cut the bag open to recover the cocaine because of the way it was neatly concealed. She was immediately arrested and the case is currently under investigation,” the statement stated.

The statement also quoted Chairman of NDLEA, Mr Muhammad Abdallah, as describing the suspect’s action as “condemnable”.

“Smuggling cocaine to Saudi Arabia under any guise is condemnable.

“It is good that she was arrested here because drug trafficking attracts capital punishment in Saudi.

“Apart from saving her from execution in Saudi, the prompt arrest also protected our country from disrepute.

“The agency will not relent in the fight against illicit drug production, trafficking and abuse” Abdallah said.

 

The post NDLEA arrests woman with suspected narcotic substance appeared first on Vanguard News.

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Ceasefire announced in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta

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Syrians walk down a destroyed street in Aleppo's al-Akroub neighbourhood on December 17, 2016.<br />Youssef KARWASHAN / AFP

A ceasefire has been declared in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta, a rebel bastion near Damascus, to run from midnight last Sunday to March 20, Russia’s defence ministry said.

“A ‘regime of silence’ has been introduced from 00:01 on March 6 to 23:59 on March 20 (Damascus time) in the area of Eastern Ghouta,” the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

It added that “no violations” had so far been reported.

The Army of Islam (Jaish al-Islam), a powerful rebel faction, is headquartered in Eastern Ghouta, the last opposition stronghold near Damascus.

The district has faced a blistering army offensive in recent months and is near opposition-controlled areas of Damascus increasingly targeted by the government.

Syria’s Al-Watan daily, which is close to the government, on Tuesday quoted a “source close to the state’s efforts to conclude national reconciliation in flashpoint areas” as saying he did not have “any information” on a new agreement in the eastern neighbourhood of Damascus and Eastern Ghouta.

The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor of the conflict, reported Tuesday that raids hit many towns in the Eastern Ghouta district as well as rebel districts in eastern Damascus.

Syria’s conflict has killed more than 310,000 people since 2011. Russia began a bombing campaign in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in September 2015.

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Mertesacker admits tension in Arsenal squad

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PHOTO:AFP

Arsenal captain Per Mertesacker admitted to tension in the dressing room on Monday and said his struggling team haven’t shown enough fight, on the eve of their Champions League mission impossible.

Arsene Wenger’s side crashed to a third defeat in their last four Premier League games on Saturday as Liverpool beat them 3-1 at Anfield and the Arsenal manager has had to dismiss reports of a training-ground bust-up involving star forward Alexis Sanchez.

Wenger dropped Sanchez against Liverpool, only introducing him at half-time when his team already trailed by two goals.

It was the worst possible preparation for Arsenal’s Champions League last-16 second leg against Bayern Munich on Tuesday, when they face the almost impossible task of overturning a 5-1 deficit.

And to make matters worse, German defender Mertesacker conceded Arsenal haven’t been willing to put their bodies on the line.

“I think we saw on a lot of occasions that we absolutely weren’t ready for a fight,” Mertesacker told reporters at the club’s training base.

“That is what I want to see tomorrow. That we are up for a fight, to challenge for something. We haven’t competed a lot in recent games and we need to turn that around.

“At Liverpool we had a chance to go for it, to push it, even without our best player on the pitch.”

Arsenal’s troubles have brought renewed criticism of Wenger from fans and pundits, with many claiming it is time for the Frenchman to step down after almost 21 years with the north Londoners.

Mertesacker, who has been with Arsenal since 2011, admitted the current dip has led to a fraught atmosphere, but he insisted the players still support Wenger.

“It’s hard for the manager to select the team but he does it with the best intention. We trust him,” Mertesacker said.

“It’s a little bit tense but it’s normal in a stretch like that. We want to change it and you can feel that in every training session.

“We need to make the first step to get the fans on board again.”

Mertesacker refused to be drawn on reports that Sanchez has become isolated from the rest of the squad after apparently criticising his team-mates following the Bayern first leg.

Amid suggestions Sanchez wants to leave, Mertesacker was asked how the Chilean was regarded by the players.

“I don’t understand the question. Every single day we try to train,” Mertesacker said.

“The manager has 25 options so it is difficult for him to decide who is in the squad. Everyone wants to push to be in that starting line-up.

“All these questions about one player are very distracting to our team. The club will not be about one single player.”

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France’s Fillon tells supporters at rally ‘never give up’

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French presidential election candidate for the right-wing Les Republicains (LR) party French presidential election candidate for the right-wing Les Republicains (LR) party Francois Fillon (C) gestures on stage as supporters holding French flags greet him during a rally at the place du Trocadero, in Paris, on March 5, 2017. Embattled French conservative Francois Fillon told supporters at a Paris rally on March 5, 2017 to "never give up the fight" as he strives to stay in the presidential election race amid an expenses scandal. Fillon, who is to be charged over claims he gave his wife and children highly-paid fake parliamentary jobs, told the rain-drenched crowd he had been "attacked by everyone" in the campaign.<br />Thomas SAMSON / AFP

Embattled French conservative Francois Fillon told supporters Sunday to “never give up the fight” and gave no indication that he intends to quit the presidential election race over an expenses scandal.

Fillon, who is to be charged over claims he gave his wife Penelope and children highly-paid fake parliamentary jobs, told the rain-drenched crowd he had been “attacked by everyone” in the campaign.

With British-born Penelope watching him on the stage at the Trocadero opposite the Eiffel Tower, Fillon admitted he had made “mistakes” and that he bore some responsibility if his campaign “was confronted by such formidable obstacles”.

He apologised to his supporters, saying that among the judicial investigation “you have been forgotten”, but the 63-year-old said he was confident he would be proved innocent.

Fillon is to appear on French television news later Sunday.

Some lawmakers in Fillon’s Republicans party have called for a change of candidate, with the first round of the election fast approaching on April 23.

Former prime minister Alain Juppe, 71, has indicated through his entourage that he could be ready to step in.

Fillon beat Juppe in the rightwing nominating contest in November.

The danger for the Republicans party is that an election that they once expected to win handily could slip away if Fillon remains in place.

Polls currently show he would be eliminated in the first round, leaving far-right leader Marine Le Pen and 39-year-old centrist Emmanuel Macron to contest the May 7 runoff.

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NY Times teams with Spotify for music-news offering

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The companies announced that new digital subscribers to the New York Times who commit to a one-year term would get free access to Spotify Premium with its 30 million songs and two billion playlists.

The New York Times said Wednesday it had teamed up with the online service Spotify in bid to lure subscribers with a “news and music experience.”

The companies announced that new digital subscribers to the New York Times who commit to a one-year term would get free access to Spotify Premium with its 30 million songs and two billion playlists.

The offer, which proves access to the daily’s digital content for $5 a week, is for US residents who are not current subscribers of the Times or Spotify.

“At the Times we are not only dedicated to helping our readers understand the rapidly changing world around them, but also to helping them live better lives,” said Meredith Kopit Levien, executive vice president and chief revenue officer of the newspaper.

“News and music have gone hand-in-hand since the early days of radio, and because personalization and curation are central to what both the Times and Spotify do so well, we created an experience for Times readers that gives them access to all the news and all the music that they want in one premier subscription.”

Normally the digital “all-access” subscription to the Times is $6.25 per week, and ad-free Spotify Premium is $9.99 per month.

The Times, which has been struggling financially as it transitions to a more digital focus, announced recently it had more than three million subscribers, including two million with digital-only subscriptions.

Sweden-based Spotify has some 43 million subscribers, according to the research firm MIDiA, which is well ahead of Apple Music’s 20.9 million.

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Jovenel Moise sworn in as Haiti’s new president

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Jovenel Moise was sworn in Tuesday as Haiti’s 58th president, ending a protracted electoral crisis that had created a vacuum of power in the impoverished, disaster-prone Caribbean nation.

Moise, a 48-year-old banana exporter who has never held political office, took the oath at a ceremony at the National Assembly.

He was former president Michel Martelly hand-picked choice to lead the poorest country in the Americas, one still struggling to recover from devastating natural disasters.

The election of Moise, from the center-right Tet Kale Party (PHTK), ends the Caribbean nation’s long-running political nightmare, which began in October 2015 when he won a first round of voting but the results were annulled because of massive fraud.

In February 2016, with Martelly’s five-year term nearing its end and his political succession in limbo, Haiti’s parliament elected Jocelerme Privert, president of the Senate at the time, to be interim president.

The elections were rescheduled for October and then postponed to November after Hurricane Matthew battered the country.

Austerity has been the motto of the inauguration ceremony, as Haiti is suffering from an economic crisis with more than $2 billion in debt and anemic growth that is not expected to surpass one percent this year.

According to Moise’s transition team, the inaugural costs are close to $1 million, a tighter budget than those of predecessors Rene Preval and Martelly, which cost more than $4 million and $2 million, respectively.

Moise said he had invited 53 other former presidential candidates to signal his willingness to ease political tensions.

But the country’s political temperature remains high, with several of his main opponents contesting his first-round victory.

The businessman is also at the center of an unresolved money laundering probe. He denies any wrongdoing.

The investigation was launched in 2013 as a routine bank-regulation procedure. The Central Financial Intelligence Unit (UCREF) forwarded a secret report about the inquiry to prosecutors last summer.

However, the investigating judge took no action until four opposition senators recently demanded information about the findings.

The investigating judge delivered conclusions to the government prosecutor who has made no public announcements on the case.

The suspense undermines Moise’s already fragile popularity.

He was declared the winner with 55 percent of the votes, but with a dismal turnout of just 21 percent.

Civic malaise believed to be linked to a lack of political campaigning and distrust in elected officials’ ability to improve conditions.

Haiti is still struggling to recover from the world’s most significant cholera outbreak, with an estimated 30,000 cases expected this year, as well as the effects of the January 2010 earthquake, with tens of thousands of people still camping in tents without proper sanitation.

The government and aid officials said Monday that Haiti needs nearly $300 million to provide urgent assistance for its most vulnerable inhabitants, including those affected by Hurricane Matthew last October.

Four months after being battered by the massive hurricane, which caused $2.8 billion in damage, more than 1.5 million people remain in dire need of humanitarian assistance, said El-Mostafa Benlamlih, Representative of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).

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Non-listing of MTN shares in 2017 will affect NSE (Read full details)

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MTN

Some financial experts have warned that the postponement of the listing of MTN shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) will slow down the listing of other multinationals being wooed by the bourse.

They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the Federal Government must do everything possible within its powers to ensure the listing of the company’s shares on the NSE in 2017.

The operators spoke against the backdrop of a statement by the MTN Group Ltd that it may put off plans to list its Nigerian operation until 2018, as it strived to resolve a regulatory dispute.

Mr Phuthuma Nhleko, MTN Chairman and Acting Chief Executive Officer, was quoted as saying at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that the listing may be within the 12 to 18-month period.

NAN reports that MTN Nigeria in June 2016, said that it would list its shares on the nation’s bourse in 2017, after being fined for breaching the know-your-customer rules set by the National Communications Commission (NCC).

Dr Uche Uwaleke, Head, Banking and Finance Department, Nasarawa State University, Keffi stated that government should provide further fiscal incentives, in addition to the reduced charges for MTN.

Uwaleke said that putting off the planned listing till 2018 would not mean well for the stock market as other companies that may be considering a similar move could also put such plans on hold.

“If MTN did not push ahead with the plan, other telecom firms like Etisalat and Airtel, including firms in the Oil and Power sectors, currently being wooed by the NSE may develop cold feet.

“They can equally cite the same unfavorable economic conditions as their reason.

“This will not augur well for the stock market. Currently, the market lacks depth and is over-concentrated with just about four companies accounting for over 60 per cent of the equities’ market capitalisation.

So, the presence of MTN and these other companies will help to deepen the market and make it more attractive to local and foreign investors,’’ he added.

Uwaleke said that the company’s plan to list was part of its understanding with the Federal Government over the huge fine imposed on it.

“MTN in 2016 had make known its plan to list on the NSE as part of an understanding it had with the federal government over a huge fine imposed on the company.

“The development led to the fine being slashed considerably by the government.

“The telecom giant had provided a caveat to the effect that whether or not it lists in 2017 would depend on market conditions.

“With the economy still in the woods, illegal charges and legal hurdles to grapple with, the company appears disposed to invoke the caveat as justification for putting off the planned listing till 2018,” Uwaleke said.

He noted that government should spare no effort to get MTN to list on the NSE in 2017, even if it entailed providing further fiscal incentives, in addition to the reduced fine.

Similarly, Malam Garba Kurfi, the Chief Executive Officer, APT Funds and Securities Ltd, said that Nigeria must not scare MTN away from the country with huge fines.

Kurfi said that the listing of MTN shares would attract other big companies to the exchange and at the same time deepen the depth of the market.

He stated that government should work toward listing all its privatised entities on the NSE, to boost activities and increase the number of tradable products.

Non-listing of MTN shares in 2017 will affect NSE

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