Air strikes pound rebel-held areas of Aleppo, thousands flee under cover of darkness

At least 20 air strikes hit rebel-held areas of Syria's northern city of Aleppo on Saturday, in the ninth straight day of violence in which bombardments by both sides have killed nearly 250 civilians, a monitoring group said.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights did not immediately say whether Syrian government warplanes or Russian jets, which have been supporting Damascus, carried out the strikes.

Bombing by the government side on rebel-held areas of Aleppo since April 22 have killed 140 people including 19 children, the Observatory said.

5 Quick Suggestions for Nigerian Relation with the International Community -

Our President has travelled a lot to parley the international community. No doubt his integrity has earned him and the country greet respect from various “world leaders”. We wish him well and do not intend to join the debate as to if he should travel less or travel more. Rather, we want to offer some little points with regards to how to earn respect from the International community. Enjoy.                                                                                                                                  

President Muhammadu Buhari In Chin

1. Promote your Culture and Values

A large hunk of the greatness of the Western world is promotion of its culture. America owes more thanks to Michael Jackson, James Bond, 2Pac, and Hollywood than it owes its graduate in terms of the world view of America as a super power. Unfortunately these are the people who taught the world to dress, talk, think, and act like Americans. This is why it was more fanciful in Africa to use American products and operate American system of Government, both of which puts you under the country in terms of economy and leadership respectively.

US says Russia transporting tanks into Ukrainian Separatists

The United has said the pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine received  tanks and other ammunition from Russia. The US state department said on Friday that a convoy of military vehicles, including three tanks, were transported from a Russian depot into Ukraine this week. Three T-64 tanks, multiple rocket launchers and other military vehicles crossed from Russian into the Ukraine near the town of Snizhne, the state department said, describing this as "unacceptable". 

The Guardian reports that the vehicles – apparently out-of-use Russian tanks – appear to have been commandeered by Ukrainian separatist forces. Ukraine first raised concerns about the tanks crossing into its eastern region on Thursday, after several reports, including video footage uploaded to Youtube, appeared to show Russian tanks passing through Snizhne.

Kidnapped Schoolgirls: U S to Deploy Troops to Nigeria – Abati

President Goodluck Jonathan, Tuesday, welcomed and accepted a definite offer of help from the United States of America in the ongoing effort to locate and rescue the girls abducted from the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, three weeks ago.


This was disclosed in a press statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, on Tuesday evening.


Mr. Abati said the “offer from President Barack Obama which was conveyed to President Jonathan by the United States Secretary of State, Mr. John Kerry in a telephone conversation which began at 15.30 Hours today, includes the deployment of U.S. security personnel and assets to work with their Nigerian counterparts in the search and rescue operation”.

White House: Russian Putin calls Obama to discuss U.S. proposal on Ukraine

President Vladimir Putin of the Russia Federation has called the U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday to discuss a U.S. proposal for Ukraine


White House confirmed his call, adding that President Obama mandated him that Russia must pull back its troops from Ukraine's boarder and not move deeper any more.

US set to support Ukraine, send fighter jets to fly to Poland for training drill

As Ukrainian, Russian crisis deepen in the Ukrainian region of Crimea, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said there was so far no agreement between Moscow and Washington on  the situation in Ukraine, after talks in Rome with US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Therefore, US military has also concluded plans of sending 12 F-16 fighter jets to Poland for a training exercise, Polish media reported.

US fighter jets will arrive at the Lask base, in central Poland, on Monday, the online versions of the Gazeta Wyborcza and Rzeczpospolita newspapers reported.  A Polish defence ministry spokesman said he could not confirm the reports.

The Pentagon said on Wednesday it would intensify defence training with Poland in the light of the crisis in neighbouring Ukraine. [Reuters]

Ukraine's parliament has also began a procedure to dissolve the regional assembly in Crimea after it asked to join Russia, Ukraine's interim president Oleksandr Turchynov said. 

"The Rada (parliament in Kiev) will begin the procedure for dissolution," Turchynov said hours after the assembly in the tense peninsula adopted a motion to become part of the Russian Federation. [AFP]

NATO-Russia council to hold extraordinary meeting in Brussels Wednesday to discuss Ukraine invations

Russia accepts NATO proposal which will enable NATO-Russia council to hold extraordinary meeting in Brussels Wednesday to discuss Ukraine.

NATO allies are holding emergency talks in Brussels on the crisis in Ukraine, the second time in three days, following a request from Poland.

In calling the meeting, Poland, a neighbour of Ukraine, invoked a NATO rule allowing any ally to consult with the others if it feels its security, territorial integrity or independence are under threat, the so-called Article 4.