DEAD OR ALIVE: BUHARI CORRECTS PDP IMPUNITY, NO VACANCY IN ASO-ROCK

Late PRESIDENT MUSA YARADUA Left for treatment in Saudi Arabia refuse to hand over to his then deputy which left that seat Vacant because he never came back alive. Senate had to ractify it before we had an acting president.

SULIVAN CHIME, the past Enugu State Governor left the shores of this country for cancer treatment never handed over to his deputy, PDP never blinked an eye over that atrocity. We all knew how activities in that state was grounded the Deputy was not allowed to sign any document.

Iranian-Backed Houthis Launch Attacks on Saudi Ship, U.N. Facility

(New York, NY) – The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) today issued updated resources on the Iranian-backed Houthis, following attacks the group launched on January 30. A Saudi ship patrolling in the Red Sea was reportedly attacked by three Houthi “suicide gunboats,” killing two crew members and injuring three. 

On the same day, a building in southern Saudi Arabia near the Yemeni border used by U.N. staff to monitor ceasefire operations was hit by Katyusha rockets. The Houthis were responsible for rocket attacks on U.S. Naval vessels on October 9 and 12, 2016. While unsuccessful, the attacks led to U.S. retaliatory strikes against the radar installations used to target the ships.

Crude Oil prices rise to $57 as Saudi Arabia discusses supply cuts

Oil prices rose on Thursday after Saudi Arabia started talks with customers about a reduction in crude sales to support a plan by OPEC to lower global supply.

The Organisation of  Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) promised in November to cut output to help prop up prices.

Under the deal, Saudi Arabia agreed to cut output by 486,000 barrels per day (bpd), or 4.61 per cent of its October output of 10.544 million bpd.

“Aramco is approaching all its customers for possible cuts from February and discussing likely (supply) scenarios,” one source told media referring to state oil giant Saudi Aramco.

Syria: Freed Aleppo Major Defeat to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Serious Setback for US

Commenting on the success of the Syrian army and complete liberation of Syria's second-largest city, Aleppo, Kurdish political official Rezan Hiddo explained to Sputnik why it came as a serious defeat to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, while Professor Tim Anderson explained why it is the most serious setback for the US in 15 years.

"The liberation of Syria's major strategic center, Aleppo, from the armed opposition has changed the course of the Syrian war, propelled strengthening of the Syrian army and increased its morale," Kurdish political official, member of the Syrian Democratic Council Rezan Hiddo told Sputnik Turkiye. However it came as a serious defeat to those countries which have been supporting the rebel groups operating on the Syrian territory, he added.

"I mean Saudi Arabia, Qatar and particularly Turkey," he specified.

Governor Ganduje of Kano State arrives Beijing on an official visit (PHOTOS)

Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje OFR

Kano State His Excellency Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje OFR has arrived in Beijing the capital of China for an official visit to the country.

Governor Ganduje is in Beijing on the invitation of China Railway Construction Group C18 who were awarded the $1.8Billion contract for the construction of the Kano Light Rail project in the State.

While in Beijing, His Excellency will have several meetings including one with the management of the Bank who will be financing 85% of the cost of the project and also visit the factory of the China Railway Construction Group C18 as well as inspection of an ongoing railway project in Tianjin China being constructed by the same company.

Saudi Arabia: A Bomber killed, two police wounded in blast outside U.S. consulate in Jeddah on July 4th!

The 4th of July, U.S. Independence Day, celebrations in Saudi Arabia's Jeddah were marred by violence as a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a mosque opposite the U.S. consulate.
The attacker was killed and two police officers were injured in the blast. A Suicide bomber has detonated an explosive device near the US consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Initial reports indicate the bomber died in the explosion and two people were injured.

The New York Times - C.I.A. Arms for Syrian Rebels Supplied Black Market, Officials Say

AMMAN, Jordan — Weapons shipped into Jordan by the Central Intelligence Agency and Saudi Arabia intended for Syrian rebels have been systematically stolen by Jordanian intelligence operatives and sold to arms merchants on the black market, according to American and Jordanian officials.

Some of the stolen weapons were used in a shooting in November that killed two Americans and three others at a police training facility in Amman, F.B.I. officials believe after months of investigating the attack, according to people familiar with the investigation.

The existence of the weapons theft, which ended only months ago after complaints by the American and Saudi governments, is being reported for the first time after a joint investigation by The New York Times and Al Jazeera. The theft, involving millions of dollars of weapons, highlights the messy, unplanned consequences of programs to arm and train rebels — the kind of program the C.I.A. and Pentagon have conducted for decades — even after the Obama administration had hoped to keep the training program in Jordan under tight control.

Facts and fallacies of fuel subsidy

Umana Okon Umana, an economist, is the former governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State. In this piece, he highlights the fallacies associated with the fuel subsidy and what can be done to guarantee regular fuel supply for domestic consumption.

Many boisterous and healthy debates have broken out on social media platforms and, indeed, other fora on the recently adjusted price of petrol. But quite unexpectedly, some of the arguments are grounded in myths. Here are a few and my attempt to burst them.

Debris from #EgyptAir flight has been found in Mediterranean Sea

*Debris from #EgyptAir flight has been found in Mediterranean

*Airliner ‘apparently’ brought down by terror attack – Russia’s security chief

BREAKING: Debris from #EgyptAir flight has been found in Mediterranean https://t.co/b5Q8U4600Y

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) May 19, 2016

REUTERS reports that a Greek frigate searching for a missing Egyptair aircraft discovered two large plastic floating objects in a sea area 230 miles south of the island of Crete on Thursday, Greek defence sources said.

UN Committee against Torture: See Reports Against France, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Philippines, Israel

 GENEVA (May 2016) – The UN Committee against Torture has published its findings from its latest session from 18 April to 13 May when it reviewed France, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Philippines and Israel.

The findings cover positive aspects of how the respective State is implementing the Convention against Torture, Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and also main matters of concern and recommendations.
The reports, officially termed concluding observations, can be found here.

War In Syria: France announces bid to host Syrian opposition groups meeting

France plans to invite ministers from countries who support Syrian opposition groups to a meeting in Paris on May 9 to seek ways to break the political and military deadlock in the country, its foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Jean-Marc Ayrault told reporters that France had decided on such a step because there appeared no immediate prospect of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) convening to try to restore a ceasefire wrecked by an upsurge of fighting, which has seen nearly 300 people killed in the last 13 days, as well as the bombing of hospitals and civilian areas.

“We are fighting [to ensure] the ceasefire returns straight away and we would like the ISSG to meet. For now we have not got any agreement from the Americans or Russians who co-preside the group to hold this meeting,” Ayrault said.

Tear gas, arrests as Egypt protesters defy ban

Egyptian police fired tear gas at protesters in Cairo who defied government warnings and held a rally Monday calling for the "downfall" of the regime, quickly scattering them and making arrests. A coalition of leftist and liberal groups had called for the protest, ostensibly against the handing over of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.

But in a country where most protests are banned, the gesture was aimed more at defying what activists call the heavy-handed rule of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

In the lead-up to the protest, police arrested dozens of activists over the past week, in some cases raiding their homes. By Monday morning, police had closed off a street leading to the Journalists' Syndicate, where the protesters had announced they would gather, and deployed in force in central Cairo.

Supreme Court Judgement: Iran Threatens Legal Action Against US Over Diverted Funds

Iran has threatened legal action against the United States if $2 billion in frozen funds are diverted to compensate American families of people killed by Tehran-sponsored terrorism.

"We hold the U.S. government responsible for protecting our (frozen) funds," said Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. "If our funds are illegally accessed, we will surely claim damages from the American government at an appropriate time."

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a 2012 law concerning the distribution of the funds. The court's ruling directly affects more than 1,300 relatives of victims, some who have been seeking compensation for more than 30 years.

FG Must Follow Up Supreme Court of the United States Ruling on Iran

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTU) ruling this week confirmed what some of us have always known and insisted on. Iran is a sponsor of terrorism, radicalization, extremism and other traits that undermine the safety of other nations.

The US Supreme Court ruled that Iran must lose nearly $2 billion in frozen assets to survivors and relatives of those killed in the 1983 US Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing that killed 19 Americans in Saudi Arabia, and other attacks linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran It took 33 years in the case of the first bombing for victims and relatives of the dead to get closure.

That is a luxury Nigeria cannot afford. The US is well established. Iran could not attack on its home soil so its proxies hit offshore targets. The approach is different in Nigeria. Iranian proxies live right among us. Their attack, if allowed to happen, would be catastrophic.

Nigeria's Questionable Nationhood and the Fulani aka National Grazing Bil

*Just want to add my own comments on the possibility that such a bill exists.


*The Muslim North is primitive compared to the rest of Nigeria.

*Nigeria is primitive compared to the West.

If Nigerians were to take over the West and run it the way they run Nigeria, and the West were to move to Nigeria, the West will become underdeveloped and Nigeria will become developed, so stated my father.

To continue to accommodate leadership from a region that can hardly lead itself is too seek continuous underdevelopment.

It is not necessarily racist to describe a people as primitive.

A good number of African societies , to a large extent, are confused. They were thrust by colonialism into a world they still don't fully understand. They are often like children learning to walk because of the social dislocations that created their contemporary societies.

W. Africa Crude-Closed arbitrage pressures Nigerian differentials

(Reuters) -

* Oil prices rebounded to a 2016 high Wednesday as U.S. stocks of crude posted a smaller-than-expected build and there was a drawdown in gasoline and distillate stocks.

* Russia said on Wednesday it was prepared to push oil production to new historic highs, just days after a global deal to freeze output levels collapsed and Saudi Arabia threatened to flood markets with more crude.

* Iran also said it was determined to recover its share of the world oil market following the lifting of sanctions, and can withstand low prices.

NIGERIA

* Nigeria's June loading programmes were still emerging, with a slight increase in Qua Iboe exports to 317,000 barrels per day (bpd) but one less cargo for each of the Agbami, Escravos and Usan export plans.

* Senegal's SAR bought a cargo of Qua Iboe in its tender, but the grade remained easily accessible.

* The arbitrage to the United States had mostly closed as dated Brent was trading at a larger premium relative to U.S. WTI.

OPEC Unglued: Saudi Arabia Won’t Freeze Oil Growth Unless Iran Has To

No Iran, no deal

Oilfield

The much ballyhooed Doha, Qatar, meetings to freeze production among some OPEC and non-OPEC members, such as Russia, ended without agreement April 17.

The stumbling block: Saudi Arabia’s unwillingness to go forward on holding production steady without cooperation from Iran. After sanctions related to development of nuclear capabilities were lifted in January, Iran has been trying to ramp up volumes. The country's ability to sell oil on the global market had been hobbled since 2011.

By midday April 18, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) had fallen by about 3%. But Doha was a scene reminiscent of Lucy’s propping up a football in Charles Schulz’s famous "Peanuts" comic strip. WTI prices hit more than $42 per barrel April 13 before a more jaded Charlie Brown figured out who was propping up the market.

9/11 Terrorist attacks pages have ‘very profound’ info on Saudi Arabia - Trump

Donald Trump on Tuesday said that the 28 redacted pages of the 9/11 report likely depict Saudi Arabia’s role in the terrorist attacks.

“I think I know what it’s going to say,” he said on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends." "It’s going to be very profound, having to do with Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabia’s role on the World Trade Center and the attack.

“That’s very serious stuff. It’s sort of nice to know who your friends are, and perhaps who your enemies are. You’re going to see some very revealing things released in those papers.”

Lawmakers are pressuring President Obama to declassify the 28 pages.

The redacted documents have long been rumored to show information linking Saudi Arabia with the Sept. 11, 2011 bloodshed and al Qaeda.

Crude Oil Price: Doha talks fail, new attempt to reach production agreement possible in June

Oil producing constructions did not manage to sign an agreement to freeze oil production at the January level following six hours of negotiations in Doha on Sunday, but they might hold another round of negotiations in June, Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu told reporters.

OPEC and non-OPEC members will probably hold negotiations in June, he said.

Participants in the meeting, including the Nigerian minister and Oman Oil and Gas Minister Muhammad al-Rumhi, said countries need more time to agree on the conditions of an oil production freeze.

Russia to Intensify Air Strike in Syria, warns US to Keep Off

Contrary to the calls by the United States of America and her allies in the middle East, Britain, France, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar that Russia should stop its military air strike in Syria. Russian army has confirmed it will intensify air strike of the ISIS targets in Syria and that US and her allies should just keep off!

Russia had warned the United States ahead of launching its air strikes and recommended that the United States stop its own flights in areas where Russia’s air force was operating, a senior Russian army official said on Saturday.