innosreport

(Nigeria) A Port Harcourt High Court on Thursday adjourned the case against 11 murder suspects in the killing of four University of Port Harcourt  students in Aluu community to Aug. 1. The suspects are facing trial for their alleged involvement in the murder of the students in the community October 2012. However, three of the suspects could not engage the services of lawyers and as a result the court could not take the pleas of the accused. Adjourning the case, the judge, Justice Ledan Nyordee, asked the three whether they would defend themselves or seek the services of lawyers. They said they would need the services of lawyers. The judge thereafter referred the matter to Legal Aids Council to assign lawyers to defend the accused in their trial. Counsel to eight of the accused, had argued that the suspects should be tried separately rather than ‘’lump’’ them together. We have bail application for eight of the accused,’’ he said. Mr Rufus Godwin, the

South Africa President, Jacob Zuma, in a statement on Thursday said he was informed by medical team that Nelson Mandela's condition had improved during the night. ``Madiba is much better today than what he was last night.” The statement comes after Mandela's family had expressed concern about media reports about the health of Madiba. Mandela's eldest Daughter, Makaziwe, told the state-owned South Africa Broadcasting Service (SABC) television station that the family appreciated the interest on Mandela's wellbeing. She added that they are however disappointed with the manner in which the media is covering the matter. ``The media should try to give the family some respect.  The UK government never communicated on a daily basis on Margaret Thatcher's health as well as giving the gory details of her sickness while she was in the hospital,’’ she said. Makaziwe said in the history of the world, she has never seen such details being communicat

No fewer than 57 miners were killed when a tunnel collapsed at a gold mine in Central African Republic, the father of two of the victims told dpa Thursday. ``From the figure of 37 dead on Sunday, the day of the tragedy, we now have a count of 52 bodies recovered," the CAR Government said on Wednesday. It said 64 miners were working in the pit in the village of Ndassima, 450 km north-east of the capital Bangui, at the time of the incident. Rescuers were still searching for bodies. Interim president Michel Djotodia declared three days of mourning on Tuesday. The poverty-stricken country, which has been in political turmoil since a military coup in March, is rich in gold and diamond.

The Obama administration on Thursday slapped sanctions on entities and individuals with alleged links to North Korea’s ballistic missile and suspected weapons of mass destruction, WMD, programmes, reports. The Department of Treasury blacklisted Daedong Credit Bank, DCB, its front company, DCB Finance Limited and DCB Finance Limited's representative, Kim Chol Sam, in its latest efforts to cut off financing for what it called DPRK's illicit activities. The department also targeted Son Mun San, the chief of the External Affairs Bureau with DPRK's General Bureau of Atomic Energy who has directed nuclear-related research efforts. The moves bar American citizens from doing business with those targeted, and freeze all of their assets under U.S. jurisdiction. "North Korea's nuclear and missile programs and proliferation activities violate UN Security Council Resolutions 1718 (2006), 1874 (2009), 2087 (2013), and 2094 (2013), destabilize the region and underm

The Central Intelligence Agency,   CIA, has started sending weapons to Jordan with a view to arming small groups of vetted Syrian rebels within a month, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, reports Xinhua. "The CIA is expected to spend up to three weeks bringing light arms and possibly antitank missiles to Jordan," the newspaper said in its report, citing diplomats and U.S. officials briefed on the plans. "The agency plans to spend roughly two weeks more vetting an initial group of fighters and making sure they know how to use the weapons that they are given, clearing the way for the first U.S.- armed rebels to enter the fight," the report said. It said the shipments, training plus a parallel push to mobilize arms deliveries from European and Arab allies are being timed to allow "a concerted push" by the rebels starting by early August, as the rebels are losing ground in their fighting against the government forces. U.S. President Bara

A total of 24 people have been killed by rioters in a violent terrorist attack in a remote town in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Xinhua has learned. The attack occurred at 5:50 a.m. Wednesday in Lukqun Township in Shanshan County in the autonomous region's Turpan Prefecture. Rioters killed 24 people, including two police officers. Among the victims, 16 were from the Uygur ethnic group. The rioters attacked the township's police stations, a local government building and a construction site, as well as set fire to police cars. Twenty-one police officers and civilians were injured. The police shot and killed 11 rioters at the scene and captured another four who were injured. Public security authorities are investigating the incident and local social order has been stabilized.

Fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden's situation has hit a "dead end," with Moscow refusing to respond to Washington's unofficial requests to hand over the former National Security Agency, NSA, contractor, a Russian official said Thursday.An unnamed Russian source close to the matter told Interfax news agency that Moscow had not received a formal extradition request from the United States. "There have been contacts at an unofficial level, along diplomatic channels, with a request to detain and deport" Snowden, the unnamed official said. But considering current strains in Russian-US relations over human rights issues and the Syria conflict, Moscow has refused to respond, the source said. "These are not the grounds for any serious steps to be taken by Russia, especially considering the uneasy state of our bilateral relations," the official said. "The situation around Snowden is at a dead end." A US official ho