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(Nigeria) The Senate President, David Mark, on Tuesday described the death of retired Vice Admiral Mike Akhigbe, as a loss of a brother, confidant, friend and comrade-at-arms. A statement signed by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, said Mark recalled their days at the Nigerian Defence Academy, NDA, noting that "Mike was fearless and very diligent in our course." "He took these attributes to all the formations where he was privileged to have been posted either in his core military postings or political offices," he said. The statement also said the late Akhigbe's death was a huge personal loss to Mark, the members of Course 3, the Armed Forces, Edo and the nation. "But we cannot question God. He alone gives life and takes it when he so desires. We are bound by His decision to take our brother and friend at this time." Mark, who is the Chairman of Course 3 Alumni of the NDA, said: "We are consoled that

(Nigeria)  Edo State governor, Mr Adam Oshiomhole and a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on National Dialogue, Thursday, engaged in a shouting match, following Oshiomhole’s position that the committee will not achieve anything meaningful. Oshiomhole had in his presentation at the public hearing of the committee t hat the proposed national conference, will take the country to nowhere, based on past experience. Oshiomhole, who took the stage shortly after the Isoko Ethnic group had made its contribution, said he objected to spending huge public funds on a wasteful venture, adding that during the tenure of President Olusegun Obasanjo, money was spent on similar conference and at the end, nothing came out of that conference. While the governor was still making his speech, a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee, Col Tony Nyiam (rtd), shouted him down. But Oshiomhole insisted that he must be allowed to air his views publicly and he continued despite comments

(Nigeria) Rangers International Football Club in Enugu on Monday, unveiled its new technical adviser, John Obuh. The former U-20 national coach was presented to newsmen by the club’s General Manager, Paul Chibuzor, who said he was signed for one season. Chibuzor said he believed Obuh would end Rangers long wait for a major trophy. ``Here we have a trusted and wordy technical adviser in Obuh who has seen it all in the game of football. Here is the era of trophy in Enugu. Obuh has led Nigeria to international championships; he has our full support to succeed with Rangers,” he said. Chibuzor also said the club had appointed Innocent Obiekwo, a one-time director of sports in the state, as its technical director. Responding, Obuh thanked the club and Enugu State for giving him the privilege to handle a team of Rangers calibre. ``A manager is as good as his present results, I do not believe in the past because it is history. Rangers is a club every coach will like to coach. It is the p

(Nigeria)  The Akwa Ibom State Action Committee on AIDS, SACA, said on Monday that HIV/AIDS prevalence in the state had dropped from 10.9 per cent to 6.5 per cent. The Chairman of SACA, Dr Francis Udokpong, made the disclosure at the Free Medical Outreach of HIV Counselling and Testing Campaign in Odot, organised by the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, NACA. Odot is a community in the Nsit Atai Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. The programme was organised by NACA in collaboration with the office of the Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Millennium Development Goals, MDGs. He said that the state, which formerly occupied the second position in the country, now occupied the sixth position. Udokpong said that the reduction was due to improvement in people's  response to the awareness created by SACA in collaboration with other partners on HIV/AIDS. ``It was an embarrassment to me when I came in as the chairman of SACA and discovered

The White House on Monday said that some constraints are needed in United States   surveillance practices in the wake of embarrassing revelations about the sweeping nature of U.S. spying. The comment came a week after President Barack Obama drew heavy criticism over accusations that the National Security Agency had tapped the mobile phone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and conducted widespread electronic snooping in France and Italy. The White House spokesman, Jay Carney, said that with new intelligence-gathering capabilities, ``We recognise there needs to be additional constraints on how we gather and use intelligence.’’ Carney's comment, along with a tweet from National Security Adviser Susan Rice that a "proper balance" is needed, suggested some changes might be in the offing on the scale of U.S. electronic spying as part of a review of the collection activities of the National Security Agency and other U.S. intelligence agencies. The review is to be compl

(Nigeria) A 'mysterious' fire on Monday burnt the store of the Adamawa State Ministry of Agriculture at the state secretariat in Yola. The state Commissioner for Agriculture, Mrs Lucy Ishaku, who confirmed the fire incident to News Agency of Nigeria in Yola, said that no casualty was recorded. Ishaku said that the fire started at 3.30 p.m. while workers were still in their offices. ``The source of the fire still remains unknown because at the time of the outbreak there was no electricity supply from the Power Holding Company of Nigeria. “Even though our generator was working at the time of the incident, it had no link to the fire,’’ the commissioner said. She said that a panel would be set up to investigate the incident. Also commenting on the fire, an official of the Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency, Mr Gambo Daniel, said that the fire destroyed the store which contained documents. He said the early intervention of the fire service prevented the fire f

(Nigeria) A 25-year-old tailoring apprentice, Gloria Ugbede, was on Monday arraigned in a Lokoja Chief Magistrate Court , Kogi State, for allegedly killing her boy friend, Omachonu Ukubile, in a hotel. Ugbede, of Ichala-Ibaji in Ibaji Local Government Area of Kogi State, charged with culpable homicide contrary to Section 221 of the Penal Code, was said to have committed the offence on September 29. The Prosecuting Police Officer, Mr B.A. Nwadiea, told the court that the accused, on the fateful day, accompanied Ukubile, of Ejule-Ojebe also in Ibaji, to Debanjesi Hotel, Bishop’s Road, Idah. According to him, a few minutes after they arrived and entered the hotel chalet, the deceased started coughing and releasing foamy saliva from his mouth. Ukubile was rushed to Odoma Clinic, also in Idah where he later died. Nwadiea told the court that police investigation into the case was in progress, and opposed admitting the accused to bail on the ground that the offence was capital

The largest United States spy agency has acknowledged that it intercepted private communications of some 35 world leaders. Officials say an internal review revealed the existence of the international spying operation in the National Security Agency, the Wall Street Journal reports. It is the first public acknowledgment of intercepting telephone communication of world leaders by the U.S. Government. European politicians have expressed outrage over revelations of U.S. surveillance on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's private mobile phone and mining of data in France. The Spanish government summoned the U.S. ambassador on Monday to respond to allegations that the NSA intercepted more than 60 million calls in Spain. The calls were intercepted in December and January, according to documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald wrote in El Mundo newspaper. Le Monde newspaper in France reported on October 21 that the leaked

(Nigerra)  President Goodluck Jonathan pledged Monday in Jerusalem that his administration will continue to actively combat the menace of terrorism in partnership with all peace-loving countries of the world. Speaking at a meeting with President Shimon Peres of Israel, President Jonathan said that Nigeria will welcome enhanced cooperation and assistance from Israel for its ongoing efforts to end terrorist attacks and incursions in parts of the country. “Combating the menace of terrorism is a challenge that we must address in partnership with all peace loving countries and peoples of the world. “I seek the cooperation of your country to confront the security threat from terrorist groups that my country is now facing.  There is no doubt that Israel has had decades of experience in combating terrorism. Nigeria can benefit tremendously from your experience in this area,” President Jonathan told the Israeli President. Acknowledging the growing economic relations between Nigeria a

(Nigeria) Abia State Government has demolished the Umuahia main market that was built at the city centre during the colonial era. It was learnt that the market was built in 1935. In an effort to decongest the city centre, the state government constructed a new market at Ubani Ibeku, near Umuahia. Traders were given up to October 19 to relocate to the new market, although a cross-section of the traders complained that the market was not yet ready for business. The old market was formally closed on October 21 by the Market Relocation Committee, while its demolition commenced on Saturday. The Chairman of the committee, Chief Ebenezer Offor, who was seen supervising the demolition on Monday, told NAN that "work is in progress." Offor expressed happiness that Gov. Theodore Orji had finally ‘’broken the jinx,’’ saying that previous administrations attempted to remove the market from the city centre without success. ‘’Many prominent Abia indigenes at home and abroa

By Odimegwu Onwumere   The many voices from the northern part of the country are deliberately banging that power must return to the north in 2015. The undoing of these voices is the unrepresentative tune that has pervaded to tell Nigerians which part of the north they expect the power to return to, unlike Dr. Orji Kalu has always sounded not misleading that power must return to the South-East of the country. As we may know, the Hausa/Fulani see power as their inheritance that must not be tasted by other Nigerians, let alone, by minorities in the north. But they are good at calling on all northerners to fight for a collective cause, such as the illusory yearning that power must return to the north in 2015. It is evident that the matrix ‘born to rule Nigeria’, as has been associated with northerners, is not the conviction of all the peoples of the north, but the credence of Hausa/Fulani dominating north, who see Nigeria as their legacy that must be self-interestedly protecte

(Nigeria) A Taraba State High Court on Monday referred the case filed by Governor Danbaba Suntai against the speaker of the state House assembly and the legislature to the Court of Appeal for guidance and direction. In a ruling in Jalingo, the trial Judge, Justice Ali Andeyangtu, said the matter required the interpretation and application of Section 190(2) of the 1999 constitution as amended. The section deals with transmission of letter and resumption of duty by a governor. Andeyangtu said that in view of the importance of the case to the people of the state, there was a need to send it to a superior court for a judicial pronouncement that would become a reference point. The lead counsel to the state assembly, Mr Yusuf Ali, SAN, had earlier filed a motion asking the court to transfer a section of the case that related to the interpretation of the constitution to the Court of Appeal. He said that transferring the case to the appellate court was pertinent because no p

(Nigeria) The Nigerian Navy on Monday urged the public to disregard the story that Vice-Adm. Mike Akhigbe, a former Navy Chief of Staff, was dead. In a statement, the Director of Navy Information, Commodore Kabir Aliyu, said the report in the media was misleading. ``The Naval Headquarters has made concerted efforts to authenticate the story with the admiral’s family in the U.S. and it was found out that the admiral is alive,’’ the statement said. It noted that the report appeared on the front page of a national newspaper, adding:`` This shows that the reporter who filed the story did not cross-check his facts with the family before going to the press. ``The publication has, therefore, caused the Akhigbe family and Nigerians in general unnecessary embarrassment.’’ The statement advised journalists to authenticate their stories with relevant authorities, especially the death of prominent citizens, in the spirit of objective journalism. Akhigbe was the Chief of General S

(Nigeria) The Cross River State Police Command on Monday in Calabar confirmed the death of nine persons in a fatal accident along the Calabar-Ikom federal highway. The Police Public Relations Officer in Cross River State, Mr Hogan Bassey, told newsmen the accident occurred in the Adim Community of Biase Local Government Area of the state. ``Nine persons died in the accident,’’ he said, without giving more details. Mr Festus Ndimele, the Public Relations Officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, in the state, however could not immediately confirm the accident. The FRSC official said he was not in the office and did not have information on the incident. Eye witness accounts had it that the accident was caused by a head-on collision between a truck and a blue taxi cab. According to the accounts, the two vehicles were travelling from opposite directions, with the truck coming from Calabar. They said the taxi cab, which had 11 passengers on board, was coming from the O

(Nigeria) The Vice President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in the South-East, Mr Chris Isiguzo,  has expressed shock over  the death  of Mr Cassidy Uchendu of Nsukka  Federated Chapel. Isiguzo, who visited the family of the deceased in Nsukka, Enugu State on Monday, described his death as a great loss to the union. According to him, the late Uchendu, who was chairman of the federated chapel, devoted his life to the service of humanity as a journalist. ``The late Uchendu was onetime the Vice Chairman of the Lagos State Correspondents' Chapel and Chairman of Nsukka Correspondents' Chapel before his death,'' he said. The national vice president, who was accompanied by the Interim Chairman of the union in the state, Mr James Oparaekeocha, said the union had declared a three-day mourning period for the deceased beginning from Monday. ``The late chairman was an embodiment of humility and hard work. We extended the mourning to the entire South East becau

(Nigeria) The 3 Division, Special Operations Battalion, Damaturu, on Monday refuted media reports that it arrested a retired Lieutenant Colonel, who allegedly led violent attacks on Damaturu on October 24. Col. Abdullahi Aliyu, the Commander of the battalion, refuted the report when GovernorAlhaji Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State inspected arms, ammunition and vehicles recovered from the attackers. He described as “false and malicious media reports'' that a retired Lieutenant Colonel suspected to have led the attack on Damaturu was arrested by the military. “It is also not true that a truck conveying military uniforms was arrested by the army in Damaturu”, Aliyu said. The commander assured that security personnel would continue to ensure peace and security across the state. Aliyu urged members of the public to always assist security operatives with useful and timely information to facilitate timely response to emergency situations

(Nigeria)  A Kaduna High Court has fixed December 6, for ruling on the case brought by Alhaji Muazu Gangara challenging his removal as speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly. The case was first mentioned on October 23, during which the Judge, Justice Dogara Mallam ordered all parties to the case to be properly served. At the resumed hearing on Monday, counsel to the defendants, Yunus Usman sought for the dismissal of the case, saying that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain it. He told the court that they had filed a notice of preliminary objection on October 7, challenging the continuation of the case. According to him, the removal of the former speaker was purely an internal disciplinary action which the assembly has a right to do. He further argued that the step taken by the House was in line with section 2851 of the 1999 Constitution. Usman said the section was clear on the type of election cases that could be brought before a court of law. He averred

(Nigeria) A 35-year-old prophet, Favour Emmanuel, on Monday appeared before an Ojokoro Magistrate Court, Lagos, and charged with attempt to rape his client. Emmanuel, who resides in Adedokun Street, Baruwa, Ipaja, was arraigned on four-count charge of attempted rape, undressing without consent, breach of peace and provocation. The prosecutor, Insp. Clara Olagbayi, told the court that the offence was committed at the accused office in Baruwa Ipaja on Octover 21. Olgbayi said the complainant went to the prophet for prayer, but the accused assaulted her by undressing her and was about raping her when she cried out for help. She said it was the screaming of  the complainant that attracted the neighbours, who then rescued her and reported the incidence to the police. The prosecutor said the offence contravened sections, 134, 185, 188 and 261 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011. The accused pleaded not guilty. The Magistrate, Mrs A.0 Layinka, granted bail to the accused

Spain summoned the United States  ambassador on Monday to discuss alleged spying on Spanish citizens and said that, if true, the action was unacceptable behaviour by an ally. Earlier, Spanish newspaper El Mundo said the National Security Agency, NSA recently tracked over 60 million calls in Spain in the space of a month, citing a document which it said formed part of papers obtained from ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden. ``Spain has relayed to the U.S. the importance of preserving a climate of trust and its interest in understanding the full reach of practices that, if true, would be considered inappropriate and unacceptable between allies," the Spanish foreign ministry said in a statement. Madrid has also asked the U.S. to provide more data from the NSA, it said. The statement was issued after a meeting between Spain's Secretary of State for the European Union, Inigo Mendez de Vigo, and U.S. Ambassador to Spain, James Costos. ``We will continue to confer with

(Nigeria)  Dr Nasir Fagge, National President, Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has urged Nigerians to prevail on the Federal Government to honour the agreement it signed with the union. Fagge told News Agency of Nigeria  on telephone in Lagos that Nigerians should stop appealing to the union to call off its strike. Fagge stressed that rather than prevailing on ASUU to call off the strike, Nigerians should look at its demands and see their relevance to national development. ``Why is it that when issues like this come up, Nigerians will start begging ASUU to call off strike in the interest of the children and the country in general, rather than prevailing on government. I want to state here that we have a lot of respect and appreciate the concern of all Nigerians who have prevailed on ASUU to reconsider its stand and call off the strike. ``But sincerely, I think if people really care about this country and want to move it forward, they should refocus their thinking t

(Nigeria) An Ibadan Chief Magistrate Court sitting at Iyaganku, Oyo State on Monday  remanded   Yekini Kazeem, 18,  and Ifeanyi Ezekiel,18, for allegedly raping a 17-year-old girl. Kazeem and Ezekiel were arraigned on a two-count charge of conspiracy and rape. The prosecutor, Cpl. James Oriola,  told the court that Kazeem  and Ezekiel  with others now at large  conspired to  rape the victim. Oriola  said the girl was  on an  errand for  her grand mother  when the accused pounced on her. The offence was said to have been committed on Oct. 14  at about  8.30 p.m.  at Ijokodo Agbaje area of  Ibadan. Oriola said the offence contravened sections  357 and 516 and was punishable under section 358 of the Criminal Code Cap. 38, Vol  II, Laws of Oyo State,  2000. The pleas  of the accused  were  not taken. Chief Magistrate Risikat Ebeloku-Mustapha  ordered the accused  to be remanded at Agodi prison pending the outcome of   legal advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecution.

(Nigeria) The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday solicited the support of the Nigerian media in combating corruption and economic crimes. The EFCC Chairman, Mr Ibrahim Lamorde, made the appeal in Lagos at a workshop organised by the commission for journalists. Lamorde, who was represented by EFCC's Director of Operations, Mr Olaolu Adegbite, said that the media's potential to inform and educate the public was crucial to the agency’s anti-graft war. He said that the commission would not be able to win the war against corruption without the support of members of the Nigerian public. "We need the media to help to sensitise the people to the ills of corruption and economic crimes," the EFCC chairman said. He urged media professionals to use their investigative skills to help the commission to fight corruption. Lamorde said that the aim of the workshop was to enhance the capacity of journalists in reporting sensitive cases of corruption

Three Egyptian policemen were killed on Monday when masked men attacked a checkpoint in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, security sources said. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Al Qaeda-linked Islamist militants have stepped up attacks on soldiers and police since the army toppled Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July. The majority of the attacks have been carried out in the largely lawless Sinai region, although militants have on occasion extended their campaign into major cities. Three men in a car and one on a motorcycle approached the checkpoint before dawn and fired at the policemen ``to make sure that they were dead’’, a security source in Mansoura said, speaking on condition of anonymity. ``This is another attack in the series of terrorist attacks against the police,’’ he said, saying the violence shows the intent of ``revenge’’ against the security forces. He did not specify who had carried out the attack. State-run newspaper Al-Ahram re

A teenage girl was killed when a tree fell onto her home while she slept during a fierce storm that battered southern Britain, police said on Monday. Police said they were called to the scene at 0718 GMT in Hever in Kent following a report the 17-year old was severely injured. ``Sadly the 17-year old died,’’ police said in a statement. ``The incident is not being treated as suspicious.’’ Britain's strongest storm in a decade battered southern regions on Monday, forcing hundreds of flight cancellations, cutting power lines and disrupting the travel plans of millions of commuters.

Michael Jackson's personal physician, convicted of manslaughter for administering a lethal dose of anesthetic to the pop singer, was released from a Los Angeles prison on Monday. The doctor has been released after serving half of his four-year sentence. Conrad Murray was released to his representatives, Los Angeles County Sheriff spokesman Steve Whitmore said shortly after Murray left the county jail. The release came under a California state plan to reduce prison overcrowding. Murray's six-week trial grabbed global attention after ``Billie Jean’’ singer Jackson, preparing for a series of comeback concerts in London, died unexpectedly in 2009 at age 50. Reporters waited outside the jail for Murray, but he was whisked out through a back exit away from view. A few Jackson fans were also were present, one playing music from his 1982 album ``Thriller,’’ the top-selling album of all time with more than 50 million copies sold. Jackson's death prompted an out

Silvio Berlusconi's oldest daughter,  Marina denied speculation on Monday within her father's party that she could replace him as centre-right leader due to the billionaire former prime minister's legal difficulties. Berlusconi, 77, is embroiled in a series of court cases, and the approach of a Senate vote on whether to expel the media magnate from parliament, possibly exposing him to the risk of arrest, has intensified talk in his party of Marina taking over. Several party members told Italian media over the weekend that Marina might enter politics, while others said such decisions should be made democratically. "Once again I am forced to deny this in the most absolute manner: I have never had and have no intention of engaging in politics," said a statement from the 47-year-old Marina, who heads her father's business empire. The statement comes amid deepening divisions in his centre-right party as Berlusconi's conviction for tax fraud

Fresh violence erupted across Bangladesh on Monday, leaving at least four people dead as rival party activists clashed on the second day of a strike amid a mounting political crisis. Police said street battles broke out throughout Bangladesh between thousands of supporters of the ruling party and the opposition, which is demanding the prime minister quit and make way for elections under a caretaker government. A bomb blast in the western Harina Kundu town killed a local opposition official, while elsewhere two activists were killed in separate clashes and a truck driver died after being pelted with bricks, police said. "Apparently the bomb was hurled, targeting him (the local official). He died on his way to the hospital," local police chief Mohibul Islam told AFP. At least 16 people in total have now died in the unrest that has escalated since Friday, when the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, BNP, and its Islamist allies staged mass rallies over arrangement

Transatlantic tensions reached boiling point Monday as Washington sharply denied reports President Barack Obama knew United States spies were tapping German Chancellor Angela Merkel, but fresh allegations emerged of mass snooping in Spain. As outrage over secret US surveillance of leaders and average citizens mounted with a tide of new reports, a delegation from the European Parliament was due in Washington to demand answers on the extent of the operations. The trip coincided with a Spanish newspaper report citing a leaked document indicating US security services tracked 60.5 million telephone calls in Spain in a single month. And it came on the heels of a Wall Street Journal article that Obama learned of the electronic surveillance of Merkel and other world leaders in an internal mid-year review. The White House then ordered an end to the programmes, according to the Journal. German media had reported at the weekend that eavesdropping on Merkel's phone may have start

(Nigeria) Thirty-five bodies in military uniform have been brought to a morgue in Nigeria's restive northeast after a coordinated assault by Boko Haram targeting the security forces, a hospital source told AFP Monday. The attack late Thursday in the Yobe state capital of Damaturu was the first raid in a major urban centre in several weeks by the insurgent group waging a four-year Islamist uprising. Police and residents said large numbers of Boko Haram fighters, some in vehicles and some on foot, stormed Damaturu after dark. Armed with guns and explosives, they attacked and torched four police buildings, sparking a fierce, hours-long gun battle with the security forces. "We have received lots of bodies in the last three days from the attacks. I counted 35 bodies in military uniform," said a senior official at the Damaturu Specialist Hospital, who requested anonymity. An army officer based in the central city of Jos said 20 soldiers had been admitted at a hospit

A driver and two passengers were killed after a jeep crashed into a crowd of people and caught fire in front of the Tian'anmen rostrum in downtown Beijing on Monday, police said. Eleven tourists and police officers were also injured by the jeep, which crashed into a guardrail of Jinshui Bridge on the moat of the Forbidden City before bursting into flames at 12:05 p.m., according to municipal police and Beijing Emergency Medical Center, reports Xinhua. Police have arrived at the scene. The fire was put out soon after. The 11 injured have been sent to hospitals nearby. A further investigation is underway.

Two rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip toward Israel early Monday morning, an Israel Defense Force spokesperson confirmed to Xinhua. One of the rockets was intercepted by the Iron Dome anti- missile battery. This was the first time in several months in which the battery was activated. Another missile landed in an open area near the coast of Ashkelon, adjacent to the Gaza Strip. No injuries or damage were reported. On Sunday, two mortar shells were fired from Gaza into southern Israel, without causing any injuries or damage. The rocket fire came as Israeli ministers approved a list of 26 Palestinian prisoners, set to be released on Tuesday. Among them, 21 are from the West Bank and five others from Gaza.

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has dragged the government of President Goodluck Jonathan before the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights over “a serious breach of the obligations by Nigeria under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to progressively realize the right to education in accordance with the country’s maximum available resources.” The group said that, “This fundamental breach is due primarily to the persistent refusal by the government to honor the agreement with members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.” In the petition by SERAP's Executive Director, Mr Adetokunbo Mumuni, the group said that “ Although the government in 2009 agreed with ASUU to improve the governance structures and funding for the operation of universities across the country to around 26 percent for the period covering 2009-2020, the terms of the agreement have remained largely unfulfilled. Conditio

United States President Barack Obama was aware of the alleged monitoring of mobile phone communications of Chancellor Angela Merkel, German newspaper Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported on Sunday. The paper quoted U.S. intelligence sources as saying that U.S. National Security Agency, NSA, chief Keith Alexander briefed Obama on the operation against Merkel in 2010 but the president did not halt the operation. Bild also said the NSA targeted not only Merkel's business mobile phone but also her official telephone device, reports Xinhua. The German government has voiced its anger at possible U.S. intelligence's spying on the mobile phone communications of Merkel, saying it would be "a serious breach of trust" if confirmed. High-ranking representatives of German security services as well as chancellery will travel to Washington next week to seek clarifications of widespread U.S. spying allegations, including the alleged monitoring of mobile phone communic