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The Federal Government on Wednesday warned that Nigeria was still at risk of experiencing further spread of the Ebola Virus in spite of the successful containment efforts made. The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, gave the warning in Abuja while briefing State House correspondents on the outcome of the weekly Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting, presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan.

( Nigeria ) President Goodluck Jonathan has condemned the stigmatization of Nigerians by some countries over recent cases of the Ebola Virus Disease in the country. Speaking at a meeting with Mr. David Navarro, a Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General, President Jonathan faulted the discriminatory actions such as that which forced Nigeria ’s team to the Youth Olympics in China to abandon its participation.

Moscow courts on Wednesday ordered a 90-day closure of three McDonald's restaurants in the city centre over breaches of sanitary rules. Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Olga Golodets said there was no “total plan” to inspect all the chain's outlets in Russia. She claimed activities were being carried out “in accordance with the general plan, and based on some cases of violations of sanitary-epidemiological legislation.”

A group of more than 60 Ukrainian military have crossed into Russia’s Rostov Region to ask for asylum, the spokesman for the FSB’s border guard office in the Rostov Region, Nikolai Sinitsyn, has said. “Today, 62 servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces turned to Russian border guards asking to let them into the Russian territory near Russia’s settlement of Shramko, Matveyevo-Kurgansky district with the aim to save their lives,” Sinitsyn said, reports Itar-Tass. He noted that before crossing the Russian border, the Ukrainian servicemen left their guns at the cross-border region. Russian border guards have let them pass and provided a transit corridor proceeding from the principles of humanism.

Donetsk self-defense forces have made further advances in their counter-offensive, inflicting heavy losses on the Ukrainian troops, the militia headquarters reported on Wednesday. According to Itar-Tass, no fewer than 129 servicemen of the Ukrainian army and the National Guard have surrendered to the militia in the settlement of Starobeshevo, the militia headquarters said.

The facts prove that Russia’s Mi-8 helicopter crashed in South Sudan was shot down, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Mr N Vitaly Churkin said on Wednesday. “All data says the helicopter was shot down,” he said, reports Itar-Tass. On Tuesday, August 26, Russia urged the UN Security Council to adopt a statement that would condemn the incident and demand guilty persons be brought to justice, Churkin said.

The Libyan Government on Wednesday expressed concern to the United Nations Security Council over the possibility that the chaotic North African state could descend into full-scale civil war, if heavily armed warring factions were not disarmed. According to Reuters new, the 15-nation council met to discuss Libya days after its parliament, which was replaced in an election in June, reconvened and chose an Islamist-backed deputy as the new prime minister. That left the country with two rival leaders and assemblies, each backed by armed factions.

Cameroon 's army has killed 27 members of terrorist group Boko Haram near a northern town, state radio said on Wednesday. The Boko Haram fighters were reported to have crossed Nigeria ’s border into Cameroon earlier this week after attacking a military base and police station in Borno, north east Nigeria .

( Nigeria ) Detained former Nigerian Football Federation, NFF president, Mr Aminu Maigari has finally regained his freedom along with fellow former executive committee member, Mr Chris Green. “Maigari has been released by the security operatives. He was released in the morning from the special anti-robbery squad after he was handed to them by the Directorate of State Security Service,” said an aide of the NFF boss.

  A massive convoy of Russian tanks and heavy weapons have crossed into Ukraine , travelling towards a government-held town in the restive east, Ukraine 's army has said. A statement published by the military on Wednesday said a convoy of "up to 100" tanks, armoured vehicles and rocket launchers was seen travelling on a road toward Telmanove, a town about 80km south of rebel stronghold Donetsk and 20 km from the Russian border, reports Al-Jazeera news.

The World Health Organisation, WHO, has shut down a laboratory in Sierra Leone after a health worker there was infected with Ebola, a move that may hamper efforts to boost the global response to the worst-ever outbreak of the disease, Al-Jazeera news reports.. At least 1,427 people have died and 2,615 have been infected since the disease was detected deep in the forests of southeastern Guinea in March.

Nigeria on Wednesday dismissed claims by Congo to relocate the two countries' Africa Cup of Nations qualifier because of Ebola fears and vowed that the match will go ahead as planned, reports APF. The reigning African champions are set to take on Congo on September 6 in the southeast Nigerian city of Calabar .

Talks between Ukraine and Russia in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, on Tuesday were fruitless, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told a government meeting on Wednesday. According to Itar-Tass, no results had been expected from the meeting, but the event had to take place, he added.

The skies over Gaza remained calm Wednesday as a long-term ceasefire took hold, ending the deadliest violence in a decade, with Israel and Hamas both claiming 'victory' in the 50-day war. According to AFP, millions in and around the war-torn enclave enjoyed a welcome night of peace during which there were no strikes on Gaza, nor Palestinian rockets fired at Israel, the Israeli army said. "We were able to sleep!" said a Gazan man, Alaa al-Jaro. "We had the best sleep ever after the Israeli aggression ended."

The head of Liberia 's human rights watchdog on Wednesday called for an investigation into the death of a teenager in clashes with soldiers in the capital of the Ebola-hit country, according to AFP. Siafa Kamara, 16, was one of four residents wounded as violence flared on Wednesday last week in Monrovia 's West Point slum, which had been quarantined as part of security measures aimed at containing the deadly virus.

( Nigeria ) A faction of the Nigeria Football Association, NFA, congress has elected Mr Chris Giwa as the new Board Chairman of the association, alongside 11 others as board members. The congress, at the association’s General Assembly on Tuesday in Abuja , elected the club proprietor following an election which had 29 of the 44 voting members in attendance.

( Nigeria ) The Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Dr Joseph Dawha, has solicited the assistance of the police in protecting its pipelines, checking crude oil and refined products’ theft. A statement  by Mr Emmanuel Ojukwu the force spokesman in Abuja on Wednesday said  that Dawha made the request when he visited the Acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr Suleiman Abba.

(Nigeria) By Odimegwu Onwumere   Peace and unity, reconciliation and forgiveness are what we Nigerians should stand to acknowledge through wisdom, kindness, liberty, justice, fairness, love, work to overcoming the negative through the creation of a positive mindset that would lead us to a positive environment. We knew that there is more power in unity than in division, more to love than in hate. I read a story by a lady who said in the following lines: “Once when I was young, maybe more than once, when I was extremely disrespectful to my mother, my father angrily called me "garbage" in our native Hokkien dialect.

Celebrations erupted in Gaza on Tuesday as a long-term ceasefire agreed by Israel and the Palestinians began, ending 50 days of the deadliest violence in a decade, reports AFP. The agreement, effective since 1600 GMT, involves an immediate halt to the violence in Gaza , which erupted on July 8 and has claimed the lives of 2,143 Palestinians and 69 on the Israeli side. The Palestinians said it was a "permanent" truce, while a senior Israeli official described it as "unconditional and unlimited in time."

Militia forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic, DPR, said they have seized from pro-Kiev troops the settlement of Starobeshevo, located in the southeast of the embattled region. According to Itar-Tass, the headquarters of the DPR militia forces told on Tuesday that “A total of four MSTA-S self-propelled howitzers and a depot containing considerable amount of ammunition were seized. “Twelve [enemy’s] armored combat vehicles were destroyed. Enemy’s casualties totaled 19 killed and 40 wounded.”

( Nigeria ) The Federal Government on Tuesday directed that all public and private primary and secondary schools should remain closed till October 13. The Minister of Education, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, gave the directive when he briefed newsmen after a meeting with Commissioners for Education in Abuja .

(Nigeria ) A former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Tom Ikimi, on Tuesday announced his decision to withdraw his membership of the All Progressives Congress, APC. This is contained in a letter he addressed to the APC National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun, in Abuja .

( Nigeria ) The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, said only one of Ebola virus patients was receiving treatment and that seven had been discharged in the country. Chukwu gave this update on the status of confirmed patients with the virus to newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday. He said two of the treated patients were discharged on Monday evening and were now very free of the disease.

( Nigeria ) No fewer than 51 minors were sexually abused or raped in Enugu State between April 2014 and August 2014, the Executive Director of Women Aid Collective, Dr Joy Ezeilo, has said. Speaking at a media roundtable organised by the Sexual Assault and Referral Centre, SARC in Enugu on Tuesday, Ezeilo said that 45 adults were also victims’ of rape in the state during the period of review. She listed the number of cases to include 30 rape cases, four attempted rapes, 10 sexual assaults, 37 defilements and 15 other cases of domestic violence.

( Nigeria ) President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the dredging of Calabar channel to boost the economy of Cross River and the country. The Minister of Transport, Sen. Idris Umar, made this known when he received South-South and South-East traditional rulers led by Edmund Daukoru, the Amanyanabo of Nembe, in Abuja on Tuesday, reports NAN. 

The prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, DPR, Alexander Zakharchenko, has vowed that the DPR will not remain a territory of Ukraine under any circumstance. The Novorossiya news agency says he dropped the remark in view of the on-going negotiations in Minsk by the heads of state of the Customs Union countries, Ukraine and EU representatives. Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko said at the meeting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine must be preserved. “Federalization does not suit us,” Zakharchenko said.

Israel has accepted Egypt’s proposal on infinite ceasefire in Gaza, a government source in Jerusalem told Itar-Tass on Tuesday, adding the sides would voice their conditions in the next 30 days. Israel is going to insist on Gaza’s demilitarization. Meanwhile, three Palestinians had died as a result of Israeli air strikes in Gaza earlier on Tuesday shortly before Israel’s decision to accept the Egypt-proposed truce.

The United Nations, says Russian nationals killed in helicopter crash in South Sudan. Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary General confirmed that the three killed helicopter pilots were Russian citizens.  He added that the helicopter was chartered from a Russian company.

McDonald’s has closed one of its outlets in Astrakhan, the Volga region, for technical retooling rather than for fear of inspections that have swept Russia, a McDonald’s source said on Tuesday. “The closure has got nothing to do with inspections carried out by Rospotrebnadzor (a Russian consumer rights watchdog). Besides, they have already checked one of our restaurants in Astrakhan without revealing any violations. There is nothing else we can say,” the source said.

( Nigeria ) The Rivers State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, says the present crop of Caretaker Committee Chairmen across the state are only busy siphoning council funds without the slightest intention to embark on any developmental project. Lamenting  the rate of illegal acquisition of property and lavish waste of council funds on meaningless ceremonies and sharing among these CTC chairmen, the party in a statement by Mr Jerry Needam, Special Adviser, Media to the state Chairman, Prince Felix Obuah on Tuesday,  said even in the face of this misnomer, Governor Rotimi Amaechi has made no effort to call them to order.

A United Nations cargo helicopter crashed Tuesday in South Sudan 's warzone region of Unity state, the UN peacekeeping mission said, adding it was "deeply concerned about the fate of the crew," reports AFP. The UN mission said it had "dispatched a search and rescue team" to the area, near the northern oil town of Bentiu , one of the hardest fought over areas in the country's more than eight-month-long civil war. The Mi-8 helicopter, which generally carries between three and five crew members, crashed about 10 kilometres (six miles) south of Bentiu.

(Nigeria) Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State on Tuesday, said  that  the All Progressives Congress, APC in the state was not  stronger after some politicians, who it accused of not having the interest of the people at heart decided to excuse themselves from the party. Speaking at a meeting with leaders of the party in Edo South in Benin, Oshiomhole said: “After the party registration, ward, local, state congresses and national congresses, this is the first meeting we are having with you and I think it is a very important meeting and I am happy that you have come here and there is no struggling at the gate about accreditation or fighting.  It shows how disciplined our leaders are at the grass root level.

( Nigeria ) The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, on Tuesday warned security officers in the state against consuming banned substances and hard drugs. The Principal Staff Officer (PSO), Drug Demand Reduction Unit of the agency in Ekiti, Mr Peter Njoku, gave the warning at a seminar organised for Nigeria Immigration Officers and Federal Road Safety Corps in the state.

( Nigeria ) The All Progressives Congress, APC, has described as an unprecedented,  national embarrassment the increasing seizure of Nigerian towns by the terrorist group Boko Haram and the reported fleeing of 480 Nigerian soldiers to Cameroon during an attack on a military base in Gamboru-Ngala on Monday. APC in a statement in Lagos on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, called on President Goodluck Jonathan to urgently address Nigerians on the worsening security situation in the northern part of the country that has allowed Boko Haram to proclaim its rule over a part of the nation's territory.

( Nigeria ) Deputy Governor of Enugu State , Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi, has been impeached by the state House of Assembly. The impeachment panel set up by the House, had on Monday submitted its report in three volumes and indicted the Deputy Governor, concluding that he was guilty of all the three charges against him. The Assembly voted in favour of the deputy governor’s removal from office after adopting the report of the 7-man panel that investigated allegations of misconduct leveled against him. House Leader, Mr. S. Udeokoye, moved the motion for Onyebuchi’s impeachment, which was unanimously adopted.

No fewer than  five Israeli air strikes have destroyed much of one of Gaza 's tallest apartment and office buildings, setting off huge explosions and wounding 20 people, Palestinian health officials said. Israel had no immediate comment on Tuesday's attack, but 70 families lived in the building, which also housed offices and a shopping complex.

The Russian servicemen detained in Ukraine are not prisoners of war but detainees, spokesman for Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council Andrei Lysenko said on Tuesday as he was answering a question about exchange of the Russians. “All the detainees are now under the supervision of secret services,” Lysenko said.

( Nigeria ) The Cultural Society of Nigeria, NCSN, a pan Igbo organisation, has condemned in totality of the recent posting by the new acting Inspector General of Police, IG, Mr Suleiman Abba, which had no Igbo person, but as usual, dominated by the Northerners. NCSN in a statement on Tuesday, said “Ndigbo predominantly occupies two geopolitical zones of South-East / South South in Nigeria in addition with millions of residents in Lagos State and substantial residents across all other states of the federation, could not get a single police zonal command out of the 12 zones in the federation, is totally unacceptable.

Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko on Monday dissolved the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) and announced early legislative elections. The president dissolved the Rada “as this is the only correct and responsible decision”, his spokesperson Svyatoslav Tsegolko said on Twitter. Poroshenko urged “democratic political forces to run in the elections as a single pro-Ukrainian and pro-European team”. Poroshenko signed a decree setting the date of parliamentary elections in the country at October 26.

( Nigeria ) Governor  Kashim Shettima of Borno State on Monday advised residents of the state to remain calm following alleged proclamation of Islamic State in Gwoza by Boko Harm insurgents. This is contained in a statement by Shettima in Maiduguri . The governor was reacting to a video released by the terrorists on their operations in Borno.

( Nigeria )The Kingdom Coordinators Forum of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, MOSOP, has called on the Rivers State Government to desist from using insulting languages against the Ogoni people. Chairman of the MOSOP Kingdom Coordinators Forum, Frank Jonah,  spoke on Monday, in reaction to a comment made by a Director in the Rivers State Ministry of Environment Mr Charles George.

( Nigeria ) The House of Representatives Committee on Health  on Monday called on the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, to apologise to Nigerians over its 55-day-old strike, which paralyzed activities at public hospital across the country. The Chairman of the committee, Rep. Ndudi Elumelu, told newsmen at in Abuja that the apology became necessary because the strike caused Nigerians inconveniences as well as loss of lives.

( Nigeria ) The Nigerian Defence headquarters on Monday, said that Nigerian soldiers, who as a result of fierce battle with Boko Haram crossed in Cameroon are on their back to Nigeria . Explaining the circumstance under which the Nigerian troops who found themselves in Cameroon during fierce battle with terrorists, Defence headquarters in a post on its website, said “the Nigerian troops that were found in Cameroun was as a result of a sustained battle between the troops and the terrorists around the borders with Cameroun which saw the Nigerian troops charging through the borders in a tactical maneuver.

Nigeria’s neighbour, Cameroun has confirmed that it is holding about 480 Nigerian soldiers, who fled to its territory following fierce confrontation with Boko Haram militants, reports BBC news. Though Nigerian military authorities are yet to confirm or deny this claim, BBC quoted the spokesman for the Camerounian Army identified as Lt. Col. Didier Badjek, as saying the soldiers had been disarmed and were now being accommodated in schools.

Russia’s consumer watchdog Rospotrebnadzor on Monday suspended work of the fourth McDonald’s restaurant, this time in the southern Stavropol region, according to the authority’s regional department. On August 21, Rospotrebnadzor suspended operations at three chain’s outlets, including the restaurant on Moscow's Pushkin Square, which McDonald's says is the busiest in its global network. This was the first to open in Russia, in 1990, seen as a symbol that the Cold War was ending.

Germany expects the new humanitarian convoy Russia plans to send to Ukraine’s embattled southeast will be coordinated with the Kiev authorities and the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC, a top government official said on Monday. “We assume that this convoy will be coordinated with the ICRC and the Ukrainian government,” deputy government spokesman Georg Streiter said, reports Itar-Tass

A female United States soldier shot and injured herself at a US Army command post in Virginia on Monday, prompting a temporary lockdown of the base, officials said. The soldier turned the gun on herself at the Combined Arms Support Command Headquarters at Fort Lee, about 130 miles (200 kilometers) south of the US capital in Washington, the army said in a statement, according to APF.

Liverpool are on the brink of completing their move for Mario Balotelli after the AC Milan striker was seen at the club's training ground on Monday, according to AFP. Balotelli emerged as a target for Reds manager Brendan Rodgers last week and Liverpool have been locked in talks with the former Manchester City star's agent since agreeing a reported £16 million fee with Milan .

United Nations human rights chief,  Ms Navi Pillay said on Monday a ruthless campaign of "ethnic and religious cleansing" by Islamic State jihadists in Iraq amounted to a crime against humanity, reports AFP. She said their reign of terror against non-Arab ethnic groups and non-Sunni Muslims alike involved targeted killings, forced conversions, abductions, trafficking, slavery, sexual abuse, and destruction of holy and cultural sites.

(Nigeria) The All Progressives Congress, APC, has said Nigeria may be able to organize truly free, fair, credible and transparent elections in the nearest future if the recent comments by Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC Chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega reflect the thinking of the electoral commission. APC in a statement issued in Lagos on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said three issues stand out in comments credited to the INEC boss: that hooded security personnel would no longer be allowed during elections, that the security paraphernalia in future elections should be under the control of INEC and that the Commission will use e-card readers for the 2015 general elections.