innosreport

(Nigeria) A Lagos High Court, Wednesday, warned that there will be consequences if anything happens to the over N500 million frozen Police fund lodged with the Zenith Bank Plc. Trial judge, Justice Olatunde Oshodi gave the warning at the hearing in the various applications by judgment debtors, garnishee and other interested party seeking to oppose compliance with the payment of N500m awarded to Mrs. Ebunoluwa Awosika, the widow of the slain banker, Modebayo Awosika, who was felled by the Police in Lekki, Lagos on October 1, 2008. Until the time he was killed, Mr. Awosika, then 39 was a seasoned banker, a Relationship Manager with the First Bank of Nigeria Plc and the breadwinner of his entire family.  Following the confirmation of Modebayo murder by a coroner's inquest, his widow commenced a fundamental rights action against the respondents at the Lagos High Court, wherein Justice Ebenezer Adebajo, now retired awarded damages against Inspector General of Police, Commissioner of

(Nigeria) The Nigerian government with its Cameroonian counterpart to fashion the best to deal with the security challenge posed to the two countries by the activities of Book Haram Islamic insurgents. Nigeria's Director Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade in statement after the meeting, said "In furtherance of various international contacts by Nigeria in the efforts to stamp out the scourge of terrorism in the sub-region, a bilateral defence meeting between Nigeria and Cameroun is scheduled to commence on Wednesday at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja. "The three-day meeting which is being hosted by Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh will have in attendance his Cameroonian counterpart and his country’s military delegation. The forum which is a follow-up to previous international and regional meetings to foster a common ground in the fight against insurgency and terrorism is to fashion out ways of strengthening the existing wor

(Nigeria) The All Progressives Congress (APC) has slammed the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP-led Federal Government for its insulting and disingenuous explanation aimed at deceiving Nigerians over the US$9.3 million cash-for-arms deal that went awry in South Africa, saying everything about the deal is shady. APC  in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the deal violates the foreign currency laws of Nigeria and South Africa, violates Nigeria's Money Laundering law as well as the Public Procurement Act and makes a mess of the Federal Government's cashless policy. In addition, it said, all the circumstances surrounding the transaction were umbrageous, including the fact that the funds involved, though in cash, were neither declared before departure in Nigeria nor declared on arrival in South Africa. ''Based on these shady circumstances, one can safely conclude that the arms to be procured, if at all, were not mean

West Africa could face up to 10,000 new Ebola cases a week within two months, the World Health Organization warned Tuesday, adding that the death rate in the current outbreak has risen to 70 percent,  reports AP. WHO assistant director-general Dr. Bruce Aylward gave the grim figures during a news conference in Geneva. Previously, the agency had estimated the Ebola mortality rate at around 50 percent overall. In contrast, in events such as flu pandemics, the death rate is typically under 2 percent. Acknowledging that Ebola was "a high mortality disease," Aylward said the U.N. health agency was still focused on trying to get sick people isolated and provide treatment as early as possible. He told reporters if the world's response to the Ebola crisis isn't stepped up within 60 days, "a lot more people will die" and health workers will be stretched even further. Experts say the epidemic is doubling in size about every three weeks. WHO raised its Ebola death

(Nigeria) Shareholders of defunct Afribank Plc, Bank PHB Plc and Springbank Plc, on Tuesday, urged the Court of Appeal Lagos, to order their compensation following revocation of the banks' licences in 1999.  They are praying the court to overrule a Federal High Court judgment delivered by Justice Charles Archibong (then of the court ), which dismissed their originating summons.  According to them, the defunct banks' assets can not be transferred free of charge to another entity without compensation to the shareholders.  Respondents are: The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Also joined as respondents are: The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) Mainstreet Bank (former Afribank), Keystone Bank Ltd (former Bank PHB) and Enterprise Bank Ltd (former Spring Bank).  The appellants, represented by Mr Boniface Okezie, Mr Adeyemi Kehinde and Mr Ade

 Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman The resolution of the British lawmakers recognizing the Palestinian state is an obstacle towards peace, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a communique on Tuesday, reports Tass. “The premature international recognition is a dangerous signal for the Palestinian leaders that they can abandon the difficult decisions which both sides (Palestinians and Israelis) need to take, and this therefore undermines the chances towards reaching genuine peace,” the ministry says. On Monday, the House of Commons in a majority vote of 274-12 backed a motion, which says that "this House believes that the Government should recognize the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel." On Monday, the House of Commons in a majority vote of 274-12 backed a motion, which says that "this House believes that the Government should recognize the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel." The motion is non-binding and cannot change t

As many as 15 policemen were injured in clashes in front of the Verkhovna Rada /Ukrainian parliament/ building in central Kiev on Tuesday, adviser to the Ukrainian interior minister Anton Gerashchenko said, adding that police detained 50 rioters, reports Tass. “Fifteen police officers have been injured as a result of illegal activities of provokers. As many as 50 activists of the provocative actions near the Verkhovna Rada were detained. Police continues to detain /violators of public order/,” he wrote on his Facebook account. According to Kiev police, up to 8,000 people took part in the action. Controversial bill causes nationalist rally Riots started after the Verkhovna Rada refused to put on its agenda a bill recognizing the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA) as a party fighting for Ukraine’s independence during WWII. Parliament speaker Olexandr Turchynov, in violation of the established procedures, made seven attempts to put this issue for voting and each time failed to score t

(Nigeria) Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP has dragged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, over “failure to expose the persons involved in alleged money laundering through the CBN to fund the activities of Boko Haram which have contributed to the unlawful killings of innocent Nigerians and destruction of property.” The suit filed on Tuesday, under the Freedom of Information provision.  In the suit, SERAP argued that the “a necessary implication of the rule of law is that a public functionary and institution can only act in accordance with law, as to do otherwise may enthrone arbitrariness. Obedience to the rule of law by all citizens but more particularly those who publicly took oath of office to protect and preserve the constitution is a desideratum to good governance. In a democratic society, this is meant to be a norm; it is an apostasy for public institutions like the CBN to ignore the provisions of the law.” SER

(Nigeria) Some leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party in Edo State, including the party’s Chairman in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area, Osawaru Ekhator, Onaiwu Igbogbo, Igbinoba Enoma, Victoria Aisagbonbuomwan, Alfred Igbinoba among others led over four thousand members of the party to join the All Progressives Congress at a mega rally to receive the defectors in Benin City on Monday. Leader of the defectors and PDP Chairman of Chairmen, Mr. Osawaru Ekhator said he had to leave the PDP because it is a “party of full of deceit”. He said: “all they know is to criticize without doing anything. When we sat down and to examine what they are doing, we discovered that they are liars. PDP is a party that you cannot find a democrat in.” Another decampee, and Ward Chairman of the PDP, Oniawu Igbogbo said, “we have been looking at the APC from afar, we have seen that our Comrade Governor has not been sleeping. He is working and we have decided that we need to join the cloud of glory. APC is t

(Nigeria)) The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on Monday, closed its case before a Federal High Court in Lagos, in the trial of Raymond Omatseye, charged with contract scam. Omatseye, a former Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, is standing trial on an amended 27-count charge of alleged contract scam. He had pleaded not guilty to the charge, and was granted bail. At the resumed hearing of the case on Monday, the prosecutor, Chief Godwin Obla (SAN) informed the court that the matter was slated for hearing. He, however, told the court that he had closed the case for the prosecution, having called three witnesses. In response, Defence Counsel, Mr Olusina Sofola (SAN) quickly informed the court of the defence's intention to file an application for a no case submission before the court. Obla in reply, pointed out that the prosecution also had a right to respond to the application of defence, adding that he had 14 days

(Nigeria)Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of a Federal High Court in Lagos, on Monday, ordered the remand at the Kirikiri female prisons, of a 32-years-old woman, Ifeoma Eze, charged with illicit drug deal. The judge ordered the remand of the accused in custody, after she pleaded guilty to a one-count of trafficking about 6.200 grams of Cannabis Sativa, alias indian hemp. She was arraigned by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA. Justice Aneke ordered the accused to remain in custody until October 24, when the facts of the case will be reviewed, and her sentenced pronounced. Earlier, the prosecutor, Mr Ernest Agwu had told the court that the accused was arrested on July 21 at the Murtala Murtala Airport. He said that about 6.200 grams of the narcotic was recovered from the accused, during the outward clearance of passengers onboard a flight to China. According to the prosecutor, the substance was concealed in a large envelop, carefully tucked in the luggage of the accused. H

(Nigeria)The Court of Appeal Lagos, on Monday, reserved judgments in two separate appeals filed by a Lagos socialite, Fred Ajudua against the ruling of a Lagos High Court in Ikeja, which refused his bail application. It will be recalled that Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye of the lower court, had refused Ajudua’s application, in a suit filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission--EFCC, over alleged fraud. Ajudua was alleged to have defrauded former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi (rtd.) of about $8.4 million. In refusing his bail application, Ipaye had made reference to Ajudua’s antecedents in criminal matters before another Lagos State High Court, where he not only jumped bail, but also allegedly interfered with the court process. On that premise, the judge refused the appellant bail. Dissatisfied with the ruling of the court, Ajudua had filed an appeal before the appellate court, urging it to set aside the lower court's decision. The appellate court presided

About 200 military conscripts from the Ukrainian National Guard are picketing the building of the Ukrainian president’s administration, demanding their immediate demobilization, reports Tass. The military said the soldiers will not leave untill the authorities say when they will be able to go home. Officers from President Petro Poroshenko’s administration, for their part, demand that the military get back to their unit, saying the president will be informed about their demand. On a working trip to the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv last Saturday, President Poroshenko said demobilization of Ukrainian military was impossible in conditions of the de-facto military operation. He said this opportunity would appear only amid a permanent ceasefire, as soon as the defense line was built. Ukrainian media reports on Monday said that at a National Guard base in Novye Petrovtsy outside Kiev, 500 military has been demanding their overdue military pay for four days. Soldiers rally in e

F ederal health officials on Monday urged the nation's hospitals to "think Ebola" and keep vigilant watch for symptoms of the disease in any patients who have traveled from the three West African nations that have seen the greatest number of infections, reports AP. Health authorities also intensified their monitoring of Dallas hospital workers who cared for a man who died of Ebola. Their stepped-up efforts came a day after a nurse was tested positive for the virus. The nurse, who was wearing protective gear when she took care of Thomas Eric Duncan, became the first person to contract the disease within the United States. Duncan, who traveled from Liberia to visit family, did not get sick until he arrived here. He died Wednesday. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Tom Frieden said he would not be surprised if another hospital worker who cared for Duncan becomes ill because Ebola patients become more contagious as the disease progresses. He said the CDC

At least 12 people were killed in shelling in the city of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine over the past 24 hours despite the so-called “silence regime” proclaimed in the city, spokesman for the defence ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Eduard Basurin said on Sunday, reports Tass. “Twelve civilians, including six women and one child, were killing in shelling, thirteen more were hospitalized with wounds,” he told journalists. In all, about 20 episodes of violations of the ceasefire regime by the Ukrainian side were reported.  “They used 122-mm mortars, howitzers and multiple launch rockets systems,” he said, adding that the worst situation was near the Donetsk airport and at the Spartak farm near Avdeyevka. He also said that after the “silence regime” had been declared Ukraine’s army shelled Gorlovka, wounding two persons. According to earlier reports, four civilians were killed and eleven got injured in Donetsk. “Silence regime” On October 11, DPR Prime Mi

(Nigeria) Mr Lekan Odunsi, the Chairman, Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Ogun chapter on Thursday said Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) could not be contracted through egg consumption. Odunsi said this at a press conference with the theme, "Human impacts on egg consumption" to commemorate the 2014 World Egg Day in Abeokuta. He said that in spite of the dangers associated with the consumption of some animals with regard to the dreaded virus, egg consumption was Ebola free. ``Egg consumption is very much free from Ebola, either cooked, boiled, fried or half cooked, our fear in eating bush meat and other forms of protein for the fear of Ebola does not include eggs," Odunsi said. The PAN Chairman disclosed that new reports from the European Egg Commission (EEC) indicated that consumption of eggs for six weeks consecutively might reduce breast cancer in women by 44 per cent. He lamented that the rate of egg consumption in Nigeria was low in spite of the numerous advantage

(Nigeria) The Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, Lagos, on Wednesday gave its external students a two-week ultimatum to pay their fees, saying it plans to wind up the programme by 2016. The Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof. John Obafunwa, said at a press briefing in Lagos that the two weeks ultimatum commenced from October 8 to October 22. Obafunwa said the decision was taken at a stakeholders’ forum after it was discovered that only 5, 366 students had registered for the semester. The VC said the university was compelling the students to pay because the National Universities Commission (NUC) had given it till 2016 to wind up the programme. ``The National Universities Commission (NUC) has been magnanimous enough to give us grace till 2016 and there is no justification for any student not to pay his or her fees," he said. Obafunwa said 29,987 students profile had been uploaded in the university portal, while about 7,000 have yet to be uploaded. He said the two weeks

(Nigeria) A Federal High Court, sitting in Jos, Plateau State on Wednesday adjourned hearing to October 23,  in a case of contempt of court filed against immediate past  Chairman of Nigeria Football Association (NFA), Aminu Maigari.  Maigari and three others were dragged to court for flouting the orders of the court. Yahaya Adamu, a football stakeholder and three others on September 19 obtained an interim injunction retraining Maigari, the NFA, and State Football Associations from conducting fresh election to replace the executive led by Mr Chris Giwa. The plaintiffs through their counsel at the hearing on Wednesday in Jos, sought for an order of court to jail Magari for flouting that order.  The judge,  Justice Ambrose Allagoa, however, adjourned further hearing to allow the plaintiffs’ counsel to personally serve the defendants with the contempt of court order. Allagoa in adjourning the matter said that the court could not grant the prayer of the plaintiffs’ counsel to commit t

The Communist Party has been created in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, reports Tass. Its founding congress was held in the republic on Wednesday. Chairman of the DPR Supreme Council Boris Litvinov was proclaimed leader of the party. He said the Communists would support DPR Prime Minister Alexander Zakharchenko’s candidature at the upcoming elections for premiership. This is the first party in the history of the self-proclaimed republic. Other political organizations were set up in the form of public movement.

Sweden hopes that its position on the possible recognition of the State of Palestine will spur discussion in the European Union, Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said on Wednesday, reports Tas. She did not specify when Sweden could officially recognize Palestine and said that the criticism of the new Swedish leadership’s statements to this effect made last week was quite expected.Wallstrom said this position would not affect her country’s relations with the United States and Israel.She said Sweden would continue maintaining good relations with both Israel and the US.

The Russian Defense Ministry has offered a firm response to statements by the chief of Ukraine's National Security Service Valentin Nalivaychenko, who has been trying to persuade the international commission to accept his version of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crash over east Ukraine in July 2014, reports Tass. “One cannot but feel angry about yet another attempt by the chief of a Ukrainian secret service to use absolutely groundless allegations in a bid to persuade the public at large about Russian military’s involvement in the Boeing crash in the skies over Ukraine,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said. “I would like to recall that the commanders of the so-called ‘anti-terrorist’ operation in the south-east of Ukraine, including Nalivaychenko himself, did their utmost at the end of August to prevent an international inquiry from visiting the site of the plane’s crash,” Konahsenkov said. He pointed out that it had been Ukrainian troops, with Nalivayc

Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, Texas, USA The first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the US, Liberian citizen Thomas Eric Duncan, has died, the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, where Duncan was being treated for Ebola, said on Wednesday, reports Tass. Duncan arrived in the United States on October 1 to visit his relatives. Several dozen people who were in contact with him are under medical surveillance. The World Health Organisation says the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has killed more than 3,500 people, while over 7,500 people have been infected. Analysts say the Ebola epidemic is emerging as a global threat which requires all-round attention. The outbreak started in West Africa in December 2013 and by now Ebola has spread across five countries, namely Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Senegal. Eight Ebola cases are reported in the European Union, Frederic Vincent from the European Commission said qon Wednesday, dismissing, however, the

(Nigeria) The Police in Enugu State have arrested a suspected armed robber and kidnapper, Chukwuma Ukala, who allegedly terrorised residents of the state capital. The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr Ebere Amaraizu, said in a statement in Enugu on Tuesday, that the suspect was arrested on October 5, at Udi Siding in Enugu North Local Government Area of the state. The statement said the suspect also known as ``Akidi'’ had been on the wanted list of the operatives following his involvement in the perpetration of crimes ranging from kidnapping to armed robbery. It said the suspect was currently helping the police in their investigations on his alleged nefarious activities. According to the statement, the suspect, who has shown remorse for his actions, advised youths to eschew crime and embrace good virtues. The statement quoted the alleged criminal as saying that ``every day is for a thief and one day for the owner''.

Public hospitals in New York City are concerned enough about Ebola that they've secretly been sending actors with mock symptoms into emergency rooms to test how good the triage staff is at identifying and isolating possible cases, reports AP. A small hospital in the Ohio countryside has hung up signs, imploring patients to let nurses know immediately if they have traveled recently to West Africa. And across the United States, one of the nation's largest ambulance companies has put together step-by-step instructions on how to wrap the interior of a rig with plastic sheeting while transporting a patient. Ebola has yet to infect a single person on U.S. soil — the one confirmed case here involves a man who contracted the virus overseas. But health care providers are worried enough that they are taking a wide variety of precautions. It isn't yet clear whether those preparations are overkill, or not nearly enough. But medical officials and health experts say that, at the very

In a case underscoring the perils of caring for Ebola patients, a nurse in Spain has come down with the disease — the first time someone has caught the disease outside West Africa during the current epidemic. The nurse's illness illustrates the danger that health care workers face not only in poorly equipped West African clinics, but also in the more sophisticated medical centers of Europe and the United States, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University. "At greatest risk in all Ebola outbreaks are health care workers," he said. The development came Monday as another American sick with the disease arrived back in the U.S. for treatment and President Barack Obama said the government was considering ordering more careful screening of airline passengers traveling from the outbreak region. The unprecedented Ebola outbreak this year has killed more than 3,400 people in West Africa, and become an escalating concern to the rest of th

North Atlantic  Treaty Organisation, NATO may send troops to Turkey if its security is endangered, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday. Answering a question on the situation in Syria, he said the alliance’s main task is to defend Turkey’s territorial integrity. Stoltenverg said NATO is concerned with the violence outbreak in Syria and the cruelty of the Islamic State (IS) organization. US air strikes on Syria The US armed forces since August 8 have been launching airstrikes on the IS positions in Iraq, and in September spread this operation to Syria’s territory. The US Central Command controls the operation. Along with the United States, the military campaign participants are France, the UK, Belgium, Australia and five Arab states: Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar. The Netherlands and Turkey, in particular, plan to join them. NATO has the coordinating role in this campaign. Washington says these efforts are supported by more than 50 countries and a n

At least 19 people died as a result of artillery strikes on Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, over the past 24 hours, the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk’s People Republic defense ministry’s political department, Eduard Basurin said on Tuesday, reports Tass. Over the 24 hours at least three militias were killed and another 36 fighters were injured, Basurin said. Earlier, the press service of the self-proclaimed Donetsk’s People Republic Interior Ministry said the remains of the bodies of four people were found after artillery strikes between the village of Biryuzovo and the cemetery of the mine 29. A criminal case was launched under the article ‘murder of two or more people’.” Artillery fire hit the Kievsky, Kuibyshevsky and Kalininsky districts, the report states. “Some people were killed at the scene and other people died in ambulances and hospitals,” the press service said. According to the Interior Ministry’s data, a man born in 1941 was wounded from shrapnel when artillery stri

(Nigeria) The Surveyor-General of the Federation, Prof. Peter Nwilo has Bakassi Peninsula, does not belong to Nigeria but to Cameroon. Nwilo made the clarification when he featured as a guest on the News Agency of Nigeria Forum in Abuja on Monday, saying that  based on available facts, the disputed territory actually belonged to Cameroon. Nigeria lost the territory to Cameroon based on a judgment of International Court of Justice in The Hague in October 2002. Nigeria ceded Bakassi to Cameroon on August 14, 2008 following the Greentree Agreement and thus ended the dispute over the 1,000sq/ km territory Some  90 per cent of citizens in the Peninsula  are of the Efik ethnic nationality in Bakassi Local Government Area of Cross River. ``Bakassi was more or less part of what they called Southern Cameroon. ``I know that the available facts did not weigh in favour of Nigeria...the facts they (Cameroon) had at their disposal did not favour Nigeria and that was why we lost it (Bakassi).

Even though it looks like an old story being refreshed for impact, the South African media have published documents confirming the legitimacy of the botched arms deals between Nigeria and the former apartheid enclave.Reports by Rapport and City Press appeared to finally vindicate Federal Government’s official position that the transactions were legitimate as they confirmed that contrary to insinuations, end user certificates and a ‘shopping’ list accompanied the transactions as well as a note from Nigerian government authenticating the deals.According to the reports, documents show that the earlier consignment was approved by the Nigerian government – through the Office of national security adviser which is officially mandated to issue the end-user certificate for such transactions that involved security agencies in Nigeria. An entire “shopping list” was also said to have been supplied with the certificate, which included everything from helicopters to unmanned aircraft, rockets and am

(Nigeria) The All Progressives Congress, APC, has commended the General Overseer of the Redeem Christian Church of God, RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, for dissociating himself and the church from the offensive and divisive audio CD that is being circulated by certain political Pastors. APC in a statement in Lagos on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, noted that by his action, the Adeboye has again exhibited his characteristic exceptional leadership and shown what religion should be about, which is love, rather than hate and incendiary statements. It particularly expressed satisfaction that the GO specifically asked the RCCG Pastors to ignore the contents of the audio CD, especially all the references to political parties, including the APC. ''The GO's statement, in his response to the APC which had written to protest the divisive and corrosive statements contained in the audio CD, which has been smuggled into some RCCG parishes, made it clear

( Nigeria ) The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, said on Sunday that the Ebola Virus disease was brought under control in the country in record time because President Goodluck Jonathan refused to politicise it. The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr Olisa Metuh, who stated this in a statement in Abuja , said President Jonathan took the bull by the horns. PDP was reacting to a statement by the All Progressive Congress, APC, faulting the Jonathan government for taking credit for brining the ebola virus scourge under control in the country.

A hospital technician has died of the Ebola-like Marburg virus in Kampala , the Ugandan government announced on Sunday, reports AFP. The man, aged 30, died in the Mengo hospital where he worked in the capital of the east African country on September 28, 11 days after falling ill, the authorities said. Tests confirmed the presence of the disease two days later.

( Nigeria ) Mr Akinfolarin Feyisola, Director, Code of Conduct Bureau, Ekiti State , has directed Governor Kayode Fayemi to declare his "end of tenure assets" unfailingly before the expiration of his tenure. Feyisola told NAN in Ado-Ekiti on Sunday that the directive also affected the outgoing deputy governor and other political office holders. He said that all the affected public officers had been duly informed.

Lebanon's Shiite movement Hezbollah said Sunday that at least five of its fighters were killed along with "dozens" of gunmen in clashes in the Syria-Lebanon border area. A Hezbollah security official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, confirmed the deaths of five fighters after clashes around the town of Nabi Sbat in eastern Lebanon.

Ebola has arrived in the United States and people are frightened. The nation's top infectious diseases expert said it's perfectly normal to feel anxious about a disease that kills so fast and is ravaging parts of West Africa, reports AP. "People who are scared, I say, we don't take lightly your fear. We respect it. We understand it," Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health said Sunday.

An Egyptian jihadist group released a video Sunday showing the execution of four men, including three being beheaded, accused of spying for the army and for Israel 's Mossad intelligence service, reports AFP. It is the second time such gruesome footage has been released by Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (Partisans of Jerusalem), the deadliest militant group based in Egypt 's insurgency-hit Sinai region.

Hong Kong's pro-democracy activists agreed Sunday to remove some barriers blocking roads and sidewalks ahead of the government's deadline to scale back their protests. But the demonstrators appeared to be divided, and others refused to budge, with only hours to go, reports AP. An alliance of students said it had tried but so far failed to reach agreement with officials on a plan to begin talks on their demands for wider political reforms. The group vowed to continue protests until details of the talks might be worked out.

The site of the crash of Boeing 777 near Ukraine’s Donetsk is not guarded by anyone, and the access to the site is free, reported Tass on Sunday. The aircraft’s debris are scattered at the area of several kilometres near the Grabovo village near Donetsk. The accident site is not fenced off. Among the debris remain books, children’s toys, clothes and documents of passengers.

More than 1,000 Ukrainian troops have been released since the beginning of the ceasefire regime in eastern Ukraine, Vladimir Polevoi, a spokesman for Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, said on Sunday, reports Tass. “Thanks to this truce, combat operations and attacks on our positions stopped,” he told a briefing. However he claimed that cases of the ceasefire regime violations had been reported from the vicinity of the Donetsk airport, near the towns of Debaltsevo (Donetsk region) and Schastye (Lugansk region).

Five contract service soldier were killed and 15 more were injured in a traffic accident in Russia’s southern Rostov region, a spokesman for the Russian defence ministry, said on Sunday, reports Tass. The accident took place early on Sunday. “A MAN truck driven by a civilian driver rammed Ural and UAZ vehicles with servicemen, which were moving in the same direction,” the spokesman said. An investigation is underway.

A man who blew himself up in the Chechen capital city of Grozny on Sunday has been identified, a spokesman for the Russian Interior Ministry, said reports Tass. “The man has been identified as a resident of the Staropromyslovsky district who has been missing since he left home two months ago,” the spokesman said.

More than five weeks after the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, tens of thousands of people whose homes were destroyed or badly damaged in the fighting still live in classrooms, storefronts and other crowded shelters. In some of the hardest-hit areas, the displaced have pitched tents next to the debris that once was their homes, reports AP. Yet despite their pressing needs, reconstruction efforts appear stymied by a continued Israeli-Egyptian border blockade of Gaza and an unresolved power struggle between the Islamic militant group Hamas and Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.