Britain’s Prince Charles, Prime Minister David Cameron, visit Saudi Arabia to offer condolences and meet its new King Salman after the death of his predecessor Abdullah. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).
President Goodluck Jonathan and the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Nigeria has assured Borno State residents that his administration would continue to work towards ending terror attacks in the north-east and reinstating peace in the state.
The state, referred to as ‘Home of Peace and Hospitality’, has become volatile, as members of a terrorist group, the Boko Haram, has made efforts to establish an Islamic State and end western education in the north-east region.
At a presidential campaign rally in Maiduguri on Saturday, organised to seek the peoples support in a re-election bid, President Jonathan said the Military would defeat the dreaded terror group.
Before he began his speech, he ordered the observation of a minute silence in memory of those killed by the dreaded sect members.
President Jonathan expressed regrets over the persistent rain of terror on the peace loving people of Borno State by the Boko Haram sect, saying his administration will surely overcome the reign of terror in the north-east.
“We will surely defeat the terror group, the Boko Haram, so that our peace loving people of the north-east and other troubled states can go about their legitimate business without any molestation.
“We will return Borno to its initial slogan, ‘the Home of Peace and Hospitality’ which has been tampered with by the sect group,” the president said, as he sought the peoples support in an election scheduled to hold on February 14, .
He, however, called for the support for security agents as they do their best to end the acts of terror in the region.
There have been several attacks on communities in the north-east, one of which ended in the the abduction of some school girls in April 2014 from a government girls secondary school in Chibok.
On the over 200 girls abducted by the members of the terrorist …read more
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Police in Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta arrested four men on Saturday suspected of belonging to a militant Islamist network that may have been planning an attack in Spain, the interior ministry said.
Spain has stepped up security as well as efforts to prevent the radicalisation of young Muslim citizens following attacks in Paris this month in which Islamist gunmen killed 17 people.
Confirming the arrests, Spanish Interior Minister, Jorge Fernandez Diaz, told reporters: “They are two pairs of brothers, highly radicalised and highly trained”.
Diaz said there were “many parallels” with the two brothers who attacked the Paris office of the satirical newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, earlier this month, shooting dead 12 people. He did not elaborate.
El Mundo newspaper quoted Diaz as saying that the four detained brothers were of Moroccan origin but held Spanish nationality. In searches carried out alongside the arrests, police found combat gear and knives, Diaz added.
Earlier, the interior ministry released a short statement saying police were investigating whether the four men had been planning an attack in Spain. Authorities in Ceuta, an autonomous Spanish city bordering Morocco, declined to comment.
Sources close to the investigation told El Pais newspaper the probe had started two weeks ago when one of the four posted a video on his Facebook page showing him providing military training and urging others to wage jihad.
Spain is among a number of European countries struggling to deter young Muslim citizens from becoming jihadists in Syria or Iraq, fearing they might return to plot attacks on home soil.
The Spanish cabinet has said it will put forward a plan to counter radicalisation among Muslim citizens at its weekly meeting next Friday.
Spanish and Moroccan police arrested seven people in December in a joint operation to prevent the recruitment of women to go to Syria and Iraq to support Islamic …read more
U.S. President Barack Obama will visit Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to meet its new King Salman after the death of his predecessor Abdullah on Friday, testimony to Riyadh’s important role in energy markets and the fight against Islamist militancy.
Russia’s Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande and Japan’s Crown Prince, Naruhito, will visit on Saturday and Sunday to offer condolences.
Obama will cut short a visit to India to pay his respects instead of Vice President Joe Biden, who had been scheduled to fly in from Washington, the White House said on Saturday.
Muslim leaders paid their respects on Friday at Abdullah’s funeral in Riyadh.
Meanwhile, some international human rights groups, have called on Western leaders to condemn Saudi Arabia’s record of crushing dissent and depriving women and foreign workers of rights instead of praising its late king.
Salman takes charge in Saudi Arabia at a time of deep uncertainty in the kingdom, surrounded by a region in tumult and nervous about both Iranian influence and the spread of Islamist militants.
The kingdom’s role in orchestrating Arab support for joint action with Western countries against the Islamic State group has won praise in Washington, while its role as biggest oil exporter is particularly important at this time of market instability.
Saudi jets have bombed IS targets in Syria, its top clerics have issued repeated denunciations of the militant group despite similarities between its ideology and Wahhabism, and the police have detained thousands of militant suspects in the past decade.
Salman pledged on Friday to maintain the kingdom’s policies and kept most of Abdullah’s cabinet, including the oil, finance and foreign affairs ministers, in place.
Western countries also value the kingdom as an important market for their defense industries and Salman quickly moved to appoint his son Prince Mohammed, 35, as his own …read more
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The Federal Government has announced a new funding policy that will ensure that cotton, textile and garment companies access low interest loans to finance their operations.
At a meeting with stakeholders in the textile sector held in Abuja, the Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, said the plan will help boost growth and development of the sector.
He said that the cotton, textile and garment policy would improve production capacity and competitiveness of players in the sector.
In 2010,the Federal Government introduced a 100 billion Naira funding to revive cotton production and textile companies. The fund is managed by the Bank of Industry and it was aimed at addressing the challenges affecting economic growth in the sub sector.
The cotton, textile and garment policy is expected to create over 1.3 million jobs by 2017.
Major players in the manufacturing sector see the policy as one capable of transforming other sectors of the economy as well.
?They pledged their support towards the realisation of the lofty policy.
Part of the cotton, textile and garment policy is that all military and paramilitary institutions would purchase only made in Nigerian fabrics to boost local patronage.
These and other initiatives are meant to help ensure a ready local patronage for the sub sector.
The post FG Announces Low Interest Loans Policy To Boost Textile Production appeared first on Channels Television.
The disengaged staff of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria(PHCN) have asked the federal government to pay up their benefits or risk the destruction of public properties.
Meanwhile the implementation committee for the payment of Power Holding Company Terminal Benefits says it is set to release a time table for the payment of severance benefits to former staff of the PHCN across the country.
Speaking in Abuja, the Chief of Staff to the Minister of Power, Professor Chidi Onyia said so far, the sum of 372 billion naira has been paid to disengaged staff of the PHCN.
He further refuted claims by some of the ex workers that government has remained insensitive to the plight of disengaged PHCN staff.
A representative from the Ministry of Power says 1,669 people have been cleared for the next phase of payment, adding that they over 372 billion naira has been paid to other disengaged staff of the PHCN.
Many hope that this last batch of 1,669 disengaged staff of the power holding company will be paid before the end of February as promised by government officials in the interest of peace and national development.
The post Ex-Staff of PHCN Ask FG To Pay Benefits or Risk Destruction of Public Properties appeared first on Channels Television.
The disengaged staff of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria(PHCN) have asked the Federal Government to pay up their benefits or risk the destruction of public properties.
Meanwhile, the implementation committee for the payment of Power Holding Company Terminal Benefits says it is set to release a timetable for the payment of severance benefits to former staff of the PHCN across the country.
Speaking in Abuja on Friday, the Chief of Staff to the Minister of Power, Professor Chidi Onyia, said so far, the sum of 372 billion Naira had been paid to disengaged staff of the PHCN.
He further refuted claims by some of the ex workers that government had remained insensitive to the plight of disengaged PHCN staff.
The representative from the Ministry of Power says 1,669 people have been cleared for the next phase of payment. “Over 372 billion Naira has been paid to other disengaged staff of the PHCN,” he said.
Many hope that this last batch of 1,669 disengaged staff of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria will be paid before the end of February as promised by government officials in the interest of peace and national development.
The post Ex-Staff Of PHCN Ask FG To Pay Benefits Or Risk Public Properties Destruction appeared first on Channels Television.
