Saturday, 8 March 2014

Stolen Passports Prompt Terror Concerns in Missing Jet, Officials Say


The officials said that they had found no clear link to terrorism, and that there are other criminal reasons, for example drug smuggling, that stolen passports might be used to board a plane.
But the revelations, hours after the jet disappeared over the South China Sea without sending a distress signal, significantly changed how U.S. officials looked at the disaster. U.S. officials said they were checking into passenger manifests and going back through intelligence.
“We are aware of the reporting on the two stolen passports,” one senior official said. “We have not determined a nexus to terrorism yet, although it’s still very early, and that’s by no means definitive.”
Both passports were stolen in Thailand, sources told NBC News.
An Italian man who had his passport stolen a year ago was on the passenger manifest for the jet, but his father told NBC News on Saturday that he was safe and on vacation in Thailand.
In Austria, the foreign ministry confirmed to NBC News that police had made contact with a citizen who was also on the passenger list, and who reported his passport stolen two years ago while traveling in Asia.
“We believe that the name and passport were used by an unidentified person to board the plane,” a spokesman for the ministry said.

Desperate wait for families in Beijing after jet vanishes

It is unusual for one person to board a plane with a stolen passport and very rare for two to do it, terrorism analysts say.
The Italian on the passenger list was Luigi Maraldi, 37. His father, Walter Maraldi, told NBC News from Cesena, Italy: “Luigi called us early this morning to reassure us he was fine, but we didn’t know about the accident. Thank God he heard about it before us.”
Malaysia has not seen significant terrorist activity, and airport security there has tended to be exemplary.
Asked earlier whether terrorism was suspected in the disappearance of the jet, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said authorities were “looking at all possibilities,” The Associated Press reported.
Earlier in the day, U.S. officials told NBC News that “all we know is something quick and catastrophic” happened to the plane.
The investigation will probably take some time, partly because authorities would have to find wreckage and perform forensics test. A full day after the plane disappeared, there were no signs of the aircraft, although the Vietnamese air force spotted two oil slicks consistent with jet fuel off the coast of Vietnam.
In the crash of TWA Flight 800, in 1996, it took more than a year to rule out terrorism.
Andy Eckardt, Claudio Lavanga, Erin McClam and Michele Neubert of NBC News contributed to this report.

Dear Son, It Was An Honor To Hold You

Dear Son,
I held you on Friday night for the first and last time ever. It was one of the saddest, proudest, most heartbreaking, and beautiful moments of my life. It was an honor to hold you.
I'm proud of you, son. Even though you only made it halfway through the pregnancy, you have left a mark on our family that will last forever. Because of you, I love my wife more than ever. Because of you, I feel a stronger connection with my kids then ever. When I hug them, I feel your presence.
Sadly, I'll always remember the phone call last week from your mom when she told me that we lost you. I was home with your brother and sister, and I was in shock. Your pregnancy seemed to be the smoothest and most healthy one that your mom had ever had. I did my best to comfort her on the phone, and then we grieved together when you both got home. Our kids didn't let us cry too much, though, because they kept requesting snacks, more snacks, and more snacks after that.
Usually Friday is a day that I look forward to, but not last Friday. I never shave on Fridays, but this time I did. This was the only day that I would ever hold you... I had to look my best. When we checked into the hospital at 8 a.m., it was a dark, dreary, and rainy day, just like the feeling in our hearts.
Your mom took medication to start the labor process, and over the next 10 hours, she showed her love and devotion to you as we neared your birth. By the way, your mom is the most incredible and beautiful person I have ever met. I'm so lucky to be with her and call her my wife.
At 8:35 p.m. on Friday, February 28th, you were born. Even though there was no life in your beautiful body, you were full of love, heart, and courage.
Your mom held you, and then it was my turn. I felt both happy and devastated to be holding my second son in the palm of my hands. We cried. We told you about your brother and sister. We visualized you running through open fields somewhere, free, happy, and full of life. We sang to you. After singing the final line of "Silent Night" to you... "Sleep in heavenly peace..." we knew that it was time to say goodbye.
You were with us for way too short of a time, but you will be remembered forever. We named you Scotland Bansley Riles, and your mom and I will bring your ashes with us someday when we travel to Scotland. Usually we don't travel with our kids (they're a little too crazy), but we want to show you the world.
Our precious Scotty... I miss you more than I've ever missed anything. We love you. We will honor you. We will be better parents and people because of you. Thank you.
Love,
Dad
tommy riles baby hands

For anybody that is going through a situation like this, know that you are not alone.
tommy riles older brother
Scotty, that is your older brother, Tommy, blowing out a candle celebrating your life.
This piece was originally posted on Life of Dad.
Follow Tom Riles on Twitter: www.twitter.com/LifeofDadShow 

HuffingtonPost 

Malaysian Boeing 777 Airliner With 239 Passengers On Board Still Missing, But Mishap Certain



The Malaysian Airlines plane conveying 239 people has still not been found, but several experts say a tragedy has occurred someway, after an official of the airline confirmed that the plane was carrying 7.5 hours of fuel as at its disappearance before it disappeared 2:40 am on Friday.
It is now 18 hours since the Beijing-bound plane lost touch with the Malaysia air traffic control in Subang two hours into its take-off from Kuala Lumpur, meaning the aircraft must have run out of fuel at about 10:10 am Chinese time, which is more than 10 hours ago.
Relying on Vietnam’s military, Vietnamese and Chinese state media had initially claimed that the plane crashed off the southern coast of Vietnam but acting Malaysian Minister of Transport, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has described the claim has incorrect, saying: “The CA (Civil Aviation Authority) says that is not true, and our foreign office says it is not true”.
Malaysia Airlines Vice President of Operations Control, Fuad Sharuji told CNN last night that the airline has “no idea where this aircraft is right now”.
The breakdown of nationalities on the plane is as follows: China (includes Taiwan) 154, 38 Malaysian, 5 Indians, 7 Indonesians, 6 Australians, 3 Americans, 4 French nationals, 2 from New Zealand, 2 Ukrainian, 2 Canadians, 1 each from Russia and Italy, Netherlands and Austria.
The United States and Chinese contingents include an infant each. In all the Boeing 777 plane was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members.
China, Vietnam, Singapore, and Malaysia are still conducting search-and-rescue operations south of Tho Chu Island in the South China Sea, using ships, helicopters and military airplanes.
The Boeing 777-200 airliner departed Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 12:41 a.m. and was expected to land in Beijing at 6:30 a.m., a 2,300-mile (3,700km) trip, but it never arrived the mainland before vanishing from the radar.
 Saharareporters

Pride of Africa: Kenya celebrates Lupita Nyong’o's Oscar

Lupita Nyong'o, winner of the award for best actress in a supporting role for "12 Years a Slave", right, and her brother Peter attend the Governors Ball after the Oscars on Sunday, March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/A
Lupita Nyong'o, winner of the award for best actress in a supporting role for "12 Years a Slave", right, and her brother Peter attend the Governors Ball after the Oscars on Sunday, March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/A
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — “You are the pride of Africa,” Kenya’s president exclaimed on Twitter as he celebrated Kenya’s first major Oscar win by actress Lupita Nyong’o.
Nyong’o was the topic of the day on Kenya’s radio and TV stations Monday, the day after her Oscar win for Best Supporting Actress in the movie “12 Years A Slave.”
At a conference at the United Nations headquarters in Nairobi, more than 300 people broke out into applause after Wanjira Maathai — the daughter of the late Kenyan Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai — mentioned her mother and Nyong’o in the same sentence.
“We all had hoped of course that she would win. Everybody feels a sudden attachment to her, she’s a Kenyan woman,” Maathai said in an interview later. “A lot of her work, a lot of her experience in film started in Kenya.”
Nyong’o, 31, was born in Mexico to Kenyan parents but was mostly raised in Kenya. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, Nyong’o had starred in several productions in Kenya before landing her breakout role alongside Brad Pitt.
Nyong’o had been considered a front-runner in a category that included Jennifer Lawrence and Julia Roberts. When her name was called Sunday, she bent over in her seat as the audience erupted.
Just before her win, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta issued a statement saying Nyong’o's accomplishments testify to her talent and the determination to go the extra mile that success demands.
At the end of her Oscar speech, Nyong’o asked that her win remind “every little child that no matter where you’re from your dreams are valid.”
Maathai spoke Monday, which is Wangari Maathai Day in Africa, to honor the Nobel prize winner’s dedication to the environment. She said that like her mother, Nyong’o is another Kenyan who has reached great heights.
“She (Nyong’o) attributes to her success to a lot of other black actresses who made her believe she could be something and that she could make it in film,” Maathai said. “And I think it’s so important to have role models, so important to have people who you can say, ‘Ah, if she made it, maybe I can too.’”
While celebrating the win, Kenyan film critic Ogova Ondego criticized Kenya for not supporting the arts. Nyong’o, whose father is a Kenyan senator, did not get any support from the government while developing her talent, Ondego said.
Kenyatta in Sunday’s statement said the government has made the promotion of arts a key pledge that must be delivered. He said many young Kenyans will have access to funding for artistic projects.
“It is our intention that Lupita becomes the first of an endless line of Oscar nominees and winners from Africa and Kenya,” he said.
David Opondoe, the managing director of Phoenix Players, a Kenya-based theater company where Nyong’o performed earlier in her career, said Nyongo’s success will encourage many in in Kenya to embrace the arts.
“It shows that there is so much talent, only that the opportunities are not there,” he said. “It’s time for parents and government to see that this is not a pastime. It’s something you can do professionally and bring glory.”
More than 1,000 people have auditioned at the Phoenix Players this year, he said, whereas before they had to actively hunt actors for parts. Opondoe said he first saw Nyongo on stage in the play “There Goes The Bride” in 2002, which he also starred in.
“At that time she was viewed as an amateur and she gave us, some of the professionals, a run for our money. She had her lines and was on point and I knew this person is passionate about acting,” he said.
“We are going to celebrate this for a very long time,” Opondoe said.
AP

Look Out, Lupita! Oscar Winner Nyong’o's New Man Is A Former Gang Member With Multiple Past Arrests

 By Melissa Cronin
Lupita Nyong'o leaves the dolby theatre
Lupita Nyong’o was the belle of the ball on Oscar night. But the man who was by her side the morning after — clutching her statuette and comforting her as she prepared to make the rounds of press — isn’t exactly Prince Charming. RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned that the new man by Nyong’o's side, Somali rapper K’Naan, is a former gang member with a history of past arrests!
K’Naan, born Keinan Warsame, was born in Somalia but fled with his family to Canada in the 90s after seeing his young friends killed in the beginning of that country’s civil war. But life in North America would only prove to be more dangerous.
In a tough Toronto neighborhood, K’Naan fell in with a Somali gang.
“We Somalis weren’t treated well because we didn’t know how to dress cool,” he’s explained. “We didn’t have Nike trainers; instead, we had stuff from Walmart and kids would be laughing. There was always conflict there …”
Ultimately, he would be arrested more than a dozen times during his teen years, according to multiple reports, including at least once for violence involving a firearm.
“I learned to fire guns at the age of nine or so,” he’s revealed, “but luckily [I] was not out killing people. We zigzagged the streets to escape those trying to kill us.”
Now a successful rapper — and a devout Muslim who does not drink or smoke — he’s come a long way from the streets of Mogadishu and the ghettoes of Toronto. But he still has sympathy for those back home. K’Naan has drawn criticism in recent years for his stance on Somali pirates like those featured in Captain Phillips: He says they’re “serving a purpose.”
Citing illegal fishing and the dumping of toxic waste off the coast of Somalia, he’s said, “Our pirates were the only deterrent we had from an externally imposed environmental disaster. One man’s pirate is another man’s coast guard.”
Do you think he sounds like a good match for Nyong’o? Let us know in the comments!
Radar

EXCLUSIVE: APC lawmakers set to block Jonathan’s plan to buy new aircraft, renovate villa at N3 billion

 

 

  

Sunset at the National Assembly
Opposition APC proposes reduction in budget allocations totalling N350 bn to fund capital projects.
Nigeria’s main opposition party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, has asked its members in the National Assembly to block a plan by President Goodluck Jonathan to upgrade facilities at the sprawling Aso Rock presidential villa, and purchase a new aircraft into an already bloated presidential air fleet at a huge N3 billion.
The proposals are part of the 2014 budget currently before federal lawmakers.
The APC also proposed a reduction in spending on about 16 items in the budget, to save N350 billion which should be used to raise capital expenditure and create jobs for Nigerians.
These proposals are contained in the party’s 23-page review report on the 2014 budget titled: “Review of the Draft Federal Budget: APC’s Views on the Federal Government Draft Budget,”  exclusively obtained by PREMIUM TIMES.
The 2014 Appropriation Bill, which proposes a total expenditure of N4.62 trillion- a seven percent cut on the 2013 figure of N4.987 trillion- was presented to the National Assembly last December by the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
It is made up of N400bn (2013: N388bn) for statutory transfers; N737bn (2013: N592bn) for debt service; N2.385 trillion (2013: N2.419 trillion) for recurrent non-debt expenditure; and N1.245 trillion (2013: N1.589 trillion) for capital projects.
The opposition party had directed its members in the National Assembly to block the passage of the budget and other executive bills in protest against the manner the federal government was handling the political crisis in Rivers State.
The APC, however, said the objective of the review of the document was to guide its members in the National Assembly, who, with cooperation from their like-minded colleagues in the legislature “can restructure and improve the content of the 2014 budget to serve the people of Nigeria, and not the select few that will capture it as currently proposed.”
In the report, the opposition party said the purchase of another aircraft, which would bring the number of aircraft in the presidential fleet to 11 and which would cost the nation N1.5bn; the upgrade of Presidential Villa facilities (N1.5bn) and the construction of a VIP wing at State House Clinic at N0.75bn, all proposed by the federal government, were unnecessary.
The APC also demanded the reduction by N4 billion the cost of the proposed National Conference for which N7 billion was proposed by the government. The party, which had opposed the convocation of the conference, said the provision was excessive because it might achieve nothing.
It further noted that the N7bn was more than what the average federal university gets in one year and about the same as the N8bn budgeted for “National Job Creation Scheme.”
“Reduce the provision for the National Dialogue to N3bn and save N4bn for the capital budget. The provision is excessive. The National Political Reform Conference of 2005 cost N945 million and likely to lead to the same conclusion,” the party said in the report.
Other recommendations made by the opposition party are as follows:-
-Reduce travel budget by 75% and training budget by 50% and save N30bn;
-Reduce security votes in MDAs by 50% and eliminate them in all, but needy ones and save at least N20bn;
-Reduce some of the non-essential recurrent spending listed above and save at least N5bn;
-Reduce the constituency projects’ provision to the 2013 level of N50bn, thus saving N50bn;
-Delete all provision for outsourced services, all administrative charges, and running and ‘verification costs’ for all pensions as they were all provided for in the 2013 budget. This will save about N11bn.
-Deleting all provisions in MDA budgets for contributions to local, state and international organizations, which have been partly duplicated in the service-wide vote. This will save about N3bn;
-Reduce overall provision for monitoring and evaluation in the entire budget by 75% and save N9bn for utilization on other capital expenditure;
-Apply an across-the-board reduction of 75% on all ‘research and development’ budget items and transfer the estimated savings of N35bn to other capital projects;
-Roll up the following wasteful or ambiguous line items from the service-wide vote; national job creation scheme – N8bn, special intervention – N62.8bn, and sinking fund for infrastructural development – N30bn, and transfer the total of N100.8bn to other capital projects;
-Reduce the provision of N14bn for acquisition of computer software and N14bn for motor vehicles in the 2014 by 75% and transfer N20bn to other job-creating capital projects.
-Eliminate the duplications and “cut-and-paste” items in the budget; for instance provisions for kitting of youth corps members in virtually every MDA budget, indefensible grants and the like, and transfer these to the capital budget -estimated savings of N2bn;
-Removal of N16bn proposed for a brand new ‘wholesale’ development finance institution instead of restructuring the Bank of Industry and N2bn government contribution to the newly-established Mortgage Refinance Company be taken off the service-wide vote and transferred to the capital development fund;
The APC said the N350 billion that would be save from the reduction in some allocations and deletion of others could be channelled into the mass construction of houses in the states, rehabilitation of major roads, construction of police and military barracks and funding of agriculture and power sectors.
“From the foregoing items alone, over N350bn can be freed to be spent on more job-creating capital projects like the construction of 2,000 housing units in each state of the federation plus the FCT (either by the FHA or grants-in-aid to the various State Housing Corporations to do so) at the cost of N90bn; enhanced funding of key roads and bridge projects like the East-West Road, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, New Niger bridge, Onitsha-Enugu Expressway and Abuja-Lokoja Road that have consistently suffered from inadequate funding – N100bn,” the party said.
“More funding for the construction of Police and Military Barracks all over the country, and the rehabilitation of existing ones at the cost of N30bn; better funding of the agricultural and SME sectors with the sum of N50bn; increase the North-East Intervention Fund to N11bn with an expected contribution of N33bn from multilateral and bilateral donor agencies; increase funding for power supply by earmarking N30bn for gas infrastructure and N30bn for the transmission company to complete ongoing projects.”
The party also stated in the report that the adjustments would raise the budgetary allocation to capital expenditure by 4.7% to 31.6%, adding however it would still remain too low, relative to what was required to meet the stated objectives of this budget.
The party said there was a limited link between the budget and Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF. Noting that the MTEF for the 2014 proposed a benchmark price of $74, which was revised upwards by the National Assembly on the insistence of its members to $77.50 per barrel, the APC said it was still too low and needed to be adjusted back to $79 during the appropriation process.
It stated that on the basis of price adjustment, an additional N173 billion goes into the federation account as crude oil sales and federally collectible revenues rose to N10.692 trillion while gross federation account inflows increased to N10.276 trillion.
It listed the “hidden” deductions as Joint Venture Cash Calls (N858, 588bn), Gas Infrastructure and Development (N304.541bn), Oil Pre-Shipment Agency Expenses N3.200bn), Frontier Exploration Services (N16.000bn) and Fuel Subsidy Payments (NNPC/Marketers) (971.138bn).
The APC said, “These deductions amount to over N2 trillion from revenues accruing to states and local government. These deductions are decided unilaterally by the federal government without any consultations, transparency or rigorous debate.  It is also noteworthy that these sums deducted do not get transferred into the federation account as required by the Constitution.”
On special funds, the APC said the special funds to be held in trust by the federal government in 2014 for the entire nation needed to be transparently budgeted, accounted for and audited regularly. The special funds, which total N190.800bn, listed are Ecology and Derivation (60bn), Statutory Stabilization (N30bn), Natural Resources Development (N100.800bn).
The APC also criticized the allocation of N66 billion to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to conduct the 2015 general elections. The party said the cost of the exercise could be significantly reduced if all the elections were held in one day instead of two days, February 14 and 28, 2015, proposed by the Commission for the presidential, National Assembly, governorship and State Assembly elections. 
The APC also faulted the allocation of “a paltry N102bn” to the power sector while the Agriculture ministry fell by nearly 20% from N83bn in 2013 to N67bn in 2014.
It criticized the N240bn budgeted for the Niger Delta Ministry, associated agencies and programmes, saying it was twice the allocation for electric power and more than the budgets of the ministries of works, transport (including SURE-P) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
The party argued that even if the allocation to the Niger Delta-focused agencies were justifiable, the outputs and outcomes of similar allocations in past years “leave much to be desired on account of pervasive corruption and lack of implementation capacity in the benefitting Ministries, Department and Agencies, MDA.” 
On regional considerations, the APC regretted that the entire North East zone, which is the hotbed of the Boko Haram insurgency, received a “pathetic” N2bn to address the devastation in the six states making up the zone.
“This meagre budgetary proposal may have to do more with the dominance of the opposition in the zone than an assessment of real need,” the party, which controls three of the six states, alleged.
The party faulted the allocation of N39bn for Research and Development, which it said “does not make sense in many MDAs that have little or no R&D focus.”
The APC faulted the allocation of N14bn for the acquisition of computer software and another N14bn for the acquisition of motor vehicles, saying it was too large an amount in a federal government that had monetized the acquisition of vehicles since 2004. 
The APC added, “In summary, an overview of the budget proposals clearly shows an attempt at spreading expenditure items in various parts of the budget to mask the administration’s real priorities as against, and in contradiction to, the stated objectives of the appropriation bill.
“Furthermore, the critical areas earlier identified that need enhanced public funding to generate inclusive growth with jobs have received much lower allocations than expected. The budget contains many classification errors, typos and duplication of items or line items that are clearly not needed. These need to be corrected by the National Assembly.
“Many line items in the recurrent and capital budgets were simply cut and paste from the budget of 2013, complete with descriptions, amounts and even typographical errors. MDAs simply felt the need to allocate amounts large enough to exhaust their respective fiscal envelope for the year without any regard for public purpose or real needs. Perhaps a movement from the envelope system to a zero-based budgeting system is what is needed to impose some fiscal and hard budget constraints on federal MDAs.
“The Jonathan administration has predictably made no statements about fighting corruption in the 2014 budget. The levels of allocation to MDAs with publicly-acknowledged corruption challenges (e.g. the Ministry of Aviation and agencies), while the anti-corruption agencies are hardly getting by in this budget says it all. We will now look at specific areas that the legislature will need to focus on to ensure the 2014 Budget works for all Nigerians.”
PremiumTimes

Breaking News: U.S. freezes $458Million hidden by Nigerian ex-leader, Calls It Largest Embezzlement ever


The Justice Department is moving to seize more than half a billion dollars of allegedly corrupt proceeds from former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha and his associates, in what officials called the largest such action in U.S. history.
In a court filing unsealed Wednesday in federal court in Washington, D.C., government lawyers said the U.S. has already frozen more than $458 million in bank accounts around the world, and seeks to recover at least $100 million more.
The seizure is part of a kleptocracy initiative, aimed at recovering money that was looted by dictators from their own countries.
“General Abacha was one of the most notorious kleptocrats in memory, who embezzled billions from the people of Nigeria while millions lived in poverty,” said Mythili Raman, head of the Justice Department’s criminal division.
The U.S. government has moved to freeze $313 million in accounts in the Bailiwick of Jersey and $145 million in accounts in France. There are also investment portfolios and bank accounts in the United Kingdom worth at least $100 million that the U.S. has targeted, the official said.
Gen. Abacha became president of Nigeria in a military coup in 1993 and ran the country until his death in 1998. U.S. authorities charge that Gen. Abacha, his son Mohammed Sani Abacha, their associate Abubakar Atiku Bagudu and others embezzled or misappropriated billions of dollars from the government of Nigeria and others, and laundered the money by buying bonds backed by the United States using U.S. financial institutions.
Under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, the Justice Department seeks to seize the proceeds of foreign officials’ corruption and return the money to the harmed countries.

NaijaSharpNews