Rex Tillerson confirmed as US secretary of state…Read full details

(FILES) This file photo taken on January 17, 2017 shows former ExxonMobil executive Rex Tillerson, US President-elect Donald Trump's pick for US Secretary off State, attending the Chairman's Global Dinner a black-tie, invitation-only dinner aimed at introducing foreign diplomats to the team tasked with implementing the "America First" policies of the next administration, in Washington, DC. The US Senate on Feberuary 1, 2017 confirmed Tillerson as US secretary of state.<br />JIM WATSON / AFP

The US Senate confirmed former ExxonMobil chief Rex Tillerson as the next secretary of state Wednesday, handing a major boost to President Donald Trump as he builds his cabinet.

Tillerson was confirmed by a vote of 56 to 43, with four Democrats ultimately joining all 52 Republicans voting in favor.

Trump has repeatedly blasted Democrats for dragging out the confirmation process, and took to Twitter late Monday to accuse them of “delaying my cabinet picks for purely political reasons.”

Tillerson, 64, had come in for severe criticism from Democrats who warned that his business approach and lack of government experience would hurt America’s standing in the world.

But Republicans rallied around the nominee, after initial hesitation by Senators John McCain, Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham about Tillerson’s ties with Russia and his position on human rights.

“Mr Tillerson led a global enterprise with 75,000 employees, possesses deep relationships around the world, and understands the critical role of US leadership,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker said in a statement.

“He has expressed a commitment to defend American values and to restore US credibility by strengthening old alliances and building new ones.”

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin backed Tillerson, saying he will bring a “unique perspective to the State Department” and provide “wise counsel and objective advice to the president on our nation’s foreign policy.”

With Tillerson’s confirmation and pending swearing-in, Trump will have several key members of his national security team in place, including Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, CIA Director Mike Pompeo and US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.

Army kills 6 terrorists, lost 3 soldiers, 5 wounded (Read full details)

Nigerian Army on Wednesday said it has neutralised six terrorists, but lost three soldiers during an encounter between its troops and Boko Haram insurgents at Damboa Local Area of Borno.

The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Sani Usman, who made this known in a statement in Abuja, said that apart from the three soldiers who died, five others were wounded.

Usman said that the troops of 25 Task Force Brigade, 7 Division Nigerian Army, encountered the fleeing terrorists at Dulsa and Bukin Local Government Areas.

According to him, during the encounter in a clearance operations on Wednesday, the troops recovered armoured fighting vehicle, trucks, arms and ammunition.

“At Dulsa this morning, the troops cleared the hideout of the terrorists during which they neutralised 6 Boko Haram terrorists, recovered one light machine gun, two rocket propelled grenade tubes and one extra Anti-Aircraft gun barrel.

“The troops also encountered Boko Haram terrorists’ camp at Buk where they were engaged by the terrorists.

“During the encounter, the troops neutralised large number of the Boko Haram terrorists and wounded several others. They also made an unprecedented recovery.

“The items recovered include: nine AK-47 rifles, three Fabrique Nationale rifles, two Rocket Propelled Grenade Bombs, one Mortar Tube, one Shilka, one Gun truck mounted with Anti-Aircraft Gun and two Hilux vehicles.

“Similarly, one Mine-Resistant, Ambush-Protected – MRAP vehicle belonging to the Brigade was badly damaged,” he said.

British MPs approve first stage of Brexit bill…Read full details

British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing street for the weekly Prime Minister's Questions session at the House of Commons in central London on February 1, 2017. British MPs are expected today to approve the first stage of a bill empowering Prime Minister Theresa May to start pulling Britain out of the European Union.<br />Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP

British MPs on Wednesday approved the first stage of a bill empowering Prime Minister Theresa May to start pulling Britain out of the European Union.

MPs approved the bill, which would allow the government to trigger Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty and formally begin two years of exit negotiations, by a margin of 498 to 114. It was the first Brexit-related vote in the House of Commons, with a second and final vote in the lower house set for next week.

The opposition Labour party ordered MPs not block the bill, but dozens rebelled. May is under intense pressure to push the bill through quickly, having promised EU leaders she would trigger Article 50 by the end of March.

She told MPs she would publish a long-awaited Brexit strategy paper on Thursday, opening it to parliamentary scrutiny while the Article 50 legislation makes its way through parliament.

“It will reflect the government’s plan for Brexit,” May’s spokeswoman told reporters.

The government had sought to exclude parliament, insisting it had the power to trigger Article 50 on its own, but the Supreme Court last week ruled it must consult lawmakers.

Most MPs campaigned to stay in the EU ahead of last June’s referendum, but as debate on the bill began Tuesday, many said they would accept the result, however reluctantly.

The bill could be delayed in the upper House of Lords, where May’s Conservative Party does not have a majority — and where the unelected peers have no fear of a public backlash.

– ‘Remainers’ divided –
A new survey revealed that MPs who campaigned to leave the EU are relatively united in what they want — whereas those who were on the other side have more diverse views.

Some 72 percent of Leavers favour controlling immigration or not paying into the EU budget over retaining access to Europe’s single market. This reflects May’s own position.

She has said she wants to end the free movement into Britain of people from the EU, a demand she acknowledges is incompatible with maintaining membership of the single market.

“Remainers are much more divided over what to prioritise — which may well make them less able to shape the debate,” said Anand Menon, director of the UK in a Changing Europe research programme.

The vast majority of Leavers (86 percent) also believe Britain will be able to make up for any loss in trade with the EU through other deals, whereas 71 percent of Remainers believe it cannot.

But Britain’s former ambassador to the EU on Wednesday warned that the bloc would likely take a “hard line”, demanding an exit bill of 40-60 billion euros ($43-$64.5 billion) as part of drawn out negotiations.

“This is a humongous negotiation and project,” Ivan Rogers told MPs. “I think it will take years to get to the other side of it.”

In a speech on Tuesday, Ken Clarke, who may be the only Conservative MP to vote against the Brexit bill, accused Leavers of pursuing a fantasy “wonderland”.

At just 143 words, the “European Union Notification of Withdrawal Bill” has been tightly drafted, making it difficult to amend either to delay the government’s plans or to tie its hands in the talks.

But May’s opponents are still trying, and dozens of amendments are scheduled for debate over three days in the House of Commons which begins on Monday. The bill will then move to the Lords for debate from February 20, with the government hoping for their approval by March 7.

No women’s Zika vaccine likely before 2020…Read full details

(FILES) This file photo taken on May 7, 2016 shows a mosquito in Mexico City.<br />Tens of thousands of babies may be born with debilitating Zika-related disorders in the course of the outbreak sweeping through Latin America and the Caribbean, researchers said on July 25, 2016. Mathematical projections suggest about 93.4 million people may catch the virus — including some 1.65 million pregnant women — before the epidemic fizzles out, a team reported in the journal Nature Microbiology. Eighty percent of people will develop mild symptoms or never even be aware they have the virus. / AFP PHOTO / YURI CORTEZ

About forty potential vaccines for the Zika virus are being tested, but none are likely to be available for women of childbearing age before 2020, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.

WHO director Margaret Chan said the virus, linked to deformations in babies’ heads and brains, remained “firmly entrenched” in large parts of the world.

Although progress toward effective prevention has been made, with some drugs now in clinical trials, “a vaccine judged safe enough for use in women of childbearing age may not be fully licensed before 2020,” Chan said.

The agency declared in November that Zika was no longer a public health emergency, though Chan said Wednesday that the WHO was setting up a new support programme for countries around the world.

The outbreak, which emerged in Brazil in 2015, has affected some 70 countries.

While Zika, spread by infected mosquitoes as well as by sexual contact, causes only mild symptoms in most people, pregnant women with the virus risk giving birth to babies with microcephaly, a crippling deformation that leads to abnormally small brains and heads.

In June, the WHO said $122 million (113 million euros) was needed to fund an 18-month plan to fight infections of women of childbearing age.

Anti-austerity protest turns violent in Rio de Janeiro…Read full details

Civil servants protesting against austerity measures in front of the Rio de Janeiro State Legislative Assembly clash with riot police, in Rio de Janeiro, brazil, on February 1, 2017.<br />VANDERLEI ALMEIDA / AFP

Brazilian riot police used tear gas and stun grenades in Rio de Janeiro Wednesday to break up a protest against austerity measures aimed at rescuing the state from near bankruptcy.

The center of the city that less than half a year ago was hosting the Olympic Games turned into a battlefield at lunch hour.

Police in gas masks fired waves of gas into crowds of hundreds of people attempting to gather outside the state legislature. People ran from stun grenades that flashed and boomed repeatedly.

Most protesters were peaceful, but television footage showed a group trying to break through barriers protecting the state assembly, where deputies were considering austerity measures.

As police chased protesters, the usually busy avenues around the assembly emptied of traffic. Nervous shopkeepers pulled down metal shutters and went home.

Protesters included police officers who haven’t been paid fully for months, sanitation workers, pensioners and staff from the state court system.

They demanded payment of late salaries and the scrapping of austerity measures under consideration in the state assembly, which is confronting nearly empty coffers.

The measures include raising from 11 to 14 percent the pension withholdings from state employees, workforce cuts, and privatization of the Cedae sanitation utility.

“We haven’t received our overtime pay since July since the Olympic Games,” said one striking police officer, who would only give her first name, Leticia.

“We’re still waiting for our last salary for last year and we haven’t received our salaries for January, when it’s now February,” she said angrily.

“We haven’t received overtime pay since July — including the work we did during the Olympics.”

Violence spread, with gangs of youths wearing scarves over their faces setting fire to garbage cans, smashing up a bus, and attempting to attack police, who responded with barrages of stun grenades and smoke bombs until late afternoon.

FG inaugurates task force on rising cost of food items (Read full details)

A food market in Lagos, Nigeria.

The Federal Government has approved the setting up of a Task Force to address the rising cost of food items across the country.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed stated this while briefing State House correspondents along side with Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun and Minister of State for Aviation Hadi Sirika.

The meeting, which was held at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, was presided over by the acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.

According to him, the government is concerned about the exorbitant prices of the food items and is determined to do something urgently to reverse the trend. He stated that members of the task force were the ministers of agriculture, finance, water resources, transportation.

“The major highlight council resolved to set up task force on food security. Government is quite concerned about the rising cost of food items and the fact that more often than not even when these products are available, if it does reach the market, they are sold at very exorbitant prices.

“So, the government has set up task force on food security to ensure that an end is put to the wastage that occur and with tons and tons of produce sitting down in the farms rotting or in the markets getting rotting.

Mohammed said the task force, which was given one week to submit its interim report, would suggest areas of intervention by the government.

He maintained that the intervention could be in the area of subsidy in transportation.

This is being worked out but this goes to show that government is very much concerned about the rising cost of food price and we are responding to it.

“The committee, hopefully, is expected to report back to council next week and concrete actions would be taken.

In his contribution, the Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, disclosed that the council approved the procurement of 10 new coaches to boost rail transportation on the Abuja Kaduna standard gauge railway.

He expressed the hope that the new coaches would enhance transportation of passengers and goods following the impending closure of the Abuja airport.
The minister announced that the council also approved the construction of joint briefing offices in all 21 Federal Government’s airports across the country.

“The joint briefing offices will include the air automation and will co-locate the track-up projects, the total radar coverage, the air automation system, which include the air automation system and the pilot briefing offices.’’

OMG! Commotion as Man Publicly Beats Up Police Officer in Lagos

A driver who pleaded guilty to beating a police officer, has been remanded at the Kirikiri Prisons by an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

Vanguard reports that Magistrate A.A Adesanya remanded Bamidele Olowokere, 36, who was charged with conspiracy, breach of peace and assault.

Adesanya adjourned the case till Feb. 25 for review of facts of the case and sentencing of the resident of Agege, Lagos.

According to the prosecutor, Insp. George Nwosu, the accused and others still at large conspired to assault DSP Saibu Braimoh on Jan.19 on Capitol Road, Agege.

“The accused and others beat up the police officer while he was performing his lawful duty,” he said.

Nwosu said that Braimoh was on surveillance patrol when he was assaulted by the accused and the others.

He said that the officer noticed heavy traffic and boarded a motorcycle to go and clear any obstruction, but was beaten as soon as he alighted from the motorcycle.

“As he alighted from the motorcycle, the accused and others came out from nowhere and started beating him, and injured him all over his body,’’ he submitted.

He noted that the offences contravened Sections 166, 171 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

Reportedly, the accused may be jailed for three years if found guilty.

FG to begin skills acquisition training in 18 states (Read full details)

Skills acquisition

The Federal Government says it will begin skill acquisition training in 18 states across the six-political zone of the federation in March.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige, made this known in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.

Ngige had led a team from his ministry and the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) on an inspection tour of facilities in Lagos for the effective take off of various training programmes.

He said that Lagos and the Abuja Federal Capital would be a strategic pivot for the first phase of the training programme. “Federal Government is worried over the rate of unemployment in the country and is already tackling it from different fronts. “Recall that job creation is one of the cardinal programmes of the present administration.

“Reckon also that the Federal Government has been undaunted by severe challenges occasioned by economic recession in rescuing millions from the ugly spectra of youth unemployment bracket. “This is one of the programmes through which government intends to create jobs.

“Our decision to make blue collar jobs prominent in our multi-pronged job creation activities is informed by the limiting opportunities of white collar job against the elastic potentials offered by blue collar skills.

“We are therefore here to inspect facilities for effective take off of training programes, ‘’he said. The minister said that 50, 000 youths would be captured in the first phase of the training. He added that coaching consumables and other logistics for a smooth and successful session would be provided by the government.

Ngige inspected the different sections of the facility, such as the auto-mechanic and electrical sections, carpentry and joinery, building construction unit, welding and metal fabrication units.

He also visited the NDE state office in Lagos, where he charged staff members to cooperate with the Federal Government towards job creation by rededicating themselves to their responsibilities.

Other areas visited by the minister included the Government Technical College, Ikeja and Samsung Engineering Academy, where trainees are taken through the repair of electronics such as fridges, air-conditioning sets, GSM telephones among others.

He pledged the readiness of the Federal Government to partner with reputable private organisations in its skills acquisition training programmes.

Tens of thousands of Yemenis trapped in Red Sea fighting…Read full details

Yemenis search under the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa on February 1, 2017.<br />Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP

Fighting between Yemeni government forces and rebels has trapped tens of thousands of civilians in and around the port town of Mokha, where over 30 fighters were killed Wednesday, residents and the UN said.

“We fear the (Shiite) Huthi (rebel) snipers who have taken up positions on rooftops but also the firing from the other (government) side,” said Majed Mukaibar, a 32-year-old fisherman and father in the Red Sea town of southwest Yemen.

Ibrahim Saleh, a tradesman who works in southern Yemen’s main city of Aden, told AFP that he has been trying since last week to evacuate his family from Mokha but has been thwarted by incessant gunfire.

The UN humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick, said in a statement released Tuesday that he was “extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of civilians” in Mokha and nearby Dhubab.

“Information from the field indicates that military operations in the coastal region have forced most residents of Dhubab to flee the area,” he said.

McGoldrick said “an estimated 20,000-30,000 people, almost one third of the population, are trapped in the town (of Mokha) and require immediate protection and relief assistance”.

Constant air strikes, shelling and sniper fire around the town had “killed and injured scores of civilians and have ground most services to a halt”, including water supplies.

The UN official appealed for a halt to fighting “to facilitate the delivery of assistance to Mokha and enable the free movement of civilians”.

Military and medical sources said 25 rebels and six soldiers on the government side, which is being supported by a Saudi-led Arab coalition, were killed in the latest clashes on Wednesday for control of Mokha.

Forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi have been battling on three fronts but so far failed to penetrate the centre of Mokha, according to residents and military sources.

Before government forces launched a major offensive on January 7, Huthi rebels controlled virtually all of Yemen’s 450-kilometre (280-mile) Red Sea coastline.

Soldiers have since thrust north from the Bab al-Mandab strait where the Red Sea joins the Indian Ocean, overrunning Dhubab district and entering the historic port of Mokha in their biggest advance in months.

Conflict in Yemen escalated in March 2015 when the Saudi-led coalition launched air raids against the Huthi rebels, who had taken over the capital and seized swathes of the country’s centre and north.

The war has cost more than 7,400 lives in the past two years, according to the UN’s World Health Organisation.

Ms Cosmo – Connect ft. Nasty C, Kwesta & Rouge [Mp3 + Lyrics]

FAKAZA and UZOMEDIA presents Ms Cosmo as she make he debute with Connect featuring 3 of South Africa’s most talented rappers,

Connect features Nasty C, Kwesta and female rapper Rouge. The banger is also produced by hit maker Gemini Major.

Download and enjoy the sound below…

DOWNLOAD

WATCH/DOWNLOAD VIDEO: Babes Wodumo – Family ft. Cassper Nyovest & Mampintsha

Babes Wodumo has released the music video for Family, the third single off her debut album Gqom Queen Volume 1. Family features her frequent collaborator Mampintsha and Family Tree chief Cassper Nyovest.

The music video was shot in her home town Lamontville in KZN.

Download and enjoy below…

DOWNLOAD

WATCH VIDEO: DJ Radix – 25 To Life ft. Kimosabe, JR

DJ Radix unlocks the music video for his 2016 single 25 To Life, a dancehall influenced rap single featuring Kimosabe and JR.

The colorful music video is put together by Studio Space Pictures. Watch and enjoy below…

The Biography Of Daddy Showkey [Age, Life Profile & Net Worth]

John Asiemo popularly knwon as Daddy Showkey, is a veteran Nigerian-born gala singer. He was popular in Ajegunle in the late 1990s. He was born as John Asiemo but is known as Daddy Showkey all over the Ghetto. daddy showkey is one of the best Nigeria gala musician in the late 90s and he’s know as one of the founding fathers of a dance called garala which all Nigerians once loved and cherish.

• An Uzomedia Biography

UN chief calls for lifting US travel ban…Read full details

President of Rwanda Paul Kagame (L) speaks with Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, as they gather for the family photograph during the 28th African Union summit in Addis Ababa on January 30, 2017. African Union leaders meet in Ethiopia on January 30 for a difficult summit likely to expose regional divisions as they debate whether to allow Morocco to rejoin the bloc, and vote for a new chairperson.<br />ZACHARIAS ABUBEKER / AFP

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called for lifting a US ban on travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries, saying the measures would not prevent terrorists from entering the United States. “I think that these measures should be removed sooner rather than later,” Guterres told reporters.

“Those measures indeed violate our basic principles and I think that they are not effective if the objective is to, really, avoid terrorists to enter the United States,” he said.

The appeal to end the travel ban came amid a mounting international outcry over the 90-day entry restrictions on citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday enacting the immediate ban and also suspending the arrival of all refugees for a minimum of 120 days while Syrian refugees were barred indefinitely.

Addressing the US suspension of refugee resettlement and the ban on Syrians, Guterres again appealed to the US administration to reverse course.

“Resettlement is the must from the point of view of refugee protection,” said Guterres, who served as UN refugee chief for 10 years before his election as secretary-general.

“I strongly hope that the US will be able to re-establish its very solid refugee protection in resettlement and I hope that the Syrians will not be excluded in that process.”

Trump’s decision triggered protests and chaos at airports while UN human rights chief Zeid bin Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein declared it illegal and “mean-spirited.”

Guterres, who took over from South Korea’s Ban Ki-moon on January 1, argued that banning citizens from Muslim countries would not prevent terrorist organizations from mounting an attack on the United States.

“We are dealing with very sophisticated terrorist organizations,” he said.

“If a global terrorist organization will try to attack any country like the United States, they will probably not come with people with passports from those countries that are hotspots of conflicts today.”

“They might come with the passports from the most — I would say — developed and credible countries in the world or they might use people who are already in the country.”

“Shame to bad people…Together we stand” – Daddy Showkey Declares as He Reconciles Harrysong & KCee (Photo)

Recall that popular Nigerian singer, Harry Tare Okri, widely known as Harrysong was over the past weekend, arrested by KCee and his brother, E-money’s Five Star Music over charges of fraud and breach of contract.

The record label had in a statement disclosed why they are taking legal actions against Harrysong and also advised the general public to desist from transacting any business with him, as same is both illegal and a total breach of his existing contract.

We revealed earlier today in an exclusive new report that the battle between Harrysong and his estranged record label, escalated into a full blown war as the singer was re-arrested and even had to spend the night in Police detention in Lagos.

According to a new post made on Instagram by legendary raggae musician, Daddy Showkey, it seems peace has been restored as the two artists, KCee and Harrysong, have reportedly reconciled and even posed for a photograph.

Daddy Showkey posted the photo with the caption, “Shame to bad people…Together we stand.”

Andy Uba dumps PDP, defects to APC (Read full details)

Andy Uba

Sen. Andy Uba, representing Anambra South Senatorial zone under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Uba disclosed this at a news briefing on Wednesday in his home country, Uga, Aguata Local Government Area of the state. The lawmaker said that he joined the APC at the ongoing registration of party members in the state.

According to him, APC has ideology and focus which he needed to tap into to provide quality representation to his constituents. Uba further said that he joined the APC because of other personalities in the party with sound ideas and whom he looked up to in politics.

He listed some of the personalities to include the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige, and APC National Auditor, Chief George Muoghalu. Uba stressed that with such caliber of people, the party would take the state to enviable heights.

The senator said he would be very effective in serving the yearnings of his people more now that he was in APC and urged other Igbo politicians to join the bandwagon. The registration of senator Uba had doused speculations of his defection to APC which had been on for many weeks in the state.

These Educative, Entertaining And Inspirational Pictures Will Blow Your Mind – 77

These are just pictures but they tell stories that will either Educate, Entertain or Motivate you…