Australia hit by heavy flood

Flood-ravaged the east coast of Australia, after torrential rains and swollen rivers damaged thousands of homes and businesses and left some communities short of power, food and water.

The death toll from the crisis continues to rise when police discovered a man's body in a car submerged in a creek. Another man who vanished while travelling through the same area this week was still missing.

Floodwaters were receding in most places, bringing relief to a region that was battered by worse floods just two years ago. But there were concerns about food and water shortages in some communities and thousands were without power.

An aerial view shows rising floodwaters in Bundaberg on January 29.

Water engulfs houses

A man comforts his daughter on the roof of their flooded house in Bundaberg

Flooding in the east coast of Australia

About 120 soldiers were deployed to the hardest hit city, Bundaberg in Queensland, 240 miles north of Brisbane. The flooding, caused by the remnants of a tropical cyclone, forced some 7,500 residents from their homes, inundated 2,000 houses and 200 businesses with murky water and prompted helicopter evacuations of 1,000 people.

Clean-up begins 

As the clean-up began on Wednesday, some residents complained about dwindling food supplies. "People were almost coming to blows this morning at the local shop fighting over bread rolls," said Chris Pasky of Moore Park, just outside Bundaberg. "We've got a baby in the house we can't feed. We've just been forgotten."

Tourists and local residents take shelter at an evacuation center in Bundaberg, Queensland

In Brisbane residents were warned to conserve water after muddy floodwaters put pressure on the city's water treatment plants. The Queensland premier, Campbell Newman, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation stocks of bottled water were ready to be distributed to residents if reservoirs ran dry.

In other areas officials scrambled to deliver supplies to residents still cut off by the slowly receding waters.

"We're discovering people who are isolated, without power, without water, and we're going to be getting some longlife milk and bread supplies in through four-wheel drive later today," said Pam Parker, mayor of Logan City, south of Brisbane.

In a waterlogged area of Queensland police have spent days searching for two men, aged 25 and 34, who disappeared as they travelled separately to work on Sunday near Gatton, about 55 miles west of Brisbane. Officers said they believed the body found on Wednesday was that of the 34-year-old, though formal identification was pending.

The hunt was continuing for the younger man, whose car was found on Tuesday in the same creek where the body was recovered.

Queensland residents suffered the worst flooding Australia had seen in decades in late 2010 and early 2011, when floodwaters killed 35 people, damaged or destroyed 30,000 homes and businesses and left Brisbane under water for days.

Australia has endured a summer of weather extremes, with blistering temperatures and dry conditions igniting hundreds of wildfires across the southern half of the country.

A man checks out flood damage to houses in Bundaberg, Australia, on Tuesday, January 29, in the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Oswald. Torrential rains have sparked severe floods in southern Queensland along Australia's eastern coast.

Hillary Clinton ‘not inclined’ to run for president in 2016

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Tuesday that she’s “not inclined” to run for president in 2016 but left the door open for what is widely considered her likely return to politics after she steps down as secretary of state.

“I’m not thinking about anything like that right now,” Clinton smilingly told a questioner. “I am looking forward to finishing up my tenure as secretary of state and then catching up on about 20 years of sleep deprivation.

Clinton, who steps down Friday as one of the best-known secretaries of state, is also among the world’s most admired women and the object of intense speculation about her future.

In a wide-ranging online question-and-answer session with students from around the world at the Newseum in Washington, Clinton said she will write a memoir and work on causes dear to her.

That includes the cause of women in politics, she said, even as she sidestepped a question posed by a young woman in London about whether she will reprise her 2008 run for the Democratic nomination for president.

“I do want to see more women compete for the highest positions in their countries,” Clinton said.

“I will do what I can, whether or not it is up to me to make a decision on my own future — I right now am not inclined to do that — but I will do everything I can to make sure that women compete at the highest levels not only in the United States, but around the world.”

Plenty of people are eager to see her run. A super PAC supporting Clinton for president in 2016, Ready for Hillary, was registered with the Federal Election Commission on Friday.

Clinton has no connection to the PAC, which is chaired by Allida Black, founder of the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project at George Washington University and a member of the board of directors of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute. Black was also behind a pro-Clinton PAC in the 2008 presidential primary, WomenCount, and she pushed for Clinton’s name to be put into nomination at the Democratic convention that year.

According to the group’s Facebook page, a former aide and a former adviser to Clinton are involved. A Twitter account has more than 50,000 followers.

A Clinton ally, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is urging her on. “I would love it if she would run,” Feinstein told CNN on Sunday.

Clinton has repeatedly denied that she is interested in a 2016 campaign. In an interview broadcast Sunday, she joked that as a sitting Cabinet member, she is “forbidden” from entertaining political questions.

Clinton was interviewed via satellite by young people and journalists in Lebanon, Japan, India, Nigeria, Colombia and the United Kingdom. The one-hour event also included questions submitted via social media.

When asked what she considers her “lasting regret” from her time as President Obama’s top diplomat, Clinton pointed immediately to last year’s militant attacks on U.S. installations in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans.

“Certainly the loss of American lives in Benghazi was something I deeply regret,” Clinton said. Clinton has accepted responsibility for the deaths, which represent the largest blot on her record, but she has rejected Republican criticism that she is personally to blame.

“When you do these jobs, you have to understand at the very beginning” that there are limits to what diplomats or nations can do, Clinton said.

“There are terrible situations right now being played out in the Congo, in Syria, where we all wish that there were clear paths that we could follow together in the international community to try to resolve.”

In his harshest comments to date, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said Monday on Fox News that he thinks Clinton “got away with murder” for failing to protect diplomats in danger.

“I haven’t forgotten about Benghazi,” Graham said.

culled from "The Washington Post"

Boko Haram declares ceasefire!

After about three years of  attacks on security formations, public and worship  places,   the Jamaatul Ahjlil Sunna lidawati wal Jihad otherwise known as  Boko Haram, in Maiduguri, Borno announced a ceasefire after weeks of meetings with the state government. Commander of the Islamist sect in charge of Borno North and South, Muhammed Abdulazeez Ibn Idris, who had previously been speaking for the group, had surprisingly appeared to some journalists,  two weeks ago, declaring the intention of the sect to halt the three-year-old insurgency.

Declaring the ceasefire Monday through a tele-conference at the Borno State Radio and Television (BRTV), spokesman of Boko Haram, and second-in-command of the group, Sheikh Abdul Aziz said: “This ceasefire being announced today, is a goodwill message from the Jamaatul Ahlus Sunnah Lid Dawatil wal Jihad (Boko Haram), following a series of meetings with government officials and leaders of thought in Borno State.

 second-in-command of the group, Sheikh Abdul Aziz 

For the benefit of seeking the blessing of the leader of the sect, Imam Abu Shekau, in declaring the ceasefire, Idris had promised to talk to the media soon on the issue and by monday afternoon, he kept his promise and announced a ceasefire, starting from monday. Excerpts of the translated briefing by Idris: “I, Sheikh Muhammed Abdulazeez Ibn Idris, the second Commander in charge of southern and northern Borno after Imam Abubakar Shekau of Jamaatul Ahjlil Sunna lidawati wal Jihad otherwise known as Boko Haram.

“For some time now, we the members of Jamaatul ahlil Boko Haram sunna lidawati wal jihad, otherwise known as Boko Haram, have recently had a meeting and dialogue with the government of Borno State where we resolved that giving the prevailing situation, there is the need for us to ceasefire.

We, on our own, in the top hierarchy of our movement under the leadership of Imam Abubakar Shekau, as well as some of our notable followers, agreed that our brethren in Islam, both women and children are suffering unnecessarily; hence, we resolved that we should bring this crisis to an end.

We therefore, called on all those that identify themselves with us and our course, to from today, lay down their arms. Let every member who hears this announcement relay it to the next member who hasn’t heard.

“We have met with the Borno State Government on two occasions and the fallout of the meeting is to ceasefire. Presently, we are going to comply with the cease-fire order and by the time we are done with that, then government security agencies can go ahead to arrest whoever they find carrying arms or killing under our names. We are very much aware of the fact that some criminals have infiltrated our movement and continued attacking and killing people using our names.

“We have also told the government to try to live up to our demands that our members in detention should be released. We hope the government will not betray us this time around, because we all know that it was because of the continued detentions of our members that this crisis continued for this long.

And if government fails to do as it now promised, then this conflict will never have an end. “Of course, there is a faction within us, but the larger faction of our movement is the one in support of this ceasefire move. Moreover, once top members of our group including Imam Abubakar Shekau are in support of the need for ceasefire, other smaller factions can be dealt with easily.

“This message by the Grace of Allah, comes directly from the office of Imam Abubakar Shekau, the Supreme Leader of Jamaatul ahlil Sunna lidawati wal Jihad.” Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Communications, Alhaji Isa Gusau, said he could not comment on the involvement of the state government in the ceasefire effort, adding that Governor Kashim Shettima had always believed in dialogue as the better solution to end the lingering crisis. “I am not competent to speak on national security issues. We have a Security Council in Borno State, I am not a member of that council and of course, you know as much you will also agree with me that no governor will speak on such critical security issues.

But I know since Alahaji Kashim Shettima became a governor-elect, he was the first to speak on the need for dialogue as the best way out”, he said.

President Goodluck Jonathan

Reacting to the offer yesterday, the Federal Government said it would only make a pronouncement after it must have critically studied the conditions given by Boko Haram while announcing its unilateral ceasefire. A top government source who doesn’t want to be named, said that government was not in a hurry to jump at the offer being made by the sect.

At the moment, nobody knows how many factions there are of Boko Haram and which ones may take orders from Abdulazeez.

Fake Currency Syndicate Busted in Lagos!

These men were apprehended and paraded at the police head quarters Lagos, on Monday; for printing and seeling fake currency of different denominations to their clients from within and outside Nigeria.

Photos below:

Some of the fake money on display

Fake currency and some of the machines used in printing them

fake currency notes includes: Euro, Pounds, Dollars, etc....,

 Printers used in printing fake currency notes

Brazil fire blamed on 'Out-Door Flares', as mourners call for Justice!!

A fire ignited by a flare from a band’s pyrotechnics spectacle swept through a night club filled with hundreds of university students early on Sunday morning in Santa Maria, a city in southern brazil, killing at least 233 people.  The "fast-moving fire" roared through a crowded, windowless nightclub in southern Brazil, filling the air in seconds with flames and a thick, toxic smoke that killed the 'party goers', many of whom were caught in a stampede to escape.



Health workers hauled bodies from the club, called Kiss, to hospitals in Santa Maria all through Sunday morning. Some of the survivors were taken to the nearby city of Porto Alegre to be treated for burns. 



Inspectors believe the blaze began when a band’s small pyrotechnics show ignited foam sound insulating material on the ceiling, releasing a putrid haze that caused scores of university students to choke to death. Most victims died from smoke inhalation rather than burns in what appeared to be the world’s deadliest nightclub fire in more than a decade.






Survivors and the police inspector Marcelo Arigony said security guards briefly tried to block people from exiting the club. 



According to eye witness account, security guards had blocked the club door and initially prevented people from escaping because they thought a fight had broken out inside, and that customers would use the opportunity to leave without paying their bar tabs. Only after they realized that a fire was raging inside did the security guards let the crowd go. Brazilian bars routinely make patrons pay their entire tab at the end of the night before they are allowed to leave.

But a reliable source, said the guards didn’t appear to block fleeing patrons for long. ‘‘It was chaotic and it doesn’t seem to have been done in bad faith because several security guards also died,".

fire-fighters responding to the blaze initially had trouble getting inside the Kiss nightclub because ‘‘there was a barrier of bodies blocking the entrance.

Authorities said band members who were on the stage when the fire broke out later talked with police and confirmed they used pyrotechnics during their show.

Police inspector Sandro Meinerz, who coordinated the investigation at the nightclub, said one band member died after escaping because he returned inside the burning building to save his accordion. The other band members escaped alive because they were the first to notice the fire.

‘‘It was terrible inside — it was like one of those films of the Holocaust, bodies piled atop one another,’’ said Meinerz. ‘‘We had to use trucks to remove them. It took about six hours to take the bodies away.’’

Bodies of the dead and injured were strewn in the street and panicked screams filled the air as medics tried to help. There was little to be done; officials said most of those who died were suffocated by smoke within minutes.

Within hours a community gym was a horror scene, with body after body lined up on the floor, partially covered with black plastic as family members identified kin.

Outside the gym police held up personal objects — a black purse, a blue high-heeled shoe — as people seeking information on loved ones crowded around, hoping not to recognize anything being shown them.

Teenagers sprinted from the scene after the fire began, desperately seeking help. Others carried injured and burned friends away in their arms. Many of the victims were under 20 years old, including some minors. About half of those killed were men, about half women.

The party was organized by students from several academic departments from the Federal University of Santa Maria. Such organized university parties are common throughout Brazil.

The fire has been blamed on 'out-door flares'.

Vacillation Greets Chime's Pose with Governors!

Nigeria

Governors Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom, Gabriel Suswan of Benue and Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers pose with their ailing colleague and Enugu State Governor Sullivan Chime at an undisclosed location in London. 

A group in Enugu state, has dismissed, as fallacy, the recent picture of Ailing Enugu state governor Chime, and his 'Akwa-Ibom, Benue and Rivers state counterparts. The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), and the Save Enugu Group (SEG) have dismissed as fake the picture. according to a reliable source who spoke with one of the News Paper Organizations in Lagos: “Neither the handlers of the governor have been fair to the good people of Enugu State nor is the governor himself, for all the speculation was avoidable. If Chime can stand on his feet, why don’t he return or talk to us through video tape?”

On the circulation of Chime’s picture with the Governors, who were said to have paid him a sympathy visit in London, the source said though he was not a security expert to determine the genuineness of the picture, it has raised more questions than it was intended to answer.

“The rumour mill is once more awash with questions: if he can stand up and smile and take picture, why can’t he talk to us? Is it not an old picture taken in another trip abroad?” he asked.

While noting that most state governors are globe trotters, our source said “it is possible the picture is an old one” since, according to him, it is possible as well that they might have “visited our brother and Governor Danbaba Suntai, because nothing prevents them from going anywhere with public funds, which they see as their personal patrimony.”

He expressed regrets that as a senior lawyer, Chime did not draw lessons from the controversy that surrounded the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s last days.

Last days of late President Yar'Adua, befor he was flown abroad for treatment

Like wise, the Save Enugu Group (SEG) has dismissed the photograph as fake. It said the picture, which has the Chairman of the Governors’ Forum, Amaechi, governors Suswam and Akpabio with Chime, was circulated to media houses on Tuesday by the Enugu State Government.

Consequently, in a recent statement, the co-ordinators of SEG disputed the picture, describing it as “a classic replay of Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s song, Government magic". According to the group, it was no doubt a panic response by the Enugu State Government “to meet our two weeks deadline to reveal the location and health status of our governor.”

The statement signed by Two key Officials of both group, stated: “We have come to the conclusion that the picture posted by the Enugu State Government as having been taken on Tuesday, January 22, 2013, is fake and tells a lie about itself".

“Some of the governors shown on that picture could not have been in London on that day unless they have the gift of bi-location. Secondly and more seriously, if Governor Chime is as fit as shown, what is he still doing away from his duty post for over four months? We choose to believe that our hard working governor is not that irresponsible".

“Again, the telephone conversation reported by a News paper house, has done great injury to that paper. Many of us will remember the Yar’Adua phantom interview with BBC. Is this a replay? We challenge them to play the audio. We all recall the dramatic telephone conversation between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the late Yar’Adua at a campaign rally in 2007 of ‘Umoru, are you dead?’”

Abstract from the Yar' Adua's Jan 12, 2010 BBC Interview:

“At the moment I am undergoing treatment, and I’m getting better from the treatment. I hope that very soon there will be tremendous progress, which will allow me to get back home, As soon as my doctors discharge me, I will return to Nigeria to resume my duties, I wish, at this stage, to thank all Nigerians for their prayers for my good health, and for their prayers for the nation." 

In the wee hour of 24th of February, Yar'Adua was secretly flown back to the Country, and on the 5th of March 2010, 70 days after his controversial return, he was declared dead following a protracted kidney related diseases.

Enugu State Governor, Mr. Sullivan Chime, has been absent from office since September 19, 2012, after he applied to the Speaker of the State Assembly, for a two-week leave; but is yet to resume. 

The Deputy Governor of the state, Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi, was said to have been asked to act in the governor’s absence in the said letter.

Enugu state Acting Governor: Sundsy Onyebuchi

Information reaching us states that the governor is currently getting treatment for cancer in a London hospital and will be back in a couple of weeks.

 

23 years old Nigerian man Sentenced to Death by hanging in Malaysia for Drug Trafficking

A Nigerian man was on January 22, sentenced to death by hanging by the High Court in Benama malaysia, after he was found guilty of trafficking in 16,936gm of cannabis two years ago.

Judicial Commissioner Mohd Zaki Abdul Wahab handed down the sentence on John Amaechi Eze, 23, after finding that the prosecution had established the case beyond reasonable doubt. Eze, a student at a private college in Kuala Lumpur, was charged with committing the offence in front of Dewan Lye Huat Garden, Jitra, about 9.30pm on May 10, 2011. Eze, who looked calm when the Mohd Zaki handed down the sentence, then requested permission to contact his family in Nigeria and informed the court that he had not contacted them since he was arrested. Mohd Zaki said the matter would be arranged by his lawyer, Ali Munawar Razak, and deputy public prosecutor Wan Nor Hasnita Wan Daud, who prosecuted in the case. - Bernama

A Nigerian blogger, Ola, who lives in Malaysia shared this experience of living in Malaysia after the sentencing and warned against trafficking drugs. It is quite an interesting read:

Now, for anyone harbouring thoughts of trafficking drugs to this country, this is what you get. It beats me why someone would risk their life, by taking banned substance to this racist shit hole called Malaysia, because when issued a visa, it is clearly stated that the punishment for drug trafficking in Malaysia is death.

To be fair and honest to Malaysia, there are some very nice and wonderful people out there, but they are greatly outnumbered by the bigots among them. I live and study in Malaysia and I’ve observed a bias pattern in judicial procedures and policing  as regards drug trafficking and crime prevention.

My assertions are based on my day to day experience and observation as a resident. I have no statistical analysis of the Nigerian population living in Malaysia neither do I have the exact figures or nationality of the number of cases prosecuted by the Malaysian judiciary.

From the Nigerian side, The easterners (Igbos) out-number other ethnic groups within the Nigerian community here. That’s why most Nigerians you meet are from the east. A lot (of) Nigerians you meet are not in Malaysia to study, though they are enrolled in one college or another, they are semi-illiterates or outright illiterates, very lousy, brash and arrogant (for reasons I don’t understand). Then we have the stranded group who were duped by travel agents into thinking the pasture in Malaysia is greener.

In short, You meet criminals of all shapes, size and age. They just sleep, eat, wake up, and hope the next Maga pays. They are so much, you’ll think all Nigerians living in Malaysia are criminals, but we have bright students doing well and graduating in Malaysian Universities, we have gainfully employed graduates trained by Malaysians themselves (few) and business men and women doing legitimate business exporting goods to and from Nigeria (also few compared to the population of the Nigerian community).

But the Yahoo boys and drug traffickers are so high in number it seems they’ve all relocated from Nigeria to Malaysia. Conditions here favour them.

Basic infrastructure is great here compared to what we have in Nigeria. 24 hours electricity, running water, well laid roads, affordable high speed internet, compact 3/4 bedroom apartment, affordable furniture,  little or no scrutiny on international remittance etc. Malaysia is a Yahoo Boy’s paradise.

Though, most foreigners especially new comers call them (Malaysians) lazy and stupid (I still don’t get the rationale behind that).

On the Malaysian side, you’ll meet the Malay Supremacist.

A Muslim, religious bigot, loud, aggressive and assertive. He (male and female) hates Jews and despises Christians. He wants to protect the “sanctity” of Islam, State resources are at his disposal. His opinion and interest supercedes that of others.

His ancestors are the first settlers in Peninsular Malaysia. His interpretation of the Islamic text  dictates and guides the Muslim community and some times the whole nation. His favourite question when he meets you for the first time in class or anywhere is “Are you Muslim?”. He runs the country and he knows it.

Then we have the Chinese Chauvinist, a business tycoon/ hard working student. Drives flashy cars, he believes his race is the best. He is rich and he has read stories of Nigerians using Malaysian girls as drug mules, black/chemical money stories; he has meet or read of stranded Nigerians who loiter around Kuala-Lumpur begging for money (these stranded guys don’t shower, so they stink).

He cringes when you happen to be in the same elevator, crosses to the other side of the road when you are walking towards each other and always thinks you need something from him any time you try to talk to him. He has held on to so many Nigerian horrible stories and thinks every Nigerian is like that.

Then, we have the Angry Indian, always pissed and mean-mugging you. He has been discriminated against so much that even his language is not included in the country’s ATM machine (LMAO). He is always trying to pick fights with you and the first comment he makes is “THIS IS MY COUNTRY!”. He’ll smash his crash helmet on you at the slightest provocation or stab you. He also reads of atrocities committed by Nigerians and sees you as a threat.

So, living in Malaysia has made me a racism connoisseur of sought. In fact, I have become so sensitive that I believe I can tell if an individual is racist within a few seconds of being around them. There are people in Malaysia whose sole purpose in life is just to ruin your day. Racism in Malaysia is perfect. It is subtle when it needs to be and brass when necessary.

As a foreigner you might be misled into thinking Malaysia is a boring place and no one gives a damn about you, so you can do what ever you like and get away with it. No, you are seriously mistaken. Malaysia sometimes feels like the North-Korea we watch on T.V. Some citizens are very nosy and they watch and observe every move you make. I read a news article some weeks ago that says about 80% of Police personnel don’t do normal Policing but rather, spy and gather intelligence.

So, my point is this. Malaysia is a tightly controlled society where the authorities decide what business prospers, whether legal or illegal. Elements within the police control the drug trade, the distributors are under their command and they arrest them when it’s politically needed to unite the country against a common enemy. We hear of stories of Iranian and Arab drug traffickers who are quietly deported and warned never to return to Malaysia but other nationalities are shown off as trophy in front of news men who broadcast and publish sensational news headlines.

South-east Asian countries are united against drug trafficking and they hold meetings regularly to discuss new strategies on deterrent, Death (rolls eyes).

So, it baffles me why people still take the risks John Amaechi Eze was sentenced on January 22; a British Grand mother Lindsay Sandiford was also sentenced to death on the same day in Indonesia. In the year 2008, two Nigerians were executed in Indonesia and one in Singapore.

 

Nigerians, please stop trying to bring drugs into Malaysia.