NewsReports

Iraqi ground forces, backed by air strikes, appear to have halted advancing Islamic State (IS) militants in a key town near Baghdad. The BBC’s Lyse Doucet in the Iraqi capital says the air strikes followed clashes with IS militants, who have been making gains towards the capital. Ameriyat al-Falluja, 40km (25 miles) from Baghdad, is a key strategic town. It …

In what appears to be a submission to common sense and logic, the Senate has told Professor Attahiru Jega, National Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to suspend the now controversial allocation of new Polling Units, PUs. The Senate, through its Committee on INEC, sent the advisory to Professor Jega on Thursday, September 23, 2014. The letter, titled CREATION OF …

Hong Kong police have used tear gas to disperse thousands of pro-democracy protesters near the government complex, after a week of escalating tensions. Dozens of demonstrators were arrested, with hundreds vowing to stay put to continue the protest. Protesters want the Chinese government to scrap rules allowing it to vet Hong Kong’s top leader in the 2017 poll. Hong Kong …

Additional 8.8 megawatts of electricity is to be added to existing capacity from embedded generation in Lagos State from next month. The 8.8 megawatts are coming from the Mainland Independent Power Plant (IPP) which is to be switched on by Governor Babatunde Fashola on October 31, as part of activities to mark the 2014 Energy Conservation month in the state. …

CATHOLIC Church, weekend, described as malicious and misleading, a media report that the Church chided the President of Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor over the 9.3million arms deal in South Africa. Some Nigerian Newspapers had on Thursday 25th September 2014, and suggesting that Most Rev. Ignatius Ayau Kaigama, the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria …

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. will resign his post, the Justice Department said Thursday. Mr. Holder will remain in office until a successor is nominated and confirmed. Mr. Holder, the 82nd attorney general and the first African-American to serve in that position, had previously said he planned to leave office by the end of this year. Particularly …

The management of Egypt Air, which was accused of maltreatment and wrongful deportation of a Nigerian medical student, Joshua Kunle Abdul-Azeez, studying in Ukraine and tearing his Nigerian international passport has admitted making a mistake and offered to compensate the student. This followed an intervention by the House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora. Having received a complaint filed against Egypt …

President Goodluck  Jonathan declared, yesterday, in New York that the country will not relent in its fight against terrorism, pointing out that there must be international collaboration to end the menace. In his speech at the United Nations General Assembly, President Jonathan said the world must come together to halt the practice of terrorist organisations occupying territories in order to  …

ABUJA—For the second time this week, pandemonium reigned in the House of Representatives, yesterday, following allegations of a $50,000 bribe to members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to suppress a house inquest into the alleged $9.3 million cash seized by the South African Government. The House went into a near riot following the admission by a member of the …

The US-led coalition has targeted oil refineries in Syria during a third night of air strikes against Islamic State (IS) militants. The raids – carried out by US, Saudi and UAE aircraft – killed 14 IS fighters and five civilians in eastern Syria, activists said. The US military said the refineries generated as much as $2 million (£1.2m) per day …