The WEB GIST

Over 30 people have reportedly lost their lives while watching a football match at a viewing centre in in Calabar, Cross River State.
According to a report by Channels TV, the deceased were killed after being electrocuted by a high tension cable that reportedly fell on the viewing centre.

It was also reported that the football fans, who assembled at the centre to watch a UEFA Europa League quarter-final match between Manchester United and Anderlecht on satellite television, lost their lives when a live electricity cable broke from its mooring and fell on the viewing centre.

There are no official statements regarding the sad occurrence as at the time of publishing.

A 23-year-old man identified as Musa Fidelis has allegedly committed suicide after beating his mother to stupor following a family dispute.

Punch reports that the incident happened in a community in Yola, the capital of Adamawa State, when family members were shocked to find the body of Fidelis dangling from a rope in his room shortly after battering his mother.

It was gathered that the deceased stormed into his room after his siblings got angry with him for beating their mother and threatened to relocate her from the house.

In anger, Fidelis reportedly rushed to his room and locked the door. He was said to have remained in the room for a long time and when the concerned family members forced the door open after several knocks, they found his lifeless body dangling from the roof.‎

Neighbours who spoke on the incident described the deceased as an alcoholic who fought almost everybody on the day he committed suicide.

"He wounded his mother by dislocating her left hand," a neighbour said. ‎

One of his uncles, Ali Hassan, said the deceased had been behaving strangely and passing death threats to his family members before the incident.‎

US President Donald Trump has blamed Democrats for the failure of his healthcare bill.
Both houses of Congress are controlled by Mr Trump's Republican party but the bill was withdrawn on Friday because it could not get the votes required.
Speaking to the Washington Post, Mr Trump said "We couldn't get one Democratic vote, and we were a little bit shy... so we pulled it."
The last-minute retraction is seen as a huge blow to the president.
Repealing and replacing the healthcare programme known as Obamacare was one of his major election pledges.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said he and Mr Trump agreed to withdraw the vote, after it became apparent it would not get the minimum of 215 Republican votes needed.
Republicans have a majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
How disastrous for Trump?
Gloats and warnings over failed bill
Ryan: 'We came really close today'
However, multiple reports suggested that between 28 and 35 Republicans were opposed to President Trump's draft American Health Care Act (AHCA).
Some were said to be unhappy that the bill cut health coverage too severely, while others felt the changes did not go far enough.
The bill also appeared unpopular with the public - in one recent poll, just 17% approved of it.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated the AHCA would reduce the deficit by $336bn between 2017 and 2026.
However, the number of Americans without health insurance would stand at 52 million by the same time - an extra 24 million compared with Obamacare.
Speaking after the withdrawal, Mr Trump repeatedly said Obamacare would "explode".
However, he refrained from criticising Mr Ryan, whose job as speaker of the House involves rallying support for controversial bills.
Media Paul Ryan: "I won't sugar coat this. This is disappointing"
Mr Trump said: "I like Speaker Ryan. I think Paul really worked hard.''
Mr Ryan also told reporters the president had been "really been fantastic''.
How disastrous is this for Trump? Analysis by Anthony Zurcher, North America reporter
How bad was Friday's defeat of the American Health Care Act in the House of Representatives? Bad. Very bad.
The AHCA was the first major piece of legislation pushed by the White House and the Republican-controlled Congress, a key political test early in the president's term, when he should be at the height of his power and party cohesion at its strongest.
In spite of all of this, Mr Trump, Mr Ryan and the Republicans running Washington could not get the job done.
For Republicans Friday wasn't just bad. It was a disaster.
Read more analysis here.
President Trump said the Republicans would probably focus on tax reform for now.
"We have to let Obamacare go its own way for a little while," he told reporters at the Oval Office, adding that if the Democrats were "civilised and came together", the two parties could work out a "great healthcare bill".
"We learned about loyalty; we learned a lot about the vote-getting process," he said.
Image REUTERS
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Mr Trump said he believed the Democrats would "reach out when they're ready"
Earlier Mr Ryan told reporters: "We are going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future.
"I will not sugar-coat this. This is a disappointing day for us. Doing big things is hard.
"We were a 10-year opposition party where being against things was easy to do," he said, adding that it was difficult to get "people to agree with each other in how we do things".
All-male US health bill photo sparks anger
Is Obamacare more popular than ever?
Meanwhile, the leader of the House minority Democrats, Nancy Pelosi, described the retraction as "a victory for the American people".
What did the bill propose?
Cuts the Medicaid programme for low earners
Provides tax credits to help people pay medical bills, but reduced compared to Obamacare
Ends penalties on those who do not buy health coverage
Allows insurers to raise premiums for older people
Blocks federal payments to women's healthcare provider Planned Parenthood for a year
Insurers would no longer be required to include "essential benefits", such as maternity care, mental health and emergency treatment

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday said the country’s commune elections that will decide a host of local offices across the nation will be conducted as scheduled.

“The election in Cambodia will proceed regularly, and nothing will change the date,” he said in a speech Friday to the Ministry of the Interior.

“Some people said we would cancel the election. How could they say that?” he added. “The prime minister has already signed and declared the date for commune election will be June 4, 2017.”

It was unclear exactly what Hun Sen was referring to as there have been no notable calls to delay the commune elections. National elections are scheduled for 2018.

While there may be no significant calls to delay the elections, Hun Sen and his Cambodian People’s Party-led government have been roundly criticized for corruption, intimidation and attempting to smother dissent by throwing opponents in jail.

“I think people just want to defame the government,” Hun Sen said.

The latest criticism of Hun Sen and the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) was sparked by an administration-backed move to exert more control over political parties.

Among the amendments to Cambodia’s law on political parties that Hun Sen and the CPP are seeking is one that would bar anyone convicted in Cambodian courts from holding a political party’s top office.

The “culprit law” would also dissolve any party whose president is convicted of a crime and would enable the government to seize the party’s property.

Cambodian courts are notorious for their lack of independence. Opposition politicians often find themselves before Hun Sen’s pliant courts on various charges.

The new party law has already won approval in the CPP-dominated National Assembly.

If the changes are approved by the Cambodian Senate and signed by Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni, as expected next week, the amendments would also give the Cambodian Supreme Court the power to dissolve a party caught committing a list of vague offenses.

The Interior Ministry would also be empowered to indefinitely suspend a party for similarly vague reasons.

Opposition party congress planned

In response to the pressure and to prepare for the June 4 local elections, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) is preparing for a party congress on March 2 at party headquarters in Phnom Penh, a CNRP spokesman told RFA’s Khmer Service.

“We are in the middle of discussing this matter,” said CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann. “There is only one more week to go.”

According to a CNRP statement released Friday, the congress will serve as a rallying point for party candidates for commune offices, election of a new party president and vice president, and the adoption of the political message for the commune election campaign.

The CNRP will have to choose new leaders as its long-time president Sam Rainsy resigned after it became clear that Hun Sen and the CPP would push the new party laws through the legislature.

Under the proposed party law changes Sam Rainsy would be prohibited from serving as a top party officer because he has been convicted of a crime.

Sam Rainsy has been living in France since 2015 to avoid arrest in a defamation case brought by former Foreign Minister Hor Namhong in 2008. In October, Hun Sen ordered police, immigration, and aviation authorities to "use all ways and means" to prevent the opposition leader from returning to the country.

Sam Rainsy was followed by three other opposition party members who resigned from their positions late Thursday, saying they feared the CNRP would be dissolved if they remained, local media reported.

Meach Sovannara, Um Sam An, and Hong Sok Hour all stepped down from their party leadership roles, according to letters posted on Facebook and confirmed by a source close to the situation, The Phnom Penh Post reported.

The three men have all been convicted in high-profile cases that are widely considered to have been politically motivated.

Pakistan International Airlines is investigating how seven extra passengers were allowed to stand in the aisles on a flight to Saudi Arabia, a spokesman told the BBC.
The passengers were allowed on the 20 January flight to Medina despite every seat being filled, the airline said.
Details of the flight have only emerged now because of extensive investigations by Dawn newspaper.
Staff had issued additional handwritten boarding passes, the paper reported.
Such an over-crowded flight would have caused problems in an emergency evacuation, aviation experts said, and passengers would not have had access to oxygen if it was suddenly required.
PIA plane escorted to Stansted
PIA goat slaughter mocked
PIA crash leaves no survivors
This is the first time the airline is known to have boarded excess passengers on a flight.
Image AFP
Image
The crash on 7 December killed all 47 people on board
The flight in question went from Karachi to Medina carrying a total of 416 passengers, on a Boeing 777 with a total seating capacity of 409, including staff seats.
Dawn accuses Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority of "not taken punitive action against the airline or its staffers for putting the passengers' lives at risk".
The newspaper quoting airline sources accuses PIA ground traffic staff of issuing handwritten - rather than computer-generated - boarding passes to the extra passengers.
It quotes flight captain Anwer Adil as insisting that he was not told about the extra passengers until after take-off.
"I … noticed [that] some people were those who were categorically refused jump [staff] seats by me at the check-in counter before the flight", he was quoted by Dawn as saying.
"I had already taken off and the senior purser did not inform me about extra passengers before closing the aircraft door.
"Therefore after take-off [any] immediate landing back at Karachi was not possible as it required a lot of fuel dumping which was not in the interest of the airline."
PIA spokesman Danyal Gilani told the BBC that "the matter is under investigation and appropriate action will be taken once responsibility is fixed".
When asked how long the inquiry will take, he said it was "not possible to put a time frame on it".
In December, all 48 people on board a PIA plane were killed when it crashed in the north of the country.

U.S. President Donald Trump and the Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau pledged to strengthen the relationship between the two countries after weeks of uncertainty between the two neighbours and trade allies.

Trump, who addressed a joint press conference with Trudeau on Monday following the latter’s visit to Washington, said it was his “great honour” to host the Prime Minister of America’s “great friend, neighbour and ally”.

He thanked Trudeau for Canada’s efforts in fighting the terrorist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and noted that American and Canadian soldiers had fought and died together.

The president pledged to work with Trudeau to “build even more bridges, bridges of cooperation and bridges of commerce”.

“We have a lot of discussions and we are going to have good trade relations with Canada. We will be tweaking our outstanding ties with Canada,” Trump said.

The American leader, however, stood by his refugee and immigration ban.

“We are getting such praise for our stance, and it’s a stance of common sense. It may be a certain toughness, but it’s really more than toughness.

“We’ll only let people who love our country come in. We don’t want to see the kind of problems we see happen all over the world and there are many of them around the world,” he said.

Trudeau noted the progress the two countries had made in the past on climate change and trade.

“Canada and U.S. will always be crucial partners. U.S. 35 States have Canada as their largest trade partners with a two billion dollars trade volume every single day.

“U.S. and Canada depend on each other. We know that our economy is very dependent on the United States.

“Canada and U.S. will forever be a good example of how to be a best neighbours,” the Canadian leader said.

On his sharp difference with Trump over restrictions on refugees and migrants, Trudeau said: “We won’t always agree on everything”.

According to him, however, the “abiding respect” the two countries have for one another will continue.

“There have been times when we have differed in our approaches.

“The last thing Canadians expect is for me to come down and lecture another country on how they chose to govern themselves.

“We want to set positive examples to the world and I won’t lecture another country on its policies,” Trudeau said.

President Donald Trump has been increasingly chatting with other world leaders during his first weeks in office. On Monday he turned his attention to Africa.

Trump spent Monday morning calling two of the continent’s most prominent leaders, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and South African President Jacob Zuma, to discuss combating terrorism, trade relations and other issues.

According to Buhari’s aide, Femi Adesina, Trump assured the Nigerian president that the US is ready to help obtain “a new deal in helping Nigeria in terms of military weapons to combat terrorism.”

In a statement to CNN, Adesina also said, “President Trump encouraged President Buhari to keep up the good work he is doing, and also commended him for the efforts made in rescuing 24 of the Chibok Girls and the strides being taken by the Nigerian military.”

In 2014 nearly 300 girls were kidnapped from a boarding school in Chibok by terror group Boko Haram. Most remain missing, although the terror group released a group of them last October in a deal brokered in part by Nigerian authorities.

Trump also invited President Buhari to Washington at a mutually convenient date. Buhari, who congratulated Trump on his election, is currently in London on an extended break while he awaits the results of unspecified medical tests.

After his call with Buhari, President Trump also requested and completed a phone call with South Africa’s Zuma.

According to a statement from Zuma’s office, “The two presidents reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening the already strong bilateral relations between the two countries. There are six hundred US companies in South Africa and strong trade relations between the two countries.”

Trump and Zuma also “discussed the need to work together on multilateral issues as well especially the quest for peace and stability on the African continent,” the statement said.

Trump, who so far has been mostly focused on his “America First” agenda, has not spoken at much length about his policies concerning Africa. But his controversial travel ban, one of his first major executive orders, has targeted three African countries: Sudan, Libya and Somalia.

North Korea said it had successfully tested a new ballistic missile, triggering a US-led call for an urgent UN Security Council meeting after a launch seen as a challenge to US President Donald Trump.

North Korea fires ballistic missile
The North's leader Kim Jong-un "expressed great satisfaction over the possession of another powerful nuclear attack means which adds to the tremendous might of the country," state news agency KCNA said on Monday.

The missile was launched on Sunday near the western city of Kusong and flew east about 500km before falling into the Sea of Japan (East Sea), South Korea's defence ministry said.

Photos released by KCNA showed the missile blasting into the sky with a smiling Kim watching from the command centre, and standing on the launch field surrounded by dozens of cheering soldiers and scientists.

It said Kim "personally guided" preparations for Sunday's test, which it described as a surface-to-surface medium long-range Pukguksong-2, a "Korean-style new type strategic weapon system".

KCNA said the missile was powered by a solid-fuel engine, which requires a far shorter refuelling time than conventional liquid fuel-powered missiles, according to Yun Duk-Min of the state-run Institute for Foreign Affairs and Security in Seoul.

"They leave little warning time and therefore pose greater threat to opponents," he said, adding that such missiles are harder to detect before launch by satellite surveillance.

Pyongyang's latest announcement was the first time a Pukguksong-2 has been mentioned, although last August it test-fired what it said was a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) marked as a Pukguksong-1, a name which translates as "North Star".

Kim said at the time that the missile, which was launched towards Japan, put the US mainland and the Pacific within striking range.

North Korea claims it has developed an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting the US mainland but it has not tested one as yet.

The longest-range missile it has tested is the intermediate Musudan which is theoretically capable of reaching US bases on Guam, but most have ended in failure including one last October which exploded shortly after launch.

Designed for Trump

The South has said that Sunday's launch was designed as a test for Trump, who responded to the provocation by pledging "100 percent" support for Washington's key regional ally Japan.

"Today's missile launch... is aimed at drawing global attention to the North by boasting its nuclear and missile capabilities", Seoul's defence ministry said Sunday.

"It is also believed that it was an armed provocation to test the response from the new US administration under President Trump," it added.

The US, Japan and South Korea responded to the North's confirmation by requesting an urgent UN Security Council meeting to discuss the launch.

The council is expected to hold consultations on Monday.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose country would be in range of a hostile North Korean missile launch, called the test "absolutely intolerable" during an impromptu press conference with Trump in Florida on Sunday.

North Korea is barred under UN resolutions from any use of ballistic missile technology. But six sets of UN sanctions since Pyongyang's first nuclear test in 2006 have failed to halt its drive for what it insists are defensive weapons.

Last year the country conducted two nuclear tests and numerous missile launches in its quest to develop a nuclear weapons system capable of hitting the US mainland.

South Korea's acting president Hwang Kyo-Ahn vowed a "corresponding punishment" in response to the launch, which came on the heels of a visit to Seoul by US Defense Secretary James Mattis this month.

Mattis had warned Pyongyang that any nuclear attack would be met with an "effective and overwhelming" response.

PYONGYANG, North Korea — The United States, Japan and South Korea have requested urgent diplomatic talks at the United Nations on Monday over North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch, with Seoul condemning what it called "serious military and security threats" and predicting more such tests.

A spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations said Sunday night that the meeting is expected to take place Monday. The spokesman spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

The U.N. Mission for Ukraine, which holds the rotating Security Council presidency, later confirmed that closed consultations on North Korea will take place late Monday afternoon.

The banned missile test is seen as an implicit challenge to U.S. President Donald Trump, who has vowed a tough line on Pyongyang but has yet to release a strategy for dealing with a country whose nuclear ambitions have bedeviled U.S. leaders for decades.

North Korean state media said leader Kim Jong Un was at the site to observe the launch and expressed pleasure at the North's expansion of its strategic strike capabilities.

"These are serious military and security threats," Jeong Joon-hee, spokesman at the Ministry of Unification, told reporters. "Pyongyang has no intention of backing away from its goal to become a country with nuclear weapons."

A report on the launch carried early Monday by the North's Korean Central News Agency said Kim watched from an observation post and gave the order to fire the "Pukguksong-2," which it said was a "Korean style new type strategic weapon system."

It is believed to have flown about 500 kilometers (310 miles) before splashing down into the ocean in international waters.

The report said the test proved "the reliability and security" of a new mobile launching system, the solid fuel that was used and the guidance and control features of the ballistic missile. Solid fuel can give missiles longer range and make detecting them before launch more difficult because they can be readied faster than liquid fuel missiles.

The report also said the test verified control and guidance capabilities and said the missile can be "tipped with a nuclear warhead."

It suggested the launch conducted in a "lofted" style, which puts the missile into a high trajectory rather than a lower one that gives it more range, in order take "the security of the neighboring countries into consideration."

It added Kim "expressed great satisfaction over the possession of another powerful nuclear attack means."

"Now our rocket industry has radically turned into high thrust solid fuel-powered engine from liquid fuel rocket engine and rapidly developed into a development- and creation-oriented industry, not just copying samples," he said. "Thanks to the development of the new strategic weapon system, our People's Army is capable of performing its strategic duties most accurately and rapidly in any space: under waters or on the land."

North Korea had warned it was ready to test its first intercontinental ballistic missile. The U.S. Strategic Command, however, said it detected and tracked what it assessed to be a medium- or intermediate-range missile. The reports of the launch came as Trump was hosting Abe and just days before the North is to mark the birthday of leader Kim Jong Un's late father, Kim Jong Il.

After receiving word of the launch, Trump stood at his south Florida estate with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who called the move "intolerable."

Appearing with Trump at a news conference at Trump's estate, Abe condemned the missile launch as "absolutely intolerable." He read a brief statement calling on the North to comply fully with relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions. He said Trump had assured him of U.S. support and that Trump's presence showed the president's determination and commitment.

Trump followed Abe with even fewer words, saying in part: "I just want everybody to understand and fully know that the United States of America stands behind Japan, its great ally, 100 percent."

Stephen Miller, Trump's chief policy adviser, said Trump and Abe had displayed "an important show of solidarity" between their nations.

"The message we're sending to the world right now is a message of strength and solidarity; we stand with Japan and we stand with our allies in the region to address the North Korean menace," Miller said during an interview Sunday with ABC's "This Week."

The firing of the missile is a major challenge for the Trump administration, said George Lopez, an expert in economic sanctions and nuclear disarmament and a professor emeritus of peace studies at the University of Notre Dame.

"The Sunday test of an intermediate-range ballistic missile by the North Korean regime is in clear violation of past United Nations Security Council resolutions and recent warning from the U.S.," Lopez said. "As such, it is a significant challenge to the Trump Administration because it has yet to develop its policies toward the region, toward North Korea, or its role in the UN and its use of economic sanctions. So we may learn a lot about Mr. Trump's crisis diplomacy in the coming days."

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the missile was fired from around Banghyon, North Pyongan Province, which is where South Korean officials have said the North test-launched its powerful midrange Musudan missile on Oct. 15 and 20.

The missile splashed down into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, according to the U.S. Strategic Command. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters it did not hit Japanese territorial seas.

The North conducted two nuclear tests and a slew of rocket launches last year in continued efforts to expand its nuclear weapons and missile programs. Kim Jong Un said in his New Year's address that the country had reached the final stages of readiness to test an ICBM, which would be a major step forward in its efforts to build a credible nuclear threat to the United States.

Though Pyongyang has been relatively quiet about the transfer of power to the Trump administration, its state media has repeatedly called for Washington to abandon its "hostile policy" and vowed to continue its nuclear and missile development programs until the U.S. changes its diplomatic approach.

Just days ago, it also reaffirmed its plan to conduct more space launches, which it staunchly defends but which have been criticized because they involve dual-use technology that can be transferred to improve missiles.

"Our country has clearly expressed its standpoint, that we will continue to build up our capacity for self-defense, with nuclear forces and a pre-emptive strike capability as the main points, as long as our enemies continue sanctions to suppress us," Pyongyang student Kim Guk Bom said Sunday. "We will defend the peace and security of our country at any cost, with our own effort, and we will contribute to global peace and stability."

South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who is also the acting president, said his country would punish North Korea for the missile launch. The Foreign Ministry said South Korea would continue to work with allies, including the United States, Japan and the European Union, to ensure a thorough implementation of sanctions against the North and make the country realize that it will "never be able to survive" without discarding all of its nuclear and missile programs.

Yesterday, emerged on how Delta State-born second runner up of the maiden edition of the West Africa Idol, Eric Arubayi, Jnr., weekend, died at a hospital in Delta State.

Confirming the demise of the gospel artiste, his brother, Derrick Arubayi, in an exclusive chat with Vanguard, explained that the late Eric took ill after taking an expired drug meant to treat his malaria and typhoid ailment.

He said: “He had malaria and typhoid, which was untreated. It later became worse after he took a medication that had expired and this triggered his liver ailment and afterwards, every other thing just followed at a fast pace before his death.

“The only thing that we had to say is that he lived for Christ. We just want the world to know that the name Eric Odafe Arubayi was for a reason beyond the West Africa Idol show.

“For that reason, God would make manifest even beyond his glorious ascension.”

Until his death, the late musical icon, born on July 14, 1982, is survived by his wife, a son, who would be two in a few months, two brothers, a sister and parents— Professor and Professor (Mrs) Eric Arubayi.

James Ibori, former governor of Delta state, says the biggest concern he had while serving a jail sentence in the UK was how his people were coping in his absence.

Speaking in his hometown of  Oghara during a special thanksgiving service organised in his honour, Ibori said those behind his travails had the intention of keeping him away from his people.

He appreciated his supporters for the love shown to him, saying he had always known that “a day like this would come”.

“Today I have decided to speak for myself. I am not a thief, I cannot be a thief,” he said.

“Today is the day they say I should give testimony to God, for those who know me, you know that my entire life is a testimony itself and I have said it over and over again that my life is fashioned by God, directed by God, sealed, acknowledged, blessed by God and I believe that since the day I was born.

“Like the arch bishop said, when this whole commotion started, what was most painful to me was the pain and suffering that my people were going through.

“When I looked at how things were going, I discovered that they wanted to separate me from you people. They wanted me to go to the corner where I won’t be seen.

“It has nothing to do with me as a person because for some reasons like I said to you, I drew my strength from God and somehow, I knew that God would stand by me. I knew that this day would come. I am indeed very pleased that I can now stand before you and look at your faces, faces that I have missed and those of you who have indeed suffered the pains of my absence.”

Ibori, who said he lacked words to express his feelings, added that God answered the prayers of those who wish him well.

“When I reflect, it gives me joy that all your prayers, God has answered. I thank you for all your support and solidarity with me all through this period,” he said.

“It is indeed not what I can begin to say. If I am to give testimony of my journey, you will not leave here. The only testimony that I have is the fact that I am back and alive in your midst. And again I say that I never had any doubt in my mind that I would get back home.

“I am happy to be home with my people. There is nobody that can battle with the Lord. An Urhobo adage says there is time for everything. A day will come when I will tell my story and every one of you will hear me, but for today, it is just to thank God.”

A retired staff of Shell Oil whose identity could not be ascertained at press time has been killed in Benin City, the Edo State capital.

The assailants trailed their victim to Siluko Road in Oredo Local Government Area where they shot him in the presence of his family

Eye witnesses said  the deceased was in a white Hilux van when a group of armed men emerged from a black Toyota Highlander and shot him severally at a close range.

The witnesses said he was shot in the head while his son was hit by one of the bullets.

Wife of the deceased was said to have screamed for help and attracted people to the scene.

A pump-action gun was said to have been found at the back seat of Hilux vehicle belonging to the victim.

Edo State police spokesman, Moses Nkombe, confirmed the incident but dismissed the speculation that the killing was cult related.

Nkombe said it may have been a case of an assassination adding that the son of the deceased was responding to treatment.

Nkombe said, “Yes, somebody was shot yesterday (Friday). The body was taken to a morgue. Investigation is on. 

“They (assailants) did not stop; they just shot him and continued the movement. So, we are on the trail of the suspects now; the police are investigating.

‎”The man was a retired Shell worker. It is like a case of an assassination; they did not stop. They just shot him,” he said.

President Donald Trump welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with a brotherly hug and warm words of admiration Friday, as he ditched previously hard-charging rhetoric toward Tokyo during a White House summit.

Trump praised his guest´s "strong hands," the pair´s "very, very good chemistry" and rolled out a White House military honor guard in a remarkable public display of diplomatic affection.

"When I greeted him today at the car," Trump said after an Oval Office meeting, "I shook hands, but I grabbed him and hugged him, because that´s the way we feel."

The odd political couple had lunch at the White House before heading to Trump´s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida for further talks and a round of golf on Saturday. At Palm Beach airport, the pair were welcomed by a swarm of black SUVs, and a group of onlookers wearing red "Make America Great Again" hats.

Dozens of Palm Beach residents lined the sidewalks along the route to Trump´s estate, photographing the motorcade and waving American flags.

The sporting gambit recalled the diplomatic exploits of Abe´s grandfather, prime minister Nobusuke Kishi, who once donned a polo shirt to play with avid golfer president Dwight Eisenhower.

Abe is in the United States on a similar charm offensive.

Then, the topic was post-war reconciliation. This time, the Japanese leader is trying to build a personal rapport with the mercurial new US president and head off simmering disputes.

Ties have been strained by Trump´s willingness to question US defense commitments and his rejection of a trans-Pacific trade deal.

Plans under consideration in the White House propose a substantial hike of import tariffs that could have a serious impact on Japanese manufacturers. Abe dodged questions about the trade deal, instead dispatching a slew of compliments.

"Donald, Mr President, you are an excellent businessman," he said, praising Trump on everything from his meteoric political rise to his golf game.

"My scores in golf are not up to the level of Donald at all," Abe said self-effacingly.

´Very, very deep´ bonds
Abe´s efforts appeared to have paid off. After some tough anti-Japanese rhetoric on the campaign trail, Trump embraced long-standing defense agreements and "free, fair and reciprocal" trade.

"We´re committed to the security of Japan," Trump said.

"The bond between our two nations and the friendship between our two peoples runs very, very deep. This administration is committed to bringing those ties even closer."

Japan´s biggest business lobby, known as Keidanren, hailed the strengthening of "personal relations of trust between Prime Minister Abe and President Trump."

In a statement, Trump offered reassurances the US would come to Japan´s defense if China were to seize the disputed Senkaku islands, known as the Diaoyu in China.

In a joint statement, the pair said they "oppose any unilateral action that seeks to undermine Japan´s administration of these islands" -- comments that are sure to rile Beijing.

Although Abe has pushed ahead with efforts to boost Japan´s military capabilities, Tokyo still relies on US security guarantees.

In a test of Trump´s transactional approach to diplomacy, Abe floated the idea of building a Japanese-designed high-speed rail link that could take Trump between the White House and Trump Tower in New York in an hour.

Early Friday, Abe told business leaders that US-Japanese commerce had been "win-win" and highlighted the hundreds of thousands of American jobs created by Japanese investments.

Most budget cars sold by Toyota and Honda are "produced in US factories by American workers," he said, noting that US investments by Japanese firms total $411 billion, generating 840,000 jobs.

´Asia in turmoil´
Trump has cast himself as a change agent willing to rip up existing agreements and relationships to put "America first."

While his defense secretary had traveled to Japan to send reassuring messages about the durability of the relationship, until now Trump has showed little inclination to play nice.

Inside the White House, foreign policy is sometimes treated as little more than a tool to frame Trump´s image at home.

"The Trump administration has sent mixed signals about the relationship thus far," said Michael Green of the Center for International and Strategic Studies.

"For Abe, a strong relationship with the United States is critical given the threat from North Korea´s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs and China´s rise."

On the issue of China, however, Abe and Trump may find common cause.

Tokyo was often concerned about president Barack Obama´s willingness to work with Beijing. Trump is expected to take a tougher line.

"We will work together to promote our shared interests, of which we have many, in the region, including freedom from navigation and defending against the North Korean missile and nuclear threat, both of which I consider a very, very high priority," Trump said

Donald Trump's travel ban faces a fresh legal challenge, a day after it suffered an appeals court setback.
Lawyers for the state of Virginia are arguing in a federal court there is "overwhelming evidence" the policy "resulted from animus toward Muslims".
On Thursday, an appeals court said the Trump administration failed to offer "any evidence" to justify the measure.
But the seven-nation ban has not been struck down; it is just in limbo while courts debate its legality.
What's this Virginia case?
It is one of a dozen lawsuits now moving through the US court system against the Trump administration's policy.
A federal court in the Washington DC suburb of Alexandria is holding a hearing on a request for a preliminary injunction on aspects of the ban.
The case is being brought on behalf of travellers detained at Dulles International Airport, or denied entry after the ban went into effect.
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Media captionHow travel ban prompted a heartfelt act of kindness
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring's spokesman said it would be "the most in-depth examination of the merits of the arguments against the ban".
The challenge focuses on the travel restrictions imposed by the ban, rather than the four-month suspension of refugee admissions.

Virginia says the state, its residents and its public universities are harmed by the policy.
But lawyers for the US government wrote that Virginia did not have the right to challenge it.
"Judicial second-guessing" of the president's steps to safeguard national security amount to "an impermissible intrusion" on his constitutional authority, they wrote.
The case will be heard by Judge Leonie Brinkema, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993.
What happened on Thursday?
The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals said it would not block a ruling by a Seattle court a week ago that halted Mr Trump's 27 January executive order.
The San Francisco-based court's three judges unanimously agreed that the government had not proved that any terror threat justified reviving the ban.

It means visa holders from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen can continue to enter the US, and refugees from around the world, who were also subject to a temporary ban, are no longer blocked either.
But the ruling does not affect one part of Mr Trump's controversial executive order: a cap of 50,000 refugees to be admitted in the current fiscal year, down from the ceiling of 110,000 established under Barack Obama.

What appeals court ruling means - by Anthony Zurcher, BBC News, Washington
Donald Trump's lawyers did not make their case. In fact, according to three 9th Circuit judges, they did not even really try to make their case. Rather than explaining why the temporary travel ban was needed, the administration argued that the president's authority on immigration was so sweeping that they did not have to explain why the order was necessary.
According to the court, the government was unable to say why Mr Trump's ban addressed a pressing national security threat that a temporary stay of the order would worsen. The lawyers for the challenging states, on the other hand, convinced the judges that re-imposing the order at this point would create further chaos by infringing on the due process rights of those on US soil, regardless of their immigration status.
By issuing a unanimous, unsigned opinion, the judges avoid accusations of partisan bias, as one of the three was a Republican appointee.
Mr Trump tweeted a sharp "SEE YOU IN COURT" following the decision - but which court? An appeal to the Supreme Court seems likely, although a better move for the president may be to fight in the lower court until Judge Neil Gorsuch joins the top court, establishing a conser

Thousands of supporters filled the streets outside a court in Barcelona on Monday as the former Catalan president Artur Mas went on trial.

He is accused of involvement in the Spanish region's unofficial vote on independence in November 2014.

Mr Mas is accused of serious civil disobedience after the vote went ahead in defiance of Spain's constitutional court.

Prosecutors are calling for him to be disqualified from office for ten years.

It is the first time that a leader of the Catalan government has gone on trial. Artur Mas is going on trial with two former associates. The case is being used by pro-independence supporters to galvanise their campaign, and the current government has promised to hold a new vote in September.

Will Catalonia try to secede this year?

The 9 November 2014 vote, which was not binding, went ahead despite fierce opposition by the Spanish government.

Catalan officials say more than 80% of those who voted backed independence, however only two million voters out of an estimated 5.4 million eligible took part.

Catalonia is one of Spain's richest and most highly-industrialised regions, and also one of the most independent-minded.

With a distinct history stretching back to the early Middle Ages, many Catalans think of themselves as a separate nation from the rest of Spain.

No fewer than nine persons have been reportedly killed in a renewed communal clash between Azuofida-Edda and Ogurude communities of Ebonyi and Cross River states respectively.

The boundary dispute, which started last month, has claimed over 20 lives, with properties worth millions of naira destroyed.

General Officer Commanding (GOC) 82 Division, Maj. Gen Adamu Abubarkar, who visited the warring communities, urged the aggrieved citizens to embrace peace.

Speaking at a meeting with traditional rulers and youths, the army boss pointed out the repercussion of allowing youths take laws into their hands and the necessity for forgiveness and peaceful coexistence.

He urged the traditional leaders, youths and elders of the communities to pardon one another and allow peace to reign, pending when the relevant authorities will conclude investigation into the matter and proffer solution.

“As humans, we must refrain from revenge, acting in anger and wanton destruction. This will certainly not bring solution to any problem, but will rather compound it. It appears these brotherly communities are now victims of this cyclical danger of violence and destruction,” General Abubakar said.

He told the traditional rulers that soldiers and policemen drafted in their communities would maintain and, where necessary, enforce peace and should be given all the cooperation.

Addressing the GOC, the traditional rulers revealed that over nine persons have been killed just last week in the melee.

The pound fell today after the Supreme Court delivered its landmark ruling on Brexit. 

Currency experts blamed the 'volatile' reaction on the unanimous decision by Supreme Court judges not to grant the devolved assemblies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland a chance to block Theresa May triggering Article 50.

Supreme Court judges ruled that the Government must consult MPs before starting the process of leaving the EU but unanimously rejected an accompanying case that demanded the devolved administrations should also be given a veto on Brexit.  

David Cheetham, XT market analyst, said: 'The pound has come under some selling pressure in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling, largely due to the fact that the Government doesn't have to consult the Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish assemblies before triggering Article 50. 

It's President Donald Trump's first official act on the abortion issue. On Monday, the new president signed a presidential memorandum reinstating the "Mexico City" policy — barring U.S. aid from any group that provides or "promotes" abortion overseas. The policy dates to 1984, when Ronald Reagan unveiled it at a United Nations Conference in Mexico City. The Trump version is even broader than the incarnations that previous Republican presidents have adopted.

What does this mean in practice? To help make sense of it we've put together an FAQ.

What were the rules on the U.S. funding of international abortion before Trump's executive action?

U.S. law has actually long prohibited the use of U.S. aid dollars to directly pay for abortions overseas.

Specifically, in 1973 — in reaction to the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wadedecision legalizing abortion — Congress adopted the so-called Helms Amendment to the law governing U.S. aid. That provision states that "no foreign assistance funds may be used to pay for the performance of abortion as a method of family planning or to motivate or coerce any person to practice abortions."

A foreign government or aid group that gets U.S. funding can still provide abortions overseas. But to do so it would have to use money from non-U.S.-government sources.

So what, exactly, is the Mexico City policy?

The policy, as first implemented by Reagan, went further than the Helms Amendment in two key ways:

First, it holds that if a group wants U.S. funding it must promise not to use monies even from other sources to provide abortions.

Second, the group must also agree not to "actively promote" abortion. In practice this has covered not just advocating for laws in favor of abortion rights but informational activities such as providing patients with referrals, counseling or information about the procedure.

In contrast to the Helms Amendment, the Mexico City policy does not apply to foreign governments, only to nongovernmental groups that work overseas. So a government-sponsored medical center could be eligible for U.S. funding even if it were to provide or "actively promote" abortion.

Since Reagan introduced the policy, every time the U.S. presidency has changed party hands, the incoming leader has reversed his predecessor's position.

In what way is President Trump's version of the policy possibly more expansive?

The original version was specifically limited to family planning aid disbursed by USAID. Trump's memorandum calls for extending the rules to "global health assistance furnished by all departments or agencies."

How much aid money is at stake?

As of this writing, the full implications are not clear. The U.S. spends more than $10 billion annually on global health — including $607.5 million specifically on reproductive health. And it remains to be seen how much of that goes to groups that currently provide or promote abortion as defined by the policy — and that would opt to give up U.S. aid dollars rather than falling in line.

But opponents of the policy are already warning that many groups will be forced to give up their funding. Adrienne Lee, a spokeswoman for abortion rights advocacy group PAI, says there would be "devastating" consequences for the impoverished women for whom these groups provide a whole range of health services, including many unrelated to abortion, such as access to contraception.

If the consequences to the people they serve are so severe, why wouldn't these groups just agree to the terms of the policy and keep their funding?

Here's what Allison Marshall, director of advocacy for International Planned Parenthood, one of the largest recipients of U.S. reproductive health aid, has told NPR. She says that even though the group stands to lose about $100 million over a two- to three-year period, complying with the policy would compromise the care it can offer.

"We'd have to stop telling women and girls when they came into our clinic what their options are," she says. "And we can't do that."

What do supporters of the policy say?

Anti-abortion groups like the Family Research Council and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops argue that aid organizations that are willing to comply with the policy will spring up to fill any gaps that result. And they say the policy is needed to ensure that U.S. taxpayers are not supporting abortions overseas. Arina Grossu of the Family Research Council says, "There's a fungibility factor. The only way to protect taxpayer money from going for abortion is by reinstating the Mexico City policy."

The 9.2 trillion won ($7.2bn; £5.8bn) quarterly profit is the South Korean firm's highest since 2013.

In October, the smartphone maker had to scrap the Note 7, after recalling 2.5 million handsets.Batteries were blamed for phones catching fire.

Samsung has also been embroiled in a corruption scandal, threatening its reputation, so how has it done so well?

It's not just about phones

Recalling and then ultimately killing off the Note 7, is thought to have cost Samsung $5.3bn (£4.3bn), a sum that would have made the firm's profits far bigger.

But while it is the world's biggest smartphone maker, phones are not its only business. It is also well known for its flat screen televisions and that side of things is doing well.

But the real jewel in the crown has been its semiconductor business which makes the chips for phones and servers.

Memory chip prices are rising sharply as demand grows, primarily from phone makers and Samsung is the biggest maker of the chips, ahead of rivals like Toshiba.

Customers seem unfazed

Despite the YouTube videos of burning phones, the drip-drip of negative stories and the internet memes, Samsung does not seem to have been as tarnished anywhere near as badly as you might expect.

A Reuters/IPOS study in the aftermath of the scandal found Samsung users in the US remained as loyal to their brand as Apple users were to their iPhones.

Because the problem was identified shortly after the Note 7 was released the recall was mostly limited to early adopters, and this limited the negative experiences, said Jan Dawson of Jackdaw Research.

"Your own personal experience trumps what you read and what people tell you," Dawson at the time of the Reuters/Ipsos poll.

And Samsung has said that after its recall, most customers chose to replace their Note 7 with a different Samsung handset - including the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge - rather than getting the money back.

Our correspondents in South Korea say that a major corporate scandal - which led to a court being asked to issue an arrest warrant for the firm's heir apparent over bribery allegations - did not seem to have tarnished the corporation's reputation at home dramatically either.

However, while the arrest request was turned down, Samsung remains embroiled in the case and the firm has acknowledged the "changing political landscape in Korea" could have some longer term impact on the business. So future results will be watched closely.

Currency benefit

Not a particularly glamorous explanation but the strong dollar has also been a benefit to Samsung.

The won's value against the US currency has fallen, meaning that when sales from overseas are brought back to South Korea they are worth more.

It's something all South Korean exporters have benefited from recently.

Of course currency fluctuations work both ways, and the strong dollar means that any dollar-denominated debt is more expensive.

No fewer than 11 million survivors of the destructive Boko Haram insurgents are in desperate need of humanitarian aids.

Mr Toby Lanzer, the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel, said this while Spotlighting the desperate plight of millions in Africa’s Lake Chad basin.

The top United Nations humanitarian official for the Sahel region also called for international solidarity with the people in urgent need.

Lanzer told UN Correspondents at the UN Headquarters in New York that the Boko Haram crisis did monumental destruction to the Lake Chad basin countries, which include Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria.

The UN emergency official regretted that the condition of the victims of the insurgents was dire adding,
“I wish I had good news, but I don’t”.

“About 11 million people are in desperate need of humanitarian aid, 7.1 million of them are severely food insecure.

“To say “food insecure”, according to World Food Programme, is that they are living on the edge, surviving on, if they can, one meal a day,” he said.

Lanzer added that among the situation of children is particularly worrying.

“Some 515,000 children are severely and acutely malnourished and their lives are at risk if aid does not reach them urgently.

“No government on earth can do what it takes to confront these numbers of severe food insecurity.

“This is a clear case where international solidarity with the governments of the region is needed,” he stressed.

According to him, the Sahel region already has about 2.5 million internally displaced persons (IDP).

Lanzer said improving security situation in the Lake Chad Basin region had revealed the depth of the humanitarian suffering of survivors of the destructive insurgent group.

“The scale of humanitarian suffering in the region has become increasingly evident with improving security situation as a result of the military campaign against Boko Haram.

“This has allowed humanitarian actors to reach many places which were impossible to get to earlier due to insecurity.”

Lanzer regretted that following the improved security situation, he personally saw communities that were totally destroyed by Boko Haram insurgency during the period it held sway.

He also lamented over a situation whereby some communities saw some age-grades completely wiped out, particularly the aged and infants as a result of the years-long insurgency.

“We saw towns and villages that were totally destroyed.

“Places that were completely cut off for over three years and places devoid of two, three and four- year olds because they have died,” Lanzer said. (NAN)