French FM warns that attack on Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities would allow Iran to cast itself as victim
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius warned on Monday that an Israeli strike on Iran‘s nuclear facilities would backfire, the DPA news agency reported.
“I’m absolutely hostile to Iran having nuclear weapons but I think that if there were an Israeli attack, unfortunately it could come back to haunt Israel by (allowing) Iran to cast itself as a victim,” Fabius, was quoted as saying. The minister made the remarks in an interview with France’s BFM TV.
“We’re saying we should increase sanctions and, at the same time, continue negotiating with Iran to make it give in,” he said.
The United Nations, US and European Union have imposed a series of sanctions on Iran over its uranium enrichment program.
‘Sanctions starting to take effect.’ Fabius (Photo: Reuters)
According to the report, Fabius said the sanctions, which were expanded in July to include an EU oil embargo, were “starting to be effective”. He did not expand on what any forthcoming sanctions, saying only: “We are studying all formats.”
Clear red line Fabius’ comments echoed remarks made recently by US officials, who appear to be making efforts to deter Israel from employing the military option.
Last week Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey reiterated his stance that the IDF cannot stop Iran’s atom aspirations, saying that “I don’t want to be complicit if they (Israel) choose to do it.”
Two weeks ago, the US general stressed that an Israeli attack could only delay the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
On Monday, Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the US indirectly informed Iran, via two European nations, that it would not back an Israeli military operation against the country as long as Tehran refrains from attacking American interests in the Persian Gulf.
The White House adamantly denied the report.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met with American and Israeli war veterans on Monday, said that the “cruel regime” in Iran is forging ahead with its nuclear program because it cannot see “a clear red line.” He urged the international community to show its determination against the Islamic Republic’s nuclearization in order to minimize the risk of conflict.
Earlier Monday, Iran’s air defense commander, Farzad Esmaili, said that his country has completed roughly 30% of a missile defense system that is meant as an alternative to the Russian S-300 system, which Moscow refused to sell Tehran. He said the system is slated to be completed by next year.
Bauchi State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Sani Abubakar Malami (in suit) presenting the sum of 22,000 US Dollars for kidney transplant to Abubakar Buba whose two kidneys were removed at a private clinic in Bauchi.
Bauchi State Government yesterday fulfilled its pledge of the sum of $22,000 for transplant in India of 25 year old Buba Abubakar Ahmadu whose two kidneys were removed at a private clinic in Bauchi recently.
Presenting the donation to the patient who is currently undergoing dialysis at the Rheina Centre of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital, the Commissioner of Health in Bauchi State, Dr. Sani Abubakar Malami disclosed that the gesture was a demonstration of the readiness of the government to take adequate care of its people.
While receiving the donation, aged father of the patient thanked the state government for the gesture commending particularly the State Governor, Isa Yuguda for the donation saying that this will go a long way to making his son well again.
An emotionally driven Abubakar Ahmadu said, “this is my only son, please help me so that he will not die, God will reward Isa Yuguda and all those who have contributed to the well being of my son”.
The Commissioner explained that the money is meant for the transplant of two kidneys on the patient in India pointing out that the amount is to care of the medical expenses while in India for the transplant adding that already some people have indicated their readiness to donate kidneys to the patient.
He added that all those who are prepared to donate their kidneys will be screened in a Hospital outside the country after which if their systems match that of Abubakar Buba arrangements will be made to fly them to India for the transplant immediately.
While receiving the donation through his father, Buba Abubakar Ahmadu who spoke in Hausa thanked the state government for coming to his aid saying that the gesture of government since the incidence happened has demonstrated that it is a listening government that has the wellbeing of its people at heart.
Also speaking the father, aged Abubakar Ahmadu who sobs throughout the brief ceremony commended the Isa Yuguda led administration for intervening in the plight of his son saying, “he is my only son please help me so that he will not die.”
The attention of All Progressive Ground Alliance has been drawn to a
reckless comment credited to the Special Adviser to the President of
the Federal Government of Nigeria on Political Matters calling for the
impeachment of the duly elected governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas
Anayo Okorocha.
Finally, the statement credited to Ikedi Ohakim and others that they
have the backing of the Presidency to remove Governor Okorocha has
been further strengthened by Ahmed Guliak’s widely reported statement.
It should also be noted that the State PDP Chairman had earlier
revealed that Ikedi Ohakim and others declared that they contributed
N25 billion to the PDP for the Presidential campaign. The PDP
official also boasted to have used their connections within the
presidency to influence the police to assist the former chairmen to
invade and take over the LGA’s by force.
Imolites hereby call on President Goodluck Jonathan to call Ahmed
Guliak to order and sanction him for bringing the office of President
into disrepute if indeed he is not playing out a script authored
within the presidency. For the avoidance of doubt, the former local
government chairmen had sought but failed to get term elongation
through a high court in Imo State. The process was purely a judicial
matter. Governor Okorocha had in obedience to a court order recalled
the chairmen before their terms expired on August 8, 2012. As a high
government official Ahmed Guliak should guard his comments and
utterances.
Contrary to speculation, the device discovered at the entrance to the office of the Head of Service in Asaba, Delta State, was not a bomb or an explosive device but an object created to scare people away.
The State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan who disclosed this yesterday while reacting to a reported bomb scare in Asaba, said it was a fetish-like object made to look like a bomb to scare people.
He said it was not a bomb, explaining that when the police bomb disposal unit checked it there was nothing in the object that can detonate.
His words “What was found by police bomb disposal unit was not a bomb. It was just something put together like a fetish thing that did not have the component of a bomb. Maybe a native doctor tied a few things together to scare people”.
The Governor explained that the bomb scare was made by mischief makers who have the intention of blackmailing the government, stressing that it was something put together like a fetish thing that did not have the components of a bomb.
However, he said that the government and the security agencies in particular were on alert to ensure that criminal-minded persons do not capitalize on the development to cause havoc in the state.
The governor assured Deltans that his administration will continue to protect lives and property even as he explained that security operatives were carrying out surveillance in the state and will nip any security threat in the bud.
Also speaking, the Commissioner of Police Ikechukwu Aduba confirmed that the device was not a bomb and would not have exploded saying: “it is neither a bomb nor explosive”.
He observed that the watch on the device was not timed and connected. He advised Deltans to be security conscious and report any strange object or persons in their vicinity to the police.
Following the commencement of legal action in the Federal High Court Awka by our party, against on Mr. VICTOR JIDEOFO OKOYE, who currently occupies the seat of the Anambra West State Constituency in the Anambra State House of Assembly, we formally draw the attention of the general public to this judicial action and invite them to be wary of the guile encased in the sleek steps of this turncoat lawmaker.
Our attention has also been drawn to the proposal by the Mr. Okoye to hold a meeting with selected members of the Action Congress of Nigeria in Anambra West local government Area, with the active connivance of some former members of our party.
The state Executive e of the party has full and comprehensive information on the proposed schedule, particulars and invitees to the meeting, a preparatory one having taken place in Asaba Delta State recently with nine persons in attendance, and hereby sternly warns members to discountenance any such invitation as honoring it would be treated as anti-party activities.
It is needless to remind our membership at all levels in the country who have been appropriately informed through the right channels, as well as the general public that our great party has initiated a judicial action against Mr. Victor Jideofo Okoye, being, in the time being, an unlawful custodian of a sacred mandate conferred on the ACN to represent the Anambra West State Constituency in the Anambra State House of Assembly. Mr. Okoye, ostensibly lured with filthy lucre, defected to APGA, without resigning his seat in the house moments after he was sworn in on the platform of our party.
Our party had before proceeding to the Federal High Court in Awka where the action against the lawmaker and one Mrs. Rita Maduagwuna, who also defected with the mandate of the voters in Nnewi South 1 constituency issued a mandatory 21-day ultimatum to the State House of Assembly to declare the affected seats vacant, a demand which was not complied with.
We state for the understanding of the general public that ACN sees its current litigation against these two turncoat lawmakers as an opportunity to further deepen the tenets of democracy in Anambra State, by protecting the sanctity of the ballot box and moderating the destructive influence of nomadic politicians in the body politic of Anambra State.
Hence our great party sees the battle as that which must be fought to the victory at the very end. Those who for one reason or another are unable to align with the position of the party are at liberty to exercise their right of choice, but would not be allowed to play the role of the squirrel in the maize field.
We take this chance to assure the peoples of Anambra West and Nnewi South 1 Constituencies that the ACN struggle is their struggle and they jointly and severally stand to benefit more with the victory ahead, as the issue as stake is their right to be taken seriously when they speak with their vote, as expressed through the ballot box.
Thee police in Anambra State on Tuesday announced the discovery of a large cache of arms in the hideout of a suspected criminal gang in Oraifite, Ekwusigo Local Government Area of the state.The Commissioner of Police, Anambra State Command, Ballah Nasarawa, told reporters in Awka, the state capital that the seizure included 14,425 rounds of ammunition; 27 AK47 rifles; one K2 rifle; two 06 rifles; one General Purpose Machine gun; one rocket launcher; 17 rockets; 13 rocket grenades; six pump action guns; three dane guns; and a Berretta pistol.The CP said, “With these, they can defeat a small army.”
He said the seizure was made by the Inspector-General of Police Special Task Force on Heinous Crime and the state anti-robbery squad.
He said the arms were hidden in an armoury dug in the ground around a ramshackle structure in Ifite Oraifite, adding that two suspects had been arrested in connection with the discovery.
Abia State governor, Chief Theodore Orji has denied rumours making the rounds that he was duped of huge sums of money while trying to purchase a ship describing a rumour as a figment of the imagination of the peddlers.
The governor who said this while addressing journalists in Umuahia on his return from vacation abroad maintained that he is not in the state to acquire the whole world.
”If you buy a ship free of charge for me I would reject it. I’m not a businessman. You need to know the type of governor you have,” Orji said.
According to him, people, he said, still suffer from hallucination of the past.
He promised Abians harvest of projects until he leaves office in 2015.
Recall that the rumours have been rife in the last two weeks that the governor lost billions of money in foreign currency to some con men over a transaction involving the purchase of a ship.
An aide to Orji who preferred anonymity said the rumours are being spread by those who do not wish the governor. “This is the handwork of the governor’s opponents. It did not start today, we are used to it, from to time to time, they will fabricate one story or other to get at time but the man is not moved.
“The governor went on vacation, the rumours are unfounded. No sane person should take them serious,” he concluded.
[Steering clear of political combat, she uses pop culture and entertainment media to her own and her husband’s advantage]
WASHINGTON — Four years ago, the Obama campaign was strategizing about how to present Michelle Obama to the country with her prime-time speech at the Democratic National Convention. Today, the A-lister needs no introduction.
If you missed her on David Letterman last week, you can catch her on television soon with Rachael Ray and Dr. Oz. If you have kids, you know her from the Nickelodeon channel — iCarly, anyone? If you’re a reality TV fan, you caught her doing squats on “The Biggest Loser” or judging contestants on Bravo’s “Top Chef.” If you cook, you saw her on Epicurious.com.
She blogs. She tweets. She posts recipes on Pinterest.
Each president’s wife is given the challenge and luxury of making a name for herself in an undefined, unelected position. It took Michelle Obama little time to settle into her role: first celebrity. Her life is not an open book, though. She picks and chooses among interviewers in risk-averse settings and steers clear of Washington’s hand-to-hand political combat.
While Barack Obama was knocked by opponents for soaring to star status in 2008, it’s Michelle Obama who has embraced pop culture and entertainment media, using it to her own and her husband’s advantage.
She just finished a stint as a guest editor on iVillage, a website for women, whose votes could tilt the election. Obama confessed her weakness (potato chips), explained why the president quit smoking (their daughters) and ventured an opinion on why the erotic novel “Fifty Shades of Grey” caught fire with women (she hasn’t read it, she said, but members of her staff have).
“She’s the first fashionista, the mom in chief, the first gardener, the cool aunt — she’s Oprah with good arms,” said Robert Watson, an expert in first ladies at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla. “I don’t know if it’s rebranding or we’re finally getting the real Michelle. Whatever it is, it’s very effective.”
A Gallup poll taken in May found 66% of those asked had a favorable opinion of Michelle Obama. That’s down from 72% early in the Obama presidency, but far higher than the 43% in June 2008, before the last Democratic convention, when Obama was in need of an image recovery. (Critics had cast her as an angry and radical woman, fueled in part by when referring to her husband’s campaign she said, “For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country.”)
The 48-year-old, Harvard-educated lawyer is hardly pure pop, though. In each breezy chat on the couch, she evangelizes about her causes: getting kids fit, gardening and supporting military families. Her work has been dogged and strategic, with some heralding her anti-obesity initiative, “Let’s Move,” as one of the most successful crusades by a recent first lady.
Once a reluctant trail warrior, the first lady has emerged a campaign powerhouse. She has hit 77 fundraisers, an average of five a month, since May 2011, and in recent months knocked off 24 political rallies in battleground states. Her events draw crowds of thousands. Her stump speech is a politically shrewd testimony to the middle-class roots she shares with her husband, drawing a clear, though unspoken, contrast with Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
“I’ve been able to see up close and personal what being president really looks like, you know?” Michelle Obama said at a rally last month in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “But let me tell you something — at the end of the day, when it comes time to make that decision, as president, truly, all you have to guide you are your life experiences. You understand me?”
A day later in Milwaukee, she told a delirious crowd that the president had the backs of American workers. People who work hard, do well and walk through the “door of opportunity” shouldn’t slam it shut behind them, she said. “You reach back,” she said, “and you give folks the same opportunities you had to get ahead.”
Michelle Obama will hit similar themes Tuesday night in her convention speech in Charlotte, N.C., aides said.
Top Obama strategist David Axelrod called the first lady the campaign’s “No. 1 surrogate” and noted: “It isn’t that she’s terribly political. One of the appeals is she’s not. She speaks in an idiom that middle-class families across the country understand.”
But there’s no doubt the Michelle Obama profile is a matter of personality — and politics — within a White House that uses nontraditional channels to communicate its message. She declined a request to be interviewed for this article. “The first lady is not going to do any interviews with political reporters,” said Olivia Alair, a campaign press secretary.
The first lady often seeks unfiltered ways to reach her targeted constituencies: women, young people, African Americans and Latinos.
She’s praised Beyoncé, and the campaign turned the diva’s fan letter to Michelle Obama into a Web video. She has appeared on dozens of magazine covers, from AARP to Vogue. Ellen DeGeneres goaded her into a televised push-up challenge, which the talk-show hostess lost when Obama pumped out 25.
Michelle Obama is hardly the first presidential spouse to dive into popular or consumer culture. Dolley Madison set the bar for a proper party in the early 1800s. Toward the end of the 19th century, Frances Cleveland’s hairstyle — “the Cleve” — was the rage. Jackie Kennedy’s bouffant hair and pillbox hat were widely copied in the 1960s. And Laura Bush was no stranger to women’s magazines or heart-to-hearts on the couch.
Yet it is hard to imagine the previous first lady assuming the side plank position with contestants of an extreme weight-loss show, or suggesting an erotic novel gives “people permission to explore parts of themselves that maybe felt a bit taboo.”
White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett said Michelle Obama doesn’t agonize over what’s appropriate for a first lady. “She’s not a stereotype,” Jarrett said. “It’s appropriate if she does it — she’s changing the definition of what’s appropriate.”
It doesn’t hurt that the first lady has a knack for talk-show banter. “You have to be a certain type of person to be successful at those things,” said Mark Young, a University of Southern California professor who studies celebrity marketing and the entertainment industry. “She’s self-effacing, funny, comfortable.”
Not everyone is impressed. Her 2010 vacation in Spain with a small entourage cost taxpayers $467,000 for transportation and security, drawing howls. She regularly takes heat from detractors on the right who are quick to cry “nanny state” in response to her healthy foods campaign — or who simply can’t stomach her spouse and his political views.
Even some softer-edge interviews have created a stir. In May, when People magazine asked who she would be if she could be anyone else, Obama’s reply elicited some groans. “If I had some gift, I’d be Beyoncé,” Obama said. “I’d be some great singer.”
When Michelle Obama wants to be a pop star, “how can we expect young black girls who didn’t go to Princeton to aspire to more than that?” wrote author Keli Goff in a column on Loop21.com, a site for news on African American issues.
But such dust-ups haven’t affected Michelle Obama’s penchant for showing up in unexpected places, even to the apparent surprise of some who invite her. In a recent appearance on “Access Hollywood Live” — her third this year — host Billy Bush remarked on her frequent visits and joked that she might be giving the president pause.
“When you get back, do you imagine he’ll say, ‘What’s with you and Billy Bush, this guy?'”
The Action Congress of Nigeria has advised the People’s Democratic Party to banish from its thoughts the hope of ever regaining political control of Offa Local Government Council no matter the level of its political shenanigans, intimidation or hallucination.
In a statement issued in Osogbo on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary Alhaji Lai Mohammed the party urged its members and the entire peace loving but politically sophisticated people of Offa to ignore the empty threats, grandstanding and intimidation of the indolent PDP led government of Kwara State and continue to do what the community for ages has been renowned for- that is trouncing and humiliating at the polls clueless and visionless political parties such as the PDP.
According to the Action Congress of Nigeria only a party with no sense of history like the People’s Democratic Party will dare toy with the collective resolve of the people of Offa in Kwara State. It reminded the People’s Democratic Party that the irrepressible people of Offa had established their progressive, and independent democratic credentials even before some of the present leaders of the People’s Democratic Party were born.
When almost the entire Northern Nigeria was under the strangle hold of the defunct Northern People’s Congress the people of Offa dared to be different. They cast their lot with the defunct Action Group and no amount of political persecution, cajoling or intimidation could change their resolve. It is the sons and daughters of these worthy people mindful of their political heritage and place in history that humiliated the People’s Democratic Party at the last Council elections and will continue to do so, the party elaborated.
The party congratulates the Council Chairman Saheed Popoola for his visionary and purposeful leadership which has made Offa Local Government Council unsurprisingly the only performing, transparent and accountable council administration in the whole of Kwara state and ignore the antics of some political turncoats, discredited and expired politicians who have lost relevance in the community.
While appealing to its supporters to remain calm and law abiding while awaiting the outcome of the appeal the Action Congress of Nigeria warned the People’s Democratic Party to desist from over heating the polity by its reckless statements.
Alhaji Lai Mohammed
National Publicity Secretary
Action Congress of Nigeria
Osogbo, Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Information reaching 247ureports.com indicates that some packages believed/suspected to be explosive devives were discovered at the Head of Service Secretariat in Asaba, the capital of Delta State.
According to early information gathered, the device was discovered by civil servants who had arrived to work in the early morning hours of Tuesday September 4, 2012 at the secretariat – which is located near the Government House. Following the discovery, the workers were reported to have panicked. The atmosphere turned erractic as workers scampered for safety.
According to our source, the police arrived the scene and immediately cordoned off the area. The police bomb unit reportedly collected the suspected devices for disposal -after serious pandemonium. The police, as gathered, has also made an arrest. The gate man to the secretariat was picked up for questioning.
Sources within the State government in talking with 247ureports.com indicated that it was not certain whether the suspected devices were bombs. He noted that it is baffling to understand the reasons why explosives will be placed at the said location. “To achieve what aim”
The police public relations officer, DSP Charles Muka has confirmed devices suspected to be explosive items were found at the secretariat – and that the police bomb unit collected the items for disposal. DSP Muka stated that the situation was still sketchy but that the police AIG was scheduled to visit the Delta State government house this morning.
The governor of Delta state is scheduled to address the press on the incident later this morning.
