Russia is set to ink a massive Chinese oil deal and to take over Armenia's natural gas industry.

1. U.S. human trafficking report singles out two post-Soviet states

Russia and Uzbekistan are among the world’s “worst of the worst” human trafficking offenders, according to the U.S. Department of State.

In its Trafficking in Persons Report 2013, the State Department downgraded the post-Soviet states to its Tier 3 list of countries that neither comply with minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking nor are trying to do so. The U.S. government might withhold foreign aid to these and other basket-case countries as a result.

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Russia and China have reacted angrily after the US downgraded them in a report on efforts to fight human trafficking.

 
Russia spoke of its "indignation". A Chinese official called the report an example of an "arbitrary judgement".
The annual US Department of State report relegated Russia and China into its lowest category, which also includes Iran and North Korea.
Uzbekistan also fell to Tier 3 in the report, published on Wednesday.
The 21 countries in Tier 3 may face sanctions in areas including cultural and education programmes, and the US could withdraw its support for loans from the World Bank or International Monetary Fund.

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US President Barack Obama used a speech in Berlin to call on Russia to revive the push for a world without nuclear weapons

US President Barack Obama used a speech in Berlin to call on Russia to revive the push for a world without nuclear weapons, offering to cut deployed nuclear arsenals by a third, but Moscow immediately poured scorn on his proposal.
Speaking in Berlin where US Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan gave rousing Cold-War speeches, Obama urged Russia to help build on the "New START" treaty that requires Moscow and Washington to cut stockpiles of deployed nuclear weapons to 1,550 each by 2018.

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Results from Iranian presidential election start to trickle in.

-- The lines extended into the street at times, voters waiting to pick their choice to succeed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Some 70% of some 50 million registered voters -- men and women, young and old -- turned out according to state broadcaster Press TV, to pick a man who'll deal with high-stakes challenges domestically and internationally.

And now the results are starting to trickle in.

Based on two sets of still very early results, centrist candidate Hassan Rouhani had more votes than any other candidate, Interior Ministry officials said early Saturday.

As of about 7:15 a.m. Saturday (10:45 p.m. ET Friday), Rouhani had 834,859 votes; Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf had 320,562; Saeed Jalili had 257,822; Mohsen Rezaei had 214,368; Ali-Akbar Velayati had 106,144; and Mohammad Gharazi had 25,324.

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-- Former South African leader Nelson Mandela remained in intensive care Monday

-- Former South African leader Nelson Mandela remained in intensive care Monday, two days after he was hospitalized with a recurring lung infection.

The increasingly frail Mandela was rushed to a hospital in Pretoria on Saturday. Later in the day, the South African president's office said the 94-year-old former leader was in a "serious but stable condition."

He was breathing on his own and his wife was by his side, the office said at the time.

After offering no updates for 48 hours, the government said Monday that Mandela's condition was "unchanged."

Meanwhile, his daughter Zenani Dlamini, who is the South African ambassador to Argentina, has flown back to South Africa to be with her father.

Mandela has been in and out of hospitals in recent years.

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Between Inordinate Ambition And Good Governance

“He that seeks to be great by all means seeks the path of self-destruction”
It is no longer news that inordinate ambition, narrow-mindedness and greed have been the causes of insecurity, mindless corruption, poor or bad governance, all culminating in poverty, mediocrity, underdevelopment and conflicts in many African countries.

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president jonathan state of emergency declaration The rivalry between the North and Niger Delta

The rivalry between the North and Niger Delta campaigners for President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election in 2015 became deeper yesterday when Farouk Adamu Aliyu, a former House of Representatives member, boasted that the Northeners will remove the President through their powerful voting strength and not by using guns.

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I’ll seek re-election for NGF seat —Amaechi

Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi
| credits: File copy

Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has said he will seek a second term in office as the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum.

Amaechi said he would take part in the forthcoming NGF election, not minding if he would lose or win at the end of the day.

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I ’ve forgiven Peter Obi – Umeh

Chief Victor Umeh

National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Chief Victor Umeh, says he has forgiven all the “dissidents that had a hand in the crises that nearly tore the party apart in recent time”.

Umeh stated this in Ogidi, Anambra State during the party’s South-East stakeholders’ meeting.

The APGA chief, who recalled the party’s history and fortune, said he harboured no malice towards anyone, including Governor Peter Obi and his uncle, Chief Sylvester Nwobu-Alor that spearheaded the move to remove him from office.

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Anarchy In Rivers State: Speaker Amachree Alleges Plan To Kill Governor Amaechi

Gov. Rotimi Amachi

By SaharaReporters, New York

There are strong indications that the Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, legislators and prominent government officials in Rivers State may be assassinated, the Speaker of the House of Assembly said today, pleading for the removal of the Commissioner of Police, Mbu Joseph Mbu.
Making the allegation in an open letter sent to President Goodluck Jonathan, Otelemaba Dan Amachree said that the situation in Rivers State has reached a fever-pitch, disclosing that the assassination scheme follows a series of reported nocturnal meetings held in a neighboring State and Abuja.

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World Bank expresses shock as Nigeria shuns $450m PPP facility

AS the Federal Government struggles to manage its wide budgetary deficits owing to dwindling revenue, top functionaries in Ministries, Departments and Agencies ( MDAs)  have rejected offers of alternative financing  for infrastructural projects from the World Bank through any form of Public, Private Partnership (PPP).

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Lawmakers allege plot to kill Amaechi, others

• Want President to intervene, stop removal of security aides
• Council secretariat set ablaze, protesters seek CP’s removal
• EFCC may probe gov, dispute over aircraft ownership persists
• Helicopters’ firm accuses Rivers of forging plane’s documents
FROM being only a thorny political issue, the crisis in Rivers State is moving fast to take a tragic character.
This was the alarm raised Tuesday by Rivers State lawmakers who petitioned President Goodluck Jonathan to intervene in the crisis.
They alleged that Governor Chibuike Amaechi, state legislators and other prominent government officials have been marked for assassination.

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Govt orders DISCOs to supply meters to customers

WORRIED by the disharmony in the state of meters supply to electricity consumers in the country, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has ordered distribution companies (DISCOs) in the country to commence immediate supply of meters to those who had previously made payments
The Commission has also signed an order mandating the distribution companies to supply meters paid for by customers dating back to January 2011.

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Constitutional provisions for state of emergency declaration

THE 1999 Constitution (with Amendments in 2011) lays out the reason(s) for and the processes of declaring a state of emergency in the entire country or part thereof.
This is contained in Section 305 under the Miscellaneous Provisions.
Section 305(1) states that:
“Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the President may by instrument, published in the Official Gazette of the Government of the Federation, issue a Proclamation of a state of emergency in the Federation or any part thereof.\

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Pupils escape drowning in Lagos flood

The timely arrival of emergency workers on Tuesday afternoon saved hundreds of pupil of Ogba Primary School from being drowned.
Some of the primary school pupils, however, sustained varying degrees of minor injuries and were treated by the Lagos State Ambulance Service.
Many people were injured as many  parts of Agege and Ogba were, on Tuesday afternoon, flooded as a result of the mid-day downpour in the Lagos communities.

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How World Bank seeks to raise human capital ind ex in developing countries

Fiscal policy, equity and long-term growth in developing countries were the major focus of this year’s spring meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). BUKKY OLAJIDE was there.
THE key standing committee of the World Bank Group have identified with the vision of the president, which seeks to reduce poverty massively among the population of people living on $1.25 per day in the developing nations of the world by at least by three per cent between now and year 2030.
Participants at this year’s Spring Meetings of the World Bank and IMF, equally outlined an ambitious agenda in this regard, suggesting a two-pronged approach to tackling the menace.
To them, the first step should be promotion of shared prosperity by fostering income growth of the bottom 40 percent of the population in every country. The second goal, implies sharing prosperity across generations, and that calls for bold action on climate change.

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Uganda loses revenue due to exporting raw tea

KAMPALA/LONDON

Efforts by East African countries to grow its tea industry continue to suffer setbacks due to limited capacity for value addition, industry players have said.

Uganda Tea Cooperation general manager Rogers Siima told the Daily Monitor in an interview that although they would have wanted to export finished products to European markets, players are still constrained by huge capital requirements and strict European standards.

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NITP Supports Demolition Of Unapproved Structures

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The Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) has thrown its weight behind the Development Control Department’s efforts to rid the city of illegal and unapproved structures.
This was made known by the national president of the institute, Chief Steven Onu, during a working visit to the headquarters of the Abuja Metropolitan Manangement Council (AMMC).
Onu commended the council for its efforts to contain the activities of overzealous developers, most of who flout the town planning laws of the country with impunity, saying, “The city of Abuja cannot be developed on sentiments where developers will flagrantly flout laws and turn around to appeal for sympathy.
“I have gone through the attacks on your department by developers. Some of the attacks are misguided and misinformed while some are just appealing to emotions and not to reason. My observation is that most of the developers will do anything to breach the law and when the long arm of the law gets them, they will turn around and blame town planners.”
The NITP boss assured the council that the institute will defend the actions of the department from unnecessary attacks by overzealous developers whose structures were removed on account of unlawful and unauthorised developments.
In his remarks, the AMMC Coordinator, Arch. Reuben Okoya, applauded the institute for its show of solidarity, saying developers are becoming daring.
Okoya said, “We thank you for your show of solidarity at a time like this when illegal developers are becoming daring and confrontational in their nefarious activities.”
The Head of Public Relations of the council, Mr. Ifeanyi Ughammadu, in a statement, quoted Okoya to have assured the institute that the council will not abandon its mandate of ridding the FCT of illegal structures even as he appealed to developers to obey the laws and follow due process before embarking on any development in the territory.

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Househelp Forges Employer’s Signature, Blames Devil

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A 21-year old househelp, Elizabeth Linus, who is standing trial for allegedly forging the signature of her employer, has blamed her action on the devil.

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Jonathan’s Dilemma: Between International Engagements And Security Challenges

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Last week, following the colossal killings of security personnel and other innocent Nigerians by insurgents, President Goodluck Jonathan ran back from South Africa where he was rounding up an official visit to proceed to Namibia for another state visit. In this report, GEORGE AGBA examines what may have prompted the president’s decision and the resultant effect.

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