Churchill Choken

Update:: A Huawei executive has been charged and detained for allegedly conducting high-level espionage on behalf of a Chinese spy agency in Poland, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported. In a report citing state-owned broadcasting corporation Telewizja Polska as its source, WSJ said Polish authorities have taken action against the sales director of Huawei’s local office in the country, who is a Chinese national. Poland’s counter-intelligence agency reportedly searched the Huawei office, as well as the home of the executive and removed documents and electronic data. A Huawei representative told WSJ: “Huawei is aware of the situation and we are looking into it.” Growing fears Although unnamed at this stage, the Huawei executive reportedly attended a top intelligence school in China and was the former employee of a Chinese consulate in Poland. Poland’s Internal Security Agency also detained its former head of IT security, a Polish citizen, as part of the same investigati...

Update:: Students and faculty at the University of California (UC) have been warned not to use messaging apps and social media while visiting China, for fear their communications could be used against them by the country's law enforcement agencies. The guidance from one of the biggest school networks in the US is the latest concern to be raised over Western travel to China following the December 1 arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at the request of US authorities. Meng, who was detained in Vancouver and is currently on bail, is facing possible extradition to the US on suspicion of violating US sanctions against Iran. Since her arrest, multiple Canadians have been detained in China and two -- Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig -- are being investigated on suspicion of "activities that endangered China's national security," charges which supporters say are politically motivated. The UC guidance also appeared to reference the case of Paul Whelan, a US ci...

President Muhammadu Buhari has condoled with the people of Lafia over the death of their emir, Alhaji Isah Mustapha - The emir died on Thursday, January 10, at a Turkish teaching hospital in Abuja following a protracted illness - President Buhari says the late emir will be fondly remembered for his exemplary leadership and tireless efforts at improving the lives of his people President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed sadness over the news of the passing of the emir of Lafia, Alhaji Isah Mustapha Agwai I. The president, in a statement on Thursday, January 10, by his senior special assistant on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, extended heartfelt commiserations to Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura on the demise of the emir, NAN reports. The president assured them of the fullest sympathy of the federal government as they mourned the chairman of the Nasarawa State Council of Emirs and Chiefs and state chairman of Jama’tul Nasril Islam (JNI). He said the late emir would be fo...

The Nigeria Labour Congress has vowed to resist move by the federal government to review salaries of workers earning above N30,000 - The congress says there is nowhere in the world that an introduction of new minimum wage will cause a reduction in earned wages by workers - According to the congress, what the federal government needs to do is to reduce salaries of political office holders The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has faulted move by the federal government to review salaries of workers who earn above N30,000, saying it will oppose any move to tamper with legitimately earned salaries of workers in guise of implementing the new minimum wage. The Nation reports that the warning was given by the president of the congress, Ayuba Wabba, who said there was no basis for such move. Wabba said: “That is not the principle behind the minimum wage and the technical committee is simply a government committee. It is their internal mechanism. I am not so sure that minimum wage is abo...

Update:: The highly anticipated 2019 edition of Big Brother Naija will hold after the February general elections, according to new reports. The last edition of Big Brother Naija reality show was in January 2018, but the organizers decided to pause this year's edition because of the 2019 election coming up next month. It has now been reportedly confirmed by a source at Payporte (the official sponsors of the reality show), that, ' Big Brother will still hold but because its a political year, we can't really control to what extent what the housemates will say in the house and we don't want it to become a tool that will heat up the polity'. The source went on to add that, ' the show itself normally gets twisted so we don't want to mix it up with politics in anyway. Its supposed to be entertaining, we wouldn't want it to be divisive in anyway. If you notice, no religious activity gets discussed in the house too, if you want to pray you can pray,...

Update:: Meghan Markle is ready to become a leader of change in the United Kingdom. On Thursday (January 10), Kensington Palace announced the Duchess' royal patronages and she has not one, not two, (just going to skip three altogether), but four patronages — all of which "reflect the causes and issues with which she has long been associated including the arts, access to education, support for women and animal welfare." Two of the patronages were handed down by Queen Elizabeth II — The National Theatre and The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU). While the other two organizations — Smart Works and Mayhew — were simply close to the Duchess of Sussex's heart. With Meghan being a "strong believer in using the arts to bring people from different backgrounds and communities together," the National Theatre's mission, which is to "make world-class theatre that is entertaining, challenging and inspiring for everyone and to be as inclusiv...

Update:: A new documentary that accuses Michael Jackson of sexually abusing two boys has been denounced by the late pop star's estate as an "outrageous and pathetic" attempt to exploit his name. "Leaving Neverland," which is to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival later this month, recounts the story of two men who are now in their 30s and allege they were sexually abused by the King of Pop when they were seven and 10. "This is yet another lurid production in an outrageous and pathetic attempt to exploit and cash in on Michael Jackson," the singer's estate said in a statement carried by US media. It added that the "so-called" documentary was "just another rehash of dated a discredited allegations. It's baffling why any credible filmmaker would involve himself with this project."

Update:: More “fast radio bursts" – bright, short-lived pulses of radio waves that come from across the universe – have been detected by astronomers. The bursts, which originate from a distant galaxy that's 1.5 billion light years away from Earth, repeated 13 times, a new study reports. The BBC reports that there are a number of theories about what could be causing the bursts. Theories include a neutron star with a very strong magnetic field that is spinning very rapidly, two neutron stars merging together, and, among a minority of observers, some form of alien spaceship, the BBC said. Indeed, some astronomers have considered the idea that these bursts could be signals from intelligent aliens, Science News reported. Whatever their source, scientists think many more sources of repeating bursts will be detected in the future.

Update:: US President Donald Trump has threatened again to declare a national emergency to fund a border wall without Congress's approval. "I have the absolute right to declare a national emergency," he told reporters as he headed to an event at the border. He also said Mexico would "indirectly" pay for the wall - contradicting an earlier campaign memo. The government has been in partial shutdown for 20 days, leaving about 800,000 federal employees without pay. President Trump refuses to sign legislation to fund and reopen the government if it does not include $5.7bn (£4.5bn) for a physical barrier along the US-Mexico border.

Update:: Yesterday, 10th January 2019 , the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) and Federal Government (FG) were suppose to meet in efforts to end the lingering ASUP Strike. Unfortunately, the meeting between the two parties didn’t hold and the Union has vowed to continue strike. The President of ASUP, Comrade Usman Dutse, expressed regret at the way and manner government is handling the issues of technical education in Nigeria, warning that this may hamper progress and development in the country. Reacting to the absence of FG in their scheduled meeting, Usman said: “The meeting could not hold today because the key stakeholders were said to be indisposed, so they were absent and the meeting could not hold because we believe the meeting should not hold in their absence because this strike is critical to the sector and the issues are germane and is very central to the development of the sector. We believe it’s high time that government takes step to resolve these issues...

Update:: Mexican authorities found at least 20 bodies, most of them burned, along a dirt road in the northern state of Tamaulipas near the US border, officials said. The bodies were found Wednesday afternoon near four charred pickup trucks and a sedan in the rural community of Refugio Hinojosa near the town of Miguel Aleman, federal police said. Several photos provided by police showed some remains next to the burned-out wreckage of the vehicles. The incident appeared to be the result of a confrontation between two criminal gangs, Tamaulipas Attorney General Irving Barrios Mojica told journalist Carmen Aristegui in an interview for her radio show in Mexico. Aristegui is also the host of a show on CNN en Español. He said some of the victims had been wearing "tactical vests with military-type uniforms" and bullets were found nearby that came from weapons typically only used by the military. Barrios Mojica indicated the area where the bodies were found is being fou...