Fresh Palestinian protests against Trump Jerusalem decision

Israeli security forces scuffle with Palestinian protestors in Jerusalem's Old City on December 15, 2017. Thousands of Palestinians protested again in Jerusalem against US President Donald Trump's decision to recognise the city as the capital of Israel. Thomas COEX / AFP

Thousands of Palestinians took part in fresh protests Friday against Washington's controversial recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, but a week on there is no sign of a threatened new intifada. US President Donald Trump's December 6 announcement that he would break with decades of American policy and move his embassy to Jerusalem has stirred international condemnation, as well as protests across the Palestinian territories and Arab world. Four Palestinians have been killed, with more than 1000 wounded, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Protesters have burned American and Israeli flags and trampled on pictures of Trump. But concerns that the decision would lead to a major wave of bloodshed have as yet not materialised. Protests broke out across the Palestinian territories for the second Friday in a row after the end of weekly Muslim prayers, often a catalyst for clashes between young Palestinians and Israeli soldiers. In Gaza, the strip's Islamist rulers Hamas had called for another 'day of rage' against the decision, with tens of thousands taking to the streets. Clashes were expected along the border with Israel later Friday. In the occupied West Bank, a few thousand people gathered in the southern city of Hebron, as well as Nablus in the north, with clashes near the Al-Arroub camp, south of Bethlehem. In Jerusalem itself, around 30,000 people prayed at the Al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest site for Muslims, the Islamic organisation that administers the site said. The vast majority left without incident, but small scuffles broke out in Jerusalem's Old City. Nothing burger The status of Jerusalem is one of the most controversial issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel seized control of the eastern part of the city in the 1967 Middle East war and sees the whole of Jerusalem as its undivided capital, while the Palestinians view the east as the capital of their future state.

For decades global powers have avoided taking an opinion, keeping their embassies in Tel Aviv instead. Trump declared, however, that he would move the embassy and recognised the city as Israel's capital. Amid condemnation from much of the international community, the Palestinians have announced they will no longer view the Americans as mediator in negotiations with the Israelis. A poll conducted after Trump's announcement by the respected Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found 45 percent of Palestinians supported a violent popular uprising, up from 35 percent three months prior. Khalil Shikaki, the center's director, said the "only possible explanation" for the increase was Trump's decision. He said, however, the effectiveness of the Israeli forces and the Palestinian security forces' ongoing security cooperation with them had ensured the protests in the West Bank remained relatively minor in scale. While angered by Trump's declaration, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has not instructed his party Fatah or security forces to cut ties with Israel. "Hamas is too weak in the West Bank to carry out any serious attacks (and) Fatah does not want to engage in violence," Shikaki said. "This is not likely to change any time soon." In Gaza, hermetically sealed off by Israel and Egypt, at least 12 rockets or mortars have been fired from the territory since Trump's announcement, with Israel hitting at least 10 sites in reply. But the response has been relatively muted compared to some of the warnings, said Ofer Zalzberg, Israel-based analyst with the International Crisis Group think-tank. He said the lack of serious blowback to Trump's announcement had encouraged right wingers in Israel's government to question whether "maybe other things that people said were impossible are not".

[BREAKING] Army sentences soldier to death for killing five rescued civilians

A General Court Martial sitting in Maiduguri, Borno State, has sentenced a soldier serving in Operation Lafiya Dole, Lance Corporal John Godwin, to death.

The court sentenced Godwin to death for killing five rescued civilians in the Yamteke area of Borno State during investigation. This is just as some other soldiers were jailed by the court for various offences ranging from manslaughter to illegal possession of fire arms and ammunition. The soldier was charged with murder, which is punishable under Section 106 (a) of Armed Forces Acts (Cap A20), Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 2004. According to Lt Colonel Kingsley Samuel, 7 Division’s spokesperson, who confirmed the sentence, “The civilians were earlier rescued by troops of Godwin’s battalion and were taken for investigation at the time he shot and killed five of them. “Another soldier, Sergeant Innocent Ototo, was sentenced to life imprisonment for manslaughter after torturing and killing a 13-year-old boy who he said stole his phone. The incident happened at Zamanbari area of Maiduguri in Borno State.”

Indonesia 'sentences eight strippers and staff to two years in prison' following raid on gay club

An activist says an Indonesian court has sentenced eight men involved in running a gay club and sauna to two years in prison.

They were among more than 140 men detained after a raid in May on what police said was a sex party at the Atlantis spa in Jakarta. Most were released as homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia, but 10 men were charged under anti-pornography laws. Imam Shofwan from Pantau Foundation, which has been monitoring the trial, says the sentencing occurred on Thursday. A North Jakarta District Court spokesman did not answer calls Friday. Those sentenced included a director and several employees including strippers, a gym trainer, a receptionist and a security guard. Shofwan says verdicts for two defendants who allegedly performed oral sex were adjourned until next week. Associated Press

Pope Francis says Satan is a very smart person you should not argue with

The Devil is an actual person rather than a concept, Pope Francis has claimed.

Satan is smart and should not be argued with, the Pontiff told TV2000, a Catholic broadcasting network. "This is evil, it is not a diffuse concept, it's a person," he said. Satan is smart, he tells us that when we kick him out he will go, but then after a while, when you are distracted after a few years, he comes back, with seven companions worse than him. "He is very polite, knocks at the door, rings the bell, comes in politely, and in the end he comes in with his friends." He added: "It's important to be smart, to spot, and to have the ability to discern Satan's lies. "With Satan you can't argue."The Pope recently called for a change to the wording of the Lord's Prayer, arguing it is Satan and not God who leads humans to sin. The prayer, also known as "Our Father," asks God to "lead us not into temptation," but Pope Francis said: “It is not a good translation because it speaks of a God who induces temptation." He added: “I am the one who falls. It's not him pushing me into temptation to then see how I have fallen. A father doesn't do that, a father helps you to get up immediately. “It's Satan who leads us into temptation, that's his department.”

Nigerian Pastor publicly expresses regret for collecting tithe from his congregation

Pastor, Ufuoma Benard who is based in Warri has publicly repented of collecting tithe, he shared the result of his one month search for the foundation of tithing in the Bible, wrote;

“After one month of poring through the Bible and critically examining both sides of the arguments for and against TITHING I publicly repent for receiving tithes. I am convinced Daddy Freeze is right. No more tithing in my ministry.” I am” a pastor but I don’t know everything. I am a work in progress. I learn everyday and from everyone. I am open to new things. I am not stuck in dogma and tradition. I am a liberal person. I hate fanaticism. I am not interested in making money through church business or attracting large crowd or having branches of my church in every street and road. I am only interested in sharing the truth as I know it. The truth I am sure will set the people free from dogma, superstition, manipulation, ignorance and poverty.

US calls for global 'coalition' to counter Iran

The US ambassador to the UN has called for an international coalition to counter Iran's influence in the Middle East, while accusing the country of "fanning the flames of conflict" in the region.

Nikki Haley, standing in front of what she said were the remnants of Iranian-made weapons, said the US has found evidence that Iranian ballistic missiles were transferred to, and used by, the Houthi rebel group in Yemen, a violation of Tehran's international obligations. "In this warehouse is concrete evidence of illegal Iranian weapons proliferation gathered from direct military attacks on our partners in the region," Haley said during a news conference in a military hangar near Washington DC on Thursday. The US is going to "build a coalition to really push back against Iran and what they're doing", Haley said, without going into specifics. She said the recovered pieces of the weapon came from a missile "fired by Houthi militants from Yemen into Saudi Arabia", a staunch US ally in the region. Haley said markings on the missile proved it was made in Iran. "These are Iranian made, these are Iranian sent, and these were Iranian given," she said. Al Jazeera could not independently verify the ambassador's claims. Reuters news agency said Iran denied supplying the Houthi rebels with such weapons and described the arms Haley displayed on Thursday as "fabricated". On Twitter, Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, responded by posting side-by-side photos of Nikki Haley and Colin Powell, US ambassador to the UN during the George Bush administration. Powell told the UN that Iraq had "weapons of mass destruction", a claim that built the case for the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and was later disproven. "When I was based at the UN, I saw this show and what it begat," Zarif said in his tweet. War of words Haley's comments come amid a war of words between Iran and its regional rival, Saudi Arabia, over several issues in the region. Last month, the Saudi government accused Iran of committing an "act of war" after it said the Houthi rebels had fired a missile towards the international airport near Riyadh. On December 1, Saudi Arabia said it had "intercepted" a second missile launched by the same Yemeni group. A Saudi-led coalition is waging a military campaign against the Houthi rebels, causing a dire humanitarian crisisin Yemen. Saudi Arabia welcomed Haley's comments on Thursday, saying it condemned "the Iranian regime for its flagrant violations of the international resolutions and norms", according to the Saudi Press Agency. The UAE, which is part of the Saudi-led coalition, said the evidence provided by the US "leaves no doubt about Iran's flagrant disregard for its #UN obligations, and its role in the proliferation and trafficking of weapons in the region". "The #UAE calls on the global community to more forcefully address the threat posed by #Iran," the UAE ministry of foreign affairs said on Twitter.

INEC registers 21 new parties (FULL LIST)

The electoral commission, INEC, has registered 21 new parties. This was made known in a statement by May Agbmuche-Mbu. The new registrations bring the total number of parties in Nigeria to 67. Read the INEC statement below. INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION

PRESS STATEMENT The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) held its usual weekly meeting today and took decisions on the registration of new political parties, the findings on the allegation of double registration by the Governor of Kogi State and the outstanding Anambra Central Senatorial re-run election. REGISTRATION OF NEW POLITICAL PARTIES The following associations have fulfilled the Constitutional requirements for registration as political parties: S/no And name of political party 1. All Blending Party ABP 2. All Grassroots Alliance AGA 3. Alliance for New Nigeria ANN 4. Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party ANRP 5. Coalition for Change C4C 6. Freedom and Justice Party FJP 7 Grassroots Development Party of Nigeria GDPN 8. Justice Must Prevail Party JMPP 9. Legacy Party of Nigeria LPN 10 Mass Action Joint Alliance MAJA 11. Modern Democratic Party MDP 12 National Interest Party NIP 13. National Rescue Mission NRM 14. New Progressive Movement NPM 15. Nigeria Democratic Congress Party NDCP 16. People’s Alliance for National Development and Liberty PANDEL 17. People’s Trust PT 18. Providence People’s Congress PPC 19. Re-Build Nigeria Party RBNP 20. Restoration Party of Nigeria RP 21. Sustainable National Party SNP With this development, the total number of registered political parties in Nigeria is now 67.

US jets intercept Russian planes over Syria and fire warning flares

American F-22 fighter jets have fired warning flares in Syrian airspace after Russian Su-25 jets entered an agreed upon deconfliction area, according to a US official.

The official told Reuters that the Russian jets left the area, which was above the Euphrates river, after the two US jets sent the warnings. One official said that the aerial encounter lasted "several minutes", as the Russian jets crossed the de-confliction line several times. US Air Force Central Command has indicated in the past that Russia regularly crosses these lines, which were established in an effort to avoid conflict between US-colaition forces and Russian forces. Russia crossed the line near the Euphrates River six to eight times a day in late November, according to US officials, which prompted concerns then that there could be a clash between US and Russian forces. Coalition officers, during the recent interaction, called their Russian counterparts on a pre-established de-confliction hotline, which eventually led to the Russian evacuation of the area. "The greatest concern is that we could shoot down a Russian aircraft because its actions are seen as a threat to our ground forces," Lt Col Damien Pickart, a spokesman for the US Air Forces Central Command, told CNN last week while discussing Russian jets crossing the de-confliction lines. "As coalition leaders have repeatedly said, we're here to fight Isis -- not the Russians or anyone else." President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed their commitment to keeping open lines of communication between the US and Russian militaries in the region during a recent conference in Vietnam, saying in a statement that they "agreed to maintaining open military channels of communication between military professionals to help ensure the safety of both US and Russian forces and de-confliction of partnered forces engaged in the fight against Isis." The Euphrates River is used as a dividing line between the two forces, with US-backed forces operating on the east side of the line and Russia to the west.

Iraq executes 38 Isis suspects on terrorism charges

A total of 38 suspected Isis fighters in Nasiriyah in southern Iraq have been executed on charges of terrorism, the justice ministry has said. The deaths on Thursday mark the largest number of executions in a single day since 25 September, when 42 people were put to death in the same prison on charges ranging from killing members of the security forces to making car bombs. Tens of thousands of people are currently being held in Iraqi jails accused of affiliations with the extremist organisation. Prime Minister Haider al Abadi formally announced the US-backed Iraqi coalition had defeated the jihadists - who blitzed across the country from neighbouring Syria in 2014 - last week. Under Iraqi law, being found guilty of being a member of Isis carries a sentence of life imprisonment or death. Human Rights Watch warned earlier this month that the mass trials of Isis fighters seen in recent months are rife with due diligence violations. All appeal options available to the condemned had been exhausted, according to the statement. Processing suspected fighters is expected to clog up the Iraqi justice system and prisons for years to come. More follows…

Recep Tayyip Erdogan: US recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital makes it a partner in bloodshed

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called the US a "partner in bloodshed" over President Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel .

"With their decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, the United States has become a partner in this bloodshed," Mr Erdogan said at an event in Ankara on Monday. "The statement by President Trump does not bind us, nor does it bind Jerusalem." Mr Trump declared that the US would break with decades of established foreign policy and international law last week by recognising Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and relocating its embassy there from Tel Aviv. While welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, many other world leaders, including US allies such as Turkey, have expressed concern that the controversial move could spark renewed violence in the region and wider Muslim world. Protests have been held across the globe and four Palestinians killed in violent clashes with Israeli security forces in the West Bank and Gaza. Israel annexed east Jerusalem in 1967 in a move that has never been recognised internationally. Both Israeli and the Palestinians claim it as their capital. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Friday it would still be up to the Israelis and Palestinians to hammer out all other issues surrounding the city in future talks. A meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) later this week should prove a "turning point" in the crisis, Mr Erdogan added. The firebrand Turkish leader has been critical of both the US and Israel since last week's announcement. During a rally in the Turkish city of Sivas on Sunday he called Israel a "child-murderer state".

"We will not abandon [Jerusalem] to an occupier state," he added. Mr Netanyahu responded that he would not be lectured on morality by a man who "bombs Kurdish villagers in his native Turkey, who jails journalists, who helps Iran go around international sanctions, and who helps terrorists, including in Gaza, kill innocent people". The Israeli leader is currently in Brussels for talks with EU foreign leaders. He is urging EU member states to follow the US' lead in recognising Jerusalem as Israeli. On his arrival on Monday he told reporters that Mr Trump's move made peace in the Middle East possible "because recognising reality is the substance of peace, the foundation of peace". Separately, Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to arrive in Turkey later on Monday for talks on cooperation and the increasing tensions in the Middle East. He met with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo - another key US ally - earlier in the day.

27 countries storm Calabar for Miss Africa beauty pageant

Twenty-seven out of the expected 36 countries have arrived in Calabar for the second edition of the Cross River State Miss Africa Climate Change Beauty Pageant.

The beauty pageant, which is the initiative of Ben Ayade’s administration, is a platform aimed at creating awareness about the effect of climate change and its attendant impact. In separate chats at the TINAPA Lake Resort, Miss Fatima Ibrahim Murtar, a Moslem contestant from Somalia who sounded very optimistic of winning the crown said,” I want to do something different contrary to my belief. “We are already experiencing the effect of climate change in Somalia with deadly drought all over and I want to use this platform, if I eventually win, to educate our people, especially those in the affected regions about the dangers and see how we could bring succour to them through empowerment with the support of international bodies.” Miss Hellen Itivita from South Sudan, who was awed by the beautiful Calabar scenery, said, “It’s nice to be in Nigeria finally. I have been listening to their music, watched their movies but I have never been here but today, I thank God I made it here. It’s such a beautiful place to be.” On her chances of winning the crown, Hellen said, “I will stay positive. We all know Sudan is a war-torn country and if I win this pageant I will work with the international organisations there to preach more on the effect of climate change and environment.”

Speaking in similar vein, representative of Botswanan, Miss Gaseangwe Balopi, said, “It is an opportunity to visit Nigeria because I have always watched their movies right from when I was young and today I am physically here to see these beautiful people and the country’s landscape. “I am glad that African is gradually transiting to the green economy which is the future from the traditional monolithic economy and I want to be that change agent that will help to propagate the message of climate change across Africa to make a difference.” On her part, Miss Chikaodili Udosen, who is representing Nigeria at the pageant, said she was overwhelmed to be selected after a rigorous audition. Udosen said if she wins the 2nd Miss Africa Climate Change, “I will woo all the stakeholders to join Cross River State in the campaign against climate change which is becoming a global challenge.

Rohingya Muslims: Rape of persecuted minority by Burma’s soldiers 'methodical', investigation finds

The soldiers arrived, as they often did, long after sunset. It was June, and the newlyweds were asleep in their home, surrounded by the fields of wheat they farmed in western Burma. Without warning, seven soldiers burst into the house and charged into their bedroom.

The woman, a Rohingya Muslim who agreed to be identified by her first initial, F, knew enough to be terrified. She knew the military had been attacking Rohingya villages, as part of what the United Nations (UN) has called ethnic cleansing in the mostly Buddhist nation. She heard just days before that soldiers had killed her parents, and that her brother was missing.This time, F says, the soldiers had come for her. The men bound her husband with rope. They ripped the scarf from her head and tied it around his mouth.They yanked off her jewellery and tore off her clothes. They threw her to the floor. And then the first soldier began to rape her. She struggled against him, but four men held her down and beat her with sticks. She stared in panic at her husband, who stared back helplessly. He finally wriggled the gag out of his mouth and screamed. And then she watched as a soldier fired a bullet into the chest of the man she had married only one month before. Another soldier slit his throat. Her mind grew fuzzy. When the soldiers were finished, they dragged her naked body outside and set her bamboo house ablaze. It would be two months before she realised her misery was far from over: She was pregnant.

The rape of Rohingya women by Burma's security forces has been sweeping and methodical, the Associated Press found in interviews with 29 women and girls who fled to neighbouring Bangladesh. These sexual assault survivors from several refugee camps were interviewed separately and extensively. They ranged in age from 13 to 35, came from a wide swath of villages in Burma's Rakhine state and described assaults between October 2016 and mid-September. Foreign journalists are banned from the Rohingya region of Rakhine, making it nearly impossible to independently verify each woman’s report. Yet there was a sickening sameness to their stories, with distinct patterns in their accounts, their assailants’ uniforms and the details of the rapes themselves. The testimonies bolster the UN’s contention that Burma's armed forces are systematically employing rape as a “calculated tool of terror” aimed at exterminating the Rohingya people. The Burma armed forces did not respond to multiple requests from the AP for comment, but an internal military investigation last month concluded that none of the assaults ever took place. And when journalists asked about rape allegations during a government-organised trip to Rakhine in September, Rakhine’s minister for border affairs, Phone Tint, replied: “These women were claiming they were raped, but look at their appearances — do you think they are that attractive to be raped?” Doctors and aid workers, however, say that they are stunned at the sheer volume of rapes, and suspect only a fraction of women have come forward. Medecins Sans Frontieres doctors have treated 113 sexual violence survivors since August, a third of them under 18. The youngest was nine. The UN. has called the Rohingya the most persecuted minority on earth, with Burma denying them citizenship and basic rights. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees now live in sweltering tents in Bangladesh, where the stifling air smells of excrement from a lack of latrines and of smoke from wood fires to cook what little food there is. The women and girls in this story gave the AP their names but agreed to be publicly identified only by their first initial, citing fears they or their families would be killed by Burma's military. Each described attacks that involved groups of men from Burma's security forces, often coupled with other forms of extreme violence. Every woman except one said the assailants wore military-style uniforms, generally dark green or camouflage. The lone woman who described her attackers as wearing plain clothes said her neighbours recognised them from the local military outpost. Many women said the uniforms bore various patches featuring stars or, in a couple cases, arrows. Such patches represent the different units of Burma's army. The most common attack described went much like F’s. In several other cases, women said, security forces surrounded a village, separated men from women, then took the women to a second location to gang rape them. The women spoke of seeing their children slaughtered in front of them, their husbands beaten and shot. They spoke of burying their loved ones in the darkness and leaving the bodies of their babies behind. They spoke of the searing pain of rapes that felt as if they would never end, and of days-long journeys on foot to Bangladesh while still bleeding and hobbled. F, 22, clutches her hands around her pregnant belly. They spoke and they spoke, the words erupting from many of them in frantic, tortured bursts. N, who says she survived a rape but lost her husband, her country and her peace, speaks because there is little else she can do — and because she hopes that somebody will listen. “I have nothing left,” she says. “All I have left are my words.” Two months after the men came quietly in the night for F, they came boldly in the daytime for K. It was late August, she says, just days after Rohingya insurgents had attacked several Burma police posts in northern Rakhine. Security forces responded with swift ferocity that human rights groups say left hundreds dead and scores of Rohingya villages burned to the ground. Inside their house, K and her family were settling down to breakfast. They had only just swallowed their first mouthfuls of rice when the screams of other villagers rang out: The military was coming.

Her husband and three oldest children bolted out the door, fleeing for the nearby hills. But K was nearly nine months pregnant, with swollen feet and two terrified toddlers whose tiny legs could never outpace the soldiers’ strides. She had no place to hide, no time to think. K, 25, right, cries as she recounts being gang raped by members of Burma's armed forces. The door banged open. And the men charged in. There were four of them, she thinks, maybe five, all in camouflage uniforms. Her young son and daughter began to wail and then, mercifully, scampered out the front door. There was no mercy for her. The men grabbed her and threw her on the bed. They yanked off her earrings, nose ring and necklace. They found the money she had hidden in her blouse from the recent sale of her family’s cow. They ripped off her clothes, and tied down her hands and legs with rope. When she resisted, they choked her. And then, she says, they began to rape her. She was too terrified to move. One man held a knife to her eyeball, one more a gun to her chest. Another forced himself inside her. When the first man finished, they switched places and the torture began again. And when the second man finished, a third man raped her. In the midst of her agony, she thought of nothing but the baby inside her womb, just weeks away from emerging into a world that would not want him, because he was a Rohingya. She began to bleed. She blacked out. As she awoke, her great aunt was there, tearfully untying her. The elder woman bathed her, clothed her and gave her a hot compress for her aching thighs. When K’s husband returned home, he was furious: not just at the men who had raped her, but at her. Why, he demanded, had she not run away? She was pregnant and in no condition to run, she shot back. Still, he blamed her for the assault and threatened to abandon her, because, he told her, a “non-Muslim” had raped her. Fearful the men would return, she and her family fled to her father’s house in the hills above the village. When they saw soldiers setting fire to the houses below, they knew they had to leave for Bangladesh. K was too crippled by pain to walk. Her husband and brother placed her inside a sling they fashioned out of a blanket and a stick, and carried her for days. Inside her cocoon, she wept for the baby she feared was dead. A few days after the men burst into K’s house, 10 soldiers arrived at R’s. She was just 13 years old, but R had already learned to fear the military men. Her parents had warned her to steer clear of them, yet it was her father who first fell prey to their wrath. One day last year, R says, soldiers stabbed him in the head with a knife, killing him. Yet R’s family had nowhere else to go. And so they stayed in the village. R busied herself by learning Arabic, doting on her chicken and its hatchlings and caring for her two younger brothers. And then one day in late August, R says, the soldiers barged into her house. They snatched up her little brothers, tied them to a tree outside and began to beat them. R tried to run out the front door, but the men caught her. R, 13, covers her face with her headscarf while being photographed in her tent in Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh. Her body is barely pubescent, her limbs still gangly like a child’s. But her youth could not protect her. R fought back against the men, but they dragged her out of the house. The skin tore away from her knees as her legs scraped along the ground. The men tethered her arms to two trees. They ripped off her earrings and bracelets, stripped off her clothes. R screamed at them to stop. They spit at her. And then the first man began to rape her. She froze. She was a virgin. The pain was excruciating. The attack lasted for hours. She remembers all ten men forcing themselves on her before she passed out. One of her older brothers later found her on the ground, bleeding. R’s two little brothers were missing, but their mother had no time to search for them. She knew she had to get her daughter over the border and to a doctor quickly to get medicine in time to prevent a pregnancy. R was barely conscious. So her two older brothers carried her across the hills and fields towards Bangladesh. R’s mother hurried alongside them, terrified for her daughter, terrified that time was running out. R, 13, shows the scars on her knees and right shin from injuries obtained when members of Burma armed forces dragged her out of her house before gang raping her. That R’s family sought treatment for her at all is an anomaly. Despite still suffering pain, bleeding and infections months after the attacks, only a handful of the women interviewed by the AP had seen a doctor. The others had no idea free services were available, or were too ashamed to tell a doctor they were raped. In a health centre overflowing with women and wailing babies, Dr. Misbah Uddin Ahmed, a government health officer, sits at his desk looking weary. He pulls out a stack of patient histories for those treated at his clinics and begins to flick through them, reading the case summaries out loud: Sept. 5, a patient 7 months pregnant says three soldiers burst into her home 11 days ago and raped her. Also Sept. 5, a patient says she was asleep at home when the military broke in 20 days ago and three soldiers raped her. Sept. 10, a patient says the military came to her house one month ago and beat her husband before two soldiers raped her. Ahmed says the women who manage to overcome their fear and make it to his clinics are usually the ones in the deepest trouble. So many others, he adds, are suffering in silence. Though the scale of these attacks is new, the use of sexual violence by Burma's security forces is not. Before she became Burma's civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi herself condemned the military’s abuses. “Rape is rife. It is used as a weapon by armed forces to intimidate the ethnic nationalities and to divide our country,” she said in a 2011 videotaped statement to the Nobel Women’s Initiative. And yet Suu Kyi’s government has not only failed to condemn the recent accounts of rape, it has dismissed the accounts as lies. In December 2016, the government issued a press release disputing Rohingya women’s reports of sexual assaults, accompanied by an image that said “Fake Rape.” Ahmed seems bewildered that anyone would ever doubt these women. Look at what I have just shown you, he says, gesturing towards his stack of files chronicling one atrocity after another. Gynecologist Arjina Akhter has witnessed the results of those atrocities. Since August, so many women began showing up at her two clinics, she stopped asking them to fill out patient history forms so she could treat them faster. Among other women, she estimates between 20 to 30 rape survivors visited her clinics in September and October. She ticks off the injuries: Two women with lacerations to their cervixes they said were caused by guns shoved inside their bodies. One woman with horrific tearing she said was caused by a nail driven into her vagina. Several women with severe vaginal bleeding. More recently, she says, women who were raped months ago have been coming to her in a panic, asking for abortions. She has to explain to them that they are too far along, but reassures them that officials will take the babies if they cannot care for them. Still, for some Rohingya women, giving up the babies they never asked for was not an option. Which is how it was for F. More than three months had passed since the men burst into F’s home, and her despair had only deepened. Neighbours had taken her in and cared for her. But her house was gone, her husband was dead. And the timing of the attack left little doubt that the baby growing inside her belonged to one of the men who had caused all her grief. She could only pray that things would not get worse. And then, one night in mid-September, they did. F was asleep along with the neighbours — a couple and their five-year-old son — when the men broke down the door, jolting everyone awake. There were five of them this time, she remembers. They quickly grabbed the boy and slashed his throat, and killed the man. Then they turned to the man’s wife, and to F. And her nightmare began again. They stripped off the women’s clothes. Two of the men noticed the swell of F’s stomach and grabbed it, squeezing hard. They threw the women to the floor. F’s friend fought back, and the men beat her with their guns so viciously the skin on her thighs began to peel away. But the fight had gone out of F. She felt her body go soft, felt the blood run between her legs as the first man forced himself on her, and then the second. Next to her, three men were savaging her friend. When it was finally over and the men had gone, the two women lay immobile on the floor. They lay there for days, so crippled by pain and catatonic from the trauma that they could not even lift themselves to use the toilet. F could smell the blood around them. As the house baked under the punishing sun, the stench from the decaying bodies of her friend’s husband and son finally overwhelmed her. F, 22, pregnant, prays in her tent in Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh. She would not die here. And neither would her baby. She reached out for her friend’s hand and clasped it. Then F hauled herself to her feet, pulling her friend up with her. Hand in hand, the women stumbled to the next village. They spent five days recovering there and then, alongside a group of other villagers, began the 10-day journey to Bangladesh. The monsoon season had begun, but there was nowhere to shelter. So F kept walking through the downpours. She was starving, and her battered body ached with each step. Generous strangers offered her sips of their water, and one man gave her a few sweet rolls. One day, she came across a nine-year-old boy lying along the side of a road, wounded and alone. He had lost his parents, he told her, and the soldiers had tortured him. She took him with her. Together, the two made it to the shores of the Naf River and boarded a boat to Bangladesh. Which is where they live now, in a tiny bamboo shelter between two filthy latrines. And it is here that F prays her baby will be a boy — because this world is no place for a girl. For now, the women are left to wonder how long they will live in the bleak limbo of Bangladesh, and if they will ever return to their homeland. R, the teen, is not pregnant. Her mother sold all her jewellery and got her to the hospital in time. But R can’t stop thinking about her little brothers, and her sleep is plagued by nightmares. Since the rape, she has struggled to eat, and her once-curvy frame has shrunk. Before the rape, she says softly, she was pretty. K, who feared the baby inside her had died, gave birth to a boy on the floor of her tent in a dizzying rush of relief. She had kept her son alive through it all. But her trauma persists. The thrum of a helicopter hovering over the camp sends her into a panic and she recites the Muslim prayer for the moments before death. She is convinced the aircraft is Burma's military, coming to kill them all. When told she is strong, she looks up with tears in her eyes. “How can you say that?” she asks. “My husband says he is ashamed of me. How am I strong?” F, whose body is starting to ache under the strain of her pregnancy, finds her mind often drifts towards how she will care for the child in the future. She believes God has kept them both alive for a reason. Her parents, her brother, her husband are gone now. This baby will be the only family she has left. For her, the most haunting reminder of the agony she endured also, somehow, represents her last chance at happiness. “Everybody has died,” she says. “I don’t have anyone to care for me. If I give this baby away, what will I have left? There will be nothing to live for.”

How I Was Sold As a Slave For N300,000 After Paying N600,000 to Get to Libya

In one month, the Edo State Government has received 1,100 indigenes who were deported from Libya. They left the state for Europe through Libya in search of greener pasture. Many of them died on the way, many others were sold as slaves, while many who were held in Libyan prisons were severely tortured. Some of the returnees in Benin spoke to Daily Trust on Sunday about their harrowing experiences.

I was sold for N300,000 – Harrison Okotie (35) A friend of mine sold the idea of travelling to Europe to me and my sister, who we travelled together with, assisted me with some money. We paid the traffickers N600, 000 each to take us to Libya. When we got to Libya, we were arrested and sold to Arabs at N300,000 each. I never knew I was being sold because they would tell you that, they were taking you to cross over to Italy. It is only when you reach their destination that you would know that you were sold as slave. From that moment, you would be under his rules and regulations until you are able to pay double the amount he claimed to have paid for your freedom. I was tortured daily, they even stabbed me on my back for not being able to pay a ransom. They will tell you to control your family at home to bring money, but if the money was not forthcoming you would face severe torture.

A Nigerian was shot in the presence of our ambassador for attempting to join the queue to register for deportation. Four people died in my presence due to torture. Our suffering in the hands of the Arab increased when we started telling the United Nations that we wanted to go home. The Arabs would always ask us to tell the UN that we needed food and clothes but we would tell them that we wanted to go home due to the way and manner we were being tortured. By the time the UN personnel leave, it would be 24 hours torture and we would be denied the loaf of bread we were given each. Even if I am given the opportunity again, I will never go to any Arab country. I left my wife and two children here in search of a greener pasture only to face torture. I was shot for attempting to register for deportation – Amos Oghogho (25)

Palestinians clash with police at US embassy in Lebanon

Lebanese security forces fired tear gas at protesters near the US Embassy in Lebanon during a demonstration against President Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Protesters threw stones at security forces who had barricaded the main road leading to the US embassy in the Awkar area, north of Beirut, on Sunday. Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, reporting from Awkar, said several hundred Palestinians clashed with the security forces. "There is a lot of anger here. What they're chanting is 'Palestine forgive us, they closed the door on us', clearly in reference to Arab leaders," Khodr said. The anger is not just directed at the United States for its decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The protesters here feel Arab leaders have just been talking, but not taking any action. What people here are calling for is a new intifada and on the Palestinian Authority to end the peace process," she added. Security forces cordoned off the area around the embassy and deployed water cannon, stopping people about 3km away from the embassy building. Demonstrators were trying to remove the barbed wire and climb over the barricade.

Security forces responded by firing tear gas canisters to disperse the protesters. The Lebanese government has called on the protesters not to damage property in the area. Since 1947, Palestinians fleeing Israel have settled across Lebanon in 12 refugee camps. Official figures show there are about 450,000 Palestinians in Lebanon, but over the years the number has decreased. "Many of them have given up hope of returning to Palestine, and have moved to Europe, to Canada. They find any route out of Lebanon, because they are denied many right here," Khodr said, adding that this was not the first protest of its kind since Trump announced his decision on Jerusalem. "Protests have been taking place across Lebanon since Wednesday. Tomorrow (Monday), we are expecting a mass rally in the southern suburbs of Beirut, called for by Hezbollah." International condemnation Trump's embassy move has inflamed the Israel-Palestine conflict, in which the status of Jerusalem is a key issue. The Palestinians see occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. On Sunday, violence erupted for a fourth day in the occupied Palestinian territories in response to Trump's announcement. Witnesses said Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters at groups of rallying youth in the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem. The protests came after Israeli air raids killed two Palestinians in Gaza on Saturday after fighters reportedly fired rockets from Gaza into Israel on Friday. Other protests have taken place in the Indonesia capital, Jakarta, where about 10,000 people rallied on Sunday outside the US Embassy to denounce Trump's decision. The head of the Arab League called the decision "dangerous and unacceptable" and a "flagrant attack on a political solution" to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. The statement by Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, the regional bloc's secretary-general, came after an emergency meeting of foreign ministers from 22 Arab states in Egypt's capital, Cairo, on Saturday. Aboul-Gheit said Trump's decision was "against international law and raises questions over American efforts to support peace" between Palestine and Israel. The shift in US policy "undermines Arab confidence" in the Trump administration and "amounts to the legalisation" of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, he added. Leaders from across the globe made similar remarks in the days before and after Trump's announcement on Wednesday. The US president also ordered the US embassy be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Catalan independence: 45,000 protesters march in Brussels to support exiled president Carles Puigdemont

Around 45,000 protesters have taken to the streets outside EU institutions in Brussels in support of Catalan independence.

The demonstration is partly in solidarity with exiled and disputed president Carles Puigdemont, who has himself fled to the EU capital in Belgium and is resisting extradition attempts. But the Thursday march is also aimed at putting pressure on EU institutions to support the region’s cause – support which has so far been totally absent. Police figures suggest the protest was over twice as large as expected, with official predictions before the march that just 20,000 demonstrators would show up. In the grey and damp Belgian weather, demonstrators carried Catalan flags, sang songs, and chanted “Wake up Europe”. Others carried banners with EU flags emblazoned with “Shame on you” – a criticism of the EU’s support for the government in Madrid. Some locals who joined the march also carried the yellow lion rampant flags of Flanders, the wealthy Dutch-speaking region of Belgium. Flanders, like Catalonia, has a separatist movement and its separatist parties are allies at the European level with Catalonia’s. That alliance led to one Flemish immigration minister suggesting Mr Puigdemont could apply for asylum in Belgium – though he has not formally taken up the offer. The protest was overwhelmingly peaceful, with families with children present in large numbers. Helicopters could be seen and heard overhead along the route of the march. Belgian police were joined by soldiers with assault rifles – a common sight on the streets of Brussels in light of recent terrorist attacks – to guard the route of the march, which gathered at a large park near the Berlaymont building, the headquarters of the European Commission, before snaking through the capital. A large proportion of the protesters arrived by chartered coach, taking the 12-hour drive through France from Catalonia. The demonstration is the first show of force by Catalan independence supporters in Brussels, where small pro-Madrid demonstrations have been a common feature of Mr Puigdemont’s public appearances. The European Commission has so far said it supports Spain’s constitution; it has not offered to mediate the dispute. A European arrest warrant sought by the Spanish government was cancelled by a Spanish judge earlier this week after he ruled that Mr Puigdemont was not applicable for one. The disputed regional president has said he will stay in Belgium until at least the 21 December Catalan elections, called by Madrid after the central government suspended home rule in the region. He and other members of his former government are facing charges of sedition, rebellion, and misuse of public funds relating to their calling of an independence referendum on 1 October and a later unilateral declaration of independence by the Catalan parliament. Some ministers have returned to Spain to face their charges, while a core remain with him in Brussels. The referendum was declared illegal by Spain’s constitutional court in Madrid and national police were dispatched to the province to storm government ministries to look for evidence of wrongdoing, seize ballot boxes, and close down polling stations by force.

Jerusalem latest: All 28 EU foreign ministers warned Trump administration not to move US embassy

All 28 EU foreign ministers warned Donald Trump’s chief diplomat against moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem in a face-to-face meeting the day before the president made the announcement, the European Commission has said.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday in Brussels Federica Mogherini, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said Mr Trump’s announcement had “the potential to send us backwards to even darker times than the ones we are already living in”. “I discussed this with Secretary Tillerson during his visit to Brussels on Tuesday. I’ve made clear our disagreement with this decision as did all the foreign ministers of the 28 member states of the European Union that met him with me the same day,” she said. The European Union has a clear and united position. We believe the only realistic solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine is based on two states and with Jerusalem as the capital of both the state of Israel and Palestine.

“President Trump’s announcement on Jerusalem has a very worrying potential impact. It has a very fragile context and the announcement has the potential to send us backwards to even darker times than the ones we are already living in.” In a speech on Wednesday, the day after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met the EU, Mr Trump announced he would be relocating the embassy – reversing decades of US policy in the region. Clashes immediately broke out in the West Bank as Palestinians took to the streets over the decision and staged strikes and protests. Israeli troops have been deployed onto the streets after Islamist group Hamas called for a new intifada against the illegal occupation. Ms Mogherini urged “all relevant actors” in the Israel-Palestine conflict to “avoid to further escalate tensions on the ground” “The worst thing that could happen now is an escalation of tensions around the holy places because what happens in Jerusalem matters to the whole region and the entire world,” she added.

The issue of the embassy’s location is a fragile one in the Middle East conflict. Israel unilaterally claims Jerusalem as its capital, despite it being partly located in Palestinian territories illegally occupied by Israel. While Israel locates its governmental institutions in Jerusalem, practically all foreign countries choose to keep their embassies in Tel Aviv and do not recognise Jerusalem as the country’s capital. Supporters of a two-state solution too the conflict also see the city as a potential future capital for a Palestinian state.

Shocking Video: Nigerian Man With Big b*tt And b**bs Spotted In Oyo Ibadan

A Man with big yansh and bobby/transvestite has just been spotted in Ibadan, Oyo StateInstagram user @yooba__ who posted the video captioned it;

What a sight 😕😕 I spotted this ‘shim” in Ibadan yesterday P.S-he was on wig before and was even calling a girl who apparently is his lover😕😕@omobolanle_f @ademolaa_ @f.a.ks comman carry your brother-sister 😂😂😂 Cc:@funny_african_pics @krakshq @cleopatrabobb @lazywrita @pinkberrybloom @krakstv @instablog9ja

Palestinians call days of rage over US Jerusalem plan

Protests have broken out in the Gaza Strip in response to US President Donald Trump's expected decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, as Palestinian leaders called for three days of rage against the move.

Hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets in Gaza City on Wednesday, carrying banners denouncing Trump, hours ahead of his impending declaration that would also see the US embassy move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The declaration, which is expected at 18:00 GMT on Wednesday, comes amid global condemnation of the decision. Speaking to Al Jazeera from Gaza, Hamas leader Ismail Haniya described Trump's decision as a "flagrant aggression". "This decision is an uncalculated gamble that will know no limit to the Palestinian, Arab and Muslim reaction," he said. "We call for stopping this decision fully because this will usher in the beginning of a time of terrible transformations, not just on the Palestinian level but on the region as a whole. This decision means the official announcement of the end of the peace process." 'Ball of fire' Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith, reporting from Gaza, said people did not bother to wait for the announcement and spontaneously gathered to protest against the plans. "This is an indication of what might come after Trump speaks later today. People here compared the protests to a small ball of fire that would roll and turn into a much larger ball later on," Smith said. "The move by the US seems to have further unified the Palestinians. Hamas and the smaller factions in Gaza have given their full support to Mahmoud Abbas' Fattah movement in their opposition to the US move. There is full unity on the Palestinian streets behind this cause," he added. Resistance groups in Gaza called on the Palestine Liberation Organization to withdraw its recognition of Israel in response to Trump's expected move. "At a time when the city of Jerusalem is subjected to systematic Judaisation, and our people are exposed to suffering from repression, displacement and exile, comes the American decision to declare the city of Jerusalem as the capital of [Israel] in violation of all international conventions and norms," the factions said in a statement. In Lebanon's capital, Beirut, hundreds of demonstrators gathered in the Palestinian refugee camp Bourj el-Barajneh to protest against Trump. Jerusalem remains at the core of the perennial Israel-Palestine conflict as Palestinians want Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. Leaders in the Middle East and elsewhere warned Trump that his plans would have grave implications for the so-called peace process and on regional stability. Hours ahead of Trump's expected announcement, British Prime Minister Theresa May said she intended to speak to the US president about the status of Jerusalem, adding that the fate of the city should be determined through negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. "Jerusalem should ultimately form a shared capital between the Israeli and Palestinian states," said May. Earlier on Wednesday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the US move was "because of their incompetence and failure", while the Syrian foreign ministry released a statement saying: "[The move] is the culmination of the crime of usurping Palestine and displacing the Palestinian people." In his weekly address, Pope Francis said that the status quo that governs Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque compound should be respected. Jordan has been the custodian of all Muslim and Christian sites in Jerusalem since 1994. Status quo US officials said that Trump "remains committed to achieving a lasting peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians and is optimistic that peace can be achieved". One official said that Trump's decision "doesn't change the status quo with respect to the holy sites and other sensitive issues". But Ali Abunimah of the Electronic Intifada said that one would have to be "living on another planet for the last few decades to believe that the US was ever an honest broker". "What [Trump's move] achieves is truth in advertising," he told Al Jazeera. "It is a more honest expression of American policy, which is to support Israel unconditionally, including Israel's illegal colonisation and settlement-building in East Jerusalem," he said, adding that "this has effectively been US policy for many, many years and Trump is simply coming out and being open about it".

World reacts to US Israel embassy relocation plan

Leaders from the Middle East and elsewhere have cautioned Donald Trump against relocating the US embassy in Israel, warning that such a move could destabilise the region and spark turmoil in the region.

The US president on Tuesday called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to say that he intends on moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He later also had a phone conversation with the leaders of Jordan and Egypt to inform them of his plan. No country currently has its embassy in Jerusalem, and the international community, including the US, does not recognise Israel's jurisdiction over and ownership of the city. Israel claims the city as its capital, following the occupation of East Jerusalem in the 1967 war with Syria, Egypt and Jordan, and considers Jerusalem to be a "united" city. Palestinians have long seen East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. Here is how leaders from around the world reacted to the news of Trump's planned relocation of the US embassy in Israel. "President Abbas warned of the dangerous consequences such a decision would have to the peace process and to the peace, security and stability of the region and of the world," Nabil Abu Rudeina, the Palestinian president's spokesperson, said in a statement after Trump's call. Echoing Abbas' comments, Jordan's King Abdullah II told Trump that such a decision would have "dangerous repercussions on the stability and security of the region", according to a statement released by the palace. The king also warned the US president of the risks of any decision that ran counter to a final settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict based on the creation of an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem. "Jerusalem is the key to achieving peace and stability in the region and the world," the statement said, adding that an embassy move would inflame Muslim and Christian feelings. King Abdullah also called Abbas and said they had to both work together to "confront the consequences of this decision". In a statement, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi also cautioned Trump against "taking measures that would undermine the chances of peace in the Middle East". "The Egyptian president affirmed the Egyptian position on preserving the legal status of Jerusalem within the framework of international references and relevant UN resolutions," the statement said. Earlier on Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to cut diplomatic ties with Israel, following reports that the US was considering recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital, a move that would be symbolised by relocating the embassy to Jerusalem. "Jerusalem is a red line for Muslims," said Erdogan. "We implore the US once again: You cannot take this step." Later in the day, Sigmar Gabriel, Germany's foreign minister, also warned that any US move to recognise Jerusalem "as the capital of Israel does not calm a conflict, rather it fuels it even more," and that such a move "would be a very dangerous development." Gabriel said in Brussels that "it's in everyone's interest that this does not happen".

Spain withdraws international arrest warrant for ousted Catalan president Carles Puigdemont

Spain’s Supreme Court has withdrawn an international arrest warrant for Catalonia’s former leader, Carles Puigdemont, and four other members of his deposed cabinet.

The disputed and ousted president is facing sedition, rebellion, and misuse of public funds charges in Spain relating to the calling of an independence referendum on 1 October. Mr Puigdemont has, however, travelled to Belgium – leading Spanish authorities to issue a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) to seek his deportation to face trial in Spain. On Tuesday, a Spanish judge, however, said that individual EAWs were not valid for crimes allegedly committed by a wider group of people – in this case, the whole Catalan government. He added that the five politicians had in any case shown their “intention to return to Spain” to run in elections in Catalonia. The charges against the Catalans are punishable by years in prison. At the weekend, the leader’s lawyer said he planned to stay in Belgium until after the next snap Catalan elections, which the Spanish government has called for 21 December after suspending home rule in the region. Yesterday, the Spanish courts system refused bail for Mr Puigdemont’s deputy, former Catalan vice president Oriol Junqueras, as well as deposed Catalan interior minister Joaquim Forn and the leaders of two civic groups, ANC and Omnium Cultural. Six other former ministers from the Generalitat, Catalonia’s regional government, were released from custody on bail.

World Cup: Nigeria budgets N3bn for Super Eagles

The Federal Government has budgeted N3bn to enable the Super Eagles to have a successful outing at the 2018 World Cup 2018 which starts on June 14 in Russia.

The Minister of Youths and Sports, Mr. Solomon Dalung, disclosed this to State House correspondents after a closed-door meeting he had with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday. Dalung said while sponsors and partners would raise part of the money, the substantial part of the “conservative budget” would be provided by the Federal Government. “We have a conservative budget of about N3bn but out of that N3bn, FIFA is going to raise about N900m; our sponsors and partners are also going to bring about N600m. Government will conservatively raise about N2bn or N2.5bn to complement,” the minister said. He said plans were underway to ensure that the players get their allowances upfront latest by March 2018. “One of the challenges we have been facing in sports administration is the welfare of the players and the officiating team and we intend to set a new approach to the question of welfare. “By March, we intend to start paying the players their allowances, camping allowances upfront. That will go a long way to boost the morale of the players and their confidence too. “The new method of governance in football has taken the pattern of change. We will also ensure that there is unity within the football family. “Unity, too, is a key factor going by some of the reports we had in the past where poor performances were attributable to lack of unity between the family, the technical team, the officials and the players. This time, unity has to be promoted. “Finally, we will also ensure that government makes funds available on time. That is why the budget for the competition has since been sent to the President for a special intervention so that government can make provision for some of the funds we need for training now before other things can come up,” the minister explained. He said the government was comfortable with the group the team belong to despite the presence of Argentina. He said, “We are comfortable with the team because having tested Argentina which is a highly ranked team in the group, we can say confidently that with good work, good training, good welfare for the players and team spirit, we will top that group going by the disposition of our national team. “After the groupings, Nigeria falls within Group D and we appear to be the underdog going by the ranking of the teams.

“But I think ranking is more or less a paper job, what is very important is how you will perform and I believe that we are comfortable with the teams. “Some people have been arguing that Argentina did not present their best, but we also have some players we didn’t invite and we also intend to invite them. It is an issue that is going to be determined practically by the level of preparation of the Nigerian team. Don’t forget that the Nigerian team had enjoyed a formidable home support and they are inspired to deliver. “So we will engage in more friendlies to try and determine our strength and areas of improvement before the final competition.” Dalung said the government would mobilise a strong delegation that will support the team because of its belief that sports is an about number.

Russia World Cup 2018: A group-by-group analysis

The 32 teams that qualified for the biggest event in the sporting world now know who they will be facing in next year's tournament that takes place in Russia from June 14.

Egypt and Liverpool's Mohammed Salah will make his World Cup debut. Neighbours Spain and Portugal find themselves in the same group. Iceland will become the smallest nation to play in the World Cup. In the last two World Cups, the reigning champions have been knocked out at the group stage. Will Germany be able to cross that hurdle? Or retain the title? Here, we break down the eight groups and see how the 32 teams stack up against their opponents. GROUP A: Russia. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Uruguay Russia can't afford to be knocked out early, and this group could be worse for them. Egypt pose the main danger to the hosts and Uruguay. It may be their first World Cup since 1982, but star player Mo Salah was irresistible in qualifying. Saudi Arabia have the honour of playing in the opening game against Russia, but Asian confederation teams are traditionally the weakest. GROUP B: Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Iran An intriguing looking match between Portugal and Spain beckons because of the quirk of 2010 winners Spain, ranked 8 in the world, being nudged out of the top seeds by hosts Russia. But despite Morocco's ability, don't be fooled into thinking this is the pick of the groups. In fact, Portugal and Spain should both expect to progress. GROUP C: France, Australia, Peru, Denmark France are the clear favourites to win the group comfortably, but Denmark's late surge into form makes them a real threat. Australia should never be underestimated after another epic qualification campaign Peru, playing in their first World Cup for 36 years, would be much more of a threat if the tournament was played in Brazil.

GROUP D: Argentina, Iceland, Croatia, Nigeria As if the Iceland fairy tale hadn't brought enough joy, their first ever World Cup will be against Argentina in Moscow. They will receive global support, but shouldn't be expected to succeed. The smallest ever nation to qualify has already performed miracles. With resurgent Nigeria - who have had to face Argentina in FIVE World Cups - and gifted Croatia completing the quartet, this is undoubtedly a strong group. GROUP E: Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia After their 2014 humiliation, Brazil's recovery has been impressive enough for many people to make them favourites for the tournament. It could amount to a scrap between three underrated teams for a place in the knockout stages. Serbia were the team to avoid of Pot 4. And don't forget Costa Rica were quarter-finalists four years ago. GROUP F: Germany, Mexico, Sweden, Korea Republic Germany hardly got a mention in the immediate post-draw analysis, but that's just the way they like it. Low-key - and usually there at the finish. The trophy holders should be expected to reach the knockout stages without too much trouble. Mexico and Sweden can be talked up, neither are easy opponents, but it could be an opportunity for Korea to finally perform like they did in 2002 outside of their own country. GROUP G: Belgium, Panama, Tunisia, England June 18 in Sochi will be an historic and wonderful day for Panama - their first ever World Cup game, against a talented Belgium team. The two European teams will be expected to qualify from this one. But in 1978 Tunisia became the first African team to ever win a World Cup match, and can certainly win points in this group. GROUP H: Poland, Senegal, Colombia, Japan The last and arguably the most open of all eight groups. Senegal's exploits in 2002 are unforgettable, and their team is strong again. Poland earned a top seeding with a ranking of six in the world, but despite their considerable talent Colombia often struggle away from South America. It could be an entertaining, close group in what was an intriguing draw.

Buhari advises Wizkid, Davido to avoid distractions

So many accolades have been poured on award-winning acts, Wizkid and Davido for winning in different categories in the recently held Music of Black Origin awards. The latest encomium came from the seat of power where President Buhari congratulated the stars for shining in the prestigious international award.

In a statement by the president’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, Buhari joined the teeming fans of the artistes in Nigeria and all over the world in celebrating the recognition, which saw WizKid winning “International Best Artiste’’ award, while Davido picked the “Best African Act’’ award. The statement read in part, “The President affirms that both singers have showcased the rich talents in the country, and brought pride to the nation through their many songs and performances, commending their dedication, hard work and charity works. President Buhari also calls on the upwardly mobile artistes to be cautious and mindful of likely distractions to their careers, urging WizKid and Davido to serve as ambassadors of the country and role models to up and coming musicians.” Also, earlier in the week, prominent Nigerians including former president Goodluck Jonathan, Senator Ben Bruce as well as former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, also congratulated Wizkid on his award. The former president took to his Facebook page to express joy over Wizkid’s win. His congratulatory message read, “When Nigeria does well, I cannot help but feel well. My happiness is tied to the happiness of Nigeria and when Nigerians break records and take the name of Nigeria to greater heights, it exhilarates me. Thank you, Wizkid for raising Nigeria’s flag high for the positive, not the negative. Your emergence as the Best International Act at the #MOBOAwards is a proud moment for Nigeria. And the fact that you emerged over JAY-Z and Drake makes it even more celebratory. WELL DONE. GEJ.” On his part, Ben Bruce took to one of his social media accounts to say, “Dear @wizkidayo, I‘ve been in the entertainment business as an investor since 1980 and one of my proudest moments for Nigerian music is the day you defeated both Jayz and @Drake, two of the biggest stars in the world, to win the Best international Act at the #MOBOAwards. Well done.”

Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, also congratulated both stars via his official Twitter handle. He tweeted, “My young friend, Wizkid @wizkidayo beat(s) other big international artistes to win one of the world’s biggest music awards. Congratulations! I hear young David O won too. Very good day for Nigeria.”

Pope Francis asks for 'forgiveness' from persecuted Rohingya Muslims in Bangladesh

Pope Francis has met with a group of Rohingya Muslims in Bangladesh, asking them for "forgiveness" in the name of all of those who have "hurt you".

The Pope also mentioned the word "Rohingya" in public for the first time during his trip to Asia, telling 16 refugees: "The presence of God today is also called Rohingya." "In the name of all of those who have persecuted you, hurt you, I ask forgiveness. I appeal to your large hearts to give us the forgiveness that we are asking," he said. The 16 Rohingya - 12 men, two women and two young girls - travelled to Bangladesh's capital Dhaka from Cox's Bazar, the district bordering Burma where refugee camps are overflowing with more than 620,000 Rohingya who have fled what the UN says is a campaign of ethnic cleansing by Burmese troops. They met Francis in the archbishop's house during an interreligious prayer for peace. The pontiff had previously been criticised for failing to mention the Rohingya directly while in Burma. The Vatican defended his silence, saying Francis wanted to "build bridges" with the predominantly Buddhist nation, whose government considers the Rohingya as having illegally migrated from Bangladesh. But on Thursday he did demand that the international community take “decisive measures” to resolve the causes of the mass exodus of the minority group from Burma.Rohingya have faced persecution and discrimination in Burma for decades and are denied citizenship, even though many families have lived there for generations. The United Nations has declared the Rohingya Muslim crisis to be a textbook case of “ethnic cleansing.” Their plight worsened dramatically in August, when the army began what it called clearance operations in Rakhine state following attacks on security positions by a group of Rohingya militants. Rohingya who are living in camps in Bangladesh have described indiscriminate attacks by Burma security forces and Buddhist mobs, including killings, rapes and the torching of entire villages. Abdul Hamid, the Bangladesh president, accused Burma’s military of having committed “ruthless atrocities” against the Muslims and, in a speech to Francis, demanded international help to return them safely to Burma. “Our people welcomed them with open arms, sharing food, shelter and other basic needs,” he said. “Now, it is our shared responsibility to ensure for them a safe, sustainable and dignified return to their own home and integration with the social, economic and political life of Myanmar.” Burma says it has cleared its army of committing any atrocities against the Rohingya after the results of an internal military investigation were published earlier in November.

Amaechi speaks against ban of Okada, tricycles

Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transportation, has appealed to states and local governments across the country against the ban on motorcycle and tricycle. Amaechi said motorcycles and tricycle operations should be integrated into the country’s transportation systems rather than ban their use. The Minister spoke at the inauguration of the state secretariat of Amalgamated Commercial Tricycle and Motorcycle Owners Repairs and Riders Association of Nigeria, in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. Represented by the Deputy Director, Mass Transit Administration in his Ministry, Foluke Oni, Amaechi noted that both Motorcycle and tricycle serve as primary means of transportation in some communities in the country. Noting that it was rational to allow the citizenry choose any means of transportation that suited them, he, however, advocated for continuous use of helmets by motorcycle riders, training and re-training as well as insurance for motor cyclists, tricylists and their users. He said, “There is need for states and local governments to integrate these tricycles and motorcycles operations into their mode of transportation and should begin to think more on how to enhance their operations rather than thinking of phasing them out. Tricycles and motorcycles are important in the area of provision of essential and easy to reach transportation all over the country. “Just like in the developed nation, we should ensure that the citizenry have the opportunity of choosing the form of transportation that best suit them.”