Nigerian Presidential Elections Feb. 14, 2015

President Goodluck Jonathan meets with President Francois Hollande of France at the Elysee palace in Paris February 11, 2013. Image: John Van Hasselt


ABUJA, NIGERIA. (AP) — Nigeria's electoral commission says presidential and legislative elections in Africa's biggest oil producer will be held Feb. 14, 2015.

President Goodluck Jonathan has refused to announce his intentions but his perceived desire to run has fractured his People's Democratic Party amid increasing political violence.

Dozens of party stalwarts have defected to a new opposition coalition. It may offer the first real competition to the Democrats, who have governed since years of military dictatorship ended in 1999.
Many consider Jonathan a weak leader who has failed on election promises to end corruption crippling the economy. He has governed since 2010 and also has failed to halt an Islamic uprising that forced a state of emergency covering one-sixth of the country.

The commission announced the date in a statement Friday night.

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South Sudan Rebels Say Gov't Violating New Cease-Fire

Nhail Deng Nhail, 2nd left, the head of South Sudan's negotiating team, and top negotiator for the rebel's side, Taban Deng Gai, right, a general in South Sudan's army before he defected, sign a cessation of hostilities agreement in front of mediator Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom, center, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014. South Sudan's government and rebels fighting against it have signed Thursday a cessation of hostilities agreement in Addis Ababa that should at the least put a pause to five weeks of warfare that has claimed thousands of lives and uprooted a half million people since fighting began Dec. 15 between the government and supporters of former Vice President Riek Machar.

JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN. (ASSOCIATED PRESS) — South Sudan's president on Friday said a new peace deal with rebels will help see the country's five-week conflict resolved through dialogue, even as a rebel leader accused the country's military of breaking the cease-fire.

President Salva Kiir said the deal signed Thursday would bring an end to suffering for South Sudan's people, a half million of whom have fled their homes since violence began Dec. 15. Weeks of fighting has killed thousands.

"For the people of South Sudan, I am pleased to tell them that the conflict that erupted in December, that was uncalled for, will be resolved through peaceful dialogue," he told a news conference. But as a sign of the government's own concern about the strength of the agreement, Kiir also appealed to the rebels to accept the deal, with a message directed at armed youths known as the White Army, who are loyal to the leader of the rebellion, Riek Machar, the former vice president whom Kiir fired.

"The fact that Riek will not be in control of all these forces, I am appealing to you that you respect what has been done," Kiir said, reflecting concerns that all the rebels may not agree with the cease-fire and all do not answer to Machar.

In Ethiopia, where Thursday's deal was signed, Brig. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang, a rebel spokesman, said government forces were attacking rebel positions in oil-rich Unity state and in Jonglei state. Koang called the attacks a "clear violation" of the peace deal and said rebel forces would defend themselves against attacks.

South Sudan's military spokesman, Col. Philip Aguer, said he was not aware of any new violence but said there was fighting in Jonglei on Thursday. Aguer said if new fighting has occurred "it is because rebels have attacked" government soldiers.

The U.N. Mission in South Sudan reported "sporadic fighting took place in parts of the country today (Friday)." In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon emphasized "the necessity to continue without delay a national political dialogue to reach a comprehensive peace agreement." He said that dialogue should include all political and civil society representatives as well as detainees from the rebel side, according to his spokesman, Farhan Haq.

Further agreement has stalled over rebel demands for the immediate release of 11 arrested former government officials, whom the government insists must face a judicial process. In a message meant to cool a feud with the U.N., Kiir warned the country's security apparatus to stop the "trend of violence against the United Nations."

Kiir earlier this week said the U.N. Mission in South Sudan was a "parallel government" that would "shame itself" as he accused the U.N. of siding with the rebels. Kiir said his words were misunderstood. "It does not mean South Sudan is hostile to the U.N. system," he said. "They are very helpful to the people of South Sudan".

In November last year U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a report to the Security Council that the U.N. mission there was subjected to 67 cases of harassment, threats, physical assault, arrest and detention of U.N. staff as well as the seizure of U.N. vehicles by the army and police over five months.

Kiir said he has ordered the Interior Ministry, Defense Ministry and National Security Ministry to prevent any attacks or harassment of UN staff.

AP reporter Elias Meseret in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia contributed to this report.

Former Aide To US Senator Hangs Himself In Md.

Ryan Loskarn, former chief of staff to Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., being escorted from his Washington home by U.S. Postal Inspector police. Loskarn has been found dead in Maryland, just weeks after the former staffer's arrest on child pornography charges. The Carroll County Sheriff's office said on its website Friday that Ryan Loskarn was found dead Thursday in Sykesville, Md. Deputies say the preliminary investigation shows Loskarn may have committed suicide.

A former aide to U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander hanged himself in his parents' basement in Maryland, just weeks after his arrest on child pornography charges, officials said Friday.

Ryan Loskarn, 35, was pronounced dead in Sykesville, Md., at just after noon Thursday, said Bruce Goldfarb, a spokesman for the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore. He said the death was ruled a suicide.

Family members called police after finding Loskarn unresponsive in the basement where he had been living, the Carroll County Sheriff's Office said in a statement posted on its website. Maj. Phillip Kasten of the sheriff's office said additional details may not be released until the investigation is finished. He said that could take several weeks

Loskarn had been allowed to live with his parents while awaiting trial on charges of possession and attempted distribution of child pornography. He was required to be electronically monitored. Loskarn had been chief of staff for Alexander, R-Tennessee, for two years before his arrest. Loskarn was fired immediately after his arrest.

"For everyone involved, this is a sad and tragic story from beginning to end," Alexander said in a statement. David Schertler, a Washington lawyer whose firm represented Loskarn, said the firm did not have an immediate comment on Loskarn's death.

Loskarn was arrested Dec. 11. Prosecutors had been given until Feb.10 to return an indictment. Loskarn's lawyer said in a court filing last month that the two sides planned to try to resolve the case.
According to court documents, law enforcement officials believe that between November 2010 and March 2011, Loskarn made several purchases from a website that was offering child pornography DVDs. Loskarn also was accused of offering child pornography files for download from his home computer.

Court documents say that when law enforcement officials arrived to search his Washington home, one official watched as Loskarn appeared to place an object outside a window. Officials later found a portable hard drive in that location, and a prosecutor said the drive contained at least 200 videos of child pornography.

If convicted, Loskarn had faced up to 10 years on the possession charge and a minimum of five and maximum of 20 years on the distribution charge. According to Loskarn's biography on his LinkedIn account and in previous communications for Alexander's office, he graduated from Tulane University in 2000 and went to work for retired Republican U.S. Rep. Wally Herger of California as a legal assistant. He later was the communications director for U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, and eventually became staff director for the Senate Republican Conference.

Loskarn was well versed in Senate procedure and was considered a sharp prognosticator of how debates and standoffs would play out. He was known to share colorful anecdotes and keen observations about body language and mood in the Senate.

Associated Press writers Erik Schelzig in Nashville, Tenn., and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.

Government Panel Urges End To Phone Data Spying

President Barack Obama talks about National Security Agency surveillance in Washington. A government review panel warned Jan. 23, 2014, that the NSA's daily collection of Americans' phone records is illegal and recommended that Obama abandon the program and destroy the hundreds of millions of phone records it has already collected. The recommendations by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board go further than Obama is willing to accept and increase pressure on Congress to make changes.

WASHINGTON (ASSOCIATED PRESS) — A government review panel warned Thursday that the National Security Agency's daily collection of Americans' phone records is illegal and recommended that President Barack Obama abandon the program and destroy the hundreds of millions of phone records it has already collected.

The recommendations by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board go further than Obama is willing to accept and increase pressure on Congress to make changes. The panel's 234-page report included dissents from two of the board's five members — former Bush administration national security lawyers who recommended that the government keep collecting the phone records. The board described key parts of its report to Obama this month before he announced his plans last week to change the government's surveillance activities.

In that speech, Obama said the bulk phone collection program would continue for the time being. He directed the Justice Department and intelligence officials to find ways to end the government's control over the phone data. He also insisting on close supervision by a secretive federal intelligence court and reducing the breadth of phone records the NSA can investigate. Phone companies have said they do not want to take responsibility for overseeing the data under standards set by the NSA.

In addition to concluding that the daily collection of phone records was illegal, the board also determined that the practice was ineffective. "We have not identified a single instance involving a threat to the United States in which the program made a concrete difference in the outcome of a counterterrorism investigation," it said, and added, "We are aware of no instance in which the program directly contributed to the discovery of a previously unknown terrorist plot or the disruption of a terrorist attack."

It said the NSA should instead seek individual records relevant to terror cases directly from phone service providers under existing laws. "Given the limited results, we concluded the program should be ended," said board member James Dempsey of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a civil liberties group. Dempsey and another board member, former chief federal appeals court judge Patricia Wald, also said the phone sweeps did not appear to have clear or strong legal grounding in the USA Patriot Act — the statute overseeing the government's surveillance activities.

"We have to be careful that secret law does not creep into our jurisprudence," Wald said. The board wrote that the phone surveillance did not have a "viable legal foundation" under the Patriot Act, which was used to provide legal backing for the operation after it was secretly authorized by President George W. Bush. The board also said the surveillance raised constitutional concerns about unreasonable searches, free speech and freedom of the press. Two federal judges have split in recent rulings over the constitutionality of the government collecting Americans' phone records in such a wholesale way.

The White House disagreed with the oversight board. "The administration believes the program is lawful," said national security spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden. She added that Obama "believes we can and should make changes in the program that will give the American people greater confidence in it."
The board's recommendation to delete its copies of everyone's phone records is one area that Obama sidestepped in his speech — what to do with the mountainous electronic database amassed by the NSA since shortly after the 9/11 attacks. National security officials have a legal review to be finished by March should decide how long to keep the phone records.

The NSA's surveillance programs and other data mining operations came to light last year, drawing intense criticism after revelations fueled by an estimated 1.7 million documents taken by former NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden and handed over to several journalists.

During a web chat posted Thursday on the "Free Snowden" site, Snowden echoed the oversight board's skepticism about the phone sweeps as an effective counterterrorism program. Snowden said "it's time to end 'bulk collection,' which is a euphemism for mass surveillance. There is simply no justification for continuing an unconstitutional policy with a 0% success rate."

In its report, the oversight committee's majority said that "we have not identified a single instance involving a threat to the United States in which the program made a concrete difference in the outcome of a counterterrorism investigation."

The oversight board included 11 other recommendations on surveillance policy, calling for more government transparency and other reforms aimed at bolstering civil liberties and privacy protections. The board urged appointment of special attorneys to provide independent views in some proceedings before the secretive spy court, as opposed to Obama's plan for a panel of experts that would participate at times. The board also urged the administration to provide the public with clear explanations of the legal authority behind any surveillance affecting Americans.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said the board's report would "add to the growing chorus calling for an end to the government's dragnet collection of Americans' phone records." Leahy is co-sponsoring a bill that would shut down the phone program.

Civil liberties groups applauded the board's report. "We agree with both its analysis and its principal conclusions," said Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union. Jaffer has pressed one lawsuit against the government seeking to shut down the bulk phone collections.

While the oversight board found consensus in some of its recommendations for transparency, its members were sharply divided when it came to the surveillance programs and their judicial oversight. Two members, former Bush administration Justice Department lawyers Rachel Brand and Elisebeth Collins Cook, defended the bulk phone sweeps and said they were too valuable to shut down.

"I am concerned about the detrimental effect this superfluous second-guessing can have on our national security agencies and their staff," said Brand, who as a Justice Department lawyer defended Patriot Act legislation that provided the NSA with its authority to make the bulk phone collections.

But the oversight board's three other members — Dempsey, Wald and executive director David Medine — held firm for broad changes. "When the government collects all of a person's telephone records, storing them for five years in a government database that is subjected to high-speed digital searching and analysis, the privacy implications go far beyond what can be revealed by the metadata of a single telephone call," the majority wrote.

AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace contributed to this report.

Michigan Seeks Visas To Lure Immigrants To Detroit

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder speaks at the IDEAL Group, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014, in Detroit. Snyder announced a plan to ask the Obama administration to set aside thousands of work visas to entice talented immigrants to live and work in bankrupt Detroit. The Republican governor said he is seeking 50,000 work visas solely for the city over five years.

DETROIT, MICHIGAN. (ASSOCIATED PRESS) — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder asked the federal government Thursday to set aside thousands of work visas for bankrupt Detroit, a bid to revive the decaying city by attracting talented immigrants who are willing to move there and stay for five years.

The Republican governor has routinely touted immigration as a powerful potential force for growing Detroit's economy, saying immigrant entrepreneurs start many small businesses and file patents at twice the rate of U.S.-born citizens.

"Let's send a message to the entire world: Detroit, Michigan, is open to the world," Snyder said at a news conference. The proposal involves EB-2 visas, which are offered every year to legal immigrants who have advanced degrees or show exceptional ability in certain fields.

But the governor's ambitious plan faces significant hurdles: The visas are not currently allocated by region or state. And the number he is seeking — 50,000 over five years — would be a quarter of the total EB-2 visas offered.

The program would require no federal financial bailout, the governor said, only the easing of immigration rules and visa limits to help fill jobs in automotive engineering, information technology, health care and life sciences.

"It's really taking up the offer of the federal government to say they want to help more," Snyder said. "Isn't this a great way that doesn't involve large-scale financial contributions from the federal government to do something dramatic in Detroit?"

He said the Obama administration has "been receptive to us bringing significant ideas to them, and this would be near the top of the list." Snyder, a first-term governor who made millions as a computer industry executive and venture capitalist, said it's not clear whether the White House could act administratively or if such a change would require legislative action.

He said he's talking about the proposal with Michigan's congressional delegation and plans private meetings Friday with administration officials while in Washington for a panel discussion about the economic benefits of an immigration overhaul.

The governor's proposal seemed to take officials by surprise at the State Department, which works with the Homeland Security Department to decide on visa requests. In Washington, State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters Thursday that she was aware of the governor's comments but had no immediate response.

Snyder's office has said immigrants created nearly one-third of the high-tech businesses in Michigan in the last decade, and he cited a study that found for every job that goes to an immigrant, 2.5 are created for U.S.-born citizens.

Being more welcoming to immigrants would also make the city more attractive to employers. "The point isn't just to say, 'Let's have a lot of jobs created in Detroit for immigrants,'" he said. "Let's step this up. Let's do something that could really be a jumpstart to the continuing comeback of Michigan and Detroit."

The city, the largest in American history to file for bankruptcy, has been hollowed out by a long population decline, from 1.8 million people in its heyday of the 1950s, to about 713,000 today at the time of the 2010 census. During that time, Detroit steadily lost many of its manufacturing jobs, and huge numbers of workers fled to the suburbs.

The governor is trying to find flexibility in a waiver that allows foreign workers with a master's degree or higher — or who demonstrate exceptional skills in science, business or art — to come to the U.S. if it's in the "national interest."

Snyder wants to broaden the definition of national interest to apply it to Detroit, likening the concept to one already in place where foreign-born physicians can get a green card after working in an underserved area for five years.

One critic of Snyder's proposal said it appears to dismiss immigrants who have not achieved high levels of education. Even if it does not take a specific job away from native-born job-seekers, it makes immigrants "more marketable than educated current residents," said the Rev. Horace Sheffield III, executive director of the Detroit Association of Black Organizations.

"What does that do to displace people who are born here and who don't have the education and are already competing for scarce jobs?" Sheffield said. "The other problem is the governor only picked educated immigrants. That only pits immigrants against immigrants."

About 1 in 5 Detroit residents are without a high school diploma, according to Detroit Future City, a 2012 report that examined how the city can remake itself. Another 35 percent have diplomas, but no other kind of training. And for every 100 residents, there are only 27 jobs, the study found.

Under Snyder's plan, Detroit would be allocated 5,000 visas in the first year, 10,000 each of the next three years and 15,000 in the fifth year. Snyder is especially keen on keeping foreign students in Michigan, many of whom come to the state to earn advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering or math, then leave.

In his annual State of the State address last week, he announced a plan to join two other states in putting immigration services under a special office, as well as a separate initiative to make Michigan the second state to run a regional visa program to attract immigrant investors for development projects.
Frank Venegas is chief executive and chairman of the Ideal Group, a family-owned manufacturing and construction company where the governor made Thursday's announcement. Venegas, the grandson of Mexican immigrants, said Snyder's proposals would benefit the struggling city and the company he started in 1979, which has grown to incorporate several subsidiaries and annual revenue of more than $200 million.

"We're the greatest country in the world. Why can't we attract some of the greatest people in the world from different countries?"

Eggert reported from Lansing, Mich.

Associated Press Writer Corey Williams contributed to this report.

Follow David Eggert on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DavidEggert00 . Follow Jeff Karoub at https://twitter.com/jeffkaroub .

Reputed Mobster Pleads Not Guilty In 1978 Heist

FBI agents flank Vincent Asaro as they escort the reputed mobster from FBI offices in lower Manhattan, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014, in New York. More than 30 years after the crime, Asaro was indicted in the $6 million Lufthansa heist at Kennedy Airport that was dramatized in the Martin Scorsese movie "Goodfellas."

NEW YORK (ASSOCIATED PRESS) — More than 30 years after hooded gunmen pulled a $6 million airport heist dramatized in the hit Martin Scorsese movie "Goodfellas," an elderly reputed mobster was arrested at his New York City home on Thursday and charged in the robbery and a 1969 murder.

Vincent Asaro, 78, was named along with his son, Jerome, and three other defendants in wide-ranging indictment alleging murder, robbery, extortion, arson and other crimes from the late 1960s through last year. The Asaros, both identified as captains in the Bonanno organized crime family, pleaded not guilty through their attorneys and were ordered held without bail at a brief appearance in federal court in Brooklyn.

The elder Asaro's attorney, Gerald McMahon, told reporters outside court that his client was framed by shady turncoat gangsters, including former Bonanno boss Joseph Massino - the highest-ranking member of the city's five organized crime families to break the mob's vow of silence.

Massino "is one of the worst witnesses I've ever seen," McMahon said. He added that Asaro had given him "marching orders" that "there will be no plea and he will walk out the door a free man." A lawyer for Jerome Asaro declined comment.

The indictment accused Vincent Asaro of helping to direct the Dec. 11, 1978, Lufthansa Airlines heist at Kennedy airport - one of the largest cash thefts in American history. The gunmen looted a vault in the airline's cargo terminal and stole about $5 million in untraceable U.S. currency that was being returned to the United States from Germany, along with about $1 million in jewelry. The cash was never found.

According to court papers, an unidentified mob associate who pleaded guilty and became a cooperating witness told investigators that he participated in the robbery at the direction of Asaro. The theft was hatched by James "Jimmy the Gent" Burke, a late Lucchese crime family associate who was close to Asaro, who told the bandits that he had a "score" that would make them rich, the papers say.

Each robber was supposed to be paid $750,000, but the cooperating witness said "most did not receive their share, either because they were killed first or it was never given to them," according to the court papers.

The papers say the cooperator wore a wire and recorded a conversation he had with Asaro in 2011 in which the pair discussed being slighted. "We never got our right money, what we were supposed to get," Asaro said, according to the court papers. "Jimmy Burke kept everything."

In addition to the heist, the elder Asaro was charged in the 1969 murder of Paul Katz, whose remains were found last year during an FBI dig at a house once occupied by Burke. According to the cooperating witness, Asaro and Burke were business partners in Robert's Lounge, the papers say. The saloon was described by a fellow Lucchese associate of Burke, the late Henry Hill, as Burke's private cemetery.

"Jimmy buried over a dozen bodies ... under the bocce courts," Hill wrote in his book, "A Goodfella's Guide to New York." Katz once owned a warehouse where mobsters stored stolen goods, according to the court papers. After a raid at the warehouse, Asaro and Burke began to suspect Katz was a law enforcement informant.

Asaro told the cooperator that Burke "had killed Katz with a dog chain because they believed he was a 'rat,'" the papers say. The cooperator told investigators that Asaro and Burke brought Katz's body to a vacant home in Queens where it was concealed beneath a cement floor. In the 1980s, Burke ordered the cooperator to dig up the remains and move them to another location.

Burke inspired Robert De Niro's character in "Goodfellas," which was based on Nicholas Pileggi's book "Wiseguy" and told the story of Hill's time in the mob and subsequent cooperation with law enforcement.

Massino was convicted in 2004 on charges he had a hand in multiple gangland murders, including the execution of a mobster who vouched for FBI undercover agent Donnie Brasco - a story that was also turned into a movie.

In July, Massino saw his life prison sentence reduced to time served after prosecutors praised his work as a government cooperator.

South Sudan, Rebels Sign Cease-Fire

Some of hundreds of government soldiers board trucks and pickups, to head to the frontlines to reinforce other government forces already fighting rebel forces near the town of Bor, as they prepare to leave from the outskirts of Juba, South Sudan. South Sudan's government and rebels fighting against it have signed Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014 a cessation of hostilities agreement in Addis Ababa that should at the least put a pause to five weeks of warfare that has claimed thousands of lives and uprooted a half million people since fighting began Dec. 15 between the government and supporters of former Vice President Riek Machar.

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA. (ASSOCIATED PRESS) — South Sudan's government and rebels signed a cease-fire deal Thursday that leaders hope will put a pause to five weeks of warfare that has killed thousands of soldiers and civilians.

The peace deal represents the first real progress since political friction turned violent Dec. 15, fueling countrywide battles with ethnic overtones. But questions were immediately raised about whether all fighters in South Sudan would abide by the agreement, and how long others would follow it.

The military spokesman for South Sudan cautioned that a group of rebel fighters from the former vice president's Nuer ethnic group — thousands of armed youths known as the "White Army" — may not want peace.

"Riek Machar has been using that force to fight the SPLA, so we have to see what will happen," said Col. Philip Aguer, using the acronym for South Sudan's military. "War is not good for anybody, especially war fought for power of a political position," Aguer continued. "Civilians, innocents are dying, so it is good for the people of South Sudan to have peace."

Nhail Deng Nhail, the head of South Sudan's negotiating team, said his side is worried that since many on the rebel side are civilians who took up arms, "it may become difficult to follow the cease-fire since they are not militarily disciplined."

In Washington, White House spokesman Jay Carney welcomed the deal — technically called a cessation of hostilities — and described it as a "first critical step in ending the violence" and building a sustainable peace. The U.S. expects both parties to implement the agreement fully and swiftly and move toward an inclusive dialogue, he said.

"The United States will remain a steady partner to those who choose the path of peace" and work toward a more democratic, unified South Sudan, Carney said. The U.N. Security Council issued a statement welcoming the cease-fire, condemning violent attacks on civilians and U.N. bases in South Sudan and demanding accountability. In a separate statement, a U.N. spokesman said the U.N. secretary-general called on all parties to "immediately implement this agreement" and called for freedom of movement for mission and aid workers and human rights monitors.

Talks are scheduled to resume in early February, but a sore point between the sides remains. Machar's side has been pushing to get 11 top former government leaders released from prison. President Salva Kiir has said the 11 will be subjected to South Sudan's judicial process.

The top negotiator for Machar's side, Taban Deng Gai, a general in South Sudan's army before he defected, said late Thursday that talks would not continue if the government does not release the 11 detainees. South Sudan's information minister, Michael Makuel Lueth, said the detainee issue has nothing to do with the cessation of hostilities agreement.

The United States helped broker talks that saw South Sudan end its civil war with Sudan in 2005 and then gain independence in 2011. Tepid progress by the world's newest country — and one of the globe's poorest — has been turned upside down.

An estimated half million residents have fled their homes because of the fighting, which has often pitted Kiir's Dinka-led government and military against Nuer fighters backing Machar. The U.N. has warned of atrocities committed by both sides on the battlefield. The fighting has imperiled South Sudan's oil industry, after technical workers fled and rebel fighters took control of the fields for some time.

The U.N. on Thursday said it is protecting 76,000 civilians at eight bases in South Sudan. The U.N. mission has received reports of fighting continuing in multiple locations in the country. The aid group World Vision said the deal "could mean we finally have access to areas where children are in desperate need and have been trapped by the violence and cut off from aid."

The Enough Project, a U.S.-based advocacy group that works on Central Africa issues, said Thursday's deal is only the first step on a long road to a durable peace. The group said it was "far from guaranteed" that all combatants would lay down arms.

"If an inclusive peace process is not constructed that seeks to address root causes, the conflict will continue, with deadly consequences," said John Prendergast, the group's co-founder. His group called for an inclusive dialogue, a commitment to accountability and security sector reform.

Associated Press reporters Ilya Gridneff in Juba, South Sudan, Cara Anna at the United Nations and Josh Lederman in Washington D.C. contributed to this report. Straziuso reported from Nairobi, Kenya.

Barca President Resigns Amid Neymar Lawsuit

Barcelona's President Sandro Rosell, left, and Vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu, attend a press conference at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Jan 23, 2014. Sandro Rosell is stepping down as president of Barcelona a day after a judge agreed to hear a lawsuit accusing him of allegedly hiding the cost of the transfer of Brazil striker Neymar.Rosell says he is resigning after an emergency meeting with Barcelona's board of directors on Thursday. Rosell says vice president Josep Bartomeu will take his place as president and finish the term that expires in 2016. Elected in 2010 to replace outgoing president Joan Laporta, Rosell said last April he planned to run for re-election in 2016.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The president of Spanish champion Barcelona resigned on Thursday to fight criminal accusations he misappropriated funds from the signing of Brazilian forward Neymar.

Sandro Rosell is facing a legal battle after a judge in Madrid ruled Wednesday he will hear a lawsuit alleging the real cost of Neymar's transfer from Santos last year was hidden. "My time at the club has come to an end," Rosell said, while insisting for a second time this week that the deal to bring Neymar to Barcelona was legal.

Neymar, the top star on Brazil's World Cup team, was acquired in June for 57 million euros (then $74 million), according to Rosell. The legal case claims that the real cost of Neymar's transfer was closer to 95 million euros ($129 million).

The 49-year-old Rosell, a former Nike executive, said confidentiality agreements prevented Barcelona from revealing the exact amount received by Santos and the three companies — DIS, TEISA and N&N — who owned shares of Neymar's rights. The lawsuit does not accuse Rosell of taking money from the deal.

The case prompted Barcelona's board to call an emergency meeting, and Rosell announced after more than two hours of deliberations that he was quitting Barcelona, a Catalan institution whose motto is "more than a club," is owned by its more than 160,000 members, who elect a president and executive board.

Rosell, elected in 2010, said vice president Josep Bartomeu will take his place and complete the presidential term that expires in 2016. "Through this period of success, my family and I have suffered attacks that have made me wonder if being president means putting my family at risk an in anguish," Rosell said.

Last March, Rosell was also accused in Brazil of illegally benefiting from an exhibition game organized by his marketing company in 2008. Barcelona leads the Spanish league on goal difference over Atletico Madrid and hopes to regain the Champions League title it last won in 2011

Nigerian Secret Police Warn Against Election Violence

 Nigerian security operatives move to secure a polling station following fears of ballot box-snatching during elections on April 28, 2011, in Bauchi (AFP/File, Tony Karumba)

ABUJA, NIGERIA  (AFP)— Nigeria's secret police on Thursday issued a warning against what it called "subversive elements" seeking to foment violence in the run-up to next year's general election.
The Department of State Services (DSS) said it had been made aware of "incessant provocative statements by some Nigerians threatening violence ahead of the 2015 general elections".

No examples were given but it came as Nigeria's main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) party issued a strongly worded statement in relation to simmering tensions in the southern, oil-producing state of Rivers.

DSS spokeswoman Marilyn Ogar called the statements "offensive, misguided and directed at stirring hate".

"This service and other law enforcement agencies have the mandate to protect the country and its citizens," she said.

"We therefore warn all subversive elements that are bent on promoting divisive and disruptive agenda to desist from such, as the full weight of the law shall henceforth be brought to bear accordingly."
The APC said separately that a "culture of lawlessness and impunity" had been promoted and supported by the presidency in Rivers since last February and accused the state police commissioner of being a "de facto military governor".

In a statement after a national executive committee meeting, it alleged police chief Joseph Mbu had cracked down heavily on peaceful APC rallies but done nothing against similar events for the ruling party.

Mbu is widely seen by the opposition as loyal to the president.

If the situation continued, the APC said it would have no option but to call on its members in Rivers and across the country "to take whatever steps that are necessary to protect their lives and property".
The party also called for its members in parliament to block government proposals and approval of the 2014 federal budget "until the rule of law and constitutionalism is restored".

Rivers' high-profile governor Rotimi Amaechi was one of five who defected from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) last November.

That prompted 37 lawmakers in the lower chamber National Assembly to follow suit and lose President Goodluck Jonathan his parliamentary majority.

The outspoken Amaechi has claimed Jonathan has done nothing for Rivers and is angered that millions of dollars in revenue from a disputed oil well has gone to the president's home state of Bayelsa next door.

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Inside Story On Snowden To Be Published Next Month

"The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man," by Luke Harding. Vintage Books announced Thursday that Harding's book will be released Feb. 11 as a paperback original. Harding is a foreign correspondent for the Guardian, the London-based newspaper that in June began publishing a series of articles on government surveillance based on documents leaked by Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor.

NEW YORK (ASSOCIATED PRESS) — The race to publish books about Edward Snowden is on.

Vintage Books announced Thursday that Luke Harding's "The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man" will be released Feb. 11 as a paperback original. Harding is a foreign correspondent for the Guardian, the London-based newspaper that in June began publishing a series of articles on government surveillance based on documents leaked by Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor.

A book by Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian journalist who broke the story, is scheduled for March. According to Vintage, "The Snowden Files" will cover everything from Snowden's first contacts with Greenwald to efforts by the U.S. and British governments to keep the information from being published.

Fox's O'Reilly To Interview Obama

Fox News commentator and author Bill O'Reilly at the Comedy Central "Night Of Too Many Stars: America Comes Together For Autism Programs" at the Beacon Theatre in New York. President Barack Obama will be interviewed live at the White House by Fox News’ O’Reilly during the Super Bowl pregame show. Fox said Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014, the interview will air at 4:30 p.m., less than two hours before the game, which is being televised on Feb. 2 by the Fox broadcast network. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/Invsion/AP, file)

NEW YORK, NY (ASSOCIATED PRESS) — President Barack Obama will be interviewed live at the White House by Fox News' Bill O'Reilly during the Super Bowl pregame show.

Fox said Thursday the interview will air at 4:30 p.m., less than two hours before the game, which is being televised on Feb. 2 by the Fox broadcast network. Following the live interview, O'Reilly will ask the president a few more questions that will be aired on "The O'Reilly Factor" the next night on Fox News Channel. The entire interview will be posted on the website foxnews.com.

It's the third time O'Reilly has interviewed Obama, with the most recent during Fox's 2011 Super Bowl pregame.